facebook page. that's all for me. thank you for joining me. until next time, i hope that you're learning to be more of a healthy you. hi, everyone. i'm jamie colby. >> and i'm eric shawn. >> whatever you ate or drank, we're going to fix it up today. chairman and professor of neurology, chief of robotic surgery. doctors, it's great to have you here. >> good to see you, as always. >> thank you so much. >> first, we begin with some of the biggest medical stories of

the year. and the first one is really a shocking study this year, predicting that the number of people living with alzheimer's disease is expected to triple by 2015. dr. siegel, why so much more and what can we do about it? >> they looked at 10,000 patients at rush institute and followed them over a decade and found that increasing rate of alzheimer's and dementia. the reason for that is, number one, we're getting older. there's many more baby boomers out there like you and me and we're getting older. >> generation x. >> okay. sure. sure. but the main thing is that, you know, most of these alzheimer's patients are going to be over the age of 85. >> wow. >> that's why the baby boomers and then the issue of obesity, people not eating right, being on a lot of medications, all of those can increase your risk of alzheimer's. the good news is, though, associated with this, we're increasing our ability to discover it. in fact, two studies out just

this month in december have looked at this. there's a groundbreaking study looking at cow proteins and it's very important in finding alzheimer's but they, for the first time, looked at it on a molecular level. very tiny on a level of a cell and found that even introducing normal proteins can cause the cells to make abnormal. the other kind of protein, the other groundbreaking study this month, very important. that people who had brain injuries, people who had concussions, people who had memory loss were five times as likely to form those proteins and imaging studies are improving, eric. imaging studies are i am profession in our ability to find it early. if we find it early and before it already hit you and before it costs billions of dollars to our health care system, if we find it early we might be able to find treatment to use. >> what do you do, go to your doctor and say you want a p

protein test? it's the most horrendous situation when you see your family go through it. >> emotionally the families are involved and every family member has someone going through this. we're going to see more and more people -- the numbers are doubling and now we're finding out with this study that it's going to triple. we took care of how to defeat cancer. we did a great job of people living longer but we were not prepared with what comes along with this. the good news is that in the g-8

meeting in london, the prime minister pushed for a whole initiative for countries to put and invest money in research. we talked about the genetic aspects of the pharmaceuticals to treat alzheimer's by 2025 even though it's a short period to really cure this disease. even though it's a short period to cure this disease, people need to know that anything that causes alzheimer's. it's similar to heart attack. obesity, smoking, diabetes. we talk about concussions. the fact that if you're not active, if you don't exercise, all of those are risk factors. you want to engage your brain in solving puzzles, learning a new language. as long as you're active, you can delay it. i think there's hope. >> hereditary component? >> a part of it, but also those families, we want to make sure we diagnose them early. we're going from 5 million numbers in america to about 14 million. and about 7 million of them are baby boomers who are going to live over 85. so this is good news, but we're going to have a lot of sicker

population in our hands that we have to deal with. >> what do i tell my doctor? what do i look for? >> the first thing your doctor is going to say is five years from now, we're going to have imaging studies and tell you if you're at risk and what your percentage is. >> five years from now. >> if you need to exercise more and your diet, and maybe there will be drugs out there that will target the proteins or beta amyloid proteins before they form. there are certain people who will get and others won't. groups of people will get treatment, others won't need it. >> you can go to a doctor, these are part of research. this is at the very molecular level, but in the future, we'll be able to diagnose it early on. >> what you're saying is more of us will have it while we're taking care of parents who have it if there's a genetic link. that's pretty frightening so i hope research continues on alzheimer's. meanwhile, there was another potential new weapon in the

battle of the bulge as we cover some of your biggest medical topics of the year. the fda issued new guidelines that would eliminate all trans fats, pretty much, from our food supply. i guess we won't be having those. dr. samadi, can you recreate the foods? is that what the fda is calling for without the trans fats, or are they going to take the food away? >> they're not taking the food away, but they're taking the trans fats away, which is a smart thing to do. the science shows it increases heart disease, coronary artery disease, increases the bad cholesterol, and lowers the hdl. this is a good call from the fda. >> can't be good for the brain, either? >> absolutely. we picked up on that from the first segment. absolutely. with the fda coming in and getting rid of this trans fat, we're going to see healthier population out there. the move started in 2003 when they said you have to put it on the labels. in 2007, all the new york restaurants eliminated and banned trans fats. and now we see that hopefully it will be out of our diet. this is a good thing. trans fat was created in order

for these foods to be tastier, that they look better, they last longer. they have a better texture like pizza, french fries, everything else, and they have a longer shelf life. >> that's why i bet they did it, because it's cost saving. why didn't they just go with fresher taste? why did they need to put them in in the first place. why did the fda allow this? they should protect us. >> great questions. >> now they're talking about putting all the nutritional information on vending machines, which makes it that much harder to push the button of what you really want. >> it's happening, dr. colby, because it's cheaper. the reason the trans fats are there in the first place, because you take liquid oil and add a hydrogen to it, it's cheaper, lasts longer, and it's tasty. that's where the problem starts to begin with. as david mentioned, warnings occurred in 2005 and 2006, and places like mcdonald's and general mills started to reduce their trans fats to under half a gram per serving. that's helped a lot.

