Thank you for this. My mother, who didn't believe doctors were gods but certainly believed they had the answers, died at 74 as a direct result of sub-par medical care. I've learned a lot from that sad experience. Unfortunately, II see too many people who take a negative experience with science -based medicine and head down the road into pseudoscience, becoming pay cheques for chiropractors, naturopaths, herbalists, etc. The problem with "doing your own research" is that most people have no idea what constitutes good research.
Julia, I love this post. Nothing is more true than your line, "It pays to listen, do your research, and above all, listen to your body." Advocating for our own health is key -- while many doctors care about us, we have to advocate for ourselves. Doctors can be and have been wrong. They are not Gods, which I had been brought up to believe. Your post really speaks to me, as I believe strongly in medical self-advocacy.
Heartfelt thanks. Beth. Now I get to move towards a keto diet, with all that entails, and learn even more about how to better care for myself. Lots of work but we’re worth it.
After my dad died in 2004, I went for a physical - like so many do when our first parent passes. I was told that since I was thin and active that since my cholesterol levels were on the high end of normal, I needed to start taking statins. I changed my diet and exercise habits instead (gotta love oatmeal!), and I am still doing fine and still am not taking statins or anything else. My takeaway was that some people need the meds, but not everyone does.
Awesome article Julia! I have just purchased the book and can't wait to read it! I am a believer that we have to advocate for our own health and follow many integrative and functional doctors. I wish doctors would not succumb to the 'traditional' way of medicine and be influenced by big Pharma and the big hospital networks that tell them to spend no more than 15 minutes with patients. Crazy! We know our bodies best and I like your statement that 'doctor' means teacher and with their input and them listening to ours, we can best work for our better health!
So true Marlo. I’m delighted with the book and what I’m learning although once again I have to go throw stuff out and make more changes. If better health is the outcome that’s all right.
Wow! I didn't see that coming, I feel like a muse. I should wear a toga. Thank you, I feel seen (I hate that phrase) and I ordered the book and followed @mariacross and @GARYTAUBES! I was a big fan of Dr. Andrew Weil for years. One of the tattoos that's on the list of tattoos I still want is "primum non nocere" - first do no harm. One of these days I have to make it up the NW to actually meet you and @suelick!🩷
My god, Sue, the more I read it the more horrified and shocked I am at what my food choices have done to my body and what the medical establishment doesn't know or refuses to learn. It is full of powerful revelations and I am going through my fridge and cupboard. Salt and stevia can also increase insulin? Dear god. I had no clue. Now I do, and more adjustments to the diet.
It's amazing how powerful the profit-driven medical system is. I write about the mind-body-food connection and how food affects EVERYTHING we do. The more we get the message out to people, the health and wellness can be shared by all, and not just the privileged few. Love your writing! And I'm so happy to be here on Substack with you and the others that I followed over from Medium.
Thanks so much Sue. I am heartened by the rising tide of bullshit-callers who have the right credentials and haven’t sold out. It’s good for all of us!
I'd add Dr. Mark Hyman to the list. I love his podcast. Today's was on reversing Alzheimer's. It will be interesting to see what is possible when nutrition gets to play a bigger role in medicine.
I couldn’t agree more with your major points. I too, make my own medical decisions and I make it a point to stay away from hospitals, they are cesspools.
73 years kickin ! I yam I yam. After years of medical mishaps I’m my own best defense ! Docs call me their most defiant patient. I wear it proudly on my chest ! Great work and keep it coming.
I really enjoyed your post and behalf of some innocently uninformed doctors, I apologize when we thought we knew or had been taught it all.
I qualified as a doctor in Durban South Africa 2005 so I've been a doctor for almost 20 years.
Here is a secret I'm not sure I should write out loud....during our 8 years of training not once was I taught about (and I will suggest books for you to empower yourself):
- Sleep (Why We Sleep - Professor Matt Walker)
- How to prescribe a nutritional plan (we were shown the food pyramid which I only discovered this past year is absolutely and horribly WRONG) - (The Obesity Code - Dr Jason Fung, and Fast Like A Girl - Dr Mindy Pelz)
- How to prescribe exercise
- Calorie counting and restriction is a big fail
- Move more eat less is a fail
- How the food industry has knowingly made the foods we eat addictive
I highly recommend you read "The Obesity Code" by Dr Jason Fung, who also has videos on YouTube regarding how to reverse diabetes (yes, it can be completely REVERSED which is something we were also never taught at med school), and how to treat metabolic syndrome (obesity, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, insulin resistance aka blood sugar problems), the latter which we were also only briefly taught about.
