<![CDATA[Gawker: quacks]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: quacks]]> http://gawker.com/tag/quacks http://gawker.com/tag/quacks <![CDATA[Michael Jackson's Doctor Is A Bankrupting Sketchball]]> The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Bankruptcy documents of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal physician who attempted to revive Jackson at the scene of his death, have emerged. The picture painted: Murray was a financially strained doctor who had liens on child support, among other things.

Via Web Of Deception, the documents show Conrad Murray owing a state tax lien of $2,544 to Arizona, $1,578 to California, and defaulting on housing loans worth a few million dollars, including one in the tax-sheltered, foreclosure-plagued city of Las Vegas, Nevada at the Red Rock Country Club, where reporters attempting to see Dr. Murray's house were turned away by the guard gate. The associated press filed a great report on the guy who's about to be under some intense scrutiny by the LAPD and medical boards in the three states where he's licensed to practice medicine (Texas, Nevada, California). His practice was in Vegas. What to know:

- Murray was supposed to accompany Jackson on his upcoming comeback tour, per Jackson's very specific request.

- Murray was with Jackson when he passed a physical that showed no evidence of drug use.

- Murray's practice was hit with $400K in court judgments for defaulting on payments. He also owes $940 for driving with expired plates and no proof of insurance in 2000. [Don't you just have to show up to court to get those erased? Eh?]

- Murray's still dealing with two other pending cases regarding his lack of fiscal solvency.

The portrait of this guy that's about to emerge is guaranteed to be pretty interesting. How did he end up in Jackson's life? Why was Jackson so attached to him? It won't be as notable as the picture of Jackson that's surely going to start showing up in weeks to come, but as far as the end of his life went, Murray's own story is definitely going to be key to understanding Jackson's.

Michael Jackson: His Doctor [Web of Deception]

LA police want to talk to Jackson's cardiologist
[AP]

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<![CDATA[Oprah's Not a Doctor, But She Plays One on TV]]> The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.She is very powerful, and so she will probably destroy Newsweek for reporting this, but: Oprah's popular show, when it is not about giving you free things, is about promoting stupid and often dangerous quackery and pseudoscience.

Often, yes, it is about heartwarming stories of one woman's triumph over adversity, but sometimes that "adversity" is a medical condition and the "triumph" involves disproved, insane, and potentially harmful treatments. Like when Oprah had the thyroid problem, and her spiritual holistic OB-GYN recommended soy milk and iodine, both of which will just make it worse, if you for real have a thyroid problem, and aren't just fat and sad.

What causes thyroid conditions, again? Oh, right, nonsense.

Thyroid dysfunction, which affects millions of Americans (mostly women), occurs when the thyroid gland located in the neck produces too much or too little thyroid hormone. Too much (hyperthyroidism) and the metabolism races, sometimes causing anxiety and weight loss. Too little (hypothyroidism) and it slows, which, if severe, can lead to depression and weight gain. Many things can trigger the disease, especially autoimmune disorders.

But Northrup believes thyroid problems can also be the result of something else. As she explains in her book, "in many women, thyroid dysfunction develops because of an energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of 'swallowing' words one is aching to say."

This lengthy article is actually far too kind (and brief) to baby-killing nut Jenny McCarthy and her anti-vaccine crusade, and yet it still manages to be a very damning indictment of how Oprah is trying to kill your poor mother. "At some point, it would seem, people will stop looking to Oprah for this kind of guidance. This will never happen."

