i'm arthel neville. time now for "sunday house call. >> and i'm eric shawn. joining us is dr. david samadi. >> and dr. marc siegel live from dallas, professor of medicine at nyu's langone medical center and also author of "the inner pulse, unlocking the secret code in sickness and health." >> doctors, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> and marc down in there. >> a big deal in big "d." >> good to see you. >> we'll begin today with a frighteninging frightening medical announcement.

according to federal health officials, a potentially deadly virus from the middle east, it's known as mers, has just turned up right here at home. dr. siegel, tell us about this. >> well, first of all, there's two viruses here. one is mers, middle east respiratory syndrome, the other is fear, so we have to be careful how we report this. there's around 400 cases since 2012 which shows that at least at this point it doesn't have what we call a high infectivity rate. in other words, if somebody has it, it's not likely that someone near them willt it. the reason this doctor brought it from the middle east, arthel, he went to saudi arabia to specifically treat patients with it. not a surprise that he caught t.plane fred can spread it. they are now isolating him. not on oxygen or on a res prayeror and will likely careful and if they are very careful it won't spread to people around him. back in 2003 we had a cousin of this mers called sars, a very

similar corona virus, the common cold is another corona virus, to give you an idea. when sars came out, everyone was really afraid of it, and we started to isolate and quarantine, and in the end it ended up infecting 7,000 people. that's not nothing, but it's not the magnitude of what anyone thought. but, last point. we have an emerging verse here. we don't have a treatment. we don't have a vaccine. it needs to be tracked very carefully by public health officials. it's not the same thing as saying if you're sneezing, you may have it. you don't have it. >> dr. samadi, first of all, mers, middle eastern. >> respiratory syndrome. >> why did it start in the middle east, number one, and what should we look out for? >> well, the source of this is not very clear. we think it's coming from either camel milk or meat or bats, but that's still we're investigating. cdc is looking into this. the truth is that there's about 400 cases. the numbers are low, but this is a very difficult bug, meaning that the mortality from this is

about 25% to 30%. >> wow. >> it's difficult to get this bug, but once you have it, it's a very high risk. it's much worse than sars and much worse than, of course, any other kind of corona virus. so if you have traveled to middle east, and have any kind of cough, shortness of breath, fever, cdc said to isolate those patients and we need to investigate. unfortunately, there's no vaccine for it, no real good treatment except taking care of the symptoms, and we want people to be aware of this. i'm convinced that we're going to see not just one case, we're going to see more of these patients coming to this country. the globe has become extremely small through the travel. we'll get some of these cases, but it's important to find out exactly why this is happening. we don't know much about this virus. this is only since 2012. if you recall about a year ago, we reported on this, but it was all in qatar, in saudi arabia in, jordan and then it went to france and germany, and now we see the first case coming over here. we don't want people to panic.

this is very difficult to go from person to person. so contact is not going to be easy. it's difficult to get it, and the reason is because the receptors for this bug is inside the lungs as opposed to a regular flu which is right in your nose and through just breathing you can get it so you want to be careful. >> one more point on this, by the way, to echo david's point, that of it being difficult to get. when sars came about in 2003, the mortality rate or people that died from it was about one-third to one-half initially, but over time it was less, and the same may happen here. right now one-third of the people contracting this will die from it. that's a big deal. there's a lot of hospitalizations, but as a virus is around longer, eric, it gets milder, usually, because people build up defenses so i'm not convinced that this is going to be another worldwide pandemic. i think it's something for the public health officials to pay very, very careful attention to. >> that's obviously encouraging, doctor, and they are on top of it. only one case so far being handled.

it turns out there's not just mers, there's also a rather scary report that deals with the dramatic rise in the number of so-called superbugs which are increasingly resistant to antibiotics. dr. samadi, we've talked about the superbugs before. >> i have. >> how do we protect ourselves not only from mers but to the superbugs that could be resistant to anti-bite snakes. >> i'm afraid you have absolutely no way to protect yourself because the bugs and bacteria are getting much smarter than us, much smarter than our antibiotics. we as doctors are a little responsible for this because we have overprescribed and overtreated a lot of patients, so these bacterias, which they exist all over. they are all over you. they are inside our body. they are outside and actually communicate with each other very well. the bacterias, believe it or not, eric, they have sex with each other and can exchange genes so when you -- marc is laughing over there, but the bacterias can actually give one gene to another one so as a result you can really become resistant. the bacterias are smart in a way

that they can change the receptors that they have. you give antibiotics, it may work and next time around it may not work. why does that change? because they change the way they look from the outside or the antibody won't recognize them or they have some pumps in them that as the antibiotics get in, they push it out. the resistance we have with spread micin. merza kills about 19,000 these days. we see a nuclear war, superbugs becoming resistance to this, working only half the time and the only way to really go about this, how to protect yourself is, number one, don't take antibiotics if you don't need it. we know it doesn't work for virus. you said it many times before. if it's a viral one, don't touch antibiotics. >> like if you have bronchitis

