October 28, 2024 • 41 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, Southeast Sex and Net radio listeners. Welcome, Welcome,
Welcome to another edition of the Doctor Leavine Medical Hour.
I am doctor Levine, your weekly host, coming to you
live from studios of kov I here and but my
text teking year phone calls. Phone lines are open eight
nine to six KALVII or one hundred three three zero KALVII.
(00:24):
As you may or may not know, it's just so
confusing out there about healthcare and what's right and what's wrong,
and we're here to try and clear those controversies up.
As healthcare delivery can be controversial. I know that's frustrating
for patients and families I interact with all the time
(00:47):
in the office in the hospital. It's not always clear.
It's confusing sometimes and it takes more conversations and maybe
even time to just figure out things. But hopefully in
this next hour we can make it clearer even faster,
and we'd love.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
To hear from you.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Give us a call they'd done six kalov went one
hundred and three to three zero kilovia. As you know,
the winter months are here. We see our spike in
respiratory infections and we are pleading begging everyone to go
get those vaccines as soon as possible. The sooner the better.
(01:29):
I know a lot of my patients say they sort
of wait until November or December. They wait, But no,
the wrong idea, right, We want to get the immunization
presence as high as possible in the community because then
that prevents spread of viruses and it cuts down the
(01:53):
mutations of viruses, which you've heard of those terms since
the COVID pandemic, and vaccines really allow us to do that. Yes,
some patients do have adverse reaction to the vaccines. You
get injection site inflammation. The arm just gets red hot
(02:14):
and painful, and you might even get a little achy,
and you feel like you have some sort of illness
or sickness. So I understand that, I get that, and
I understand when patients elect not to do that, I understand.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You certainly don't want to feel sicker if something is
given to you. You want to feel better or you
want to feel neutral. And that's really always the focus
of Heal's care delivery is to get better and make
it such that no matter what we elect to do
(02:54):
a medication or procedure, that your outcome is as expected,
and that there's minimal adverse reaction, whether it be post
operative issues or post prescription issues, if you will, that
if that's a term, because certainly medications can cause injury
(03:17):
and harm. We see that often in the hospital. One
particular group of medications we deal with all the time
are blood dinners, and because we're very successful with things
like vaccinations and managing our bread and butter medical issues
(03:39):
such as diabetes. Not that we're perfect, but we're a
lot better than we were before and diagnosing and treating cancer.
Cardiophast disease is still the number one disease process out
there that we are still working feverishly to control and
(03:59):
midtic gate and prevent you from actually ever having a
cardiovascular event and certainly preventing you from being in the hospital.
The one group of medications that we utilize a lot
are what we sort of call blood thinners, right, Do
they thin the blood?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Not really.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
They basically interrupt the natural process of blood clotting, which
for most patients who have a cardiovascal event, it has
to do with the formation of a blood clot or
blood boulder, if you will, that blocks blood flow in
(04:40):
a certain anatomical region. For heart attack, it's the circulation
to the herd. For stroke, it's a circulation to the brain,
and so to reduce the chances of that happening, we
use medications that sort of interfere or interrupt with the
(05:02):
body's ability to form blood clots. Well in doing so,
that then increases the chance of bleeding, right, because you're
interfering with the body's ability to stop bleeding, because that's
basically what a blood clot is, sort of a patch,
a blood patch, if you will. Anytime there is a
(05:23):
disruption of the circulation or injury to the blood vessel
circulation and blood is leaking out of the blood vessel,
we call that hemorrhage, the body has a what they
call coagulation system which forms a blood patch, which we
call a thrombus or or blood clot is sort of
(05:46):
what we call that. But when it comes to a
stroke or heart attack, which again a lot of times
is the related to a blood clot forming in a
blood vessel, then that's excessive that causes lack of blood flow,
and we want to try and reduce that. So it's
(06:07):
just sort of balance that we're always trying to achieve
but nonetheless, these medicines work very well, They've been studied
very heavily, and for the most part everything works out.
But invariably, every single day patients are coming and visiting
emergency departments as a result of bleeding episodes from these medications,
(06:30):
which we work as hard as we can to reduce
those risks in terms of the dosing and pairing them
with other medications and certainly trying to stay ahead of
the game as it comes to these blood centers and
you know them as you know plavix are clopidigrill, relent
(06:51):
to eloquists, zerelto kumitin, aspirin. Just again, the chances as
you get older, you get seventy eighty, the chances of
having to be on a blood then to start to
rise fairly rapidly, just because it's just been a lifetime
of sugar and pressure and cholesterol bouncing around and stress.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Everybody's all stressed.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Out, so many things to worry about in your lifetime.
Sometimes you have to turn that TV off and turn
that social media off because it's such a stressful sort
of experience reading and listening to all that. Sometimes you
just have to turn it off and listen to some
music or go watch a good movie that makes you
(07:40):
feel good. I sort of remember how that was during
the start of the pandemic, just all of this doom
and gloom that was sort of presented to the American public.
I found myself sometimes, I can say, having to just
step away from all these messages and try to feel
(08:00):
better about things. And so listening to music is one
way to do that, as well as again looking at
a favorite TV show or watching a certain movie. I
enjoy that as well, watching movies that I grew up watching.
And I know, talking to some of my patients when
(08:22):
they retire, and again all your retirees, I ask you
all the time, you know, what.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Is it that you do every day?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Because it sounds cool, You know when you have to
wake up and be somewhere for eight hours and sort
of take heat or have all of these limitations when
you're working, and that's sort of the dream or the
idea when you retire is I'm not going to have
to do this. I just wake up and do whatever
(08:50):
I want to do, and it just sounds so cool,
which on a certain degree it is sounds great. But again,
you have to have a purpose and sometimes it can
be challenging finding that purpose for a retiree, almost like
a you hear this a lot about athletes, football players,
(09:13):
baseball players, basketball players. While they're playing, they have a
purpose and it is enjoyable, and when they retire, it's
almost like your life is empty. All of that excitement
and all of that need and all that activity is gone.
It's like a huge vacuum and life all of a
(09:35):
sudden seems kind of slow and boring, not much to do,
no activity, and for some retirees it's a struggle to
try and find what they want to do with all
this time that they have on their hands. Which for
the first and again, I talked to a lot of retirees,
so this is sort of the common theme. Not everybody
(09:57):
goes to this, but this is sort of a common way.
