Review of Game Over by Stephen Leeb, Ph.D

Game Over: How the Collapsing Economy Will Sink Your Wealth by 50% or More -- Unless You Know What to Do by Stephen Leeb

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It is time to get our heads out of the Canadian Tar Sands and read this book to promote discussion and cooperation. "Even today, Americans still cling by and large to the optimism born in the postwar period. Yet, while we bask in a false sense of security, the rug is being pulled out from under us."

I read this book at a slow pace, a chapter a day, to give myself time to truly hear the challenges to seven comforting but false assumptions. "These assumptions are:

1. The world contains virtually limitless oil and mineral deposits. If the supply gets tight, we can always find more.

2. Governments and central banks know how to keep inflation under control.

3. Economic growth, perhaps with some occasional small interruptions, is on a perpetual upward track that will bring greater prosperity to all the world's inhabitants.

4. America's wealth is based on enduring advantages--including free enterprise and Yankee ingenuity--that will ensure we will always have the top spot in the global pecking order.

5. The national debt is no problem because economic growth will be so strong that we can pay it off...someday.

6. Technology can solve all our long-term problems. It's just a matter of putting more money into research.

7. Meanwhile, we can easily cope with any short-term emergencies. If we need new infrastructure, we'll build it. When it becomes urgent to switch to alternative energies, we'll turn our attention to it and get the job done. Ditto for reversing the trade deficit, funding government entitlement programs, or anything else. Therefore, too much planning ahead isn't necessary."


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The Land We Call Ohio

THE LAND WE CALL OHIO: 88 COUNTIES...88 PAINTINGS...88 HISTORIES by DEBORAH BRADFORD LINVILLE

My review

I won this as a door prize from Preble County Historical Society at 2008 Consumer Expo.

This book may inspire my next vacation to visit and photograph all 88 counties, or at least the ones I have not been to before now.


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My Review of Invest with Success

Invest With Success-Big Profits for Small Investors by Charles B. Schaap

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book clearly describes the screening process needed to create a watchlist of stocks suited for Dr. Schaap's 50-50 Strategy, clearly describes entry and exit signals, and clearly describes risk and trade management. He suggests the reader paper trade this strategy for six months and this suggestion will help you gain confidence in yourself and the strategy.


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My First Attempt at Digital Scrapbooking

This is my completed assignment for my free online class at HP website called "Getting Started in Digital Scrapbooking." I use Photoshop Elements 6.0

Two Great-Grand Aunts Identified

I wondered if I would be able to connect these pictures to our current family.
Some ancestor was kind enough to write names on the back of these photos, but I had not come into possession of these pictures until after the death of my husband's aunt.
"How are you related to these people," I questioned my husband and my father-in-law. It is a question I often ask at family reunions and gatherings. Even the living I don't know well enough to remember when I see them infrequently. The caption on the back of the picture on the left was Aunt Kate and Uncle Phil Henn and the caption on the picture on the right was Aunt Minnie Gregg. My father-in-law did not remember how he might be related to any Henn or Gregg.
With the help of Legacy Family Tree software, I found the connection. I searched my the name Kate and the name Minnie. I eliminated the Kates/Catherines and Minnies from my ancestral lines and husband's maternal lines, and I found a Kate married to Philip Henn and a Minnie married to Edgar Gregg.
Kate was the sister of my father-in-law's grandfather. She died when my father-in-law was only four years old and that is why he would not have recognized her.
Minnie is another sister of the grandfather of my father-in-law.She died more than fifty years ago.

Statin Side Effects: Do Doctors Take Patients' Complaints Seriously?

I think you know my answer to the question in the title of the article. No, they don't. As a pharmacist, I called doctors on behalf of patients, and even I was not taken seriously. I learned to have my documentation from Facts and Comparisons ready when the doctor or staff tried to rebuff my concerns. Sometimes they would thank me for the information and make changes, but that happened too infrequently. I'm reprinting an article worth reading.

STATIN SIDE EFFECTS: DO DOCTORS TAKE PATIENTS' COMPLAINTS SERIOUSLY? A New Study Reveals What Happens When Patients Complain of Statin Side Effects to Their Doctors.

