January 10, 2026 • 40 mins
- Listen Saturday mornings at 8 as Dr. Msonthi Levine discusses medical issues and takes your calls on News Talk 560 KLVI. Dr Levine is board certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. His office is located at 3080 Milam in Beaumont, Texas. He can be reached at 409-347-3621.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome radio Internet radio listeners. This is doctor Levine,
your weekly host of the Doctor Levine Medical Hour, coming
to you live from the series of KLVI here in Bauma, Texas,
taking your phone calls, trying to answer your questions on yes,
how to stay alive as long as possible and as
healthy as possible. Remember, it's very complicated out there to
(00:23):
try and figure that out. Sometimes it's gotten a little
bit easier for me to figure that out just because
I'm in the middle of it every day and sort
of see these patterns develop about what are some good habits,
what are some bad habits, what works, what doesn't work,
And we'd like to share that with you here on
(00:43):
this show. On lines are open eight nine six kov
I Wonne one hundred and three to three zero kov I.
We're here every Saturday between eight and nine trying to
answer those questions and answer those phone calls and just
provide a little base sick healthcare information out there so
(01:04):
that you can use that to help you make decisions
with you and your family about what's the best way
to do this, what's not such a good way to
do this. So much information flowing out there that you're
exposed to that. It can be disorienting just because the
(01:24):
information seems to contradict itself. One day it's this, another
day it's another thing, and it just doesn't make sense.
So pretty much nothing changes, right, You sort of continue
to do the same things that you are doing. So
we're here to try and clarify that so that the
(01:46):
next day you'll be better phone lines to open or
appreciate listening to your questions and trying to help you out.
Hopefully you're having a wonderful Saturday morning. Whether it is
wintery this morning, it's again, we don't want to have
that heat around. We like the wintery weather, cold, breezy.
(02:10):
No snow though, got it makes it so much harder
to move around. We're not accustomed to that. Yes, it's
pretty to look at, but to actually move around in snow,
it's not that fun anymore. Remember, your vaccines are there.
Seems like every time we look up, there more and
more vaccines out there, which is a good thing. Again
(02:32):
to remind you that, especially if you're up in age.
We hear a lot about cancer, we hear a lot
about the cardiovascular issues strokes, heart attacks, but infections are
out there. Infections are causing a lot of morbidity immortality
(02:52):
out there, and it's one thing that you have to
try and figure out how to defend yourself and how
to let and the possibility of getting an infection. Most
people are becoming familiar, familiar with the term called sepsis,
which is starting to strike fear in a lot of
(03:13):
people's minds when they hear that term sepsis. It's just
a medical term that doctors and hospitals and medical researchers
use to describe what happens when the body gets an infection.
What are some of the physical impacts of an infection
(03:35):
when you get an infection, and it sort of helps
doctors talk to each other and categorize these things. But
sepsis is a major port of morbidity mortality. Yes, for patients,
especially as you get older, the immune system just doesn't
work as well and your risk of infection starts to
(04:00):
go up. So that's where these vaccines come from. I
know there's a lot of confusion about those, but certainly
I'm not confused. I think they're good and we promote
using them all the time because they boost your immune system.
That term that way, you'd like to use. Hey Greg
(04:20):
from vienton, how can we help you?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Hey doctor Levigne. I'm a seventy seven year old retired teacher.
Over the last couple of years, I used the GLP
process and I lost about forty pounds. I'm very healthy now.
I'm a Type two diabetic in that weight loss, so
I've lost a lot of muscle mass, and I was
(04:44):
wondering if it was safe for a type two diabetic
to take creatin supplements to try to rebuild some muscle mass. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Greg, I think that the dietary supplement world is very
robust and alive, and a lot of patients engage in
taking dietary supplements, and if it's something that you want
to try, I don't have a problem with it. I
don't think there's any research out there that tells doctors
(05:15):
or healthcare professionals that their creating is a bad thing
for a diabetic. So I don't think it would harm
you because you have diabetes that you're taking this dietary supplement.
It's buyer beware, to be honest with you, with a
lot of these dietary supplements. That's just the way the
market is. The research that it takes to allow doctors
(05:39):
and healthcare professionals to recommend that is not available, So
I don't think it would harm you. Obviously, talk with
your personal Hello, yes, obviously talk with your personal primary
care physician or your other doctors. But I don't think
it would harm you. If you want to try creating
(06:00):
supplements to build muscle mass, I guess my understanding of
the way that human body works is real whole food
is normally the way to go if you want to
do anything with your health, and that a man made
synthetic product that you can get in a tablet or
(06:23):
capsule or a powder or a liquid will never surpass
the greatness of just real whole food. So if you
want to build muscle, then a lot of the people
who are in that world bodybuilders. You have to eat protein,
(06:43):
so that's chicken, fish, turkey, would be some healthy versions
of protein which are readily available at any grocery store,
and you can prepare it in so many different ways baking, broiling, grilling.
So if you're wanting to build muscle, that's what I
would tell you to try and consume more protein for you.
(07:08):
And but yeah, if you want to do the dietary
supplement Critton. I mean, I don't think it would harm you.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Okay, well, thank you appreciate that information.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yes, Greg will appreciate that as well. And that whole
dietary supplement world is big, big, big, big, and not
going anywhere, right, just because it sort of offers this
promise if you will that if you take this capsule, tablet, powder, liquid. However,
(07:49):
it's formulated if you take this, as other people have
talked about, or other well known actors actresses have promoted
on a commercial or in a commercial, that you will
look like me, you will feel like me, you will
(08:12):
feel the way you want to feel. And all of
us want to feel normal every day. We want to
have stamina, we want to have strength, right, we want
to feel like we can walk up some stairs or
carry some groceries. I mean, that's the way we want
to feel. And unfortunately, it's complicated for a lot of
(08:34):
Americans to achieve that on a regular basis. They might
try this, they might try that. I mean, I think
most Americans really try to do their part, but find
themselves struggling, are going in circles, and so there is
a fatigue component with it where they just sort of
(08:56):
give up. They cave in and just say to themselves
it's too hard. I'm just going to deal with it.
