air. or just message me on twitter or facebook. that's it for now. enjoy your day. we'll see you next time. time now for "sunday housecall." >> welcome. joining us as always, dr. mark siegel, professor of medicine at nyu. also author of "the inner pulse, unlocking the secret code of sickness and health." >> and dr. david samadi, professor of urology at lennox hill and chief of robotic surgery. good to see you, doctors. happy new year. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. >> it is, but it could be sadly maybe a sick one for people. that's because of the flu. the flu virus is at one of the worst points ever. it's now become an epidemic, according to the centers for disease control. they say the virus has caused the deaths of at least 60

people. it spread to 36 states. how can you prevent getting the flu? does the flu shot work? what can we do to protect our family? this scares me. the one year i didn't get the shot, man, oh, man, i was out of it with the influenza. it's bad. >> this is a particularly severe, nasty strain this year. the predominant strain in 90% of cases is something called an h3n2. that's the proteins on the surface of the flu. the flu molecule, the virus itself is a little package of rna, genetic material. it hops cell to cell and this flu can get you very sick. the last two times this strain predominated, we had twice as much hospitalization as we had otherwise. the very young and the very old are very susceptible to this. the flu is an enabler. it knocks down your immune response.

next thing you know pneumonia, bronchitis, science infections. that's what lands you in the hospital. i want to tell people what to look out for. in the medical community we use a term called influenza-like illness. this is important. fatigue is number one. we used to call it the grippe. it makes you knocked down. >> you can feel it in your bones. what is that, when you start feeling achy? >> muscle and bone aches. that's the virus. fatigue, headache, sore throat. those are the issues. a little bit of nasal congestion. if you're coughing up a bunch of crap, that's not the flu. the flu is fatigue. >> tamiflu? does that help? >> if you catch it early, i'm a fan of tamiflu. especially in high-risk groups, i'm a fan of that. you got to stay home. bedrest, fluids, get the fever down. if you get sicker, see a doctor. >> if the current vaccine isn't working against the current strain, should you get the flu shot?

>> that's a very good question. there is a lot of debate going on. as a physician, every doctor recommends to get -- there is 160 million vaccines out there. everyone is recommending to get it. i'm debating even among ourselves whether we should just recommend it to everyone out there. if you are a high risk one, children over 6 months, adults over 65, if you have lung disease, asthma, copd, pulmonary, kidney, heart disease, those should be getting vaccinations. the complication of flu is a disaster. that can kill you. last year we had 109 kids that died. this year, only so far 15. cdc for the first time apologized that the vaccine isn't working well. maybe around 40% to 50% efficiency. the problem with the flu is it's unpredictable. doesn't tell you what's going on. we have to predict in march what's going on in october. perhaps with ebola and other things the cdc didn't come up with the right formula. i think part of the issue with flu is there are so many

combinations. you have h and n. h is the particle -- you have 17 of them -- that binds to the cell and makes it spread. you have h1n1, h2n2. there is some mutation. that's the problem. should everyone go out there and get vaccines? i think you should talk to your doctor and personalize it. the side effects aren't bad. there are cases of a neurologic disease. those are rare. i know people are concerned about this. most of the time the symptoms are just soreness. but tamiflu, if you have symptoms of flu in the first 12 to 24 hours, tamiflu, 75 grams works well and shortens the period. >> go to the doctor and ask for a prescription. then ask about washing hands. there is a study in an office. 80 people in the office. he put a fake virus on one surface. >> fake? >> i don't know what it was.

within four hours half the office, they found the virus on everybody. when you go and type, touch the doorknob, pick up the telephone. how can you stop the flu virus from spreading? what's the best thing to do? >> that's a great point. although most of the time it's respiratory, from someone coughing and sneezing on you though you can get it by touch. washing your hands for sure. i'm not a fan of the other point you made which is should we stock pile tamiflu? no. then everybody will use it inappropriately. your doctor should tell you and hopefully there will be enough. in terms of the flu shot, i believe in it. last time we had drift and the virus changed and mutated. it was still 40% effective. in a severe flu season, 40% is better than nothing at decreasing the risk of going to the hospital or seeing a doctor in an urgent care center. two days ago i brought my 9-year-old in to see the pediatrician. she tried a trick on him.

she said spell football. he's busy spelling football and she's sticking him with the shot. he still tried to kick her. >> they should come up with a better vaccine. the technology of the vaccines are old. we need to do better than 40%. >> i agree with that. >> going back, washing hands is not only important but you touch your eyes. when you start rubbing your eyes that's when the dirt and viruses can get into your system. also sneeze in your sleeve or a handkerchief. >> the vampire. >> absolutely important. finally -- >> dracula. >> if you are sick, stay home. you're going to contaminate everyone. that's the most important thing. >> bottom line, except for those who don't need it, get the shot. >> to david's point, they have the ability to make a flu shot that will last ten years and will cover every strain. we need money in that. they better get it out here . >> we need better vaccines. >> it's life threatening and it

ain't fun. >> coming up, we're going to talk about the side of sugar that's not so sweet. the damage it does to your body and what you can do to kick the habit. we'll ask doctors about it next. habit. we'll ask doctors about it next. ♪ defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. easily absorbed calcium plus d. beauty is bone deep. oral-b toothbrushes aree engineeredqual. with end-rounded bristles so brushing doesn't scratch gums. and angled perfectly to remove 90% of plaque for a healthier smile. trust the brand more dentists and hygienists use. oral-b.