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<![CDATA[Is There Still Time To Shamelessly Exploit Tim Russert's Death? Yes!]]> timrussert.jpegNBC newsman Tim Russert died of a heart attack more than two weeks ago, but that doesn't mean that it's too late for desperate flacks to try piggybacking on the man's death in order to snatch a little media coverage for their most marginal clients. For example, here's a question you've probably been asking yourself since that fateful day: "COULD HOLISTIC MEDICINE HAVE SAVED TIM RUSSERT?" Holistic medicine pioneer and tasteless quack Raphael Kellman, MD says "YES!":

I'm fairly sure that just a slightly better diet and more exercise could have saved Tim Russert. And I'm absolutely positive that this guy is a quack, and his PR firm (Jaime Alyn PR) is desperate and none too skilled:

COULD HOLISTIC MEDICINE HAVE SAVED TIM RUSSERT? Raphael Kellman, MD, Holistic Medicine Pioneer Says YES!

(New York, NY) With Tim Russert's sudden death from a heart attack we are left wondering, who is at risk of heart attack and sudden death, how can we prevent this from happening to ourselves and loved ones and can we reverse heart disease?

Tim Russert had so much information at his fingertips, the best cardiologists and the best of what conventional medicine could offer, yet he still could not be saved. Because we are flooded with information from the pharmaceutical industry and the media about new drugs we have come to believe that only drugs can heal disease. According to Raphael Kellman, MD, Internist and Holistic Medicine Pioneer, "Scientific information about the benefits of nutraceuticals (natural compounds) and how deeply they can improve biochemistry function unfortunately gets blotted out of view. From Tim Russert's tragic death it becomes clear that merely controlling one's blood pressure and cholesterol with medications is not sufficient."

Apparently, we need to look deeper; we need to look beneath the tip of the iceberg for the deeper causes of heart disease. In fact, studies show that close to 50% of relatively younger patients who develop heart disease do not have any of the more well-known risk factors, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. More and more studies are showing that the deeper we look for causes, the more we see that disease stems from cellular dysfunction (characterized by a decreased ability to produce energy, anti-oxidant deficiencies, toxic build up, cell membrane damage and a decreased ability of the cell and organ to do its work in the body) which is not amenable to drug interventions.

One does not have hypertension because one is deficient in blood pressure medications. One develops hypertension because the arteries are not functioning properly, which is frequently due to inflammation, insulin resistance and a relative deficiency of vitamin B12, vitamin C, and other nutrients. Similarly, one does not have high cholesterol because one is deficient in a statin drug. One has high cholesterol because of a poor diet and metabolic abnormalities which are missed by routine blood tests.

Clearly the deeper we look, the more we see that heart disease is due to cellular dysfunction, stemming from poor diet, inflammation, abnormalities in insulin function, liver dysfunction and a host of other forms of dysfunction. Dysfunction is not amenable to drug therapies, yet it is the true cause of disease. Cellular dysfunction, however, is amenable to dietary changes and a myriad of natural compounds. Studies have shown that vitamin B12, folate, vitamin C, L-arginine, resveratrol, anti-oxidant therapy and fish oil improves endothelial function. Fish oil also reduces inflammation and lowers blood pressure. More importantly because it improves the electrical conductivity of the heart it can prevent arrhythmias and sudden death from a heart attack. A major clinical study of more than 11,000 adults showed that those who consumed 1,000mg of fish oil daily had a 30% reduced rate of cardiovascular disease and a 20% lower rate of sudden death.

Additionally, new research reveals that vitamin D can prevent heart disease and reduce risks of having a heart attack. Numerous studies indicate that vitamin D deficiency contributes to high blood pressure, insulin resistance and inflammation. In a recent study reported in the archives of internal medicine in June 2008, men classified as deficient in vitamin D, where 2.5 times more likely to have a fatal heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin.

Along with these deeper causes and treatments for heart disease we now have blood tests that can help prevent sudden death. This include blood tests for Lipo-A, VLDL, size of cholesterol particles (frequently not done because there are no drugs to treat it), fasting insulin, glucose levels, TRH stimulation test for a deeper evaluation of the thyroid and other tests that are still not widely done although studies show they should be.

Heart disease and heart attacks cannot be sufficiently prevented just by taking medications. If people want to know what else one can do to prevent a heart attack, one need to understand health and disease from a holistic perspective.



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