Even though Americans are more health conscious than ever, the prevalence of obesity is increasing. Over the past 10 years, the average weight of those in their 30s increased by four pounds and for those in their 40s, the increase was nine pounds. Helping the public to lose weight has become a multibillion-dollar industry and some clever marketers are suckering people to spend their hard-earned money on weight-loss scams that substitute gimmicks for will power. The public is inundated with diet books, magical protein formulas, pills, Rube Goldberg exercise machines, and weight-loss clubs. Yet, more people are waddling around than ever before. This is because many weight-loss programs start with the big lie: You can eat whatever you want and lose weight. In actuality, for the vast majority of human beings, the only way to lose weight is to walk around hungry. The human body is a machine. It needs fuel to function. Cars don't run without gas. Humans don't run without food. When the car is out of gas, the gas gauge tells you so. When the human body is not ingesting enough food to function without metabolizing existing fat and muscle, it sends a signal to the hypothalamus. This … [Read more...]

As a medical student, I immortalized myself with my classmates when I informed a lecturing psychiatry professor that I considered Freud's theories slightly more credible than the nuns' tales about guardian angels. The lecturer ignored my obnoxious comment and continued his lecture. But, Freudians have been on the defensive for the past decade. This trend culminated when the Library of Congress was forced to cancel a tribute to Freud in the name of political correctness. Freud has always been viewed with suspicion by cultural conservatives. Freud rejected the concept of sin and explained abhorrent behavior in terms of unresolved conflicts among competing brain factions — id, ego, and superego — that stemmed from childhood experiences. His treatment was to delve into an individual's childhood and attempt to resolve these conflicts — psychoanalysis. But it wasn't pressure from the religious right that canceled the Library of Congress tribute; rather a combination of feminists and neuropsychiatrists. Freud theorized that unflattering female behavior could be attributed to "penis envy," a verboten concept in the age of political correctness. But what is truly destroying … [Read more...]

A friend of mine, whose husband was dying of a brain tumor, complained to me that she was unable to get him placed into an experimental protocol that entailed inserting radiation plaques into his skull. She knew of another individual with a brain tumor who was receiving this "advanced" treatment. My response to her was that her husband was the lucky one because his death would be much more comfortable. Several months later, when both the afflicted patients had passed away, she told me I was right. A recent study published in JAMA reported that, in spite of numerous legislative efforts, we physicians still continue needlessly to give our patients uncomfortable deaths. The study analyzed the treatment of over 9,000 patients with terminal diseases such as metastatic lung cancer, end-stage emphysema, end-stage heart failure, and coma. The results were discouraging. Fifty percent of doctors did not even know that their patients did not desire cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Thirty-eight percent of patients spent over 10 days in intensive care units, and 30%reported that they were in moderate or severe pain in their final days of life. The study concluded that "to improve … [Read more...]