Our Doctors
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Allan Sosin, MD
Internal Medicine & Nephrology
German Zermeno, MD
Family Medicine
 Julie K. Harden, ND, LAcNaturopathic Medicine
Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture
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Upcoming Lectures
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Why Do I Feel So Tired?
by German Zermeno, MD
Location:
Hope Chapel,
Hawthorne
Date/Time:
Sunday, January 22nd
6:00 PM
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Call 424-237-0101 to reserve your seat!
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Managing Stress and Anxiety
by Allan Sosin, MD
Location: Advantage Physical Therapy, Lake Forest Date/Time: Thursday, February 9th 7:00 PM Call 949-305-8200 to reserve your seat!
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After a single prolo therapy injection, the results are so much more than I expected. The very next day, I could raise my arm about 90 degrees in front - less to the side. On the second day I could go higher. After four days, I had almost 180 degrees in both directions (front and side). A week later, I also have virtually no pain. This has been nothing less than a medical miracle for me. Thank you Dr. Sosin!" -S.S. Natural Allergy Treatment "I have suffered with sinus infections and allergies for over 25 years. Dr. Sosin put me on Natural D-Hist and other supplements to improve my immune system. I am now the healthiest person in my office. Thank you Dr. Sosin for keeping up to date on the latest and greatest methods to help me get healthy!" -P.L. |
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| Vol. 5 Issue #1 | January 2012 |
| Drugs: Effects and Side Effects |  Drug companies expediently and glibly list drug actions, meaning beneficial effects for which they are prescribed, separately from another section called side effects, meaning undesirable effects for which they are not prescribed. The action of a statin drug would be the lowering of bad cholesterol to reduce heart attacks and strokes. The side effects would be muscle pain and weakness, liver inflammation, malaise and memory difficulties. It is implied that side effects are unexpected and infrequent, and somehow accidental.
However, the changes resulting from taking a drug are all EFFECTS. Some are good effects and some are bad effects, but they are still EFFECTS. They are predictable from the interference the drug imposes on normal body functions. They are usually dose-related, and do not occur in all people because different bodies have different sensitivities and different rates of metabolism. However, they are not accidental. They are a part of the basic nature of the drug, as an explosion is part of the basic nature of a bomb, and one would have to expect that once in a while an innocent bystander will be blown up.
We should be aware that all drugs have good effects as well as bad effects, that sometimes the good effect will fail to appear, and a bad effect will predominate. We should not be surprised by this, and know that advertising will always stress benefits over damages, and doctors will recommend drugs for their advantages, not their negative consequences. Several times a year, every year, drugs are taken off the market because the bad effects overcome the good effects.
The old aphorism often holds true- drugs are toxins with sometimes beneficial side effects. It is part of the art of medicine to decide when it is better to take a drug, and when it is better not to.
Allan Sosin MD |
| Medical Specialization and the Loss of Humanity |
The New England Journal of Medicine, the most prestigious and influential medical research publication in this country, enters its 200th year. During that time, its staff and contributors have witnessed vast changes in medical knowledge and practice. These include the acceptance of the germ theory of disease, the discovery of antibiotics, the use of hygiene in surgery, vaccination, discovery of the causes and effective treatments for heart disease, and the debunking of flawed therapies like bloodletting and forced sterilization.
It was not without concern that they also witnessed the inevitable move toward specialization that accompanied the expansion of knowledge. The Journal commented in 1924: "Are we not losing sight of that fundamental thread of truth that gives us a perspective of the real value of our work; that enables us to consider our patient as an individual and not a pathological unit of a human body or a representative of an age group?"
In 1923 one physician complained, "How much can the specialist know of home conditions, of family difficulties, and their relation to the case?"
In the last 90 years things have likely gotten worse, as knowledge and technological advances have exploded. The vast majority of physicians go into specialty training; reimbursement is higher, and many are heavily in debt by the time they finish medical school. Editorials predict the demise of general practice and internal medicine. Those fields are already encroached by nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Care of the entire patient is not easy. It requires a lot of training and experience, skill in communication and a willingness to promote coordination of care. Important situations and diagnoses can be missed when someone is not involved who can look at the whole picture. It is not sufficient for one specialist to refer to the next, then to the next. Patients know that they are not a pair of lungs or a pancreas. They need and should have a comprehensive, a holistic approach.
Allan Sosin MD
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| Nutrient Therapies and Mental Health |  A soon-to-be-released book, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry, by Stradford, Vickar, Berger, and Cass, lists a number of nutrient therapies found to be beneficial for mental health problems.
- Niacinamide- for Alzheimer's disease treatment and prevention- up to 6000 mg daily.
