Weight loss with green tea

Can I lose weight with green tea?

For the one millionth time, green tea or any other tea beverage is nothing more than a scam. If you think you are going to lose weight by just drinking green tea, you are sadly mistaken. There is nothing in green tea that can induce weight loss or curb your appetite. The green tea maniacs, like the vitamin D maniacs, have now gotten everyone to buy their bogus products for only reason- money. Green tea is a great social beverage but it has no magical powers. You can drink it, shower in it, have an enema with it – you still will not lose weight.  Every single clinical study has shown that tea beverages for weight loss are useless- you may as well drink your own piss.

The green tea business is a multi-billion dollar scam with lots of false promises to desperate people who want to lose weight. The only way you can lose weight with green tea is by just drinking this beverage and not eating anything- and that is not realistic. If you want to lose weight, stop buying tea beverages as the only thing you will get is disappointment. To lose weight, eat less and walk more- free and no hassles.

Gabapentin for fibromyalgia

Does gabapentin work in patients with fibromyalgia?

Wow, this is a difficult subject. Patients with fibromyalgia are complex and have many comorbid disorders including a terrible personality; they are always blaming everyone else for their medical problems and are extremely negative. They are some of the most difficult patients to treat and I avoid them-chiefly cause I am a surgeon and have little interest in non-surgical disorders. 

However I have post graduate training in pharmacology and know a fair bit about medications. As far as gabapentin is concerned, it is a widely used drug to treat neuropathy. It does work in some diabetics and in patients with shingles and post herpetic neuralgia. As far as fibromyalgia is concerned, the drug does not always work. The evidence to support its use in fibromyalgia is weak. However, some patients with fibromyalgia have found the drug useful. The only way to know if gabapentin will work in fibromyalgia is to try it out for at least 2-3 weeks. Beware the drug has many adverse effects including weight gain, sedation and swelling of the extremities.

Topiramate for diabetic neuropathy?

Does topiramate relieve pain in neuropathy?

Topiramate is an anticonvulsant which is also used to treat migraine. It is sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat peripheral neuropathy. Unfortunately evidence to support its use in diabetic neuropathy is weak. At the moment, the drug should be considered experimental as there is little or no evidence to indicate that it works in diabetic neuropathy. However, it is a great drug for people with migraine.

Vitamin D for pain relief

Can vitamin D be used to treat pain?

The vitamin D maniacs get up every morning and starting blogging about the virtues of vitamin D. In the last year alone, these maniacs have published millions of blogs indicating that Vitamin D can cure almost every disorder under the sun.

Now to the facts- the majority of anecdotal reports on vitamin D are published by morons who do not have grade 2 education. These blogs are often written on social media sites like Facebook, which has now become the encyclopedia of medicine- most of the advice is bogus and borders on stupidity.

Second vitamin D is classified as a fat soluble vitamin and NOT as an analgesic (pain killer).  Thirdly, vitamin D is never used in any healthcare setting to treat pain.

Over the past few years, there have been some reports indicating that vitamin D may be used to treat chronic painful disorders in adults. Vitamin D is produced in the skin after exposure to sunlight and perhaps it may module pain sensation.

So does vitamin D relieve pain?

Countless studies have been done assessing the benefits of oral and topical vitamin D in people with all types of pain syndromes. The results indicate that you may as well drink your PISS. It does jack shit.

There is not a single study which has unequivocally shown that vitamin D can relieve pain. The few studies which show that vitamin D can relieve pain have been done by doctors who were paid by the manufacturers and these data have not been reproducible by independent investigators.

So if you have weak or thinning of bones, you can take vitamin D but if you have pain, then you will have to try something else. Vitamin D is not a pain killer and is not classified as an analgesic. You can use vitamin D as a pill, lotion, potion, enema, inhaler, suppository or shower with it- it will provide no pain relief – all it will do is bring you more disappointment for being a sucker.

Does TENS work for pain relief?

Does TENS provide pain relief?

There is so much stuff written on TENS that it is difficult to know what is true or false. The people who make this device have tons of great reviews about the various TENS machines and their benefits. On the other hand, consumers with pain who use TENS indicate that the device does not always work and the pain relief is not sustained.

In fact, the majority of reviews on TENS by people with pain indicate that the device sucks. In one recent large review, the overall feeling is that TENS is just another gimmick designed to scam patients. The pain relief in most cases is minimal and you can get the same relief by massaging the area with a dildo.

So if you have the money, save it and use it for something else. If you do not have money to buy a TENS machine, do not worry, you are not missing out on anything. Remember medicine is a business and the name of the game is to sucker desperate patients with a lot of crappy devices. If people who had pain stopped going to doctors, more than 60% of doctors would become unemployed.

Results after bariatric surgery

Are the results after bariatric surgery permanent?

Weight loss surgery when done right can lead to dramatic weight loss in some lucky individuals. However, to ensure that the weight loss is sustained, you will need to change your lifestyle. There are countless reports of people who lost significant weight after bariatric surgery and regained it within 2-5 years.

If you want the results of weight loss surgery to last, you will need to change your lifestyle dramatically. That means never ever going back to your poor eating habits and exercising regularly. Individuals who do not change their life style quickly regain the weight. So even if it is your birthday, avoid the cheesecake

Methotrexate for my osteoarthritis

Can methotrexate be used to treat osteoarthritis?

First you have to understand that there is no cure for OA. Methotrexate is the drug of choice for rheumatic arthritis. However, there are some physicians who also use methotrexate to treat pain in patients with osteoarthritis. Several small studies have shown that methotrexate can provide mild pain relief in patients with OA. However, before you jump in line to get your methotrexate prescription; be well informed of the drug's adverse effects, which are quite unpleasant. These adverse effects range from nausea, vomiting, general fatigue to severe liver disease. 

Methotrexate treatment for OA should be considered experimental until we have more data. At the moment the drug's adverse effects override any benefit. So I would caution you against using it. It remains the drug of choice for rheumatoid arthritis, which is a completely different disease from osteoarthritis.

Corticosteroid injection for my osteoarthritis

I have osteoarthritis. Can a shot of steroids help me exercise more?

Doctors have been scamming patients with injections of steroids for decades. In the majority of cases, these steroids injections do not do anything. There are many studies showing that if you do not have inflammation in the joint, the injection of a corticosteroid is useless and a complete waste of money. If you have osteoarthritis, corticosteroid injections will not help. There is no randomized study that has shown benefit from corticosteroid injections in people with chronic osteoarthritis. There are anecdotal reports of mild decrease in pain, but then there are just as many reports which indicate no pain relief.

So my advice is stay away from doctors who offer these injections as they are only concerned about making money and care little about your welfare.

Corticosteroid injections are heavily abused by doctors for one reason- they bring in a lot of money but do crap for the patient.