Here's Another Goofy So-Called Medical Article

Post by **tex** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:35 pm

Hi All,

There seems to be an epidemic of just plain dumb, quasi-medical articles in the media these days, based on silly observations by medical professionals, who are obviously trying to steal the thunder of the success of the grass-roots movement by the "connected" members of the general public, who have found that they have to take charge of their own health, if they want to resolve health issues that the mainstream medical community has chosen to refuse to learn how to properly treat.

This is a real humdinger. These so-called researchers, supposedly analyzed 52,000 tweets, on twitter, and found 700 of then to be in error.

Were they bored? Isn't there anything more worthwhile that they could be doing, than to analyze statistics on the accuracy of posts on twitter?

First off, I'm not convinced that I would trust my life to medical information that I obtained from a place such as twitter, in the first place.

Secondly, if you look at that statistic, that's less than a one and a half percent error rate. Compared with the medical profession, that's a very low error rate.

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=637674

It's difficult to pin down exact numbers, but based on the best information that I can find on the internet, (which we all know is full of errors), it appears that at least 3% of hospitalized patients, may experience a significant medical error of some sort, (the rate is probably much higher than that), and about three quarters of one percent, die from those mistakes. IOW, compared with the twitter error rate for medical advice, the medical professionals actually make at least twice as many serious mistakes every year, and about a fourth of those patients die from their mistakes. Has anyone been reported to have died from following bad advice on twitter?

Surely that would make the national headlines, if it were to happen. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black . . .

Here's an article that discusses the grim statistics connected with hospitals. They're the number one killer in this country, according to this site.

http://www.answer-my-health-question.in ... stics.html

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:31 pm

Proof that technology is not helping us to advance, it is sending us backwards.............

and tex remember the theory, cant let facts get in the way of a good story............

Stanz · Post by **Stanz** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 5:05 pm

The use of prescription drugs is the #1 cause of death in Oregon, where I live. It is usually a mixture of prescription drugs that are contraindicated but nobody paid attention to.

You do not want to be in a hospital when you are sick - unless you are on the verge of death already. They saved you, Tex, and in spite of my lack of respect for hospitals, at least you're still with us and I'm grateful for that.

Post by **tex** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:34 pm

Connie,

Yes, I consider myself very lucky to have gone through that without any serious complications. It's no wonder that drugs are frequently so deadly in the hands of doctors, though. When I went to the ER that day, I was on the backside of a major hypertension event, due to a drug interaction caused by rasagaline, (which I had been taking, due to a misdiagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, (at least, I think it was a misdiagnosis). In fact, I had gone to that same ER, exactly one week earlier, because of the blood pressure issues. When they hooked me up to the monitors, my blood pressure was 225/127.

I had stopped taking the rasagaline, the day before I went to the ER, (which was 8 days before the bleeding began), when I discovered that it interacted with 625 common drugs, that my neurologist failed to mention.

The drug that I attributed the interaction to, was a common antihistamine, taken for hay fever. The reason why I went to the ER on the second day, (after I discovered that I was having hypertensive issues), was because blood pressure spikes, caused by drug or food interactions with rasagaline, typically peak on the second day of the interaction event. (The food interactions that I refer to here, involve foods that are high in tyramine, such as dried foods, aged cheese, etc.) Unfortunately, though, it takes at least 5 or 6 weeks for the body to get rid of roughly half the residual rasagline - the body has to use it up, it can't just dump it. No one knows how long it would take to get rid of all of it.

Rasagaline is an extremely persistent drug - it takes a long time to build up a working supply of it, and then if you stop taking it, it does not have a true half-life, so it takes virtually forever to get rid of it. I went through all of that background information, when I was checked into the ER, so it was surely in my records.

Anyway, even though I carefully explained the risks of drug interactions, (due to the residual rasagaline in my system), to most of the doctors treating me, I got the impression that not one of them believed me, and they prescribed several drugs that were contraindicated, that went into the IVs, (I found out after the fact, mostly from nurses). I'm convinced that besides not actually understanding how monoamine oxidase inhibitors actually work, and therefore not being able to comprehend the risks that they impose, most doctors believe that in a hospital setting, they don't have to worry about drug interactions, because they consider them to be a rare event, and they have the tools to intervene, if necessary. Also, they may have just incorrectly assumed that after one week, the risk of an interaction was gone, (they probably didn't believe me, when I told them how long the risk would last). I have no doubt that that mistake was the reason why they had to give me drugs to lower my blood pressure, every day, while I was there. As soon as I got home, my blood pressure returned to normal, (because I didn't take anything that could cause an interaction).

I really believe that most doctors perceive most drugs to be much safer than they actually are. They prescribe them to so many patients, without any major problems, that they become comfortable with them, and if something does happen, they rationalize it, (in their minds), as a rare event, or blame it on something else, (such as patient error).