Every 2 years Emergency Doctors like myself have to update our International Certification with the American Heart Association to perform cardiac resuscitation's. These courses are expensive and expire every 2 years.
After having attended probably 10 repeats of these internationally accredited courses in the past 20 years I've been practicing as a doctor, I've been getting progressively frustrated at the lack of prevention of the cardiac arrest which in part has lead me to seek out my own knowledge, only to discover how we as doctors have not been taught adequately despite the science and research being available.
Doctor heal thy self. Aging is not a "normal" process (for more on this please read "Outlive - Dr Peter Attia). For too long we've accepted aging and chronic disease as the norm.
There is now well researched information out there accessible to everyone. Go forth and conquer and by all means, please politely challenge us doctors when in doubt (perhaps ask them how many hours they have slept before challenging them or else anticipate grumpiness).
The great thing about being wrong is that it's a learning experience. After all, that is why we call medicine a practice, and at the end of the day I think I speak for most of us in the medical profession, we are all doing our best with the knowledge, time and resources that we have been given.
Kind and mad regards,
Mad Madagascan Mum & Medic (who's just trying to be her own hero)
Dr. Olivier, Dr. Fung wrote the forward to the book I recommend in this article, so we're on the same page. There appears to be a phalanx of good docs coming after all this. I have indeed read Attia's book, as well as many, many others.
Just FYI I had a face lift done in Durban by an otherwise fine doctor, but one who called me "hysterical" when I informed him I had a clotting disorder. I even handed him my doctor's letter, which he pooh-poohed. On the way to the surgical theater, after I'd been so thoroughly drugged I could do nothing, the anesthesiolgist informed me he'd shot me up with an anti-inflammatory. I don't need to tell you that the good surgeon and his staff spent the entire night and next morning desperately trying to keep me from bleeding to death. My face was so swollen that I couldn't see for five days, nor could I eat, so I dropped to a dangerously low weight just as I needed to heal. That was the second time a surgeon's arrogance nearly cost me my life, and he didn't have the excuse of being up all night (I am sensitive to that, BTW).
I write about these things regularly, my jam is health and healthy aging as an athlete, so the books you recommend are all on my book shelves, underscored and devoured. I write about how food scientists are paid a very pretty penny to make poison palatable and addictive.
You will find "Lies I Taught in Medical School" a complete validation of all you list here and more. I am stunned with how much more we've learned about how sugar and especially corn fructose ruin the body's metabolism. In fact, the entire message of the book could be summed up thus: it's the metabolism, stupid. I was obese at 31, dropped 85 lbs and have kept it off 36 years, but even then as with so many of us my food choices could have been better. I've not had sugar in my house for decades but this book informed me that even stevia can raise insulin levels dangerously, as can salt.
As for you, I've ridden horses in Mada, have spent lots of time in South Africa and seven other African nations, and very much respect the first world medicine there.
Finally, you are likely new to my writing. I've been writing about all this for years. At 71 I'm a skilled adventure athlete, traveling all over the world doing every kind of crazy sport but winter sports. I kicked it off doing Kili at sixty. The only way I can do this is through serious exercise (body builder for 51 years) thoughtful eating and terrific discipline. I'm one of the few Americans who has shed 85 lbs and kept it off heading for four decades. That's part of why I write what I write: I walk my talk. I scour the bookshelves for material on aging (Breaking the Age Code, Dr. Becca Levy) and much more. We're in full alignment here.
I appreciate your points and acknowledge that we put too much pressure on our doctors to be god, but by the same token, doctors are challenged to challenge the status quo now that we can no longer ignore the elephant in the room, which is metabolic. There is too much proof. That said, we as patients have to be committed enough to stop expecting a pill or Ozempic to do what better choices have to do- and while I am not going to fat-shame anyone, it DOES take work to get our weight off, it takes a lifetime of work to keep it off and I can attest it bloody well is not easy. But I am aging like a banshee because the work is worth it. It's not luck- it's a commitment so that I have options, and I write about this so that all of us have options.
Keep up the good work. Durban is a gorgeous city and I have fond memories of it. A good friend of mine used to live right next to Madiba's house in Jo-burg, and he would wander into her kitchen to get his Tarot cards read. What a world.
Thank you so much for lovely message. I really enjoyed reading your response and hearing about your adventurous life.
Wow, a facelift in South Africa, your travels, your health journey. You sound like who I want to be when I grow up (although I’m not certain I am brave enough to go under the knife…I love working in hospitals, I don’t enjoy being a patient).
