Late Night Health Radio

Katy Martin is a Chef and MBA registered Dietitian. Katy joins Mark Alyn to talk about Gluten Free eating and Celiac Disease. It's difficult to purchase food that is Gluten Free due to inconsistency in labeling, not all foods in the grocery store say if they are gluten free or not.

Katy has been eating gluten free for more than 15 years. Katy has suffered from celiac disease for the past 16 years. Celiac disease is caused by a reaction to gliadin, a prolamin (gluten protein) found in wheat, and similar proteins found in the crops of the tribe Triticeae (which includes other common grains such as barley and rye). Upon exposure to gliadin, and specifically to three pep tides found in prolamins, the enzyme tissue trans glutaminase modifies the protein, and the immune system cross-reacts with the small-bowel tissue, causing an inflammatory reaction. That leads to a truncating of the villi lining the small intestine (called villus atrophy). This interferes with the absorption of nutrients because the intestinal villi are responsible for absorption. The only known effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. While the disease is caused by a reaction to wheat proteins, it is usually classified as different from the other forms of wheat allergy.

She is now the head chef at Tolerant foods, preparing a variety of gluten free products including a pasta! Katy is on a quest to help get America to start eating gluten free.

Learn more at www.latenighthealth.com/eating-gluten-free-for-celiac-disease

Mark and Sherry talk about Superfoods to Supercharge your fall. Cranberries have a lot of health benefits, they help protect against bladder infections in women. The compounds that are in cranberries actually change the structure of the ecoli bacteria, it actually morphs the bacteria so it can't stick on the bladder wall. The best way to get the most out of cranberries it to take a supplement. Pure cranberry juice is almost impossible to drink because its so tart and therefore a lot of sugar or sweetener needs to be added to make it drinkable. Taking a cranberry supplement is a better way to avoid all the sugar. Sugar can affect the immune system and cause inflammation so it's important to not take in extra sugar while trying to get the health benefits of cranberries.

Sherry Torkos, a Holistic Pharmacist, joins Mark Alyn to talk about natural medicine. Sherry was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in the 80's when she was a teenager. Im the 80's no one really knew what Celiac Disease even was, Sherry was misdiagnosed for years before doctors discovered what was really wrong with her. Once she was diagnosed the next issue was doctors didn't really even know how to treat Celiac Disease. Sherry found that eating gluten was actually damaging her the wall of her intestines and she started developing system-wide nutritional issues such as rashes, night vision loss, hair, nails, anemia etc... this was resolved once she changed her diet. She got on a gluten-free diet and began taking supplements. This whole experience as a teenager is what propelled her into the world of pharmaceuticals and eventually towards a holistic approach through supplements and diet.

Sherry graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science in 1992 and has since moved to the holistic side of pharmaceuticals. Sherry Torkos is the author of more than a dozen books.

Mark and Sherry talk about Superfoods to Supercharge your fall. Cranberries have a lot of health benefits, they help protect against bladder infections in women. The compounds that are in cranberries actually change the structure of the ecoli bacteria, it actually morphs the bacteria so it can't stick on the bladder wall. The best way to get the most out of cranberries it to take a supplement. Pure cranberry juice is almost impossible to drink because its so tart and therefore a lot of sugar or sweetener needs to be added to make it drinkable. Taking a cranberry supplement is a better way to avoid all the sugar. Sugar can affect the immune system and cause inflammation so it's important to not take in extra sugar while trying to get the health benefits of cranberries.

Sherry Torkos, a Holistic Pharmacist, joins Mark Alyn to talk about natural medicine. Sherry was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in the 80's when she was a teenager. Im the 80's no one really knew what Celiac Disease even was, Sherry was misdiagnosed for years before doctors discovered what was really wrong with her. Once she was diagnosed the next issue was doctors didn't really even know how to treat Celiac Disease. Sherry found that eating gluten was actually damaging her the wall of her intestines and she started developing system-wide nutritional issues such as rashes, night vision loss, hair, nails, anemia etc... this was resolved once she changed her diet. She got on a gluten-free diet and began taking supplements. This whole experience as a teenager is what propelled her into the world of pharmaceuticals and eventually towards a holistic approach through supplements and diet.

Sherry graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science in 1992 and has since moved to the holistic side of pharmaceuticals. Sherry Torkos is the author of more than a dozen books.

Doug Stephan is the host of the Doug Stephan's Good Day Show. Doug also is a dairy farm owner. He has 3 dairy farms in Framingham, MA and owns 300 cows. Mark and Doug discuss the need for more local organic farms and why it's important for people's nutritional health.

Doug also discusses raw milk. There are two different kinds of raw milk, one is raw milk sold retail and the other is raw milk sold on the dairy farm. The nutritional content of raw milk vs. commercially processed milk is night and day different. There is significant nutritional value to drinking raw milk. There are 27 states in the country that allow raw milk to be sold. Most Cities in Europe sell raw milk everywhere, you can even get it in a vending machine like you would a coca cola. Here in the US all of the public health people have a dislike for raw milk.

