A Diabetes Discourse

Lenox Hill Hospital claims to be world-reknowned and score well on patient satisfaction surveys. Natuarally, the satisfied patients make less noise than the angry patients, but I did hear from one unhappy patient recently:

I broke my arm playing basketball Friday morning (both bones)and needed surgery. So I go to Lenox Hill and waited 3 hours for a room! Meanwhile, there were only 3 people on that God damn floor! OK, so I get up to my room and what do I find? Blood in the toilet! My orthopod promised me surgery on Friday so I went the whole day not eating or drinking. Meanwhile, I’m in excruciating pain and my surgery gets pushed to 10 AM Saturday. I spent 14 fn hours without food or drink, in excruciating pain, without an IV and anxious as all hell for my surgery.

And one other:

They almost killed my dad there after his heart attack. He was in the ICU and they accidentally kicked out one of his IV’s and he almost bled to death before they discovered it…

And this is where they teach new doctors…

Lenox Hill Hospital, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is a 652-bed, fully accredited, acute care hospital and a major teaching affiliate of NYU Medical Center. Founded in 1857, the Hospital has earned a national reputation for providing the highest quality care, training new physicians, contributing to progress in research, and offering innovative community outreach programs.

Here’s an interesting NY Times article about pole dancing. It seems to be decent exercise, relieves stress, and can make you a bit of money if you host the pole party (think tupperware party with poles and shoes for sale). pole-dance instructors are charging for lessons if you’re interested…

Here’s a health blog that looks kind of like mine. If you don’t get confused between Health Salon and Healthspan Blog, then this is a blog I recommend.

One of the things I like about it is the practical information. For example among the nutrition articles we learn the benefits of common foods like olive oil, cinnamon, and iodine. Olive oil is also good for your skin, by the way. I use skin care products that deliver powerful antioxidants like olive oil and vitamin C right to your skin. Even my shaving cream has green tea extract in it.

Well Health Salon doesn’t have a skin care section, but they do have something missing from most other health related blogs (including mine). They have a section on the environment. Here they recommend something I’ve been meaning to see, the movie An Inconvenient Truth. Thank you for the reminder!

Speaking of controversies and conspiracies, check out this article on DCA, a possible cancer cure. There have been some promising studies but no clinical trials. Why no clinical trials? Because DCA can’t be patented so the drug companies have nothing to gain (finding a possible cure for cancer is not a gain to the drug companies) because they won’t make much money (if any) on DCA.

It’s a crazy world… Profit and politics rule our health…

A friend of mine recently asked for treadmill brand recommendations because he wants a very durable walking / running machine. A few people weighed in with some advice:

Rocky: I have a Spirit FlexFold in my office and never had any problems with it. Cost around $1200 about 5 years ago. Went shopping for treadmills for the home this Christmas but couldn’t find anything I liked in a limited search. COSTCO had a decent one for about $800. One thing I can caution you about is that you have to check the electrical connections, not all treadmills use standard household outlets, you may need an electrician if you don’t buy the type that fits your house’s electrical system, usually 220, 221 whatever it takes…

John: NordicTrak makes some great treadmills, and they’re decently priced. You can get a good new one for around $700. I have an older model, the NordicTrak 2000, and I’ve had no problems with it. I use it regularly too, and often run 8-10 miles.

Theodore: I have a NordicTrak 1000 exp. that i bought at Sears 4 years ago and still use it regularly, never any problems, one of my better buys.

Yes folks, you heard it right. Oral Xenical, renamed Alli will be sold at your local Walgreens or Walmart or Walwhatever convenience store you go to. This is the first, scientifically proven over the counter drug to make it to market. No prescription needed. The amount taken daily is 60 milligrams three times daily 30 minutes before a meal. As I mentioned in a previous post, this stuff is going to give you the runs, BAD. I like to take mine with an anti-diarrhea tablet. One of the side effects listed is “Oily discharge”… Thats PRETTY damn vague, don’t you think? They aren’t talking about it discharging from your nose. Now in my opinion this stuff should take off 200 calories of fat daily if taken three times. Thats not much at all, but it WILL add up. I promise. Sadly, it won’t be available till this summer. Thats when I want to be thin already.

“In the 16-week study, low-dose Xenical patients on average lost 5 percent of their baseline weight and while those receiving a placebo but following the same diet guidelines on average lost 3.3 percent. ”

Good Luck, and a prize will be awarded to the person with the cleanest underwear at the end of the day.