was the perfect storm for brinsley to murder two cops having lunch. >> thank you so much. stay with fox news for updates throughout the evening and for more, foxnews.com. thanks for watching. time for sunday housecall. >> and i'm eric shawn. joining us, dr. marc siegel, author of the inner pulse, unlocking the inner code of sickness and health. >> and dr. samadi at lennox hill hospital and chief of robotic surgery. always good to see you. >> nice to see you. >> almost the end of the year, pretty soon, and you look back at some of the big stories this past year, this moment had gripped our nation. >> africa's biggest ebola outbreak ever has health officials scrambling, as one

american infected with the virus arrives in the u.s. for treatment. >> the key is identifying, quarantining, isolating, those who contract it and making sure that practices are in place that avoid transmission. >> the plain fact is we can stop it from spreading in hospitals and stop it in africa, where it's really the source of the epidemic. >> as you remember, the ebola crisis did reach u.s. soil, with dr. brantley arriving in august for treatment of that deadly disease, a disease that would keep the rest of the country on alert for months to come. there were a few cases after the doctor, but it's been thankfully kind of quiet on that front. >> first of all, it was a huge problem and remains so in west africa. liberia, there's some corner that has been turned with coordination of services, with the help of the u.s. military, with the help of doctors without

borders and other volunteer organizations. they're stamping it out or it's decreasing dramatically. sierra leone, not yet. it's still abug problem. you put up at the beginning, 7,000 deaths. plus, it's also affecting other diseases like malaria, like heart disease, cancer. pregnant women are not getting taken care of. over here, i think the big problem was we couldn't believe what our public officials were telling us. we saw one case, and the next thing we knew, two more nurses had it, and people naturally, as they always do with emerging diseases, especially infectious ones, said, i could be next. how do i know i won't be next? we went on tv and tried to talk about that, but there was a lot of fear with that. i think what finally calmed the fear is what happened at bellevue hospital where dr. spencer was successfully taken care of, did not spread it to anyone, and since then, we have had no more cases. >> it started, the fear, i

think, was a result of the confusion, quite frankly, coming out of the cdc in the beginning and leaders weren't sure to tell the folks as to what we were supposed to do. let alone the actual emergency workers taking care of those people. the we learned something? >> what a year. we started off being completely confusioned, not getting all of the good information we needed to know. a lot of people lost trust with the cdc and the mixed messages coming down, but this speaks to how vulnerable we are when we get a virus that is 70% lethal and it can affect us and how health care has become a real global problem. something happening in africa can affect us and vice versa. the power of media was extremely strong and it really stopped this from coming here. the good news is in liberia where half of the patients have died out of the 7,000, things are improving and it's getting better. the good news also is the elections they were supposed to have in october finally

happened. and football star players, like georgeway, who was a candidate, the son, actually participated, and the crowd came together. the bad news is sierra leone, we have long way to go, and unfortunately, we lost a 12th doctor over there, victor weath weatherby, died this week, and the medication was on the way to get to him. but it never made it. so the u.n. ambassador was there. he visited the area, we're sending a lot of troops and medications and drugs. this is not the end of it, but i'm hopeful in 2015 the vaccine is going to kick in. we have learned a lot. there are a lot of investment by health care in our country that has gone into this, and it has panned out and we haven't seen any cases. that's good news. >> when you talk about the vaccine kicking in, do you mean the vaccine developed and ready to deliver? >> in the next few months, we'll

see vaccines in the pipeline that will come in and hopefully we'll get it to go there. i don't think it's the end of the epidemic of this disease in africa. we may see it in the future. we have learned a lot. >> you have put your hats off and commend the health workers who have basically sacrificed their lives. such a high percentage of health workers, doctors, and others, who have succumbed to ebola, going there, trying to help those poor people. >> you know, i want to give a nod to a doctor who i interviewed on the radio from sierra leone, who got ebola, stayed there, recovered now, with the help of early intervention, and now he's going to go back out on the front lines because he figured he had ebola already. he can talk to patients with ebola, he doesn't have risk. hae has tremendous courage. as far as the vaccines, i agree with david. the vaccines are going to be a big story in 2015. the one at the nih so far looks really good, going to stage two

trials. >> i think the biggest news out of this whole thing is how one patient was able to save someone else's life, how some of the doctors and nurses who got the disease, truly committed to the future of other patients. gave their blood, gave their immune stem cells save someone's life. this is the beauty of medicine. and finally, a gratitude to our u.s. army. these guys, they don't get credit. the fact they put their life at risk, whether it's taking bullets or some of the things we have seen recently, and also being here, taking this chance. >> the stories of the nurses and doctors in texas, absolutely amazing. >> absolutely, and the soldiers, their families on the homefront. >> and another, by the way, one final story of the children. because there's been over 10,000 orphaned children in west africa, and the nurse we showed on the show last week, she talked about how hard it is not to be able to hold a sick child because of fear that they're

going to break into your protective equipment. >> next year will be better news for ebola. hopefully the end of this. >> thank you, doctors. they are marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, but does that mean e-cigarettes are risk free? coming up, the growing demand for them and the real toll they could be taking on your health. p ♪soft holiday music ]♪