For the first few months, it's everything is great, you know,
it's fun just waking up whenever you want and going
to bed whenever you want and just it's all up
to you, you know, no schedule. And then after that
it just sort of gets boring and it can really
(10:19):
challenge your position in terms of you know, what is
left to do, and normally there has to be some
sort of activity, some sort of something that you have
to not have to do, but that you want to do,
or that you're doing, whether it be volunteer work, or
going to church more, or even getting a second career. Obviously,
(10:43):
i'm their healthcare provider, so I always always always say, hey,
this is a great opportunity for you to work on
your health, right because that's that seems to me to
be one of the bigger issues as one gets older,
not necessarily working or or going out of town or
(11:05):
all the other things that we feel like we have
to do or need to do, but health. Your health
seems to be a very very important factor in how
things are going to play.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Out, you know, just because if you're.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Running to the hospital all the time, you're run into
the doctor's office all the time, you take a lot
of medications, you're having a lot of procedures, it really
limits sort of what you can do, where you can go,
who you can be with. And that's one thing that
I always try and talk with my retirees about it, like, hey,
this is a great opportunity for you to really buckle
(11:40):
down and make health your priority. Because if you can
be healthy and stay out of the doctor's office and
limits of medications. It is very very enjoyable, and this
is again talking to retirees, very enjoyable part of your
lifetime where you can really enjoy what you're doing, hanging
(12:02):
out with your family and just sort of doing what
you want to do again some sort of purpose again,
whether it be a new career or traveling or working
around your house or whatever the case may be. But
certainly you have to have a purpose and can't just
be waking up and doing nothing all day. That's not
(12:23):
a good idea either. Where our bodies are sort of
designed to be an action and to have a lot
of mental and physical, spiritual activity. So it's certainly something
you need to figure out, you know, as you're looking
towards retirement. And I think health is one of those
and so exercising every day and trying to eat the
(12:47):
right diet every day, and I know that can be
sort of elusive, and I think that's the thing I
try to remind my patients all the time, is that
you know, the exercising part of it, in my opinion,
is the second most important aspect of your health. The
first is certainly, again what you're putting in your mouth
(13:07):
every day in terms of food items and beverage items.
And again I try to keep the message very simple
as it pertains to that. Again, I'm a primary care physician,
and one of what I do all day is again
try and help patients put themselves in a better position
so that they can live longer.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And be healthy while they live.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
We do, unfortunately, have exposure to patients who are sort
of chronically ill. You know, they are alive and they're
functioning to some degree, but they have significant physical limitations.
Maybe they have chronic pain, or they have chronic physical
symptoms like dizziness or nausea, and these are things they
(13:57):
have to deal with. They can't just sort of wake
up and be automatic. There's a lot of things that
they have to do to function every day, and again,
very limiting sometimes do that. So I think everyone's goal,
especially when you retire, is to just have fun, and
you certainly can't have fun if you're unhealthy. And again,
(14:18):
it starts with what you eat and drink. And I
always like to just keep hammering this basic concept because
sometimes I think it gets a little crowded with all
of the recommendations out there in terms of what to do,
how to do it this supplement, that supplement. It's very
(14:39):
interesting to listen to it all from my patients and
from some of the media outlets that I get exposed to.
It's sort of amazing how this wheel keeps churning in
terms of you know, eat this, don't eat that. You
gotta eat this quantity and these vitamins and these minerals,
and you have to do it this way and that way.
(15:02):
Just all of this information coming at you, which which.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
What should I do?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
But I'd sort of certainly try and keep it simple
because I think it can be. And again, I'm around
this every day all day in the office in the hospital.
I see how the sickness evolves. I talk to patients
all the time in terms of what they do, what
they drink, how they behave, and certainly have picked up
(15:28):
on a common theme as it pertains to who's going
to be at more high risk? What are the activities
that sort of seem to increase the chances of having
to be hospitalized?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And to me, it's pretty clear.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You know, like I said, you number one, you have
to put the right nutrition and the right fuel in
your body, and that sometimes can be hard to do.
Again because of the limitations of having access to those
items are finance antra restrictions to those items. They're just
personal preference.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I meet a lot of people that they just don't
like vegetables, even though that's the best thing to eat,
you know, some good broccoli and spinach and asparagus and mushrooms.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And cabbage.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I mean, that's all good eating, but they just don't
like it, you know, they just don't have never found
a taste for it. And certainly that can be very
limiting because in my opinion, based on my own experience
and talking to a lot of people and reading about
nutrition and disease, you know, certainly that seems to be
(16:40):
an area that if you're not eating the right foods,
it just seems to increase the chances of gaining weight.
And then with the weight gain comes all of the
other collateral issues with the blood pressure, cholesterol, the high sugar,
and if you can just get that weight down, especially
(17:01):
as one gets older, this has been a common theme
that I've seen as well. If you want to try
and get into your deep eighties or nineties, you normally
normally have to be thinner rather than heavier, just because
they're being heavy is stressful. And again, something that I've
(17:24):
said over and over again on this show that I
like to try and hammer to my listeners is the aging.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Process is alive. It's real.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
It's sort of this programmed auto shutdown, if you will,
of the human body. That again, as time progresses increases,
the opportunity increases, the chances that you might get ill
or sick. And one of the main components, the two
main components of that is one you lose immunity, right.
(18:00):
Unity is your protection from infections. Again, when this country
was founded, it was all about infections, just infections causing
harm and death, just because we didn't quite understand the
micro organism world and how to defend ourselves against that world.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But now we do.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Big biotech companies are studying that stuff all the time.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
These are the companies that give us these.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Vaccines and the antibiotics that the pharmaceutical companies are producing
to give us to wage this war against these micro
organisms that we see every day.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Because man, as.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
That immune system goes down, the bacteria and viruses, which
are common organisms, never going to go away. We can't
get rid of it. It's just part of the environment.
They tend to win those battles and start to cause
active infection in the human as that immune system goes
(19:01):
down again part of aging, and how do we boost
the immune system. A lot of people always curious about that.
As I've mentioned to you before, those vaccines work very
well and got to be healthy, right, You've got to
be healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
How to be healthy?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Number one, you have to eat the right foods right
and exercise. It boosts the immune system, no question. And
again my message to all my listeners as well as
my patience is it doesn't really require a lot of time.
And I think that's a big, huge misunderstanding in this
(19:44):
country because of the way exercising is advertised and exercising
is promoted to the American public the general public is this.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Sort of.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Activity where you have to join a gym, you need
this specialized person to tell you what to do, and
you need.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Gear gear gear.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
You know, this hat, these pants, these shoes, this location,
this piece of equipment. You need all that in order
to quote exercise end quote.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And my.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Response to that is, I just don't agree with that messaging.
That's not what I see based on my understanding of
disease and health and my own personal experience. Again, I
was former athlete here in Beaumont, Texas, played for Westbrook
High School for four years.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Went on to play at Rice University for five years.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
So I've been around exercising and working out and just
pushing your body to the limit. And then my interaction
with hospitals and talking to patients to have heart disease
and diabetes. What are you doing and what does that
look like? You know, it comes down to those basic concepts.
(21:05):
But just a little bit of exercising, ten to fifteen
minutes of some physical activity, not even every day, I
would say two to three times a week can make
a huge difference in how you feel and how your
body functions. And being sedentary. Again, a lot of when
(21:26):
my retirees finally can hang it up and they're at home,
just sitting around is never, never the way to do things.