americans today are having about a gram of trans fat a day where five or six years ago, it was four or five. >> did you see mcdonald's giving adviesz to their workers on their website that fast food could be a dangerous option? >> yes, and they're being more responsible these days. still, they still can come in under half a gram, and burger king has issues and kentucky fried chicken has issues. we're still talking about 25,000 heart attacks a year and 7,000 deaths. not only does it alter the cholesterol profile, it literally lines the coronary arteries with plaque. it's dangerous to the heart, to the brain. i don't want it replaced by butter. in a new york restaurant, you can't have trans fats, but you can get butter. that's no good for you either. >> couldn't you get trans fats? >> it has to be under half a

graham gram per label. >> we have to go, but i want to tell you, having been a former fast food worker on the french fry bin, we only change the hydrogenated oil that it's fried in twice a year. twice a year. if you need more of an incentive to not eat fast food, i think i just helped you out. eric? >> i'm going to eat healthy. a shocking health warning coming up for all baby boomers. we talked about alzheimer's. coming up, why a panel of leading experts are recommending the baby boomer generation should get tested for hepatitis c. what is it, how do we avoid it, and what do we do? next on "sunday housecall." and ah, so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service, check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron!

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test

welcome back to "sunday housecall." they are issuing new health

warnings for baby boomers, urging everyone who was born between 1945 and 1965 to get tested for hepatitis c. so dr. siegel, first of all, what is it, how do you get it, and if i go to the doctor, do they automatically test me for hepatitis c? >> i would test you, and here we go with the baby boomers again, and you and me are going to get tested for this. i don't want to give away our birth dates, but we're baby boomers. it's a virus and it's most easily transmitted by intravenous transfers. over 2 million are baby boomers. why? because we didn't know what it was until the early 1990s. we called it non-a, non-b. we didn't get a test for it. people got it from blood transfusions. they got it during the sexual revolution. it can be transmitted sexually. transmitted blood to blood. when you have it and if you know you have it, this is why the centers for disease control is calling it an unrecognized

crisis and demanding baby boomers get tested, because if you have it, and you may not know you have it because it can be a chronic disease with no symptoms except maybe fatigue, we can test you, and a 75% to 95% cure rate if you're treated with antiviral drugs, and two new ones came out this year that are extremely promising. we could save over 100,000 lives. >> if i go to the doctor, what do i say? >> they need to talk to you and find out if you have risk factors. did you get a transfusion before 1992? that was a high risk. someone injecting with contaminated needles. and usually, sexual activity is not going to transport hepatitis c. it's usually hepatitis b unless there are multiple partners. as surgeons, we're scared of this even more so than hiv because any kind of contamination on the needle in the surgery scares the surgeons.

>> or needles. can you get it from the dentist's office? >> sure. you have to be careful with any exposure to blood or tattooing. you have to be careful. obviously, this is something that can be tested. you can look for antibodies. even if you have it, they can get a liver biopsy and find out what's going on. we have interfewer medications. but a lot of people end up with liver transplants. about a quarter of patients like this can recover on their own. the problem with hepatitis c is there's no vaccination. hepatitis a and b have vaccines. c doesn't have it. you want to be sure to ask your doctor if you have risk factors. >> all right. ask your doctor. >> we can talk more about it after the break because we have another great topic coming up after a quick commercial break. a new warning about the so-called energy drinks you may be drinking. what researchers discovered about the damage they could be doing to your heart. that's next.

there are some new concerns over the popular energy drinks. do you drink those before or after you workout or have to study for an examine? there's a new study that says they can seriously injure your heart because they can increase your heart rate. who should drink these? dr. samadi, do you think these? >> i tried it once and i didn't like it. it increased my heart where i felt anxious. this is a problem a lot of people have. the problem with these drinks is it's not under fda regulation. so the amount of caffeine we're getting is variable. if you look at coke, it has about 32 milligrams of caffeine. some of these thinks have 80, 160 milligrams of caffeine. they also have other things like taurine, an amino acid. >> doesn't the caffeine cancel it out? >> we don't know exactly what it does.

