Former New England Patriots Matt Light's Battle With Crohn's Disease

In June 2004, New England Patriots players gathered at owner Robert Kraft's home to receive their Super Bowl rings. But the team wasn't complete. Matt Light, who helped earn the victory, wasn't there. He was in the midst of a 30-day hospital stay, fighting through complications that had developed from having a 13-inch section of his intestine removed. He couldn't eat for a month and lost 55 pounds, dropping to his lowest weight since high school.

During Light's 11 seasons with the Patriots, from 2001 to 2012, football fans knew he was the most successful left tackle in the team's storied history. What they didn't know was that Light was battling Crohn's disease—an often debilitating inflammatory bowel disease—throughout his entire career. That meant severe abdominal pain, fatigue, and persistent diarrhea, among other symptoms. Light, 34, didn't speak publicly about his struggles until May, when he announced his retirement. Now, he wants to educate and encourage others who are experiencing what he went through. Light shared his story with U.S. News:

What led to your diagnosis? How did you know something was wrong?

I was officially diagnosed in 2001, but I had started experiencing a lot of the symptoms during my freshman year in college. At the time, I didn't connect it with being anything more than the flu or a stomach virus. I just wasn't up to speed with issues like Crohn's disease, or any other type of bowel disease. By the time I got to the NFL as a rookie, I just knew something wasn't right. I was experiencing internal bleeding—it's very difficult to talk about, kind of embarrassing, but this is what happens. I started asking a lot of questions, got a full exam, and the doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital told me I was suffering from Crohn's disease.

[See 4 Common Diarrhea Causes—and What to Do if You Get Sick.]

How did you feel when you learned you had Crohn's? Was it scary, or were you relieved to finally know what was wrong?

I tend to process things in a very matter-of-fact way. Maybe it's my engineering background. I had this sense that I needed to find out what it was, and that's a real message I try to get across to people I come in contact with—to ask as many questions as you possibly can, no matter what it is you're suffering from.

In 2004, a series of surgeries kept you in the hospital for a month with intense pain and complications from having part of your intestine removed. You've described it as a very dark period. How did you get through it—and make it to training camp less than two months later?

It was very difficult, but I had really good doctors and a really good support team. You're not the only one who goes through this—it's all the people around you, and you rely on them. When you have a family, you have to be healthy for them. I remember my wife coming into the hospital and showing me my Super Bowl ring for the first time. It's pretty wild to think you can get through all that and still get back out there and win another championship.

Why did you decide to start speaking about your condition publicly?

I had mixed emotions about going public, because I hadn't said anything throughout my entire battle. I was worried some people were going to be upset that I had kept it hidden. But I didn't want people to say, "Well, he had a bad game because he's battling this tough disease." At the time, my battle was my battle, and I wasn't willing to talk about it. The truth is, it's not easy to talk about, but if somebody else can learn something by me coming out and telling my story—and they can say, there's a guy who's doing great, and he got through some really tough times—then I'm just thankful to have the opportunity to be that voice.

[See 8 Common Digestive Problems and How to End Them.]

How are you doing today?

It's a major transition when you stop playing the game of football. I spent a lot of time coming up with my plan of attack and looking into different treatments. I had to re-educate myself, because I had different options in 2012 than I did in 2001. I played a pretty violent, inflammatory sport, and Crohn's is an inflammatory disease, so some of the treatments just weren't possible for me. Today, I'm doing a lot better, and I don't have the day-to-day issues I had for a long time.

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Salt in the wound

A sophisticated analysis, just published in the journal hypertension and based on three separate computer modelling approaches, found that significant reductions in the average intake of sodium in the American diet can save between 280,000 and 500,000 lives in the next decade.

Those are big numbers, impressive. Not all that long ago, this provocative statement would be a clear and direct to goad public action because there was widespread acceptance that excess sodium has been damaging. While that view still persists among the majority of the experts, a vocal minority has voiced dissent over the last few years enough to create at least the impression of dwell. There is the possibility, then, that the opportunities highlighted in the new study may prove to be only new fodder for endless and controversial debate. I'd help you preempt.