You have to be physically active, and it could be anything. Honestly,
a lot of my patients they work outside in the yard,
which is fine. They go take a brisk walk at
(21:47):
the park. You know, it's not painful, and I think
a lot of people feel like exercise has to be painful,
which it doesn't. We're just talking about staying physically active.
Anything that sort of gets to heart rate up a
little bit, stresses it out a little bit. It keeps
your cardiovascar system and your overall body in terms of
(22:09):
how functions in good condition. I see the same thing
when patients are hospitalized. When you lay in bed all
day every day when you're in the hospital is never
a good thing to do. And I always encourage my
patients in the hospital to at least get out of
bed for an hour or two.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Just sit up, get out of the bed.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Use your breathing muscles, and use your other muscles of
your legs and your torso you normally do better. If
you can get out of bed, things function better. It's
just something that I've picked up over the years. If
you lay in bed all day and be sedentary, those
patients don't do as well versus the ones that get
(22:53):
out of bed, sit in a chair, walk around the hall.
They do better. No different from general health. Those that
are physically active tend to have less pain, they tend
to have less disease, They feel better, they have better
bowel function, they think better, they talk better, they look better.
(23:16):
It's it's very obvious.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
You can tell you. It's just a look that you
have right.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Phone lines are open eight nine six klvy i eight
hundred three three zero kovia. I give us two minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
We'll we write back.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
All right, Welcome back to TACA and medical Our phone
lines that open eight nine six klov I one one
hundred three three zero kovia. Talking about vaccines and exercising
and being retired.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
What do I do?
Speaker 1 (23:56):
How do I do it? For one common com plaint
that I get a lot in the office is just
being tired. You know, I'm tired, doctor. I have fatigue.
I don't I just don't have the same energy that
I used to have, and I really want to get
back to that.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I want to have energy and feel like I can
do whatever I want to do.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
And certainly fatigue or just feeling weak is man. That
is a very non specific complaint, but nonetheless from my
standpoint as an internal medicine doctor, as a primary care physition,
we get that complaint often. I would say, five or
six times a day, just don't feel well, want to
(24:38):
feel better, but sort of this elusive, non specific sensation
of just not feeling right. I don't feel right, doctor,
something's wrong right? I get that one a lot, and
it can be challenging trying to figure out what's the
cause of someone who has that physical complaint. But certainly
(25:01):
I thought I'd spent a little time talking about that,
just because it's so common and certainly what's the position
of a doctor or healthcare professional to try and figure
out what's causing someone to not feel as energetic as
they want to feel, And because it's such a very
non specific symptom and can mean so many different things,
(25:25):
we try to just again start with the basics first
of evaluation of a patient. And if you've never been
to an emergency department, you never been to doctor, you
understand that. We certainly like to start off with just
routine blood work, you know, going to the phlebotomist and
(25:47):
getting that needle poked in your arm and all of
the digging around sometimes that happens. Hey, Jerry from Beaumat,
how can we help you?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Jerry?
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Are you there, buddy? Hey Jerry, Hello.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Jerry, Jerry.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
All right, we'll have to have Jerry call back. Jerry
give us a call back. We were unable to hear
you on the other end. We'd love to hear what
you'd have to say, this morning. But normally we start
off with just routine blood work, and we check things
like what we call your CBC, which stands for complete
blood count, and we also check what we call your
(26:40):
metabolic laboratory work, such as your electrolytes and your kidney function,
your liver function, maybe your potassium level, sodium level. Because again,
any sort of abnormality of your CBC and your metabolic
numbers can generate fatigue. Anemia is certainly a very common
(27:04):
contributing factor of fatigue. Why is that I say this
all the time. It's for the reasons I just mentioned
during our previous segment. Most of us, at some point
in our lifetime will have to be on blood dinners, right, plavix, aspirin, eloquist, kuminin.
(27:24):
Why is that because of cardio vascal disease? Big boy?
In our country? Why is that because of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes,
being sedentary, being overweight, smoking?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Jerry? You are you there? Can you hear me? We
can hear you. How you doing this morning? Hello?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Can you hear me? Now?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I can hear you. How can we help you? Jerry?
Are you there? Buddy? All right?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Having some technical difficulty with that phone caller, We're apologize
about that. We love to hear from our listeners and
we'd love to answer your question. So maybe give us
a call back, maybe we can get it on the
third try, or maybe give the question to the producer.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
And we used to do it that way. They would
just sort of type up the question on.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
The teleprompter and we would see that and read it off.
That's another way to do things. But nonetheless, anemia is
a very common cause of fatigue because most of us
have to be on blood thinners for cardiovascu disease. In
terms of primary prevention meaning nothing has happened yet, we
(28:49):
want to prevent you from having a problem, and normally
that just means a baby askpen or secondary prevention meaning
you've had a cardiovascular problem. We have, I've identified the problem,
and we've put you on medications we don't want to
happen again. And normally that means things like I said,
plavix were lent to eloquists. But nonetheless, now the risk
(29:13):
of bleeding starts to go up, and a lot of
times this bleeding is not obvious. It's very slow, it's
a trickle. But as the hemoglobin level goes down, which
is part of our blood system that carries oxygen to
vital organs. Then our body starts to pick up on
that and it generates this sensation of lack of energy
(29:34):
and fatigue.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
And it's just.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
All coming from low hemoglobin, from being on blood thinners.
Something's leaking and so you feel super super tired, like
you can't walk, you can get real shorter breath, you
have to lay down. And this is every day that
we see this complaint of I feel tired, I feel weak.
(29:58):
We check blood work and there hemoglobin is down low
because they had a heart attack two weeks ago, maybe
a month ago, a year ago, and they're on blood
thinners and something is leaking and causing loss of blood,
and so we get this anemia issue now a lot.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Doctor Lavigne. Jerry called back. He's having a little phone issue,
but his question concerns supplements. He wants to know what
you think about supplements, including some of these that are
advertised as having fruits and vegetables in the balance of
Nature I think was one of them. But how do
you feel about supplements?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, thank you, Jim, I appreciate that you know, supplements have.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Been around for a long, long long, long time, and
that's a big industry, multimillion dollar industry. When it comes
to supplements are what we call dietary supplements and nutraceuticals
is another term that is being used to describe that
whole market like you would see maybe at a Vitamin
World or GNC, but you can get a lot of
(31:09):
these supplements online as well. What is my belief of that,
my understanding of supplements is that the research normally that
is required to really figure out if this is impactful,
if it's going to work, if it's better than not
using the supplement, it's just not available just because research
(31:34):
is expensive and it takes a long time, and you
can't really know when you start the research project what
the outcome is going to be, and it's risky to research.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
A product, a vitamin or supplement.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
If you do the research, then you find out it
doesn't work and you really can't sell it.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So, the way the laws and regulations work in our
country current as it pertains to these supplements and what
we call nutraceuticals, is that that sort of level of
research is unnecessary to bring this product to market and
sell it. It's just not necessary. So most of these
companies manufacturers do not engage in these sort of studies
(32:21):
that are required. Well, those are the sorts of things
information that most healthcare professionals need in order to determine
if it's something they want to recommend to their patients.
