From the office of Robert S. Grimshaw Jr MD FACP Internal Medicine 3535 Hill Blvd Yorktown Hts NY 914 962-3180 NEWS Recognized Provider  “With Distinction” by the American Diabetes Association/National Committee for Quality Assurance 2/99-2/02

86                            September 2000

National Cholesterol Education Month: The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommends that everyone over 20 get their cholesterol checked at least every 5 years.  They want your total cholesterol under 200 (I recommend a “lousy” LDL cholesterol of 130 or less unless you’ve had any sign of blood vessel problems or diabetes, when it should be under 100).The NCEP calls dietary modification “the optimal method for lowering cholesterol” and I agree – we offer expert dietary guidance with our practice’s dietician, Geri Merante RD MPH CDN.   She’s available to patients in the practice on Tuesdays, and her consultations are covered here by Medicare and most other insurance.  For more information about cholesterol, check the NCEP at www/nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncep/index.htm,
www.cdc.gov//nccdphp/cvd,

and the American Heart Association at www/

Our Lab Grade: 100%!

A tip of the hat to our lab crew: Jean Narod, Cathy DeMaio and chief Terri Bissionette.  As you know, we do extensive testing here in the office, and we get tested ourselves.  We got a perfect score from the Committee on Lab Accreditation.  This included chemistries (such as sugar or cholesterol), hematology (blood counts), bacteriology (urine cultures) and special chemistries (thyroid, PSA, etc.). Our accuracy is among the best in the U.S.; you’re worth it!

Colon Cancer Screening:
Leonard Curry is our latest monthly winner of 2 movie tickets for getting colon cancer screening cards in promptly.  Everyone who sends in their cards wins in our fight against this, the most preventable major tumor.
Prostate Cancer: the week of September 18-22 is Prostate Cancer Awareness Week. Prostate is the 2nd greatest cancer killer of men over 55.  Those over 50 should have a PSA blood test and the famous “dig-ital rectal exam” yearly in most cases; those of African descent or with a family history  should start at age 40.  For those on Medicare, one test is covered every 12 months.

Estrogen Replacement and Heart Disease: a report in The New England Journal of Medicine last month throws more cold water on the concept of using hormone replacement therapy for treating heart disease.  Wake Forest University’s Dr. David Herrington and colleagues randomly assigned 309 women with proven coronary disease to placebo or estrogen with or without progesterone (Premarin and Prempro).  Those treated with either form of estrogen did no better than those on standard therapy.

Zinc & the Common Cold:
Readers of these pages will recall (3/97, 12/97) a lot of interest - and controversy - about using zinc lozenges to decrease cold symptoms. Now in the Annals of Internal Medicine  Wayne State University’s Dr. Ananda Prasad and colleagues report on 48 patients.  Those on zinc (12.8 mg every 2-3 hours while awake) had reduced duration (4.5 vs 8.1 days) and severity of symptoms, particularly cough (3.1 vs 6.3 days).  Studies with zinc are notoriously difficult because there’s no real way to use placebo - it’s very bitter.  So Dr. Prasad’s team also looked at pro-inflammatory chemicals called cytokines.  There was a trend toward lower levels of these, but it was not statistically significant. Should you take zinc lozenges for the 2-6 colds you’ll get this year?  Can’t say. But side effects were only dry mouth  and constipation.