shoabear's Comments (78)

“Yes, Einstein was a genius....who absolutely loved music. He would very often play the fiddle during times of contemplation... It helped his genius along. Read more about it before you riddle us with your narrowly defined comments.”

“wow, how fundamentalist of you.

I hope your inflated sense of self lasts at least a half an hour.”

“thanks for sharing this startling and scary experience you had. Its nice to have an account from an actual person who was there rather than just reading the media specs.”

“I concur wholeheartedly with your statement totalliberal. I am so infuriated and disgusted with this man's article that I have been searching for words to throw down. But reading your words was all I needed at the moment. thanks.”

“This article is offensive and ridiculous.

Mr. Ridley, your words smack of Eugenics. You may think you are merely stating the hard truth but what you are really doing is putting forth a very simple (and downright mean) proposal that ignores the complexity of the issue.

First off, BMI is junk. Do your research.

Second- genetics, income, environment, social context. These are all things to be considered when addressing obesity in America. Your conclusions above are coming from a thought process that is full of presumptions.”

“and how, topgunna, does this sound like indoctrination?

what do you mean by that?

what about, "teach a man to fish..."?

I think this sounds much more like EMPOWERMENT rather than indoctrination.”

“thank you for this article. I also watched the moyers/maher interview and felt that Moyers articulated the truth so well, albeit depressing.

the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. its that simple.

*sigh*”

“amen!”

“thank you! thank you!”

“'The biggest disadvantage to this approach is that we reduce economic incentives and thereby decrease aggregate supply of medical services; in turn we unfortunately increase prices."

Could you please clarify this sentence. Lemme get this straight- (and maybe I'm not understanding you, actually, I'm kinda hoping I don't understand you)- you believe that the biggest disadvantage to a single payer approach is that it reduces economic incentives and that results in the supply of medical services....and then that means we increase prices? what?”

“Hey BTN,

how about personal responsibility coupled with an efficient health program? How about personal responsibility AND we divest our system of corporate greed.

Just to let you know, the Republicans and Blue Dogs do not care about person responsibility. They care about making money and making sure the status quo remains just that. They can try to cloak their arguments with the notion of personal responsibility but you and I both know that poppy-cock.

And one last thing- why can you not see that our health decisions are already being made by a single entity- CORPORATIONS. All you conservatives talk about is how "scary" the government is- you think its scary because the idea of power concentrated into one entity and dictating personal choices is the wrong thing to do. BUT ITS ALREADY HAPPENING!!! At least with some public option there will be regulations in place that give some power back to the people.

Its very convenient to say no to ANYTHING government sponsored or government regulated. But when it comes to corporate power, greed you don't even give it a thought.”

“RLS is not a made-up syndrome. Its real and it effects people dramatically. I see patients with it all the time. BTw, I don't prescribe meds for RLS, I do only natural and herbal therapies.

I agree that drug companies do emphasize certain illnesses and it in turn leads to more diagnosis of these dysfunctions and hence, drugs are over-prescribed. But to say that these syndomes/diseases are "made up" is downright wrong.

I am no fan of Big Pharma, believe me. I too, believe they are greedy and misguided. I believe that we should outlaw marketing of drugs to the public (as they have done in other countries). But get your facts straight or at least understand some of the nuances inherent to this debate.”

“LOL!!”

“yoga is wonderful. thanks for the post,

However, it is not the only way. There is also TaiQi, Qi Gong, etc....

Yoga is a wonderful path. But it is not the only way.”

“God I love you Bill.”

“Nobody said it was a panacea. Thats why we call it "integrative medicine" where I come from. We take the best from both worlds. We don't need to pit one against the other or choose one over the other. We just need to use common sense.

As for your comments around "low tech" vs. "high tech"? Have you read "The Cost Conundrum" by Atul Gawande? Please do.”

“Yes! This is a good remedy! I had a patient recently do this, she also added some probiotics to the daily regimen and de-glycerized licorice. The vinegar can really really help. It seems counterintuitive to add something acidic to the environment but as a homeopathic remedy, it works.”

