Medical Examiner 10-7-22

POP CULTURE & THE AMERICAN DOCTOR

The recent death of retired Augusta University presi dent William A. Bloodworth Jr. was for the Medical Examiner the loss of a true gentleman, an ardent fan of this paper, and an honored contributor to our pages. The following is a guest column by Dr. Blood worth that appeared in the April 20, 2007 Examiner. It was entitled “Calling Doctor Kildare: Doctor Kildare and the Romanticizing of American Medicine.” In that same issue, he asked us to print a public thank you to the staff of the Georgia Radiation Therapy Cen ter, where he was being treated for prostate cancer.

Even the American Medical Association praised the Kildare movies. The image of the American doctor was never quite the same again.

“Internes Can’t Take Money” (using an older spelling of “interns”) presented a young doctor faced with concerns about his financial future (as alluded to in the title), an ethical dilemma (wheth er to accept money for operating on a local hood lum), and a romantic involvement with a beautiful woman married to an underworld figure. The story was set in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York City, complete with Irish-American criminals, saloons and politics.

A. Bloodworth

On television today any body can see the influence of medicine on popular culture. Who knows how much mon ey the entertainment industry has made from programs like ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Fox’s House — or how many other programs, movies, and novels have lifted their char acters and settings from the world of medicine? Compared to any other profession be sides criminal justice, medicine seems to offer the richest source of material. But it wasn’t always this way. Not before Dr. Kildare.

Some people will remember Dr. Kildare as a tele vision character portrayed by Richard Chamberlain in the 1960s. Before that, Dr. Kildare was a radio character and even before that the main character in a series of MGM movies starring Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.

But Dr. Kildare did not begin on the silver screen. He began as a young intern in a single pulp magazine story in 1936. That story, “Internes Can’t

Take Money,” by an author named Max Brand, was the beginning of the romanticizing of American medicine.

A year and a half later MGM released the first Dr. Kildare movie, Young Dr. Kildare, and by 1943 Max Brand had published 34 more Kildare stories, including seven novels. Kildare was wildly popular.

In that setting the young doctor, Jimmy Kildare, brilliant in knowledge and skilled with a scalpel but very poor, stands in contrast to the heavily monied politicians and criminals around him. The story — and Dr. Kildare’s future — ultimately is resolved by his medical skills when he saves the life of a key Hell’s Kitchen figure by refusing to accept the diagnosis of a senior physician. Instead of an infection, Dr. Kildare realized that the man was suffering from a blood clot resulting from a fractured skull. The details of the operation are vivid in the story:

He cut the bone of the skull on three sides and broke off on the fourth. It would grow better that way when the piece was inset again. The blood clot was exposed before him.

Kildare lifted out the clot. From a small blood vessel blood was oozing almost inappreciably. With exquisite delicacy, Kildare picked up the ruptured blood vessel with small hemostats and tied it off.

And in the end, all the problems of the story are “tied off.” Kildare has proved his mettle as a phy sician, earned the respect of his community, and

MYTHOLOGY

PARENTHOOD

by David W. Proefrock, PhD

Your 6 year-old son has a terrible temper. He is very easily frustrated when things don’t go his way and quickly gets com pletely out of control. You can ignore his tantrums at home, but he is now causing serious problems at school. He has been in several fights and seems to constantly be in the office for being disobedient and disrespectful. What do you do?

A. Some children, especially boys, take a little longer to mature. Give him some time before you do anything.

B. Take him to a mental health professional for evaluation and possible treatment.

C. Be firm with him and do not tolerate misbehavior at school. Punish him severely when he gets into trouble.

D. Let him know that you expect him to behave at school. Take away privileges when he gets into trouble at school.

If you answered:

A. Boys do mature a little later then girls, but this problem is not a matter of maturity. He should be taken for an evalua tion by a mental health professional.

B. This is the best response. Not only does he have a prob lem with his temper at school, but at home too. An evalua tion by a professional is the right thing to do now.

C. The situation is already too serious to handle on your own. Serious punishments rarely accomplish what is intended.

D. This might work if his temper was a minor problem, but this is far more serious. He should be evaluated by a profes sional.

Frequent and serious temper outbursts are signs of a possi ble mental health issue and should be evaluated by a mental health professional who specializes in children and adoles cents.

Dr. Proefrock is a retired local clinical and forensic child psychologist.

MEDICALEXAMINER

RIGHT BRAIN, LEFT BRAIN

As the graphic below is meant to suggest, our brains are divided into two halves, or lobes, and the left half is the analytical, just-the-factsma’am side, and the right half is where our artistic and creative instincts and capabil ities reside. If we’re shy and conservative, our left side is dominant; if we’re wild and crazy, we’re our right side is in charge.

All of this is commonly heard and widely believed. Is it true?

People of a certain age may remember a popular book pub lished in 1979 entitled Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which put forth the idea that “getting in touch” with your right brain will improve draw ing and artistic abilities.

There is no question that, when it comes to human brains, location matters. Cer tain abilities are affected when certain parts of the brain are damaged by stroke or injury. It has long been established that the right half of the brain controls movement of the left

arm and leg, while the left half controls limbs on the right side. From front to back and left to right, there are specific parts of the brain known to have specific jobs related to vision, facial recognition, lan guage skills, thought process ing and more.

But things like personality traits and viewing the world artistically versus analytically, optimistically versus pessimis tically, have not been proven to be associated with any area of the brain. In fact, writes Harvard physician Robert

H. Shmerling, if a CT scan, MRI, or even an autopsy was performed on the brains of a thousand mathematicians and a thousand artists, it’s unlikely any patterns would emerge showing differences in brain structure between the two groups.