So most of my colleagues that I talk to are
not necessarily promoting all of these supplements, are these nutraceuticals,
(32:42):
because that sort of research is not available and a
lot of times comes down to sort of personal experience
with these supplements. Sometimes colleagues they might gain interest in
researching or reading about these supplements and they sort of
do their own homework, and if they get comfortable with
(33:02):
these with the research or i'm sorry, the information that's
available to them wherever they're getting it, then they might
recommend certain supplements to their patients. But it's not agreed
upon globally by the medical community for the most part.
My position on that is, if a person is trying
(33:23):
to feel better. I was just talking about fatigue, and
they're trying to feel better and they get a supplement,
however they get it in whatever form that they're consuming it,
and it's not hurting them, then I don't have a
problem with it. Because really, I just want my patients
to feel better. I'm just trying to give them some
information and if that is what makes them feel better
(33:47):
and gives them energy, I'm all for it. But can
I then take that and recommend it to all my patients.
I can't do that based on how it was taught
and sort of my orientation to medical literature and what
am I'm going to recommend or not. My stance on
(34:07):
health and wellness as you know you listen to my
show is number one, got to eat right. Number two
you gotta exercise right. Nutraceuticals, dietar supplements sort of down
the line in terms of your health. In my opinion,
if you want true health and wellness, it's normally going
(34:28):
to be probably number ten or twelve down on the
list versus number.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
One or two.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
But it can be something that can be a part
of your wellness and health, certainly if it makes you
feel well. So that's my general position on supplements.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
A good question.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
By the way, Phone lines open eight and on six
k healvy I one hundred three three zero, kayovy.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
I'll be back in two minutes. All right. Phone lines
are open eight and a sixth cav zero OKV.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Doctors get sick too, talking about fatigue as well as
nutriceuticals and supplements of big market out there and very
popular with my patients. And sometimes yes, I am a
little flabbergasted and surprised about some of the decisions my
(35:33):
patients make. Good people just trying to feel better, but
still just so much misinformation out there. It's sometimes difficult
for patients to make a decision. And again I sometimes
find myself sort of pondering why one decision is made
versus another. And the whole nutraceutical world has grown in
(35:57):
my opinion, as again, people are living long and just
not feeling the way they want to feel physically mentally
as well as it pertains to dementia. Right as we
get older, our chances of getting dementia go up. And again,
pharmaceutical companies businesses that offer these supplements, you know, they
(36:20):
advertise very heavily, And a lot of my patients are
on some of these supplements to preserve their memory and
preserve their immune systems. So I certainly understand that I
get it.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
I think.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Other than what I said during the previous segment, the
one other thing I like to mention my patients is
the fact that you can't just take the supplement and
expect it to sort of do everything to make you healthy.
And I think that's sort of the misunderstanding. Is I
(36:51):
buy something I ingested, I do it every day, and
that is supposed to sort of be a pa to
see a treatment for everything. It's supposed to make me
live longer, protect my immune system, give me energy, make
my skin look good, make my stomach stop hurting. That's
(37:13):
sort of understanding, and I think that's where the disconnection happens,
in the sense that you have to eat right first,
and you have to be physically active second. You have
to do those base in my opinion, got to do
those basic things first, and if you want to then okay,
(37:34):
take a supplement to help in those areas. Fine, But
you can't avoid not eating health you can't avoid not exercising,
but then take this supplement and it's supposed to fix
all of that. That's the part I want to be
sure and help you understand it that.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
It doesn't work like that.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
I mean, if you want to sort of believe that fantasy,
that's fine, but I'm just saying from a person inside,
just doesn't work that way. Phone lines are open eight
not six, Scalvy, I went.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
A hundred three three zero kill if you everyone on
the last break.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
All right, welcome back to talking with me. Medical phone
lines open eight one six Kalv. I want one hundred
three three zero kov.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Time goes by so so fast when you're having fun,
and I do enjoy spending my time with you on
Saturday morning between eight and nine, just trying to share
some basic information out there, because that's really all it takes,
just to try and get that basic understanding of.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
How do I live as long as possible?
Speaker 1 (38:41):
How do I be as healthy as possible? And again,
I want to keep saying this over and over and
over again. Is it starts with what you eat and drink? Honestly,
it really does. And we're just asking you to eat
a little bit better and drink better as well. I
think a lot of people people don't understand the connection
(39:02):
with poor health and drinking the wrong beverages. Really, but yes,
we have consumed, or we do consume this country a
lot of sugary beverages.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
We love them. They taste good, they look good, they
smell good. You go to the grocery store, it's.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
A whole owl full of this stuff, right, But at
the end of the day, it's all sort of basically
the same. You know, sugar, water, flavoring, some electrolytes, and
do you have a drink, And that's pretty much in
most beverages, And it's the sugar and the additives. We
can't even pronounce this stuff half the time. You look
at the ingredient list of some of these diet beverages.
(39:44):
You can't even pronounce this stuff. What is this stuff?
Speaker 2 (39:46):
But we drink it?
Speaker 4 (39:48):
Do?
Speaker 2 (39:49):
We just drink it?
Speaker 1 (39:50):
And my understanding of my reading and my experience with
patients who are doing this sort of things that it
increases your possibility of being ill and having these medical
issues that I treat every day. So we have to
try and do better as it pertains to what you
(40:10):
eat and drink. Water, coffee, tea is what I recommend.
There so many different varieties of coffees and teas that
you don't necessarily to get bored with it. So many
things you can do with that. And the same thing
with eating. A lot of people when you tell them
they can't have bread, they can't have rice, they sort
(40:31):
of spaz out. He's like, what am I going to eat,
but there's so much good food to eat out there,
and again we don't.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Have to eat it all day long.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Once a day is plenty in my opinion, especially if
you're eating the right things. I sometimes only eat once
a day, and it's just getting used to that idea
of going the whole day without eating. And certainly when
you do decide to finally sit down and eat, prioritize
those vegetables artizes, fresh fruit, fresh fruits, whole grains, nuts
(41:06):
and seeds. These are where a lot of these vitamins
and minerals and fiber and things that can boost your
immune system. This is where it's found. However, if you
want dietary supplements it makes you feel fine by all means,
go ahead and do that, but certainly you.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Have to do the basics right first.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
And I want to thank all the callers for this
edition of the Dark Wably Medical Hour. Don't drink and drive,
be safe. We'll see you next week.
