The Evolution of My Medical Mind

A long, long time ago I wrote a post about the book Your Medical Mind that I heard on NPR: I Heard My Savior On NPR.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/books/review/your-medical-mind-by-jerome-groopman-and-pamela-hartzband-book-review.html

My post was mostly about how these doctors admitted that people should be treated on an individual basis, not by numbers and rules set up arbitrarily by a focus group. They also spoke about how we as individuals respond to medical professionals. Some people are more apt to do whatever a doctor says,without questioning. Others are skeptical of everything. And some people fall somewhere in the middle.

The New York Times review explains it like this: "Groopman and Hartzband explore two sets of biases that affect patient decisions. We can be minimalists, preferring to do as little as possible, or maximalists who aggressively pursue treatment. We can be technology enthusiasts, seeking the newest drugs or procedures, or naturalists who believe the body can cure itself, perhaps with the aid of spiritual and plant-based remedies. Of course, these orientations interact..."

I have been thinking about this lately because over the last three years I've gone from someone who would indeed do whatever a doctor suggested to someone who is basically just frustrated with the seemingly god-like mentality of many doctors.

Initially when I was experiencing mind-numbing lethargy and horrible joint pain and swelling, I went to the doctor who a) put me on a dose of thyroid medication about four times what it should have been and b) who freaked out and basically told me my liver was crapping out. In the end, I went into his office two times complaining of chest pain and weight loss (because the dose was so high I was actually becoming hyper-thyroid). He told me to stay on that dose so he could see how my thyroid levels were after taking it for a month. In the end I was 25-30 pounds lighter, I twitched a lot, and he was basically glad to see me move to another city. Great work, Doc.

Aside from my personal experience with doctors basically having no idea what's wrong with me, I keep hearing anecdotal stories that are just plain frustrating. The evidence ranges from doctors in the 70s claiming a certain anti-nasuea drug was perfectly safe (when in fact in caused babies to be born without all their limbs) to doctors declaring a whole family of kids strep-free, when a second test revealed that they all did have strep.

My friend who recently had a baby was told at a check-up that she could take a drug for her nausea and that it was perfectly safe. The knowledge that this happens all the time, that drugs are 'safe' until suddenly they're not safe at all, kept her from taking it.

I saw an ad on TV calling for all those who had ever taken the anti-acne drug Acutane, because apparently people who have taken it now have colon problems, even to the point of having their colon removed. Now, people, I remember very clearly in high school knowing several people on that drug and even being offered that drug myself. The dermatologist told me it was safe, it was an option for acne. I guess at the time it hadn't been tested enough to show that after taking Acutane, you might have to poop in a bag for the rest of your life?

Thus, I have become someone who did do what the doctor ordered and it ended up hurting me. So I have gone from a trusting little lady to one who is now basically on guard with medical professionals. Sad day.

How has your medical mind evolved over the years?

Just The Facts, Ma'am

There's been a lot about genetically modified (GM) stuff in the news lately. I went on a search for studies about genetically modified crops recently. I'm a little freaked out by how much we humans are playing God. I don't think it's going to end well for us.

To be fair, there are a lot of studies out there about how safe GM foods are. There are also a lot of critics. On the other side, there are studies showing how unsafe GM foods are and there are also a lot of critics of those studies. So I just did some reading of my own.

http://www.treehugger.com/organic-beauty/arguments-against-gmos-and-industrial-agriculture.html

 There are oodles of studies that 'prove' that GM foods are safe.

This study's conclusion: "The genetically modified drought-resistant wheat T349 was substantially equivalent to parental wheat in the effects on immune organs and immunologic functions of mice, and it didn't show immunotoxicity."

And this one: "Compared with rats fed the non-GM control diet, some statistically significant differences were observed in rats fed the 3Ø5423×40-3-2 diet. However the differences were not considered treatment-related and commonly fell within the normal ranges of the control group consuming the commercial diet. These results demonstrated that the GM soybean 3Ø5423×40-3-2 is as safe as non-GM soybeans." This seems weird to me ("differences"?), but okay.