doctors will prescribe antibiotics, and they say it may not work. >> absolutely. so you may want to make sure you talk to your doctor, don't overprescribe it and as a country we need to invest more in research and need to come up with weather anti-bite, to catch up with the bug. the best message. >> dr. siegel, are we seeing the superbugs more because we've overmedicated with antibiotics, or is there another reason? >> first of all, that's a big part of it, and david just described that very accurately. the issue is we've given anti-bite, to animals. 80% of the anti-bitics given go to animals and the bacteria in their guts start to super breed and we have a survival the fittest where the back the yeah, millions of colonies now, the ones that are the fittest, that can overcome that antibiotic survive and then they propagate and end up in our food and we end up with resistant bugs. also in hospitals, arthel, not currently disinfecting our hospitals ad cutly and overusing antibiotics there. get a bug maybe on a bed, on a

wall, on a doctor's tie, and you end up not dis infeinfecting an up with a resistant bacteria. then the last problem is that the drug companies don't have the incentive to make new antibiotics, so we're not keeping up. when i was in train iing anti-penniu anti-pennium,. we're overusing antibiotics, not disinfecting properly. >> and when you mention hospitals not being clean enough. you mention e. coli. >> an excellent point you brought up. the coli that you see that causes urinary tract infection, most of the bugs we talk are b are upper respiratory, and these e. colis are now not responding to medications such as cipro, you've heard of lev quinn and antibiotics are not working, and

you give antibiotics for the same urinary tract infections and as urologists we going through difficulty treating the bugs. >> bottom line, don't always have antibiotics if you can help it and wash your hands. >> all the time. that's your signature. >> no antibiotics and my hands are super dry because i've been washing too many. coming up, supporting wound warriors in a challenging bike ride. leading the way former president george w. bush and our own dr. marc siegel is on the ride and we'll tell us about this very special event coming up on "sunday morning house call." peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business. so we provide it services you can rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner,

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america's heros, president bush leading the way at the fourth annual 100k warrior bike ride, a

three-day extreme mountain bike ride held at his texas ranch and our own dr. siegel was along for the ride. >> warrior, 100k bike ride took place this week at former president bush's prairie chapel ranch in crawford, texas. his prescription for veterans health is the same as his prescription for america. teamwork, never give up and stay fit. >> exercise frequently and eat well and do things in moderation. obviously -- i used to be a smoker, you know. i can understand the addictive nature of tobacco, but, you know, if you smoke you're going to get sick, you know, so stop smoking and, you know, don't drink too much and -- i mean, it's pretty simple. >> reporter: a focus of the bush institute's new military service initiative is destigmatizing post-traumatic stress. >> what we know is vets are connected when they can have a

job and get meaningful employment and have support around issues like pts and they are curable and treatable and manageable, and they are about to begin the next chapter of their lives. >> post-traumatic stress comes in a number of different ways but for our warriors it's an injury of war, a treatable injury and does not stop a successful and productive life as these men and women demonstrate. >> it's funny because my wife at times will tell me were don't you go for a bike ride because she knows how much the exercise helps with the emotion of the pti and ptsd. >> reporter: out on the trail injuries range from scrapes, fractures, head injuries to simple nausea. the weather was cool so it was easy to stay hydrated. falling and getting back on the bike is a metaphor for life. >> unfortunately had a fall and had mostly cuts and bruises, but there were also debris on the path and we had to remove a stick from the inside of her

leg. >> reporter: you know, what really struck me the most about president bush out on the trail was his commitment to the veterans and his compassion. it's something that hasn't been discussed that much. he has tremendous compassion. even when i cut my face going through one of my trees, you said are you all right, doc, are you all right? 1,000 times that amount for the vets and he's given a lot of thought to how veterans can get back no society and talked to me a lot about that, and he basically said the veterans affairs is a big bureaucracy but private groups and nonprofit groups can come in like the warrior foundation was at the ride, higher heros usa was at the ride. the green beret foundation talked to me about research they are doing on hyperbaric oxygen and we talked about their initiatives on post taumtic stress. they want to drop the "d" not thinking it's a disorder, a problem that's underappreciated, and the bush foundation is really going forward to try to get it destigmatized and more research on it. >> such an important, meaningful

cause, really absolutely terrific. hats off to president bush for doing this. >> very, very good. >> and for marc for keeping up on the road. dr. siegel, one -- a part of this and something that we should stress is the importance of exercise in dealing with this when you have it. >> for marc this is a great exercise and i hope he lost a few pounds. looks good. make sure you don't injure yourself. 60 miles, it's a long period, but i will tell you this has a symbolic look to it. this is not just about biking. i think this is also a very similar to what goes on in the battle zone. this is a team that they have lost their limbs, their arms, but they are not going to give up. they are resilient and are going to get back up. you know, when one of them falls in this bike ride, everyone else is going to help that person get back on. that's what it's all about being in a battle zone, and the message that president bush is sending out there is you never give up and ptsd, post-traumatic stress disorder, there's a cure for it, but we have to be very

open to these people coming back. these are people that put their lives out there to help us and this whole stigma about this has to go away. my advice, marc, if president bush is listening, not only to drop "d" but also drop "s." this should be a post-traumatic injury wows the stress and whole disease stigma that comes with it. that makes it a lot easier for people to come from the war, to go to the middle zone and recover and come back to society. the biggest thing about this is the flashback of what they have from the zone, but over time there's a cure for this. >> and we don't want to ostracize them, dr. siegel, at all, and we also want to help. if you can talk more about -- president bush makes a great point that some of the private organizations are doing much more to help the vets. >> and they are engaged in this teamwork that we're talking about. again, out on the trail, you know, one of the amputees was falling. people were helping her back up on the bike. she was tough going through. the inspiration was combined.