All right, Welcome, Southeast Sex and Net radio listeners. Welcome, Welcome,
Welcome to another edition of the Doctor Leavine Medical Hour.
I am doctor Levine, your weekly host, coming to you
live from studios of kov I here and but my
text teking year phone calls. Phone lines are open eight
nine to six KALVII or one hundred three three zero KALVII.
(00:24):
As you may or may not know, it's just so
confusing out there about healthcare and what's right and what's wrong,
and we're here to try and clear those controversies up.
As healthcare delivery can be controversial. I know that's frustrating
for patients and families I interact with all the time
(00:47):
in the office in the hospital. It's not always clear.
It's confusing sometimes and it takes more conversations and maybe
even time to just figure out things. But hopefully in
this next hour we can make it clearer even faster,
and we'd love.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
To hear from you.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Give us a call they'd done six kalov went one
hundred and three to three zero kilovia. As you know,
the winter months are here. We see our spike in
respiratory infections and we are pleading begging everyone to go
get those vaccines as soon as possible. The sooner the better.
(01:29):
I know a lot of my patients say they sort
of wait until November or December. They wait, But no,
the wrong idea, right, We want to get the immunization
presence as high as possible in the community because then
that prevents spread of viruses and it cuts down the
(01:53):
mutations of viruses, which you've heard of those terms since
the COVID pandemic, and vaccines really allow us to do that. Yes,
some patients do have adverse reaction to the vaccines. You
get injection site inflammation. The arm just gets red hot
(02:14):
and painful, and you might even get a little achy,
and you feel like you have some sort of illness
or sickness. So I understand that, I get that, and
I understand when patients elect not to do that, I understand.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
You certainly don't want to feel sicker if something is
given to you. You want to feel better or you
want to feel neutral. And that's really always the focus
of Heal's care delivery is to get better and make
it such that no matter what we elect to do
(02:54):
a medication or procedure, that your outcome is as expected,
and that there's minimal adverse reaction, whether it be post
operative issues or post prescription issues, if you will, that
if that's a term, because certainly medications can cause injury
(03:17):
and harm. We see that often in the hospital. One
particular group of medications we deal with all the time
are blood dinners, and because we're very successful with things
like vaccinations and managing our bread and butter medical issues
(03:39):
such as diabetes. Not that we're perfect, but we're a
lot better than we were before and diagnosing and treating cancer.
Cardiophast disease is still the number one disease process out
there that we are still working feverishly to control and
(03:59):
midtic gate and prevent you from actually ever having a
cardiovascular event and certainly preventing you from being in the hospital.
The one group of medications that we utilize a lot
are what we sort of call blood thinners, right, Do
they thin the blood?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Not really.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
They basically interrupt the natural process of blood clotting, which
for most patients who have a cardiovascal event, it has
to do with the formation of a blood clot or
blood boulder, if you will, that blocks blood flow in
(04:40):
a certain anatomical region. For heart attack, it's the circulation
to the herd. For stroke, it's a circulation to the brain,
and so to reduce the chances of that happening, we
use medications that sort of interfere or interrupt with the
(05:02):
body's ability to form blood clots. Well in doing so,
that then increases the chance of bleeding, right, because you're
interfering with the body's ability to stop bleeding, because that's
basically what a blood clot is, sort of a patch,
a blood patch, if you will. Anytime there is a
(05:23):
disruption of the circulation or injury to the blood vessel
circulation and blood is leaking out of the blood vessel,
we call that hemorrhage, the body has a what they
call coagulation system which forms a blood patch, which we
call a thrombus or or blood clot is sort of
(05:46):
what we call that. But when it comes to a
stroke or heart attack, which again a lot of times
is the related to a blood clot forming in a
blood vessel, then that's excessive that causes lack of blood flow,
and we want to try and reduce that. So it's
(06:07):
just sort of balance that we're always trying to achieve
but nonetheless, these medicines work very well, They've been studied
very heavily, and for the most part everything works out.
But invariably, every single day patients are coming and visiting
emergency departments as a result of bleeding episodes from these medications,
(06:30):
which we work as hard as we can to reduce
those risks in terms of the dosing and pairing them
with other medications and certainly trying to stay ahead of
the game as it comes to these blood centers and
you know them as you know plavix are clopidigrill, relent
(06:51):
to eloquists, zerelto kumitin, aspirin. Just again, the chances as
you get older, you get seventy eighty, the chances of
having to be on a blood then to start to
rise fairly rapidly, just because it's just been a lifetime
of sugar and pressure and cholesterol bouncing around and stress.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Everybody's all stressed.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Out, so many things to worry about in your lifetime.
Sometimes you have to turn that TV off and turn
that social media off because it's such a stressful sort
of experience reading and listening to all that. Sometimes you
just have to turn it off and listen to some
music or go watch a good movie that makes you
(07:40):
feel good. I sort of remember how that was during
the start of the pandemic, just all of this doom
and gloom that was sort of presented to the American public.
I found myself sometimes, I can say, having to just
step away from all these messages and try to feel
(08:00):
better about things. And so listening to music is one
way to do that, as well as again looking at
a favorite TV show or watching a certain movie. I
enjoy that as well, watching movies that I grew up watching.
And I know, talking to some of my patients when
(08:22):
they retire, and again all your retirees, I ask you
all the time, you know, what.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Is it that you do every day?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Because it sounds cool, You know when you have to
wake up and be somewhere for eight hours and sort
of take heat or have all of these limitations when
you're working, and that's sort of the dream or the
idea when you retire is I'm not going to have
to do this. I just wake up and do whatever
(08:50):
I want to do, and it just sounds so cool,
which on a certain degree it is sounds great. But again,
you have to have a purpose and sometimes it can
be challenging finding that purpose for a retiree, almost like
a you hear this a lot about athletes, football players,
(09:13):
baseball players, basketball players. While they're playing, they have a
purpose and it is enjoyable, and when they retire, it's
almost like your life is empty. All of that excitement
and all of that need and all that activity is gone.
It's like a huge vacuum and life all of a
(09:35):
sudden seems kind of slow and boring, not much to do,
no activity, and for some retirees it's a struggle to
try and find what they want to do with all
this time that they have on their hands. Which for
the first and again, I talked to a lot of retirees,
so this is sort of the common theme. Not everybody
(09:57):
goes to this, but this is sort of a common way.