Of course, as he notes, the lack of proof doesn’t necessarily prove anything: our not-so-distant ancestors believed the earth to be flat. The past inability to prove that the earth is round didn’t prove that it’s flat.

So the right brain versus left brain jury may still be out, but scientists continue to study the brain, and the evidence disproving the left brain/ right brain theory seems to be steadily building. Scientists don’t really know precisely what determines each individ ual’s personality and outlook on life, but it seems increas ingly unlikely that one side or the brain or the other is the key factor.

So if you’re an analytical type — or an artist to your very core — feel free to take full credit, at least for now.

Fighting FightingChance Chance A

THE PANDEMIC IS OVER???

According to the president, yes. “The pandemic is over,” he stated during a 60 Minutes interview last month, although he immediately added, “We still have a problem with COVID... But the pandemic is over.”

Is he right? Yes and no.

If people think we’re still in a pandemic, they have a very mask-free way of showing it. Braves and Dawgs games are sell-outs, with few if any masks in sight. Stores are full of people who a year or two ago would have been at home, or masked up in public. Now they’re breathing free and easy.

In short, the general public seems to agree with President Biden. They have/we have moved on. The public health com munity, not so much.

Late last week COVID was still claiming 450 lives in a single day, ranking it as a major cause of death in this country, and more than 50,000 new cases per day were still popping up na tionwide (Sept. 29 figures for deaths and new cases). By one recent unofficial count (from Johns Hopkins University), the US grand totals amounted to a staggering 95.6 million cases and 1,053,420 deaths, on that day representing increases of 407,524 and 3,97, respectively, from the numbers just one week previously. Those are not insignificant numbers.

Granted, even the CDC and other public health agencies and private sector deciders (such as major employers) have eased up on COVID restrictions. The same is true of restric tions at many large public venues, and indeed, hospitals and doctors offices in the CSRA are gradually easing their preven tive restrictions (such as mask requirements).

Realistically, the pandemic is not over. It’s definitely differ ent; it has changed. Early on if you heard that a friend had COVID, you hoped they would survive; these days we are more likely to yawn and hope their symptoms are the current ly standard “just a bad cold.”

As is almost always the case, the thing to do is for everyone to stay in their lane. In other words, we should get political information from people in politics; we should get medical information from people in the medical field.

Maybe part of “the pandemic is over” is the very under standable concept of “pandemic fatigue,” but the pandemic itself isn’t showing too much pandemic fatigue. Anyone who still wants to be “COVID-careful” should be free to do so.

Who is this?

ON THE ROADON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH

A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE

by Marcia Ribble

Th is eminent physician carved out quite a career for himself, but if you’ve never heard of him that wouldn’t bother him in the slightest. In fact, he would prefer it that way.

Born in 1936 in Iowa, William Foege (known as Bill to just about everyone) lived a dream-come-true life in many ways. As a teenager he worked at a pharmacy where the precision, the exotic metric system, and the creation of “magic potions” to make sick people well caught his imagination. At age 15 he spent 3 months immobilized in a body cast. While not a pleasant experience at the time, it helped him develop a lifelong addiction to reading. He has since wished for a similar 3 months to immerse himself in reading — minus the cast, of course.

Among his readings were works by Albert Schweitzer, and Foege envisioned himself as a medical trailblazer in Africa. After receiving his M.D. in 1961, he completed an internship with the U.S. Public Health Service. His interest in public health was further piqued when he read a commencement address delivered by Nobel Prize winner Thomas H. Weller. Foege entered the Master of Public Health program at Harvard and had the good fortune to study under Weller.

Although his career in public health has taken him from Seattle to Colorado to India, he has extensive career roots in Georgia. In 1977 he was named director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a post he held until 1983. Among other positions, he has served as a Health Policy Fellow and Executive Director at The Carter Center and in the Department of International Health in Emory University University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

While such administrative assignments may be enviable, Foege is credited for the noteworthy accomplishment of “devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox.” In lauding Foege’s work, Dr. William MacAskill noted that, “Smallpox was one of the worst diseases to ever befall the human race, and its eradication is one of the greatest achievements of humanity.”

Despite his towering achievements (he is 6 ft. 7 in. tall), Dr. Foege noted in a 2018 address to the University of Georgia College of Public Health in Athens that public health work often gets the short end of the stick when it comes to funding and resources, and can be thankless work. “No one will ever thank you for the disease they didn’t get,” he noted.

Within that context, it’s easy to see why a life of incredible success in public health service could also be a life lived in a degree of obscurity. “You won’t make much money,” he said, “and you won’t be thanked, but you can find satisfaction in working for the good of others.”

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That could actually be the richest reward of all.

Editor’s note: The 4/15/22 Medical Examiner contained a review of Dr. Foege’s book House on Fire, his first-person account of the fight to eradicate smallpox.

I just received notification that my “subscription” to Word has been canceled. I didn’t subscribe to Word. I bought it. This is a relatively new scam that many seniors and others will fall for. The process is equivalent to buying a car, and then fifteen years later the manufacturer sends you a notice that the car you bought was bought by subscription and you must now re-buy it with payments that will last forever. I don’t know about you, dear readers, but that falls into my category of fraud. And my response is, Oh, no you don’t!

