Monday, June 02, 2008

Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About



I was just sitting in my office dictating charts when I heard yet ANOTHER commercial for Kevin Trudeau's Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About. Mr. Trudeau claims that the powers that be don't want you to know exactly which herbs and foods may help you to feel better. He encourages you to read about the 'conspiracy' to keep you sick and overweight. He says, "The medical establishment exists only because people are sick."

Shit! They're onto us.

As a diabetes specialist, OF COURSE I want to keep Americans fat and diabetic. It's my industry. We call it job security in the diabetes world.

Anyhow, I want to congratulate Mr. Trudeau for exposing our disgusting and inappropriate relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. Since he has exposed us, I feel a bit guilty and want to provide FULL DISCLOSURE with respect to the gifts and kickbacks I have received from pharmaceutical companies over the past few years:

Merck Schering-Plough: Yet another Porsche Cayenne Turbo was delivered to my home on Saturday. The 2007 they gave me last year for writing so many Vytorin prescriptions only has 8000 miles. I'll keep this one in storage until my son is ready for it. With the way Vytorin is going, may be the last Cayenne from Merck for awhile.

Novo Nordisk Inc.: 7-day junket to Vegas with a $10,000 'head start' on chips and a weeklong orgy with their 10 hottest drug reps. Priceless. We're going again the end of June. Hell, they do this for me every year, I'll write insulin for people who don't even have diabetes.

Sanofi-Aventis: A week with Megan Fox in The Beverly Hills Hotel with a closet full of edible underwear. Let's just say I have been 'Transformed'. Have this week on the docket again for early August.

So, there you have it. You win Mr. Trudeau. By the way, your line that "The medical establishment only exists because people are sick" is genius. In fact, I don't get it. Anybody? Help?

60 comments:

  1. He's too cute!! Does he like boys or gilrs b/c this 'man' here likes him a lot!

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  2. Haha. Bet he's into dudes. As we all know, there's no cure for that!

    One morning a rep cooked us pancakes. They were shit. His contract suffered.

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  3. I *know* that my husband's bipolar disorder could be cured with diet and fung shuei. We're just too damn lazy to do it. He'd rather pop pills because the side-effects are so damn fun! I really liked the one that caused him to stop sweating when we lived in Tucson. Hyperthermia is just you dastardly docs's way of having us prop up your lavish lifestyles.

    WTG Lofty. I love conspiracy theorists. Especially when they look like that guy and Mel Gibson.

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  4. We got light up pens once. We even did a bunch of uneccesary C-sections for the drive to obtain more pens. We did get into trouble for Sectioning that effeminant man thou......Live and you learn!!

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  5. I always suspected that I worked with imbeciles, and then one day the receptionist brought this book in, raving about how wonderful and informative it was and how her Fibromyalgia was doing soooooooo much better. She passed it around and the majority of the office read it, and then they all talked about how Big Pharma and the evil doctors were conspiring to keep Fibro sufferers in pain.

    My suspicion was confirmed.

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  6. According to my mom I could have prevented my thyroid cancer by not drinking diet coke and by gaining some weight. You know aspartame and being thin cause thyroid cancer right (sarcasm...they do not!) Apparently I should have been blaming the doctors. I should have read the book! (again, I'm kidding!)

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  7. Amy: I sympathize with your spouses bipolar disorder. Very difficult situation. Used to date a guy who was bipolar. I used to rationalize this to my friends by saying "hey, he doesn't think he is one of our dead presidents."

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  8. Someone ought to direct Kevin Trudeau to the blog of "unnecessary" quotation marks. I guess his "editor" wasn't very on the "ball".

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  9. Education only exists because people are ignorant.

    Actually, it's worse here because Trudeau is saying that doctors are implicated in making people sick. Okay, I'll come clean too--I make 5 yr olds immature.

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  10. Megan Fox looks like a natural with the "Taking a Dump" pose.

    I make people run away screaming.

    In the OR reps are judged solely on who brings the best and the most food.

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  11. Oh, by the way, Kevin, you're a "convicted felon", aren't ya?

    Larceny? Credit card fraud? How about illegal pyramid schemes?

    Sounds like he knows a ton about illegal payoffs, etc!

    This Bud's for you, Kevin!

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  12. Thank you for such an enjoyable laughable post!

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  13. hey MDODers, let's write a book on this book and just ream the guy a new one. i don't even care if it sells, i just want his head on a pike. he's killing people.

