twitter. our show is over. i hope you enjoyed it and are learning to be more of a healthy you. i'm arthel neville.ú! mñ time now for "sunday housecall." >> joining us as always, dr. marc siegel. professor of medicine at nyu's langone medical center. >> and dr. david samadi, chairman and professor of urology at lenox hill hospital and chief of robotic surgery. good morning, doctors. >> good to see you. >> we're going to start with something that's a ground breaking advancement in the fight against cancer. they have engineered stem cells that are able to target and destroy brain tumors.

r. siegel, this really is2] amazing advancement, if, indeed, it does work. what is it, and can we be able to achieve it and use it? >> first of all, i want to start by saying what is a stem cell. not everyone knows that. we're talking about adult stem cells. they're precursors. it's before the cell specializes into what it ends up being. it's before it's a nerve cell or skin cell or nail cell or hair cell. before that, it's a general cell and has a lot of potential. we can manipulate it in the laboratory. we can manipulate it. in this case, harvard researchers are manipulating it to release poison that kills cancer. they call it a targeted therapy. it's one of the targeted therapies. what they accomplished here for the first time is they got it to release these toxins to kill cancer without killing itself. so it can b4/ease the toxins, but it doesn't die from its own toxins. so you can get right in close to it the tumor and kill the tumor. the reason that that's important is because when you give it

systemically, you end up with all kinds of side effects.j8@[ñ you start giving the poison, you lose your hair, it's problems with your stomach. it's problems with your bone marrow. if you can get in these little cells, you're right on top of " them. >> it's more targeted. >> exactly. but it's preliminary. we're still talking mice. >> they're just devastating and sometimes they're so devastating and happen so quickly. when can this work in humans? >> you're 100% right. we're about three to five years away from this on a good day. if everything goes well. but as you mentioned, it's a deadly brain cancer. the median survival is about 14 months. it really kills. so surgery still remains the treatment of choice because you remove and try to remove as much as you can. sometimes the cancer is so invaded and there's so much blood vessels that you might not be able to get it.

so what they have done is taken some cells, by putting these stem cells between, those toxins go after the cancer cells but not the normal cells. what we have learned from this is that the stem cells, the toxin works well in blood cancer really well. unfortunately, the half life is very short and that doesn't work for us in this research. so what i would say is still today, surgery is the way to go. and you may or may not surprise you that cyber knife which is a radiation that complements surgery afterwards works well for this type of brain cancer. i don't think we've seen a lot of it for prostate cancer, we don't have long-term data for prostate cancer. for brain cancer, surgery plus radiation is a good combo. >> at the moment, that particular research, the

targeting of it is not available to humans. the good news, of course the research is on and doctors are working very hard to find a direct cure, if you will. >> to david's point, this is in a way an old-fashioned kind of therapy because it's talking toxins.e

away. >> why -- brain cancer apparently is on the rise. why is that, and what can we do? can you see this in the blood tests? >> not yet. and we're looking for genetic markers to tell us when brain cancer is coming. a lot of speculation that it could be due to cell phone use, but that has not been proven. it's very hard to diagnose it early. if someone has headaches, you do an mri. oftentimes it's hard to diagnose until it's too late. it's part of the brain. >> don't ignore the symptoms. that's what you're trying to get at. >> what are the symptoms? >> headache because you have a mass that's growing in the brain. there's no room for it to grow. you may have seizure that comes out of nowhere. you may have a headache. really, anything that squeezes the brain. don't ignore it. >> so it's a persistent headache? we all get headaches at one time or another, but it's a

persistent headache? >> exactly right. if you see any numbing in your feet or arms, if you have any kind of seizure, fatigue that's unexplained, any of these vague symptoms can become something serious and you want to talk to your doctor. >> blurry vision as well. >> very good information. when we come back, we'll talk about this, promising news for millions of men battling prostate cancer. now why doctors say a little bit of time in the sun could be the key to stopping the spread of this terrible disease. say a lit of time in the sun could be the key to stopping the spread of this t t t t t t

test.

