The Science and Health Blog by Dr. Allen Malnak

When Jeff Lytle asked me if I would blog for the NDN, many thoughts ran through my mind. There’s an enormous number of Internet blogs that throw out information as well as disinformation about science and medicine. I’ve never blogged before and have been a senior citizen for many years. Does that disqualify me from this relatively new method of communication? Also, I haven’t practiced clinical medicine in almost a decade and a half, a long time when the “half-life” of medical knowledge is less than five years. Still, I have a Mac, a PC, an iPod and a new iPhone with bushels of apps, and still read scientific and medical literature daily, a life-long habit. I also have behind me many years of practicing and teaching internal medicine and being a medical administrator. So, maybe I have something to offer some of you. I well understand my socially liberal views combined with my quite conservative medical views will find many detractors, especially among many politically conservative Daily News readers. There will even be health professionals whose livelihood might be negatively impacted because of my insistence on our utilizing evidence based medicine rather than diagnoses and treatments based on non-scientific testimonials or pseudoscience. I’m a firm believer in our being able to disagree without being disagreeable. That’s why II always try to avoid personal attacks and stick to issues. Since health care reform is so topical, I’ll most likely start with that but will tend to bring up other topics involving areas with which I have knowledge or expertise. Those of you who have read some of my letters and guest commentaries will understand what I'm referring to. Incidentally, my views will always be my own, although few will be original. In other words, I represent no groups or organizations. I'm not a spokesperson for organized medicine. Also, this will not be a forum where I can or should answer specific medical questions. Dr. Gott, I’m not. ***About Dr. Malnak*** Following his internship and residency, Dr. Malnak served as chief of internal medicine at U.S. Army Hospital,Fort Sill , Okla., and then was a clinical investigator in liver disease at Mount Sinai Hospital, Chicago. He was a board-certified internist in the Chicago area for more than 35 years. He was a clinical instructor at Chicago Medical School for eight years and an assistant clinical professor at the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University for 25 years. Dr. Malnak was medical director of a number of medical organizations, including Principle Health Care of Illinois and the emergency department of Chicago’s Mount20Sinai Hospital. He is a frequent contributor of letters to the editor and guest commentaries to the Daily News.

• Latest Guidelines for colorectal cancer screening Posted 3/6/2012 at 11:50 a.m. 0 comments

  Since colon cancer is second only to lung cancer as the cause of deaths due to malignancies in the USA, I have copied this information from the latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

• HITLER’S SILVER BOX-A Novel—my response to American Nazis Posted 1/14/2012 at 9:43 a.m. 2 comments

  “Future generations have serious responsibilities, chief among these not to repeat past mistakes.  Sadly, these days, there are still those who, out of ignorance or foul intentions, somehow revere the scourge that was National Socialism. That’s why, it’s good for the rest of us to get reminded from time to time, at least, how truly despicable the Nazis were.”

• Eating more whole grains definitely has great health benefits, even decreasing the risk of colon cancer. Posted 11/13/2011 at 12:32 p.m. 0 comments

  More studies have indicated a link between the consumption of whole grains and the incidence of colon cancer. Eating three servings daily of whole grains reduced colon cancer according to a very large recent study.
  

• Affordable health care is an absolute necessity Posted 8/27/2011 at 8:58 a.m. 2 comments

  Health care is not a commodity like a new car or an upgraded computer, however necessary those material possessions are. Affordable health care is an absolute necessity if one is to have a chance at a healthy life. No matter what one does or doesn’t do, inability to afford heath insurance not only takes years from one’s life but life from one’s years.
  

• Another “Don’t Ask” Posted 5/13/2011 at 2:43 p.m. 5 comments

  Ah, a clash between an academy of pediatricians and the NRA. One doesn’t have to be a Las Vegas odds-maker to know the outcome of that uneven contest.

• Quality of American Health Care Posted 4/17/2011 at 7:12 p.m. 0 comments

  A recent poll concerning the quality of health care was conducted with over a thousand adult Americans and reported at a meeting of the American Hospital Association in Washington, D.C. last week.

• Review of Provisions of Affordable Health Care Act Posted 3/25/2011 at 8:00 p.m. 5 comments

  So many misconceptions about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continue to roll out. Here’s an objective updated version provided by the American Medical Association.
  

• New website can help patients navigate health care law Posted 3/3/2011 at 2:44 p.m. 0 comments

  HealthCareandYou.org—a new online resource chock-full of easy-to-understand information for patients about the Affordable Care Act was launched March 1.

• Even more reasons we desperately need immediate health care reform. Posted 2/5/2011 at 9:56 a.m. 9 comments

  It’s apparent that the majority of readers of the Naples Daily News are opposed to health care reform. Here’s some more facts helping one understand the need.This information is taken from an article appearing in “Business Insider.” Actually, I could fill a newspaper with much more statistics that reveal our failed health care system and the need to make the necessary improvements now. In our state 23.7 Floridians are uninsured. Add to that the number underinsured.
  
  

• What about those veterans who continue to die because they can’t afford health insurance? Posted 1/30/2011 at 12:12 p.m. 0 comments

  I was surprised to learn that many of my veteran friends were completely unaware of a Harvard University study that indicated about 2,266 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan died in 2008 simply because they couldn’t afford health insurance. Now that’s sad indeed. My friends asked me the same questions. “What about the VA? Don’t these guys realize the VA will provide them with health care?”