I'm not quite sure how to do this. I'm just
going to keep doing what I'm doing. But then they
see a commercial or an advertisement for a product of
(09:16):
choice with the name and it comes in this really
attractive container, and the story behind it makes sense. There's
someone talking about it, promoting it, someone that you know,
someone you're familiar with, and the story just sounds so
good that you try it. Are your friend or your
(09:39):
family member has tried it, they like it, and you say,
why not? And I certainly get it. It's a very convenient, simple,
straightforward way to maintain your health or to maintain your
physicality or however you want to feel or look, and
this particular supplements as it can happen, the story is there,
(10:04):
it makes sense, and all you have to do is
send off your financial information and your product comes in
the mail. Or you can just go down to the
store and there it all is in the store that
you choose, and you get your product, you take it home,
(10:28):
and you take it and voila. That's it. So all
you got to do. I mean, god, it's so great, right,
if that was the only way that everything worked, which
it just doesn't. It doesn't. You have to stick to
the basics. You can't think that all you have to
do is go and get this synthetic product at this
(10:50):
store or some website, it comes to your house and
take that, but not eat healthy food, not stay physically active,
stay away from the smoking and the drinking. Got to
get your weight down. I mean, all that stuff you
still have to do on a regular basis if you
(11:11):
want to feel well. And all the researchers out there,
this has been written about over and over again. It's
all that information is. It's not necessarily my own personal information,
but certainly I'm talking with people who have medical illnesses
every day and figuring out what are the habits that
(11:31):
really contribute to that, what are the things that actually
make folks better. And again, sometimes patients do find dietary
supplements that do make them feel better, and I don't
have a problem with that. It's just that I can't
blankedly recommend these supplements to my patients just because I
need certain types of medical research that have been done,
(11:55):
They've been collaborated with with other healthcare professionals, and it's
been looked at with strict guidelines and strict outcomes, and
the information says this or the results say that, then
that information can be taken to healthcare providers like myself
(12:17):
and distribute it to the world or to America in
terms of, hey, this is a good thing to do.
You need to recommend your patients to do this. Take
this supplement, take that supplement. But at this point, there's
not a whole lot of them out there. Actually, I
don't know if any maybe vitamin D for vitamin D deficiency.
(12:37):
But I'm not trying to take the wind out of
someone's sales. If they come across a product that makes
them feel better, they did their own research and they're
taking this product, they feel great, I'm not getting in
that person's way. I mean, I think self discovery is important.
It's just hard for a lot of patients to do.
(13:00):
It's time consuming, and you're not quite sure how to
do it. You weren't taught how to do that, and
you just sort of do your best. So I understand that,
but we certainly want you to understand that even if
you take dietary supplements, you still have to eat a
healthy diet. You still have to be physically active. You
(13:25):
have to get away from smoking, limit your alcohol, get
some good sleep, keep your weight down. You still have
to do those things in order to maintain your health.
And I would say, if you listen to my show,
you understand. You know, diet is number one. Everyone's trying
to figure out what's number two? It's number three? Should
(13:46):
I drink a glass of wine every night? We still
hear that refrain from patients who are trying to get healthy.
It's the new year, and what can I do to
be healthy? Stay healthy, live longer? And again, I understand
trying to find something simple, quick, easy, fast. Why wouldn't
you Why wouldn't you want to do that? I mean,
(14:08):
we live in sort of the convenient world, right, the
twenty four hour day, seven day a week, shopping at
your fingertips on your computer terminal in your house, and
something arrives at your house within a day or two,
and all you did was press some key buttons. Man,
what if my health could be that easy, hits, that's simple,
(14:28):
that fast, where I just take this one little thing
and voila. Man, I'll live till ninety ninety five, and
I'm strong, and I don't ever get sick. I'm never
in the hospital. I don't go to the doctor. I'm
looking for that magic bullet. And again, that's what a
lot of these docta supplements are promoting. But you gotta
(14:52):
be careful, right, come on, it's a fantasy. A lot
of times. You can't think that you can sit down
all day and just pop a couple of supplements and
then you're going to outlive the guy or girl next
door that's not taking the supplement. Really, you can't think, like,
don't fool yourself. I guess is what I'm saying. Can't
(15:14):
do it. Phone lines are open eight nine to six
kalva I one hundred three three zero kalva. I'll be
back in two minutes. All right, welcome back to the doctor.
(15:37):
Leavine Medical Hour. Phone lines are open eight nine six
kV I won one hundred three three zero kova. I
would love to hear from you talking about dietary supplements,
that great, wonderful world where there are these products or
substances that you can take, drink and you should feel better,
(16:02):
it should preserve your health. Yes, no, what's good? What's bad?
Should I take it? Can I take it? I get
that question often patients actually bring the bottles in to
the office with them just to sort of get my
approval that this product would be okay. And normally it's
got a fancy name and it's got bright colors. And
(16:26):
again normally, when I'm looking at the ingredients, it's sort
of all the same sort of ingredients, but just with
a different name. And again, we just want you to
get the information you need to really understand how this
thing works. And it's okay to try it out, but
certainly stick to the basics. And again, as you know
(16:50):
you listen to my show, I promote the diet as
the most important critical component of your health. And again
it's the beginning of the new year, right, we're always
thinking about our health, and we're going to do things
better and get on track with our health because we
know it is important, especially as you get older, you retire.
Now you have all this free time on your hands.
(17:10):
What am I going to do with myself? Just wake
up late and hang around the house. Yeah, I don't
have to listen to the boss. I can do whatever
I want. I can go whatever, I can go wherever
I want to go. And man, it's freedom and it's
fun for and This is listening to my patients who've retired.
(17:31):
It's fun for a few months, maybe half a year,
but after that it's a little boring and you realize
that you need to do something. And so a lot
of times, yes, I'm in the healthcare world, I'm a doctor. Obviously,
one of my recommendations is, hey, you prioritize your health.
I mean, who wants to be retired and all you're
(17:53):
doing is going to the doctor's office and taking a
bunch of medicines and going to the hospital back and forth.
That's a drag. That's not the golden years. That's not
a big dream of everyone that once I retired and
all of a sudden, I'm sick all the time. That
ain't no fun. So again, if you're retired and you
(18:16):
don't want to be in the doctor's office all the time, Yeah,
you can take your supplement. That's fine. Whatever you find
online or whatever your friend told you, your relative has
gotten you onto this product, that's fine, you can take it.
But still, number one, you have to eat right. And
what is eating right mean for me? Again? And I
(18:39):
don't think it's really that confusing. You have to prioritize
eating vegetables. Right. We were all taught sort of to
look at this round circle plate, if you will, plate,
and they sort of portioned off what we should eat
more of in this plate.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's all a balance, right, And in my opinion, the
plate should contain more vegetables and a small amount of protein. Right.
That's how I see it, based on the information that
I read and talking to patients who are healthy and
have done well. It's more about eating those vegetables and
(19:25):
staying away from a lot of the starches that we
grew up eating, and certainly trying to limit your exposure
to ultra processed foods. Right. The supermarket is full of it,
which is why the supermarkets have gotten bigger, monster size
(19:45):
now because of all of the ultra processed, packaged, preserved,
ready to eat MRI type of food if you will.
That again, super convenient. You don't have to cook it.
You sort of pop it in your device and you
heat it up and it's ready to go. Right again,
(20:07):
when you're on the run and you're running out of time.