Patients frequently complain that doctors ignore their complaints of side effects with statin, cholesterol-lowering drugs. Joe and Teresa Graedon, the authors of the People's Pharmacy newspaper column, have published myriad letters on this topic. Here are three examples.

I have taken Lipitor for several years. I now notice numbness in my feet and sporadic memory loss, difficulty balancing my checkbook and using the computer. I have a Ph.D., so this is alarming. My doctor says Lipitor is not to blame. My cholesterol is great and not to stop. Is there any evidence that Lipitor could be connected to these symptoms?1

I have been on cholesterol-lowering medication for some time. I had been telling my doctor that my medication was doing something to my muscles and he would not believe me. I changed doctors and the new one discovered that my muscles enzymes were 800 (normal is 200). He took me off the medication and my enzymes came down. When I went on a different statin, they climbed back up again.2

My doctor insists I must take statins to lower my cholesterol even though I experience pain with all of them. Sometimes the pain gets so bad that I struggle not to cry when I walk down the hall of my child's school. My doctor says I should accept "a little discomfort." He says this pain is rare but I know a lot of people who have had the same muscle pain.3

It has been proven that statins can cause numbness in the limbs, cognitive and memory problems, muscle pain and severe muscle injury. Nevertheless, many doctors still insist that statins do not cause side effects.

A research team at my university, the University of California, San Diego, undertook an investigation of doctors' behavior when dealing with patients who complaints of statin side effects. When patients provided good descriptions of their symptoms, did doctors acknowledge the possibility of statin side effects and assist the patients accordingly? Did doctors submit reports to the FDA? Led by Dr. Beatrice Golomb, the researchers published their results in August 2007.4

The researchers focused on three types of side effects commonly caused by statins. The first type involved muscle pain, tightness, cramping, or weakness. In private consultations, patients described their symptoms to 138 doctors. According to the patients, fifty-three doctors (38%) acknowledged the possibility of statin side effect. Eighty-five doctors (62%) dismissed the possibility.

Patients presented symptoms of cognitive disorders, including impaired memory or thinking, to 56 doctors. Sixteen doctors (29%) acknowledged the possibility of a statin side effect. Forty doctors (71%) dismissed the possibility.

Patients presented symptoms of nerve injuries (neuropathies) including pain, weakness, or loss of function to 49 doctors. Seventeen doctors (35%) acknowledged the possibility of a statin side effect. Thirty-two doctors (65%) dismissed the possibility.

One might ask whether the doctors received enough information to make a connection between the statins and the side effects. In preparation for their consultations with the doctors, patients received materials to help them provide ample descriptions to the doctors. Indeed, separate analysis of patients' symptoms determined that nearly 80% of the cases met the scientific criteria for a definite or probable drug reaction.5

After the interviews with the doctors, patients described their doctors' attitudes about their symptoms (Table 1 below). Many doctors attributed patients' symptoms to age or imagination. Some flatly denied that statins caused any side effects or that statins caused these specific side effects. Yet practicing cardiologists know that muscle symptoms occur in about 35% of statin users, even though the drug companies' claim an incidence is only 5%.

Some doctors in the study denied that statins caused nerve injuries, yet it has been shown unequivocally that patients taking statins are 16 times more likely to develop nerve injuries than similar persons receiving no medications.

Overall, these results demonstrate that according to patients' reports, nearly two-thirds of the doctors in this study failed to diagnose obvious statin-related adverse effects. These findings are disturbing because they indicate a very poor level of medical care among doctors prescribing statin medications. The implications for patients are alarming.

On a broader scale, doctors' refusal to make an obvious diagnosis of statin side effects suggests that these same doctors would not submit a report to the FDA. The FDA Medwatch system is our primary means of identifying dangerous drugs and taking proper remedial steps. Medwatch relies mainly on reports submitted by doctors to indicate whether a drug is safe or harmful. This study provides strong evidence that with statin side effects, the number of reports received by Medwatch represents a gross underestimate of the scope of the problem.

