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April
14, 2004
News from Dr. John C.
Lowe
New Items:
NEWS ITEMS
1. Letter by Dr. Lowe published in
British Medical Journal online
2. Dr. Lowe to speak at Kansas fibromyalgia conference
3. Dr. Lowe on Temple of Health Radio Show
4. More participants needed for study of metabolic rates
5. Interest in measuring
patients' metabolic rates
Letter by Dr. Lowe
Published in
British Medical Journal Online
Several days ago, the online version of the British Medical Journal published
a letter from Dr.
Lowe. His letter is in support of the view of a Cuban psychiatrist and suicide researcher, Dr. Sergio Pérez. Dr. Pérez wrote to the Journal protesting a ban by the U.S. government on scientific journals editing and publishing articles submitted by scientists in countries embargoed by the U.S. Dr. Pérez pointed out that the ban is just as likely to hurt U.S. citizens as it will citizens of Cuba. He concluded, "It is not possible to block ideas, good relationships between people, and the love of human beings for the sciences."
The news report in the British Medical Journal that Dr. Pérez responded to contains a photo of President Bush. Under the photo is the statement, "President Bush's sanctions are affecting scientific articles as well as trade." The report also contains this statement: "Last September the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers trade embargoes, announced that any substantive changes made by American reviewers, translators, or editors to manuscripts from the embargoed countries would constitute a service to the country and would be permissible only with a special license. Violators of the trade regulations can incur fines as high as $500,000.00 (£268,000) and jail sentences of up to 10 years."
Journal publishers in the U.S. have responded to the ban by demanding that they be able to consider publishing articles based on their scientific merit, and that alone. They are prepared to defy the ban. One publishing official stated, "The advancement of science is a global activity, and this ruling is frankly inimical to that." Another said, "This ruling is baffling. How does editing manuscripts threaten the US?"
In his letter, Dr. Lowe wrote, "I fully support Dr. Pérez in his view that a ban on editing of articles of scientists from embargoed countries is bad for U.S.
scientists—but also for scientists the world over and the citizens of their respective countries." He also wrote, "I vehemently believe that
scientists—no matter what countries they work in---must have free access to one another's research findings, regardless of the field of science, lest human beings in all their countries suffer as a consequence. In view of that consequence alone, ideological differences over forms of government (as in the conflict between the U.S. and Cuba) are to me petty except for their destructiveness."
Dr. Lowe to
Speak
at Kansas Fibromyalgia Conference
Dr. Lowe will give presentations on Saturday, May 15 at the annual
conference of Fibromyalgia Coalition International. He will talk about the mounting evidence that fibromyalgia is a metabolic disorder.
The conference is at the Marriott Hotel, Overland Park, Kansas. Dr. Lowe will speak from 10:30 to 11:45 AM.
Details of the conference are available
online.
Dr. Lowe on Temple of Health Radio
Show
Dr. Lowe was interviewed on the Temple of Health Radio Show in Atlanta, Georgia on two consecutive Saturday mornings, April 3 and April 10, 2004. The show airs at WGUN 1010 AM radio. The hosts of the show are Dr. Susan Kolb, a plastic, reconstructive surgeon and medical intuitive, and Dr. Rick Clofine, a gynecologist. Both Dr. Kolb and Dr. Clofine are board certified in alternative medicine. They practice at the Atlanta multidisciplinary clinic called Millennium Healthcare.
Drs. Kolb and Clofine invited Dr. Lowe to be on the show to talk about metabolic rehab. During the show, he took the opportunity to describe recent studies showing that T4-replacement therapy, usually with Synthroid, is ineffective for and harmful to many hypothyroid patients. For these patients, T4-replacement is harmful in three ways: (1) it leaves
them chronically suffering from hypothyroid symptoms, (2) results in a higher incidence of hypothyroid-associated diseases, and (3) increases their use of drugs to control the symptoms and diseases.
Within a week, Dr. Lowe's paper containing documentary evidence for the ineffectiveness and potential harm of T4-replacement will be posted at www.drlowe.com. You can reach his paper through the following webpage: http://www.drlowe.com/frf/t4replacement/intro.htm
Dr. Lowe is presently working to complete a book, Tyranny of the TSH, that will also contain this evidence. Readers who are interested in the book can write to Dave Woodley at
McDPubCo@aol.com. If you'll write "tyranny" in the subject line, the company will put your email address in the database of people who want to be notified when the book is available for shipping.
Dr. Lowe's interview will be posted in the near future on Dr. Kolb and Dr. Clofine's website:
www.millennium-healthcare.com.
More Participants Needed
for Study of Metabolic Rates
by Dr. John C. Lowe
Our study of the metabolic rates of healthy women compared to those of women with fibromyalgia is underway. As I wrote in our last newsletter, we need more fibromyalgia patients for the study. However, we especially need more healthy women. Any woman between the ages of 20 and 60 is welcome to apply to take part. For purposes of the study, we'll consider a woman healthy as long as she doesn't have any major acute or chronic disease. If you think you're healthy but aren't sure, please apply. An internist and a family physician on our research team will determine whether you classify as healthy through health-screening blood tests and other assessments.