I think these sort of preserved convenient foods that are
out there. You could even say fast food is in
that category because a lot of times it's sort of frozen,
and the staff there in the restaurant and room, you're
(20:28):
just sort of heating things up a little bit. Simple steps,
you know, one, two, done. Where a lot of times
when you eat fresh food there is a bit more
steps in the food preparation, but that's difficult to do.
If you own a food cafeteria or a food business,
you have to sort of limit the number of steps
that it takes from beginning to end product. You know,
(20:51):
more steps is more expensive, more time consuming, more app
for things to go wrong, and not be able to
to generate that speed of getting the food from start
to finish. Working with fresh food is tricky. Michael from Pasadena,
I can we help you?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Oh, good morning, doctor Levine, thank you for everything you do.
I'm trying to lower my LDL naturally without taking drugs,
and I've lowered it. I was at ninety four and
(21:34):
I lowered it down to seventy seven, and her doctor
wanted me to go, wanting to put me on a
drug that would she wants to bring it down to
seventy and I think I can do it with diet,
and I guess I'm looking for suggestions She's given me
(21:58):
a prescription for a drug, but uh, my pharmacies are
my pharmacy was has it is holding it? And I've
I've just I've just I haven't gotten it yet and
I'm trying to decide whether to get it or to
(22:19):
try it with with diet. And I think I can
deal with diet. And they say that I cut down
saturated facts, which I have been doing. I do work
out and I do walk. What's your suggestion? And that's
(22:42):
one question. And the other question is this r f
K has come out with a new food pyramid which
has turned pretty much turned the original food pyramid upside down.
I don't know if you look at it or not,
but concentrating on lots of meats and basically not eliminating
(23:10):
process foods. And so anyway, that's my questions.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
All right, Michael, So you're trying to impact your health
just with diet alone, and I think that's a great
way to do things, just because yes, medications can be expensive,
medications can cause side effects, but they are super convenient,
they normally work very well. They've been researched very heavily,
(23:41):
and most of the medical doctors and medical staff buy
into it. They believe it. It's proven, and so yes,
I'm a prescriber of these pharmaceutical products, and these are
good products and the research is unquestionable in terms of
cholesterol that they work. And cholesterol is only an issue
(24:04):
in our country because cardiovascular disease is still the big
problem in our country and high cholesterol sustained. High cholesterol
is a risk factor for the development of plaque in
the blood vessel wall, which over time can cause narrowing
of the blood vessel lumen lu me n making it
(24:26):
more narrow. We call that stenosis. And when the blood
vessel lumin becomes more stanotic, your chances of having a
blood platform in that blood vessel lumen are higher. So
the idea is to control plaque formation, reduce plaque formation,
and since high cholesterol is a risk factor for that,
(24:48):
then we want to keep the cholesterol down. So that's
the idea behind that, And we have more pharmaceutical medications
of vail to help patients who struggle with their cholesterol
to get it down. Everyone is familiar with statins, lipiitour
(25:09):
zilcore Crest store that class of medications. These are blockbuster medications,
been out for many years, proven beyond the shadow of
a doubt. I'm a big believer in the use of
statins cornerstone of the treatment of cardiovascular disease in terms
of what we call primary prevention as well as secondary prevention.
(25:34):
These drugs are proven, We love them, We use them
heavy handedly. Of course, there's some bad pr out there
and some patients try to avoid it like the plague.
We get it. It's always going to be like that
in this country, right. We love this country to think
freely and to engage in our own personal endeavor. And
(25:57):
if we don't want to do things, then we shouldn't
be made to do things right. And for the most part,
that's the way it is, as even as it pertains
to using cholesterol medicines called statins. But we also have
a couple of other classes of cholesterol medications. There's zetia
or a zidomide. That's another class. Then a third class
(26:20):
are called PCSK nine inhibitors. The most commonly prescribed medicine
in that category is called ripatha. And then we have
a new class of cholesterol medicines called bempadic acid. The
brand name is called nex Latol. So these are four
classes of cholesterol medications that are now available by prescription
(26:46):
to patients who are struggling with the cholesterol, so more
options doctors are prescribing it. But yeah, there's patients who
don't want to be on METS, right. I hear that
refrain a lot from my patients side, don't want to
be on medications. I want to do this now. Actually
I don't like taking MAT's. I get it. I'm fine
with it, and I'll support my patients as much as possible,
(27:09):
even when it's clear that you really need this medication.
If patients don't want to take the medication, that is
perfectly fine. It's up to them. It's up to you.
It's your choice. And again, there's been a shift in
the way things happen on a daily basis when patients
(27:31):
and healthcare providers are making decisions. There's now what they
call a shared decision, right. The doctor is there or
the healthcare professional is there, the patient is there, But
the way you make the decision is it's discussed and
you come out with the best solution for you. The
(27:51):
individual patient and every individual patient is different, and it
should be a decision that they believe in, they buy
into it, and so you do it. It's not necessarily
the hammer style where the doctor told me to do this,
and I'm going to do it. I'm not going to
think about it. I'm not going to question. I'm just
(28:12):
going to do it because he's the he or she
is the expert. They study this stuff and this is
what they're telling me to do. No longer like that.
It's now more of a discussion about the pros and
cons of taking medications and whether it's good or bad,
and what is recommended for me in terms of my
(28:36):
particular situation, my individual situation. Should I take these medications?
And that's what we do all day, and I certainly
believe in that way of doing things, So I get it.
If you want to control your cholesterol with diet, it's perfect. Now,
I don't know if I answer the question. I'm just
rambling up here. I'll get to the answering the question.
(28:59):
Phone on to open eight nine six K one hundred
three three zero O kal ivy. I'll be back in
two minutes. All right, welcome back to the doctor Leavine Medical.
(29:27):
Our phone lines are open eight nine six KLVA one
one hundred three three zero kale v I high cholesterol
diet controlled. We hear that a lot. Even if you
have diabetes. Patients want to know, do I need medications?
Can I do this? Do this just with diet alone?
And the answer to that is absolutely. That's really what
(29:49):
we want all patients to do is just change their
diet and as it pertains to high cholesterol. Very simple
way to think about this is a zero cholesterol diet
or a low cholesterol diet basically means eliminating any food
item that starts with animal or is an animal product. Right.
(30:14):
That's where cholesterol a lot of times comes from, is
consuming foods and beverages that the genesis of the food
item is animal. And in our country, we love animal
food items, right, Steaks, burgers, we love it. I mean,
(30:36):
it's part of our DNA if you will, in this country.