If you get a similar notification, my advice is to fight back. The people who do this aren’t targeting just you. They do this on a massive scale. So call your congressperson. Call your state and local representatives. Call your governor. Write letters to the editor of your newspaper. Call your TV stations. Get on Facebook and alert folks. Be vocal in our defense because this kind of scam is sapping our already hard-hit resources. Then indulge your frustration by giving out a very loud pirate Grrrr!

But I will not allow vermin of the defrauding sort to ruin my day. It is beautiful here in mid-Michigan. The sun is bright after many days of gloomy skies and rain. The temperature is perfect for going out in short sleeves and without heat warnings. The air is that almost-crisp kind with no humidity. In our orchards and farms, we have fresh fruits and vegetables and it’s apple season, so our seasoning isn’t pumpkin spice but apple cider and doughnuts. Yummy! Last night we had a gathering and roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. More deliciousness!

My twin great-grandchildren are growing fast and learning with a speed that amazes me, even after watching my own children and other grandchildren doing the same. I have kitchen tongs that Junior has learned to use to pick things up. When he has to go with his Grandma Vicki back to her home, he has a meltdown with sobbing, and real tears, and flinging himself on the floor in despair. Silas doesn’t want to leave either. He develops a raring good case of the zoomies, trying to escape by running and hiding in the closet, behind furniture, or anywhere else he believes will prevent him from being caught and forced to leave. Amazing that two little boys can prevent two grownups from catching and removing them for so long! Makes me wonder how I managed with five children, but I did. As one of my friends says, somehow when you have to, you manage to get it done.

When they are young many children have issues that demand we help them, and we do, regardless of the issue. Or at least we try, even though there were no parenting classes back in the day and contemporary classes don’t always have the answers. Sometimes we just used our parents’ child-rearing methods. Sometimes we rejected what they did and invented our own methods. Sometimes we watched other parents with their children and gave their methods a try.

Amazingly, most of our children grew to adulthood in pretty decent shape, regardless of how we parented them. Children are often both hardy and resilient, despite us. Junior will grow up and buy his own kitchen tongs. Silas will grow up and know that it’s his choice to stay or go.

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It usually works out fine.

Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble, Ph.D., is a retired English and creative writing professor who offers her unique perspective as a patient. Contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com

Middle Age

BY J.B. COLLUM

I was driving along with a co-worker this week when I had one of those “aha!” moments, but not one of the better types. An aha! moment should be when you realize you’ve figured some thing out that you had been struggling with. Like when Einstein was inspired to solve the paradox of Newtonian mechanics. Einstein had his aha! moment because of a trip on a streetcar in Bern when he looked back at the clock and wondered what he would see if he was traveling at the speed of light. He realized that it would appear frozen in time since the light would not catch up to him. I would love to have an aha! moment like Einstein’s, but no. Mine was different. When I am riding home, I’m usually thinking about what I’m having for supper, or trying to remember if tonight is the night a new episode of my favorite show is coming on, not solving complex scientific problems.

Anyway, my co-worker was saying how he was having some difficulty in his relationship with his father. I offered the comfort that it is probably just a generational thing and is normal, but he retorted that it wasn’t that since he got along fine with me. I heard the sad little wah-wah-wah trombone sound in my head as realization struck. I asked him how old he is, and it’s the same age as my oldest child. That only served to confirm that, not only was I a lot older than him, but that is how he saw me. At least he said that talking to me didn’t make him cringe like when he talked to his father, so at least maybe I’m hip! That’s still a thing, right? No? Cool then? Is that still good? Or maybe bad? I give up.

In my mind, and maybe yours too, I seem to assume that the people I am talking to are around the same age as me, or I just don’t think about it at all. Obviously not if they are children, but I look at other adults and most times don’t think about being old enough to be their father. It isn’t a conscious thing really. It just comes nat urally, without thinking, and I’m really good at not thinking. Just ask any of my old teachers (if any are still alive), or my wife. They’ll tell you

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was one of the youngest staff members wherever I worked. Alas, that has not been true for a long

time. Now I’m the guy who makes the company health insurance benefits go up each year. These twenty-somethings are essentially paying part of my premiums and that isn’t fair, but I’m not complaining. I appreciate it. I just hope I’m not one of those folks who complains about medical insurance prices when I’m on Medicare. When someone who has thousands of dollars worth of prescriptions complains that their Medicare supplement went up a few dollars a month I so badly want to give them an economics lesson. I plan on being grateful when I’m in that position. Then again, maybe I’ll complain too, just to fit in with the crowd. Maybe that’s one of the perks of growing old

I did have another moment this past week that made me think about age. I wrote in the last issue about our travel trailer having a blowout.

Within seconds of me getting out of the truck to look at the tire, a gentlemen stopped and offered to help. What a great guy! Then I thought, wait, is he thinking I’m old and need help? Though grateful, I was feeling a little bad about that, but then I looked at him closely and thought he was probably a few years older than me. I told him that as a child - in 1968 - I moved to the town where he lives. He said that was the year he was born. That’s a lot like when you see an “old person” at the store only to realize you went to high school together and they were a freshman when you graduated. More sad trombone music plays in my head when that happens.

With all that said, I still feel like a kid in my own mind. I have aches and pains, but I try not to let my chronological age affect my thinking too much. I hope you can do the same. People say that age is just a number, and they are right, but then again, so is weight, and I don’t ever remember hearing anybody say that weight is just a number. It makes you think. Well, enough thinking. I’ve got to go. It’s supper time and my favorite show comes on tonight.

