Page 16 - Winter 2020 Castle MD

Newsworthy
David Kaminskas, MD, Adventist Health Castle neurologist shared the benefits and drawbacks of drinking coffee on a KHON2 Take2 segment. While a new study showed that one or two cups a day of coffee can actually help decrease the frequency of migraine headaches, three or four cups can increase the frequency of migraines. He advised those who want to lessen their coffee intake to do it slowly to head off withdrawal symptoms. Dr. Kaminskas said caffeine has been shown to reduce the risk of depression, suicide, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and even stroke, but there are some who probably should avoid coffee such as those who suffer from sleeplessness, anxiety and heart disease.
Robin Matsukawa, MD, internal medicine physician at Castle Primary Care of Ka¯ne‘ohe, addressed the benefits and risks of daily aspirin use
on a segment of KHON2’s Take2 news program. Dr. Matsukawa said daily aspirin use mainly benefits patients who have already had a heart attack or stroke. It can also help those who haven’t had a heart attack or stroke and didn't have surgery but are at high risk. The negative side effects include bruising easily, and more serious side effects like gastrointestinal bleeding and bleeding in the brain. He counseled listeners to talk with their physician before starting or stopping their aspirin regimen.
Ben Roney, MD, primary care physician at Castle, was featured
on Your Primary Focus, a segment of KHII (Channel 5 ) news with Howard Dashefsky. Dr. Roney discussed diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death here in Hawai‘i and a costly disease. Dr. Roney told viewers both family history and diet play a role in diabetes. He said those over the age of 40 who are overweight with a BMI above 25 should have regular screening, and even those with normal blood sugar should be screened about every two years. He also discussed the difference between Type 1 diabetes, which you’re born with, and Type 2, which is when you have too much blood sugar due to diet and lack of exercise.
In Hawai‘I, Dr. Roney said, our genetic
16 · WINTER ‘20