it was like back in the army, and, again, it's not something they can do alone. they know it. they rely on each oak and these organizations are tremendous. the green beret foundation, arthel, had a very big presence at the ride, and number one was the bush foundation itself. you saw colonel howe there, spoke to general chiarelli, a big adviser for it and they are going to change the way post-traumatic disorder is perceived in this country. >> these foundations are doing an excellent job and as a country we need to feel the same exact way. the same way you're leading the bike ride, we need to think about when these guys come back, open up doors to give jobs. these are guys going through a lot of tran its, and it's very difficult. when they look at a crowd, they see somebody who is suspicious. they think very differently than the way we think so we really need to help each other as a country just the same as the bike ride is a symbol of what we

do moving forward. >> one final point, david. i was not leading this bike ride. president bush was leading it. i was at the back. in fact, at one point he saw me show up at a rest area and he said, okay, time to move on now because we know siegel is here. >> take some advil. take some advil and rest. >> it's a great annual cause, the fourth one so i know dr. siegel will be back next year, we hope. >> already training. >> i don't know if you felt any discomfort or pain, marc, in your groin area. coming up though, our doctors will weigh in about that and whether it's something you should worry about or not. it's part of our should i worry segment in a moment. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced.

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worry. one viewer rise and asks and says i have the swelling in my groin. should i wore? >> dr. samadi? >> well, we see a lot of patients like this. they complain about growing pain and a lot of times the first thing that comes to mind is really a hernia. hernia, if it's a small one it causes intermittent pain and the danger of hernia if you don't fix it is that part of the bowel can get through that herniation and you have an emergency on your hand and you have to go for emergency surgery so make sure you see your doctor and examine for a hernia. >> does it really hurt? how do you know that? >> the pain will come and go, and if it get really severe, it would bring you down to the floor. it's really bad. kidney stone, obviously, is another diagnosis over here. a lot of times stone will start from the kidney and can radiate through the groin and that can be part of the diagnosis and you have a lot of lymph nodes in that part of the area. if you have swollen lymph nodes from a urinary tract infection

or sometimes cancer, penile cancer, i po tell a person to see the doctor and the torsion or twist of the testicles is another one that can really cause pain in that area but the differential diagnosis is a lot. >> torsion i guess is important, especially with kids. >> especially with kids and the other thing to add to this is infection. sexually transmitted diseases, over 3,000 cases of gonorrhea in this country. if you have a swollen lymph node in the area and it's not a hernia, because if it is a hernia immediate to make sure it was not being strangulated which would be a surgical emergency, but bottom line if there's a swelling in your groin see your physician right away, don't wait. >> great advise. >> very good, very good. not just for promoting good health, bone health we're talking about. up next find out why doctors are saying vitamin d can go a long

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feeling more sore than usual? well, it could be all due to a lack of vitamin d. yes, new research finds that men with lower levels of vitamin d are more likely to experience chronic pain throughout their body. so, dr. siegel, why the pain? >> well, in this case it was linked to them being obese and inactivity. i'm not sure it was entirely the vitamin d issue, but let me tell you why this might be. vitamin d is more like a hormone. it's really important to almost every organ in the body. if you don't have enough of it, you're not absorbing calcium properly. and then there's a problem with the bones and you again, might get pain. i'm also concerned about the role vitamin d plays with the heart, with the lungs. if you have a lot of vitamin d, your cancer risk goes down.

david was pointing out before we came on a recent study on prostate cancer. aggressive prostate cancer decreased with the more vitamin d you have. same with breast cancer it's related. now, here's the issue. we're supposed to get all the vitamin d we need from sunlight, but we're also out there promoting sunscreen all the time. a lot of us live in the northern climate. we're not getting enough. so what can you do? try to get in oily fish, eggs and mushrooms, but we're not eating enough of that stuff. so i think a lot of people are vitamin d deficient, probably up to half of us. i check my patients, almost all of them are vitamin d deficient. eric who wants to know the exact amount, vitamin d3 2,000 units a day. >> we're running out of time, i'm going to post the exact level of what your vitamin d should be on facebook. it has to be over 50, and i'm going to put all the information online so we can continue.

>> all right. >> very important vitamin. >> thank you very much. i take it every day. thank you, doctors, that does it for us. >> thank you again for watching "sunday house call" we're every week on sunday. take care. the white house is receiving backlash about the attack in benghazi. the investigation today there's been important work done in the committees, but it's been disjointed. >> and i don't know what our leadership will ultimately decide, but i don't think it makes sense for us to give this select committee anymore credibility than it deserves. and frankly i don't think it deserves very much. >> and a deadly weekend in ukraine. a protest claims more lives. pro-russian demonstrators storming a police station demanding release of protte