More taxes may promote healthy choices

When the Philadelphia 76ers cruised to a 130-103 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their best-ofseven playoff series this year, and the Cleveland Cavs were struggling to reach their potential, Dr. Mike looked around for a possible reason for the discrepancy in their performances. One theory he came up with: Philly has a soda tax that’s raised prices by around 20 percent and slashed soda sales.

His plea: Cleveland, tax sodas — our teams (especially the Browns) need all the help they can get!

A study out of Drexel University published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that when sugary sodas started being taxed, Philadelphia residents (players, too, we bet) were not only 40 percent less likely to report drinking them daily, they were 64 percent less likely to down energy drinks, and 58 percent more likely to drink bottled water.

There’s ample evidence that you pay a high price for indulging in sugar-added beverages, tobacco and junk food: crippling chronic diseases and premature death. Tell your state and local government that you’re for higher taxes on food, drinks and products that damage lives and cost the public billions of dollars in unnecessary health care bills.

Finally, a solution to treatment-resistant high blood pressure

The 10 percenters who make up the group of folks with treatment-resistant high blood pressure haven’t had such a rich future, up to now.

In a major breakthrough, researchers from Queen Mary University of London have discovered that in folks with treatment-resistant hypertension, a naturally present steroid hormone called aldosterone causes salt to accumulate in the bloodstream. And it does it even if those folks don’t take in excess salt or are treated with diuretics and other antihypertensive medications. Salt accumulation torques up blood pressure by increasing fluid retention.

One of the researchers explains the benefit of the discovery: “The discovery of salt overload as the underlying cause has enabled us to identify the hormone which drives this, and to treat or cure most of the patients.” Writing in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, researchers further explain that breakthrough treatment uses an available aldosterone-blocker called spironolactone; it overcomes salt excess, while conventional anti-hypertensives do not.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.