And it's prioritized, it's advertised, it's all in your face everywhere,
easy to get, go down any sort of driveway or
any sort of road, and it's just restaurants there everywhere,
(30:59):
and it's prioritizing the meat product. The vegetables are sort
of in the background, and vegetables are plants, pla nts,
things that are grown from the ground. The earth are
deprioritized typically, so most of the time when you go
in to eat something, it's all about what meat am
(31:22):
I going to eat? Well, eating meat has cholesterol in it,
and if you're consuming cholesterol laden food items all the time,
it just makes sense, right, you're going to have high cholesterol. Remember,
if you listen to my show, I've mentioned to you
(31:42):
before you do not have to eat as much as
you're being told you have to eat. I was told
the same thing, right, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You don't
have to eat that much. In my opinion, once a
day is plenty. Once a day having a solid meal
is plenty for all of us because most of us
(32:06):
are really not out there expending a lot of energy. Right,
We get in our car, we sit down a lot.
We just don't have to be that physically active. So
you don't need a lot of energy every day. So
why are you eating and drinking a lot of energy?
Because that's really the only reason you do that is
to give your body fuel to work. But our bodies
(32:30):
are not really working that much, right, so why are
you putting in that much energy? And that's the whole
idea that tends to generate way gain tends to generate.
The disease is when you're excessively consuming these energy food items,
these liquid beverage items that contain energy, but you don't
(32:54):
really need it, and your body is saying, whoa, whoa, whoa,
this is too much, and so your body reacts to that.
It turns on the inflammatory system. I'll tell you this right,
You've you've heard this before. And the inflammatory system stays
on and that's when you start getting your physical symptoms
(33:16):
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, joint pain, mental fog,
reduced stamina. Hey, Kenneth from vider, how can we help you?
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Oh, yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
I went to a long doctor and he said I
had to slick back me and I didn't want to
where the mask. He suggested that little outpatient surgery where
they insert something in your chest and goes up to
your neck and the battery is good for eleven years.
And I was just wondering what your knowledge is on that,
because I know nothing about it.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
All right, Kenneth, that's a great question. And Kenneth is
talking about a device called Inspire I N S P
I R E. I believe leave. It is a implantable
device normally by my understanding, ear nose and throat doctors,
but I'm sure there's other doctors that can put it
in surgens. Basically that will allow a person to it's
(34:15):
probably a press a button or activate this device at
night to basically cause a tension of the muscles that
control your throat at nine, because that's normally what happens
at night is when we go to sleep, our throat
muscles relax and the throat gets kind of narrow, and
for some of us who are overweighthed or have anatomical
problems in our neck, the area that the air has
(34:39):
to move gets real narrow, are stenotic, and can cause
cessation of breathing. We call that apnea. Our disruptive breathing
are episodes of decreased oxygen. We call that hypoxia. Anyway,
it's a very disruptive type of sleep. It's very irritating
to the human body, and it's a negative of sleeping
(35:00):
and so you get a lot of physical symptoms from that.
So the solution for most people is a device called
a CPAP machine, but it's hard tolerating it. So they
have come out with this device called Inspire. That's the
brand name of the device small implannable normally by your
nose and throat. Doctors sort of new that can be implanted,
(35:25):
and I again my understanding is that you press something
when you want to go to bed, and it sort
of causes a mild tension of those muscles that control
the airway so that it keeps the airway open and
so you breathe better. That's my basic understanding of that,
and so far, so good. It's a good option for
(35:46):
those who cannot tolerate the machine. I'm sure there's some
strict criteria that you have to overcome to be a
candidate for I don't know all that strict criteria. Hey
Kenned that I hang up on you.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Buddy, Yeah, but I got you back.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I called back. Uh yeah, No.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I think it's a good I think it's a good option, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
So.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
I've heard a little bit about it, and it's it's
not for everyone. I think there's some criteria that you
have to meet. I don't know the strict criteria, but
just get your primary care doctor to get you to
an ear nose and throw doctor or a surgeon who
puts those in, and they'll take you through all that
and see if you're a candidate for it.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Yeah, I'm going to a lung doctor and they've done it,
accepted me far. They sent me a device home that
I have to put on my chest, one on my
finger and go to sleep, and I guess it records it.
I have to go to Galveston, Texas to have this done,
and I always just you know, I'm holding up on
that test. I'm just you know, want to know more
(36:51):
about it.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
But it sounds good. I heard all good stuff about it.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
I hadn't heard anything bad about it.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
I think that again, it's it's not going to be
for everyone. It's going to be for a small select few,
just because anytime you start talking about putting devices into
the human body, there's always potential for things to go wrong.
That's just the way it is. I don't care who's
putting it in, how safe they are, things just don't
(37:18):
always go well. So it's not going to be for
the general population. It's really going to be for those
who just cannot tolerate the machine for whatever reason. And
this is an option, so I think it's a good option.
And just talk with the doctor who's putting it in,
have a good conversation and make sure you're comfortable with everything.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Okay, I appreciate it. Doctor, Thank thank you.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Have a good day, Kenneth. And phone lines are open
eight one six kalv I want a hundred three three
zero Kalovia. I'll be on the last break. All right,
Welcome back to the Doctor Lavine Medical. Our phone lines
are open eight nine six Kova. I one hundred three
three zero Kova. At the end of the show, I
want to thank all the callers and listeners to the show. Remember,
(38:03):
if there's anything that you'd like me to talk about,
you can call the radio station, you can call my
office and we can prioritize that topic. The show is
for you. I'm here to answer your questions, give you
some information as it pertains to someone on the inside
looking at this every single day, asking these questions, hearing
these answers from patients. What's working, what's not working. That's
(38:26):
why I'm here to try and get that insight to you,
the simple truth if you will to all of this
and try to get some clarity with all of this
to see what's the best thing for you. And yes,
if you have obstructive sleep apnea and you're not tolerating
your machine, the CPAP machine continuous positive airway pressure machine.
(38:48):
Because of the facial appliance, it's uncomfortable, it can be
exclusive on your face. It's a very unnatural way to sleep.
So some patients have a hard time adapting to the
machine and basically they just stop using it. Having obstructive
sleep appening. I'm going to call it OSA because that's
what I call it. Ossay is a health problem, and
(39:12):
you can't fix that just with not doing anything. You
can't go to your supplement world and get some supplements
and take that. I mean, if you have sleep happening,
it needs to be treated. The supplement is not going
to fix that. So they have this device now which
is brand new and really good. Just go talk to
your provider about that, and it is a good option
(39:34):
for that. But certainly, if you have found a supplement
that works for you not causing any side effects by
all means, continue to take it. I just don't want
you to think that that's going to erase all the
other basic things you should be doing to be healthy.
Keep your weight down, don't smoke, limits or exposure to alcohol, limits,
(39:56):
your exposure to ultra processed foods, try to eat as
as fresh as possible and prioritize vegetables. I never got
to my man's question about cholesterol. Yes, eat plants was
what I was trying to say. More vegetables, less animal
food items. Right, that is the answer to that. Thank
you for joining in that edition of the show. Be
(40:17):
safe out there. We'll see next week.