For the first few months, it's everything is great, you know,
it's fun just waking up whenever you want and going
to bed whenever you want and just it's all up
to you, you know, no schedule. And then after that
it just sort of gets boring and it can really
(10:19):
challenge your position in terms of you know, what is
left to do, and normally there has to be some
sort of activity, some sort of something that you have
to not have to do, but that you want to do,
or that you're doing, whether it be volunteer work, or
going to church more, or even getting a second career. Obviously,
(10:43):
i'm their healthcare provider, so I always always always say, hey,
this is a great opportunity for you to work on
your health, right because that's that seems to me to
be one of the bigger issues as one gets older,
not necessarily working or or going out of town or
(11:05):
all the other things that we feel like we have
to do or need to do, but health. Your health
seems to be a very very important factor in how
things are going to play.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Out, you know, just because if you're.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Running to the hospital all the time, you're run into
the doctor's office all the time, you take a lot
of medications, you're having a lot of procedures, it really
limits sort of what you can do, where you can go,
who you can be with. And that's one thing that
I always try and talk with my retirees about it, like, hey,
this is a great opportunity for you to really buckle
(11:40):
down and make health your priority. Because if you can
be healthy and stay out of the doctor's office and
limits of medications. It is very very enjoyable, and this
is again talking to retirees, very enjoyable part of your
lifetime where you can really enjoy what you're doing, hanging
(12:02):
out with your family and just sort of doing what
you want to do again some sort of purpose again,
whether it be a new career or traveling or working
around your house or whatever the case may be. But
certainly you have to have a purpose and can't just
be waking up and doing nothing all day. That's not
(12:23):
a good idea either. Where our bodies are sort of
designed to be an action and to have a lot
of mental and physical, spiritual activity. So it's certainly something
you need to figure out, you know, as you're looking
towards retirement. And I think health is one of those
and so exercising every day and trying to eat the
(12:47):
right diet every day, and I know that can be
sort of elusive, and I think that's the thing I
try to remind my patients all the time, is that
you know, the exercising part of it, in my opinion,
is the second most important aspect of your health. The
first is certainly, again what you're putting in your mouth
(13:07):
every day in terms of food items and beverage items.
And again I try to keep the message very simple
as it pertains to that. Again, I'm a primary care physician,
and one of what I do all day is again
try and help patients put themselves in a better position
so that they can live longer.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And be healthy while they live.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
We do, unfortunately, have exposure to patients who are sort
of chronically ill. You know, they are alive and they're
functioning to some degree, but they have significant physical limitations.
Maybe they have chronic pain, or they have chronic physical
symptoms like dizziness or nausea, and these are things they
(13:57):
have to deal with. They can't just sort of wake
up and be automatic. There's a lot of things that
they have to do to function every day, and again,
very limiting sometimes do that. So I think everyone's goal,
especially when you retire, is to just have fun, and
you certainly can't have fun if you're unhealthy. And again,
(14:18):
it starts with what you eat and drink. And I
always like to just keep hammering this basic concept because
sometimes I think it gets a little crowded with all
of the recommendations out there in terms of what to do,
how to do it this supplement, that supplement. It's very
(14:39):
interesting to listen to it all from my patients and
from some of the media outlets that I get exposed to.
It's sort of amazing how this wheel keeps churning in
terms of you know, eat this, don't eat that. You
gotta eat this quantity and these vitamins and these minerals,
and you have to do it this way and that way.
(15:02):
Just all of this information coming at you, which which.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
What should I do?
Speaker 1 (15:06):
But I'd sort of certainly try and keep it simple
because I think it can be. And again, I'm around
this every day all day in the office in the hospital.
I see how the sickness evolves. I talk to patients
all the time in terms of what they do, what
they drink, how they behave, and certainly have picked up
(15:28):
on a common theme as it pertains to who's going
to be at more high risk? What are the activities
that sort of seem to increase the chances of having
to be hospitalized?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And to me, it's pretty clear.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You know, like I said, you number one, you have
to put the right nutrition and the right fuel in
your body, and that sometimes can be hard to do.
Again because of the limitations of having access to those
items are finance antra restrictions to those items. They're just
personal preference.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I meet a lot of people that they just don't
like vegetables, even though that's the best thing to eat,
you know, some good broccoli and spinach and asparagus and mushrooms.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
And cabbage.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I mean, that's all good eating, but they just don't
like it, you know, they just don't have never found
a taste for it. And certainly that can be very
limiting because in my opinion, based on my own experience
and talking to a lot of people and reading about
nutrition and disease, you know, certainly that seems to be
(16:40):
an area that if you're not eating the right foods,
it just seems to increase the chances of gaining weight.
And then with the weight gain comes all of the
other collateral issues with the blood pressure, cholesterol, the high sugar,
and if you can just get that weight down, especially
(17:01):
as one gets older, this has been a common theme
that I've seen as well. If you want to try
and get into your deep eighties or nineties, you normally
normally have to be thinner rather than heavier, just because
they're being heavy is stressful. And again, something that I've
(17:24):
said over and over again on this show that I
like to try and hammer to my listeners is the aging.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Process is alive. It's real.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
It's sort of this programmed auto shutdown, if you will,
of the human body. That again, as time progresses increases,
the opportunity increases, the chances that you might get ill
or sick. And one of the main components, the two
main components of that is one you lose immunity, right.
(18:00):
Unity is your protection from infections. Again, when this country
was founded, it was all about infections, just infections causing
harm and death, just because we didn't quite understand the
micro organism world and how to defend ourselves against that world.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But now we do.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Big biotech companies are studying that stuff all the time.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
These are the companies that give us these.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Vaccines and the antibiotics that the pharmaceutical companies are producing
to give us to wage this war against these micro
organisms that we see every day.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Because man, as.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
That immune system goes down, the bacteria and viruses, which
are common organisms, never going to go away. We can't
get rid of it. It's just part of the environment.
They tend to win those battles and start to cause
active infection in the human as that immune system goes
(19:01):
down again part of aging, and how do we boost
the immune system. A lot of people always curious about that.
As I've mentioned to you before, those vaccines work very
well and got to be healthy, right, You've got to
be healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
How to be healthy?
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Number one, you have to eat the right foods right
and exercise. It boosts the immune system, no question. And
again my message to all my listeners as well as
my patience is it doesn't really require a lot of time.
And I think that's a big, huge misunderstanding in this
(19:44):
country because of the way exercising is advertised and exercising
is promoted to the American public the general public is this.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Sort of.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Activity where you have to join a gym, you need
this specialized person to tell you what to do, and
you need.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Gear gear gear.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
You know, this hat, these pants, these shoes, this location,
this piece of equipment. You need all that in order
to quote exercise end quote.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And my.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Response to that is, I just don't agree with that messaging.
That's not what I see based on my understanding of
disease and health and my own personal experience. Again, I
was former athlete here in Beaumont, Texas, played for Westbrook
High School for four years.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Went on to play at Rice University for five years.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
So I've been around exercising and working out and just
pushing your body to the limit. And then my interaction
with hospitals and talking to patients to have heart disease
and diabetes. What are you doing and what does that
look like? You know, it comes down to those basic concepts.
(21:05):
But just a little bit of exercising, ten to fifteen
minutes of some physical activity, not even every day, I
would say two to three times a week can make
a huge difference in how you feel and how your
body functions. And being sedentary. Again, a lot of when
(21:26):
my retirees finally can hang it up and they're at home,
just sitting around is never, never the way to do things.