Sorry that you were not listened to when you stated you had a problem.
I am going to look up the book you suggested when I get through some of my other books waiting for me on my reading list. But please do give me a list of your book suggestions as I think we are on the same wavelength!
If you ever decide to take another adventure to Madagascar, come and do a bit of writing at our place with some family meals, it would be fascinating to hear about your adventures (and you can teach me about how to do weights - that is an adventure I’m planning to get into soon, I’ve always only done HIT sessions, swimming and keeping up with my kids and the pace of my clinic).
Are you back in Mada now, Dr. O? I’d love to ride there again. Certainly would be a fun way to extend the journey a bit. I never saw the lemurs and there re parts I’d love to see. I have a deadline this week so might not get to that book list terribly soon- will do my best!
Amen, sister. My PCP said my blood tests say I should consult a hematologist. I didn't. My cardiologist said, yes, my numbers are below normal but not out of range for someone my age. Red blood cells tend to decrease with age. I want to reduce medications not increase them. I see my cardio guy on Tuesday for a follow up after more blood work. A previous visit was 3 months ago. Today it's the dentist to replace the first tooth I have ever had pulled. So, at 87 going on 88, I say I am in good shape for the condition I'm in and I will keep on keeping on, doing what I do in my own best interests. I consider my docs as what they are called here, Consultors. We may agree on a course of action together or I may take it upon myself. My body, my choice. Jeez, that sounds familiar in the current conversation in the U.S.
Yes, l have come across a couple of fantastic GPs in my life. Thankfully l keep good health. Though, through my caring role with both parents and John, l have seen some outstanding mediocrity, unfortunately. Part of the problem is that we have been indoctrinated into the fallacy that doctors are some type of brainiac, when really they are just medically trained people. Easy to throw pills at you to mask ignorance and incompetence and or because society puts unrealistic expectations on them to fix, what ultimately needs to deteriorate, our bodies.
Thank you for this. My mother, who didn't believe doctors were gods but certainly believed they had the answers, died at 74 as a direct result of sub-par medical care. I've learned a lot from that sad experience. Unfortunately, II see too many people who take a negative experience with science -based medicine and head down the road into pseudoscience, becoming pay cheques for chiropractors, naturopaths, herbalists, etc. The problem with "doing your own research" is that most people have no idea what constitutes good research.
Lot of truth to that. That’s the other side of the coin, isn’t it?
Julia, I love this post. Nothing is more true than your line, "It pays to listen, do your research, and above all, listen to your body." Advocating for our own health is key -- while many doctors care about us, we have to advocate for ourselves. Doctors can be and have been wrong. They are not Gods, which I had been brought up to believe. Your post really speaks to me, as I believe strongly in medical self-advocacy.
Heartfelt thanks. Beth. Now I get to move towards a keto diet, with all that entails, and learn even more about how to better care for myself. Lots of work but we’re worth it.
After my dad died in 2004, I went for a physical - like so many do when our first parent passes. I was told that since I was thin and active that since my cholesterol levels were on the high end of normal, I needed to start taking statins. I changed my diet and exercise habits instead (gotta love oatmeal!), and I am still doing fine and still am not taking statins or anything else. My takeaway was that some people need the meds, but not everyone does.
Awesome article Julia! I have just purchased the book and can't wait to read it! I am a believer that we have to advocate for our own health and follow many integrative and functional doctors. I wish doctors would not succumb to the 'traditional' way of medicine and be influenced by big Pharma and the big hospital networks that tell them to spend no more than 15 minutes with patients. Crazy! We know our bodies best and I like your statement that 'doctor' means teacher and with their input and them listening to ours, we can best work for our better health!
So true Marlo. I’m delighted with the book and what I’m learning although once again I have to go throw stuff out and make more changes. If better health is the outcome that’s all right.
Love this and LOVE @Jodi Sh Doff!
Me too!
The best, right? Such a great essay, too, Julia!
Thanks so much, Nan.
Wow! I didn't see that coming, I feel like a muse. I should wear a toga. Thank you, I feel seen (I hate that phrase) and I ordered the book and followed @mariacross and @GARYTAUBES! I was a big fan of Dr. Andrew Weil for years. One of the tattoos that's on the list of tattoos I still want is "primum non nocere" - first do no harm. One of these days I have to make it up the NW to actually meet you and @suelick!🩷
Great post. I appreciate the book recommendation. I will check it out.
My god, Sue, the more I read it the more horrified and shocked I am at what my food choices have done to my body and what the medical establishment doesn't know or refuses to learn. It is full of powerful revelations and I am going through my fridge and cupboard. Salt and stevia can also increase insulin? Dear god. I had no clue. Now I do, and more adjustments to the diet.
