The REAL scoop on the latest Atkin's bashing...

[sugarpie]

Steak Through the Heart?
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
By Neil Cavuto

*****This is straight from http://www.foxnews.com


I think it's time to update you on a few key facts on this Atkins situation.

Update 1: He's dead. He can't defend himself.

Update 2: His medical records were made public. How would you like that to happen to you, or a loved one?

Update 3: The people who revealed those records were a group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Update 4: That group advocates vegetarianism and is among the Atkins diet's biggest critics.

Update 5: They seem to have an axe to grind.

Update 6: They seem to be selective when they grind that ax.

Update 7: Atkins was not, and I repeat was not, obese at the end of his life. According to a hospital record obtained by USA Today, the good doctor was all of 195 pounds when he was admitted to a hospital after a fall on April 8, 2003.

Update 8: He lapsed into a coma and died nine days later. No one, and I repeat no one, knows for sure how much weight he gained with water retention while he was comatose. But clearly, it wasn't the fault of a guy downing ring-dings. For god's sake, he was dying!

Update 9: Dr. Atkins had cardiomyopathy that resulted from a viral infection, not his diet.

Update 10: I had a chance to see Dr. Atkins several times over the last few years. He always seemed in pretty good shape to me. And why wouldn't he be? He was the face of a diet revolution for more than 40 years! You don't stay on message if you're not staying in shape. And Atkins did and was.

They say dead men tell no tales. I just pity the fact this dead man can't tell his critics where to get off.

Let them eat their vegetables. But for god's sake, let this man rest in peace.

Watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World with Cavuto.

_________________


[ This Message was edited by: sugarpie on 2004-02-11 20:56 ]

[laynie]

may i ask how old he was?

[njchica]

I read that he was admitted to the hospital at 195 but expired at 250 or whatever... due to the coma he was retaining a sick amount of water....

[~*HoneyBee*~]

Quote:
On 2004-02-11 20:58, laynie wrote:
may i ask how old he was?


He was 72.

[CariFairy]

It is so sad. It is also not right that his med records are out in public likr this. It is humiliating to his family especially his wife.

CARDIOMYOPATHY: refers to any disease of the heart muscle. USUALLY in primary cadrio. the cause of the disorder is unknown.In secondary cardiiomyopathy the cause of the disease is known or suspected. Yes it was definately caused by some type of infection. THAT IS SO SAD. What a horrible way to die. There are so many diet doctors out there. Each of them is striving to teach us how to live healthier. We should not knock these people, but embrace what they teach us. If we learn something else later, we can adjust our lifestyle. EVEN Vegan doctors strive to remove processed carbs out of our diets, and only eat fresh stuff. Atkins was on to a real whopper of an idea, and no doubt that it has caused us to realize that we eat too much processed junk.

[sugarpie]

ya...I know this swelling happens because I saw it in my mom when she was in a coma...it was HORRIBLE. She was unrecognizable.

I feel very badly for Dr. Atkins wife as she is probably having some tough emotions hearing this crap.

[CariFairy]

She could sue actually. There are so amny laws preventing people from accessing medical records without permission. Especially since it was broadcasted everywhere.

[sugarpie]

I hope she does sue...I know I would be devastated if someone did that with my moms records and tried to drag her name through the mud.

I'm sure Dr. Atkins wasn't perfect...no human is...but he's not evenhere to defend himself...
those people are freakin cowards to do this now.

[LucaBella]

wow i didn't kinow he was dead...

[Kristygal]

Quote:
On 2004-02-11 22:32, CariFairy wrote:

She could sue actually. There are so amny laws preventing people from accessing medical records without permission. Especially since it was broadcasted everywhere.

I don't know how they were able to legally get the records when my husband had to call his doctors and give a verbal consent for me to even give them our insurance information. I called to give the office our policy number and they wouldn't accept it until he called and told them to.

[Vikingdotter]

I´m not exactly a friend of *any* "wonder diets" I consindered this methods extremly unfair. It is arguing "Ad hominem" – atacking the person, not her or his arguments. (And I distrust anythink from http://www.foxnews.com by the way ).

