time now for sunday hou housecall. joining us this morning, dr. marc siegel. associate professor of medicine at the nyu langal medical center, also author of the inner pulse, unlocking the code of sickness. >> and dr. subody. we start with the really important topic, has to do with alzheimer's. they actually say there's a new brain scan that can not only diagnose alzheimer's in a living person but can also track it as it's in your brain. dr. siegel, this sounds great,

but it's also kind of frightening if you are told you have alzheimer's. >> first, we're talking about a global pandemic, an epidemic. they're saying alzheimer's is now a global epidemic. they're expecting 14 million cases by 2050. it's on the rise. that doesn't mean everybody who comes to see me who is forgetful, who can't make daily decisions has this. it could be a b-12 deficiency, stress, medications, several different factors. >> what do we look for? >> we look for a consistent change in everyday behavior. with decision making, especially with memory loss. you can't decide, you lose your car keys, you can't decide where you lose your car. it's a progressive problem. here's the thing that the study showed us. this is brand new information. we knew that beta amaloid is a protein that clogs the brain and it's associated with alzheimer's. we know another protein is the structure of the brain. it has to do with the brain, how it communicates from oneo anoth.

that's implicated, and we now have a new imaging study that allows us to see that early on. if we can diagnose alzheimer's very early on, you notice i pronounced it right this time. if you get it early on, you might be able to put treatments in place before it fully develops clinically. >> what i wanted to go to, dr dr. samadi, losing your keys, forgetting -- these are kind of everyday normal things. how do you co that you're not requesting this test in vain? >> this is obviously a clinical trial. it's not out there for everyone at this moment, but i want you to know that over the years, as physici physicians, we have done an amazing job. you go through your training and the whole goal of a doctor is to extend life. we're always working on quantity. so we fix the heart, we fix the cancer, we fix the diabetes. and our goal has always been how do we push that to 70s, 80s, and now people in their 90s. but we kind of fell behind in

the quality of life. that's what alzheimer is all about. there are people coming in, in their 80s and they have these kind of symptoms. wouldn't it be wufr to diagnose them like any other treatment? that's what this is really about whe . now you see the national institute of health is putting close to $100 million, they just released $45 million for research to find out what biomarkers, what ways to find this early? this is prevention. it's the protein that mark is talking about, you can give fluorescent tags, send it through the blood barrier to the brain and then you get these pet c.t. imaging and you see where these proteins are. now i can tell you, for example, i use myself, at the age of 50, for example, wait a second, you're headed towards getting alzheimer's. what can we do? what's a big message for people out there? we're making small steps in the field of alzheimer's. we have to get on with this. another disease that's going to become a problem, osteoporosis

is right behind this. it's a matter of wear and tear. as we get older, all of these are going to come on the surface. yesterday, eric did a great job with the demonstration as to what we do. our good dr. siegel gets a lot of tests on homocysteine. nobody says if your homeo cysteine is high, you're headed to alzheimer's, but that's one of the indicators of stroke. >> and inflammation. >> absolutely. there are things you can do. this is what the audience wants to hear. l-carnitine kind of slows down the process. is it going to fix alzheimer's? absolutely not. vitamin b family, vitamin b is very much involved in all cognitive alzheimer alzheimer's. that's folic acid, eric, you talked about it yesterday. >> when i go to the doctor, do i say give me the t-protein thing? >> not yet, but here's the point. we want that because all we can do now is wait until you already

have it. we say, wait a minute, let's do some memory tests, let's do some neuro psych testing. by then, you're on the road of not being able to take care of yourself. what can you do in advance? exercise has been shown to help, brain exercises, using computers, staying active, fruit and vegetable diets. all that has been shown to help. but if on top of that we can find this before it happens, we might be able to treat it. >> it's so important. i mean, it's such a debilitating and devastating for so many families. >> transforms from being almost like normal, especially for the loving care givers out there, you know who you are. >> we're going to go to another important topic. each year, more than 1.2 million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and research finds those who get regular colonoscopies reduce their risk by 40%. does this apply to men and wim snn. >> absolutely. look what we talked about. if you get a colonoscopy, you reduce the risk of colon cancer

death by 40%. that by itself is enough for the whole segment. there's a lot of confusion saying should i get my mammogram, my psa, my colonoscopy. enough is enough. you need to get tested, despite what the u.s. task force constantly says. yes, you can find some cancers that may not be aggressive, but knowing you have these precancerous lesions, these polyps, we need to know that. the big message is colonoscopy covers the whole entire colon for men and women. the right side and the left side. that's important. doctors need to take their time. they need to go slow. we can find those lesions, but the key here is those flat lesions are lesions that could easily be missed. the other thing is some concept of colon cleansing before youco. take that seriously. if your colon is clean, you could miss it. >> drink the stuff before.