A tragic accident happened on Doug’s farm with the snow a few weeks ago. A barn collapsed killing three cows. Doug talks about owning a dairy farm and how listeners can help save it.

Doug Stephan is the host of the Doug Stephan's Good Day Show. Doug also is a dairy farm owner. He has 3 dairy farms in Framingham, MA and owns 300 cows. Mark and Doug discuss the need for more local organic farms and why it's important for people's nutritional health.

Doug also discusses raw milk. There are two different kinds of raw milk, one is raw milk sold retail and the other is raw milk sold on the dairy farm. The nutritional content of raw milk vs. commercially processed milk is night and day different. There is significant nutritional value to drinking raw milk. There are 27 states in the country that allow raw milk to be sold. Most Cities in Europe sell raw milk everywhere, you can even get it in a vending machine like you would a coca cola. Here in the US all of the public health people have a dislike for raw milk.

A tragic accident happened on Doug’s farm with the snow a few weeks ago. A barn collapsed killing three cows. Doug talks about owning a dairy farm and how listeners can help save it.

Kat Napolitano, of KatNap Fitness, joins Mark Alyn on Late Night Health Radio to talk about role models in fitness. Think these things don’t make a difference? Think again!

Role models still affect us all at any age and this is particularly true in the fitness world where we are still only seeing skinny, chiseled and muscled trainers to inspire us to workout. But statistics show that this isn’t working. 60% of American adults still don't get the recommended amount of physical activity, and over 25% of adults are not active at all.

There is a sea change in many industries of more realistic role models for body image starting to appear. Oprah is probably the most well-known headliner to bring a new image to health and weight loss as the new face of Weight Watchers and it is making a major impact. For the FIRST TIME EVER, Sports Illustrated put a curvy model on one of the covers (you go Ashley Graham!) Barbie just launched a new line of dolls to reflect the changes in what we see as beauty.

In the fitness industry, apparel brands are adding plus size lines at a rapid pace. Considering the average clothing size for the American woman is a 14, brands must meet the consumer’s needs. LIVI Active, C9 Champion, Zella, The Warm Up by Jessica Simpson, NOLA, Torrid Active – the list grows daily. So why haven’t the role models caught up with the fashion? If you have plus size athletic wear, shouldn’t you have a plus size fitness person guiding people in their fitness? There is a disconnect and Kat hopes to help connect the two, which is why Kat launched KatNap Fitness last November. By just changing who you follow in a workout can mean the difference between success and failure and the reality is, these millions of people who are not a size 2, like some Late Night Health Radio listeners, want someone else to inspire and motivate them. Quite simply, many people are disconnected to the fitness person they are supposed to workout with.

Only when we have people that we can relate to and identify with, can we have motivation and inspiration, which leads to success. And the reality is that the skinny, super fit trainer is not always the best person for the job.

Kat Napolitano, of KatNap Fitness, joins Mark Alyn on Late Night Health Radio to talk about role models in fitness. Think these things don’t make a difference? Think again!

Role models still affect us all at any age and this is particularly true in the fitness world where we are still only seeing skinny, chiseled and muscled trainers to inspire us to workout. But statistics show that this isn’t working. 60% of American adults still don't get the recommended amount of physical activity, and over 25% of adults are not active at all.

There is a sea change in many industries of more realistic role models for body image starting to appear. Oprah is probably the most well-known headliner to bring a new image to health and weight loss as the new face of Weight Watchers and it is making a major impact. For the FIRST TIME EVER, Sports Illustrated put a curvy model on one of the covers (you go Ashley Graham!) Barbie just launched a new line of dolls to reflect the changes in what we see as beauty.

In the fitness industry, apparel brands are adding plus size lines at a rapid pace. Considering the average clothing size for the American woman is a 14, brands must meet the consumer’s needs. LIVI Active, C9 Champion, Zella, The Warm Up by Jessica Simpson, NOLA, Torrid Active – the list grows daily. So why haven’t the role models caught up with the fashion? If you have plus size athletic wear, shouldn’t you have a plus size fitness person guiding people in their fitness? There is a disconnect and Kat hopes to help connect the two, which is why Kat launched KatNap Fitness last November. By just changing who you follow in a workout can mean the difference between success and failure and the reality is, these millions of people who are not a size 2, like some Late Night Health Radio listeners, want someone else to inspire and motivate them. Quite simply, many people are disconnected to the fitness person they are supposed to workout with.

Only when we have people that we can relate to and identify with, can we have motivation and inspiration, which leads to success. And the reality is that the skinny, super fit trainer is not always the best person for the job.

