now it's time for "sunday housecall." of course, it's half an hour after the top of the hour. as always, joining us this morning, associate professor of medicine at nyu's lango center. >> dr. samadi is here, too. people know it's 30 minutes after the hour. nobody misses "sunday housecall." my mom's watching, even. >> our best viewer there. >> she's good. she's in florida. i understand the heat in other areas is even warmer than it is in florida. you guys are concerned about people not knowing what to do to stay cool and then i was also informed to ask you about

hyperthe hyperthermia. >> it means too much heat where the body heat is building up. we have something called the heat index people out there need to know about. especially your mother down there in florida. heat index is the combination of the temperature outside and humidity ouz. the higher the heat index the less you can sweat. your sweat is what the body has to cool you off. it's your sprinkler system. if it doesn't work and you can't sweat enough you have a problem. elderly people like your mom have another problem which is -- >> oh, she hates you right now for calling her elderly. >> sorry, mom. >> generically. >> elderly people don't sweat as well. they tend to take medications that can be a problem like diuretics, blood pressure medication. the circulatory system doesn't work as well. you have to look for certain warning signs. heart rate going up.

becoming confused. becoming fatigue. i always say fatigue, fatigue, fatigue. number one, two and three symptoms for heat. get out of the heat if you're fatigued. use your air conditioner. get into the shade. use ice water, water, cold showers and drink, drink, drink. >> dr. samadi, yesterday we reported on an amazing thing. police helped a little 4-year-old escape with direction out of a hot car. are kids as susceptible to the heat? what should we do for them? >> it's interesting. one of the reasons why this show is so great is because you guys ask the best questions. you just took words out of my mouth. i was going to say there was a case of a year old kid that passed away, died about a week ago. he was left in the car. kids in the car are quite dangerous. please don't do this. this is a serious problem. the elderly and younger ones, they don't have any reserve. when it comes to young adults, you have a temperature of 90

degrees is not the time to run. if you want to be doing exercise you want to be indoor. elderly, they have a problem because of all these anti-hypertensive medications. they prevent you from sweating. sweating is the best thing for those days. you get rid of the heat. my advice is to get one of these blood pressure monitors at home. everybody should have one of those. on days like this if you take those medications monitor your o own blood pressure. if it's less than 120 over 80 stop taking the medications and talk with your doctor. you can always monitor whether you are well hydrated or not. the color of your urine is the best way to know how great you're doing. if it's white, you're great. if it's light yellow, you're still all right. if it's dark yellow, it's not a good thing and you want to start drinking. >> marc, david, you talk about

drinking. marc, is it true if you are outside and you're already thirsty, that's late? you need water before you get thirsty. >> you have to stay ahead of that. you have to be drinking water. >>xplain that, please. >> people need to be drinking water. not the electrolyte solutions. if you're a professional athlete use the electrolyte solutions. for most of us outside or i always say on our elliptical, inside is where you want to exercise, eric, in this kind of heat. i want to make one final point about an excellent point david made about babies in cars. you want a take home? your car will go up 20 degrees in ten minutes if you say i'm just going to go and take a bag to that supermarket and come right back. 20 degrees in ten minutes. you can lose a baby that way. many have been lost. >> so tragic when you hear about it in the summer all the time. >> glad i asked you that. >> absolutely. new research to tell you about. a therapy and treatment for down's syndrome. scientists say they now have been able to successfully turn off, they say, the chromosome defect that actually causes

down's syndrome in human cells. david, is this a breakthrough? can this lead to tend of down's syndrome at some point? >> we have quite a way to get there. test tube research. this is definitely one of my exciting news we're talking about. down's syndrome just so you know, it's an extra chromosome 21. we all have 46 chromosomes. down's syndrome children have 47. we all know the signs and symptoms. the cognitive disability that comes with it. beautiful children that grow to be in their mid-adults. medical conditions from heart to thyroid to weight gain that comes with this. exciting research from umass, dr. gene lawrence who's taken it to a whole new level. that's the exciting part. for the last two decades we've talked about gene mapping. we're sequencing the genes. all the letters you see in the gene. now we're talking about really genetic editing which is unbelievable. we are basically cut and paste like the way you do on your computer with paragraphs.

