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Dr. Howard Elkin and Dr. Ben Weitz, discuss Rhabdomyolysis with Dr. Ben Weitz.
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Podcast Highlights
2:17 Rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) is characterized by an acute destruction of muscle tissue and the contents of the destroyed muscle tissue--myoglobin--is emptied into the bloodstream. This myoglobin makes the urine appear brown in color and thick and it can overwhelm the kidneys and cause kidney destruction and renal failure...
6:24 Certain drugs like statins that are used to lower cholesterol can play a role in causing rhabdo, since they can adversely affect skeletal muscles, though this is more common in the older statins that are lipophilic like simvastatin (Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) than the newer statins that are hydrophilic like fluvastatin, rosuvastatin (Crestor), and pravastatin. This can be made worse if certain other drugs are taken at the same time that inhibit the cytochrome p450-3A4 liver detox pathway, such as certain antibiotics (such as clarithromycin), antifungals, calcium channel blockers and certain other drugs. Also, the use of alcohol, amphetamines, and methamphetamines can worsen the likelihood of the occurrence of rhabdo.
8:34 Patients with rhabdo usually present with intense pain, extreme fatigue, and their urine is very dark, even brown, because of myoglobin that is being released. They will have elevated CPK in their blood as well as elevated myoglobin.
Dr. Howard Elkin is an Integrative Cardiologist with offices in Whittier and in Santa Monica, California and he has been in practice since 1986. While Dr. Elkin does utilize medications and he performs angioplasty and stent placement and other surgical procedures, his focus in his practice is employing natural strategies for helping patients, including recommendations for diet, lifestyle changes, and targeted nutritional supplements to improve their condition. Dr. Elkin has written an excellent new book, From Both Sides of the Table: When Doctor Becomes Patient. His website is Heartwise.com and his office number is 562-945-3753.
Dr. Ben Weitz is available for Functional Nutrition consultations specializing in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders like IBS/SIBO and Reflux and also Cardiometabolic Risk Factors like elevated lipids, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Dr. Weitz has also successfully helped many patients with managing their weight and improving their athletic performance, as well as sports chiropractic work by calling his Santa Monica office 310-395-3111. Dr. Weitz is also available for video or phone consultations and he uses DUTCH testing regularly.
Podcast Transcript
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Charlotte Blease, PhD, and Cosima Locher, PhD, discuss The Nocebo Effect with Dr. Ben Weitz.
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Podcast Highlights
1:45 The placebo effect is when a patient feels better after taking a sugar pill of some other treatment that is not thought to be able to help them, because they believe that it will help them. When a scientific study is conducted they often have a placebo arm with one group getting the pill with the active ingredient and the other group getting a pill without the active ingredient, which is referred to as the placebo group. And yet a significant percentage of the patients who get the placebo improve. The nocebo is sort of the opposite of the placebo in that if the patient believes or has fears or expectations that they are likely to have side effects or a negative result from a medication or treatment, they may have such negative effects. The book The Nocebo Effect: When Words Make You Sick is designed to bring awareness to the nocebo concept, which has been much less researched than the placebo effect. And this book also attempts to bring some solutions so that nocebo effects occur less frequently.
Charlotte Blease, PhD is a philosopher and health researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and the Department of Women’s and Children's Health at Uppsala University, Sweden. The book that Charlotte and Cosima helped write is The Nocebo Effect: When Words Make You Sick.
Cosima Locher PhD is a psychologist who has published in leading medical journals and is the co-founder of the Pain Net, an international network of researchers interested in chronic pain with a special focus on the placebo and nocebo effects.
Dr. Ben Weitz is available for Functional Nutrition consultations specializing in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders like IBS/SIBO and Reflux and also Cardiometabolic Risk Factors like elevated lipids, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Dr. Weitz has also successfully helped many patients with managing their weight and improving their athletic performance, as well as sports chiropractic work by calling his Santa Monica office 310-395-3111. Dr. Weitz is also available for video or phone consultations and he uses DUTCH testing regularly.
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Valentin Prisecaru and Jeff Ingersoll discuss Genomic Testing with Dr. Ben Weitz.
