Doctor Vinod's Wellness Blog

For Cricket Lovers "World Cup a Photo Journey" by Kamal Julka

2011-03-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

For all you lovers of cricket.

Exciting collection from Kamal's collection of photos and memories from his years of covering the World Cup personally over the years. Unique.

Watch the video of the launch by Kapil Dev himself.

http://nareshsagar.blogspot.com/2011/03/kapil-dev-book-launch-kamal-julkaworld.html

Do you want an autographed copy from the Photo artist himself ?

Aruna (Julka) and Vinod

Lies, Damned lies and Medical lies

2010-10-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

Fascinating reading, about accepted medical research proven wrong a few years later and the subtle lies that went into the, the $$ in drug and grant moneys made in the process.

From the Atlantic Magazine, the story of a Harvard trained Greek who returned home to Greece and built up an organization to carefully document research these lies.

Vinod

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269/

The Glass Wall - Musings from India January 2010

2010-03-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

We drove to the Cineplex on a hot January afternoon.

Chatting, animatedly. Us four.

People in the thousands on the sides of the road, just milled about. Shopkeepers if you could call them that, showed their wares on tattered cloth, some spilled out directly onto the asphalt. Rickety thelas -a far cry from the elaborate cappucino carts, (they call them "thelas") going up in swank urban areas - crowded the roadside. Pedestrians too jostled for space.

They all breathed the exhaust from our cars and the dust from our tires. They suffered our horns. They would not move out of the way. We had to get to the Cineplex in the Mall on time. The movie you know.

We did not hear them.

We chatted animatedly, us four.

Our air was conditioned, cleaned and filtered. Our ears, our lungs, our noses were protected by the glass windows of our car. We were safe. Our hearts protected. Was it not just a movie we were watching, though the glass? It felt like it.

We chatted, animatedly. Us four.

We had cool, clean air in our car that our driver drove, and filtered water to drink. Let them drink coke. We were different. Them and us. Paths, theirs and ours. Fate, theirs and ours. Different. Separate.

Community, in the movie. We did feel it. Yes, we did. Though there were only 5 other people beside us four in the conditioned air, in the plush seats.of the large theatre. Not our driver. The car needed watching.

Emotion, we felt it. In the movie. We could feel, in the dark. We shed tears in the dark.

In the car, on the road again, we sat in the light coming through the glass. We chatted. Animatedly. Us four.

The driver earned his family's daily bread. Quietly.

Outside, a silent movie, played on.

21 Bum Salute - We Gotta Go Too

2010-02-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

When you gotta go , you go. Just down the hall to your bathroom, sit down with aplomb on the throne and shortly thereafter flush IT down. You give not thought to what happens to the shit laden water. Neither do most cities in India . Seventy per cent of the total municipal sewage and effluent from over 900 cities and towns are being discharged untreated into rivers which are a major source of drinking water, a recent study by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has said.

This is the shit (and toilet paper) from those of us with the luxury of flush toilets.

But millions worldwide do without adequate sanitation. But they gotta go too. And that gives us the 21 Bun Salute easy to see steps from the multi - million dollar state legislature in the Lal Kothi area of Jaipur just as day begins. There as in urban slums worldwide people hope to salvage what dignity they can by sitting in open fields to go, hoping for the help from the morning haze. Others both male and female, end up having to go when they gotta go, often in the full glare of the harsh midday sun, with nary a bush to hide behind. The 21 Bum salute.

But why should we care.

India 2010

2010-02-12T03:02:00.000-08:00

Ideas to blog in more detail about from our just concluded trip to India
Going to the Dogs,
Horn Yuddh
I Gotta Go...
The Glass Wall
Sad Shopkeepers..inside the plush Cineplex
Trash Advertising - just LAY-ing around.
Asphalt Nation
Where will the cars go
Us and them - the story of cars.
Horn bajana - Gaali dena
Bengaluru -The first Street Lights in India this metro still has Air Horns in the city.

singing for fun is motivation for doing more for the world

2009-08-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

Happiness is singing to 70's music and strumming my air guitar, vow I love it .
Motivates me to do more for the world.
Like the doctor who was fired in Panama city for disparaging donuts!
America dies on Dunkin.
Wrote a comment on NYT Well blog today.
Tell Ten People and then ten more.

Momma made me drink cod liver oil

2008-09-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

My mind was wandering as I sat through the ACLS Course...

How did my mom learn about cod liver oil? She grew up east of the the Kyber Pass near the Afghan border. She was the top student in her class in Kohat in the North West Frontier Province of undivided India..

But where did she learn about that stinky, nauseating tablespoon that I had no choice but to drink. She wouldn't take no for an answer. I cried, got upset and I held my nose and drank it!

That is what I was thinking during my ACLS course last week as they taught us about sudden death.

(Daydreaming again but now I was too old to be kicked out of class! This was a welcome change from my 8th grade Physics class with Father Thotuvellil years ago at St Xavier's Jaipur.)

What is ACLS some of you wonder? Well this is when EMT's, nurses and doctors work frantically to revive you after you suddenly die.

Skill, teamwork and luck improve your odds of being brought back to life successfully. Luck especially.