[sugarpie]

Quote:
On 2004-02-12 00:11, Vikingdotter wrote:
(And I distrust anythink from http://www.foxnews.com by the way ).




most liberals do...LOL...but it's America's most watched news program and they stay true to our countries best interests more than any other news program.

fox is the only news program I will watch, and my homepage is set to foxnews.com

[boobrandt]

i think it's sad that dr. atkins died before he got as famous as he is now. i think his diet is the answer for many, and nutritionists have been scrambling to disprove his theories. to them.

[~*HoneyBee*~]

The Truth About Dr. Atkins’ Weight
By Stuart Trager, M.D.
At the time of his injury at the age of 72, after years of following the Atkins Nutritional ApproachTM, Dr. Atkins’ recorded height was 6 feet and his recorded weight was 195 pounds.

In today's Wall Street Journal a grossly distorted story on the health of Dr. Robert C. Atkins reported that he weighed 258 pounds at the time of his death, making him obese. In fact, the day after his fall, Dr. Atkins' weight was recorded as195 pounds, 63 pounds less than reported at his death! Based on the body mass index (BMI), a desirable range for people over the age of 65, is 24 to 29. At a height of 6 feet, Dr. Atkins’ BMI was 26.4, putting him squarely in the normal range for his age.

The Journal article was based on incomplete and inaccurate personal medical information that was released in violation of federal law. Furthermore, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which, despite its name is a group of animal rights activists, illegally delivered these documents to the newspaper.


Dr. Atkins' weight was consistently and frequently documented in the years and months prior to his fall; as he was suffering from cardiomyopathy, his health was monitored closely. Despite this, he regularly played tennis, his favorite sport. His weight at his death was a result of water retention. During his coma, as he deteriorated and his major organs failed, fluid retention and bloating dramatically distorted his body.

Any implication that Dr. Atkins was obese prior to his accident shows a blatant disregard, or even worse, a twisting of medical facts surrounding this case to suit an agenda. One would also expect knowledgeable physicians to have a better understanding of the physiology of severe heart failure and the degree of fluid retention that occurred during this hospitalization for severe brain trauma. None of us would expect the physicians at PCRM to reveal any of this in light of their past and current motivation—but surely as medical professionals they understood that this weight gain was not due to obesity.

[Mrc4608]

Bottom line, we all have choices. If ya don't like one plan , move on to the next! IMO

[AussieShell]

Quote:
On 2004-02-12 06:40, sugarpie wrote:
Quote:
On 2004-02-12 00:11, Vikingdotter wrote:
(And I distrust anythink from http://www.foxnews.com by the way ).




most liberals do...LOL...but it's America's most watched news program and they stay true to our countries best interests more than any other news program.

fox is the only news program I will watch, and my homepage is set to foxnews.com



Please - mc donalds is america's most popular restaurant - does that mean they're good and right and represent the most honest ideals?

[Vikingdotter]

I had made a funny misspelling - anythink

[sugarpie]

Quote:
On 2004-02-13 00:32, AussieShell wrote:
Quote:
On 2004-02-12 06:40, sugarpie wrote:
Quote:
On 2004-02-12 00:11, Vikingdotter wrote:
(And I distrust anythink from http://www.foxnews.com by the way ).




most liberals do...LOL...but it's America's most watched news program and they stay true to our countries best interests more than any other news program.

fox is the only news program I will watch, and my homepage is set to foxnews.com



Please - mc donalds is america's most popular restaurant - does that mean they're good and right and represent the most honest ideals?

you watch your thing, I'll watch mine.

There's a reason the republicans are called the "right."

[rocker-tan]

i guess vikingdotter hates the truth when it comes to news. Fox News is the only network out there that isn't a pro-liberal channel. It does the news correctly: FAIR AND BALANCED! And by the way, I think the only safe diet out there is to exercise more, and eat less.

[sugarpie]

Wow! I'm impressed! A 19 y/o who is into some good news watchin!!

The only thing I cared about when I was 18/19 was finding some good sinsamilla bud and passing at college.

[Vikingdotter]

Hi, rocker-tan, I din´t hate the thruth when it comes to news. All I know is: journalists can err - and they can even lie sometimes. That of cause also goes for pro-liberal channels, newspapers, news websites, news agency ect. ect. - but FOX is something special.
Quote:
Fox News is the only network out there that isn't a pro-liberal channel. It does the news correctly: FAIR AND BALANCED!
If you belive it, I know there is an nice brige in New York I would like to sell to you ...