J.B. Collum is a local novelist, humorist and columnist who wants to be Mark Twain when he grows up. He may be reached at johnbcol lum@gmail.com

ASK THE ADVOCATE

by Samantha Bowick, MPH, Board Certified Patient Advocate

Whether you are going to your doctor for a routine checkup or being admitted to the hospital for a week, it’s import ant to know your rights. Patients must give consent to be medically treated and approve the medical treatment before it is given, or have someone present that can make or ap prove medical decisions.

Patients have the right to:

• Request medical records

• Decline medical treatment

• Find a new doctor

• Refuse to have a medication given through their port

• Request a new nurse

• Ask for a patient advocate

While medical facilities can charge a fee to give patients their medical records, they have to respond in a specified amount of time. In Georgia, that means “in a timely man ner.” In South Carolina, hospitals and providers have 30 days from the date the patient signs the request form to provide the patient with their records. Otherwise, the providers and facilities are breaking the law and could face consequences.

If there is a treatment option you don’t want to try, you don’t have to. A doctor might say they won’t treat you any more or there’s nothing else they can do, but you can find another doctor.

Check your medical records to make sure your information is correct. There could be typos or information in the records that is inaccurate and it’s important that errors be corrected.

Patients have to complete a form that designates who can have access to their medical records, such as a loved one or a doctor. It can be beneficial to have someone designated to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to do so. You also have the right to say you do not want to be

PATIENT HERO

IT’S MY PARTY

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

(most of the time)

A series by Bad Billy Laveau

Some said it was birthday party. Some said it was a get-together. Others said our clan pigs out at the slightest excuse. Ribeye steaks, boiled shrimp, crab stew, birthday cake, banana pudding. Alcohol was not involved. Iced tea, unsweetened (for the faint of heart, or high octane for those of us from the flatwoods).

Our crowd was diverse to some extent. Age dispersed: no teeth to no teeth. We only had two sexes. We all know what to do, with which, and to whom.

No rainbow hair of question able configuration. The women were mostly trim. Kids plentiful and polite. One of our ladies had 5 kids and still weighs in at a startling 124 pounds. Most of the men had the contour,

but not the facial hair, of Sam Elliott. Profanity was profound ly foreign and unmanly, left for those of challenged vocabu laries. Certainly no four-letter words in the presence of wom en and children. It wouldn’t be the Christian thing to do. We all have a lot of South in our Mouth, sprinkled prudently with Ma’am, Sir, and Please. And with frequent references to college football (UGA of course).

We invaded my brother’s fish house on our blackwater pond from our childhoods down near the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest fresh water swamp in the world. Over the years, my brother has collected, accu mulated, or acquired over 200 antiques that were common to our childhood. Everything from a double corn sheller to turpentine hacks and pullers, hundred-year-old Coca Cola ice picks, things I don’t expect you to recognize. I have limited space here so I won’t even try to explain.

Our women, as I said, tend ed to be trim, hair naturally

colored, well spoken, and not a tattoo in sight. Kids and their dogs ran free, wives seeing after the kids while the men pre pared food. Men did not worry about snakes or kids falling in the pond. Women and kids are raised to handle such things themselves.

We are not dumb country bumpkins who only know how run a trout line and fish bush hooks at midnight. Several col lege degrees floated around; a banker, businessmen, a couple professionals, and several entre preneurs. But none of us forgot where we can from. Suitably functional cars and trucks held down the parking lot.

At 6 pm sharp, we said the blessing and dug in. Mouths worked on food and related memories from half a century or more ago. I was 4 score and one years old and my brother 2 years and one day younger. If you can’t figure out our ages, consult Lincoln’s Gettysburg address for a hint.

We talked about the road signs for aging. I call it “ad vancing maturity.” Thinning hair, creaking joints, needing more sleep and afternoon naps. We all agreed calories and cholesterol didn’t matter for the

moment. Most everyone had Covid shots, but we avoided the whys and why nots. You don’t have to agree on everything.

We did not discuss personal ity politics. But we did lambast the recession, our declining schools, and the excesses of a generation (or two) of people who don’t want to work and think everything should be given to them and paid for by someone else. We think it’s sad that you have to vote for whoever is least bad, because there is no clear choice of who is truly best for the country.

Afterwards, the men cleaned up. Women cared for children and planned for tomorrow.

Meat trimmings were packed up for the dogs at home. And by 8:30 pm, we cleared out of there like a herd of over-fed turtles on the way to a nap.

No fist fights. No one got shot. No one opened a cell phone unless it was an incom ing call. Good feelings were intact and blossoming. A good time was had by all.

Tomorrow’s news most likely will carry stories of shootings and other human carnage.

Nothing good happens after midnight, we say. We call nightclubs gun and knife clubs

where they pat you down for a gun or knife …. And if you don’t have one, they give you one so you’ll have a chance when the fight breaks out.

Why can’t everyone behave as we did? Have fun? Relate memories? Eat too much good food, hand-prepared by blood kin? Maybe it is the blackwater pond, dogs and kids running loose, antique equipment we all loved and needed growing up, close family ties getting closer, and a well-honed sense who we are. Maybe we are just lucky.

We don’t think we are perfect, because we definitely are not. Far from it. But we are more than a bit different. We are comfortable with that. Eighty years ago, our fami ly started around this little blackwater pond set a half mile off the hard road in Sessoms, Georgia. To use a cliché from our childhood, we lived so far back in the woods, we had to double clutch lightning to make it thunder. (City slickers who never drove a straight shift pickup truck might not under stand that one.)

