Comments on: If your doctor wants to put you on a statin, ask why

By: beth

beth — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 03:16:41 +0000

Sometimes it’s good to be the nutty patient. I’ve found that if you want to completely shut down the discussion regarding statins/aces/etc with your internist, simply tell him/her you don’t believe in birth control.

Gets you off the hook till at least mid fifties as a female.

Regards,

Beth, the nutty, with 3 kids under 2.5

ps. Unfortunately valium is also contraindicated in these circumstances! Drat

By: Judy B.

Judy B. — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 01:28:43 +0000

For Joe Matasic:

Here is a starter list of music that you should listen to

1. Brandenburg Concerti – Bach (esp. #5)
2. Piano Concerto #21 – Mozart
3. Romeo & Juliet Overture/Fantasy – Tchaikovsky
4. La Boheme – Puccini
5. Moonlight Sonata -Beethoven (the whole thing not just the 1st movement)
6. Nocturnes – Chopin
7. Claire de Lune and Reverie – Debussy
8. Messiah – Handel
9. New World Symphony -Dvorak
10. Rigoletto – Verdi

This is just a start and it will take you a while to listen through all of this. I’ll be happy to suggest more in the future!

By: David Culmone

David Culmone — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:10:31 +0000

Please let’s try again to stop that video from auto-playing – - it happens on the main page and is getting more difficult to find the pause button with each new post!

The trick here is to delay the video-player’s entrance onto the page entirely:

You may have to replace < and > with less/greater-than signs, I’m not sure how it’s going to look in your inbox.

Thanks!
-DC

I’ll do you one better. I just deleted the video. The content of the video is printed below. And who needs to watch this woman who has the demeanor of someone who has overdosed on some kind of anti-Parkinsons drug.

And I deleted your code just to make sure it didn’t do anything nasty once the comment was approved.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Michael Richards

Michael Richards — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:25:42 +0000

Dear Dr E and Joe Mastic,

It’s really hard for me to recommend any classical music (or blues or rock for that matter) because I dearly love it all. But if I can recommend another site (I bet they need the money), go to http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/recordings/bach_cantatas.cfm and check out the best recordings of the best music ever written. The performances are conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner and are issued by his own record company (after DG fired him in a moment of corporate shortsightedness). He and his group performed and recorded all 200 cantatas in a single year, a feat that not even Bach himself achieved. So far they’ve only issued about half of the complete set (a mere 26 CDs). If you click on each volume, it will take to a link where you can listen to 4 complete tracks per volume. Go through the whole set and you’ll have about 3 hours of complete tracks to sample absolutely free of charge. The amazing thing is Bach never wrote a dud piece. Every one is a masterpiece! If you must buy only one album from this set, go for volume 8, featuring the hardest and most brilliant trumpet part Bach wrote (Cantata 51) played by the world’s best baroque trumpeter, Niklas Eklund. And then the second disc has the supremely beautiful set of cantatas Bach wrote, for the 16th Sunday after Trinity; the best stuff he ever did!!

If you subscribe — I did and never regretted it — you will eventually have a collection of 51 CDs of, literally, heavenly music. And each CD will be shipped off to you by Lady Isobel Eliot Gardiner at half price, no postage cost. How’s that for service? But you can also order individual volumes (at a slightly higher cost)

Even if you don’t buy, listen to the free samples. They’re a knockout. The album photographs are also brilliant, by Steve McCurry.

Just a suggestion!

Michael Richards

Hey Michael–

Thanks a bunch for this site. I’m listening to a cut in the background as I type this. I spent almost an hour this morning going through these and listening. They are truly magnificent. I haven’t gotten in to the ordering yet because I’ve had such a great time listening to the free stuff. I hope when I do that I find that they ship to the US.

Thanks again.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Angelyne

Angelyne — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:37:07 +0000

Thank you SO much for that link to the Berkeley lecture. It was fantastic! I’ve read the book cover to cover but this has crystallized my understanding of several key concepts, if not of the entire book. Gary is an excellent speaker. His lecture could be a little more polished, you could tell it was his first, but his explanations were fantastic and his lecture was really well built.

By the end I felt really sorry for him however. You could tell how passionate he is about this subject, and at the same time how exhausted he is. He is trying to move a mountain. He said something rather revealing at the end. He said that when he finished his book he hoped that he would induce some people to read his book, provide them with the science and maybe change their mind. Instead he’s getting the reaction “We’ve read your “What if it has been a big fat lie” article and there is nothing you can tell us. And this is why he is now having to do lectures. Poor Gary.