Saul J. Weiner, M.D., and Alan Schwartz, PH.D., join Mark Alyn to talk about their new book, Listening for What Matters: Avoiding Contextual Errors in Health Care. The book is based on 10 years of groundbreaking research conducted by the authors and explains how and why doctors commonly fail when diagnosing and treating patients. With federal grants, Weiner and Schwartz conducted studies, which first sent actors, called Unannounced Standardized Patients (“USPs”) and then real patients, to hundreds of doctor's visits with hidden audio-recording devices so that the research team could listen and analyze the results of the visits. This is their story.

The focus behind the experiments was to find out how often doctors picked up on “contextual red flags” alluded to by the patients. These are clues that something is going on in a patient’s life that needs to be addressed for a care plan to be effective. So, if a patient drops clues that he is unable to afford an expensive brand name medication after losing health insurance coverage, then Weiner and Schwartz would observe whether the doctor picks up on the clues and prescribes a lower-cost generic medicine. The studies document that physicians are frequently overlooking crucial clues about patients’ individual life circumstances and making medical errors as a result. These mistakes by doctors are costly and pervasive and can be prevented. Weiner and Schwartz explain how doctors and other health-care professionals can learn to listen better, ask the right questions, and get better results.

In their interview with Mark, Saul and Alan will discuss:

- Some of the most surprising things they learned while conducting these experiments—stories from the trenches revealed by the actors and patients that went into the doctors’ offices undercover.

- Why doctors so frequently miss patient clues that they are struggling – termed “contextual red flags” - even when these red flags seem obvious to the reader.

- What our medical schools can do to better train health care professionals to listen and engage with patients on an individual level so that patients’ health care outcomes are better.

- Why contextualized care is more cost effective and why it doesn't have to take any more time out of a busy doctor's day than the current way care is delivered.

- What patients can do to better their, or a loved one's, care if they don't feel their health-care professionals are listening to them.

The book is available from Oxford University Press and can be bought online via Amazon, Oxford, or another retailer.

Saul J. Weiner, M.D., and Alan Schwartz, PH.D., join Mark Alyn to talk about their new book, Listening for What Matters: Avoiding Contextual Errors in Health Care. The book is based on 10 years of groundbreaking research conducted by the authors and explains how and why doctors commonly fail when diagnosing and treating patients. With federal grants, Weiner and Schwartz conducted studies, which first sent actors, called Unannounced Standardized Patients (“USPs”) and then real patients, to hundreds of doctor's visits with hidden audio-recording devices so that the research team could listen and analyze the results of the visits. This is their story.

The focus behind the experiments was to find out how often doctors picked up on “contextual red flags” alluded to by the patients. These are clues that something is going on in a patient’s life that needs to be addressed for a care plan to be effective. So, if a patient drops clues that he is unable to afford an expensive brand name medication after losing health insurance coverage, then Weiner and Schwartz would observe whether the doctor picks up on the clues and prescribes a lower-cost generic medicine. The studies document that physicians are frequently overlooking crucial clues about patients’ individual life circumstances and making medical errors as a result. These mistakes by doctors are costly and pervasive and can be prevented. Weiner and Schwartz explain how doctors and other health-care professionals can learn to listen better, ask the right questions, and get better results.

In their interview with Mark, Saul and Alan will discuss:

- Some of the most surprising things they learned while conducting these experiments—stories from the trenches revealed by the actors and patients that went into the doctors’ offices undercover.

- Why doctors so frequently miss patient clues that they are struggling – termed “contextual red flags” - even when these red flags seem obvious to the reader.

- What our medical schools can do to better train health care professionals to listen and engage with patients on an individual level so that patients’ health care outcomes are better.

- Why contextualized care is more cost effective and why it doesn't have to take any more time out of a busy doctor's day than the current way care is delivered.

- What patients can do to better their, or a loved one's, care if they don't feel their health-care professionals are listening to them.

The book is available from Oxford University Press and can be bought online via Amazon, Oxford, or another retailer.

The Launch of NORD Founder, Abbey Meyers' memoir "Orphan Drugs: A Global Crusade"

Mark speaks with Abbey Meyers, founder and past President of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), about the launch of her new book Orphan Drugs: A Global Crusade.

Ms. Meyers opens up about the struggles she had in getting a proper diagnosis for her son, who was eventually diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, followed by additional struggles to get treatment option that was safe and effective. The talks about her unwavering efforts that ultimately supported the enactment of the groundbreaking “Orphan Drug Act of 1983”

Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Meyers served as the consumer representative on the National Commission on Orphan Diseases (1986-89), the NIH Human Gene Therapy Subcommittee, the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC), the FDA Biological Response Modifiers Committee, and the HHS National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee. She was also an Honorary President of the European Organization for Rare Disorders (EURORDIS) and currently hold the honorary title of President Emeritus of NORD.

Ms. Meyers asserts to Mark, "One day, I wish everyone dealing with the pain and misery of the 7,000 rare disorders will have access to a treatment that will alleviate their symptoms.”