The new study has worked its various models based separately on observational epidemiology, epidemiological studies and intervention trials. For A long time we had evidence that excessive dietary sodium is harmful, based on only those sources.

[See 9 surprisingly simple ways to reduce sodium intake]

Decades of observational epidemiology indicate lower rates of hypertension, stroke and cardiovascular disease in populations with lower salt intake. Obviously such studies, such as Intersalt, cannot completely isolate the effects of sodium. Intervention trials, however, as DASH and related studies can and have reached similar conclusions —. Cross-cultural studies that track what happens to health outcomes as move groups with the same genes in different cultural contexts have lent further support.

[See DASH diet]

On the basis of the aggregate evidence, the Center for Science in the public interest has long asserted that sodium excess kills 150,000 Americans prematurely every year. While the new analysis suggests that self-esteem can be a bit overkill, corroborates the fundamental concern.

Of course, the issue has always been that excessive sodium was harmful and even then, only for those who are vulnerable to its effects. Sodium, per se, are not only not harmful, is essential for life. If you don't consume enough sodium, we develop hyponatremia (low blood sodium), and if that continues, we die. Most of us who have gone through the medical education have seen cases of life-threatening hyponatremia, and it isn't pretty.

The mere possibility of an excessive intake of sodium is a modern anomaly. Marine animals — and is long enough, that was the whole animal life — are surrounded from the brine and immune to be pickled from it. In the seas, we had unlimited access to soda and were at no risk of too.

[See the skinny on salt. How Much Is Too Much?]

Our need has become acute sodium only when we ourselves took out that brine and became terrestrial creatures. On Earth, the soda is pretty hard to find a suitable power, let alone in excess. Deer will be licking a salt for that very reason.

But "salty" is one of several basic categories of food and flavor as others on that list — particularly sweet and savory, tend to stimulate the appetite. So while adding dietary salt was born with conservation efforts and prevention of deterioration, more time has been added to make the food more palatable. Copious additions of salt in processed foods are among the reasons why no longer no one can eat just one.

Of course, you really shouldn't be any debate about the harm of excess "sodium", because they give is implicit in the term "in excess". If our sodium intake not harmful, what basis there would be defined as excessive? Compared to what?

That showing the weight of evidence is that the prevailing assumption is excessive compared to what is optimal for health. Taking environment into United States is excessive by the standards of the world — standard associated with much lower rates of sodium-related chronic diseases, such as hypertension, osteoporosis, stroke and heart disease. Prevailing levels are excessive compared to our native intake level in a food world and recognizable Speakable, no Golden Arches. Our stone age ancestors consumed more sodium, potassium and we reversed that ratio dramatically.

The fact that too much harmful does too little innocuous. The deficit, as excess, is a term of quota: deficient, compared to what? We need a certain level of sodium to maintain normal levels in our blood, maintain normal blood pressure and maintain their normal hormonal balance. Neither too much nor too little is good. So the studies showing potential damage from very low sodium intake are not surprising.

Nor do such studies invite you to neglect the prevailing excess. It would be foolish to overlook global warming (more than they already do) for fear that our efforts could overcome corrective and induce an ice age. The fixable problem that we should have priority over the hypothetical problem which we could create, if we pass absurdly. Let's not exceeding — but let's do something.

That something? Experts claim a need for change in processed foods, which provide 80 percent of the sodium we eat all. The saliera adds only minimally. With regard to taking matters into their own hands, you can do this by eating more foods directly from nature. They tend to represent the relative scarcity of sodium and potassium plenty familiar to our ancestors and help move our balance of these nutrients to the normal native.

[See 7 reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet]

Interested parties that we have distorted the harmful effects of any nutrient because they deserve to be heard. But going too far when any given study is used to replace the hard-earned aggregation tests that preceded it. Scientific evidence is more useful in the context. When the scientific opinion is knocked around like a ping-pong ball, public health tends to take a beating.