This one actually has something good to say about GM soy milk: "GM soy milk with or without probiotic-fermentation can improve hypercholesterolemia and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, and is considered substantially equivalent to non-GM soy milk in terms of these bioactive functions."

And another: "The results demonstrated that BT-38 maize is as safe as conventional non-GM maize."

Another one that bothers me: "No statistically significant differences were found in relative organ weights of rats within groups but there were some minimal histopathological changes in liver and kidney."  I am so glad the writer's of this study were honest and included this information because it is significant to me.

Then there are the studies and articles that deem GM foods not so safe.

This particular study I thought did a great job of wording exactly what I'm worried about: "As genetically modified (GM) foods are starting to intrude in our diet concerns have been expressed regarding GM food safety. These concerns as well as the limitations of the procedures followed in the evaluation of their safety are presented. Animal toxicity studies with certain GM foods have shown that they may toxically affect several organs and systems. The review of these studies should not be conducted separately for each GM food, but according to the effects exerted on certain organs it may help us create a better picture of the possible health effects on human beings. The results of most studies with GM foods indicate that they may cause some common toxic effects such as hepatic, pancreatic, renal, or reproductive effects and may alter the hematological, biochemical, and immunologic parameters. However, many years of research with animals and clinical trials are required for this assessment. The use of recombinant GH or its expression in animals should be re-examined since it has been shown that it increases IGF-1 which may promote cancer."

GM crops affect us externally too. Huff Post has a recent article about how GM crops have led to pesticide resistant pests, which necessitates more pesticide usage. Yummy in my tummy.

The latest study, of course subject to a lot of scrutiny and picking apart (not necessarily a bad thing) concluded that GM foods do hurt rats, and hurt them quite a lot. The study ran for 200 days, about the lifespan of a rat but "Historically, biotech companies have proved the safety of GM crops based on trials involving feeding rats for a period of 90 days." What might be seen as thoroughness by some has also been listed among the problems with the study. One writer basically said that all rats would get cancer by the time they were old.

Another quote from an article about this study: "The world’s best-selling weedkiller, and a genetically modified maize resistant to it, can cause tumours, multiple organ damage and lead to premature death, new research published today reveals."

More: "In the first ever study to examine the long-term effects of Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, or the NK603 Roundup-resistant GM maize also developed by Monsanto, scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumours and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females, compared with 23 and 14 months respectively for a control group. 'This research shows an extraordinary number of tumours developing earlier and more aggressively - particularly in female animals. I am shocked by the extreme negative health impacts,' said Dr Michael Antoniou, molecular biologist at King’s College London, and a member of CRIIGEN, the independent scientific council which supported the research."

Ultimately, no matter what all the studies say, here is what's bothering me. I can admit that in the end we might really and truly prove that GM products are safe. But the choice to avoid them is being taken away from us. Products with GM foods aren't labeled and aren't required to go through any sort of extra testing (for pesticides maybe?) before being packaged and sold and eaten. The GM crops are mingling with the non-GM crops and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it.

I also feel like we humans are so prideful we forget that we are fallible. An article I found today is about how scientists in New Zealand created a brand new cow (after toying with it's DNA) who can produce 'hypo-allergenic' milk. The cow was also born without a tail, but they're not even sure why: "Scientists at AgResearch’s Ruakura campus were successful in greatly reducing the amount of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), a milk whey protein that is not present in human breast milk and which can cause allergic reactions...To avoid the delay of two years before a natural lactation, the milk the scientists analyzed was from an induced lactation. They only obtained small quantities over a few days for these initial studies. They now want to breed from Daisy and determine the milk composition and yield from a natural lactation. They also want to investigate the origin of Daisy’s taillessness, a rare congenital disease in cows." Sounds great, but I fear stuff like this ends up on the market way before it's truly known what it will do to us.

Let's say we find in the end that GM foods aren't safe and we start dying prematurely and our cancer rates keep sky-rocketing, well, then too bad? It's in everything now? That sucks for us. I'm not sure about GM foods, so I'd rather wait and see, but it's getting harder and harder to avoid.