a few years ago, it was horrible. the one this year was fine. i went in. mark, it's fun. you know you'll be taken care of. they knock you out and then you wake up. it's all done. >> i had one. how old should you get it? >> you're referring to they use propofol now and they put you to sleep. this is one of the few times you can get a direct view of the colon, a part of the body that can get very diseased in the united states. that's very, very important. people have to get their colonoscopies. and that shows 40% reduction in colon cancer with colonoscopies. 77% on the left side, 22% on the right side. the right side is the proximal part, up here. the left side is down by the rectum. the flat polyps that are going to turn into cancer, both turn into cancer, they're harder to find and hidden on the right side, way up at the top. let me tell you why i'm bringing that up. not only are they more aggressive. they're harder to find, which

means you need an artist, a colo colon a colonoscoper. the same thing with colonoscopy because a lot are missing the lesions on the right side. because they're not looking carefully enough for the flat polyp on the way out. >> say look at the right side and the left, please. >> how much experience? that's what we talk about. how much experience do you have? what are your results? >> and slow down. they have to slow down and really inspect the entire colon. now, the other thing that comes up all the time, and i'm not sure you're going to ask this, what is the relationship between vitamin d and colon cancer? and there is a number of studies out there that indicate if you take about 2,000 iu of vitamin d3 a day, that reduces the risk of colon cancer. and finally, when should you do this? everyone starts at age 50 unless you have family history or you've had polyps in the past. you should start earlier on, and

then it's every five to ten years after that. >> i want to make one final point, sugary drinks and sweet drinks, david was making the point about fructose, that increases your risk of colon cancer. eat more fruit and vegetables, less red meat, and exercise. >> fiber? >> absolutely. >> there's the prescription. stuff that's healthy for us. if you suffer from seasonal allergies and a lot of us do, get ready. they say this coming season is going to be one of the worst in years. the doctors will give us some advice on how do we fight those symptoms, what do we do about our allergies? so we can all live a healthier life. "housecall" will be right back. you make a great team. it's been that way since e day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - itld be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you cabe more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet

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his day of coaching begins with knee pain, when... [ man ] hey, brad, want to trade the all-day relief of two aleve for six tylenol? what's the catch? there's no catch. you want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol? no. for my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. back now on "sunday housecall." you have allergies, you know what it's like, the sneezing, runny nose, itchy, watery eyes. what do we do in. >> there's 30 million allergy suffers and they think they're going to get it in the spring, not the fall. we have ragweed right now, and that's loaded with pollen. also, mold. you have the itchiness and watery eyes, as you said, and sore throat. you think it might be a cold, it

may be allergies. you have to stop tracking the pollen into the house, take your shoes off. wear goggles when you're gardening, believe it or not. use the air conditioner, and get somebody to wipe the mold off the side of your house. there's also something called oral allergy symptom. when you have the hayfever, the ragweed pollen, it can also cross react with what youede so you can become allergic to bana bananas, fruits. >> would that be alleviated when the algaerj goes away, you can go back to eating bananas -- >> good point, absolutely. be careful with that, but it's triggered by the ragweed. i'm not a person who rushes to antihistamines. try to prevent it if possible. >> i think this is nothing but stimulating your immune system. with the pollens when they come in, they're considered the foreign object, so your antibodies start to kick in.

that's when histamines start to pour in. that's when you have the runny nose and itchy throat, et cetera. so again, avoiding all these pollens, whatever it is, you know, you're going to bring it in when you're in the garden. you want to make sure you clean it up and just wear masks. sometimes a mask will help. 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. is the maximum amount of pollen so you want to be careful about that. close the windows. there are a lot of filters in your air conditioning that can really prevent the pollens from coming in or get somebody to do the gardening. >> or you have machines you can get, many companies make them, you turn them on and it collects the mold and stuff in the air. do those work? >> yes, it does work. you want to get a blood test, which takes about two weeks to get the results, and you know if it's really true and there are skin tests you can do, some false negatives with the skin test, but it certainly is there. the exciting part is the europeans are coming with sublingual immuno therapy. you kind of slow down your immune system so it doesn't react. that's in the pipeline.