Yep, the NY Times article was a two-edged sword. On the one hand it got him a nice advance for his book, but on the other it’s now undermining the book because people all think they know what the book is all about.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Judy B.

Judy B. — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:27:53 +0000

I wish my doctor respected me for taking responsibility for my own health – but that is not the case. He just wants me to do what he says, when he says it without regard for my own philosophy/knowledge regarding health care. He became visibly angry when I declined statins and made the comment that “you are putting yourself at risk for sudden death by refusing treatment.” Also, dismissed my concerns about side effects and increased risk of mortality from cancer.

On another subject: There is another aspect of the health industry that I haven’t noticed anyone talking about which troubles me. One hears a lot about the uninsured not getting necessary health care but no one talks about the overuse of medical resources by doctors for the insured patient. By this I mean that doctors are recommending many tests/procedures/ drugs that are not medically necessary or in the best interests of the person (i.e., a person who is in good health and asymptomatic). Relentless testing and treatment has driven all of our medical costs through the roof. It seems that not only is common sense in short supply in the medical profession but that many doctors are driven by considerations other that what is best for the patient and respect for that patient’s viewpoints.

End of rant…..

Feel free to rant here any time. As long as I’m not the object.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Miriam

Miriam — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:23:14 +0000

Watched Gary Taubes last night. 1:00 am til almost 3:00.

It was good to watch without the baiting that happens on the tv shows.

Interesting slides.

By: Art D

Art D — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:15:15 +0000

I guess you need a Mac version of the REAL video player.
Go to this URL, pick your operating system, and follow the instructions to download and install a free REAL player.

http://www.real.com/freeplayer?rppr=fed

Since I don’t have a Mac, I can’t confirm that is works, but it shouldn’t be too hard. I’m using the free version of PC REAL to watch the Berkeley video.

Art

Hi Art–

It does indeed work. There is a version of Real Player for the Mac. I figured it out myself late last night. I should have worked on it more before I put out the plaintive cry for help. Thanks for responding, however.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Kathy

Kathy — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:55:17 +0000

First, I love my doctor. He always listens to me, and patiently answers the entire list of questions I inevitably write down before my visit. Unfortunately, he has a busy practice, and the appointments are never more than 15 or 20 minutes. Still, I’m young (52 is SO young!) and healthy, so maybe I don’t need more time with him.

My complaint has to do with physicians taking care of the elderly and disabled. I have a sister in Michigan who was born hydrocephalic (mentally and physically challenged). She mainstreamed her schooling and graduated, and then worked for the state as a mail clerk for about 20 years before everything caught up with her and she began falling and failing mentally.

She’s now in an assisted-living facility. The food they serve is protein-poor and carb-rich. Hence, now she’s pre-diabetic. She’s 5’2″ and around 210 pounds; she’s gained about 60 pounds since moving there about 4 years ago.

Her physician currently has her on Avandia, Evista, Baclofen, Potassium Chloride, Furosemide, Lescol, Loratadine, Aricept, and Levothyroxine (that’s what I know of; there might be more). I’m not at all sure what all this is for, let alone the side effects. I have read (here and elsewhere) about Avandia and its effects on the heart. I also just read just the other day that it promotes osteoporosis.

No one is questioning these meds. My sister’s friend has been taking her to the doctor, but she has no legal rights to question the doctor on anything (actually, she did once ask about the Avandia and was told “it’s fine”). And I’m 1,000 miles away and certainly am in no position to get involved, nor would the doctor listen to me, either, since my sister is her own guardian.

I just worry about all the people who can’t speak up for themselves.

I worry about them, too. And the people who are too intimidated to speak up for themselves.

My folks live in Michigan, and over the years I have been amazed (in a bad way) at the level of medical care they have received. I’ve always kidded them that the worst doctors in America are in Michigan. Then one day about 10 years ago I got a medical journal in the mail that had ranked all the doctors in the country by a specific set of criteria, and lo and behold, Michigan doctors were indeed rated as the worst in the nation. How long do you think it took me to get a copy of that article to my folks?

It’s all very strange since one of the smartest doctors I know also lives in Michigan. In fact, he lives about a quarter of a mile from my folks house.

I wish your sister well.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Miriam

Miriam — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:17:43 +0000

You need RealOne Player. Here’s the url for the free download.
Hope it works for you.

http://www.realplayer-plus.com/free-realplayer.html

Hi Miriam–

I figured it out on my own late last night. Thanks for your help, though. I appreciate it.

Best–

MRE