There is no doubt that eating habits at odds with the fundamentals of what we know about the basic care and feeding of Homo sapiens are major cause of most egregious injury imposed on modern public health. There are many minor and major gaps excesses that contribute to the adversities of our dietary intake, and an excess of sodium is in no way responsible for what ails us. But the weight of evidence implicates much like one of the many shows.

There are, in other words, serious wounds in public health — and there is, along with the rest of a dubious recipe, salt into those wounds.

Hungry for more?Email eatandrun@usnews.com with questions, concerns and feedback.

David l. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, [RSDT], is a specialist in internal medicine and preventive medicine, with particular experience in nutrition, weight management and prevention of chronic diseases. He is the founder and Director of the Prevention Research Center at the University of Yale and principal inventor of NuVal nutrition guidance system. Katz was appointed editor-in-Chief of childhood obesity in 2011 and is President-elect of the American College of Lifestyle medicine.

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PMS: Finding Relief

Premenstrual syndrome, commonly referred to as PMS, is a cyclic, multisymptom disorder characterized by physical, behavioral, and emotional symptoms. 

PMS occurs during the luteal phase (days past ovulation) of a woman's menstrual cycle, and is followed by a resolution of symptoms within the first few days after the onset of menstrual bleeding. 

The exact cause of PMS is unknown, but normal ovarian function as well as fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone levels are considered possible causes of the symptoms commonly associated with PMS. Other factors that have been identified as contributors to PMS symptoms include genetics, stress, prior traumatic events, and sociocultural factors. Some theories suggest that chemical changes in the brain may be involved as well. Other theories suggest that PMS may be caused by multiple endocrine factors.

[See Top Recommended PMS Relief Products.] 

In surveys, approximately 40 percent of women describe their premenstrual symptoms as bothersome, another 10 to 15 percent describe their symptoms as severe, and 3 to 5 percent perceive their symptoms as having a significant negative impact on their quality of life. As many as 50 to 60 percent of women between their late 30s and 40s experience worsening of symptoms as they approach the transition to menopause. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS experienced by approximately 5 percent of women. Patients exhibiting severe PMS or PMDD symptoms should seek further medical evaluation or treatment. 

Symptoms of PMS 

The symptoms associated with PMS vary from woman to woman, but are typically consistent for an individual patient. Almost all women experience mild physical symptoms, food cravings, or mood changes before the onset of menses. These changes are considered normal signs of the ovulatory cycle, whereas PMS is defined as having at least one mood or physical symptom during the fives days prior to menstruation. 

The number and severity of a patient's symptoms and their impact on overall well-being can assist health care providers in determining whether a patient has PMS or PMDD. The two most common physical PMS symptoms are bloating/weight gain/swelling and breast tenderness. Fatigue, anxiety, and irritability are also experienced by many women. Depressive and anxiety disorders are the most common conditions that overlap with PMS, and approximately half of women seeking treatment for PMS have one of these disorders. 

[See Top Recommended Menstrual Pain Relief Products.] 

Treating PMS

Treatment should be tailored to meet the specific needs of each person, and typically requires a combination of therapies. Many experts recommend nonpharmacologic measures, including lifestyle and dietary modifications, regular exercise, and stress-reduction techniques, as the first line of therapy. Studies have shown that women who exercise regularly may experience less frequent and milder PMS symptoms compared with those who do not exercise. Reducing or eliminating intake of caffeine, salt, and alcoholic beverages as well as eating foods rich in complex carbohydrates and low in protein during the premenstrual phase may also decrease the incidence of PMS symptoms. 

Approximately 80 percent of women use nonprescription products for symptomatic relief of PMS symptoms. Nonprescription agents that are marketed for management of PMS include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diuretics, vitamins, minerals, and herbal products that contain evening primrose oil, chasteberry, or black cohosh. Combination products are also available that contain an analgesic (acetaminophen), a diuretic (pamabrom), and an antihistamine (pyrilamine maleate). Patients should be aware that combination products containing antihistamines may cause drowsiness.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved three over-the-counter diuretics—ammonium chloride, caffeine, and pamabrom—for relief of water retention, bloating, weight gain, and swelling. Pamabrom is the diuretic most commonly found in nonprescription menstrual products. Patients with a history of peptic ulcer disease or anxiety and insomnia disorders should not use products containing caffeine or pamabrom. Ammonium chloride is not recommended for people with renal or hepatic impairment due to the possibility of metabolic acidosis.