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  14. Seriously 911. You could do a whole Debunking the Religion of the Liberal Who Worship At the Altar of Fanatacism, and include global warming, organic foods (don't get me started), big pharma, and the medical conspiracy. Throw in a little super foods, diet plans, BPA in plastics, and the like, then wrap it up neatly by blaming George Bush.

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  15. Yes this was brilliant...

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  16. When I had D cup man boobs, weighed 380 pounds, I used to shit in the bed and mastubate 6 times a day using the feces as lube.

    Thankfully, I discovered colon cleansing. Because a sick colon can cause a ton of problems, I gobbled up a handful of bitter and mysterious substances.

    My guts boiled with fury. It was like someone shoved an entire subwoofer into my rectum and played shitty music like this:
    http://top40-charts.com/songs/media.php?sid=23060

    When the seal finally broke, and the storm surge of feces stuccoed the toilet, it sounded like 40 days of hail.

    I shit out a juvenile walrus, 14 walmart plastic bags, 7 of those stupid 6 pack rings that you're supposed to cut up (you know why now...), an old copy of NatGeo, 3 shotgun shells, and 64 crayons.

    For years, I had this flea market packed into my rectum. I never had a satisfying shit until I found colon cleansing.

    Now, I weigh 150 pounds less. I went from a D-cup to an a-cup. I'm fitter than Billy Mills ever was, and my cock grew a full 8".

    You people, aka the Establishment Doctors, have pushed colon cleansing to the side because you only make money when people are sick. The entire medical industry only exists because people don't live forever.

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  17. I just wish Kevin Trudeau would learn how to spell his name so he wouldn't always have to go around commenting as anonymous.

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  18. Next time my kids's BP drops and her heart rate goes thru the roof, I'll just have her run to the health food store for some calming herbs and chocolate cake.

    Those damn doctor's!

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  19. Go ahead and ridicule the guy, I bet he's not dealing with any malingering free loaders at 3am.

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  20. No evil lunch lady. You just need a good mantra to keep her healthy. That and maybe some shamic chanting.

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  21. Why do you medical people bash herbal remedies? PROVEN herbal treatments include St. John's Wort, Saw Palmetto, Cinnamon, Valerian root, and many others. Pharmaceuticals are out of control. They are like big oil. It's disgusting.

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  22. dear anonymous,

    do you miss the money you threw down the toilet on trudeau's book?

    first, cite the 'proof' of these 'cures'.

    then tell us how 'pharmaceuticals are out of control'.

    can't wait. thanks.

    me

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  23. Kevin should contact the directors of the medical school I attend.. cuz I'm sure that reading his book of magic miracles and learning about herbs is SO much easier than memorizing all those stupid, useless drugs in the pharmacology course taught here. Maybe he could even come and give us lectures about his special herbs too. Glad I found out about the "truth" before I graduate med school and become one of "them."

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  24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN5ihrECJms

    and agree with oldfart. nice one drack.

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  25. here's a little lamb caught in the jaws...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGOOPk4x9oo&feature=related

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  26. So afraid. So reluctant. So arrogant to assume that only FDA-approved drugs work. Again, do a literature search on randomized trials involving herbal remedies. They don't ALL work, but many do. Cinnamon for diabetes was in JAMA for God's sake.

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  27. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I'm a Reiki practitioner and believe that there are some holistics that play very nicely with science-based medicine. How many candles must I light and how many stations of the cross must I walk before I'm forgiven my indiscretions?

    As for Kevin Trudeau - he's a gasbucket wheezebag. Always has been. Ah geez, there I go for more candle lighting...

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  28. Lofty,
    We're sunk. All these years trying to keep the secret of cinnamon secret and someone outside our club goes and spoils a good time for all us traditionalists. Okay guys and gals, since the secret's out, cinnamon cures or treats or may somehow assist with your diabetes. Fire your internist, dump you insulin, consult the web for the cinnamon doses and method of administration. Be sure only to buy 100% cinnamon cinnamon, and not that rat-piss they sell at GNC.

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  29. Let me take this one since I am a 'diabetologist'. A recent meta-analysis of 5 small studies on cinnamon for the treatment of diabetes shows that cinnamon DOESN'T DO SHIT!

    You can put it on your cereal, your oatmeal, your pancakes...hell, you can snort it if you want. But, cinnamon does NOT help fat, lazy, over-eating diabetics lower their blood sugars or improve lipids.