You have to be physically active, and it could be anything. Honestly,
a lot of my patients they work outside in the yard,
which is fine. They go take a brisk walk at
(21:47):
the park. You know, it's not painful, and I think
a lot of people feel like exercise has to be painful,
which it doesn't. We're just talking about staying physically active.
Anything that sort of gets to heart rate up a
little bit, stresses it out a little bit. It keeps
your cardiovascar system and your overall body in terms of
(22:09):
how functions in good condition. I see the same thing
when patients are hospitalized. When you lay in bed all
day every day when you're in the hospital is never
a good thing to do. And I always encourage my
patients in the hospital to at least get out of
bed for an hour or two.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Just sit up, get out of the bed.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Use your breathing muscles, and use your other muscles of
your legs and your torso you normally do better. If
you can get out of bed, things function better. It's
just something that I've picked up over the years. If
you lay in bed all day and be sedentary, those
patients don't do as well versus the ones that get
(22:53):
out of bed, sit in a chair, walk around the hall.
They do better. No different from general health. Those that
are physically active tend to have less pain, they tend
to have less disease, They feel better, they have better
bowel function, they think better, they talk better, they look better.
(23:16):
It's it's very obvious.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
You can tell you. It's just a look that you
have right.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Phone lines are open eight nine six klvy i eight
hundred three three zero kovia. I give us two minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
We'll we write back.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
All right, Welcome back to TACA and medical Our phone
lines that open eight nine six klov I one one
hundred three three zero kovia. Talking about vaccines and exercising
and being retired.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
What do I do?
Speaker 1 (23:56):
How do I do it? For one common com plaint
that I get a lot in the office is just
being tired. You know, I'm tired, doctor. I have fatigue.
I don't I just don't have the same energy that
I used to have, and I really want to get
back to that.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
I want to have energy and feel like I can
do whatever I want to do.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
And certainly fatigue or just feeling weak is man. That
is a very non specific complaint, but nonetheless from my
standpoint as an internal medicine doctor, as a primary care physition,
we get that complaint often. I would say, five or
six times a day, just don't feel well, want to
(24:38):
feel better, but sort of this elusive, non specific sensation
of just not feeling right. I don't feel right, doctor,
something's wrong right? I get that one a lot, and
it can be challenging trying to figure out what's the
cause of someone who has that physical complaint. But certainly
(25:01):
I thought I'd spent a little time talking about that,
just because it's so common and certainly what's the position
of a doctor or healthcare professional to try and figure
out what's causing someone to not feel as energetic as
they want to feel, And because it's such a very
non specific symptom and can mean so many different things,
(25:25):
we try to just again start with the basics first
of evaluation of a patient. And if you've never been
to an emergency department, you never been to doctor, you
understand that. We certainly like to start off with just
routine blood work, you know, going to the phlebotomist and
(25:47):
getting that needle poked in your arm and all of
the digging around sometimes that happens. Hey, Jerry from Beaumat,
how can we help you?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Jerry?
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Are you there, buddy? Hey Jerry, Hello.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Jerry, Jerry.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
All right, we'll have to have Jerry call back. Jerry
give us a call back. We were unable to hear
you on the other end. We'd love to hear what
you'd have to say, this morning. But normally we start
off with just routine blood work, and we check things
like what we call your CBC, which stands for complete
blood count, and we also check what we call your
(26:40):
metabolic laboratory work, such as your electrolytes and your kidney function,
your liver function, maybe your potassium level, sodium level. Because again,
any sort of abnormality of your CBC and your metabolic
numbers can generate fatigue. Anemia is certainly a very common
(27:04):
contributing factor of fatigue. Why is that I say this
all the time. It's for the reasons I just mentioned
during our previous segment. Most of us, at some point
in our lifetime will have to be on blood dinners, right, plavix, aspirin, eloquist, kuminin.
(27:24):
Why is that because of cardio vascal disease? Big boy?
In our country? Why is that because of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes,
being sedentary, being overweight, smoking?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Jerry? You are you there? Can you hear me? We
can hear you. How you doing this morning? Hello?
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Can you hear me? Now?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I can hear you. How can we help you? Jerry?
Are you there? Buddy? All right?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Having some technical difficulty with that phone caller, We're apologize
about that. We love to hear from our listeners and
we'd love to answer your question. So maybe give us
a call back, maybe we can get it on the
third try, or maybe give the question to the producer.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
And we used to do it that way. They would
just sort of type up the question on.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
The teleprompter and we would see that and read it off.
That's another way to do things. But nonetheless, anemia is
a very common cause of fatigue because most of us
have to be on blood thinners for cardiovascu disease. In
terms of primary prevention meaning nothing has happened yet, we
(28:49):
want to prevent you from having a problem, and normally
that just means a baby askpen or secondary prevention meaning
you've had a cardiovascular problem. We have, I've identified the problem,
and we've put you on medications we don't want to
happen again. And normally that means things like I said,
plavix were lent to eloquists. But nonetheless, now the risk
(29:13):
of bleeding starts to go up, and a lot of
times this bleeding is not obvious. It's very slow, it's
a trickle. But as the hemoglobin level goes down, which
is part of our blood system that carries oxygen to
vital organs. Then our body starts to pick up on
that and it generates this sensation of lack of energy
(29:34):
and fatigue.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
And it's just.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
All coming from low hemoglobin, from being on blood thinners.
Something's leaking and so you feel super super tired, like
you can't walk, you can get real shorter breath, you
have to lay down. And this is every day that
we see this complaint of I feel tired, I feel weak.
(29:58):
We check blood work and there hemoglobin is down low
because they had a heart attack two weeks ago, maybe
a month ago, a year ago, and they're on blood
thinners and something is leaking and causing loss of blood,
and so we get this anemia issue now a lot.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Doctor Lavigne. Jerry called back. He's having a little phone issue,
but his question concerns supplements. He wants to know what
you think about supplements, including some of these that are
advertised as having fruits and vegetables in the balance of
Nature I think was one of them. But how do
you feel about supplements?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, thank you, Jim, I appreciate that you know, supplements have.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Been around for a long, long long, long time, and
that's a big industry, multimillion dollar industry. When it comes
to supplements are what we call dietary supplements and nutraceuticals
is another term that is being used to describe that
whole market like you would see maybe at a Vitamin
World or GNC, but you can get a lot of
(31:09):
these supplements online as well. What is my belief of that,
my understanding of supplements is that the research normally that
is required to really figure out if this is impactful,
if it's going to work, if it's better than not
using the supplement, it's just not available just because research
(31:34):
is expensive and it takes a long time, and you
can't really know when you start the research project what
the outcome is going to be, and it's risky to research.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
A product, a vitamin or supplement.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
If you do the research, then you find out it
doesn't work and you really can't sell it.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So, the way the laws and regulations work in our
country current as it pertains to these supplements and what
we call nutraceuticals, is that that sort of level of
research is unnecessary to bring this product to market and
sell it. It's just not necessary. So most of these
companies manufacturers do not engage in these sort of studies
(32:21):
that are required. Well, those are the sorts of things
information that most healthcare professionals need in order to determine
if it's something they want to recommend to their patients.