Now, let’s see if we all can live another year to weather another birthday bash … or whatever the kids plan for us.

TRYTHISDISH

by Kim Beavers, MS, RDN, CDCES

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Chef Coach, Author Follow Kim on Facebook: facebook.com/eatingwellwithkimb

Not only is this dish colorful, it is delicious too and the earthy smells will permeate your home while it cooks.

Ingredients

• 3 medium beets

• 1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

• ½ large onion, cut into large chunks

• 2 tsp. olive oil

• 2 cloves fresh garlic minced

• 1 tsp. honey

• ½ tsp. thyme leaves

• 1/8 tsp. salt

• 1/8 tsp. pepper (2 turns of pepper mill)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°. Trim the greens from the beets (reserving for a different use). Peel beets with a vegetable peeler and chop into half-inch to 3/4-inch chunks (slightly smaller than the sweet potato—as they take just slight

ly longer to roast).

Place beets, sweet po tatoes and onion in a large bowl. In a small separate bowl com bine oil, garlic, honey, thyme, salt and pep per and mix with a fork. Drizzle mixture over the vegetables and toss to coat.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegeta ble oil cooking spray.

Spread the vegetables out over the pan in a sin gle layer. Bake for 25 minutes stirring at least once about halfway through cooking time

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Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition Breakdown: Calories 100, Fat 2.5g (0g saturated fat, 1.8g monounsaturated), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 135mg, Carbohy drate 19g, Fiber 3g, Protein 2g. Vitamin A 110%, Vitamin C 15%, Iron 4%, Calcium 2% Carbohydrate Choice: 1 Carbohydrate Diabetes Exchange Val.: 1 Starchy Vegetable

THE

NOT FEELING

ASK DR. KARP

Plants, along with oils derived from them, contain many bioactive compounds that have been and are being intensively investigated for possible human medical appli cations. Exploring the me dicinal and health properties of plants will continue to be an important area of human medical research.

NO NONSENSE

NUTRITION

David, from Rock Hill, NC writes via Facebook Messenger:

“My son has heard from his co-workers that oregano oil supplements will help boost immu nity. I think he’ll just be wasting his money. What do you have to say about it?”

Oregano oil and its active ingredients, carvacrol, thymol and rosemarinic acid, is one of many spice oils presently being studied for their an tibacterial, antioxidant and antifungal properties. Oregano oil claims include being a “natural” antibiotic, improv ing gut health, a pain relief medication, an aid to weight loss, and an anticancer agent. However, to date, oregano oil has not been adequately stud ied in humans. I am referring to studies that not only exam ine the clinical effectiveness of oregano oil, but also the effective dosage, toxicity, and side effects of taking oregano oil as a supplement. Right now, it is premature to jump on the oregano oil bandwag on. It is one thing to be at the cutting edge of science, but it is quite another thing to take

that leap and get ahead of the cutting edge. Being ahead of the science might sound very “modern, forward-thinking and intelligent,” but it is not a very good idea at all. A good principal is to be right behind the cutting edge, supporting data in hand.

Remember that dietary sup plements fall into a pretty un regulated group of substances; they are classified as neither drugs nor foods, and are not subject to the rigors of testing and research for either drugs (FDA) or foods (USDA). While it is true that many dietary supplements have research to support their use, the papers in the literature or ads accom panying dietary supplements

are often “cherry-picked” to support a particular preju dice or point of view. Putting blinders on and concentrating on information that supports your preferences or precon ceived notions instead of the overall data results in incorrect conclusions and misleading information. It is most likely that your son and his office workers have been misled by advertising hype, social media, marketing and testimonial claims.

The impressive fact is that since 2003, there have been over 1,000 peer-reviewed, scientific studies published on oregano oil and its active ingredients. What is missing, however, are critical studies

in humans. My advice to your son is to jump off the oregano oil bandwagon, at least for now. Findings in cell cultures and animal models are valu able, but until oregano oil has been studied more thoroughly in humans, hold off taking it.

What is the “No-Nonsense Nutrition” advice for today? Well known, proven ways of boosting immunity in humans include not smoking, being within a reasonable weight range, being physically active, and controling your risk factors for diabetes, cardio vascular disease, hypertension and dental disease. Jumping on the latest bandwagon of immunity-boosting supple ments, whether it is orega no oil or some of the other supplements being pushed these days, is fraught with problems. And do not worry, using oregano as a spice compared to using the “puri fied” oil as a supplement are two entirely different things. Continue to enjoy oregano on your pizza and salads!

One last thought, David, is that if you find anything that stops adult children from wasting money, write a book and let the rest of us parents know about it.

Have a question about food, diet or nutrition? Post or private message your question on Facebook (www. Facebook.com/AskDrKarp) or email your question to askdrkarp@gmail.com If your question is chosen for a column, your name will be changed to ensure your privacy. Warren B. Karp, Ph.D., D.M.D., is Professor Emeritus at Augusta University. He has served as Director of the Nutrition Consult Service at the Dental College of Georgia and is past Vice Chair of the Columbia County Board of Health. You can find out more about Dr. Karp and the download site for the public domain eBook, Nutrition for Smarties, at www.wbkarp.com Dr. Karp obtains no funding for writing his columns, articles, or books, and has no financial or other interests in any food, book, nutrition product or company. His interest is only in providing freely available, evidencedbased, scientific nutrition knowledge and education. The information is for educational use only; it is not meant to be used to diagnose, manage or treat any patient or client. Although Dr. Karp is a Professor Emeritus at Augusta University, the views and opinions expressed here are his and his alone and do not reflect the views and opinions of Augusta University or anyone else.