>> you go to the drugstore and you get the stuff on the counter, and the 12-hour stuff, and take it, and it doesn't work. then what do you do? >> physicians have a role here. we don't like talking about prescription drugs that much, but i like singulair coming from europe. steroid nasal sprays are sometimes helpful over a period of a month or two when you're having the allergies. if you stay on them chronically, they can thin out the nasal membranes. >> so many people suffer from this, david. allergies and, you know, you've got it in your throat. >> yeah, you get the post nasal drip. >> good advice. >> yeah. it's horrible. >> coming up, speaking of problems, heart burn. you know it regularly affects a surprising number of us, but if left untreated, it can grow to something much bigger. the doctors will explain next, and how to prevent that from happening. and live pictures right now in nairobi. helicopters swooping low over

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did you know that one in 10 americans experience symptoms of heartburn at least once a week, and if it is left untreated it can lead to more serious conditions? here is the question and we will start with you. how do you know when it is heartburn or acid reflux? >> acid reflux, over time it can erode part of the esophagus. when you eat food it goes

through the narrow tube called the esophagus. there is a sphincter and it blocks the food that comes back up. there are a number of things that can relax it and make it happen. this goes on over time. we had a segment a couple weeks ago, i don't know if you remember, 78% increase in the risk of throat cancer and uh sov jeel cancer if you have reflux. 78%. the treatment was go ahead and take your anti-acid because it can reduce it and take care of it. the way it presents is like chest pain. doctors have a problem distinguishing between heart attack and reflux or gurd. you want to make sure to see your doctor. last year i had a chronic cough and everybody said maybe he is tired and exhausted, but reflux can cause chronic cough. a good friend gave me some antacid and it helped.

>> and horseness. you may have horseness or of coulding and it can be the acid coming up. when patients come to see me i have to look for reasons, alcohol, smoking, stress, fatty foods. everyone out there is familiar with these things. chocolate is another one. one of our friends, coffee. we love coffee, but coffee can definitely cause maury flux. >> how about things over the counter? >> i think you should see your physician. i can prescribe things. i don't want people self-medicating. >> i am glad you brought it up. i wouldn't go straight to the medications. just chewing gum for half an hour after your food basically washes out allots -- a lot of the acid. cheap, no problem. sl is slippery elm. it is about 350 milligrams three times day and peppermint

, cinnamon day -- cinnamon tea is soothing before the medicines. >> i want to add one thing, water. drink more water and you decrease the amount of reflux. >> and of course it doesn't accept my insurance. >> coming up, more sunday house call. and as we toweled, we are following the breaking news situation. terrorists linked to al-qaeda holed up with hostages in a kenya shopping center, the west gate mall. there are live pictures of the scene as security forces are poised for possible action. keep it here for continuing live coverage of this tense standoff.

you ever go to the refrigerator and look at the expiration date of the yogurt and throw it out? turns out we throw out billions of pounds of food a year because the best by or sell by date is expired. guess what. a new study found those labels could potentially bemis -- be misleading. every day you look at the yogurt to make sure you are okay. >> this is coming out of harvard law school. they want you to be aware of this. sometimes you get a sell by and end up throwing it out. the study authors want you to be aware that you buy it by the sell by date you have a week or two to use it. you also have to factor in how hot is it outside and how much time was it left out? there is a best used by --

sell by versus best used by. things like peanut butter can stay longer than the best used by date. the quality goes down. if you are talking things like poultry or milk or eggs you want to be care will. careful. expired by with infant formula and baby products, that follow the date. do not use infant formula after the expired date. >> let's talk leftovers in the frige. you bake chicken. i baked chicken on thursday and i still have a piece i want to go home and eat today and perhaps tomorrow. it has been in the frige since i cooked it. >> as long as you refrigerated it and didn't leave it out for many hours it is fine and you can use it. we have had issues about cross contamination with food and other things you have to be careful. this con at the present -- concept is confusing. the whole use by is about

freshness and not safety. they put preaces -- for example use it by this date. that means up until then it will be fresh. after that the quality may not be good, but still safe. 40% of our food supply is dumped in the country for no reason. this whole thing by sell by, it is actually for manufacturers. it is not for us. it is for them when they have to shift the supply and when they have to get out of the store. based on this study, get rid of sell by. just tell us use by. >> you can see the date and if it is a few days later smell it, taste it and if it is okay eat it. >> if it doesn't smell right or look right, get rid of it. you have days and weeks after those days. >> even ever a sell by you can use it? >> okay. we are coming over for chicken at arthel's house. >> david's wife is the best cook ever. >> that's where we are going. i want your wife's cooking.

thank you. it is always entertaining with these guys. that does it for us. >> "media buzz" is coming up next. keep it right here on the fox newschannel. here is howard. on the buzz meter this sunday morning, a deadly mass shooting a mile and a half from here in washington sparks saturation coverage and some embarrassing media blunders. >> if there are two shoot you ers and if that proves to be correct it is the most significant fact. it is going to mean two people conspired to carry out the attack. >> now we can confirm from navy officials and a navy spokesman they are pursuing a second shooter. they believe there is a second shooter on the scene. >> the best way to say this is there is no hard evidence at this point there was more than one shooter involved here despite all we heard today and all of the confusing information. >> some news organizations sa