There is no cost to participate in the study, and participants receive a number of services for taking
part. Thanks in advance for applying.
Interest in
Measuring Patients' Metabolic Rates
In the last email newsletter, Dr. Lowe explained that he now measure patients' metabolic rates. Since then, he's received emails from many patients and doctors expressing interest in the instrument for measuring metabolic rates. The instrument is called an indirect calorimeter. Dr. Lowe encourages other doctors to begin using it to provide their patients with metabolic therapy that's far more effective than thyroid blood testing
allows. He welcomes any communication from doctors about the instrument. They can contact him at
drlowe@drlowe.com. (Incidentally, Dr. Lowe have no financial interest whatever in the company that markets the indirect calorimeter.)
March
16, 2004
News from the Dr.
John C. Lowe
New Items:
NEWS ITEMS
1. More Participants Needed for Study of Metabolic Rates
2. Center Now Provides Tests for Body Composition and Metabolic Rate
More Participants Needed
for Study of Metabolic Rates
by Dr. John C. Lowe
We are about to begin our study of the metabolic rates of healthy women
compared to those of women with fibromyalgia.
We need more fibromyalgia patients for the study, but we especially need more healthy women. Any woman between the ages of 20 and 60 is welcome to apply to take part. For purposes of the study, we'll consider a woman healthy as long as she doesn't have any major acute or chronic disease. If you think you're healthy but aren't sure, please apply. We'll determine whether you classify as healthy through health-screening blood tests and physicians' assessments—at no cost to you.
There is no cost to participate in the study, and participants receive a number of services for taking
part. Thanks in advance for applying.
Body Composition Analysis and
Resting Metabolic Rates
Now Provided at Center for Metabolic Health
Dr. Lowe now provide bioelectrical impedance for measuring patients' body composition. The instrument is a Biodynamic body composition analyzer. Its sophistication and precision is based on advanced microprocessor and software technology.
With extremely high precision, the instrument measures a patient's percentage of body fat, fat body mass, and lean body mass (muscle, bone, and connective tissues). It also compares the patient's body composition with what's considered ideal for the same sex, age, height,
and weight. The instrument also estimates the patient's basal metabolic rate. Studies show that it is as accurate as CT-scan body composition analysis.
The doctors also now provide measurements of patients' resting metabolic rates. The instrument they use is the MedGem indirect calorimeter. The calorimeter measures the patient's oxygen consumption at rest and uses the result to calculate the metabolic rate.
For practicing doctors, indirect calorimeters were essentially off the market for almost thirty years. This happened because of a deal wrought between the endocrinology specialty and BlueCross/BlueShield. The deal was that the insurance company would no longer pay for indirect calorimetry and instead would pay for thyroid blood tests. Before long, technicians who had performed calorimetry tests had to find other kinds of work. And since then, about thirty years, indirect calorimetry has been available only through major research centers.
The reason that calorimeters were available only at major research centers was the cost. Until recently, they cost about $50,000. Because insurance no longer paid for the diagnostic test, it wasn't practical for a doctors to purchase them for their practices. Now, however, new sensory technology has made affordable handheld indirect calorimeters available for doctors. And now, once again, doctors can easily measure their patients' metabolic rates.
The deal between the endocrinology specialty and BlueCross/BlueShield—with
other insurance companies following suit—led to a thirty-year disaster
in the care of hypothyroid patients. The lives of scores of millions of
these patients were ruined, and incalculable numbers died earlier than
they otherwise would have. Recent studies confirm that thyroid lab test
results are highly unreliable in identifying patients whose symptoms are
caused by hypothyroidism, and they are highly undependable in finding
thyroid hormone dosages that are effective for patients. But the
handheld indirect calorimeter now enables patients to avoid being
victimized by the disastrous decision to rely on lab test results. Dr. Lowe now actually measures what's truly important in the care of hypothyroid and thyroid hormone resistance
patients—the effectiveness of a particular thyroid hormone dosage on the patient's metabolism.
The doctors' now regularly use body composition analysis and metabolic rate measures in their clinical practice. The combination allows them to avoid a former need for guesswork and to make clinical decisions about metabolic treatment with far greater
accuracy—a definite plus for patients eager to fully recover their metabolic health.
Patients interested in having their body composition analyzed and resting metabolic rate measured should
phone us at (603) 391-6061, or write to us at
Tammy@drlowe.com. She can arrange an appointment for the testing. New patients at the Center automatically receive a body composition analysis and metabolic rate measurement as part of their initial diagnostic workup.
Clinical Care
To inquire about long-distance consulting services or treatment at our
clinic, please contact
Tammy Lowe. You can reach her by e-mail at
Tammy@drlowe.com, or by telephone at
(603) 391-6061.
For services provided by Dr. John C.
Lowe, please write to Tammy Lowe at
Tammy@drlowe.com, or phone her at 603-391-6061.
© 2004 John C. Lowe. All rights reserved. This Center for Metabolic Health, LLC
Email Newsletter may be copied and distributed subject to three
conditions: (1) All text within the full document or any section copied
must be copied without modification with all pages included. (2) All
copies must contain the following copyright notice: "© 2004 John C.
Lowe" (3) Neither this full document nor
any section of it may be distributed for profit.
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