Comments on: Low-carb diet takes one below the belt

By: Mauro

Mauro — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 13:13:19 +0000

That a supposedly “scientific” journal agrees to publish a paper based on A SINGLE PATIENT boggles my mind, EVEN IF IT WERE EXTREMELLY STRANGE AND WELL DOCUMENTED, which is not the case BTW. The closest I see to this acceptance is the Catholic Church, which records many such occurrences every year. They call it ?miracle? but even then they require much better records. And to be a Saint you need much more than this.

Even if the patient melted away, caught fire spontaneously or started flying ?because of the Atkins diet?, YOU NEED MORE THAN THAT TO CALL IT SCIENTIFIC. One lone occurrence is not science, it?s tabloid news.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 01:24:55 +0000

Brad,

But the fact is she *wasn’t* following Atkins the way it was supposed to be followed. She was following the 1972 version. Dr. Atkins learned a lot in the 30 years following that books publication. To be doing Atkins right she should have been following the new version.

I read the old version and it’s interesting, but only as history. It’s too outdated to be a viable diet for today. The newer version of the diet stresses vegetables and other things that the 1972 version doesn’t.

By: Brad Howard

Brad Howard — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 03:26:21 +0000

For myself, the best thing about this article was the fact that we witnessed a woman that actually followed the plan the way it was supposed to be followed.

It wasn’t like she was blindly going “low carb” just because that’s what one of her friends told her to do.

So many people are attempting many of the “new” diets today with only 25-50% of the total information needed for the diets to actually be effective.

On the other hand, The Lancet article definitely represents the ease in which faulty “studies” can be erroneously passed around the world.

Great, well informed rebuttal, Dr E.

By: Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 13:12:12 +0000

This article deserves to be in The Lancet! Very detailed and entertaining.

That doctor in Lennox is a bright person but with very strong political views — which seems to clout her judgment from time to time.

It is appalling to me that a woman of science could reach reach so broad conclusions from just this single, isolated case.

By: Gabriel E. Guzman, Ph.D.

Gabriel E. Guzman, Ph.D. — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:26:14 +0000

Isn’t Dr. Lessnau the guy on the Zetia commercial? Yes, the ‘doctor’ that wears a white coat inside and outside the lab (a NO-NO in any health institution!), the ‘doctor’ that presents his students (with a big expression of ‘concern’ on his face) the case of a 45 yearh old male that ‘eats right’ and exercises but his cholesterol is still ‘high’ (of course… no number…)? Oh, it must be him!!! So brilliant and a role model for the girl that comes up with the great idea of prescribing Zetia!!! Oh, I could swear that’s Dr. Lessnau!!!! Isn’ he just plain sharp? And the students???

*****
Ohh… no, they just told me the guy in that commercial is just an actor… but Dr. Lessnau was the medical consultant!

By: Gil Wilshire, MD, FACOG

Gil Wilshire, MD, FACOG — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:20:03 +0000

Michael,
It has been interesting watching your blogging style develop over the past months. You have finally come into your own! I enjoyed the humor and the content of your piece!! Lipstick on a pig…..and you called it by what it is…oink oink. I am afraid, unfortunately, that we will see only more of these types of desperate utterances as the fragile sands of unsupported nutritional dogma continue to crumble from under those who so foolishly built their professional reputations on low-fat dietary recommendations.

By: Ralf Sundberg, MD, Ph.D.

Ralf Sundberg, MD, Ph.D. — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 09:49:24 +0000

I greatly enjoyed reading your excellent but also entertaining analysis of this case report. It is unbelievable that Lancet could publish such rubbish.

I, a former associate professor of Transplant Surgery, started on Atkins more than 1? years ago and have lost 30lbs and I am now in excellent health. I suffered previosly from hypertension but not any longer.

By: mrstmitch

mrstmitch — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 17:33:36 +0000

Wow, Dr. E.! Thanks for posting an informative yet entertaining synopsis of an unfortunate incident… unfortunate for the poor woman with the flu, and unfortunate that there is no shortage of die hard anti-low carb “buffoons” in the medical industry.

I’m grateful for your insight and experience, so that I can make sound, informed decisions about healthy eating and how my diet affects every aspect of my health. THANKS AGAIN!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:42:44 +0000

So the Lancet originally published ornish’s article, eh? That DOES explain a lot. Ornish left so much out of his conclusions that his study is nothing but ego massaging writing. As they say..None so blind as those who will not see.

I might as well come out and say it now. I’m on Atkins. It’ll be two years for me this Wednesday – so quite a good block of time. I lose weight slowly, so I just started Maintenance about 6 weeks ago. I’ve never had my blood tests show anything but positive results. They were pretty good after about 6 weeks on Atkins, and by one year in they had improved dramatically. I’m sure exercise also helped. Somewhere in there I got addicted and started looking forward to the gym.

Between Atkins and exercise my LDL dropped, my HDL skyrocketed, and my heart attack risk now stands at 2.2 (total cholesterol to HDL ratio), with anything under 3.5 being “low risk.” I’m not a doctor, but the lab results explain it all in plain English.

Plus I no longer have energy lags during the day from my blood sugar soaring and dropping. My energy is stable and I feel more awake because of that.

It’s not easy to follow a low-carb diet in a world dominated by carbs (and the worst kind at that), but it’s the only way to keep my weight and cravings under control.

By: Fred Hahn

Fred Hahn — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 11:56:20 +0000

Mike a true gem. Did you send this blog to Lancet? To these other papers? To CBS and NBC? You should!

You and MD should have a TV show called: Diet Docs Unleashed