in addition, there's guarana, other caffeine-like compounds in there. since it's not being regulated, it's a huge problem. and the other caffeine like compound. you recommend four cups of coffee, how many milligrams are in four cups of coffee? >> you would get about 100 to 1120 over the course of a whole day so it is not a big surge right away. the study that comes from germany shows on the m.r.i. the systolic pressure and the heart rate goes up an hour after you

terrific this which is different from coffee. >> i wanted to differentiate so everyone knows you both believe coffee has health benefits. >> the issue today is more caffeine and an amino acid where you do not know what you are getting. a study shows it increases heart contractions and could be a problem if you prone to heart decease. we have seen double the amount we have seen double the amount because of energy visits or related to energy drinks which half the time you drink it with alcohol or with other drugs. if you have a lot of caffeine, and you add to that a stimulant, what do you think will happen? a lot people out there especially teens and early adults, the group we are targeting and the group that is the vast majority using these, they may have an underlying

problem or tendency. >> what do you do for them in the emergency room? how do you bring the heart rate down? >> great question. what else are they doing? are you taking an energy drink while participating in sports you could be dehydrateed. see what their blood pressure is or why you are in the energy ago i am concerned about blood pressure in a situation like this. we do not know what sun is bringing to the table. i am against these drinks. >> good warning. >> high cholesterol affects million of us and what you can do to lower your numbers. the doctors on our cholesterol when we continue. [ sneezes, cou] i'veot a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's te for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is twon't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel.

oh what a relief it is. exam sunday house call clear clear

we have been counting down the biggest medical stories of the year. one is about guidelines on

taking cholesterol lowering drugs. dr.siegel, more of us should be doing that? >> a quarter of americans are on the drugs. these guidelines put out by the american heart association and the american college of card only would apply to a quarter of you. i want to explain what a staten drug does. cholesterol is absorbed in the gut but the liver, also, makes cholesterol and delivers it to the bloodstream. the drugs block the production of cholesterol in the liver. hopefully it will blocks you from make a lot of bad cholesterol which is ldl. the problem in the past is guidelines have only applied to the ldl number. we need to get the number down. what is good about the new guidelines they look more closely at risk factors: what is your diabetes? do you have diabetes?

do you have high blood pressure? are you a smoker? they have a formula that takes all of this into consideration and thinks, what is your risk of a heart attack the next 10 yearsst they lose me because i don't like the formulas. i like the guidelines going to your risk factors but less than a number but i want to you have a conversation with your doctor given your history, he will figure out what your risk is. then he will take into account your number and what your risks are. i personally and i have said this on the show before i am a huge fan of statins that prevent the buildup of plaque in the arteries. you may not have clinical heart disease. if you do, the drugs are mandated. you may not have clinical heart disease but could be starting to form the plaque in your artery. with can tell that by a cat scan. >> what about the complaints of

liver damage and cramps and this sort of thing, does that outweigh the benefits of statin? >> everything in medicine is a balance. the american heart association has gone through years and years of research looking at studies we and they have come up with a guideline trying to lower the number of deaths as a result of heart disease and including stroke for the first time as part of the guideline which 10 big deal. what they are saying, if you are between the age of 40 to 75, and over the next ten years, you have this increase of 7.5 percent increase of heart attack, you should be on this. if your risk is 7.5 percent, it used to be 20 percent but it is lowered to 7.5 percent, that is a big difference. if you have a history of heart attack, stroke, or any kind of

angina, stable or not, as well as family history, you need have this conversation. if you have diabetes, you should be on this. if you are over 121, and your ldl is over 190, you will be on this. this based on real foundation, not should he said-she said. the american heart association put a lot of effort into this. my concern when you on this medication is you are on a medicine. they emphasize we healthy diet, add all the vegetables, fruits and that is in there. >> the big issue is that the side effects of the drugs are outweighed by the advantage. they went from 10 percent to 7.5 percent risk, and why calculate that, i want lifestyle change but that can be monitored. if you have risk for diabetes your risk is greater from heart

disease. your doctor. >> and i love that you like diet and exercise, as well. >> absolutely. >> thank you so much, doctors. we will see you next week. that's going to do illustrat. >> howard kurtz coming up right now. on a buzz beater, barack obama finishes a very tough year, battered by negative headlines and sinking polls, hammered by a media that once gave him sympathetic coverage. >> when you take this altogether, has this been the worst year of your presidency? >> is the press now piling on the president or giving him the kind of tough strutny he should have gotten all along? a&e back down and reverses phil robertson's suspension from duck dynasty. what's behind this embarrassing cave-in? >> the twitter universe erupts over racially incentive tweets by steve