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Podcast Highlights
5:02 Genetics or the Human Genome refers to the genetic code that is made up of only four letters, A, G, C, and T and this code about 3 billion letters long. The majority of the genome is still kind of a mystery because we don't know exactly what it does. But we do know about 20 or 30,000 genes that code for proteins or for RNA or a few other things.
Valentin Prisecaru is a scientist who with Dr. Peter D'Adamo helped develop the Opus-23 platform that is the basis for the Genomic Insights, the Genomic Health Profile offered by Diagnostic Solutions Lab. Diagnostic Solutions Lab web site is DiagnosticSolutionsLab.com and the phone is 877-485-5336.
Jeff Ingersoll is the President of Diagnostic Solutions Lab, which besides the Genomic Insights profile, offers my favorite stool test, the GI Map, a cytokine panel Cyto DX, an organic acids profile, an amino acids profile, as well as food allergy and foods sensitivity panels.
Dr. Ben Weitz is available for Functional Nutrition consultations specializing in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders like IBS/SIBO and Reflux and also Cardiometabolic Risk Factors like elevated lipids, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Dr. Weitz has also successfully helped many patients with managing their weight and improving their athletic performance, as well as sports chiropractic work by calling his Santa Monica office 310-395-3111. Dr. Weitz is also available for video or phone consultations and he uses DUTCH testing regularly.
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Mark Newman discusses Hormone Metabolism and Testing with Dr. Ben Weitz.
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Podcast Highlights
1:48 Dried urine testing or DUTCH testing uses a dried sample for convenience, which is a big advantage over the other leading type of urine hormone testing, which is the 24 hour urine test that requires carrying around a jug of urine that you keep in the refrigerator all day. This is very inconvenient and you lose the the changes in those hormones levels, esp. cortisol, that vary throughout the day using a 24 hour sample. The dried urine test you collect samples throughout the day so you can look at the cortisol pattern, which correlates with what is seen on saliva in studies that have been published. And the urine testing of hormones allows you to see the metabolites of estrogens and androgens that you can't see on blood testing....
4:57 On the other hand, dried urine testing does not allow you to measure SHBG, which can be measured through blood, such as when a woman is on birth control and this drives up her SHBG, which drives down her free hormones. Urine testing is also not a good way to measure thyroid hormones. Also, if your kidneys are not functioning well, then you are not excreting urine as well as you should and this can impact urine testing. Also, saliva has some advantages for the cortisol awakening response (CAR)...
8:50 Estrogen metabolism. Urine testing allows for monitoring of estrogen metabolites that you can't get with serum testing and this can give us some information about how the person processes their hormones and also provides some information about estrogen related cancer risk....
Mark Newman, MS is a recognized expert and international speaker in the field of hormone testing. Mark spent nearly 25 years developing and directing urine, blood, and saliva-based hormone testing along with other biomarkers like organic acids. His unique experience led him to pursue a revolutionary way to test hormones; so Mark began his own lab, Precision Analytical Inc., to create the latest innovation in hormone testing, the DUTCH Test® (a Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones). In pursuit of the most accurate, evidence-based testing and best practices, Mark has co-written multiple peer-reviewed research papers and abstracts, highlighting the accuracy and clinical utility of dried urine hormone testing. Mark’s primary educational goal is to find and communicate truths about HRT monitoring to help providers care for their patients. He understands that each form of testing has its own strengths and weaknesses, which is why he encourages clinicians to follow the evidence even when lab testing isn't clinically helpful. For clinicians to learn more about the DUTCH test, go to DUTCHtest.com. Patients can find a referral to a DUTCH Lab provider to order and interpret the testing for them.
Dr. Ben Weitz is available for Functional Nutrition consultations specializing in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders like IBS/SIBO and Reflux and also Cardiometabolic Risk Factors like elevated lipids, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. Dr. Weitz has also successfully helped many patients with managing their weight and improving their athletic performance, as well as sports chiropractic work by calling his Santa Monica office 310-395-3111. Dr. Weitz is also available for video or phone consultations and he uses DUTCH testing regularly.