Now that the FDA has this knowledge, what should be done? The FDA needs to initiate independent studies that actively define the true incidence of statin adverse effects in everyday medicine. The FDA must determine the percentage of doctors who fail to make obvious diagnoses of statin side effects and who fail to submit Medwatch reports. The FDA must pressure statin manufacturers to underwrite intensive training for doctors in diagnosing and reporting statin side effects. The FDA must also launch an initiative to encourage patients to submit their own reports to Medwatch.

Will the FDA act? Unlikely. The FDA has come under intense criticism in recent years for failing to ensure the safety of our medications. FDA officials have announced new initiatives to improve safety monitoring. Experts, however, are not impressed. The FDA continues to underfund Medwatch, and it does not provide adequate personal for Medwatch to function effectively.

We have to remember that the FDA is a highly politicized agency. The drug industry has demonstrated considerable sway over the FDA. Not surprisingly, the FDA demonstrates far more concern about the needs of the drug industry than about our needs for safe medications.

If you are taking a statin drug and you encounter symptoms that might be a side effect, research it yourself before you go to your doctor. If the doctor is more concerned about defending the drug than helping you, find another doctor.



TABLE 1. DOCTORS' COMMENTS

Below are some of the comments by doctors, as reported by patients in this study.4

Adverse effect attributed to age (11 doctors).

Just normal aging process.

Can expect some problems at your age.

Well, you're no youngster.

No way, you're just getting old.

Dismissed importance of symptoms (69 doctors).

Doctor said would have to live with side effects and did not seem to care.

Ignored complaints about side effects.

Doctor shrugged and said some people just live with it, then laughed.

Did not seem to be concerned with side effects.

Didn't take seriously.

Made me feel I was alone in my inability to take statins because of `minor discomfort.'

Said I must continue [statins], protecting the heart was most important.

Dismissed existence of symptom (16 doctors).

Acted as if it was imagination.

Doctor suggested it was imagination.

Don't think doctor believed me.

Told me I just didn't like taking pills.

Nothing wrong with me, it's all in my head.

She `pooh-poohed' me and said keep taking Lipitor.

Dismissed relation to statins (55 doctors).

Almost impossible.

Cannot be statins.

Not possible.

Denied possibility.

Can't be.

Statins are not cause of problems.

Said problems couldn't be due to Lipitor.

Said: "This has nothing to do with the Pravachol."

Said: "That's not a side effect of this drug."

They [doctors] were very skeptical even though I presented Pfizer's own report on side effects.

Statins could not be cause of symptoms.

Neither doctor [internist, neurologist] believed me -- my pharmacist suggested Lipitor as a cause.

My chiropractor suggested it may be the Lipitor, my M.D. didn't think so.

Dismissed relation of muscle symptoms with statins (43 doctors).

Didn't think Lipitor caused muscle weakness because their was no pain.

CPK didn't indicate statin-related adverse effect.

\Wouldn't consider Lipitor the cause of body aches.

Specific muscle pain would not indicate medication, only general muscle pain.

Doctor didn't think cramps were caused by statins.

Dr. Philip that there was no connection between pain and the statin drugs.

Dismissed relation of cognitive symptoms with statins (18 doctors).

Statins do not cause memory loss and may, in fact, help it.

No research linking statins to memory problems.

Doctor said statins would improve (not worsen) memory.

Memory and peripheral neuropathy are not acknowledged side effects of statins.

Hopefully discussion of Lipitor, focused elsewhere.

I was the first to tell him [doctor] about this side effect (memory problems, fragmented thinking] and since then he has had other patients with similar problems.

Disbelief that statins could cause adverse effects in general (12 doctors).

Doctor said there were no side effects.

Doctor had heard of no difficulties.

Said Lipitor has minimum to no ADRs.

Literature did not support ADRs.

Can't be the statins, thinks it is a miracle drug.

Said that only 1% of patients have side effects.