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when i switched to blew electronic cigarettes not only did i feel good about myself, but it's freedom to have a cigarette without the guilt. >> that's one of the many comrnss advertising the benefit of switching to electronic cigarettes. retailers say the demand is growing, but are they safer than

the real thing. you say jenny mccarthy say i'm smoking. there's nicotine in that. you may not know the level, but it's in there, right? >> it's a very cool commercial and she makes it like a fun thing to have. we see 1 out of 10 high school students are using e-cigarettes, the number of teenagers has doubled, and so it's a big business, over $2 billion this year. by 2017, about $10 billion industry. now, the premise for this was we're going to take all the smokers that are smoking cigarettes, we're going to go to e-cigarettes as a way to transition out of smoking. what we're seeing is the oral fixation is a huge problem for teenagers. they're getting hooked on this. now fda is not regulating this, so the amount of nicotine that is in these e-cigarettes are different depending on the different brands. also, we don't know when you heat up this chemical in our

food, what it does. we went from learning about smoking to vapor and vapors which is what this is, turning the liquid nicotine, turning it into vapors. what the long term data is, we have no idea. that's why all of us have been against it. the only good thing is the fact you don't smell the real cigarette. and it tastes good. i think a lot of the teenagers are going to get hooked on this and switch back to smoking. it's a bad idea. >> that's something that struck me, looking at the jenny mccarthy commercial. you can't advertise commercial cigarettes on television, but they have nicotine in them. so how do they allow television commercials that go on -- >> it's not fda-regulated. not fda-regulated. they can put any amount of nicotine they want. this year, finally the fda came and said minors should be banned from getting them. >> when we talk about this, the

e-s e-cigarettes, there are people who are heavy smokers and said these help with smoking cessation, there's something do to is, right? >> that's a good point. my point of view on this is the issue is the nicotine. now, there are recalcitrant smokers who can't quit, that come to see me in the office, and i have -- i'm out of all options. they can't quit cold turkey is the most likely way to quit, and by the way, a study just recently showed in the journal of cancer you're more likely to quit without the use of e-cigarettes, if you're smoking, you're more likely to quit without these, but there's a group of people, people who have smokes a long time, and they'll come up and tell me a year or two later, you know something? it was the e-cigarettes that got me off. what i'm most worried about is our youth. now, e-cigarettes are bans in 40 states. you're not allowed to have them if you're a youth. under the age of 18 in 40 states, you're not allowed to use these cigarettes, but you know what? kids are not paying any

attention to that. kids are finding ways to get it. they're going into 7-eleven, going into stores, getting it from their parents, and the biggest problem according to cdc and other stories are they're gateway. you start off with these cigarettes and end up using tobac tobacco. the kind of personality we see with our tobacco smokers who start off, impulsive, have to get a fix. that's not essential with these cigarettes. they do it more for social reasons, they pals are doing it. next thing you know, they have a nicotine addiction. they can't get a real cigarette, they go to an e-cigarette. smoking has been diminishing. we have made great gains. this is a step backwards. they're problematic and they should be regulated by the fda. >> we have about 42 million americans that are smoking cigarettes and we have made a huge progress in this field, about 18%, where in 2009, it was about 27%. i think this is not -- there's

no data to show that this is safer than cigarettes, number one. it also hasn't been shown that by going to this, you then the next phase would be that you're going to be smoke free, and that's the problem. the alternative, unfortunately, is not so good. the medications the doctors are writing, they have a lot of side effects from hallucinogon, to suicidal ideas. and that's why people are using this. this is becoming a social event with e-cigarette cafes. >> what about the gum? >> the flavors are related to that. bubble gum flavor, cherry flavor. this is very, very different than nicotine gum. first start with that. nicotine gum or nicotine lozenge or patches that you take off to sleep, by the way, that's a first line of defense. if cold turkey doesn'twork, i go to the nicotine products, the gum or patches. chantix, which is effective in some people, is not for people that are very anxious or people who have problems with paranoia

or get very, very upset. you have to pick careful who you give chantix to. >> don't smoke. >> if you haven't started, don't touch it. >> don't start. >> one of the biggest medical advances of the year, a simple at-home test to help you determine if you're at rist for colon cancer. you want to know the details on this, stop colon cancer. we'll tell you how when we come back. my name is karen and i have diabetic nerve pain. it's progressive pain. first that feeling of numbness. then hot pins. almost like lightning bolts, hot strikes into my feet. so my doctor prescribed lyrica. the pain has been reduced and i feel better than i did before. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda-approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters,

changes in eyesight, including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. [ karen ] having less pain, that means everything to me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