All right, welcome radio Internet radio listeners. This is doctor Levine,
your weekly host of the Doctor Levine Medical Hour, coming
to you live from the series of KLVI here in Bauma, Texas,
taking your phone calls, trying to answer your questions on yes,
how to stay alive as long as possible and as
healthy as possible. Remember, it's very complicated out there to
(00:23):
try and figure that out. Sometimes it's gotten a little
bit easier for me to figure that out just because
I'm in the middle of it every day and sort
of see these patterns develop about what are some good habits,
what are some bad habits, what works, what doesn't work,
And we'd like to share that with you here on
(00:43):
this show. On lines are open eight nine six kov
I Wonne one hundred and three to three zero kov I.
We're here every Saturday between eight and nine trying to
answer those questions and answer those phone calls and just
provide a little base sick healthcare information out there so
(01:04):
that you can use that to help you make decisions
with you and your family about what's the best way
to do this, what's not such a good way to
do this. So much information flowing out there that you're
exposed to that. It can be disorienting just because the
(01:24):
information seems to contradict itself. One day it's this, another
day it's another thing, and it just doesn't make sense.
So pretty much nothing changes, right, You sort of continue
to do the same things that you are doing. So
we're here to try and clarify that so that the
(01:46):
next day you'll be better phone lines to open or
appreciate listening to your questions and trying to help you out.
Hopefully you're having a wonderful Saturday morning. Whether it is
wintery this morning, it's again, we don't want to have
that heat around. We like the wintery weather, cold, breezy.
(02:10):
No snow though, got it makes it so much harder
to move around. We're not accustomed to that. Yes, it's
pretty to look at, but to actually move around in snow,
it's not that fun anymore. Remember, your vaccines are there.
Seems like every time we look up, there more and
more vaccines out there, which is a good thing. Again
(02:32):
to remind you that, especially if you're up in age.
We hear a lot about cancer, we hear a lot
about the cardiovascular issues strokes, heart attacks, but infections are
out there. Infections are causing a lot of morbidity immortality
(02:52):
out there, and it's one thing that you have to
try and figure out how to defend yourself and how
to let and the possibility of getting an infection. Most
people are becoming familiar, familiar with the term called sepsis,
which is starting to strike fear in a lot of
(03:13):
people's minds when they hear that term sepsis. It's just
a medical term that doctors and hospitals and medical researchers
use to describe what happens when the body gets an infection.
What are some of the physical impacts of an infection
(03:35):
when you get an infection, and it sort of helps
doctors talk to each other and categorize these things. But
sepsis is a major port of morbidity mortality. Yes, for patients,
especially as you get older, the immune system just doesn't
work as well and your risk of infection starts to
(04:00):
go up. So that's where these vaccines come from. I
know there's a lot of confusion about those, but certainly
I'm not confused. I think they're good and we promote
using them all the time because they boost your immune system.
That term that way, you'd like to use. Hey Greg
(04:20):
from vienton, how can we help you?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Hey doctor Levigne. I'm a seventy seven year old retired teacher.
Over the last couple of years, I used the GLP
process and I lost about forty pounds. I'm very healthy now.
I'm a Type two diabetic in that weight loss, so
I've lost a lot of muscle mass, and I was
(04:44):
wondering if it was safe for a type two diabetic
to take creatin supplements to try to rebuild some muscle mass. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Greg, I think that the dietary supplement world is very
robust and alive, and a lot of patients engage in
taking dietary supplements, and if it's something that you want
to try, I don't have a problem with it. I
don't think there's any research out there that tells doctors
(05:15):
or healthcare professionals that their creating is a bad thing
for a diabetic. So I don't think it would harm
you because you have diabetes that you're taking this dietary supplement.
It's buyer beware, to be honest with you, with a
lot of these dietary supplements. That's just the way the
market is. The research that it takes to allow doctors
(05:39):
and healthcare professionals to recommend that is not available, So
I don't think it would harm you. Obviously, talk with
your personal Hello, yes, obviously talk with your personal primary
care physician or your other doctors. But I don't think
it would harm you. If you want to try creating
(06:00):
supplements to build muscle mass, I guess my understanding of
the way that human body works is real whole food
is normally the way to go if you want to
do anything with your health, and that a man made
synthetic product that you can get in a tablet or
(06:23):
capsule or a powder or a liquid will never surpass
the greatness of just real whole food. So if you
want to build muscle, then a lot of the people
who are in that world bodybuilders. You have to eat protein,
(06:43):
so that's chicken, fish, turkey, would be some healthy versions
of protein which are readily available at any grocery store,
and you can prepare it in so many different ways baking, broiling, grilling.
So if you're wanting to build muscle, that's what I
would tell you to try and consume more protein for you.
(07:08):
And but yeah, if you want to do the dietary
supplement Critton. I mean, I don't think it would harm you.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Okay, well, thank you appreciate that information.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yes, Greg will appreciate that as well. And that whole
dietary supplement world is big, big, big, big, and not
going anywhere, right, just because it sort of offers this
promise if you will that if you take this capsule, tablet, powder, liquid. However,
(07:49):
it's formulated if you take this, as other people have
talked about, or other well known actors actresses have promoted
on a commercial or in a commercial, that you will
look like me, you will feel like me, you will
(08:12):
feel the way you want to feel. And all of
us want to feel normal every day. We want to
have stamina, we want to have strength, right, we want
to feel like we can walk up some stairs or
carry some groceries. I mean, that's the way we want
to feel. And unfortunately, it's complicated for a lot of
(08:34):
Americans to achieve that on a regular basis. They might
try this, they might try that. I mean, I think
most Americans really try to do their part, but find
themselves struggling, are going in circles, and so there is
a fatigue component with it where they just sort of
(08:56):
give up. They cave in and just say to themselves
it's too hard. I'm just going to deal with it.