REFERENCES

1. Graedon J, Graedon T. Does Lipitor affect memory and nerves? People's Pharmacy newspaper column, June 20, 2007:www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Accessed Jan. 4, 2008.
2. Graedon J, Graedon T. Patients find statins can have side effects. People's Pharmacy newspaper column, Apr. 18, 2005:www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Accessed Jan. 4, 2008.
3. Graedon J, Graedon T. Can statins cause debilitating muscle pain? People's Pharmacy newspaper column, Sept. 12, 2007:www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Accessed Jan. 4, 2008.
4. Golomb BA, McGraw JJ, Evans MA, Dimsdale JE. Physician response to patient reports of adverse drug effects. Drug Safety 2007;30(8):669-675.
5. Naranjo CA, Busto U, Sellers EM, et al. A method for estimating the probability of adverse drug reactions. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 1981;30:239?]45.

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Copyright 2008, Jay S. Cohen, M.D. All rights reserved. Readers have permission to copy and disseminate all or part of these articles if it is clearly identified as the work of: Jay S. Cohen, M.D., the MedicationSense E-Newsletter, www.MedicationSense.com. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

Panama Canal Transit Cruise

The Panama Canal Transit cruise gave us the opportunity to see amazing things for ourselves.

We left from Ft. Lauderdale, a new embarkation port for us.

We chose the excursion at Montego Bay to see more of the countryside of Jamaica as we traveled to Dunns River Falls. Host preferred to take pictures of the Falls and the surrounding park area. I joined a group assembled by a Falls guide. This guide had a group of twenty-five people hold hands to climb the Falls. Last year we did something similar at Mahoe Falls and I felt safe with a smaller group. I did not enjoy the walk up the Dunns River Falls the way I did at Mahoe Falls, and I removed myself from the group about a third of the way up. For any of you who have done this before, I climbed up past the point where you must climb under the low bridge.

Our visit to Cartagena, Colombia was historic: our ship was the first Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ship to dock there in six years. We nearly met El Presidente Uribe as he participated in a ceremony to greet our ship and came aboard the ship. Dignitaries, Juan Valdez with his mule as the symbol of 100% Colombian coffee, an orchestra, folklorico dancers and a gifts of a long-stemmed rose were available to greet us. The return of cruise ship tourism is a symbol El Presidente Uribe stabilized the country and reduced its violence. Our tour group was photographed by CNN. Our tourist dollars bought two straw hats for $20, three t-shirts for $10, and an emerald ring for Host.

Host was at the front of the ship before dawn with other photographers, and he took the photos from that position through the first set of three locks. While the ship was on Lake Gatun, we walked on other decks for shots from other perspectives. Don took the shots of the four Millaflores locks from the rear of the ship to watch those gates close behind us. We went to deck 13 for some shots of Panama City and its bridge.

Our days at sea were restful. We were excited when we spotted dolphins, porpoises, and sea turtles. There was dancing for us every evening: ballroom dancing in Starquest Disco on deck 13. (Club dancing happened there after we went to bed.) Three live bands played throughout the day and evening so we could dance at poolside, the Centrum or the Colony Club. I participated in an activity called Thai Chair. The cruise activity guy, Florin, wanted to combine the arm movements for Yang-style Tai Chi Chuan from a seated position to give people an introduction to tai chi chuan and still provide stability to them on a moving ship. Not every passenger has an inner gyro that works as well as the ones in the billiard tables! If Florin was not leading the class, other cruise activities personnel led the class through a Sit to Be Fit routine.

Our next four ports were ports of the Mexican Riveria: Hualtuco, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. All of our excursions at these places were for land and sea as we wanted the best photo opportunities on our first visit to these places. Hualtuco is a Mexican National Park planned and designed to attract tourism for the nine-bay area. The original excursion we planned for Puerto Vallarta was a hike in the Sierra Madres, and it was cancelled by the tour provider in time for us to replace it with an excursion to Las Caletas. We had a 45-minute catamaran ride to that bay for some beach activities (some people snorkeled with a trained sea lion) and a nature hike that took us through three micro-climates: coastal, tropical rainforest with its palpable humidity, and high desert. In Acapulco we watched the cliff divers, a show I wanted to see for myself since watching Wide World of Sports. At Cabo San Lucas, we saw a humpback whale breach even though we were officially late for whale-watching season.

We disembarked in San Diego and flew back to Dayton via Atlanta.