Dr. Karp

Oregano in its natural state

resuscitated were you to be unconscious.

You also have the right to ask for a different nurse if you are being seen in the emergency room or admitted to the

and don’t like the care you are receiving. You can also file complaints with the charge nurse and unit leader. Unfortunately, I have had to do this for family members who were being treated poorly by nurses. I’m very thankful for nurses who love their jobs and treat their patients kindly and with dignity. I wish all nurses did so, but that’s not the case.

Patients should be treated equally to their doctors and nurs es in their health care. While the doctor provides treatment and recommendations and nurses provide care, it’s up to the patient what is actually done.

Patients also have the right to ask for a patient advocate. A patient advocate can help you navigate the health care system if you aren’t sure how to or have questions.

It is not too much to expect your health care team to know about your illness, even if it’s rare. You are important and deserve the best care.

For more information about your rights, look up informa tion about HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Account ability Act).

CRASH COURSE

More Americans have died on US roads since 2006 than in World Wars I & II combined

ince there is so much road work going on in the Aiken-Augusta area, it’s the perfect time to review some of the principles behind those familiar letters — CSRA — which, as we all know, stand for Construction Safety Reinforcement Activities.

And boy are they needed. Stop and think for a moment about the two main elements in every work zone scenario: the road workers and the vehicles passing through the work zone.

The workers may literally be inches away from passing traffic, yet they’re often protected by nothing more than plastic cones or barrels. As for that passing traffic, it might be hurtling past at 30 or 40 miles per hour or higher. Some times much higher. There’s no guarantee that a work zone is exempt from common safety issues like speeding, texting, and other forms of distracted driving. If anything goes awry, there is no room for error: drivers and work ers alike have neither the time nor space to adjust or correct safely.

If it sounds like a recipe for disaster, it is.

The statistics are shocking. In “normal” accidents, 43% of all crashes result in an injury of some kind, major or minor, to someone involved. Highway work zone ac cidents, however, are another breed entirely.

The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse (workzonesafety.org) tracks the startling numbers.

For work zone statistics, it’s up side-down: the numbers of injuries exceed the number of accidents.

Figures for 2020, the most recent year for which statistics are available, show more than 100,000 work

zone crashes. The roughly 31,000 crashes that resulted in injuries caused about 44,000 injuries. And the 774 fatal crashes resulted in 857 deaths. Similarly, 208 of the 2020 work zone crashes involved commercial vehicles like semi trucks or buses, and those 208 crashes resulted in 244 deaths.

Those numbers suggest a clear message for drivers: slow down in construction zones!

We aren’t doing too badly in this part of the world: the American Traffic Safety Ser vices Foundation (foundation.atssa.com) maintains a National Work Zone Memorial of those who have died in work zone crashes.

As of last December 31, the Memorial’s data base shows just 7 fatalities among construc tion workers in Georgia, and only 10 in South Carolina (which includes one motorist, one member of law enforcement, and 8 highway workers).

We used the words “just” and “only” be cause the two-state numbers are a fraction of the toll in other places. In Texas, for instance, 278 highway workers populate the Memo rial database as victims of fatal work zone wrecks (plus one member of law enforce ment).

Studies have shown that speeding and distracted driving are the two major factors in work zone accidents. Those two elements are a bad idea on a straight road without another vehicle in sight, but they are ab solutely dreadful and reckless while driving through a work zone.

The keys to safe ty in this case are simple: slow down; pay attention; focus; practice CSRA. +

the blog spot

A VOW: NEVER BECOME A ROBOT M.D.

From the Bookshelf

tests, the “feeble-minded,” the simply shy, people who were the “wrong” color or who couldn’t speak English.

Before starting medical school, I made a promise to myself: I will not become a robot doctor. Time and again, I visited what I call robot doctors: those physicians unable to empathize with me and seemingly unable to compute moments when I said something unscripted. For example, I once made an appointment with a doctor to discuss what might have been irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While describing my symptoms and discomfort, I cried. The doctor stared at me, blankly, and offered, “I can also refer you to a psychologist. You know, to talk about your feelings.” I wondered, are human emotions so foreign to this doctor that my feelings need a specialist?

It’s a curious exercise to ponder what advanced medical practices and technology of today will look ridiculously primitive, if not downright dangerous, in the future.

After all, high tech medicine in the days of yore has included some pretty weird practices. Ever hear of trepanation, for instance? It boiled down to this:

“Hey doc, I’m having lots of headaches.”

I had to write my own eulogy.

While I sat with that doctor, I felt alone; it was awkward and unnatural. I vowed never to become that type of clinician.

Flash forward four years and I’m two months into Stan ford’s medical curriculum. Already I can imagine how that robot doctor had emerged, as I’m beginning to feel like a robot student. Each day is summarized in a checklist I attempt to complete before the following day. The next day starts and ends the same way: cross-checking my list, triag ing what to table and what to complete before I sleep and start again. Some days I drag myself from class to class. My calendar consumes me.

Part of the problem is that in medical school, there are things I must do to change myself. There are standards that I must uphold and practices to which I must conform. How do I conform to rules and regulations but still main tain a semblance of my sympathy, unlike the physician from my IBS appointment that day?

