Just for fun, try this: Go into your nearest health-food store, find a clerk and tell them you are having strange issues with your health and wonder if they have anything that might help. Tell the clerk you're experiencing weight loss, night sweats, fatigue and flu-like symptoms.
The clerk will most likely parade you across the store to the herb or supplement aisle and begin offering solutions. > More
Just for fun, try this: Go into your nearest health-food store, find a clerk and tell them you are having strange issues with your health and wonder if they have anything that might help. Tell the clerk you're experiencing weight loss, night sweats, fatigue and flu-like symptoms.
The clerk will most likely parade you across the store to the herb or supplement aisle and begin offering solutions. It may be something like vitamin E for the night sweats; ginger to help with digestion and increase absorption of nutrients to slow weight loss; B vitamins and bee pollen for fatigue and finally, echinacea to boost the immune system.
Their spiel may sound very official and knowledgeable. Your bill could easily run well over $150 or more for the products, depending on the quantity and brand name.
The problem? The symptoms all match leukemia.
You can certainly run this experiment with any symptom/disease and see what happens. Try digestive issues or back pain or headaches and see what happens.
Notice as you play your role with the clerk what they say, how they say it and whether they recommend a visit with a bonafide physician. I bet they don't.
This is all nothing new.
Health food stores are retail outlets that make their money by selling stuff. They don't make money when they refer someone to a doctor or clinic.
I worked in a popular health food store in college and I am astounded how much people with real medical issues trusted me. I was a 20-year-old journalism major who hadn't had as much as an anatomy class, yet people of all ages came in and gave total trust that I could sell them proper remedies for all manner of medical problems ranging from impotence to weight problems.
Trained by the store owner in the most convincing of techniques for peddling amino acids, protein powders, herbal teas, supplements and natural food products, I was nothing more than a lowly paid salesclerk hoping to pay the bills while I got a journalism degree. I didn't know beans about health! I was, though, quite savvy at my sales job. I learned the proper lingo and could probably still sell the amino acid L-tryptophan to an insomniac by telling some story about turkey and Thanksgiving afternoon sleepiness.
Today I see the same clerks in the same types of stores selling the same products in many cases. I hear some of the same sales talk that I used and few, if any, real referrals to qualified medical professionals. If you don't believe me, try my test.
Investigators for several different sources have tried similar experiments to find that health food stores are notorious for selling customers retail products for health issues without proper diagnosis, will offer diagnosis-like opinions on the spot, employ non-medical staff and ignore laws that bar practicing medicine without a license, which is essentially what one does when they diagnose illness.
Don't get me wrong. I love a trip to the health food market as much as the next person. Vegetarian food items, organic fruits and veggies or hard-to-find and high-quality vitamins and minerals are fun to browse through. I also don't much care for going to the doctor and generally shy away from prescription drugs if I can help it.
For my real illnesses, though, I'm going to find a real doctor, not an under-educated store clerk. You should too.
Walking away from my recent conversation with best-selling relationship author John Gray, I had a vision of him on a poster.
He’d have his trademark big smile and a finger pointing toward the viewer, Uncle Sam style. It would say, simply: “Uncle John Wants You (to be Happy).” > More
Walking away from my recent conversation with best-selling relationship author John Gray, I had a vision of him on a poster.
He’d have his trademark big smile and a finger pointing toward the viewer, Uncle Sam style. It would say, simply: “Uncle John Wants You (to be Happy).”
The creator of the ubiquitous Mars/Venus brand -- Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus – recently published his 17th book, Venus on Fire/Mars on Ice (Mind Publishing, $29.95.) This latest book explains how male and female hormones dictate our behavioral differences, how stress depletes our love hormones, and how we can replenish our supply of the good stuff.
Wading through explanations of oxytocin, testosterone, cortisol and blood sugar fluctuations was a little challenging. And I certainly couldn’t see anyone carefully figuring out how to balance them for the best relationship results.
But Gray says that’s not the point. He hopes people absorb enough to get his overall message:
Men and women’s brains are wired differently
If Mama ain’t happy then nobody’s happy
Learning to accept and deal with our differences can enhance our relationships and our lives.
For instance: massages make women happy, relaxed, and able to release stress through the buildup of oxytocin, the hormone women need to feel good.
