Dr. Michael E. Doyle: Conventional and Alternative Medicine

Forest Laboratories, Inc. has been producing and shipping a steady supply of the 1 grain (60 mg) and ½ grain (30 mg) dosage strengths of Armour Thyroid since February. As a result, these strengths are no longer on back-order. These two dosage strengths of Armour Thyroid can be used alone or in multiples to achieve common total daily dosage requirements.

Further, Forest Laboratories has begun producing additional dosage strengths. Since May we have shipped a limited supply of 1/4 grain (15 mg), 1.5 grain (90 mg), and 2 grain (120 mg) doses of Armour Thyroid. We continue to work diligently to provide additional supply in order to resolve the back-order of these and other Armour Thyroid dosage strengths.

If you have any questions about Armour Thyroid, please call the following toll-free hotline:
1-866-927-3260.

In the meantime, we encourage patients to speak with their physician regarding appropriate treatment for their condition.

It was a tough weekend with BBQ and birthday cake. The worst part was a huge bag of salty pieces of baked bread —maybe they were pita chips. I am not sure exactly what they are called, but it was very hard to stop eating them. I ate a few handfuls, then finally stopped. I am definitely a carb junkie. Once I start eating starchy foods, it is very hard to stop. It may be the salt, too. Either way, I have asked my wife to keep them out of sight.

Weight to date: 190.6 lbs.

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Dr. Doyle’s practice is designed is to combine Conventional and Alternative medicine to find the safest and most effective treatment for each patient. To learn more about Dr. Michael E. Doyle, click here.

Prescription Drugs

A new study just came out showing that cholesterol medications are not nearly as useful as we’ve been led to believe. Recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, this study looked at over 65,000 patients from 11 different studies who were at high risk for heart disease. The authors found that even in these high risk patients, the “statin” drugs do not save lives.

So why do we spend billions every year on these cholesterol lowering medications?

These medicines are costly,  expensive,  and have many side effects. Common sense says that if a patient does not already have heart disease, then they probably shouldn’t be taking a statin.

Reference:
Statin and All-Cause Mortality in High Risk Primary Prevention: A Meta-Analysis of 11 Randomized Controlled Trials Involving 65, 229 Participants.

Dr. Doyle’s practice is designed is to combine Conventional and Alternative medicine to find the safest and most effective treatment for each patient. To learn more about Dr. Michael E. Doyle, click here.

I restarted a modified Barnes/Osler diet yesterday. Current weight is 193.6 lbs (wearing clothes and shoes) as of late morning.

More to come …

Salt Shaker

In 5 of [these] 11 studies, there was no association between salt intake and clinical outcome.

It seems like every day we hear another recommendation from “on high” that everyone should reduce their salt (sodium) intake. Unfortunately, these recommendations seem misguided and may be dangerous. I’ll admit, I’m not a big fan of the government or anyone else telling me what to eat, but I might be able to accept it if the experts weren’t wrong so often. In the case of salt, a recent study of patients with heart failure showed that in this group, severe salt restriction lead to early death. The group that was put on severe sodium restriction was actually more than twice as likely to die during the study.
If this was an isolated finding, I might be able to understand, but there is very little scientific evidence that salt restriction leads to a longer life. In fact a recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Reducing Dietary Sodium. The Case for  Caution (JAMA. 2010;303(5):448-449) pointed this out.   Dr. Michael Alderman noted that most studies of salt intake and health have not been very scientific and the available studies have had mixed results. Some studies show that cutting salt may reduce some particular health problems while other studies seem to show that salt restriction may be harmful. See Normal-Sodium Diet Compared with Low Sodium Diet in Compensated Congestive Heart Failure: is Sodium an Old Enemy or a New Friend?

Dr. Michael Alderman added, “based on what is known, the prudent course of action may well be caution.” I completely agree. There are probably some people who do need to restrict their salt, but let’s wait until we have proof before we make any blanket recommendations.

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Dr. Doyle’s practice is designed is to combine Conventional and Alternative medicine to find the safest and most effective treatment for each patient. To learn more about Dr. Michael E. Doyle, click here.