    Got it? Capiche, anonymous?

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  30. I love cinnamon. Will it work for thyroid cancer?

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  31. I heard cinnamon would cure craniorectal inversion, guys....is that true?

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  32. I'm sorry, doctor, but a meta-analysis outweighs a 60 patient randomized trial published in Diabetes Care in 2003 showing improvements in sugar and cholesterol in patients with type 2diabetes? Explain to this apparently mis-informed, non-physician??? How dare I question your authority? Does that bother you, doctor??? ;)

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  33. You American Docs!

    In Russia we did not disrespect the common cures or conventional wisdom. Neither did we hide them. The following work without a doubt...

    100% Maple thumbscrews: Cures muteness and inability to cooperate.

    Wooden Mallets: Especially applied to the thorax or head can make people cooperate when they initially had no intention. Also makes them be quiet after therapy (or at least quietly whimper).

    Ethylene Glycol: Makes you drunk but kills you unless consumed with ethanol.

    Ethanol: Makes Russian women beautiful but causes headaches and vomitting.

    Methanol: Makes you drunk but blind. Should only be consumed under Kevin Trudeau's supervision and preferably with ethanol.

    Isopropanol: Makes you drunk but gives you a stomach ache and may cause internal bleeding. Consider leaching or calling Kevin Trudeau at this point.

    Hemlock: Cures anti-establishment thought; used successfully with Socrates.

    Carbon Monoxide: Odorless, works to cure life in high doses.

    Hydrogen Sulfide Gas: In small spaces works better than wooden mallet to produce unconsciousness, fatal if person not removed from exposure.

    Bamboo Shoots: Work to cure inability to cooperate, failure to embrace Allah, Christ, Kevin Trudeau, (or anything you like) when gently inserted under fingernails (thanks to our Vietnamese CAM practitioners for this one)

    Sugar: Causes temporary spike in blood sugar which can be mistaken for diabetes in one time measurement, causes release of insulin, starts a whole chain of biochemical reactions but these are not important (see above on cinammon and Kevin Trudeau)

    Pig Pancreas: When a certain extract from pig pancreas is injected into humans it causes a mysterious drop in serum blood glucose.

    Humulin: Man-made copy of the 100% organic pig substance above. Not organic in the true sense, same effect, very mysterious.

    Sleep Deprivation and Heat and Cold exposure: See above for thumb screws, wooden mallets, and bamboo shoots.

    Water-Boarding: Hideously effective 100% organic method of information extraction that takes a lot longer than Russian methods mentioned above.

    Lightning: 100% organic mysterious sky plasma of the gods that can alter moods, hearing, breathing, and heartbeat (depending on amount of exposure, dose, and presence of those trained in CPR).

    Aluminum Pole: Artificial therapy that, when combined with lightning, can produce incredible results in terms of information extraction or just plain fun. Typically, subject is straight-jacketed with 20 foot aluminum pole extending from base of lumbar spine. Subject then asked series of questions inside shelter. If no response patient is set free in large field during storm. Almost always works, complication if lightning strikes before patient cooperates (see CPR).

    Habanero and Scotch Bonnet Pepper Extract: When rubbed into abrasions or sclera, produces cooperation of patient 60% of the time. Also produces extreme vocalizations, tearing, and begging behaviour.

    Vodka: Potatoe derivative, see ethanol above.

    Cat O'Nine Tails: Simple 100% organic device made from wood and leather (may have steel spikes added but takes away from organicity) used in similar fasion to other organic truth devices mentioned above. Add Habanero and Scotch Bonnet peppers to effect.

    More as the mood strikes.

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  34. 60 patients you say! Wow.

    Please do give us the full citation so we can look it up. Lofty, anon. may have you here.

    Even though your practice is focused on diabetes and stuff I think you may be off on this one!

    I await your learned opinion Dr. Zahari. Hey, just a question Doc, do you know anyone that has diabetes? I mean, maybe you are not close enough to the disease and are just wearing blinders and all? No offense, but what's with the pictures? It's a parking lot!

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  35. anon,
    let me be fair. i have not read the study you mention. since i probably won't read it perhaps you could do us all the favor of quickly summarizing it.

    here's what i'm interested in.

    what was the placebo arm.
    what was the 'cinammon arm', iow, where those taking cinammon also taking their regular diabetes medicines?
    was the study run to completion or stopped for concerns re the non-placebo arm?
    how were the patients monitored for compliance?
    what were the endpoints.


    one way to do this is simply to cut and paste the abstract from the journal. it's about two paragraphs long. we will all also want to know the " p value " and "power" of the study as well.

