10: A Very Special Interview | The Dr. O Show

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This Sunday, my family and I will be participating in the Ron Santo Walk to cure juvenile diabetes 2012 on the Chicago lakefront. We have done this for the past seven years ? ever since we moved back to Chicago from Springfield. My daughter, Grace, developed type I diabetes just after she had turned 2. In fact, I was already in Springfield doing my fellowship in hand and microsurgery, when I came back to visit the family for a weekend in preparation for their move down to the Land of Lincoln. They were packed and ready to go the next week down to Springfield. It was all going to be a great adventure, and we were all very excited about the prospects. But the weekend when I came down, Grace was not feeling so well, and so we took her to the doctor, and a urine dipstick analysis revealed that she had a large amount of sugar in her urine. She had diabetes, and my wife and I were devastated.

This is a great movie if you want to learn about Ron Santo, and his career and as a Chicago Cub, as well as his struggle with diabetes. It is inspirational?even if you are White Sox fan like me! Click on the image to get it on Amazon!

We took her to Children?s Memorial Hospital where she was admitted and stayed for about a week. She eventually recovered, and we did go down to Springfield. It was not a particularly easy year in many regards. We were far from our families. I was working very hard, and my wife had to put her residency on hold in order to take care of Grace. But in spite of these difficulties and challenges, we were able to survive and ultimately thrive as a family, and really, before we knew it, I was done with my fellowship in hand and microsurgery, and we were ready to go back to Chicago!

And in the fall of that year, we did our first JDRF walk. And ever since that time we have looked forward to this event because it?s really a wonderful event a beautiful place for meaningful and important cause ? especially in my life.

So today, I wanted to share an interview that I did with my daughter, Grace, and let her talk a little bit about what is like to have type I diabetes. I hope you find it both interesting and informative.

In the next portion of the podcast I talk about the controversy that has been occurring with Omega-3 fish oils ? specifically that recent studies have suggested that they are largely ineffective as supplements. I?ve looked at the study, and of course, it?s one of those observational studies that looks at one particular thing ? taking Omega-3 fish oils ? without necessarily looking at subgroups of people who take them, specifically those who are still eating tons of carbohydrates in the form of wheat and sugar, as well as those who were still eating Omega-6 oils in the form of industrial seed oil. In this segment, I talk about looking at the big picture.

In my health and wellness practice, which includes The Man Diet, as well and counseling for women, I use Omega-3 supplements that I have in my office. If you are in Chicago, come see me! If not, then make sure you supplement with high-quality supplements?Nordic Naturals are a high quality Omega-3. Click on the image if you want to buy them from Amazon.

In the final segment of the podcast I answer a question that I have been posed several times in the course of writing my blogs and podcasts, etc. which is: how people react in the medical community might tell about low carbohydrate diets? Well, the fact of the matter is I don?t tell them because many that I have told are skeptical. They really honestly believe that a low-fat, low cholesterol, high carbohydrate, high healthy whole grain diet is the way to go, when in fact, it seems for the majority of people, this is not only a diet that doesn?t help you lose weight but one that encourages weight gain over the long term.

So, I don?t necessarily waste much time trying to convince doctors who have been practicing for 40 years under the low-fat paradigm. That?s one of the funny things about ?doing something.? Whenever you do something, whether it works or not, if you are personally successful at it you feel like you are an expert at some level. And that?s unfortunate because you don?t necessarily leave your mind open to alternate/competing hypotheses. And for some, this expertise often becomes a privileged viewpoint where a principled objection is not seriously considered. It?s actually not a privilege viewpoint ? it?s a blind spot.

That?s why I always try to repeat the fact that as a doctor, I am always first, a teacher ? that is the Latin root of the word! And as a teacher, I am always a continual learner because the best teachers do continually learn. And who do they learn from? Well there?s no doubt that books are important, because they help codify knowledge and principles, but I feel that the central source of learning in terms of medicine comes from people, specifically patients.

Patients of taught me so much, and many times they have completely contradicted what I?ve learned in standard books. As a result of contradictory evidence and information that I have gotten from direct patient contact, I had to go back to books to see why this is so. The reason is simply because human metabolism is very dynamic, and although some people can thrive in a low-fat diet, most do better on a low carbohydrate high-fat diet.

To be clear, there is no one-size-fits-all diet. And the great thing about people who believe in low-carb, like me, is that we are the first to admit it in no uncertain terms. I believe in individualization based on the specific needs of a given patient ? most doctors do? in theory. But when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of crumpling up some of their conventional wisdom and tossing it in the intellectual wastebasket, that is a different matter altogether the most doctors are not inclined to do.

And that is why I don?t necessarily spend a lot of time trying to convince people about a low carbohydrate high-fat diet because in order to do this, I have to first become a psychologist! I have to explain to them why they?re thinking may be wrong and why they?re relying a bad thought process which is ultimately resulting in bad decisions. But nobody likes this. Especially any expert who believes they are functioning at a privileged position of knowledge. They don?t like to be told that what they are confusing as a privileged position of knowledge is actually a blind spot.

So this is why I focus on patients, and I try to achieve objective results treating patients. This is the most important thing as a doctor.

Enjoy the podcast!

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Source: http://www.midwestprs.com/10-a-very-special-interview-the-dr-o-show

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