“Do you take vitamins?” “No,” I answer my patients. “Why not? Aren’t they good for you?” The nuanced answer to that remains no. A truthful answer might be “when it’s been shown you need them.” Most Americans are not vitamin deficient. There is evidence that vitamins can be harmful, not helpful. And what generally gets […]
Protecting You From Dangerous Drugs
What do you do when dangerous drugs can’t be sold legally? Change the rules. We may get to see this – nationally. The FDA gets lots of brickbats, and has a tough job. Much of its funding comes from the drug companies it’s supposed to regulate. The process of drug approval is arduous, highly bureaucratic, […]
Which Form of Magic: Pill or Lifestyle?
The Magic Is the part equal or greater than the whole? People often hope so. Not long ago a patient requested I give her a pill that “makes me feel good, causes weight loss, and doesn’t have any side effects.” No, she wasn’t kidding. Many others hope for the same. And they spend lots of […]
Gimme the Pill! Seductions of Supplements (8/22/12)
Every Work Day Just about every day I’m in the office patients come to me clutching a new pill bottle. Inside will be tablets or capsules purportedly containing anywhere from one to 50 or more ingredients. What Do People Want To Know? Will these pills work to cure their sleep problems/Crohn’s disease/heart disease/cancer/irritable bowel syndrome/memory […]
When good things are bad for you – are vitamins too much of a good thing? (10/14/11)
When Good Things Are Bad For You Vitamin – the word itself conjures up healthiness, something vital for life. Without them we can’t live. But can we have too much of them? Yes. Just like we can have too much food. The fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K – all have associated hypervitaminosis […]