Cholesterol: Wish Dr. Atkins were Around

This new cholesterol article from the New York Times will have a profound effect on everyone who visits their doctors in the United States, if not beyond. It basically says that LDL levels should be under 100 and that Lipitor is the drug of choice for stopping plaque buildup and decreasing potential heart attacks.

My father had to stop taking Lipitor because of muscle weakness, which can herald muscle breakdown caused by Lipitor and serious problems with the liver. (And this fact does NOT always get disseminated when the drug is given out. It should be, but it isn't. I had to tell a saleswoman at Macy's to go see her doctor right away because she had started Lipitor and her legs ached! On another bulletin board, lots of people didn't know this fact and they were taking the drug.)

This is an important study, but I miss Dr. Atkins because lots of people with low cholesterol also get heart attacks. He also talked about the importance of triglycerides and that readings of over 100 double the risk of a heart attack. This information is going to get lost. Medical care is often one size fits all, and a pill like Lipitor makes it very easy to do this, just like a low fat diet is very easy to prescribe. In both cases, a doctor isn't going to be sued because this is "consensus science" and the prevailing practice. (It doesn't matter if the low fat diet doesn't work for that particular patient and it raises triglyceride levels. It should work.)

I don't have a M.D. degree. My father does, but he isn't a cardiologist and always tells me that medical degrees aren't hereditary (grin). Dr. Atkins told it straight. I trusted him. He had a medical practice where he watched patients every day. The medical practice is no longer part of the Atkins empire. An article in Inc. Magazine which describes the Atkins empire breakup and dissolution of the Atkins Medical Center says:

When Atkins died, a brash, 34-year-old doctor named Keith Berkowitz emerged as his successor at the clinic. Here's where the absence of the founder was most obviously felt. The products company had coexisted peacefully with the practice when Atkins was alive. But though the doctor had founded both businesses, the principals decided that the two entities should split up following his death. The plan was for Berkowitz to buy the practice for an undisclosed sum; as part of the deal, he would give up the Atkins name, which was important to the product marketers.

Then on October 2--just days before Berkowitz was set to ink the deal--Atkins Nutritionals announced in a press release that the center would cease operations 13 days later. Patients were informed that they would need to seek treatment elsewhere. The center's 25 employees were given notice. Berkowitz was stunned. In a statement, Veronica Atkins said, "It is sad for me to see the medical practice close, but I am gratified to see [my husband's] teachings being accepted and practiced by physicians in this country and around the world." (Through a company publicist, Veronica Atkins declined to speak to Inc. )...

Although the Inc. article doesn't say it, it seems that Berkowitz only worked with Atkins for two months. A letter went out to all patients listing all the doctors who worked with Atkins, including Berkowitz. In whatever manner the center closed, it was central for Atkins:

Kabak says that the clinic closed precisely because Dr. Atkins played a central role in it. In contrast, the products business can survive without him "because he was never very involved," Kabak says. "He wanted to produce products, but it's not what made him tick."

Yes, treating heart disease risk is what made Dr. Atkins tick. Letting people know that what they were eating had a profound effect on their health is what made Dr. Atkins tick. Getting the truth out despite fierce criticism is what made Dr. Atkins tick.

Which brings us back to today. This study only worked with people who already had heart troubles. There is no mention of other factors at all. This study will drive prescription sales like no other, and for some people, it should. For others, the people who follow Atkins, should it? Will the current team at Atkins address this study? A brand analyst (not associated with Atkins) within the Inc. story gives this summation:

Despite these problems, however, the team extending the Atkins brand shows no signs of slowing down. Because the diet doc didn't really manage the products business, his loss is not acutely felt there. Sure, the patients he treated will miss him. But consumers will probably forget that Atkins was, in fact, a real person in time. For a brand, that's okay. "To be honest," says Roth, "I didn't even know that he was still alive when I read that he had died."

Well this Atkins' follower misses "the real person" immensely and is patiently waiting to see if the current team addresses this latest study and puts it into context within the Atkins lifestyle.

Comments

[Debi]

"Kabak says that the clinic closed precisely because Dr. Atkins played a central role in it. In contrast, the products business can survive without him 'because he was never very involved,' Kabak says. 'He wanted to produce products, but it's not what made him tick.'"

This has become more obvious as of late. The Atkins name is being put on products that I don't think the good Dr. would approve of. He did not advocate the use of trans fats, HFCS, or bleached flour in any form. Any label reader can see that these ingredients are contained in many of the products with the "Atkins Seal of Approval". And these are the substances which have caused the high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity in the first place!

Some companies are listening to the hard core low carbers and changing their formulas (e.g. Breyers replaced HFCS with fructose) but will others? Will the products "principals" profit and not follow the "principles" of the WOE? I for one will continue to coach according to the original teachings of DANDR and Atkins for Life with very few exceptions. There are already enough variations of the original (Atkins) that I don't care to alter this one.

It is up to us, the true Atkins followers, to keep his teachings in the forefront. To this day I still defend all that he stood for - the research and the results - not the retail!