: hey! guess what day it is??

>>hump day! hummmp daaay! it's hump day! >>yeah! >>hey mike! mike mike mike mike mike! >>mike mike mike mike mike. hey! he knows! hey! guess what day it is! hey! camel! guess what day it is!

>>it's not even wednesday. let it go, phil. if you're a camel, you put up with this all the time. it's what you do. (sigh) if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. ok... are you addicted to sugar in many americans say they are despite the warnings about its effect on our health. how much should we be consuming of the sweet stuff? is there an easy way to cut back? before we answer the questions i would like for the doctor to explain what it is that sugar does to the body. >> this is probably the most important segment of 2015. i truly believe in it. we know sugar is causing all the

problems that we have. heart disease, obesity. it's all the secret behind the issues that we are having. so the big question is how is sugar a toxic material? we never thought about sugar as a silent killer. it increase it is visceral fat. fat around the belly isn't as bad as fat around the organs. it loads up the liver so the extra cholesterol can get into the system and cause heart disease. that's how sugar affects us. sugar can increase insulin and growth factors which there are more studies coming from harvard that it may cause cancer growth and tumor. they can get in the receptor cells, attract sugar and cause increases in cancer. we are finding out sugar is addictive like heroin, rock cocaine. it could be addictive. there are studies shown that

when you take the sugary drinks on mri, the reward center signals can go off. you build a tolerance like any other drug. sugar isn't good for you. the american heart association tells you that you should only take 6 to 9 teaspoons. we are taking over 20. this is a disaster. we want people to know. there are already 30, 40 sugars out there. high fructose corn syrup, lactose, fructose, sucrose. they are all in our bread, yogurt, everything that you may think is healthy. sugar is there. >> so look at the ingredients and say don't -- stay away from sugar? artificial sweeteners as an alternative? >> i want to start with that point. we need to know where the sugar is. it's not where we are looking for it. it's in bread. people say, well, i can have bread. you can't. it has sugar, salt. soda pop is loaded. i want to give a shout out to a

little boy in montana who cut out all soda pop, all fruit juice, all kinds of drinks including water that has sugar water, fruit water, for a year. and juices. he made $500. if you did it with your kids, give them $500 if for a year they don't have sugar. the fda has come out now saying if you are in a restaurant with more than 20 chain restaurants has to put on the label of the food exactly what the calories are, the sugar content, the salt content and alcohol beverages aren't excluded which is important. people don't realize full bodied beer, blue moon or sam adams, over 150 calories. light beer has under 100. >> one thing we talked about bread like wheat bread. look at whole wheat. some have sugar in them. others don't have sugar in them. >> you would never know because there is no label.

the fda has new guidelines that if you are a restaurant over 20 branches you have to put the amount of sugar, amount of calories on the processed food out there. >> exactly. >> the problem with sugar is it's hidden in a lot of food. fat was a huge problem. over the years we took care of fat. so the trans-fats in the restaurants are going down. sodium is a problem. we talked about sodium and the american heart association is doing a great job getting sodium out of the food. i have said many times don't add salt to your food. this is another recommendation. get rid of oh sugar if you want to live. >> club soda and that sort of thing. >> love that. that's a substitute. >> polar is based in massachusetts. they have incredible flavors and no sugar. >> that's really good. you can do the substitution thing at home.

that's where it works. a. p. diddy a survey and found americans want this information. over 50% of americans want to know at the restaurant what is the calorie breakdown. they don't care about vitamins and minerals. they care about sugar, salt and fat. get it out of the food at the restaurants and the grocery stores. we have more information at the grocery stores than the restaurants. but americans want to know even more. >> i would love to know what the content is. i love it. >> that's the battle of the obesity epidemic. >> a lot of it has to do with high fructose corn syrup. that's the way the food becomes tasty. once you take the fat out, it becomes like cardboard. by adding this it's addictive. so read about it. i think that's the way we'll get rid of obesity. it's difficult to be self-disciplined if you have all the sugar around. certainly don't add. when i talk about drinking coffee i have said don't add sugar. remember that. >> drink black coffee. >> i treat diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. they all come from obesity which

is because the sugar is converted to fat in the body. >> too sweet. >> i'm sweet enough. something else that affects almost all of us, painful leg cramps. do you get them? how do you know if it's a sign of something that could be worse and something you should worry about? next we'll talk about it on the should i worry segment. what are you doing? the dishes are clean. i just gotta scrape the rest of the food off them. ew. dish issues? cascade platinum powers through your toughest messes better than the competition the first time. cascade. now that's clean. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages.

