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Howard G. Smith, M.D. is a former radio medical editor and talk show host in the Boston Metro area. His "Medical Minute" of health and wellness news and commentary was a regular weekday feature on WBZ-AM, WRKO-AM, and WMRE-AM. His popular two-way talk show, Dr. Howard Smith OnCall, was regularly heard Sunday morning and middays on WBZ.

Dr. Smith has adopted audio and video podcasting as conduits for HEALTH NEWS YOU SHOULD USE. Based on the latest medical, health, and wellness literature these reports provide practical information you can use to keep yourself and your family healthy. Many reports have video versions, and Dr. Smith’s YouTube Channel may be found at: http://bit.ly/2rNw6XQ

Trained at Harvard Medical School and a long-time faculty member at Boston Children’s Hospital, he practiced Pediatric Otolaryngology for 40 years in Boston, Southern California, and in central Connecticut.  He is now based in New York City.

If you have questions or suggestions about this content, please email the doctor at drhowardsmith.reports@gmail.com or leave him a message at 516-778-8864.  His website is: www.drhowardsmith.com.

Please note that the news, views, commentary, and opinions that Dr. Smith provides are for informational purposes only. Any changes that you or members of your family contemplate making to lifestyle, diet, medications, or medical therapy should always be discussed beforehand with personal physicians who have been supervising your care.

Feb 22, 2019

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/OeVhgDxUB-g

Vaginal yeast infections are all too common and during pregnancy are frequently treated with oral fluconazole or the branded Diflucan.  New data from over 400,000 pregnancies in Quebec reviewed at the University of Montreal shows that any dose of oral fluconazole is associated with a higher incidence of miscarriage.

Fluconazole is known for its induction of lethal genetic defects including heart defects as well as miscarriage, but most warnings about the drug mention doses of the drug higher than 400-800 mg per day.  The current study shows that congenital cardiac defects arose after exposures to 150 mg per day or above during early pregnancy, and, let me repeat, any dose of oral fluconazole is associated with a higher incidence of miscarriage.

Once again, the byword is that any oral medications during pregnancy should be avoided.

#yeast #vaginitis #fluconazole #diflucan #miscarriage #cardiacdefects #healthnews #healthtips

Anick Bérard, Odile Sheehy, Jin-Ping Zhao, Jessica Gorgui, Sasha Bernatsky, Cristiano Soares de Moura, Michal Abrahamowicz. Associations between low- and high-dose oral fluconazole and pregnancy outcomes: 3 nested case–control studies. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2019; 191 (7): E179 DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.180963

 

Vanessa Cristine Paquette, Chelsea Elwood. The safety of oral fluconazole therapy in pregnancy. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2019; 191 (7): E177 DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.190079