‘Citrate is a kidney stone-preventing substance, and lemonade (lemon juice) is full of citrate.’
NOTHING to date can dissolve kidney stones, despite various marketed herbal substances or “natural and home” remedy potion or pills which claim to be able to do so. Don’t be fooled by false advertisements which are only after your hard-earned money.
If you are prone to develop kidney stones, drink lemonade. It cannot dissolve kidney stone crystals, but it can slow down the development of stones. It is a delicious way to control your stone formation.
“When treating patients in our kidney stone center, we put everyone on lemonade therapy,” says Steven Y. Nakada, chair and professor of urology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison at a previous annual meeting of the American Urological Association in Atlanta.
Potassium citrate is usually prescribed for patients with kidney stones. Citrate is a kidney stone-preventing substance, and lemonade (lemon juice) is full of citrate. The pill is more potent but the citrate in lemonade has been found to also slow down kidney stone formation. An alternative to “another pill” to take.
Your mouth and diabetes
Most people do not know or realize that poor dental/oral health increases our risk for diabetes T2 and, in turn, this metabolic disease adversely affects our teeth. It is a vicious cycle of cause and effect highlighted by the American Dental Association.
The ADA “two-way-street” clarification: “Blood sugars fueling the acidity that leads to tooth and root decay and gum disease, and dental disease that leads to infection and boosts blood glucose when the body’s immune system responds. The 2017 publication recognizes the close association of dental disease and diabetes, even though ADA acknowledges that causes and effects aren’t yet universally understood.”
Also, dental/oral infection, and infection (inflammation) in any other parts of the body increase our risks for cardiovascular diseases and cancer, too.
This is why dental hygiene and regular visit to the dentist is paramount.
Sleep and diabetes
Impairment in sleep raises our risk for metabolic disease, like diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular illnesses, like heart attack, stroke, and even cancer. Yes, lack of restful sleep leads to increased proneness to all these major ailments, including deadly cancers. Indeed, sleep is important to our health and well-being.
More and more, physicians today are far more vigilant about Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) as a most common cause of impairment of sleep and its association and role to the development of (and as a worsening factor) for the major illnesses listed above
About 3-7 percent (roughly about 10 to 16 million) of the US population have sleep apnea, more among men. There are countless undiagnosed OSA cases. Almost 25 percent of individuals with diabetes T2 also have OSA,
In OSA, there is frequent (could be hundred times a night) breath holding, severely reduced oxygen level, and the person wakes up gasping for breath. Some do not even wake up at all, suffering anoxia and heart attack or fatal heart-rhythm problems. The constant reduction in oxygen due to OSA every night also leads to fatigue, sleepiness during the daytime, lack of concentration, poorer decision-making, and inferior performance. Depriving the body of oxygen and rest also increases the risk for those major diseases mentioned above, including cancer.
Among diabetics, Sleep-Disordered Breathing (SDB), OSA, and all other stresses, impair the metabolism of our body in general and, among those with diabetes, the body’s ability to allow the medications to work fully.
Metformin, the most popular drug for diabetes T2, which acts to reduce the glucose production in the liver and reduce the cell insulin resistance, acts less than 100 percent when the patient has an untreated sleep disorder. This makes the treatment less optimal. And the same thing is true among those patients with high blood pressure or other major ailments on treatment. A good restful sleep every day is essential for all of us.
After a Sleep Study has confirmed the diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the best treatment is the use of CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) whenever going to sleep. CPAP has saved and improved countless lives.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com