I'm not quite sure how to do this. I'm just
going to keep doing what I'm doing. But then they
see a commercial or an advertisement for a product of
(09:16):
choice with the name and it comes in this really
attractive container, and the story behind it makes sense. There's
someone talking about it, promoting it, someone that you know,
someone you're familiar with, and the story just sounds so
good that you try it. Are your friend or your
(09:39):
family member has tried it, they like it, and you say,
why not? And I certainly get it. It's a very convenient, simple,
straightforward way to maintain your health or to maintain your
physicality or however you want to feel or look, and
this particular supplements as it can happen, the story is there,
(10:04):
it makes sense, and all you have to do is
send off your financial information and your product comes in
the mail. Or you can just go down to the
store and there it all is in the store that
you choose, and you get your product, you take it home,
(10:28):
and you take it and voila. That's it. So all
you got to do. I mean, god, it's so great, right,
if that was the only way that everything worked, which
it just doesn't. It doesn't. You have to stick to
the basics. You can't think that all you have to
do is go and get this synthetic product at this
(10:50):
store or some website, it comes to your house and
take that, but not eat healthy food, not stay physically active,
stay away from the smoking and the drinking. Got to
get your weight down. I mean, all that stuff you
still have to do on a regular basis if you
(11:11):
want to feel well. And all the researchers out there,
this has been written about over and over again. It's
all that information is. It's not necessarily my own personal information,
but certainly I'm talking with people who have medical illnesses
every day and figuring out what are the habits that
(11:31):
really contribute to that, what are the things that actually
make folks better. And again, sometimes patients do find dietary
supplements that do make them feel better, and I don't
have a problem with that. It's just that I can't
blankedly recommend these supplements to my patients just because I
need certain types of medical research that have been done,
(11:55):
They've been collaborated with with other healthcare professionals, and it's
been looked at with strict guidelines and strict outcomes, and
the information says this or the results say that, then
that information can be taken to healthcare providers like myself
(12:17):
and distribute it to the world or to America in
terms of, hey, this is a good thing to do.
You need to recommend your patients to do this. Take
this supplement, take that supplement. But at this point, there's
not a whole lot of them out there. Actually, I
don't know if any maybe vitamin D for vitamin D deficiency.
(12:37):
But I'm not trying to take the wind out of
someone's sales. If they come across a product that makes
them feel better, they did their own research and they're
taking this product, they feel great, I'm not getting in
that person's way. I mean, I think self discovery is important.
It's just hard for a lot of patients to do.
(13:00):
It's time consuming, and you're not quite sure how to
do it. You weren't taught how to do that, and
you just sort of do your best. So I understand that,
but we certainly want you to understand that even if
you take dietary supplements, you still have to eat a
healthy diet. You still have to be physically active. You
(13:25):
have to get away from smoking, limit your alcohol, get
some good sleep, keep your weight down. You still have
to do those things in order to maintain your health.
And I would say, if you listen to my show,
you understand. You know, diet is number one. Everyone's trying
to figure out what's number two? It's number three? Should
(13:46):
I drink a glass of wine every night? We still
hear that refrain from patients who are trying to get healthy.
It's the new year, and what can I do to
be healthy? Stay healthy, live longer? And again, I understand
trying to find something simple, quick, easy, fast. Why wouldn't
you Why wouldn't you want to do that? I mean,
(14:08):
we live in sort of the convenient world, right, the
twenty four hour day, seven day a week, shopping at
your fingertips on your computer terminal in your house, and
something arrives at your house within a day or two,
and all you did was press some key buttons. Man,
what if my health could be that easy, hits, that's simple,
(14:28):
that fast, where I just take this one little thing
and voila. Man, I'll live till ninety ninety five, and
I'm strong, and I don't ever get sick. I'm never
in the hospital. I don't go to the doctor. I'm
looking for that magic bullet. And again, that's what a
lot of these docta supplements are promoting. But you gotta
(14:52):
be careful, right, come on, it's a fantasy. A lot
of times. You can't think that you can sit down
all day and just pop a couple of supplements and
then you're going to outlive the guy or girl next
door that's not taking the supplement. Really, you can't think, like,
don't fool yourself. I guess is what I'm saying. Can't
(15:14):
do it. Phone lines are open eight nine to six
kalva I one hundred three three zero kalva. I'll be
back in two minutes. All right, welcome back to the doctor.
(15:37):
Leavine Medical Hour. Phone lines are open eight nine six
kV I won one hundred three three zero kova. I
would love to hear from you talking about dietary supplements,
that great, wonderful world where there are these products or
substances that you can take, drink and you should feel better,
(16:02):
it should preserve your health. Yes, no, what's good? What's bad?
Should I take it? Can I take it? I get
that question often patients actually bring the bottles in to
the office with them just to sort of get my
approval that this product would be okay. And normally it's
got a fancy name and it's got bright colors. And
(16:26):
again normally, when I'm looking at the ingredients, it's sort
of all the same sort of ingredients, but just with
a different name. And again, we just want you to
get the information you need to really understand how this
thing works. And it's okay to try it out, but
certainly stick to the basics. And again, as you know
(16:50):
you listen to my show, I promote the diet as
the most important critical component of your health. And again
it's the beginning of the new year, right, we're always
thinking about our health, and we're going to do things
better and get on track with our health because we
know it is important, especially as you get older, you retire.
Now you have all this free time on your hands.
(17:10):
What am I going to do with myself? Just wake
up late and hang around the house. Yeah, I don't
have to listen to the boss. I can do whatever
I want. I can go whatever, I can go wherever
I want to go. And man, it's freedom and it's
fun for and This is listening to my patients who've retired.
(17:31):
It's fun for a few months, maybe half a year,
but after that it's a little boring and you realize
that you need to do something. And so a lot
of times, yes, I'm in the healthcare world, I'm a doctor. Obviously,
one of my recommendations is, hey, you prioritize your health.
I mean, who wants to be retired and all you're
(17:53):
doing is going to the doctor's office and taking a
bunch of medicines and going to the hospital back and forth.
That's a drag. That's not the golden years. That's not
a big dream of everyone that once I retired and
all of a sudden, I'm sick all the time. That
ain't no fun. So again, if you're retired and you
(18:16):
don't want to be in the doctor's office all the time, Yeah,
you can take your supplement. That's fine. Whatever you find
online or whatever your friend told you, your relative has
gotten you onto this product, that's fine, you can take it.
But still, number one, you have to eat right. And
what is eating right mean for me? Again? And I
(18:39):
don't think it's really that confusing. You have to prioritize
eating vegetables. Right. We were all taught sort of to
look at this round circle plate, if you will, plate,
and they sort of portioned off what we should eat
more of in this plate.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's all a balance, right, And in my opinion, the
plate should contain more vegetables and a small amount of protein. Right.
That's how I see it, based on the information that
I read and talking to patients who are healthy and
have done well. It's more about eating those vegetables and
(19:25):
staying away from a lot of the starches that we
grew up eating, and certainly trying to limit your exposure
to ultra processed foods. Right. The supermarket is full of it,
which is why the supermarkets have gotten bigger, monster size
(19:45):
now because of all of the ultra processed, packaged, preserved,
ready to eat MRI type of food if you will.
That again, super convenient. You don't have to cook it.
You sort of pop it in your device and you
heat it up and it's ready to go. Right again,
(20:07):
when you're on the run and you're running out of time.