i have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. can you print only stamps? no... first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mail man picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4 week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

back on "sunday housecall" on our weekly segment, should i worry. today we are talking about leg cramps. one viewer writes, i have leg cramps that i can want get rid of. should i worry? dr. siegel? >> i wouldn't worry. but i'll tell you what to do

about it. leg cramps are caused by different things. number one, nighttime. when you don't really stretch your legs as much as you would like to. you wake up in the morning with the reason is they become, they have less electrolites. pregnancy caused this problem. people that exercise a lot tend to get the problem. when you stop exercising, stretch before you exercise. use the drinks that have a lot of the electrolytes. >> can you take a vitamin? >> you have to hydrate. >> the combination of liquid and electro lytes. when i am mountain biking they give us jellybeans because of the cramping. >> it depends own the cause. you need to find out that,

first. dehydration is the number one cause. number one. the first thing to do is drink water. that can take care of this. something that as you run and walk you have leg cravens, when you stop the pain goes away and that could be vascular disease. you want to see your doctor. if you are taking lasik you could be lose too much potassium. some people take cholesterol medication. the general pain you get is more proximal and has nothing to do with leg cramps, mostly above the knee, a general pain you get when you stop the medication it goes away and the leg crash we are talking about could be from liver disease or thyroid disease or kidney disease. the restless leg syndrome which would wake up your wife in the

middle of the night that is gene and we do not have a real treatment. it is good to get massage and warm bath and rest. when you stretch in the middle of the night you could be pulling all the mumps and you get a knock. i am sure your wife is not happy. >> the key point is to differentiate between benign causes and the other causes such as vascular disease and kidney disease. you have to see your doctor. dehydration is one. the reason why wife wakes up is because i snore not because of the leg cramps. >> if your magnesium is low, you can take that or potassium but do not take potassium without the recommend addition of the doctor. >> take it over the counter? >> we have to check your potassium level. do not overdo it. that has cardiac issues.

finally, there are a lot of studies that talk about vitamin d complex which is great for leg cramps and i will host it on facebook and you will see the dose agency. >> the doctor can check all of your levels. >> and have the banana. >> the jellybean or banana. they make special jellybeans with the electro lytes. >> anymore secrets, dr. seeing? >> hydration. hydration. >> millions of people made new year's resolution but coming up next, the doctors will tell us why so many fail to key them and tips on actually make yours stick.

>> losing weight, getting organized and getting rid of stress. those are the top ten resolutions that many of us make each new year's eve but, unfortunately, only 20 percent of us stick to them. what is going on? is there a way to make them last? dr. samadi, i will start with you. >> i think a lost times the goals are not realistic or

practical. people say, i want to lose 30 pounds by valentine's, it will not work but replace it with something realistic, such as i will sleep more, better choices of foods, those are more practical. i think if you are serious about it you should get help. to quick smoking, get help. if you want to lose weight, get a dietitian. finally, if you follow the bandwagon when you fall off get back on. i want to hear from 2014, how does it go. >> i forget for 2014, i guess exercise and this year i gave up. >> yours? >> newt stress so much. >> thank you is good. stress is a huge factor. do you have if resolution last year? it was weight loss. i congratulate you. >> this year is to be forgiving of people if someone gets you

annoyed or upset let it goes. >> not talking about me? >> no, no, you are great. david and i are -- whatever, we are like a married couple. ♪ let it go >> back to the resolution, number seven on the solicit finding true love. >> in pennsylvania, they did a study that find 50 percent of americans have new year's resolutions and for me the most important is to do the exercise every day. if you shoot for seven days, it will be five. if you do that park avenue thing and say, well, flee days, it is one day and it is gone. do an exercise every day. >> best i came up with this year and a lot of people on f facebook are writing about this, look at your dish and have the five colors. believe me, it works. white and black are not specific colors and that is how you

encourage fruits and vegetables and take away from negativity. >> try to be a better person. >> i like it all. >> happy new year. >> we love you. >> we love you back. thanks for watching. >> on the first buzz better of 2015, mike huckabee with an announcement he is leaving fox news to "explore," a presidential campaign. >> i will not make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015 but the continued chatter has put fox news into a position that isn't fair to them. >> which means he is running. why else would he give up a lucrative tv career? how much has the fox gig boosted his chances? >> a comeback for president obama getting positive press from the least on immigration, on climate change, on cuba and an improving economy that is called "the obama boom." >> there has been so much effort put forward by the republicans to trash