Dr. Mehmet Oz Dr. Michael Roizen Ask the doctors
Q: My 35-year-old son moved back home because he wasn't coping with "life on the outside." He's seeing a therapist and taking an antidepressant, but I don't think he's really working on getting better. My wife says he's doing the best he can, but I think we should ask him to move out. Am I out of line? — Carlo G., Yonkers, N.Y.
A: Mental illness is often hard for those "on the outside" to understand. If your son had cancer and needed to stay with you while he received chemo, surgery and/or radiation, chances are you wouldn't feel critical of how long the treatment took or if the treatment failed to create a total cure. You'd understand that's the nature of cancer therapies — even though a person can prevent many cancers by adopting a healthy lifestyle. But people (also the government and the medical profession) sometimes don't feel as sympathetic toward folks battling mental illness.
It may be helpful to understand that in some situations, emotions (response to shock or chronic stressors, for example) can trigger a physical event such as a heart attack or they may cause a mental illness such as post-traumatic stress disorder. In other situations, a physical trigger such as a genetic predisposition can lead to mental illness (depression) or a physical disease (high blood pressure). So which comes first: the chicken or the egg? It doesn't matter.
Interestingly, in a small study, researchers recently identified those who had depression and those who didn't by using a blood test to ID biochemical markers for the disease. This is an important step in putting depression on the same playing field as other disabilities.
It's good that your son is getting therapy and medication. He also should be encouraged to be physically active. Regular exercise creates brain changes similar to those caused by antidepressants: strengthening the neurotransmitter epinephrine, affecting serotonin uptake, promoting nerve growth and reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Best of luck to you and your son. Remember: time, treatment and activity can work.
Q: I keep hearing that hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) is polluting our air and groundwater and causing serious health problems. Is that true? — Richard F., Dayton, Ohio
A: We wonder how eager the leaders of the natural gas industry would be to drink well water from a farm next to one of their drilling sites. It's a fact that hydraulic fracturing pumps a lot of toxic chemicals (we know of about 24 offhand) deep underground at high enough pressure to fracture shale and release trapped gas and oil.
And in Pennsylvania, there are multiple reports of air and water contamination, possibly from hydraulic fracturing sites, causing folks breathing problems, rashes, headaches, nosebleeds, numbness, nausea and vomiting. That's why we suggest that everyone would be best served by the policy adopted in New York state: No fracking until results of a state department of health study become available. Better safe than irreversibly sorry.
We're not against progress, but we think some very simple and common-sense initiatives, laid out by environmental health researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard School of Public Health and 14 other health science centers, would be good for everybody, including the hydro-fracking industry. The researchers propose that baseline air and water data be collected at drilling sites before extraction begins, then at intervals during extraction and again later on, after extractions are completed. Sounds more like the parameters of an eighth-grade science project, but it's coming from our top university research centers. Guess they wanted to keep it simple so that even the politicians can understand it.
The oil and gas industry should welcome such scientific verification. If fracking really doesn't cause deadly disease and irreversibly pollute the air and water aquifers, then frack, baby, frack! We love cookin' with gas. But let's keep your land, water and air safe before turning on the stove.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of "The Dr. Oz Show," and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Email your health and wellness questions to Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen at youdocsdaily@sharecare.com.
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