I think these sort of preserved convenient foods that are
out there. You could even say fast food is in
that category because a lot of times it's sort of frozen,
and the staff there in the restaurant and room, you're
(20:28):
just sort of heating things up a little bit. Simple steps,
you know, one, two, done. Where a lot of times
when you eat fresh food there is a bit more
steps in the food preparation, but that's difficult to do.
If you own a food cafeteria or a food business,
you have to sort of limit the number of steps
that it takes from beginning to end product. You know,
(20:51):
more steps is more expensive, more time consuming, more app
for things to go wrong, and not be able to
to generate that speed of getting the food from start
to finish. Working with fresh food is tricky. Michael from Pasadena,
I can we help you?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Oh, good morning, doctor Levine, thank you for everything you do.
I'm trying to lower my LDL naturally without taking drugs,
and I've lowered it. I was at ninety four and
(21:34):
I lowered it down to seventy seven, and her doctor
wanted me to go, wanting to put me on a
drug that would she wants to bring it down to
seventy and I think I can do it with diet,
and I guess I'm looking for suggestions She's given me
(21:58):
a prescription for a drug, but uh, my pharmacies are
my pharmacy was has it is holding it? And I've
I've just I've just I haven't gotten it yet and
I'm trying to decide whether to get it or to
(22:19):
try it with with diet. And I think I can
deal with diet. And they say that I cut down
saturated facts, which I have been doing. I do work
out and I do walk. What's your suggestion? And that's
(22:42):
one question. And the other question is this r f
K has come out with a new food pyramid which
has turned pretty much turned the original food pyramid upside down.
I don't know if you look at it or not,
but concentrating on lots of meats and basically not eliminating
(23:10):
process foods. And so anyway, that's my questions.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
All right, Michael, So you're trying to impact your health
just with diet alone, and I think that's a great
way to do things, just because yes, medications can be expensive,
medications can cause side effects, but they are super convenient,
they normally work very well. They've been researched very heavily,
(23:41):
and most of the medical doctors and medical staff buy
into it. They believe it. It's proven, and so yes,
I'm a prescriber of these pharmaceutical products, and these are
good products and the research is unquestionable in terms of
cholesterol that they work. And cholesterol is only an issue
(24:04):
in our country because cardiovascular disease is still the big
problem in our country and high cholesterol sustained. High cholesterol
is a risk factor for the development of plaque in
the blood vessel wall, which over time can cause narrowing
of the blood vessel lumen lu me n making it
(24:26):
more narrow. We call that stenosis. And when the blood
vessel lumin becomes more stanotic, your chances of having a
blood platform in that blood vessel lumen are higher. So
the idea is to control plaque formation, reduce plaque formation,
and since high cholesterol is a risk factor for that,
(24:48):
then we want to keep the cholesterol down. So that's
the idea behind that, And we have more pharmaceutical medications
of vail to help patients who struggle with their cholesterol
to get it down. Everyone is familiar with statins, lipiitour
(25:09):
zilcore Crest store that class of medications. These are blockbuster medications,
been out for many years, proven beyond the shadow of
a doubt. I'm a big believer in the use of
statins cornerstone of the treatment of cardiovascular disease in terms
of what we call primary prevention as well as secondary prevention.
(25:34):
These drugs are proven, We love them, We use them
heavy handedly. Of course, there's some bad pr out there
and some patients try to avoid it like the plague.
We get it. It's always going to be like that
in this country, right. We love this country to think
freely and to engage in our own personal endeavor. And
(25:57):
if we don't want to do things, then we shouldn't
be made to do things right. And for the most part,
that's the way it is, as even as it pertains
to using cholesterol medicines called statins. But we also have
a couple of other classes of cholesterol medications. There's zetia
or a zidomide. That's another class. Then a third class
(26:20):
are called PCSK nine inhibitors. The most commonly prescribed medicine
in that category is called ripatha. And then we have
a new class of cholesterol medicines called bempadic acid. The
brand name is called nex Latol. So these are four
classes of cholesterol medications that are now available by prescription
(26:46):
to patients who are struggling with the cholesterol, so more
options doctors are prescribing it. But yeah, there's patients who
don't want to be on METS, right. I hear that
refrain a lot from my patients side, don't want to
be on medications. I want to do this now. Actually
I don't like taking MAT's. I get it. I'm fine
with it, and I'll support my patients as much as possible,
(27:09):
even when it's clear that you really need this medication.
If patients don't want to take the medication, that is
perfectly fine. It's up to them. It's up to you.
It's your choice. And again, there's been a shift in
the way things happen on a daily basis when patients
(27:31):
and healthcare providers are making decisions. There's now what they
call a shared decision, right. The doctor is there or
the healthcare professional is there, the patient is there, But
the way you make the decision is it's discussed and
you come out with the best solution for you. The
(27:51):
individual patient and every individual patient is different, and it
should be a decision that they believe in, they buy
into it, and so you do it. It's not necessarily
the hammer style where the doctor told me to do this,
and I'm going to do it. I'm not going to
think about it. I'm not going to question. I'm just
(28:12):
going to do it because he's the he or she
is the expert. They study this stuff and this is
what they're telling me to do. No longer like that.
It's now more of a discussion about the pros and
cons of taking medications and whether it's good or bad,
and what is recommended for me in terms of my
(28:36):
particular situation, my individual situation. Should I take these medications?
And that's what we do all day, and I certainly
believe in that way of doing things, So I get it.
If you want to control your cholesterol with diet, it's perfect. Now,
I don't know if I answer the question. I'm just
rambling up here. I'll get to the answering the question.
(28:59):
Phone on to open eight nine six K one hundred
three three zero O kal ivy. I'll be back in
two minutes. All right, welcome back to the doctor Leavine Medical.
(29:27):
Our phone lines are open eight nine six KLVA one
one hundred three three zero kale v I high cholesterol
diet controlled. We hear that a lot. Even if you
have diabetes. Patients want to know, do I need medications?
Can I do this? Do this just with diet alone?
And the answer to that is absolutely. That's really what
(29:49):
we want all patients to do is just change their
diet and as it pertains to high cholesterol. Very simple
way to think about this is a zero cholesterol diet
or a low cholesterol diet basically means eliminating any food
item that starts with animal or is an animal product. Right.
(30:14):
That's where cholesterol a lot of times comes from, is
consuming foods and beverages that the genesis of the food
item is animal. And in our country, we love animal
food items, right, Steaks, burgers, we love it. I mean,
(30:36):
it's part of our DNA if you will, in this country.
