Get a good water filter

The Swedish proverb “the afternoon knows what the morning never expected” was popularized by the great American poet Robert Frost. What he was expressing is that often we find out later what really went on earlier.

In the interest of protecting the public health, the American Medical Association is adopting a policy supporting full disclosure of the chemicals released into the environment by the drilling/ fracking industry. Believe it or not, when chemicals under immense pressure are injected into the ground during hydraulic fracturing, no one is currently held accountable for the amount and/ or type of chemicals being used. In fact, in another “believe it or not” moment, in May 2014, the North Carolina Senate voted to make it a crime to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. (It is public knowledge that some of the chemicals the industry uses include: hydrochloric acid; magnesium oxide; isopropanol; methanol; formic acid; petroleum; boric acid; and zirconium.)

The AMA wants the opposite -- for government agencies to record and monitor these chemicals with a focus on the effect of human exposure to them. That way, doctors will know what they are dealing with when it comes time to treat patients who may have health problems related to the distribution of those chemicals. Let the AMA (and your representatives) know that you support their initiative, and if you live near a fracking site, get a good water filter NOW. We recommend a charcoal filter on all water you use, whether it’s for drinking or making coffee or soup.

Using in-home medical devices safely

In “Young Frankenstein” (1974) Gene Wilder plays a neuroscientist who inherits a castle complete with a typical mad scientist’s laboratory. It’s filled with lots of weird medical devices (and a monster) from his grandfather, Dr. Frankenstein. Those devices led to hilarity. But for the millions of people who use medical devices to monitor blood glucose, blood pressure and respiration, to provide oxygen and insulin or to get relief from pain, home medical equipment is serious business.

The invention of these self-regulated devices (these days, they often send the data to your doctor) can offer you independence and save you money. A pilot project at the Cleveland Clinic found that remote monitoring increased the average number of days between office visits by 71 percent for diabetic patients and by 26 percent for hypertensive patients. Nationally, remote patient monitoring alone is expected to save around $197 billion in the next 25 years.

But devices come with risks if they aren’t manufactured correctly or if you don’t use them properly. To protect from equipment snafus (or worse):

■ Always get a prescription for any in-home medical device, and learn how to use it with your doctor.

■ Talk to your doc about medical devices that you plan to buy on the Internet. No freelance self-prescribing. Many products may not have Food and Drug Administration approval.

■ Whenever you bring a device home, read labels and patient information (twice is nice), and check out the FDA’s in-depth info on using home devices safely by Googling “FDA Home Use Devices.”

Fruits and veggies are for good mental health

Dale Carnegie said, “When fate hands us a lemon, let’s try to make a lemonade.” It’s rule No. 6 in his book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.” But there are actually lots of other tasty ways to change your outlook from sour to sweet that don’t call for added sugar.

The newly published SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) study tracked 19,000 people for around 10 years and found that eating a diet with healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables (including legumes and nuts) reduces the risk of depression by up to 25 to 30 percent!

There are many reasons why unprocessed fresh fruits and vegetables help you achieve and keep a positive attitude. First, they protect your overall health: Eating foods rich in polyphenols reduces inflammation and helps prevent some cancers, as well as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Fruits and vegetables also provide fuel for the brain. Plus, when you’re eating fruits and vegetables, chances are you’re NOT eating foods that contain the Five Food Felons: trans and saturated fats, added sugar and sugar syrups, and processed grains.

Unfortunately, Americans eat only one serving of fruit and two servings of veggies daily. (And often the fruits and veggies are from sugar-added fruit drinks and French fries!) But good mental health is a pretty great reason to change your ways and eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Then, as Eric Idle sings at the end of Monty Python’s “Life of Brian,” you’ll be able to “look on the bright side of life.”

Acupuncture for cancer-treatment-induced hot flashes

When Cybill Shepherd recorded the “Menopause Blues” (it’s on YouTube) in 2004, she crooned about “those hot-flashin’, mood-swingin’” miseries. But we bet she didn’t know that for millions of women with breast cancer (and men with prostate cancer), those symptoms are a direct result of their life-saving treatments. Up to 80 percent of prostate survivors, especially those on hormone-deprivation therapy, and 80 percent of women on tamoxifen for treatment of estrogen-dependent breast cancer experience hot flashes. Oftentimes, they’re bad enough for folks to consider ending their cancer therapy. And antidepressants, anti-seizure medications and anti-anxiety medications commonly prescribed to quell the fire sometimes are ineffective or come with their own serious side effects.

Now for the good news. First, those hot flashes, at least for women taking tamoxifen, are a positive. A five-year study of almost 900 women found that those with hot flashes were less likely to have recurrence of breast cancer than those who stayed cool. And, ta da, electroacupuncture works to tame hot flashes and night sweats more effectively than the often-prescribed anti-seizure drug gabapentin (even sham acupuncture worked better!).

For guys being treated for prostate cancer and others who are getting chemotherapy or radiation treatments that trigger hormone shifts, this treatment is worth a try.

Not an exercise replacement

John F. Kennedy once said, “There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.” These words certainly apply to a new study of obese people that found daily supplementation of vitamin C (500 mg per day, time-released) reduces circulatory constriction in small blood vessels as much as walking does.

While that’s good news for obese (and overweight) folks who are trying to get healthier, taking that much vitamin C should be part of a strategy to get you on the road to better health. It’s NOT a magic pill that encourages comfortable inaction. And it doesn’t give someone who is overweight a reason to skip exercise or to eat unhealthy foods.

True, sometimes people who are overweight or obese have a hard time exercising. Exercising with extra baggage is like trying to catch a connecting flight at O’Hare 50 gates away, loaded down with carry-ons. You hope it will happen, but ... So, if you’re overweight and want to get on that healthy plane, make this C-onnection.

Talk to your doctor about increasing your daily dose of vitamin C (for some folks, it may trigger kidney stones or blood-clotting problems). Avoid the Five Food Felons (all trans and most sat fats, all added sugars and syrups, and processed grains). Start a walking program headed for 10,000 steps a day. And enjoy the vitamin C-packed deliciousness of papaya, bell peppers, broccoli, strawberries and pineapple.