So, guys: If you yell about how much she spends on massages, you don’t get the benefits of her being happy and loving, which is sure to raise your testosterone levels. After all, men need and want to make their women happy.
Take John’s example: His wife of 25 years, Bonnie, expressed a desire to see Toy Story 3, which can be described as a kid flick. But John, a Ph.D. in psychology, has figured out that if he happily goes with her, he raises her oxytocin levels and makes her happy. This is not a big stress reliever for him, but “men need to know what women need. I want to make her happy. And I am happy to be of service.”
He says he could count on one hand the moments he really enjoyed the movie. I said I could count on two fingers, maybe, the number of men who would do this with a cheerful attitude.
P.S.: If she goes with a woman friend, then all is lost. She won’t be happy that her man stayed at home.
Gray admits he’s not a perfect follower. Who could be, when relationships are portrayed as something you mix up in a lab?
I never read a John Gray book until this one. And after chatting with him and seeing some of his videos online, I’d say, skip the book and go see him in action at a seminar if you think he’s the Pied Piper of passion. It’s much more fun.
John Gray will be giving a seminar at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach on Jan. 18 from 6-8 p.m. The cost is $60 for a single ticket and $110 for two purchased together. Valet parking is free. Contact WXEL at www.wxel.org or call 800-464-9935. The appearance is coordinated with the NPR station's fund drive. < Less
Not a month goes by in my medical office without a barrage of similar phone calls. They are from worried patients and have nothing to do with how they are feeling, but more with what they just heard on the news, read in the newspaper, or saw on the Internet about their medications. > More
Not a month goes by in my medical office without a barrage of similar phone calls. They are from worried patients and have nothing to do with how they are feeling, but more with what they just heard on the news, read in the newspaper, or saw on the Internet about their medications.
Long before the National Institutes of Health Women’s Health Study halted a trial of the good and bad effects of combined estrogen and progesterone in 2002, physicians believed that such medications, also called hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, helped postmenopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and mood swings, aided cholesterol levels and prevented heart disease. But the study found that the associated health risks of the combination hormone therapy outweighed the benefits.
Medical offices were flooded with patient calls, seeking more advice about a study that many of us had not yet read, let alone was even published.
Worried lawsuit-conscious doctors quickly recommended stopping HRT in most patients. Only later did we find out that if HRT was started in younger patients than in this study, the same negative results were not seen. Moreover, estrogen only had better results; a different dosage of estrogen and progesterone weren’t studied, nor was the skin patch HRT product!
Thus, it is quite possible that the wholesale deletion of HRT from peri- and postmenopausal women may have been in some cases unwarranted.
Many other studies were to follow that would turn our traditional thinking about medications on its head. A cholesterol lowering drug, Zetia, or ezitimide, did not prevent heart attacks -- more phone calls from distressed patients. Most recently a study from New Zealand suggested that millions of people who take calcium supplements in hopes of lowering their risk for bone fractures might actually be increasing their risk of having a heart attack. Never mind that in 2006 a prior National Institute of Health study showed no statistically significant risks or benefits with regard to any major disease outcomes, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer from calcium and vitamin D supplements!
As physicians we are as frustrated by these medical flip-flops as our patients. I doubt now that any study is definitive or final, and they all have design flaws.
We try to weigh all of these studies when advising starting or removing medications, but until the FDA comes out and says, “Yes, that is my final answer,” this dilemma may not end anytime soon.
Frustrated with the health-care system? Don’t know where to turn for help? Want more on the human side of health care? We’ve got you covered.
We all lie
“I’m feeling better now doc. I’d like to go home.” Bill G. uttered these words to me less than 24 hours from the time he was admitted through the emergency room with chest pain. He had not sustained a heart attack, but he had a weak heart muscle and heart surgery in the past.
“I don’t know Bill,” I said. “Your pains could have been your stomach but then again it might be your heart. Why don’t you stay in another day for some tests?’
“Oh come on now. I know it was just indigestion. Can’t we do the tests as outpatient?” Since I first met him, Bill and I had a stormy relationship –– he thought I was too controlling, and I thought he was too demanding.
Over the next several hours he would pace around the nursing station, badger the nurses and had them call me several times. Busy at another hospital, I finally relented and discharged him. Within six hours of his release he had severe chest pain, suffered a cardiac arrest and died on the way to the hospital.