I rarely watch FOX News because I can´t get it with my satelite dish, but I frequently went to the FOX webstite. FOX isn´t not only very conservative, but has also a quite simplistic world view - here are the good guys, there are the bad guys, Americas always right (like in western- or detective movies - but real life isn´t such simple).

On some occasions FOX news came dammed near to a lie - so I remember what FO wrote one year ago, before the beginning of the 2nd Gulf War. For example they haved called the anti-war rallies allmost everytime "anti-american", sometimes even "pro-Saddam", what definitely not was the cause! Most of those demonstrants where in fact pro-american values, as stated in the US constitution. I even remembeer a quite nasty comment on a anti-war rally in Munich. The commentator compares the demonstrating people to the mass rallies of the Nazi party in the 1930ts - and suggested even an idiological relationship between those events. I have seen neither on TV, in the newspaper or in the internet a single pro-Saddam poster in those rallies, nor in real life (yes, I attended to two anti-war rallies in Hamburg and one in Copenhagen).

I don´t want to insult the FOX journalists, but I have watched year ago, back in the 1980ts, somewhat similar news. The ideology behind it was quite different, I admit, it also was not a glitzy and glamourous as the FOX-style, but if I compare the likeness in everthink else is
stunning: the same two-dimensional, simplistic good vs. bad view, the same certainly of living in the best possible society in worlds history, the same tendency to build govermental and military propaganda into the news - and even the same ultra patriotic obsession with sports events.
I´m talking of the news in the "Fernsehen der DDR" (the TV of the communistic GDR, better known as "East Germany").

And I agree with you: the only safe diet out there is to exercise more, and eat less (and the right things).
_________________
[ This Message was edited by: Vikingdotter on 2004-02-14 15:49 ]

[Bonnie]

Quote:
On 2004-02-13 12:05, rocker-tan wrote:
i guess vikingdotter hates the truth when it comes to news. Fox News is the only network out there that isn't a pro-liberal channel. It does the news correctly: FAIR AND BALANCED! And by the way, I think the only safe diet out there is to exercise more, and eat less.


I agree with your last sentence only! Like most conservatives, you assume anyone who doesn't agree with you is wrong and therefore not "normal". Fox news is very right-wing. There is no such thing as a truly "liberal" media in the US, because the political left has largely died. What you really mean is that if someone doesn't swallow the conservative line in its entirety, they are, perforce, liberal. I consider myself a social liberal and fiscal conservative, so likely that makes me a moderate!

Besides, why is the most conservative president in memory also the most recklessly irresponsible fiscally? Oh yeah, defense and agricultural subsidies, but somehow conservatives never count that.

And my apologies to the original author of this thread for taking it further off topic![ This Message was edited by: bonnie on 2004-02-14 15:56 ]

[sugarpie]

start a new "left vs. right" thread, cuz I could give a crap about liberals and anything they have to say.

[~*HoneyBee*~]

I find it amusing that someone would take any mainstream media seriously to begin with. Do you people not realize who owns and operates these businesses??? And, no...it's not the Jewish...LOL

[upsessedwittans]

I know that all types of these diets (atkins,slim fast,special k, etc) whatever it is your on, none are permanent whatsoever. you will lose weight with them but whenever you go off them, you will gain it right back. the only real way to lose weight and keep it off is to keep a balanced diet, workout and exercise...plus, all of these diets have their benefits and downfalls, so i agree with you guys in saying that the news should lay off dr. atkins bout all this. let him rest in peace, and let his family live peacefully without having to deal with all this...its just wrong.

[Vikingdotter]

Upsessed_wit_tans, you are right. No "wonder diet" will work properly on the long run, you know the yo-yo effect. For the late Dr. Atkins: I think, he wasn´t totally wrong with his ideas - for example a balanced diet should contain also a certain amount of fat (angains the popular idea of an extreme low fat diet) - but he exaggerated - like many people who went into merchandising their ideas. A sort of self-corruption.

@ Honey Bee: yes, the agenda of a newspaper or a TV channel is where you buy it.

[Amandie]

My view is that no matter what kind of diet you pick, there are always going to be some types of criticism against it.