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this is important because colon cancer is preventable. >> it is the number two killer of cancer in the united states. if you do not get it early there is only if y there's only a 12%, five-year servileal rate. survival rate. if you do get it early, it is a 90% five-year survival rate. we need everyone over the age of 50 to gscreened with a colonoscopy. 23 million people that are supposed to get it don't. there is a big study in the "new england journal of medicine" on colon guard which i am about to tell you about that shows it is over90% effective at detecting colon cancer and 69% effective at detecting polyps. >> it's as easy as going to the drugstore to pick it up? >> it is prescription only. you check your own stool sample. we send it away for you. you get the results in two weeks. it is a dna test. we'll talk about this next week. what's fascinating, we're

getting to the point where we're seeing the abnormal dna that tumors make. colon cancer makes a specific signature of abnormal dna. we can find it on this stool test. >> can i go now, ask my doctor, get colo guard? >> if he has access to it, knows a pharmacy that has it, it is absolutely on the market. >> but i get it from you, you take it home and use it at home? >> yes. but let me just make a comment. this is not to replace standard of care which is colonoscopy and you are encouraged to go for colonoscopy first. the reason why this works wrel well is it is less invasive, 92% sensitive based on this "new england journal of medicine" and in advances cases can detect 69%. you basically take the kit home after you buy it. it is about $600. but put some stool sample there. it goes to the lab and they look at some of the dna cells that are in the bowel. the same exact thing exists for

patients with prostate cancer where we massage the prostate, you get some of the cells to go in the urine. it is called pca3. very similar concept. the new way of finding this disease instead of doing co colonoscopie colonoscopies, biopsies, look at the cells being shipped from the cancer. more than 50,000 americans die from this cancer. that's why screening is important. when you catch it early, it is 9 0e% effective. >> how do you know if you have it? what about the symptoms. >> number one symptom, i say to everyone, clang in bowel habits. are you certainly constipated, suddenly having diarrhea, do you have some sense of bloating, are you losing weight. if you feeling like something's wrong down there. does a doctor find you are anemic. i have to skreent stools for blood also in addition to a colonoscopy but i agree with david's point which is everyone over the age of 50 should have colonoscopy first. you get used to that prep.

even some people under the age of 50. >> men and women? >> men and women. >> change in the caliber of your stool is very important because whether you have cancer, pushes the stool and it becomes a narrow caliber. that's important. also if you see blood in the stool. it's most likely a problem because fresh blood most likely is hemorrhoids but if you see any of that, make sure you go and talk to your doctor. >> colonoscopies, please. >> i know you are doing it which is really smart thing to do with family history. >> very good. a leink to a longer life. new reasons why you should switch to a mediterranean diet [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans.

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who brought the impression the community is not behind the police department? that will not happen. we will not allow that to happen. it is unacceptable. our police officers are the best police in the city and the country and we stand behind them as we stand here with the ramos

family who made the ultimate sacrifice. i will bring forward a stalwart in our community, the member of the advocates without borders network. >> thank you, i am the president from the precinct community council and i am here, today, with the ramos family to show our respect and condolents and with people from my community. i am in pain. but we are here to support the ramos family and the police department. we send a message: we don't want the city of new york to think that everyone is against the police department. everyone here with me tonight is from the nypd. this senseless killing with officers happened not just to a police officer but shear a dear friend of mine for over 20 years and the family. his family is here. this is the house he was born and raised.

basically what we want to get the message through, we are here at one community and we are here to support our officers and work with them and mr. mayor, you need to have a sit down. you need to get everything corrected from the mayor's office, down. this is wrong. we need to you work with the community and police department, not just one side. the police department needs you, as well this is what happened. that is why you got their back because of all this craziness going on. what happens? what if that was your son in the patrol car? your son that got shot in the head? then what? why not come out then and say something? i will let a men of the family speak and then i i have a state snarl here to speak and i have representatives fr