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  36. Here you go Mr. Doctor 911. Diabetes Care 2003. ENJOY!!!

    OBJECTIVE—The objective of this study was to determine whether cinnamon improves blood glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

    RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A total of 60 people with type 2 diabetes, 30 men and 30 women aged 52.2 ± 6.32 years, were divided randomly into six groups. Groups 1, 2, and 3 consumed 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon daily, respectively, and groups 4, 5, and 6 were given placebo capsules corresponding to the number of capsules consumed for the three levels of cinnamon. The cinnamon was consumed for 40 days followed by a 20-day washout period.

    RESULTS—After 40 days, all three levels of cinnamon reduced the mean fasting serum glucose (18–29%), triglyceride (23–30%), LDL cholesterol (7–27%), and total cholesterol (12–26%) levels; no significant changes were noted in the placebo groups. Changes in HDL cholesterol were not significant.

    CONCLUSIONS—The results of this study demonstrate that intake of 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon per day reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes and suggest that the inclusion of cinnamon in the diet of people with type 2 diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

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  37. anon.

    great. let's talk. lofty, add as you see fit.

    sixty patients is a pitifully small number especially to draw large conclusions BUT this is an interesting study.

    i bet it was interesting enough to diabetes physicians to look at it more closely. since this study was in 2003 i would be surprised if this has not happened in a definitive fashion, but i will defer to dr zahari who is smarter than i am and more up to speed on diabetes care.

    this is because there are two kinds of diabetic patients in the ER, ones with sugars that are way too high, and ones with sugars that are way too low. other than that i don't speak from a position of expertise.

    note first the 'objective' of the study. is was not to find out if cinammon could replace traditional therapies for non-insulin requiring diabetics, merely to see if it improved fasting SBG and lipids. so, no one is saying here that cinammon is a diabetes "cure".

    second. there does not seem to be a dose dependent effect for the cinammon. i may be reading too much into the abstract, but that's what is seems like.

    third. i don't see in the abstract what the proposed mechanism for cinammon is, and i do not see what it's pharmacology is. ie. aspirin will effect the bodies platelets for weeks, but who knows what cinammon does? is it processed by the kidney, liver, or does it simply pass through with no absorption?

    what i'm getting at, especially with a 20 day wash-out period, is that this 'effect' from cinammon might be explained by other factors and further studies would be needed to tease these out.

    that being said, let's assume that cinammon is, in fact, the sole reason for the apparent improvement of the subjects in the study arm.

    for adult onset (type 2) diabetics, i would guestimate a fsting BS somehwere in the 140 to 180 range if they are poorly controlled. therefore even a 30% reduction in fasting SBG makes these levels a modest improvement lowering FBG to 100 to 130 or so. THAT is significant, AND, if reproducible, would make me want to be on cinammon if i were a type 2 diabetic.

    here's what happened and this is a guess that lofty can either tell me is correct or not...

    this study excited those involved in long term diabetic managment. the results, like cold fusion, could not be reproduced OR in future studies or in the meta-analyes lofty mentioned, it was found that cinammon was not the causative factor of the good results above.

    this, OR, dr zahari and specialists like him, are squashing the information because they want the money (that would otherwise go to cinammon manufacturers) for themselves. knowing lofty like i do, i think he's in on the anti-cinammon conspiracy and being a simple car-crash physician myself i am just a follower of the status quo.

    cinammon for all!

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  38. You'll be alarmed to hear that I was looking at silk moths and thinking about you. They go through this arduous process (metamorphosis, sort of like med school). These beautiful little moths emerge and stretch their wings. Unfortunately, domestication has rendered them unable to fly, and they have no working mouth parts (doctors under JCAHO). They reproduce and die. On the up side, they weren't boiled in their cocoons in a silk factory.

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  39. This is too much fun. YOU PEOPLE (by that I mean you fucking idiot alternative/complementary medicine lemmings) are just too much.

    So...

    Rat studies showed cinnamon might help improve insulin receptor action. The first study looking at results in humans (referenced by anonymous and which caused quite a stir) did NOT control for diet, DID wash patients out for 20 days, and ONLY included patients on sulfonylureas. No one takes only sulfonylureas anymore.

    Meta-analysis of 282 patients from 5 studies has confirmed NO lasting effect of cinnamon on glucose levels, whole-body insulin sensitivity, or lipids in humans with type 1 OR type 2 diabetes (Diabetes Care 2008).

    It is very sad to me that the bulk cinnamon farmers of Indonesia, China, and Vietnam will be so adversely affected by this damning, arrogant, conspiratory LIE published in Diabetes Care.

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  40. Excellent news, I'm gonna go throw out my insulin pump, eat a bottle of cinnamon, and go buy this book right away!

    /sarcasm

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  41. dear brian and jennifer,
    yes.

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  42. Hey, Christine-Megan, I'm a pumper, too. I have been told by several of my diabetic patients that I could reverse the auto-immune destruction of my islet cells if I only took coral calcium, cinnamon, yohimbe bark extract, mangosteen juice, etc. Of course, they are all obese, poorly-controlled, insulin-resistant type 2 diabetics looking for a magical cure. Their pathetic health is really a microcosm of their lives...but they're the ones buying this RIDICULOUS book

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  43. lofty,
    i think we need to be able to write a prescription for this book and have it covered by EMTALA. it's not fair that people have to pay for this.

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  44. *snort* You guys are killing me.

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  45. For anyone that cares:

    Here's that initial study that anonymous cites, yes, the one that doesn't control for diet-

    http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/issues/issue306/cinnamondiabcare.pdf


    This study-

    http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/30/9/2236

    carried out in the ol' US of A, found that "cinnamon taken at a dose of 1 g daily for 3 months produced no significant change in fasting glucose, lipid, A1C, or insulin levels." True, the 1st study used cinnamon doses of 1, 3, and 6 grams, but all of those levels showed the same effect. Or so they say.

    Here's a sweet lil' tease (abstract only) concerning those rats Lofty mentioned,

    http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T5Y-49H736K-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=7eb5db8cb72a4e3bc84af5ede36e761e

    and here's that lofty meta-analysis-

    http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/31/1/41

    Now before people want to go makin' all these comments about shit that neither they nor I understand, citing that pretty bitch with a book, hopefully they'll try to read these studies. They'll see words like "potentiate " and "IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation," realize that they're lost, and mercifully, forgo the obligatory post about anecdotal miracles or conspiracy cures.

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  46. i do believe i have caught dr trudeau in a logical contradiction.

    i am still at work at 3am... one hour late... waiting on things... just reading this again...

    if one has a disease then one has been diagnosed, if one has been diagnosed one has seen a doctor or practitioner of some sort, so, according to trudeau, one should trust us for the diagnosis. he does not say, for instance, that diabetes does not exist, merely that we are not trustworthy regarding treatment of said disease.

    if so, why would you trust us in the first place to diagnose you? why not say, for instance, that diabetes is not a disease but rather an infestation of little red gnomes in the solar plexus (which only us doctors know by the way)?

    QED motherfucker.

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  47. I'm just happy to find out that a dozen cinnamon-sugar donuts q day will counteract my future diabetes and high cholesterol, just like my large diet Coke counteracts my bacon cheeseburger and fries.

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  48. "meta-analysis outweighs a 60 patient randomized trial published in Diabetes Care in 2003"

    Do you even know what a meta-analysis is?

    Me-thinks this is a case of when bad statistics happen to good people who only want to google the subject then read only the abstracts then rant and rave all over the internet.

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  49. Mr. Zahari...I would say YOU people are ignorant regarding the use of natural remedies. I know it will never change because you will never be taught eastern medicine techniques in U.S. medical schools. You win! Putting designer chemicals into your body MUST be better than naturally-occuring substances. YOU'RE RIGHT! Just go on your way believing so. I hope you take many of these chemicals yourself.

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  50. Meta,Schmeta, Patrick Swayze got it on with Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing" 25 years later he's got Pancreatic Cancer. Coincidence? maybe in your naive world, but that lag time fits perfectly with an oncogenic slow virus. I'm currently checking the fate of everyone thats scored with Jennifer Grey. Yeah, they thought Tesla was crazy too.

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  51. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  52. well, I guess you can plant some white willow trees in front of the ER so when your frequent flyers come in with pain you can tell them you want them to try the new Kevin Trudeau approved 'naturopathic' method. Script reads: 1 strip tree bark, chew PRN.

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  53. I'm going to come up with alternative medicine for ambulance abusing assholes.

    Why is it the people who buy these books are the ones who spend the most time in the back of my rig and in your offices?

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  54. Anonymous said...

    Mr. Zahari...I would say YOU people are ignorant regarding the use of natural remedies. I know it will never change because you will never be taught eastern medicine techniques in U.S. medical schools. Putting designer chemicals into your body MUST be better than naturally-occuring substances.

    Anon, it's this type of blather that makes my skin crawl...and I'm a practitioner of several integrative modalities. Trudeau is a nutter. Anyone who advocates abandoning medicine in favor of cinnamon or coffee enemas has to be walking way south of sanity.

    Sure, Lofty's "you fucking idiot alternative/complementary medicine lemmings" comment made me wince because we tend to get lumped into one big group. But I also understand his comments as well. He's a man of science, and he wants proof that some of the crazy things we do actually make scientific sense. For instance, I can't put Reiki under a microscope and prove its efficacy. But I do see the huge difference in the amount of pain meds patients use post surgery. When I do Reiki on a patient who was freaking out before surgery actually doze off without meds, I don't have to get all agro at docs. I know it works, and I'm good with that.

    We're coming into a very traditional territory that's based on science, so we're not gonna have the welcome mat tossed out at us. We're often seen as being the invaders from Mars, and we have to prove ourselves.

    But at all times, I've never been a believer that we turn our backs on medicine, and this is what rightly drives docs up the wall. If I had cancer, you can bet your biodegradable Birkenstocks that I'll get radiation, chemo, whatever my doc recommends. But I'll also round that out with Reiki, vitamins, guided imagery, and diet. So lighten up, Francis (sorry, it's a line from Stripes), and try a little empathy. Otherwise you make yourself and me look like idiots. Wait. You are an idiot. Hmm...I feel a blog post coming on...

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  55. Dear doctors,

    Apparently, you are responsible for creating chocolate.

    Whatever you make, it isn't enough.

    Thank you.

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  56. Wow, this post has sparked quite the debate.
    Dr. Zahari, I agree with pretty much everything you stated. Not all (but most) type II diabetics are overweight & lazy though. My father in law, is 6'3", 190 lbs soaking wet. He was diagnosed with adult onset a few yrs ago, he's 73. He was pissed when his doctor told him & blatantly stated 'only fat people get diabetes'. It was his eating habits that got him into this mess. The amount of carbs this man consumed daily would make 'The Fridge' Perry jealous. BTW, he ambulates often & is active for a 73 yr old with a Hx of polio. OTOH, I am a 38 yr old with Crohn's, I've been on countless bouts of steroid therapy (no more thank goodness), am 5'9" and weigh 320--150 of that was just due to steroid use. I figured sooner or later the roids would mess up my pancreas. I have blood work done at lest 4 times a yr, my fasting BS are usually 85 or less, & my trigs are even below the norm. I have a sedentary, stressful career in healthcare, & don't work out very often. I've been at the same weight for the last 10 yrs. Go figure. For disease maintenance, I have tried traditional Chinese medicine, curcumin, teas, coconut oil, etc & all have made some positive impact on my health. But none of them have been as significant as the benefits I get from Remicade. It has been my saviour. With the supervision of my PCP & GI doc I'm starting an exercise program. I stick with whatever works & my docs agree, but I would never give up their recommended treatment altogether to follow someone like Trudeau.

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  57. Perhaps my opinion will be unpopular, but maybe this is a Darwinian way of weeding out the stupid people? If you buy into the whacked out notion that the medical professionals are "out to get you (and your money)" and that unregulated, unsubstantiated herbal products are the way to go-- hey buddy, go for it. Soon there'll be more air for the rest of us.

    I had an aunt diagnosed with cancer and she chose the homeopathic route. She died less than a year later, having realized what a dumb decision it was.

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  58. Well perhaps the "Ted-ster" should have gotten herbal therapy instead. I'd love to hear that mouthpiece say he could cure him.

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  59. Dear ...,
    You are right to call Dr. Zahari on his intolerance. He is a hypocrite. At last year's Secretly Complimentary Alternative Medicine Show I caught him bathing in a mixture of baby harp seal and calf's blood. He then drank a slurry of rhinoceros and tiger penis powder mixed with Polar Bear mother's milk. He would not tell me what he was doing this for, but did mention something about someone named Ponce de Leon and immortality.

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  60. Thank you once again for the big coffee stain down the front of my shirt!! You are wonderfully funny!

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