And it's prioritized, it's advertised, it's all in your face everywhere,
easy to get, go down any sort of driveway or
any sort of road, and it's just restaurants there everywhere,
(30:59):
and it's prioritizing the meat product. The vegetables are sort
of in the background, and vegetables are plants, pla nts,
things that are grown from the ground. The earth are
deprioritized typically, so most of the time when you go
in to eat something, it's all about what meat am
(31:22):
I going to eat? Well, eating meat has cholesterol in it,
and if you're consuming cholesterol laden food items all the time,
it just makes sense, right, you're going to have high cholesterol. Remember,
if you listen to my show, I've mentioned to you
(31:42):
before you do not have to eat as much as
you're being told you have to eat. I was told
the same thing, right, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You don't
have to eat that much. In my opinion, once a
day is plenty. Once a day having a solid meal
is plenty for all of us because most of us
(32:06):
are really not out there expending a lot of energy. Right,
We get in our car, we sit down a lot.
We just don't have to be that physically active. So
you don't need a lot of energy every day. So
why are you eating and drinking a lot of energy?
Because that's really the only reason you do that is
to give your body fuel to work. But our bodies
(32:30):
are not really working that much, right, so why are
you putting in that much energy? And that's the whole
idea that tends to generate way gain tends to generate.
The disease is when you're excessively consuming these energy food items,
these liquid beverage items that contain energy, but you don't
(32:54):
really need it, and your body is saying, whoa, whoa, whoa,
this is too much, and so your body reacts to that.
It turns on the inflammatory system. I'll tell you this right,
You've you've heard this before. And the inflammatory system stays
on and that's when you start getting your physical symptoms
(33:16):
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, joint pain, mental fog,
reduced stamina. Hey, Kenneth from vider, how can we help you?
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Oh, yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
I went to a long doctor and he said I
had to slick back me and I didn't want to
where the mask. He suggested that little outpatient surgery where
they insert something in your chest and goes up to
your neck and the battery is good for eleven years.
And I was just wondering what your knowledge is on that,
because I know nothing about it.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
All right, Kenneth, that's a great question. And Kenneth is
talking about a device called Inspire I N S P
I R E. I believe leave. It is a implantable
device normally by my understanding, ear nose and throat doctors,
but I'm sure there's other doctors that can put it
in surgens. Basically that will allow a person to it's
(34:15):
probably a press a button or activate this device at
night to basically cause a tension of the muscles that
control your throat at nine, because that's normally what happens
at night is when we go to sleep, our throat
muscles relax and the throat gets kind of narrow, and
for some of us who are overweighthed or have anatomical
problems in our neck, the area that the air has
(34:39):
to move gets real narrow, are stenotic, and can cause
cessation of breathing. We call that apnea. Our disruptive breathing
are episodes of decreased oxygen. We call that hypoxia. Anyway,
it's a very disruptive type of sleep. It's very irritating
to the human body, and it's a negative of sleeping
(35:00):
and so you get a lot of physical symptoms from that.
So the solution for most people is a device called
a CPAP machine, but it's hard tolerating it. So they
have come out with this device called Inspire. That's the
brand name of the device small implannable normally by your
nose and throat. Doctors sort of new that can be implanted,
(35:25):
and I again my understanding is that you press something
when you want to go to bed, and it sort
of causes a mild tension of those muscles that control
the airway so that it keeps the airway open and
so you breathe better. That's my basic understanding of that,
and so far, so good. It's a good option for
(35:46):
those who cannot tolerate the machine. I'm sure there's some
strict criteria that you have to overcome to be a
candidate for I don't know all that strict criteria. Hey
Kenned that I hang up on you.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Buddy, Yeah, but I got you back.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I called back. Uh yeah, No.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I think it's a good I think it's a good option, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
So.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
I've heard a little bit about it, and it's it's
not for everyone. I think there's some criteria that you
have to meet. I don't know the strict criteria, but
just get your primary care doctor to get you to
an ear nose and throw doctor or a surgeon who
puts those in, and they'll take you through all that
and see if you're a candidate for it.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Yeah, I'm going to a lung doctor and they've done it,
accepted me far. They sent me a device home that
I have to put on my chest, one on my
finger and go to sleep, and I guess it records it.
I have to go to Galveston, Texas to have this done,
and I always just you know, I'm holding up on
that test. I'm just you know, want to know more
(36:51):
about it.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
But it sounds good. I heard all good stuff about it.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
I hadn't heard anything bad about it.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
I think that again, it's it's not going to be
for everyone. It's going to be for a small select few,
just because anytime you start talking about putting devices into
the human body, there's always potential for things to go wrong.
That's just the way it is. I don't care who's
putting it in, how safe they are, things just don't
(37:18):
always go well. So it's not going to be for
the general population. It's really going to be for those
who just cannot tolerate the machine for whatever reason. And
this is an option, so I think it's a good option.
And just talk with the doctor who's putting it in,
have a good conversation and make sure you're comfortable with everything.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Okay, I appreciate it. Doctor, Thank thank you.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Have a good day, Kenneth. And phone lines are open
eight one six kalv I want a hundred three three
zero Kalovia. I'll be on the last break. All right,
Welcome back to the Doctor Lavine Medical. Our phone lines
are open eight nine six Kova. I one hundred three
three zero Kova. At the end of the show, I
want to thank all the callers and listeners to the show. Remember,
(38:03):
if there's anything that you'd like me to talk about,
you can call the radio station, you can call my
office and we can prioritize that topic. The show is
for you. I'm here to answer your questions, give you
some information as it pertains to someone on the inside
looking at this every single day, asking these questions, hearing
these answers from patients. What's working, what's not working. That's
(38:26):
why I'm here to try and get that insight to you,
the simple truth if you will to all of this
and try to get some clarity with all of this
to see what's the best thing for you. And yes,
if you have obstructive sleep apnea and you're not tolerating
your machine, the CPAP machine continuous positive airway pressure machine.
(38:48):
Because of the facial appliance, it's uncomfortable, it can be
exclusive on your face. It's a very unnatural way to sleep.
So some patients have a hard time adapting to the
machine and basically they just stop using it. Having obstructive
sleep appening. I'm going to call it OSA because that's
what I call it. Ossay is a health problem, and
(39:12):
you can't fix that just with not doing anything. You
can't go to your supplement world and get some supplements
and take that. I mean, if you have sleep happening,
it needs to be treated. The supplement is not going
to fix that. So they have this device now which
is brand new and really good. Just go talk to
your provider about that, and it is a good option
(39:34):
for that. But certainly, if you have found a supplement
that works for you not causing any side effects by
all means, continue to take it. I just don't want
you to think that that's going to erase all the
other basic things you should be doing to be healthy.
Keep your weight down, don't smoke, limits or exposure to alcohol, limits,
(39:56):
your exposure to ultra processed foods, try to eat as
as fresh as possible and prioritize vegetables. I never got
to my man's question about cholesterol. Yes, eat plants was
what I was trying to say. More vegetables, less animal
food items. Right, that is the answer to that. Thank
you for joining in that edition of the show. Be
(40:17):
safe out there. We'll see next week.
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