“and just how is it quackery, foolishness, or woo-woo? Hmmm? Do you know anything about these alternative modalities? Or do you just spew out judgments based on ignorance?

cbvani, I don't know your medical history and I pray that nothing ever truly goes wrong with you...but if or when it does- I hope its simple and you don't end up like one of the 100s of patients I see that come to me for help with pain after being put through the ringer by your revered allopathic medicine.”

“SharonMD,

From your post above I can say that I hope none of my patients or loved ones ever go see you. Your post is sad because it is typical of what is taught in medical schools- places where the amount of education on nutrition is almost NIL, places where the reductionist mindset is taught to the point of myopic ignorance, places where your worship at the altar of scientism has blinded you to common sense, places where you are taught to vilify anecdotal evidence and praise the "gold standard" of double blind trials- which are fraught with errors (the P-value? c'mon) and where conclusions are cherry picked to reinforce policies and to separate the decision makers from the consequences of their decisions (we prescribed this drug cuz the FDA said it was okay! there were clinical trials done!).

Allopathic medicine is necessary, there is no arguing that. But allopathic medicine is severely lacking...the majority of you are not healers- you are technicians, you are prescribers. Dr. Weil is out of the mainstream of allopathic medicine for this reason.

And as for a lack of GP's? What is it? 10% of all med students are planning on going into General Practice. Why? Because to be a specialist is to be a ROCK STAR.....and who doesn't want to be a rock star? I'll tell you- the gatekeepers, the diagnosticians, those who care more about patients than about their own egos.

nuff said.”

“can you please stop YELLING!?”

“I see your point.

But I don't think that Dr. Weil is being as simplistic or binary as you suggest. It is a fact that many people need a pharmaceutical to get real relief, I agree. I am one of them. If I didn't have a certain medication my life would be hell.

BUT it is also true that many drugs are over-prescribed and that Big Pharma is very keen on inflating or inventing ailments that their drugs can treat.

GERD is a true problem, but most people don't have GERD as a result of a hiatal hernia and can go without the pharmaceuticals. Everyone is different, and in your case you needed the Proton Pump inhibitor. Please don't conflate your issue with the broader issue/problem of OVER prescribing these drugs. Also, nobody is "blaming" anyone for getting sick because of their lifestyle choices- your hiatal hernia is a structural problem that you have no control over. Any doctor knows that! I believe that Dr. Weil also stressed the importance of taking the time and energy to listen and review the patient's history. In your case, that would mean addressing the fact that your GERD is caused by hiatal hernia.

I'm sorry to say, but if doctors did "doctor" better, healthcare costs WOULD come down. I dare you to read Atul Gawande's article, "the cost conundrum."”

“You had me until #4. Actually, you had me until midway through #4.

*someone* has to wear the pants?

Really? Is it that simple?

As a man, if you take on too much yin you risk turning into an indecisive wimp?

And then- as a woman, if you take on too much yang you risk being unattractive? A facsimile of a guy? And then you go on to use Hillary as an example? WOW.

I am surprised at the polarization and ignorance in these statements. As men and women we hold both masculine and feminine energies, yes. But you are conflating these energies with socially defined roles. It is up to each individual how they wish to express these energies. It is also up to each couple how they wish to hold these energies in their relationship. Your expression of there being "risks" for being too heavily yin or yang is falling too close to a binary mindset that perpetuates dangerous stereotypes.”

“hehe, this is funny!”

“It is a very interesting idea!

Just the other day I was wondering about this.

What would happen if we all just dropped our health insurance policies? I know that is risky for people who have chronic health problems, etc... but what are we getting from them anyway? They take our money and barely provide any coverage as well as taking billions of dollars in bills they should have paid, etc..etc...

I am interested in this radical approach.”

“We have to fight the fight.

We cannot lay down and let this corrupt system remain.

I understand that it is fatiguing...especially when you see year after year the reality of what we are up against. But please....we have to keep demanding what is right.”