now we're starting to do that. this particular study is something call eed chromosomeal therapy. what does it mean? she has been able to insert a gene calmed xist. it's going to create some r and a and shut down that extra chrome some 21. which is incredible. while this is research, it opens the door to a lot of other research in down syndrome and many other disease. krou follow what i'm trying to say. that extra chromosome 21. >> before the baby's born? >> starting to do stem cremellsd do the research. >> you mentioned other diseases? >> i want to put cautions on this. this xist, jamie, women are ahead of us as usual. women have two x chromosomes. one x signals the otherx. we don't need you. you can shut down. that's what that gene does. it tells another chromosome to

shut down. it's been used and modified and the great study in nature is looking at it. still only in the test tube stage. next moving on to mice. not ready for humans yet. one thing that may be useful in this is 60% of down's people end up demeantnted by the age of 60. they're hoping that by giving this after birth -- >> you always wonder as a physician and as a doctor, yes, we do all the surgeries in the world. we take out organs, put something back in. you always wonder the creator of this whole genetic and this human body, who put this together? we're making small tiny little steps in research. it's all exciting. just imagine one day not only we understand the genetic code, but now starting to turn off one of them and turn on the other one. incredible. we wish this research at umass the greatest. >> absolutely. >> einstein called it my old friend, referring to god. >> good saying.

we're going to have a lot more after the break. so far we can tell you there has been no birth announcement yet. the royal baby watch, though, in high gear in london. there is some grand new speculation about just when kate will deliver the future king or queen of england. will it be today? have you ever noticed also when you go outside, some people just get swarmed? you get bitten up by mosquitos, get bitten alive. for other people, well, they don't even get a scratch or a nip or anything. why is that? the doctors will explain about mosquitos, next.

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it works. there's a survey now that finds that most people think it's okay even if their doctor gives them one. huh? dr. seiegel, really? a blank? >> surveys are not real science. it's asking people would you think this is okay? it's not the same as what we would do in the laboratory or case controlled or random studies. there's a previous study that showed 60% of doctors think it's okay to prescribe a placebo. now we have 50% to 75% of patients saying it's okay. what is a placebo? when your managing a patient's expectations rather than the pharmacology, drug effect or effect on the body, physiology. the antibiotic does something to you. if i give you something and it isn't the drug itself i'm looking for that's a placebo. i personally have an ethical problem with it. i don't like giving placebos first of all without disclosing

it. what i do like, i like the placebo effect. if i give you an antibiotic, i'm happy if it makes you better. >> this is your rule out that the patient doesn't need a specific drug and you give them something that isn't really a drug or you give them a drug even though you know the drug isn't going to help, it's viral versus bacterial and you give it to them anyway to make them feel calmer about it? >> that's exactly right. what happens is right now the patients go to the doctors. get in the waiting room. read the old magazine. pay their co-pays. they walk out with their prescriptions. because of the trust that the patient has in the doctor and the belief that they have in the doctor. whether that medication is real or not, in 30% of the time, they feel better. that 30% is a placebo effect. i have a different take about this. i happen to like what i see

here. the survey coming from nih. i think we're all retreating. we're writing too many prescriptions. giving too many medications not knowing what we're treating. this tells you of the power of mind how patients can feel better, you know, by just getting something that may be sugar. this prescription may look like some antibiotics but it could be totally sugar. same kind of things people are saying about acupuncture sometimes. may work, may not. in general this placebo effect in practice is the real deal. >> don't touch the magazines in a doctor's office without using anti-bacterial. we'll do a whole segment on it. we could swab those. >> i always loved the magazines. >> no, no, no. coming up, something a little more important than the magazines. erratic blood pressure. a cause for concern for many americans. what causes erratic blood pressure? what do you do if your blood pressure starts to go all over the place? the doctors will tell us, next. i have low testosterone. there, i said it. see, i knew testosterone could affect sex drive,