It's amazing how powerful the profit-driven medical system is. I write about the mind-body-food connection and how food affects EVERYTHING we do. The more we get the message out to people, the health and wellness can be shared by all, and not just the privileged few. Love your writing! And I'm so happy to be here on Substack with you and the others that I followed over from Medium.
Thanks so much Sue. I am heartened by the rising tide of bullshit-callers who have the right credentials and haven’t sold out. It’s good for all of us!
I'd add Dr. Mark Hyman to the list. I love his podcast. Today's was on reversing Alzheimer's. It will be interesting to see what is possible when nutrition gets to play a bigger role in medicine.
Love Dr Hyman!
I couldn’t agree more with your major points. I too, make my own medical decisions and I make it a point to stay away from hospitals, they are cesspools.
73 years kickin ! I yam I yam. After years of medical mishaps I’m my own best defense ! Docs call me their most defiant patient. I wear it proudly on my chest ! Great work and keep it coming.
Dear Julia,
I really enjoyed your post and behalf of some innocently uninformed doctors, I apologize when we thought we knew or had been taught it all.
I qualified as a doctor in Durban South Africa 2005 so I've been a doctor for almost 20 years.
Here is a secret I'm not sure I should write out loud....during our 8 years of training not once was I taught about (and I will suggest books for you to empower yourself):
- Sleep (Why We Sleep - Professor Matt Walker)
- How to prescribe a nutritional plan (we were shown the food pyramid which I only discovered this past year is absolutely and horribly WRONG) - (The Obesity Code - Dr Jason Fung, and Fast Like A Girl - Dr Mindy Pelz)
- How to prescribe exercise
- Calorie counting and restriction is a big fail
- Move more eat less is a fail
- How the food industry has knowingly made the foods we eat addictive
I highly recommend you read "The Obesity Code" by Dr Jason Fung, who also has videos on YouTube regarding how to reverse diabetes (yes, it can be completely REVERSED which is something we were also never taught at med school), and how to treat metabolic syndrome (obesity, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, insulin resistance aka blood sugar problems), the latter which we were also only briefly taught about.
Every 2 years Emergency Doctors like myself have to update our International Certification with the American Heart Association to perform cardiac resuscitation's. These courses are expensive and expire every 2 years.
After having attended probably 10 repeats of these internationally accredited courses in the past 20 years I've been practicing as a doctor, I've been getting progressively frustrated at the lack of prevention of the cardiac arrest which in part has lead me to seek out my own knowledge, only to discover how we as doctors have not been taught adequately despite the science and research being available.
Doctor heal thy self. Aging is not a "normal" process (for more on this please read "Outlive - Dr Peter Attia). For too long we've accepted aging and chronic disease as the norm.
There is now well researched information out there accessible to everyone. Go forth and conquer and by all means, please politely challenge us doctors when in doubt (perhaps ask them how many hours they have slept before challenging them or else anticipate grumpiness).
The great thing about being wrong is that it's a learning experience. After all, that is why we call medicine a practice, and at the end of the day I think I speak for most of us in the medical profession, we are all doing our best with the knowledge, time and resources that we have been given.
Kind and mad regards,
Mad Madagascan Mum & Medic (who's just trying to be her own hero)
Jane
Dr. Olivier, Dr. Fung wrote the forward to the book I recommend in this article, so we're on the same page. There appears to be a phalanx of good docs coming after all this. I have indeed read Attia's book, as well as many, many others.
Just FYI I had a face lift done in Durban by an otherwise fine doctor, but one who called me "hysterical" when I informed him I had a clotting disorder. I even handed him my doctor's letter, which he pooh-poohed. On the way to the surgical theater, after I'd been so thoroughly drugged I could do nothing, the anesthesiolgist informed me he'd shot me up with an anti-inflammatory. I don't need to tell you that the good surgeon and his staff spent the entire night and next morning desperately trying to keep me from bleeding to death. My face was so swollen that I couldn't see for five days, nor could I eat, so I dropped to a dangerously low weight just as I needed to heal. That was the second time a surgeon's arrogance nearly cost me my life, and he didn't have the excuse of being up all night (I am sensitive to that, BTW).
I write about these things regularly, my jam is health and healthy aging as an athlete, so the books you recommend are all on my book shelves, underscored and devoured. I write about how food scientists are paid a very pretty penny to make poison palatable and addictive.
