Dr. Brueck's medical mission

Summer is here and I am off again on a new mission adventure. You'll never guess where I am going.

Siberia.

Before you envision me as "Nanook of the North" - dressed head to toe in winter clothes, boots, insulated underwear and all, let me tell you I have been told the temperatures can reach 120 degrees. Yes, 120 degrees. I guess I will find out soon enough.

I leave Fort Myers on Saturday, June 21, to fly to Moscow and then head north to some remote villages in Siberia.

Many of the people living there have no idea who Jesus Christ is or have ever seen a doctor. I will return Monday, July 14.

The medical mission is AGAPE headed by Dr. Bill Bechnell. I met him 3 years ago and we have been in touch. After much thought and prayer, I'm off again.

Bill is such a humble servant of the Lord. When he returned from general surgery in Kentucky, mission work became his passion and calling.

I will give you all a full report when I return. I hope all of you will pray that we can make a difference in many peoples lives.

If you want to make a donation, please make your check payable to AGAPE. It's tax deductible. You can send it to me at my office. It will be used to buy medicines for our trip.

Thank you in advance for all your prayers and support - be safe and have a spirit-filled summer. God Bless.

(Ed. Note - Dr. Brueck was reluctant to talk about this trip. It was only after my insistence that he consented.)

Wow! Is drive-through next?

What more can I say? Just when you think you have heard it all, something new comes along. You go into a bar – order a beer – maybe a martini – “how about some nachos?”

But the menu is expanding.

If you are in California, you may want to stop by the Wine Styles Bar in Coronado, CA. You may hear a patron say, “Bartender, give me a Manhattan straight up and a couple of shots of Botox.”

The bar is owned by a Ms. Patti Wordengreen.

Along with libations and Botox, she offers massages and brow waxing. The injections are performed by a Dr. Gretchen Deel – she is a family practitioner. She performs the injections for $200 a pop.

What will they think of next?

(Ed. Note: Do you suppose that $200 includes a tip?)

Longer eyelashes will soon be here

A while ago I wrote about a new medical drug to produce darker, thicker, longer eyelashes.

Allergan, the maker of Botox, hopes to launch this new cosmetic drug next summer. The active ingredient is bimatoprost, which is Allergan’s glaucoma drug, Lumigen.

David Pyott, Chairman of Allergan, feels sales from this product could exceed $500 million. There will be a lot of long lashes.

The drug will be applied in much the same way as a woman applies eyeliner. Allegan recently filed a lawsuit against Jan Marini Skin Research for infringing on Allergan’s patent rights to the use of prostaglandins to enhance eyelash growth.

Jan Marini took their product off the market but in response they said they are coming out with an eyelash enhancer that is “non-prostaglandin” and works as well or better than Allergan’s.

Let the battle begin.

For more information on all manner of cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery subjects, visit Dr. Brueck's web site at http://www.Beauty-by-Brueck.com

The latest on sunscreens, sun blocks and sun burn

The link between sun exposure and skin cancer was made all the way back in 1918 by Dr. Norman Paul of Sydney, Australia.

There are components to solar radiation; long wavelength ultraviolet A (UVA) and short wavelength ultraviolet B (UVB). UVA is broken down into UVA and UVA2. For a long time it was thought only UVB caused sun damage to the skin, ie. sunburn.

Research over the past two decades has shown that UVA exposure is the key cause of skin wrinkling and solar damage. This also correlates with a higher incidence of skin cancer. In the early 80’s, it became obvious that sun screens needed to provide a greater degree of protection against UVA rays.

This is what is meant when we speak of “broad spectrum”. It means the sunscreen provides protection against both UVB and UVA.

Generally, I recommend a broad spectrum sunblock with a SPF of 30 or 35. 50 is okay too. Any SPF rating above 50 really doesn’t add much in extra protection but the ingredients are so concentrated they may be irritating to your skin.

What does SPF mean? The initials stand for Sun Protection Factor. If you use a sunscreen with an SPF of 20 it means it would take 20 times longer to get a sunburn than if you had NO sunscreen.

If you get a broad spectrum” sunblock with an SPF of 30-40 or 50, you should have excellent protection. I usually recommend patients liberally apply SPF20 in three coats to exposed areas prior to going out in the sun. You should reapply this every two hours or so.

Today, there are 17 chemical and physical (ie. zinc oxide) screens approved by the FDA.

There are NEW proposed ratings for UVB and UVA protection

Proposed UVB Labeling

• Low – SPF 2 – 14

• Medium – SPF 15 – 29

• High – SPF 30 – 50

• Highest – SPF 50+

Proposed UVA Labeling

Low - *

Medium - **

High - ***

Highest - ****

Some new changes to occur over the next one to two years:

- Sun protection factor would become sun burn protection factor.

- SPF numbers would be capped at 50 since higher numbers don’t provide any significant added protection.

- Terms such as “sunblock” and “waterproof” would no longer be allowed. “Sunscreen” would replace “sunblock”.

- Sunscreens that maintain their SPF numbers offer 40-80 minutes of total immersion would be labeled “water resistant” and not "waterproof".

- Also, sunscreens would contain a warning that sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer and aging.

There you have it – just in time for your summer sojourn to the beach or Disney World. One other thing – "gooping" is not only allowed, but recommended