I don’t have the perfect answer to this question, but I can think of something that can help: practicing compas sion. Specifically, I must face my emotions, own my mis takes, and forgive myself. This is easier said than done, as it requires that I carve out time to reflect and engage with my own thoughts.

In early October, I was lucky enough to have an oppor tunity to practice self-compassion through the “Medicine & the Muse” storytelling retreat. We spent a weekend writ ing on a variety of topics and shared our pieces with each other (something I was at first hesitant to do). For the first time since the start of school, I had ample time to face my fear of becoming a robot doctor.

At the retreat we were given many prompts to inspire our reflections, and among my favorite exercises was writ ing my own eulogy from the perspective of my younger sister, Maddie. Though morbid, this piece helped me enter the space I needed in order to deal with my emotions. I had to answer questions I have struggled with all of my life and ask: What life would I lead that would make Maddie proud? What choices did I make? What values did I uphold? Would she say I found joy in the little things and laughed until my sides hurt?

I was inspired by the retreat. My peers shared their writing, showing courage and a bit of their inner selves. Students read pieces about times they failed miserably. They cried, they felt something, and they were anything but robotic.

As I sat there among all of these blessedly wonderful people, I felt their compassion and humility. They were, like me, struggling against the emotional drains of med icine, and yet they managed to elude the pressures that can harden us into becoming robot doctors. Their effort, persistence, and courage gave me hope that I can face the demands of medical training and keep the promise I made long ago.

“I’ll need to drill a hole in your skull to relieve the pressure.”

“But what about the pain?”

“Oh don’t worry about that. Anesthesia will be invented in a couple hundred years.”

Trepanation, blood letting, and a host of other odd practices were all state of the art medicine at one time.

But that was then, this is now, right?

Not so fast, says author Edwin Black. In War Against the Weak he chronicles an American medical trend of the first half of the 20th Century that is uncomfortably reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

This particular installment of pseudoscience was

called eugenics, and it was admirably subtle. When it fully developed and came to maturity in Germany, it was a blatant exercise in racism and execution on an epic scale. In its infancy in the U.S., it was no less judgmental, but a more subtle.

Instead of execution in gas chambers, tens of thousands of Americans who inhabited “the lower tenth” of society were forcibly sterilized, permanently committed to mental institutions, and prohibited from marrying and reproducing more of their undesirable kind.

Who were “the lower tenth”? People who scored low on IQ

BLOODWORTH from page 1

resolved his romantic relationship.

It was quite a start for the American doctor as a popular culture hero. In that March 1936 story, published in Hearst’s Cosmopolitan magazine, which begins with the economic uncertainties of the Great Depression, Dr. Kildare became a hero, a scientist, a lover — and an agent, in fiction, for a new image of the American physician. No longer an older man with a black bag for house calls, the doctor is now a part of urban America.

The first Kildare movie was entitled Young Dr. Kildare, America always re quiring that its heroes be young.

Ironically, the creator of was more famous for other kinds of stories, espe cially westerns, including Destry Rides Again, which was made into a 1939 movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Mar lene Dietrich. He often published under the pseudonym Max Brand, but his real name was Frederick Schiller Faust. As a student as the University of California from 1911 to 1915, his closest friend was George Winthrop Fish, who went on to become an ambulance driver in World War I and then a respected urologist who interned at Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

In other words, the inspiration for a fictional character who transformed the image of the American doctor — and who no doubt increased the earning power of American doctors — was an American doctor.

Black tells the fascinating and frightening story in great detail —and there’s a lot more detail than you would hope: mandatory sterilization laws were enacted in 27 states to prevent those deemed “unfit” from breeding more undesirables. Respected institutions from the hallowed halls of medical academia right up to the U.S. Supreme Court were all completely on-board with the immediate goal: sterilizing 14 million unfit Americans. Maintenance would follow, refining and purifying the gene pool by continually straining off the bottom tenth: Mexicans, Jews, “white trash,” alcoholics and immigrants.

It’s a chilling tale. It happened here, and not all that long ago.

Its importance? As George Santayana famously noted, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” War Against the Weak by Edwin Black, 592 pages, published in 2008 by Dialog Press.

TV docs of note

Richard Chamberlain, the subject of Dr. Bloodworth’s profile, who got it all started portraying Dr. Kildare.

The young Denzel Washington played the role of Dr. Philip Chandler on St. Elsewhere

Vincent Edwards, who played the role of Dr. Ben Casey.

Jane Seymore starred in Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman, featuring the rarely depicted female doctor

Alan Alda made Hawkeye Pierce and the term M.A.S.H. Unit houselhold names.

THE MYSTERY WORD

The Mystery Word for this issue: REOABEL

A M I N E R

great-great-great-

of

D O K U

for

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E S M

SY U Y Y

A I R

R T E

E S P N

G M O T

A U S E

T L A E

F R O O

T H N A

R E R

R S N

THEBESTMEDICINE

The doctor takes a look and tells him, “No worries, mate. They’re benign.”

“That can’t be,” says the pirate. “Look again. I know there must be at least ten.”

Moe: What do you get when you spell “man” backwards?

Joe: Flashbacks.

An optimist says the glass is half full. A pessimist says the glass is half empty. An optometrist says they both need glasses.

Donald Trump finds a magic lamp. He rubs it, and a genie comes out.

“For freeing me from captivity, I hereby grant you three wishes,” says the genie

“I’m sick and tired of getting sued for every thing I do,” says Trump. “I want there to be no more courts and no more lawyers.”

“Granted. You have no wishes left.”

“What the...? You told me I had three wishes, and I only used one!” complains Trump.