well, it turns out a little time in the sun could make things a brighter for millions of prostate cancer patients. this after researchers discovered that vitamin d can help block a chemical that causes the tumors to grow. dr. samadi, you're up on this

one. i want to find out how much time in the sun are we talking, and also, do you have to couple that with over-the-counter vitamins, like vitamin d-3 as well? >> yes, this is actually a big, big news. we've been talking about vitamin d when it comes to prostate cancer, dementia, many other diseases, even cognitive skills. when it comes to prostate cancer, there are recent studies coming in that low vitamin d is associated to very aggressive prostate cancers. we didn't know exactly how vitamin d is going to prevent prostate cancer. now we have the answers. we think that sun activates that vitamin d under your skin. once it's activated, it activates another gene. that's what inhibited inflammation and the tumor growth. big news. for a lot of people who are thinking about taking vitamin d, you should be taking at least 1,000 iu a day. that's minimum. talk to your doctors and find out exactly. this is great news for people that are taking this. now, low vitamin d increases

prostate cancer, causes dementia, schizophrenia, so many other things, include can go erectile dysfunction. it's a greaeat vitamin. ten minutes, three times a week is absolutely what you need. we've been so sun phobia. you have to have exposure to the skin, or it won't work. the other thing mark will mention, for a lot of people diagnosed with prostate cancer, this is available to everyone who's diagnosed with prostate cancer. call in, and i still see patients. it's amazing how many people thought i still -- i'm on tv and don't see patients. i will help all of you. go to prostatecancer911.com. >> also, it's not just prostate cancer. how about women? many women have to take vitamin d sometimes. >> it's an epidemic.

you look for vitamin d-25 hydroxy. >> when you saw draw -- >> blood tests. >> you don't have to say that, you assume the doctor or the technician knows to check for that. >> no, i have to put in for that. i check it on every single patient. for the reasons eric was just mentioning. it isn't just prostate cancer. we talked about this several months ago showing advanced prostate cancer correlates with low vitamin d levels. clearly we're getting more and more evidence that vitamin d is hugely important for prostate cancer prevention, for preventing aggressive prostate cancers. also breast cancer and colon cancer. bone growth is another issue with it. people that are obese tend to have very, very low vitamin d levels because they get it gleaned right out of their bloodstream. the fat cells take your vitamin d away. vitamin d is a super hormone. it's more of a hormone that is a

vitamin. it's important for every organ in the body. we've seen heart disease go up if you have low vitamin d. >> if you take a multivitamin every day, you got the whole list. 40 different things in there. it doesn't have vitamin d? >> that only has about 400 iu. it may not be enough. what mark just mentioned is absolutely important. you need to make sure you get your vitamin d 25 dihydroxy. the level should be between 30 and 80. usually around 50 nanogram per ml is a normal value. you get the energy. you're not fatigued anymore. it really works across the body as a hormone to really get you going. >> so you're saying you should take a supplement? >> the supplement i recommend is vitamin d-3. 2,000 units. 1,000 to 2,000 units a day depending how low you are. you're probably not going to get enough from the sunshine. should you go out in the sun to try to get extra vitamin d?

that's a real question. the dermatologists i was with last week would say no. maybe 15 minutes to half hour a day. >> i wanted to ask dr. samadi is this due to diet and is there a way to change your diet? >> genetics plays a huge role. among african-americans, three-to-one ratio, they have a higher chance of getting prostate cancer. also, when you talk about skin, extra pigmentation blocks some of the sun to get through. you may need a longer period. when normally they need 10, 15 minutes, you may need to be there are for half an hour to an hour to really get enough sun to activate that vitamin d. that's really the answer. but look, i think one of the big issues among african-american communities, there's a big taboo to go and see the doctor, get the digital rectal exam. they think it's crazy. but it saves your life. it's five minutes. the blood test, the psa. we know it's not very specific, but that's all we have.

get tested. know your number. >> that's why he started mething called women for prostate cancer health. >> we have something -- see, now you're asking. women for prostate health. on facebook, there's a lot of information. it's the women that bring men to the office. it's the women that look at a guy and say, hey, what's your psa. let's go see the doctor. that's really taking off and it's saving a lot of lives. >> i posted it as well. a lot of women commented saying, thank you, thank you. you're right, it takes -- women are the best. bottom line. >> if you want to get something done, give it to women. >> we'll listen. sometimes. >> you're outnumbered here. >> i can handle it. bring it. >> that's another show. >> it's the virus that has been blamed for thousands of deaths every year and all the attention now on ebola. there's another threat and that's the flu. have you gotten your flu shot yet?

