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Regarding the connection between mind and body, and your previous statin post, I'm watching that combine and play out with a 70-year-old neighbor. He's always been healthy and free from drugs, but all of his four sisters take statins because they have "high LDL" and convinced him last month to get blood work done.

The results came in and the doctor told him he was at risk of a heart attack and stroke because his LDL was 220, and gave him a prescription for statins. I'm not sure why, but he refused to take them, probably because he's very stubborn.

The thing is, he also believes what they told him and now thinks he has lost his health and has a congenital problem that will end his life. I saw him when he walked out of the doctor's office and he looked fragile and crushed, and it's been a downward spiral since then. His acid reflux flared up considerably and he's always clearing his throat, and since last weekend he's been in bed, exhausted and weak and discouraged.

I hope he just needs time and deals with his own aging and mortality, but it's really cruel to tell someone their blood is bad and likely to give them a heart attack, all based on that stupid test.

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May 25, 2023·edited May 26, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

When I look at my life I can only say: God gave/gives me shot at living a perfect life.

There will always be tragedy and malevolence, disappointments and losses, pain and misery. God showed me/us a perfect way forward (the 'operating system' always knew THE path) through life's minefields and chasms, the deep cold rapids, white water slamming you against boulders, and the stirrings, silent despair, sleeping with an enemy.

I would that people would simply turn off their TV's, walk outside, and go help a neighbor with something. Talk to each other like you matter, people have so many different areas of focus. All of us are necessary to complete the picture. We all need to be here, we are all important.

Finally, glad am I that I was born at a time when we were taught about nobility of spirit, that each and every human being is noble until proven otherwise (but then allowed to restore his/her nobility by penance) and proud of each other and certainly glad and thankful of our birthright.

I'm thankful that we were taught that tyranny was bad, independence, in liberty, absolute. Critical thought was a minimal requirement of citizenship. We trusted that successive generations of teachers were carrying the torch, working to guarantee the continuation of this amazing nation, the only nation in the history of history conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all created are equal.

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May 25, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

Thank you again. Two ideas came to me to share: 1) the Buddha's first noble truth is that life is "duka" which can be translated as "affliction" but is commonly thought of as "suffering." Suffering is not dependent on attachment. Life is suffering. That is, Suffering is unavoidable. Where our attachment enter the picture is when, due to our attachment to comfort we push discomfort (suffering) away. With this in mind, I believe most Buddhists do not understand what the buddha taught. 2) In the U.S. we are taught that success if financial. Imagine then, the suffering that arises from this even though it has been studied and shown that once we have what we need to be secure, additional wealth does nothing for us. Imagine if success were defined in another way, such as mastery of an art, craft, or skill.

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Very apropos everything. I was reflecting that I became addicted later in life, to the internet, and then when I removed the internet, to food. Why? I think covid-madness related isolation started it, along with the fact that I was tapering off benzos (1 mg lorazepam and 30 mg temazepam for several years) at that time. When I got low on benzos (only half a mg of lorazepam), I got quite out of hand.

I eventually quit sugar and grain-type starches and began regular sun exposure and exercise. I am finally normalizing. I think the sun has made the most difference. Who woulda thunk.

Should your depression categories include SAD too? I've been helped by St. John's Wort with that.

I want to add that I have done a lot of therapy, and except for a support group with other young women which was empowering, and much later a very congenial therapist who helped me swim out of a case of PTSD, the rest of it was hogwash. Money wasted. And some of it was actively harmful, like when the therapist went out of her way to convince me that I was imagining spousal abuse. Most of these people don't know what they are doing. -- Loved the article.

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May 25, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

You should have stopped at "quit watching main stream media" and told everyone to get outside. Mental illness is about disconnection... from self, from others, from nature, from spirit.

The lockdowns exacerbated that... I don't care how much we can do digitally. We need each other... to touch, talk, see others... physically, mentally, spiritually...

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May 25, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

Such an insightful write up. There are so many things I want to say, I don’t even know where to start. I’ll just say this for now: I’m beginning to feel like this country has turned into one big insane asylum and the worst lunatics among us are running it.

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Dr., please continue in this direction. I loved every single piece of the article. Much of it were things I've often wondered, but had no answers for... the Vagas nerve, psychiatric imbalances, psychedelic drugs, body language. When I was young, I realized my sister was lying every time she sniffed once while looking down. I never mentioned her "tell" to her and she does it to this day. Quite a liar, lol.