This is every cardiologist’s nightmare. It happened to me over 20 years ago and I will never forget it. Bill’s mind and ego denied the obvious, and in a moment of inattention and over-busyness, I bought the lie, too. Not wanting to strain our relationship further, I let him leave without making him sign out against medical advice. His son, who was a trial attorney, later sued me for malpractice, and ultimately my insurance company settled for a few thousand dollars.
Since then I have learned to listen more closely to what my patients tell me. I now realize that it is of utmost importance to separate their symptoms from what they think might be the cause. Some patients fear the worst in everything, but many others downplay and deny what is truly happening. Their minds are lying to them constantly. It is my job to get objective clarity about their condition and not buy into their delusions as well.
We all lie to ourselves sometimes, and most often it is to cover up an addiction, admit fault, or shame. My mind tells me this all the time.
“I can have two cookies today because I exercised.” Or, “I can drive home safely because I only had one drink.”
I’m sure you recognize the thoughts, because most of us have had them.
My goal is to achieve less ambiguity when my mind, or that of my patients, is lying to me. This takes some work, patience, and practice. However, the rewards are enormous.
David Mokotoff, M.D., is a St. Petersburg cardiologist. Check out his blog at www.davidmokotoff.com.
Resources
We’ve collected a list of resources for you, including federal and state agencies and private associations. This is a free listing, without paid advertisers. Read More
Group offers free 'living will,' other forms
Free, downloadable end-of-life forms (to designate a health-care surrogate, for example) are available at a web site sponsored by the Hemlock Society.
Government site outlines new health-care law
A new government site, aimed at individuals, Medicare recipients and small employers, explains how the new health-care law works for the consumer as well as for seniors on Medicare. Click here to visit.
FDA site lets public find drug safety info
The Food and Drug Administration launched a website where patients and health-care professionals can find safety information about recently approved drugs and vaccines. Click here to access.
Complaints against licensees now online
Public administrative complaints filed against licensed health-care practitioners are now available on The Florida Department of Health Web site. Consumers can see if a public complaint exists for any health-care professional licensed by DOH at this site.
Consumer Reports looks at reform
Consumer Reports has a guide to health reform, with videos, Q&As, viewpoints and in-depth papers. Access it here.
Online resources for information on health reform
The Washington Post has compiled a handy list of guides to the new rules. Access it here.
Summary of new health-reform law
Here is a summary of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (adjusted by the reconciliation act that followed.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its Medicare primer that explains key elements of the program. It describes characteristics of the Medicare population and how much people pay out-of-pocket. The updated 2010 Medicare primer is at www.kff.org/medicare/7615.cfm.
Consumer health information
The FDA has created a partnership with Everyday Health to deliver FDA's consumer health information to the 30 million users who visit EverydayHealth.com each month. EverydayHealth.com/FDA will offer health information from FDA on food and medical product safety as well as prevention and wellness topics.
A national group that seeks to inform the public about this type of cancer lists environmental risk factors in Florida.
State offers flu hotline
The Florida Department of Health has launched a toll-free hotline, 877-352-3581, to provide public health information and updates on the H1N1 "swine" flu.
It is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Information is available in English, Spanish and Creole.
Information can also be found at the department's website, doh.state.fl.us.
New consumer guides
Spanish-language consumer guides are now available from the Department of Health & Human Services's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for consumers and clinicians. To access the guides in Spanish as well as English, go to effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov. Audio versions of many guides also are available.
Suspect insurance fraud?
Call Florida's Fraud Fighters Hotline at 800-378-0445. It's operated by the Insurance Fraud Division of the state Department of Financial Services.
Helpful hint
Did you know the state offers a Web site where you can quickly find the best price in your local area for the drugs you take? The Drug Finder can save you money.
Just for fun, try this: Go into your nearest health-food store, find a clerk and tell them you are having strange issues with your health and wonder if they have anything that might help. Tell the clerk you're experiencing weight loss, night sweats, fatigue and flu-like symptoms.
Walking away from my recent conversation with best-selling relationship author John Gray, I had a vision of him on a poster.
Not a month goes by in my medical office without a barrage of similar phone calls. They are from worried patients and have nothing to do with how they are feeling, but more with what they just heard on the news, read in the newspaper, or saw on the Internet about their medications. 