- Methylation supporters- affect dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin to impact memory, mood, concentration, and sleep. These include folic acid or tetrahydrofolate, B6, B12, and SAM-e. Folic acid may be low in depression or schizophrenia. Vitamin B12 may improve depression and prevent Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin B6 in a dose of 100 mg daily may improve PMS, and improve IQ in children with developmental disorders. SAM-e, also a methyl donor, can help depression in a dose of 400 - 1600 mg daily.
- Omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA, are beneficial for depression, bipolar disorder, as well as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.
- Vitamin D - individuals in the highest quartile of vitamin D concentration had lower incidences of depression and psychotic behavior, compared to those who had the lowest levels.
- Calcium, magnesium and zinc- Low levels of these minerals are often found in depression and other psychiatric disorders. Supplementation should be routine.
Also discussed was the high incidence of celiac disease or gluten intolerance in patients with psychiatric disorders. These individuals are allergic to gluten or gliadin, proteins found in wheat, rye and barley. Most of them are unaware of having gluten sensitivity, and their only manifestation may be a psychiatric disorder. The incidence of gluten sensitivity in schizophrenic patients is three times higher than in the general population. It is suggested that all patients with a psychiatric disorder be screened for gluten sensitivity, since avoidance of gluten may be curative.
Allan Sosin MD
To download the FREE e-book version of this new book, or to pre-order it, click here.
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PSA Screening for Prostate Cancer:
Going the Way of the Passenger Pigeon? |  The US Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against routine PSA screening in men for prostate cancer. The recommendation was based on the conclusion that "there is moderate or high certainty that the service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits." Large studies had revealed either no or very small increases in survival from screening in patients followed for over ten years. In a European study, results showed that in men aged 55-69, screening prevented only 7 deaths per 10,000 men followed over 9 years. In older men, screening is even less useful. Moreover, screening often leads to prostate biopsy with negative results, with complications of pain, infection and bleeding. Subsequent elevated PSA readings lead to additional biopsies with further complications. I have seen patients who had three prostate biopsies performed, all negative for cancer.
The incidence of cancer within the prostate is high, and increases with age. A 50 year-old man has about a 50% chance of having cancer in the prostate, while an 80 year-old man has an 80% chance. Many of these cancers, however, are indolent, do not metastasize, and will not cause death if untreated. Unfortunately, we have no easy way of determining early which individuals have aggressive cancer.
How will this recommendation translate into action in the real world? Will patients not want to have a PSA test? Will doctors recommend against it? Will insurance companies refuse to pay for it? Will lawsuits occur when patients who were not screened develop invasive cancer and die? I think it is unlikely that PSA screening will drop into obscurity, especially when it is compared to the ritualistic frequency of mammography screening, which the Task Force has recommended not be initiated until the age of 50, then performed every two years until the age of 75, and discontinued.
PSA testing is still valuable as a means of following the course of prostate cancer. I follow a number of men with known or presumed prostate cancer whose PSA levels have not changed over years. As long as the PSA stays the same, it is unlikely that prostate cancer is progressing. We continue to work with lifestyle changes to prevent progression, including a low fat, low animal protein, weight reduction diet, alcohol avoidance, and specific supplements including sulforaphane, lycopene, vitamin C, and modified citrus pectin.
Another test, called the PCA3, is useful in determining whether an elevated PSA indicates prostate cancer. Urine is collected after the physician performs a vigorous massage of the prostate. A negative study indicates prostate cancer is unlikely despite the high PSA, and that prostate inflammation or enlargement is the underlying abnormality.
Prostate cancer is diagnosed in 200,000 men yearly, and 30,000 men die from it. Treatments are increasingly effective, and less toxic than treatments for many other types of cancer. We have not seen a death from prostate cancer in the last ten years.
Allan Sosin MD
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| Research and Cigarette Smoking |  The first major quantitative study linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer was published in 1928. Forty years later, 50% of adults in the United States were still smoking cigarettes. Today the prevalence is 20% of adults.
How long does it take for important health findings to translate into practice? How long will it take for the known connection between obesity and cancer, obesity and heart disease, obesity and diabetes, obesity and premature death, to have a societal effect?
Much of the reduction in tobacco use results from legal prohibitions, the increasing cost of cigarettes, and the public unacceptability of smoking. However, as once occurred with cigarettes, there are strong forces promoting an obesity-enhancing lifestyle: cheap, tasty and easily available fast food and soft drinks, reduction of physical education in our schools, and ever-present advertising.
We have a long way to go in creating health. So does the rest of the world. There are at the current time 1 billion cigarette smokers. It is estimated that by 2050, if nothing changes, 450 million of them will die as a consequence of smoking cigarettes.
Allan Sosin MD
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