Doctors telling people they're fat

[AKA_Monet]

Currently, type 2 diabetes, heart failure and obesity caused by diet is what my main NIH funded research focus is.

I am currently applying for funds from the American Heart Association regarding this issue. And I will also apply for funds from the Ellison Foundation as it relates to aging and diabetes and obesity--because as one gets older, the weight becomes an issue.

There is a problem with bench to bedside research and vice versa. This research is called "Translational Research". I think what this M.D. did wrong was attend a breif session for CME credit on obesity and treating patients. I would say the majority of MD's are smart and well-meaning people, but when you have researchers presenting results with all these biostats to go along with it, I doubt that if you aren't actively DOING research, that you have problems understanding the implications and the outcomes from the research...

Meaning, if I say to MD's to suggest to their patients that our mouse genetic studies show that overproduction of the PAI-1 protein has been correlated to increased inflammatory responses in 75% of samples tested with a P value of 0.001, and how that correlates to the human population, blah, blah, blah the MD's may take that and see what they have in their patient population that they treat... Most of Big Pharma sell their drugs this way...

Even if the MD is also a Ph.D. does not necessarily mean they truly understand the scientific nature of a disease like a PhD, and vice versa--like I cannot go to an MD and tell him or her how to treat a patient. But together, we can work out this patient's issue--more like a patient population's issue... And the way things are, we are going to have to work together--along with DVM's, techs, biostatiscians [sp?], MPH's and other personnel as needed. Especially when we are going from bedside to benchside...

I am currently undergoing a medical issue that I won't go into. I was highly reassured by the MD I was speaking to because he also has a PhD. I could ask him questions about what was going on with me at the molecular level. When MD's do find out I have a PhD in molecular genetics, they start asking me questions and I cannot get them to stop. And don't let my husband who is a veterinarian come with me because we'd be swapping stories left and right. But it does take all of us to work together...

This MD probably is a nice "country doctor" with a small patient population that is trying to make a difference and doing all he can to ensure the best healthcare with the minimum amount of money... However, if I learn anything from my father, who is a dentist and having to spend my whole teenage years in his office working with patients, which made me decide NOT to go into the allied health profession, I think that 1) MD's do not have all the answers; 2) you are your own health advocate and 3) most of the best healthcare that an MD can provide is you trying to enrich your life and your soul--whatever floats your boat to live life...

I've done seent too many of my family members hooked up to things due to their chronic illnesses that made me decide I would NEVER EVER want to live that way... So, I will do whatever it takes to make it happen to be that way. And if I fail--like get cancer or some other lunacy, I will deal with it and strive... MD's love that kind of patient...