A Book About Hashimoto's...Or Beautiful Butterflies?

Okay, so recently I got a book on Inter-library Loan (-Insert Libraries Are Awesome Plug Here-) and this is my sum up of what I lovingly refer to as The Butterfly Book. It's called Hope for Hashimoto's by Dr. Alexander Haskell, N.D.

I can't say that this book was super amazing, but it was interesting. Mostly, I was confused by how this author recommended gradually adding back in iodine, but other natural-type practitioners recommend never ever taking iodine again (iodized salt, anyone?).

Part of the reason I was curious about this particular book is because Dr Haskell is one of those who believes that Hashimoto's can be 'reversed' and you don't have to take medication for life. Intriguing to me, to say the least. So, I gave it a try. Here's my summary and subsequent review. This will probably only be interesting for those who struggle with thyroid issues, but writing this helped me understand the info in the book. It's kind of a selfish blog post. :)

Introduction

*Even patients who hope to overcome Hashimoto's must start on some sort of synthetic hormone replacement. The medication will lower the body's levels of TSH, which is responsible for thyroid disease sufferers feeling crappy.

*When there's a lack of any nutrient the thyroid will struggle to make thyroid hormones and the pituitary will crank out more TSH, in the hopes (teehee) of encouraging the thyroid.

*This could lead to inflammation which, to sum up, is bad.

*We need Selenium to help reduce inflammation and protect our thyroid from the harmful effects of inflammation. Selenium deficiency has been associated with Hashimoto's.

*At least initially, someone with Hashimoto's should avoid iodine/iodide because it's believed that, thought necessary, iodine might actually raise TSH. The reason he gives for this increase is because TSH helps the body store iodine in tissues and so an initial increase in iodine will encourage the body to increase TSH in order to 'capture' the iodine. 

Phase 1 

*Goals of Phase 1 include lowering TSH to 1.0 or less, decreasing inflammation, getting the nutrients you need, and repairing thyroid damage.

*Eliminate iodine and iodide. It appears both a deficiency in iodine will increase TSH (since iodine is necessary to make thyroid hormones) and a surplus in iodine will increase TSH (since the body is trying to maxmize absorption).

*Iodine will be reintroduced when the number of thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO) go down.

*Recommended supplements: Selemiuwm (to help reduce imflammation), 400 mcg, Zinc Picolinate, 25-50 mcg, Iron, Vitamin A, and Essential Fatty Acids (recommended mixed EFA's from Biotics Research).

*The primary antioxidant studied in relation to Hashimoto's is glutathione. Glutathione can help reduce thyroid antibodies. Dr. H recommended taking N-Acetyl Cysteine (which is also apparently something people with Cystic Fibrosis take to break up mucus....).

*Drop the wheat.

*Take some time to think about whether or not your health symptoms could be caused by anything else, heavy metal poisoning, halogen saturation like fluoride, chronic infections, cholesterol, eating crappy foods, yeast infections, allergies, other hormone imbalances...

Phase II

*Goals of Phase 2 include reintroducing iodine into your diet, monitor antibodies, take a bunch of supplements, evaluate thyroid hormone production.

*Start taking liquid doses of iodine and iodide 25 mcg a day. Increase it gradually, every four days or so.

*Adjust thyroid medication dosage, hopefully to a lower dose. Monitor everything, TSH, free T4, free T3.

Phase III

*Gettin' off the meds.

*Check bound T3/T4 and free T3/T4 to see if everything is working well.

I am still intrigued. I can say that I took a multi-vitamin with lots of Iodine (too much maybe?) and I felt crappy. Anecdotally*, I would love to try to reduce my thyroid med dosage and see if I could fix what's going on. Realistically, I like the way I feel right now and I'm afraid to feel crappy again. Sigh.

*Auto-Correct says 'anecdotally' isn't a word. Screw Auto-Correct.
**The Internet says it is. ;)