Gimme a D - for bites or breaks

[Guest guest]

" WC Douglass " <realhealth

Daily Dose - Gimme a D - for bites or breaks

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 07:15:00 -0400

Daily Dose

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September 20, 2005

 

 

 

Alarming " buzz " on beating biters

 

A few months ago (Daily Dose, 5/17/2005), I wrote to you about a pair

of newly-FDA-approved mosquito repellants: Picaridin and oil of Lemon

Eucalyptus. My great hope was that these new weapons in the " fight

against the bite " would be not only well-received as alternatives for

those who find DEET " repellant " , but would help to increase awareness

about the deadly West Nile Virus, which peaks in the late summer.

 

But if what a new report from one Colorado unit of the CDC's

Vector-Borne Diseases Division is accurate for the whole nation, all

my efforts and optimism might have been for nothing. According to a

recent CBSNews.com report, a survey from last year explored Americans'

attitudes toward mosquito repellants and found that for the most part,

people actively choose NOT TO USE THEM.

 

In fact, less than half of those surveyed even knew what DEET was.

 

Depressing. And what's even more depressing is the CDC-compiled " top

ten " list of reasons why people don't break out the bug spray. Here it

is, in Letterman-esque order (comments in parentheses are mine):

 

10) I don't know

9) I didn't have time/I'm too lazy (bingo!)

8) I use other methods of avoiding mosquito bites (like what, The Force?)

7) It smells bad (so do West Nile corpses)

6) I didn't have any/mosquitoes don't bite me

5) I don't go outside

4) I'm concerned about the health effects of DEET (but not killer

viruses?!?)

3) I forget

2) There are no mosquitoes where I live (true - there are no

mosquitoes in fantasyland)

 

And the number one reason (drum roll please)...

 

1) I'm not worried about it

 

Well, there you have it - a succinct explanation of one of the most

foolhardy mistakes we Americans make with our lives. Like putting on a

seatbelt, it takes only a few seconds each day to smear or spray on a

little insect repellant, but it could save our very lives.

 

Last year, Coloradoans alone had over 3000 confirmed cases of West

Nile virus. Though there's no data, I'd bet cash money that NONE of

these cases were in habitual users of DEET and other skeeter-beaters.

 

What really kills me is that a huge percentage of Americans - while

ignoring insect repellant which really CAN save their lives - slather

layer upon layer of health-robbing sunscreen on themselves. Keep

reading...

 

 

 

Scotch risky

 

If you've been a reader of mine for any length of time at all, you

already know that sunscreen - aside from being useless at preventing

skin cancer - is a primary reason why so many Americans are vitamin D

deficient.

 

What you may NOT know, however (even though I've been saying it for 3

decades), is that insufficient levels of Vitamin D in the body is a

major cause of bone fractures. No, a dearth of D doesn't cause people

to lose coordination, leading to falls.

 

But a deficiency of vitamin D causes many bones to break that would've

held fast if they were properly fortified with this sun-vitamin. And

now, some new research from Scotland all but proves it. Apparently,

the sun-starved Scottish are at a fairly high-risk for hip fractures.

Here's the data:

 

Of 548 hip fracture patients at the South Glasgow University Hospital

admitted over the last 4 years, 97.8% were found to have Vitamin D

levels below normal. Around 1/4 of these sported D levels that were

" effectively unrecordable. " Their conclusion:

 

Vitamin D may be a " correctable risk factor " for bone fractures in the

elderly.

 

Ah, bonny good, lads. Leave it to the Scottish to get to the bottom of

things. Even if they are 30 years late or so...

 

D-lighting in the sunny truth,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD