A lot to cover this week. First we start out with excess deaths in the US, then move to a tale of Big Pharma treachery, then to the question What is a placebo? I'll bet you thought you knew. Then the sudden appearance of a huge lake, followed by a discussion of muscle loss on weight-loss drugs, followed by an hypothesis on hot flashes during menopause. We finish with some odds and ends, then the video of the week. Hope you enjoy.
I had a doctor that wanted me on statins several years ago. Watching the commercials they would always say “report any muscle pain or weakness to your doctor”. Well this doctor was one of those that would always repeat “the benefits out way any risks”.
I took the statin for just a very short time. Then I was getting some chest pain. Then I would think to myself that “your heart is a muscle”. These statin pushers don’t seem to get that. So I changed doctors because I didn’t want to listen to this guys line. Just another Big Pharma puppet...
Mike, I am in menopause. Despite being on a low carb diet, the hot flashes and brain fog were killing me. So I did transdermal hrt and started fasting at the same time, but thought the hrt was the magic. After all, if a symptom is caused by low estrogen logically you replace estrogen, right? That idea alone seems to be revolutionary because I had a lot of mds tell me to replace the lost estrogen with things not estrogen, as taking actual estrogen was dangerous...sigh.
I was fasting because I had discovered Dr Fung and realized on top of perimenopause/menopause, I was also insulin resistant even on low carb.
I had some irritating bleeding and was told to stop the hrt for a week to see if it stopped. Naturally I was terrified because prior to hrt the brain fog was so severe I was not functional. I could not remember anything and initially thought I was developing rapid and early onset of dementia. Surprisingly, I was okay. During this tine I was alt day fasting, so lots of ketones. I did go back on hrt because, ketones are not estrogen and if I have an estrogen deficiency...
However, your post now explains why fasting helped. I am going to send it to my idiotic doctor. The whole reason for the fasting was because oral estrogen causes some insulin resistance, and that was making me fat. My doctor of course told me no, oral estrogen, such as in birth control pills, does not cause anyone to gain weight, I am just eating too much. When I pointed out the actual drug insert says it can cause insulin resistance, and the insulin resistance causes weight gain, she sort of just blinked her eyes at me and looked thru me.
And that is also why I switched to transdermal hrt. They dispense it though like it's radioactive. It is a struggle to get anything from them. Initially, it was 3 weeks on, one week off. I had a thyroidectomy, so I take thyroid hormone every single day. When I use the logic behind that and apply it to estrogen...I get those same blank stares.
I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem prescribing transdermal estrogen. It would be my go to drug to relieve symptoms of menopause. I should have written about it. I wasn't implying that the ketogenic diet was the only treatment for menopausal symptoms. HRT is fine. I was just laying out some other physiology.
Most doctors want to give women ssris instead of estrogen. The insurance company is like this too. I was surprised though how much better I functioned during the alt day fasting and zero estrogen replacement. In a few years the doctor tells me I won't need hrt anymore (? Logic free zone) and I am dreading when they cut me off. I will fight them though. And probably do a lot of fasting.
Re losing muscle mass "Just about the worst thing that can happen to you is to go in the hospital”
Yes I had that happen to me when I had open heart surgery for a congenital aortic valve defect. Following surgery I was unable to eat for a week due to after effects of anaesthesia, the pain, and side effects of pain killers (which weren’t effective). I could practically see my arm muscles being catabolized by my body, my arm and thigh muscles simply shrank in just a week as they were used up by my body to give me some energy. It took a many many months, well more than a few years after surgery to regain muscle mass.
I'm glad you and MD are well after that RSV infection.
That sort of happened to me many years ago when I broke my fibula and tore some ligaments and tendons in my ankle from slipping on some black ice. I was in a cast, and then a walking cast, for some 6 months. Prior to my fall I had been a weight-lifter and possessed quite a bit of muscle mass, but my bodyweight went down from around 235lbs to 195lbs. while gaining some fat. After awhile I started weight-lifting again and eventually lost all my fat and regained all my muscle in as little as 6 weeks. I later learned it was due to the fact that there's such a thing as muscle memory, and that it would NOT take years to regain all the muscle that one may have lost for whatever reason. I'm curious if this effect still works for those who are elderly, and if they are able to retain all their muscle mass if they continue to eat a high-protein diet while performing weight bearing exercises.
I think it probably works to some extent with the elderly, but the older one gets, the more difficult it is to put muscle back on. And the easier it is to lose it.
Jul 21, 2023·edited Jul 21, 2023Liked by Michael Eades
I suppose it depends what you mean by elderly. How old ? I was 60 when I had that heart surgery. Maybe it didn't take years to regain the muscle I lost but it felt like it, probably because I was unable to do the quite the level of weight lifting I had done previously due to problems with sternum so that meant it took longer. I didn't have any fat to begin with though as I was already low bodyweight to start with, I went from 48 kilos (106lbs) down to just under 44 kilos (97lbs) in a week - that was muscle going.
You don't have to be elderly. I was 29 and on bed rest for almost three months because I had a high risk pregnancy. When my baby was born, I had zero energy. Holding the baby exhausted me, one flight of stairs would wipe me out. My arms and legs were very weak, skinny. It took many months to get back to where i was before, and prior to bedrest I was very athletic.
I'm 81, and really dread the term elderly; but, I guess it applies. I think I've benefited by increasing my protein (meat, eggs, dairy, collagen/gelatin) from about 80 grams up to about 125 grams because I feel stronger, now. I still hike, use elastic bands, hand weights, do body-weight exercises, do yard work, and even go up on the roof (very carefully). My history includes a lot of adult recreational exercise: tennis, swimming, biking, running, sprinting, weight-lifting, and backpacking.
Somewhere along the line, I injured a nerve, and my body totally digested one of my rotator cuff muscles leaving a hollow area behind my shoulder. Years later, a neurologist was able to detect the premature nerve end using an oscillograph.
Yep, we're well. Thanks. Muscle loss with hospitalization is a major problem that most physicians seem to ignore. Those who have gone through it understand.
“experience with the ketogenic diet while going through menopause”: I went through menopause about fourteen years ago, which was about three years after switching to a low-carb diet. I wasn’t aiming for ketogenesis, and don’t remember exactly how low-carb I was at the time, but certainly less than 100g per day. I had a few hot flashes - I mean, counting on the fingers of one hand few - and no brain fog. Menopause was a gradual and easy transition for me.
Thank you for the reply, it means a lot. I agree that politicians change their stripes like chameleons change their colors. I want to be as sure as possible if I’m going to put my money behind a candidate so I’ve listened to everything I can about RFK and I think he’s done a great job explaining these types of claims. He gives me hope and that scares the crap out of those in power right now. I won’t sit here and try to change your mind but I’m grateful we have so many ways (although never enough time) to verify these claims and see for ourselves if they’re actually true or not.
I didn't mean to say I would never vote for RFK, Jr. I just said I had some issues with him. I've never found a candidate for anything whom I agree with 100 percent. It's like with the Covid vaccines. It's a risk-reward situation. If I were old (which I am, but I mean really old:) ) and had a host of co-morbidities, I might have seriously considered the Covid vaccine. Same with candidates for political office. I would pick RFK, Jr (despite my reservations about him) over a lot of other candidates out there. As it stands right now, if I could wave a magic wand and have anyone who is running be the president, it would be Vivek Ramaswamy. But I think it would take a magic wand to get him elected. Though, who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Cheering to know you are back to health. I did write something as comment last week but as it got longer I got too busy on big furniture rearrangement. Here’s the first bit.
Good to know it has not gone beyond URI. You are clearly on the mend. Back to ontological shock, although I have recovered intellectually, I have a slowly waning emotional long shock. My intention was to side-line covid19 and work on other things where I have real expertise, but every few days it comes back – I can’t believe that people suffered and died because early treatment with effective repurposed meds was suppressed.
On the “it is complicated and there is a learning curve” I bought Dorico for music writing when it came out a few years ago. As well as writing stuff myself I type out piano music I learn to alter the layout better to suit me and put fingerings (that take time to get right) for learning and memorization. I have the basics but it’s a truly overwhelming program; I’m still learning new features. I have an easy app on my phone, PlayScore 2, which scans sheet music and produces MusicXML that I can import into Dorico. It is not perfect but does save time. I suspect there is no way to make the complex simple. I am giving thought to so called ‘AI’ on this.
Your explanation of what has happened to colchicine reveals one bit of the great theft that is going on. Over the years I have often mentioned VIOXX to people as an example of how little Big Pharma really cares about the people it pretends to treat. I will keep this as another example.
The big picture suddenly crystallized. For decades we had the saturated fat is bad, eat low fat and mostly poly-unsaturated fats from seed oils, though hydrogenated allowed. We ended up with a population unhealthy from too much refined carbohydrates and linoleic acid (and for a long time trans-fats that we could not metabolize). We end up with a very unhealthy population of elderly people in care homes still on that diet, and I am sure very low on serum vitamin D (if they go outside it will be in the shade with factor 50 sun cream on), with a statin thrown in that blocks things like CoQ10. Sitting ducks for sars-cov-2, that lab experiment created to be more lethal to humans, with early treatment forbidden, just intubated ventilation when they cannot breathe that causes lung damage allowing opportunistic infection by resident Streptococcus leading to death from pneumonia. Medical malfeasance; all for profit for a few. *** Ontological shock ***.
So placebos can be designed to be intentionally worse than the study drug? wow. I'm pretty much wondering now how ANY research can be trusted. It seems like the pharma game is "give them something which doesn't kill them immediately" and that's about it. the "effectiveness" also seems to be mostly made up.
I watched the entire thing, painful though it was. It starts with Republican Edward J. McCormack Jr. attacking Edward (Ted) Kennedy over his last name, which is what O'Donnell and other Dems did. Simply confirms what I've been saying all along: The Republicans of the 1960s are now the Democrats of today. The entire O'Donnell segment was filled with misquotes, half truths, and outright lies. I could go through them all one by one, but minds wouldn't be changed, because politics is tribal, not logical. It is interesting, though, to see how the tribes have changed their ideological colors, yet are composed of the same set of believers.
I didn’t know anything about him. He seems totally pathetic. Aside from the privilege of the Kennedy name, there is some sadness. That they dragged him into the Republican clown show is our sadness. I forgot what Mike’s point was which is good.
Yeah, I saw that last night on the O'Donnell Show. I wasn't aware that Robert Kennedy Jr. was a heroin addict back during his college days, never took a science class in his life while he's trying to educate everyone else when it comes to vaccines, and that he had an affair with his current wife while his wife at the time was pregnant with his 4th child, and then later committed suicide. He was also made out to be liar after he was fact-checked on the show. The guy is a real P.O.S.
In terms of infidelity, he is simply following in the footsteps of his uncles JFK and Teddy. I don't know about his own father--I haven't read anything about him one way or another. As to his heroin addiction... It seems the same people who are castigating RFK, Jr for his addictive proclivities are giving Hunter Biden a pass on his. Addiction is a terrible thing, they say, and anyone who succumbs to it should be pitied. And Hunter has conquered his (supposedly), so he has overcome a lot and should be feted, not criticized. As I say, it's all tribal.
I used to suffer from gout occasionally (but painfully). I was reluctant to start taking a daily drug for something that only affected me once a year or so. My rheumatologist told me that elevated uric acid has been found to be bad for your heart. If that is true then colchicine should work against heart disease. My regular doctor says it isn't true, but he is a "standard of care" kind of doctor. Do you know if there is any evidence of a connection between uric acid levels and heart disease?
As to RFK, jr. on censorship and incivility. When I was young the battle of ideas was uneven, with Progressives talking about ideas and Conservatives talking about religious traditions handed down from those who came before us. Progressives were all in favor of free speech and civility because they were better at arguing their case. But starting in the 1950's Conservatives became better and better at making arguments for their ideas, and experience has shown that Progressive ideas don't seem to work that well in the real world. The result is that free speech and civility now work better for Conservatives, and don't work for Progressives. Hence their opposition to something they once "championed".
I believe there is an inflammatory component to heart disease. I'm not sure elevated uric acid is damaging to the heart--it may just be a marker that everything is not okay. I've read a lot about it, but I'm not convinced it is causal. But if inflammation is a driving factor in heart disease, it would seem that colchicine would help. Which is what the studies I linked apparently show.
It seems to me that drug trials need a 3rd group to prevent Pharma from rigging the placebo group. The 3rd group would be monitored the same but take no placebo. The test results would show what effect the placebo really has in the outcome.
It would be a lot easier if the placebo were really a placebo. If you're a subject in a study and don't get a placebo, then any kind of symptom you might get, you wouldn't attribute it to the placebo you never got. It's important to use placebos, because then neither the subjects of the study nor the people running the study (assuming it's double blind) know who got what. If you're on the placebo, but don't know you're on the placebo, you'll report any kind of symptom you may develop, because, as far as you know, it might have been caused by the drug.
Glad to hear you're both better! Loved the pictures of the lake's reappearance and especially the deleterious effects it's had on Big Ag - and no surprise about Pharma managing to get huge profits from the newly revised gout drug. (Wonder how much some of the big players in the FDA and CDC made on that little scheme.) The Kennedy hearing is no surprise either, especially the reaction from the dems. Good ole' Debbie Wasserman . . . she pulled the same BS on Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger. Everything she does and says is the exact opposite of what I've always thought Democrats stood for. Just disgusting - thanks for posting that. The more people who do see it, the worse Biden's chances are - or Newsome's if Biden doesn't make it that far and I can't imagine how he will.
Only thing I noticed:
" . . . ignorant quote from Michael Pollen"
should be Michael Pollan - (although I think your spelling is much more appropriate, more accurate - and funnier)
Glad you are better. Glad RFK Jr. is off drugs. Too bad Biden is still on them. If Trump gets elected I may go on them. getting prematurely disappointed about election choices for next time around.
Nether My wife nor I take statins. She was hospitalized before Covid for a procedure and while there she was given a handful of pills - which she asked about- seems without asking her the hospital was going to dump Crestor into her. Caught them just in time and gave them strict orders never to do that again.
My Bro (In Michigan) has had series of doctors (PCP and specialists) who tell him to take statins and if i he balks they tell him they will not be his doctor. Currently his Dr wants to give him a stronger dose using Crestor. All his heart metrics are good except a recent calcium test was was only borderline.
I need to write a segment in The Arrow about why docs are so adamant about putting people on statins. Threatening to dump them from the practice is a bit of overkill. All the docs have to do to protect themselves is to add a note to the chart saying, "I strongly advised statins, but the patient refused."
All I can say is that is is my brother's experience. He is a bit intimidated by doctors I think. He is afraid of being dumped and having to look for a new one. But with the kind of bullying he is getting I don't see why. He also is the guy who had his wife get a Pfizer vaccine on Friday and was dead the next Thursday ( heart attack and blood clots that prevented blood getting to the brain- ugly) ... He is wary of Docs but does not seem to know how to handle them. My experience in NYC is different. I have been 'strongly advised' to take statins but when I start the conversation I say under no circumstances will I take them, then the doctor moderates. Maybe its only when you prevaricate and say something like...well I'm told they are not good or not effective etc. that they pounce and threaten. My brother also has a good friend who is a physician - not his Dr-. and when he bought up the idea of No statins this guy was adamant about how bad that would be. Is it something in the water in Michigan? Lead in the pipes? So, this is his friend who would clearly tell him what he really thought- so there i it is.
I am stunned by all. this. so much information/so little learning.
Maybe it's a woke-Joke?
Separately the NYT is castigating DeSantis for his Covid failure!!. what was that you ask? getting so few people inoculated!! Huh? Yeah. I guess the NYT still does not know that vaccination does not confer immunity or lessen transmission. If it knew that why would make getting shots a badge of honor or a standard of success? I don't get the NYT so I can't confirm this story... Bob
Statins have been around for 30+ years now, so most practicing physicians have been inculcated on their use in medical school. I'm sure they learned that statins are miracle drugs, and, as I've often stated, most doctors are learners, not thinkers. There is so much info fed to medical students that there really isn't much time to think.
SO the NY Times article claims that having fewer vaccinations/capita Fla had more deaths per capita across age groups. That hardly seems like good news. This is not what data I have seen in other places seemed to say. So what is going on here? Do the vaccines really prevent death or not? We know they do not prevent infection or transmission- but if they prevent death that is a biggie. So I'm confused here. are these results true??
These observations the Times makes are all epidemiological (also called observational) studies. The only double-blind, placebo-controlled study so far made available is the Pfizer study. It showed more people died in the vaccine group than in the control (placebo-whatever that means) group. And since we now know that placebos are not really placebos, but substances concocted by the drug companies to act like the real thing, it might well be that if the placebos were really placebos, the deaths would have been much different. In favor of the placebo.
So- just to be clear for dumb old me... essentially you reject the NYT data/study as being not scientific (not a controlled experiment) or sufficiently rigorous and reliable. Right?
I love the variety of subjects you write about. Always a good read. Regarding menopause and hot flashes, I crashed head first into this fresh hell following an oophorectomy for HR+ breast cancer. Can’t take HRT, so doctor prescribed SSRI. Absolutely of no value whatsoever, just myriad side effects, bad enough that I quit it. For months I endured hot flashes literally hourly and was at my wits end. Got Covid for the second time, lost my appetite completely and what do you know, no food = no hot flashes. Pure relief even while feeling like crap. I’ve tried Keto and just can’t quite maintain it for more than 3 weeks. What it did teach me, however, is that refined sugar triggers hot flashes within minutes of consuming, so I’m doing my best to steer clear as much as possible. Thanks for all the time you invest in this newsletter….you making learning interesting and enjoyable.
Thanks for the kind words about the newsletter. I appreciate them.
You can try MCT oil--I prefer the powdered, micro-encapsulated version--which will increase ketogenesis. If you're experiencing the hot flashes shortly after consuming sugar, you've probably got reactive hypoglycemia. It's the falling blood sugar that tends to trigger the hot flashes. Ketones provide a substitute for glucose in the brain.
Fascinated by your write up on menopause & hot flashes. My wife has issues with this. Two question: if the mechanism is as you describe, why would hot flashes occur primarily at night ie during period of sleep. Also if one does not follow a ketogenic diet, would the ingestion of exogenous ketones, perhaps before sleep, be of any value?
They don't usually occur at night. At least for most women. They tend to occur a couple of hours after meals when blood glucose drops. Which could also happen at night. I've just never had anyone report them at night.
Had both ovaries removed 30 years ago. Was on premarin for a while, got off. Took bio-identical hormones for a while. Now off. I have hot flashes every one to two hours all night long. I can't remember the last time I slept longer than 2 hours. I have some flashes during the day, but they are not as noticeable. After reading this issue of your newsletter, I started on a ketone supplement before bed. It has only been 3 nights, but so far I have not noticed any improvement.
I had a doctor that wanted me on statins several years ago. Watching the commercials they would always say “report any muscle pain or weakness to your doctor”. Well this doctor was one of those that would always repeat “the benefits out way any risks”.
I took the statin for just a very short time. Then I was getting some chest pain. Then I would think to myself that “your heart is a muscle”. These statin pushers don’t seem to get that. So I changed doctors because I didn’t want to listen to this guys line. Just another Big Pharma puppet...
Mike, I am in menopause. Despite being on a low carb diet, the hot flashes and brain fog were killing me. So I did transdermal hrt and started fasting at the same time, but thought the hrt was the magic. After all, if a symptom is caused by low estrogen logically you replace estrogen, right? That idea alone seems to be revolutionary because I had a lot of mds tell me to replace the lost estrogen with things not estrogen, as taking actual estrogen was dangerous...sigh.
I was fasting because I had discovered Dr Fung and realized on top of perimenopause/menopause, I was also insulin resistant even on low carb.
I had some irritating bleeding and was told to stop the hrt for a week to see if it stopped. Naturally I was terrified because prior to hrt the brain fog was so severe I was not functional. I could not remember anything and initially thought I was developing rapid and early onset of dementia. Surprisingly, I was okay. During this tine I was alt day fasting, so lots of ketones. I did go back on hrt because, ketones are not estrogen and if I have an estrogen deficiency...
However, your post now explains why fasting helped. I am going to send it to my idiotic doctor. The whole reason for the fasting was because oral estrogen causes some insulin resistance, and that was making me fat. My doctor of course told me no, oral estrogen, such as in birth control pills, does not cause anyone to gain weight, I am just eating too much. When I pointed out the actual drug insert says it can cause insulin resistance, and the insulin resistance causes weight gain, she sort of just blinked her eyes at me and looked thru me.
And that is also why I switched to transdermal hrt. They dispense it though like it's radioactive. It is a struggle to get anything from them. Initially, it was 3 weeks on, one week off. I had a thyroidectomy, so I take thyroid hormone every single day. When I use the logic behind that and apply it to estrogen...I get those same blank stares.
I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem prescribing transdermal estrogen. It would be my go to drug to relieve symptoms of menopause. I should have written about it. I wasn't implying that the ketogenic diet was the only treatment for menopausal symptoms. HRT is fine. I was just laying out some other physiology.
Most doctors want to give women ssris instead of estrogen. The insurance company is like this too. I was surprised though how much better I functioned during the alt day fasting and zero estrogen replacement. In a few years the doctor tells me I won't need hrt anymore (? Logic free zone) and I am dreading when they cut me off. I will fight them though. And probably do a lot of fasting.
Re losing muscle mass "Just about the worst thing that can happen to you is to go in the hospital”
Yes I had that happen to me when I had open heart surgery for a congenital aortic valve defect. Following surgery I was unable to eat for a week due to after effects of anaesthesia, the pain, and side effects of pain killers (which weren’t effective). I could practically see my arm muscles being catabolized by my body, my arm and thigh muscles simply shrank in just a week as they were used up by my body to give me some energy. It took a many many months, well more than a few years after surgery to regain muscle mass.
I'm glad you and MD are well after that RSV infection.
That sort of happened to me many years ago when I broke my fibula and tore some ligaments and tendons in my ankle from slipping on some black ice. I was in a cast, and then a walking cast, for some 6 months. Prior to my fall I had been a weight-lifter and possessed quite a bit of muscle mass, but my bodyweight went down from around 235lbs to 195lbs. while gaining some fat. After awhile I started weight-lifting again and eventually lost all my fat and regained all my muscle in as little as 6 weeks. I later learned it was due to the fact that there's such a thing as muscle memory, and that it would NOT take years to regain all the muscle that one may have lost for whatever reason. I'm curious if this effect still works for those who are elderly, and if they are able to retain all their muscle mass if they continue to eat a high-protein diet while performing weight bearing exercises.
I think it probably works to some extent with the elderly, but the older one gets, the more difficult it is to put muscle back on. And the easier it is to lose it.
I suppose it depends what you mean by elderly. How old ? I was 60 when I had that heart surgery. Maybe it didn't take years to regain the muscle I lost but it felt like it, probably because I was unable to do the quite the level of weight lifting I had done previously due to problems with sternum so that meant it took longer. I didn't have any fat to begin with though as I was already low bodyweight to start with, I went from 48 kilos (106lbs) down to just under 44 kilos (97lbs) in a week - that was muscle going.
You don't have to be elderly. I was 29 and on bed rest for almost three months because I had a high risk pregnancy. When my baby was born, I had zero energy. Holding the baby exhausted me, one flight of stairs would wipe me out. My arms and legs were very weak, skinny. It took many months to get back to where i was before, and prior to bedrest I was very athletic.
I'm 81, and really dread the term elderly; but, I guess it applies. I think I've benefited by increasing my protein (meat, eggs, dairy, collagen/gelatin) from about 80 grams up to about 125 grams because I feel stronger, now. I still hike, use elastic bands, hand weights, do body-weight exercises, do yard work, and even go up on the roof (very carefully). My history includes a lot of adult recreational exercise: tennis, swimming, biking, running, sprinting, weight-lifting, and backpacking.
Somewhere along the line, I injured a nerve, and my body totally digested one of my rotator cuff muscles leaving a hollow area behind my shoulder. Years later, a neurologist was able to detect the premature nerve end using an oscillograph.
Good for you for bumping the protein.
Yep, we're well. Thanks. Muscle loss with hospitalization is a major problem that most physicians seem to ignore. Those who have gone through it understand.
“experience with the ketogenic diet while going through menopause”: I went through menopause about fourteen years ago, which was about three years after switching to a low-carb diet. I wasn’t aiming for ketogenesis, and don’t remember exactly how low-carb I was at the time, but certainly less than 100g per day. I had a few hot flashes - I mean, counting on the fingers of one hand few - and no brain fog. Menopause was a gradual and easy transition for me.
Always a fascinating read on a variety of topics. I think I enjoy the Arrow more than any other Substack blog, and there are plenty of excellent ones!
Thank you for the reply, it means a lot. I agree that politicians change their stripes like chameleons change their colors. I want to be as sure as possible if I’m going to put my money behind a candidate so I’ve listened to everything I can about RFK and I think he’s done a great job explaining these types of claims. He gives me hope and that scares the crap out of those in power right now. I won’t sit here and try to change your mind but I’m grateful we have so many ways (although never enough time) to verify these claims and see for ourselves if they’re actually true or not.
Appreciate you!
I didn't mean to say I would never vote for RFK, Jr. I just said I had some issues with him. I've never found a candidate for anything whom I agree with 100 percent. It's like with the Covid vaccines. It's a risk-reward situation. If I were old (which I am, but I mean really old:) ) and had a host of co-morbidities, I might have seriously considered the Covid vaccine. Same with candidates for political office. I would pick RFK, Jr (despite my reservations about him) over a lot of other candidates out there. As it stands right now, if I could wave a magic wand and have anyone who is running be the president, it would be Vivek Ramaswamy. But I think it would take a magic wand to get him elected. Though, who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Cheering to know you are back to health. I did write something as comment last week but as it got longer I got too busy on big furniture rearrangement. Here’s the first bit.
Good to know it has not gone beyond URI. You are clearly on the mend. Back to ontological shock, although I have recovered intellectually, I have a slowly waning emotional long shock. My intention was to side-line covid19 and work on other things where I have real expertise, but every few days it comes back – I can’t believe that people suffered and died because early treatment with effective repurposed meds was suppressed.
On the “it is complicated and there is a learning curve” I bought Dorico for music writing when it came out a few years ago. As well as writing stuff myself I type out piano music I learn to alter the layout better to suit me and put fingerings (that take time to get right) for learning and memorization. I have the basics but it’s a truly overwhelming program; I’m still learning new features. I have an easy app on my phone, PlayScore 2, which scans sheet music and produces MusicXML that I can import into Dorico. It is not perfect but does save time. I suspect there is no way to make the complex simple. I am giving thought to so called ‘AI’ on this.
Your explanation of what has happened to colchicine reveals one bit of the great theft that is going on. Over the years I have often mentioned VIOXX to people as an example of how little Big Pharma really cares about the people it pretends to treat. I will keep this as another example.
The big picture suddenly crystallized. For decades we had the saturated fat is bad, eat low fat and mostly poly-unsaturated fats from seed oils, though hydrogenated allowed. We ended up with a population unhealthy from too much refined carbohydrates and linoleic acid (and for a long time trans-fats that we could not metabolize). We end up with a very unhealthy population of elderly people in care homes still on that diet, and I am sure very low on serum vitamin D (if they go outside it will be in the shade with factor 50 sun cream on), with a statin thrown in that blocks things like CoQ10. Sitting ducks for sars-cov-2, that lab experiment created to be more lethal to humans, with early treatment forbidden, just intubated ventilation when they cannot breathe that causes lung damage allowing opportunistic infection by resident Streptococcus leading to death from pneumonia. Medical malfeasance; all for profit for a few. *** Ontological shock ***.
So placebos can be designed to be intentionally worse than the study drug? wow. I'm pretty much wondering now how ANY research can be trusted. It seems like the pharma game is "give them something which doesn't kill them immediately" and that's about it. the "effectiveness" also seems to be mostly made up.
That's why so much research can't be replicated. It's a bad situation getting worse.
So looking forward to your upcoming book. Will you have a section on fasting? Hope so
Yep, it will have a section on fasting.
https://youtu.be/0GifMr8xmmM
Check this out
I watched the entire thing, painful though it was. It starts with Republican Edward J. McCormack Jr. attacking Edward (Ted) Kennedy over his last name, which is what O'Donnell and other Dems did. Simply confirms what I've been saying all along: The Republicans of the 1960s are now the Democrats of today. The entire O'Donnell segment was filled with misquotes, half truths, and outright lies. I could go through them all one by one, but minds wouldn't be changed, because politics is tribal, not logical. It is interesting, though, to see how the tribes have changed their ideological colors, yet are composed of the same set of believers.
Oh, and I've got to add...the hagiography of Fauci was stomach turning. To think of what that little cockroach has done...
I didn’t know anything about him. He seems totally pathetic. Aside from the privilege of the Kennedy name, there is some sadness. That they dragged him into the Republican clown show is our sadness. I forgot what Mike’s point was which is good.
Yeah, I saw that last night on the O'Donnell Show. I wasn't aware that Robert Kennedy Jr. was a heroin addict back during his college days, never took a science class in his life while he's trying to educate everyone else when it comes to vaccines, and that he had an affair with his current wife while his wife at the time was pregnant with his 4th child, and then later committed suicide. He was also made out to be liar after he was fact-checked on the show. The guy is a real P.O.S.
In terms of infidelity, he is simply following in the footsteps of his uncles JFK and Teddy. I don't know about his own father--I haven't read anything about him one way or another. As to his heroin addiction... It seems the same people who are castigating RFK, Jr for his addictive proclivities are giving Hunter Biden a pass on his. Addiction is a terrible thing, they say, and anyone who succumbs to it should be pitied. And Hunter has conquered his (supposedly), so he has overcome a lot and should be feted, not criticized. As I say, it's all tribal.
I used to suffer from gout occasionally (but painfully). I was reluctant to start taking a daily drug for something that only affected me once a year or so. My rheumatologist told me that elevated uric acid has been found to be bad for your heart. If that is true then colchicine should work against heart disease. My regular doctor says it isn't true, but he is a "standard of care" kind of doctor. Do you know if there is any evidence of a connection between uric acid levels and heart disease?
As to RFK, jr. on censorship and incivility. When I was young the battle of ideas was uneven, with Progressives talking about ideas and Conservatives talking about religious traditions handed down from those who came before us. Progressives were all in favor of free speech and civility because they were better at arguing their case. But starting in the 1950's Conservatives became better and better at making arguments for their ideas, and experience has shown that Progressive ideas don't seem to work that well in the real world. The result is that free speech and civility now work better for Conservatives, and don't work for Progressives. Hence their opposition to something they once "championed".
I believe there is an inflammatory component to heart disease. I'm not sure elevated uric acid is damaging to the heart--it may just be a marker that everything is not okay. I've read a lot about it, but I'm not convinced it is causal. But if inflammation is a driving factor in heart disease, it would seem that colchicine would help. Which is what the studies I linked apparently show.
It seems to me that drug trials need a 3rd group to prevent Pharma from rigging the placebo group. The 3rd group would be monitored the same but take no placebo. The test results would show what effect the placebo really has in the outcome.
It would be a lot easier if the placebo were really a placebo. If you're a subject in a study and don't get a placebo, then any kind of symptom you might get, you wouldn't attribute it to the placebo you never got. It's important to use placebos, because then neither the subjects of the study nor the people running the study (assuming it's double blind) know who got what. If you're on the placebo, but don't know you're on the placebo, you'll report any kind of symptom you may develop, because, as far as you know, it might have been caused by the drug.
Glad to hear you're both better! Loved the pictures of the lake's reappearance and especially the deleterious effects it's had on Big Ag - and no surprise about Pharma managing to get huge profits from the newly revised gout drug. (Wonder how much some of the big players in the FDA and CDC made on that little scheme.) The Kennedy hearing is no surprise either, especially the reaction from the dems. Good ole' Debbie Wasserman . . . she pulled the same BS on Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger. Everything she does and says is the exact opposite of what I've always thought Democrats stood for. Just disgusting - thanks for posting that. The more people who do see it, the worse Biden's chances are - or Newsome's if Biden doesn't make it that far and I can't imagine how he will.
Only thing I noticed:
" . . . ignorant quote from Michael Pollen"
should be Michael Pollan - (although I think your spelling is much more appropriate, more accurate - and funnier)
Thanks again for all your writing.
Thanks for catching the typo.
Yes, the Dems of yesteryear have swapped places with the Republicans.
Glad you are better. Glad RFK Jr. is off drugs. Too bad Biden is still on them. If Trump gets elected I may go on them. getting prematurely disappointed about election choices for next time around.
Nether My wife nor I take statins. She was hospitalized before Covid for a procedure and while there she was given a handful of pills - which she asked about- seems without asking her the hospital was going to dump Crestor into her. Caught them just in time and gave them strict orders never to do that again.
My Bro (In Michigan) has had series of doctors (PCP and specialists) who tell him to take statins and if i he balks they tell him they will not be his doctor. Currently his Dr wants to give him a stronger dose using Crestor. All his heart metrics are good except a recent calcium test was was only borderline.
I need to write a segment in The Arrow about why docs are so adamant about putting people on statins. Threatening to dump them from the practice is a bit of overkill. All the docs have to do to protect themselves is to add a note to the chart saying, "I strongly advised statins, but the patient refused."
All I can say is that is is my brother's experience. He is a bit intimidated by doctors I think. He is afraid of being dumped and having to look for a new one. But with the kind of bullying he is getting I don't see why. He also is the guy who had his wife get a Pfizer vaccine on Friday and was dead the next Thursday ( heart attack and blood clots that prevented blood getting to the brain- ugly) ... He is wary of Docs but does not seem to know how to handle them. My experience in NYC is different. I have been 'strongly advised' to take statins but when I start the conversation I say under no circumstances will I take them, then the doctor moderates. Maybe its only when you prevaricate and say something like...well I'm told they are not good or not effective etc. that they pounce and threaten. My brother also has a good friend who is a physician - not his Dr-. and when he bought up the idea of No statins this guy was adamant about how bad that would be. Is it something in the water in Michigan? Lead in the pipes? So, this is his friend who would clearly tell him what he really thought- so there i it is.
I am stunned by all. this. so much information/so little learning.
Maybe it's a woke-Joke?
Separately the NYT is castigating DeSantis for his Covid failure!!. what was that you ask? getting so few people inoculated!! Huh? Yeah. I guess the NYT still does not know that vaccination does not confer immunity or lessen transmission. If it knew that why would make getting shots a badge of honor or a standard of success? I don't get the NYT so I can't confirm this story... Bob
Statins have been around for 30+ years now, so most practicing physicians have been inculcated on their use in medical school. I'm sure they learned that statins are miracle drugs, and, as I've often stated, most doctors are learners, not thinkers. There is so much info fed to medical students that there really isn't much time to think.
Yes, it's true. The NYT did attack DeSantis. Here is the article, if you want to read it. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/us/politics/ron-desantis-covid.html?unlocked_article_code=Ooh9jLQ_jo9MIsv16JQlT4E6_WpOI6VMLOHWmNPmaMq7w3DdFseszHeS51k14IRiLYLO_H2l5Y3l9m192cIJwIoJt5Fm60jANqG7YOfeb6ZgN_QvU3sDrlGF3qjUAm-9n0sli0tsVknqm1QRClSrDWsN2Buvh2XipC0i3hTHnS-hPDVhnXxA31C8Vdro9oGWX1Kf9KTw892hiLFirmfMSxxiMvwM1Z10_LrGTxuj5kW9-TcvQOqgatqu4ULDEO6Q35sNdZJNqdN_hkGTBkYAFSUfNRK0R3rHdE0EcVDw5PLWaj8WMHpE32z1Xp27hv7z962LClXQS1VORwahUgolJg&smid=url-share
SO the NY Times article claims that having fewer vaccinations/capita Fla had more deaths per capita across age groups. That hardly seems like good news. This is not what data I have seen in other places seemed to say. So what is going on here? Do the vaccines really prevent death or not? We know they do not prevent infection or transmission- but if they prevent death that is a biggie. So I'm confused here. are these results true??
These observations the Times makes are all epidemiological (also called observational) studies. The only double-blind, placebo-controlled study so far made available is the Pfizer study. It showed more people died in the vaccine group than in the control (placebo-whatever that means) group. And since we now know that placebos are not really placebos, but substances concocted by the drug companies to act like the real thing, it might well be that if the placebos were really placebos, the deaths would have been much different. In favor of the placebo.
So- just to be clear for dumb old me... essentially you reject the NYT data/study as being not scientific (not a controlled experiment) or sufficiently rigorous and reliable. Right?
I love the variety of subjects you write about. Always a good read. Regarding menopause and hot flashes, I crashed head first into this fresh hell following an oophorectomy for HR+ breast cancer. Can’t take HRT, so doctor prescribed SSRI. Absolutely of no value whatsoever, just myriad side effects, bad enough that I quit it. For months I endured hot flashes literally hourly and was at my wits end. Got Covid for the second time, lost my appetite completely and what do you know, no food = no hot flashes. Pure relief even while feeling like crap. I’ve tried Keto and just can’t quite maintain it for more than 3 weeks. What it did teach me, however, is that refined sugar triggers hot flashes within minutes of consuming, so I’m doing my best to steer clear as much as possible. Thanks for all the time you invest in this newsletter….you making learning interesting and enjoyable.
Thanks for the kind words about the newsletter. I appreciate them.
You can try MCT oil--I prefer the powdered, micro-encapsulated version--which will increase ketogenesis. If you're experiencing the hot flashes shortly after consuming sugar, you've probably got reactive hypoglycemia. It's the falling blood sugar that tends to trigger the hot flashes. Ketones provide a substitute for glucose in the brain.
Thank you for the recommendation. I will purchase it!
Fascinated by your write up on menopause & hot flashes. My wife has issues with this. Two question: if the mechanism is as you describe, why would hot flashes occur primarily at night ie during period of sleep. Also if one does not follow a ketogenic diet, would the ingestion of exogenous ketones, perhaps before sleep, be of any value?
They don't usually occur at night. At least for most women. They tend to occur a couple of hours after meals when blood glucose drops. Which could also happen at night. I've just never had anyone report them at night.
Had both ovaries removed 30 years ago. Was on premarin for a while, got off. Took bio-identical hormones for a while. Now off. I have hot flashes every one to two hours all night long. I can't remember the last time I slept longer than 2 hours. I have some flashes during the day, but they are not as noticeable. After reading this issue of your newsletter, I started on a ketone supplement before bed. It has only been 3 nights, but so far I have not noticed any improvement.