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>> eric: back with sunday house call. fluctuating blood pressure is a problem for many americans. we got an email from judy who said...

what is it? and what causes this to occur in people? >> judy, thank you. without knowing a lot of history about this patient, i will give you the list of everything that would cause this blood pressure problem. this is a good time to take out a paper and pen. i will post it on facebook. "a" is the accuracy of the blood pressure. there is white coat syndrome. you need three measures of blood pressure, 140/90 to be known as high blood pressure. so accuracy is very important. apnea is one of the causes of blood pressure. you don't sleep well, your hormones are out of sync, you can get high blood pressure. and aldoster own is a hormone. check that hormone that comes from the adrenal gland, absorbs

sodium and can give you this blood pressure. "b" stands for bad kidney. you may have vascular issues in the kidney, that could be the reason. and "c," i would get to cato colomines. that will give you fluctuations. cortisol level is important to rule out cashings and diet. and "e" is endocrine or thyroid. hyperthyroid can give you fluctuation. i hope you near good shape. >> how bad is this problem? is it sudden? >> i treat blood pressure in the office every day -- >> a special diagnosis. >> you covered all of it. >> caller: thank you, dr. house. >> i sound like a medical doctor. >> not like dr. house. fluctuating blood pressure is

something, first of all, from sir cadessian rhythm. the blood pressure is lower and as the day goes on, higher. that all the time. you can use the blood pressure devices at home. i find them wildly variant. so what do you do? woo talked about it a few weeks ago, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. i need to know what your blood pressure is throughout the day. there is a giant increase in risk of stroke in people whose blood pressure varies. the number-1 cause is people not taking their medications properly. what are you prescribed? are you going over it with your doctor? is it working throughout at this time day? there is sthr a long-acting medication? short-acting medication? we have to get a plateau or we will have problems. one reading or three readings in a doctor's office is want proof. >> would you ask your patients? if judy comes in with this

fluctuating thing, would you ask them about lifestyle? is there new stress or job change or something that could for short-term cause this blood pressure as ork posed to give them -- >> completely right. stress is the number-1 cause eye forgot if it was on your list. that's the number-1 cause of a short-term problem. ask someone if they are upset. sometimes that cup of coffee you prescribe, 5 minutes before they come to see me and i am late and they are angry and their blood pressure goes up. >> and the white coat can be frightening. caller: i want to talk about mosquitoes. i just came back from vacation and i am scratching. they like me. do they like you? they like some people more than others. it is not your imagination. there are reasons for this. the doctors will tell us why. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is george.

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pregnant women have twice as much. they like alcohol. if you are drinking a ber, you are more likely to attract mosquitoes. if you are drunk, you might not realize it until afterwards. they are attracted to smelly feet and smells of all kinds. colors -- dark blue, red. watch what you are wearing. dark blue, red and black attract mosquitoes. and certain people genetically are more attractive and type-o blood is twice as likely to attract mosquitoings as type-a. o-mosquitoes. >> are you type "o"? >> caller: i am. >> noose one reason. and mosquitoes are smart. they go after smell. you may have the perfume. they get attracted. and the colors. you like to wear light colors, pink and red. so be careful with that. some of the things that we use -- deet sprays, they take

the smell away and it confuses the mosquitoes. that's the smart part. if you drink alcohol, once in a while, socially, they get in your sweat and the mosquitoes -- especially beer is a big deal. it gets in the sweat and moskeetos know where to point. they are a smart species and look for beautiful women for the most part. [chuckles] >> stay inside and watch fox newschannel irksz on that note, see you next week. >> thank you. have a great week. >> caller: we jump back to the royal baby watch. it is heating up. we are live outside st. mary's hospital where the media and the world are anxiously awaiting the arrival of britain's next king or queen, third in line. good morning. welcome to america's news headquarters. great to have you here. >> eric: hello, everyone. the dutchess