You will find "Lies I Taught in Medical School" a complete validation of all you list here and more. I am stunned with how much more we've learned about how sugar and especially corn fructose ruin the body's metabolism. In fact, the entire message of the book could be summed up thus: it's the metabolism, stupid. I was obese at 31, dropped 85 lbs and have kept it off 36 years, but even then as with so many of us my food choices could have been better. I've not had sugar in my house for decades but this book informed me that even stevia can raise insulin levels dangerously, as can salt.
As for you, I've ridden horses in Mada, have spent lots of time in South Africa and seven other African nations, and very much respect the first world medicine there.
Finally, you are likely new to my writing. I've been writing about all this for years. At 71 I'm a skilled adventure athlete, traveling all over the world doing every kind of crazy sport but winter sports. I kicked it off doing Kili at sixty. The only way I can do this is through serious exercise (body builder for 51 years) thoughtful eating and terrific discipline. I'm one of the few Americans who has shed 85 lbs and kept it off heading for four decades. That's part of why I write what I write: I walk my talk. I scour the bookshelves for material on aging (Breaking the Age Code, Dr. Becca Levy) and much more. We're in full alignment here.
I appreciate your points and acknowledge that we put too much pressure on our doctors to be god, but by the same token, doctors are challenged to challenge the status quo now that we can no longer ignore the elephant in the room, which is metabolic. There is too much proof. That said, we as patients have to be committed enough to stop expecting a pill or Ozempic to do what better choices have to do- and while I am not going to fat-shame anyone, it DOES take work to get our weight off, it takes a lifetime of work to keep it off and I can attest it bloody well is not easy. But I am aging like a banshee because the work is worth it. It's not luck- it's a commitment so that I have options, and I write about this so that all of us have options.
Keep up the good work. Durban is a gorgeous city and I have fond memories of it. A good friend of mine used to live right next to Madiba's house in Jo-burg, and he would wander into her kitchen to get his Tarot cards read. What a world.
Dear Julia,
Thank you so much for lovely message. I really enjoyed reading your response and hearing about your adventurous life.
Wow, a facelift in South Africa, your travels, your health journey. You sound like who I want to be when I grow up (although I’m not certain I am brave enough to go under the knife…I love working in hospitals, I don’t enjoy being a patient).
Sorry that you were not listened to when you stated you had a problem.
I am going to look up the book you suggested when I get through some of my other books waiting for me on my reading list. But please do give me a list of your book suggestions as I think we are on the same wavelength!
If you ever decide to take another adventure to Madagascar, come and do a bit of writing at our place with some family meals, it would be fascinating to hear about your adventures (and you can teach me about how to do weights - that is an adventure I’m planning to get into soon, I’ve always only done HIT sessions, swimming and keeping up with my kids and the pace of my clinic).
Keep being your own hero!
Kind and mad regards,
Jane xxx
PS I found you. Robin Hood clinic!
Are you back in Mada now, Dr. O? I’d love to ride there again. Certainly would be a fun way to extend the journey a bit. I never saw the lemurs and there re parts I’d love to see. I have a deadline this week so might not get to that book list terribly soon- will do my best!
Amen, sister. My PCP said my blood tests say I should consult a hematologist. I didn't. My cardiologist said, yes, my numbers are below normal but not out of range for someone my age. Red blood cells tend to decrease with age. I want to reduce medications not increase them. I see my cardio guy on Tuesday for a follow up after more blood work. A previous visit was 3 months ago. Today it's the dentist to replace the first tooth I have ever had pulled. So, at 87 going on 88, I say I am in good shape for the condition I'm in and I will keep on keeping on, doing what I do in my own best interests. I consider my docs as what they are called here, Consultors. We may agree on a course of action together or I may take it upon myself. My body, my choice. Jeez, that sounds familiar in the current conversation in the U.S.
Hooray, been sick of gratuitous advice from doctors … drug pushers working for the pharmaceutical industry
And thank god for the good ones, who are all too often punished for not being pill pushers, Simone.
Yes, l have come across a couple of fantastic GPs in my life. Thankfully l keep good health. Though, through my caring role with both parents and John, l have seen some outstanding mediocrity, unfortunately. Part of the problem is that we have been indoctrinated into the fallacy that doctors are some type of brainiac, when really they are just medically trained people. Easy to throw pills at you to mask ignorance and incompetence and or because society puts unrealistic expectations on them to fix, what ultimately needs to deteriorate, our bodies.
Amen Julia. Agency...used to be where we got our newspapers now is the hard won freedoms to make our own mistakes and get some wins.
“Health is learned and earned”
So true. Health is wasted on the young and foolish lol