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we're back now with the doctors and our segment should i worry. we do this every week. flu season is coming and one viewer writes, i haven't gotten my flu shot yet, should i worry? dr. siegel, is it too late or never too late? >> it's never too late. the person out there should not worry because it takes only about two weeks for the flu shot to work and we're not yet in flu season. we're looking at a season very similar to last year. the strains appear to be the same. that h1n1 from 2009 is still

around. it tends to affect younger people, pregnant women, younger adults. here's the advantage of a flu shot. it is not a perfect shot. it is by far not our best shot but it decreases visits to urgent care centers by 60 percent. in certain groups, like those with diabetes, pregnant women, young children with asthma, it is more dramatic. it stopped the flu from spreading 50 percent of the time which is not great but if you increase a household where you have a pregnant woman or you have a young child --. >> how young for a child to get a shot? >> six months or up. >> why six months? >> prior to six months you cannot mount an immune response and you have to rely on the antibodies from your mother so women that are breast feeding should have flu shots and those pregnant should have flu shots. if there is a 50 percent decrease in the amount of fluid you create what is called the ring immunity in the house where

your asthmatic child could be less likely to get it if everyone else in the house gets it. >> when does flu season start, january or february? >> usually. last year it was december. not yet. >> it starts around november and goes to march. a lot of questions that come up, i got the flu shot last year, should i get it this year. the answer is, yes. each year the whole series changes. the other thing i got the influence shot and i get sick from we it every year. it is a dead virus and you should not be able to get it from this. the reason people feel sick after the injection you start building up immunity and it takes two weeks for the soldiers to start building up the antibodies and that is when you feel that teeth. the problem with the vaccine it is not 100 percent. if we get it right 60 percent, everyone is happy.

this year it is very important to get the flu vaccine because of ebola. we have 230,000 visits to e.r. because of there and the two symptoms are similar and we don't need these people to come in. >> back to you saying some get the shot feel fatigued but you feel like you have the flu. you are not really getting the flu but you are feeling some sort of symptoms. >> you have the flu and it is coincidence at the same time you got the shot it took a while to build the immunity and you had it, which is rare, or it is working but your system is not strong enough and you feel some of the buildup of the immune system. i always complain. >> i get the flu shot because we are health care workers. >> of course, i do, i wait until november to give it to my patients first, build up my courage. >> you are a chicken.

>> you would not believe how many doctors get this wrong on tv and say you have the symptoms in the first 24 hours, it is some other virus. it is not. it is allergic reaction to the flu shot and it wears off. >> one year i got it and i was flat and horrible. >> if you have a question from the doctors on the flu or anything else, e-mail them and maybe they can get to it. all names and e-mails and addresses are kept confidential but your questions, vital and important. >> listen to this: researchers now saying that having that glass of wine or beer with dinner could be the key to a bet we memory but there is one catch. we will tell you what it is after the break. we're going to tell you what it is going to tell you what it is ♪ going to tell you what it is

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>> searching for reserving the memory, drinking can help those who are 60 years of age and up. how much is "moderate," and why does it work? >> moderate is two drinks a week. the reason it is working, what they are looking at, if you have been drinking as you mention,

there are changes in the brain. the area that is in charge of the memory, the size goes up. this is just observational. don't go out and start drinking hoping your memory is concerned. we talk about diet, i think the mediterranean diet is the way to go. sticking to the fatty acids such as fish and red wine, one or two glasses a week, coffee is good but the question all the time is about other herbs, if you have difficult minute too gingko can slow it down but carintine if you are early stage of dementia it can slow it down and if your

vitamin b12 is down it can mimic this. >> to drinks a week, not even one a day? >> the answer is, i don't remember what they were talking about. look, if you drink more than five drinks a way you are going to damage your brain. that is britain damage. and your liver. the question is, if you have a drink or two a day, this study doesn't prove anything because it and a questionnaire and looking at over 20 years. it could be that your brain is compensating and building a bigger brain because the alcohol is a toxin and people that don't drink at all, possibly have other medical problems that caused them not to drink so they are in worst shape. i think you should stay away from alcohol if you have an occasional drink or two it is probably not going to hurt you,

we will not recommend it to. what i think works is staying active. my father is none and he is playing on the computer right now. >> you don't use it you lose it. that does it for us. >> nine days before the midterm the media are increasing and making the elections about one issue: president obama. >> it is like obama has ebola virus. >> in the end the president really can't get his head wrapped around the fact that he is over. >> will the president's role determine whether republicans can win the senate or is that an easy store line for the media? >> new leaks in the killing of michael brown describing the struggle for a gun that made the police officer fear for his life. is the press being fear on ferguson? >> the death of ben bradlee a giant