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:35 pm

I really believe that most doctors perceive most drugs to be much safer than they actually are. They prescribe them to so many patients, without any major problems, that they become comfortable with them, and if something does happen, they rationalize it as a rare event, or blame it on something else, (such as patient error).

a) they are brainwashed
b) peer pressure - who wants to be the first to question integrity of a drug from a big pharma
c) the drugs are their livelyhood
d) the drug companies give them reports and stats that tell them that the risk of issues of the drugs is less than not prescribing the drugs for that condition or symptom

mindful,, in most cases drugs treat symptoms not the cause.

the goverments of our countries have set up the medical system to treat symptoms not the cause and do it the quickest way. It is not the cheapest way as both the doctors and the governments have a vested interest to keep us on medications

Post by **tex** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:58 pm

Incidentally, to give an idea of how persistent the rasagaline is, the day before yesterday, I discovered that I am still having issues with foods high in tyramine. The cheese that I was eating, thinking that it might minimize having to get up during the night to change pouches, was causing elevated blood pressure readings. There are many foods that are high in tyramine. Yesterday, I cut out all the cheese, and also the cashew nuts and almonds, that I had been snacking on during the day, and today my blood pressure has been steadily coming down, and it's now back close to normal.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:05 pm

i am not confident that majority of doctors of today could figure that out!!!
(polly is the rare exception!!)

you sound like you are in a maze ... constantly coming up to dead ends
hope you make it through and find 'what works' soon

are you back at work yet? do you have your supplies for your bag yet or are you still doing your own engineering solutions (oh intestine whisperer!)

Stanz · Post by **Stanz** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:12 pm

You really need to hang out a shingle, Tex, I'd go see you rather than my PCP in a heartbeat.

Reality is that you are lucky to be alive.

Post by **tex** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:49 pm

Gabes,

Yes, I'm back at work, and yes, I have commercial supplies that work very well, now. Life is good.

Connie,

I appreciate the compliment. You're very kind.

I agree that I'm very lucky, and I appreciate each and every day that has been given to me.

Tex

Issy · Post by **Issy** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:33 pm

Tex,

Can tryamine found in foods that you mentioned elevate one's blood pressure....in and of themselves?
My hubby eats a lot of cashews and I was wondering if they could raise his blood pressure. Generally it's in the normal range....but in the high normal range. He doesn't take any prescription medication.

I am truly sorry that you had to go through such an ordeal and the physicians didn't listen to what you had told them.

Issy

Post by **tex** » Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:06 pm

Issy,

A receptor with a high affinity for tyramine, (known as TA1), has been discovered in the brain, and in certain other areas, such as the kidneys, so apparently there is a possibility that tyramine can act as a neurotransmitter, and it has been proposed that tyramine may act directly to affect blood pressure regulation. However, I'm not aware of any definitive research on this topic, and for some people, foods high in tyramine seem to increase blood pressure, while for others, they seem to decrease blood pressure. Normally, foods high in tyramine are only a concern for people who are taking a MOA inhibitor. If sufficiently high amounts of tyramine are included in the diet, though, it's possible to experience blood pressure excursions. Probably, some people are more sensitive than others, also. The only way to find out how they might affect one's blood pressure, (if they affect it at all), is to do some food trials. Actually, all nuts contain a fair amount of tyramine, but cashews are probably not nearly as bad as peanuts, for example. All overripe fruit contains high amounts of tyramine. Foods high in tyramine, according to Wikipedia, include:

meats that are potentially spoiled or pickled, aged, smoked, fermented, or marinated (some fish, poultry, and beef); most pork (except cured ham); chocolate; alcoholic beverages; and fermented foods, such as most cheeses (except ricotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, neufchatel cheese), sour cream, yogurt, shrimp paste, soy sauce, soy bean condiments, teriyaki sauce, tofu, tempeh, miso soup, sauerkraut; broad (fava) beans, green bean pods, Italian flat (Romano) beans, Chinese (snow) pea pods, avocados, bananas, pineapple, eggplants, figs, red plums, raspberries, peanuts, Brazil nuts, coconuts, processed meat, yeast, and an array of cacti.

Tyramine seems to trigger migraines for many people, but presumably, anything that can act as a neurotransmitter might have the ability to do that.

To give you an idea of what kind of pressure levels I'm talking about, as long as I don't eat excessive salt, or something else that I shouldn't, my blood pressure usually averages around 130/73, on a long term basis. The day before yesterday, I discovered that it was 144/79, so I cut out all nuts and cheese. Yesterday, it was still averaging 144/79, but today it is down to 133/77, (average of 3 readings, at various times of the day).

I really can't complain too loudly about the doctors who saved my life, because they obviously could have done much worse.

When the chips are down, sometimes you have to ignore some of the minor details, in order to get the job done, and I can understand how they might feel the need to do that.

Tex