I wish you'd just write a book.

Thank you!

And yes, please cover hormones in the future.

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Terrific article. I didn't know about the biochemical causes you mentioned. Recently learned of low-progesterone depression, thought to be major cause of post partum depression

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May 25, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

I love the new topics you are diving into. Fascinating. Thank you!

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Yes very interesting article. Re: trouble sleeping, I have found that it has nothing to do with coffee. I would have five or six espressos or cappuccinos throughout the day on my trip to Italy and no troubling sleeping at all.

Years ago when I was married to a constant criticizer, I would chat with my sister on the phone about some of the issues. I was pretty much trapped, as I did not have any economic alternatives to leave with the kids. I would try to focus on the positive things. Some time after I had told my sister about a frustrating situation brought about by hubby, she made mention of it, and I had absolutely no recollection of it. She advised to keep a journal -- initially I did not want to write down negative things, but I was perplexed that I really did not remember what she was relaying back to me. So going forward, I did as she advised. After a month or two I went back and read this journal. I recognized my writing, but I could not remember the incident at all. Wow. So my mind was hiding these difficult things from me, it was burying the things I was powerless to change. I was not operating as a whole person. Mentally this was destabilizing. I finally divorced him in 2002/2003.

As far as not being able to "think yourself out of an emotion", I must say that we should notice what we are feeling when we feel it, and then try to understand why. We should not let others have control over our emotions.

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Working with dozens of chronic pain patients for fourteen years, I wholeheartedly agree that persistent pain is rooted in unresolved emotional conflict. I find this challenging to address in 30 minute physiotherapy appointments. So I find it incomprehensible how a doctor in the public system would address it in 10-15 minute time slots. The emphasis of quantity over quality in Westernized Medicine has undermined it's efficacy. Instead of aiming to resolve conditions, it promotes a revolving door system predicated on negative- feedback loopsm

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There is a noninvasive intervention to stimulate the vagus developed by Dr. Stephen Porges (author of the Polyvagal Theory) based on his 35+ years researching the autonomic nervous system. It's called the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) and backed by a growing body of research.

The protocol uses sound and frequency variations delivered via music to stimulate the vagus and stapedius (which can flatten in response to unresolved trauma or chronic stress). It essentially "retunes" the ANS to be less cued into threat which in turn resources the patient for physical and emotional change, and boosts the effectiveness of more active therapies. I use the SSP in my practice and recommend it highly.

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founding

Loved it, thank you. Mind-opening, thought provoking article that was deeply insightful. I am looking forward to all the follow-up articles to this. I think you should write a book or two, definitely one on this topic because:

1. You have an extensive macro knowledge on the

topic but;

2. You understand it on the micro level too;

3. You teach & communicate complex topics really well and;

4. You do so with integrity, introspection, honesty and humbleness.

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May 25, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

Yes, please continue to write about the areas of health covered in this article. I have found myself gripped by every one of your posts recently and have learned an incredible amount in a short time. Your work is invaluable, please continue!

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You can think your way out of emotions. You may not be able to stop the initial reactive emotion, but you most certainly can think things over, examine the situation, draw on experience and sort of mute the emotion Anger and fear I think are common emotions that can be dealt with by thinking it through. Do I have all the information? Did I misunderstand? Why is this happening. In fact, as you mature, you better find a way to get a grip on emotions or you might find yourself unhappy and making others unhappy.

Parents teach their children how to reason through tough emotions. We do this so they will have an easier life and get along well. There is a cute video out there where the little boy reasons his way through why he got mad about (I think) not getting something. He discusses those feelings with his mother. If you can find it, it is probably the most adorable thing out there on the net and relates well to your writing.

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May 28, 2023Liked by A Midwestern Doctor

It was many years ago when I read the book and unfortunately I can't remember who wrote it, but in it he related an experiment done in a prison where a segment of the population was feed according to the hypoglycemia protocol and none of them returned to prison after they got out. (This was apparently highly unusual). He made a correlation between crime and hypoglycemia that reminds me of the one between antidepressants and crime. Messed up sugar levels over time really screw up your emotional/chemical balance. Diabetes is talked about and researched, but hypoglycemia - not so much. I always wondered if this was because there were no drugs to address issue only targeted supplements and nutritional protocol. Also, hypoglycemia causes the same symptoms as ADHD - for which they are still giving kids prescription meth. - would love to read an article on the correlation between that and the dramatic rise in meth addiction...

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