Now Age Minute - 6.23.08
Learning From Tim
Veteran television newsman, Tim Russert, died last Friday at the age of 58, the result of a severe heart attack. According to a story for the NY Times:
Tim Russert, a fixture in American homes on Sunday mornings and election nights since becoming moderator of “Meet the Press” nearly 17 years ago, died Friday after collapsing at the Washington bureau of NBC News. He was 58 and lived in Northwest Washington.
I'll never be able to thank my mother adequately. Back in the mid-60s, she started taking the family to a chiropractor for regular health adjustments, who provided us with dietary supplements, which, back then, basically consisted of chewable vitamin C tablets. When Winkle, our Beagle, began suffering from asthma, off we went with him to the chiropractor. I still remember standing around the adjustment table with my sister and brother, along with the chiropractor's kids, gazing at Winkle, paws up, receiving his fix. And fixed he was. That, along with other experiences (wait for the movie), cemented my faith in a natural approach and orientation towards health care, where diet and lifestyle formed the front line in the battle against sickness and disease. And it's through this lens that I see the real tragedy in Tim Russert's death.
A day or so after Russert passed, on June 17th the New York Times ran a piece titled, "A Search for Answers in Russert’s Death" by Denise Grady, where Russert's internist, Michael A. Newman, was quoted about the condition of his health leading up to his death, and what the autopsy showed.
It is not clear whether Mr. Russert’s death could have been prevented. He was doing nearly all he could to lower his risk. He took blood pressure pills and a statin drug to control his cholesterol, he worked out every day on an exercise bike, and he was trying to lose weight, his doctors said on Monday. And still it was not enough...
...Mr. Russert’s cholesterol was not high, and medicine controlled his high blood pressure pretty well, Dr. Newman said. But, he added, Mr. Russert was “significantly overweight.” He also had a dangerous combination of other risk factors: high triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood, and a low level of HDL, the “good cholesterol” that can help the body get rid of the bad cholesterol that can damage arteries.
You read correctly. HDL low, triglycerides high. A dangerous combination, indeed. Entirely caused by Russert's diet and lifestyle. And if he created his condition through what he consumed, and the pace at which he worked, he also could have reversed it. I wonder if his doctor told him that. Or, if he counseled Russert to put meds in the front line of his battle - a battle against a condition that was already in full rage - while the true cause/cure of his heart disease lie in his diet and lifestyle. Did Russert's doctor tell him that his meds would do no good (but probably do more harm, due to side-effects of statin drugs) if he continued to eat and live as he did?
I wonder if Dr. Newman sufficiently explained to Tim Russert that high triglycerides were a more accurate marker for heart trouble than, so called, "bad cholesterol" (I don't buy this good/bad cholesterol nonsense, but the boogie man is needed for the drug to be the rescuer)? I wonder if Dr. Newman sufficiently explained to Tim Russert how one's triglycerides raise to dangerous levels? Did he tell him that refined carbohydrates (sugar and grains), excess alcohol, and higher caloric intake than one's metabolism can burn into fuel will raise one's triglycerides, and increase chances of a heart attack more dramatically than any reasonable amount of saturated fat (the other terrorist) could ever do? Scroll back, Russert's HDL was dangerously low. HDL is raised by consuming foods containing saturated fats. Yet modern medicine counsels Americans to "eat low fat". Confused yet? That's the idea. Keep the consumer confused and they'll be easy prey for the Dr. Frankensteins in the drug and food processing industries, which have resulted in products like statins and margarine.
Nothing motivates like profits. And nothing gives a payday for investors like pharmaceuticals and industrialized food, as their consumable goods are constantly consumed by consumers. If you think your tax dollars enable governmental agencies to protect you and your family from products that can do you harm, it's time to wake up and smell the corpses. Even though conclusive research has been done that shows omega 3 essential fatty acids safely and effectively reduce arterial plaque, you won't see cod liver oil advertised on television. Until, that is, someone figures out a way to patent it. Yup, that corpse is smelling fishy.
Tim Russert was skilled in parsing through the bullshit of Washington politics and politicians. But he was no match for the wizards at the drug and food processing industries. In the end, Tim Russert committed dietary suicide, with the assistance of his doctor. Russert's wife is left without a husband, his son without a father. When a doctor takes the Hippocratic Oath, that doctor pledges to do no harm to their patients. What a hypocrisy.
Craig Gordon
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear.
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
- Roger Waters