So most of my colleagues that I talk to are
not necessarily promoting all of these supplements, are these nutraceuticals,
(32:42):
because that sort of research is not available and a
lot of times comes down to sort of personal experience
with these supplements. Sometimes colleagues they might gain interest in
researching or reading about these supplements and they sort of
do their own homework, and if they get comfortable with
(33:02):
these with the research or i'm sorry, the information that's
available to them wherever they're getting it, then they might
recommend certain supplements to their patients. But it's not agreed
upon globally by the medical community for the most part.
My position on that is, if a person is trying
(33:23):
to feel better. I was just talking about fatigue, and
they're trying to feel better and they get a supplement,
however they get it in whatever form that they're consuming it,
and it's not hurting them, then I don't have a
problem with it. Because really, I just want my patients
to feel better. I'm just trying to give them some
information and if that is what makes them feel better
(33:47):
and gives them energy, I'm all for it. But can
I then take that and recommend it to all my patients.
I can't do that based on how it was taught
and sort of my orientation to medical literature and what
am I'm going to recommend or not. My stance on
(34:07):
health and wellness as you know you listen to my
show is number one, got to eat right. Number two
you gotta exercise right. Nutraceuticals, dietar supplements sort of down
the line in terms of your health. In my opinion,
if you want true health and wellness, it's normally going
(34:28):
to be probably number ten or twelve down on the
list versus number.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
One or two.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
But it can be something that can be a part
of your wellness and health, certainly if it makes you
feel well. So that's my general position on supplements.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
A good question.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
By the way, Phone lines open eight and on six
k healvy I one hundred three three zero, kayovy.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
I'll be back in two minutes. All right. Phone lines
are open eight and a sixth cav zero OKV.
Speaker 1 (35:12):
Doctors get sick too, talking about fatigue as well as
nutriceuticals and supplements of big market out there and very
popular with my patients. And sometimes yes, I am a
little flabbergasted and surprised about some of the decisions my
(35:33):
patients make. Good people just trying to feel better, but
still just so much misinformation out there. It's sometimes difficult
for patients to make a decision. And again I sometimes
find myself sort of pondering why one decision is made
versus another. And the whole nutraceutical world has grown in
(35:57):
my opinion, as again, people are living long and just
not feeling the way they want to feel physically mentally
as well as it pertains to dementia. Right as we
get older, our chances of getting dementia go up. And again,
pharmaceutical companies businesses that offer these supplements, you know, they
(36:20):
advertise very heavily, And a lot of my patients are
on some of these supplements to preserve their memory and
preserve their immune systems. So I certainly understand that I
get it.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
I think.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Other than what I said during the previous segment, the
one other thing I like to mention my patients is
the fact that you can't just take the supplement and
expect it to sort of do everything to make you healthy.
And I think that's sort of the misunderstanding. Is I
(36:51):
buy something I ingested, I do it every day, and
that is supposed to sort of be a pa to
see a treatment for everything. It's supposed to make me
live longer, protect my immune system, give me energy, make
my skin look good, make my stomach stop hurting. That's
(37:13):
sort of understanding, and I think that's where the disconnection happens,
in the sense that you have to eat right first,
and you have to be physically active second. You have
to do those base in my opinion, got to do
those basic things first, and if you want to then okay,
(37:34):
take a supplement to help in those areas. Fine, But
you can't avoid not eating health you can't avoid not exercising,
but then take this supplement and it's supposed to fix
all of that. That's the part I want to be
sure and help you understand it that.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
It doesn't work like that.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
I mean, if you want to sort of believe that fantasy,
that's fine, but I'm just saying from a person inside,
just doesn't work that way. Phone lines are open eight
not six, Scalvy, I went.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
A hundred three three zero kill if you everyone on
the last break.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
All right, welcome back to talking with me. Medical phone
lines open eight one six Kalv. I want one hundred
three three zero kov.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Time goes by so so fast when you're having fun,
and I do enjoy spending my time with you on
Saturday morning between eight and nine, just trying to share
some basic information out there, because that's really all it takes,
just to try and get that basic understanding of.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
How do I live as long as possible?
Speaker 1 (38:41):
How do I be as healthy as possible? And again,
I want to keep saying this over and over and
over again. Is it starts with what you eat and drink? Honestly,
it really does. And we're just asking you to eat
a little bit better and drink better as well. I
think a lot of people people don't understand the connection
(39:02):
with poor health and drinking the wrong beverages. Really, but yes,
we have consumed, or we do consume this country a
lot of sugary beverages.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
We love them. They taste good, they look good, they
smell good. You go to the grocery store, it's.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
A whole owl full of this stuff, right, But at
the end of the day, it's all sort of basically
the same. You know, sugar, water, flavoring, some electrolytes, and
do you have a drink, And that's pretty much in
most beverages, And it's the sugar and the additives. We
can't even pronounce this stuff half the time. You look
at the ingredient list of some of these diet beverages.
(39:44):
You can't even pronounce this stuff. What is this stuff?
Speaker 2 (39:46):
But we drink it?
Speaker 4 (39:48):
Do?
Speaker 2 (39:49):
We just drink it?
Speaker 1 (39:50):
And my understanding of my reading and my experience with
patients who are doing this sort of things that it
increases your possibility of being ill and having these medical
issues that I treat every day. So we have to
try and do better as it pertains to what you
(40:10):
eat and drink. Water, coffee, tea is what I recommend.
There so many different varieties of coffees and teas that
you don't necessarily to get bored with it. So many
things you can do with that. And the same thing
with eating. A lot of people when you tell them
they can't have bread, they can't have rice, they sort
(40:31):
of spaz out. He's like, what am I going to eat,
but there's so much good food to eat out there,
and again we don't.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Have to eat it all day long.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Once a day is plenty in my opinion, especially if
you're eating the right things. I sometimes only eat once
a day, and it's just getting used to that idea
of going the whole day without eating. And certainly when
you do decide to finally sit down and eat, prioritize
those vegetables artizes, fresh fruit, fresh fruits, whole grains, nuts
(41:06):
and seeds. These are where a lot of these vitamins
and minerals and fiber and things that can boost your
immune system. This is where it's found. However, if you
want dietary supplements it makes you feel fine by all means,
go ahead and do that, but certainly you.
Speaker 2 (41:22):
Have to do the basics right first.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
And I want to thank all the callers for this
edition of the Dark Wably Medical Hour. Don't drink and drive,
be safe. We'll see you next week.
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