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How to Identify and Manage Nightmares

You wake up, panting, from a deep sleep. You went to work naked. You fell into a bottomless pit. You got swept into a tornado, and then fought off a wicked witch and flying monkeys in an unfruitful trek to Oz. If any of this sounds familiar, join the club. Research suggests that more than 85 percent of adults occasionally experience nightmares—at least once a month for 8 to 29 percent, and once a week for 2 to 6 percent. If you're someone who snoozes peacefully through the night, understand that nightmares are no ordinary dreams. They're "vivid, disturbing dreams, with an emotional connection that tends to wake us up," says Matthew Mingrone, an otolaryngologist and lead physician for EOS Sleep California centers.

If your slumber resembles a bad horror movie, learning about your nightmares and why they happen may help you sleep better.

Nightmares vs. Sleep Terrors

First, recognize that nightmares are not night terrors. The latter, also known as sleep terrors, happen earlier in sleep, during a non-rapid eye movement (REM) stage. Typically, you'd wake up in the first 90 minutes of sleep, perhaps panicked and yelling, with a much fuzzier memory of the dream than you'd have after a nightmare. Your heart rate may jump to 180 beats per minute during night terrors, says Tore Nielsen, director of the Dream and Nightmare Laboratory and a psychiatry professor at the University of Montreal. He adds that folks with night terrors can be destructive when they wake up—by fighting or jumping from windows—and yet, they often don't remember the episode later.

[See Top Recommended Sleep Aid Products.]

If the idea of sleep terrors sounds, well, nightmarish, at least it's only a reality for about 4 or 5 percent of adults. For the 85 percent of us who get plain old nightmares, you know the drill. "Nightmares occur primarily in the last third of the night, when your REM sleep is the strongest," Nielsen says. So if you go to bed at 10, a night terror would wake you with a fright around 11:30 p.m., whereas a nightmare would haunt you closer to 6 a.m. Sometimes nightmares wake us up, and sometimes they don't, but we can almost always remember the nightmare's plot to some extent.

What Causes Nightmares, and Who Gets Them?

"There are post-traumatic dreams, and there are idiopathic ones, which means we really don't know where they come from," says Nielsen. "It hasn't been scientifically documented very well." Generally, idiopathic nightmares don't reflect traumas, but perhaps intra-personal relationships, like those with spouses or parents, Nielsen adds.

Stress and anxiety can also lead to nightmares, says Mingrone. Job losses, break-ups, failed tests—although they're not considered traumas per say, these stressful events can all trigger a bout of bad dreams.

[See Try One of These Quirky Stress-Busters.]

Nightmares have also been linked to certain medications, specifically those that affect neurotransmitter levels, such as antidepressents, narcotics, or barbiturates, according to a 2000 report in American Family Physician. People with depression, those relapsing from schizophrenia, and those experiencing withdrawal from alcohol and sedative-hypnotics may also face a higher risk.

There's another crew of nightmare-prone people that the report mentions: "Creative persons who demonstrate 'thin boundaries' on psychologic tests." Nielsen deciphers: "For some people, their mental boundaries are thinner in that they have much more access to their imaginative and emotional lives."

Getting Back to Sleep (If You Can)

"I don't think you can get back to sleep immediately, because you might be emotionally aroused quite a bit, or afraid," says Nielsen, adding that, if you do try to reclaim a few zzz's, evoke whatever relaxation techniques you know, like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. Or "meditate on positive experiences," Mingrone suggests.

[See 8 Ways to Become an Optimist.]

If it's clear you're too wound up to fall back asleep anytime soon, it may be best to get up for a half hour or so. "It couldn't hurt to write down the nightmare so you can reflect on it later," Nielsen says, or "try to re-script the nightmare so it's more to your liking."

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