“So sue me,” says the genie.

Moe: I found a wallet this morning.

Joe: What did you do?

Moe: Well, there was money in it, so I definitely wanted to do the right thing. I asked myself, what would Jesus do?

Joe: And?

Moe: I turned the money into wine.

A pirate goes to see a doctor. “Doc,” he says, “I’ve got countless moles on me back.”

Moe: I have no use for people who take drugs.

Joe: You mean like airport security?

Moe: Do you ever tell dad jokes?

Joe: Not since he got so hard of hearing.

A couple goes to a rustic farm-to-table restau rant for dinner. After they had a chance to look at the menu for several minutes, the waiter returned to their table to take their orders. Pointing to one of the entrees the man asked, “How do you prepare the chicken?”

“We tell them right up front they aren’t going to make it,” said the waiter.

Moe: They say King Charles will not make as many foreign visits as Queen Elizabeth did.

Joe: Wonder why?

Moe: Because the Queen could go any dis tance but the King can only move one space at a time.

Joe: Oh, good knight.

Therapist: What are you so terrified of? Patient: Letters.

Therapist: Oh, I see.

popular demand

you live beyond

Advice Doctor

Dear Advice Doctor,

I asked a coworker for a favor a few months ago in order to get a project completed on time, and I have regretted it ever since. She acts like I am her permanent slave now. Apparently I am indebted to her for multiple return favors in exchange for the one she did for me. They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? Boy is that ever true. Is it too much to ask for someone to simply help out a fellow human?

— Can I Get an Amen?

Dear Amen,

I am sure many people have been in your shoes and have asked the same question. Especially in this current inflationary cycle, groceries are geting more expensive by the day. As you correctly note, there is no such thing as a free lunch — or breakfast and supper for that matter.

But there is good news to report. No matter what the current rate of inflation happens to be, it is possible to save significant amounts of money on your food bill without sacrificing important things like quality and flavor.

In fact, cutting costs can cut other things, like waistlines, cholesterol levels, BMI, credit card bills, and wasted time.

Many people start their days (sometimes 5 days a week or more) in the drive-thru line at a fast food restaurant. That can get expensive, but even for a multi-millionaire it’s just not the best idea from a health standpoint. Fast food is generally quite high in fat and sodium, and for some menu items, added sugars.

Another pleasant vice can be caffeine addiction. Well and good, but I have patients who complain to me about high food prices who spend hundreds of dollars every month at their coffee vendor of choice — and when I say hundreds of dollars, I mean for each adult in the family.

Good and healthful and enjoyable eating is not supposed to be about deprivation and self-denial. Admittedly, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Or a free cup of coffee. But that 3- or 4- or 5-dollar cup of coffee costs pennies to brew. And thermos bottles aren’t free either, but they’re cheap.

Similarly, something you enjoy eating that you can eat for breakfast and/or bring from home for lunch will save you time, much money, and if you choose well, inches and pounds (see the illustration below).

I hope this answers your question.

Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in the Examiner.

BEFORE READING AFTER

Aiken-Augusta area,

it when that happens?

miss

Choose six months for $20 or one year for

Box

GA 30903-

THE MYSTERY SOLVED

hidden

the crowd

the

WALK (which has been rescheduled

THE WINNER: BRIANNA PATEL!

that’s

name,

QUOTATION

WORDS BY NUMBER

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

ACUPUNCTURE

Dr. Eric Sherrell, DACM, LAC Augusta Acupuncture Clinic 4141 Columbia Road 706-888-0707 www.AcuClinicGA.com

CHIROPRACTIC

Evans Chiropractic Health Center

Dr. William M. Rice 108 SRP Drive, Suite A 706-860-4001 www.evanschiro.net

COUNSELING

Resolution Counseling Professionals

3633 Wheeler Rd, Suite 365 Augusta 30909 706-432-6866 www.visitrcp.com

DENTISTRY

Jason H. Lee, DMD 116 Davis Road Augusta 30907 706-860-4048

DERMATOLOGY

Georgia Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center 2283 Wrightsboro Rd. (at Johns Road) Augusta 30904 706-733-3373 www.GaDerm.com

DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRICS

Karen L. Carter, MD 1303 D’Antignac St, Suite 2100 Augusta 30901 706-396-0600 www.augustadevelopmentalspecialists.com

DRUG REHAB

Steppingstones to Recovery 2610 Commons Blvd. Augusta 30909 706-733-1935

Augusta Area Healthcare Provider

EMF PROTECTION

EMF Safe Homes Sheila Reavill

Certified Building Biology Specialist 209-625-8382 (landline)

IN-HOME CARE

Everyday Elder Care LLC Certified Home Health/Caregiver 706-231-7001

Zena Home Care Personal Care|Skilled Nursing|Companion 706-426-5967 www.zenahomecare.com

LONG TERM CARE

WOODY MERRY www.woodymerry.com Long-Term Care Planning I CAN HELP! (706) 733-3190 • 733-5525 (fax)

PHARMACY

Parks Pharmacy 437 Georgia Ave. N. Augusta 29841 803-279-7450 www.parkspharmacy.com

P ARKS HARMACY

SLEEP MEDICINE

Sleep Institute of Augusta

Bashir Chaudhary, MD 3685 Wheeler Rd, Suite 101 Augusta 30909 706-868-8555

Floss ‘em or lose ‘em!

Steven L. Wilson, DMD Family Dentistry 4059 Columbia Road Martinez 30907 706-863-9445

Thank

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