So, if you must, have a witnessed cardiac arrest around a trained provider who has an automatic electronic defibrillator (AED) on hand and he can "shock you" as quickly as possible. Learn ACLS.

And then, as I looked around the room at the class - ironically studying health and the aversion of death - and I thought how many of us continue to live on God's earth eating McDonald's fries (McDonald’s french fries just got fatter ), smoking old plant matter, eating farmed salmon loaded with carcinogenic stuff.(organochlorine contamination in farmed salmon), not eating N Dakota flax and hoping to get lucky again when we get Ventricular fibrillation again.

Could we change? Before we get shocked.V Fib, is treated with a DC electric shock. V Fib and V tach are the most common and - if-they-find-you-and-shock-you-quickly - reversible cause of sudden death.

Could we just change what we eat?

Dietary omega-3 fatty acids stabilize the myocardium electrically, resulting inreduced susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmias and a marked decrease in risk of suddencardiac death and reduction in all-cause mortality.

Oily fish is good for you.. even the Wall Street Journal and JAMA agree on this one!

Trans fats increase sudden death. Omega 3s reduce it.

Brain Blockers-Trans Fats reduce IQ. Omega 3s increase it.

New York is right says Dr Willett of Harvard in banning Trans fats.

But how did my momma know this stinky stuff was so good for me?!

Nutrition is more than laboratory science. Nutrition is us smart humans listening to the wisdom of our elders, learning from observation of nature, and not getting blown away by marketing and the dollar menu.

My momma is smart.
Thank you momma!

Doctor Vinod's Wellness Blog: Impact of adolescent overweight on adult mortality

2007-10-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Doctor Vinod's Wellness Blog: Impact of adolescent overweight on adult mortality

2007-10-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Doctor Vinod's Wellness Blog: Impact of adolescent overweight on adult mortality

2006-09-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Bigger male breasts. Are more male breast cancers coming?

2006-08-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

Most young men that I see for infection problems are obese. Because of higher estrogen levels they all have significant amount of breast tissue.

With increased obesity rates more males with breast tissue are among us.

Will we end up with an epidemic of male breast cancer 3 decades from now as these young men reach the age at which women get breast cancer?

Male breast cancer numbers presently are low. Am cancer society estimates that 1720 new cases of male breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2006 and 460 men will die from the disease. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_male_breast_cancer_28.asp?sitearea=

Most obesity is related to sugar drinks.http://www.cspinet.org/liquidcandy/

One more reason to avoid all regular and diet pop. Glad Bismarck schools passed this excellent pop policy last year.
Dr Vinod

Train whistle noise - Effects on health, some ideas, solutions

2006-08-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

Vinod Seth wrote on August 27, 2006 6:40 PM:"As a doctor I look for what is the major cause of an ailment and what if fixed would be of the most benefit to the patient. Careful thought is given to the final decision.

In the case of noise around Bismarck-Mandan, N Dakota I think train whistles by far and away fit those criteria best--because of both severity (loudness, 85dB) & frequency (>1000x/day.) Interstate highway noise would be a close second.

Both are fixable if we the people push for it - your city government controls train speeds through town and could hold that as leverage on BNSF or whatever railroad goes thru your towns. The city could require the railroad to give us safe, whistle free European type crossings to continue to go at 35 mph thru town, or cut speed to 15 mph 10pm to 7 am. It was probably 12 years ago that the our city Bismarck increased the speed of the trains from 30 to 35mph. That means we can cut it down too.

For highway I 94 speed its the state N Dakota DOT- we can cut speed thru town on the interstate to 40 mph from 10pm to 7 am and noise would be much more bearable. It was not too long ago that we raised it from 55 to 60mph. That may be a hard sell in the big cities considering how busy those highways are now. But the cities similar to Bismarck, metro population under 100,000 could still do that.

Bismarck Mandan and all of N Dakota, as well as the smaller cities have a precious resource - their quiet. Growth from those who choose to move here or return here from the noisy sprawling big metro areas of a million plus will depend on how well we preserve that resource.
Or we can be sure our cities will sprawl further out as people move out further and further from the city centers to escape noise (without even knowing that that is their motivation)

How do we convince our city, county and state leaders.

How do we compel them to think of our health and that of all the children.

Now, not 10 years from now."

HEALTH EFFECTS OF NOISE

Vinod Seth wrote on August 24, 2006 12:53 PM:" Health effects of noise- a study from Austria- where they studied children exposed to different levels of much less noise 50 db vs 60 dB. I quote "Children in the noisier areas had elevated resting systolic blood pressure and 8-h, overnight urinary cortisol. The children from noisier neighborhoods also evidenced elevated heart rate reactivity to a discrete stressor (reading test) in the laboratory and rated themselves higher in perceived stress symptoms on a standardized index." Cortisol levels in the urine are a marker of stress - the well known fight or flight response which is what saved us through our evolutionary development from sudden dangers. It is subconscious. Find the original article at - The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America -- March 2001 -- Volume 109, Issue 3, pp. 1023-1027.

Also please read - The influence of subjective reactions to noise on health effects of the noise.Environment International, Volume 22, Number 1, 1996, pp. 93-104(12) - concerns in this article were for those exposed to high levels of night noise and included high blood pressure, immune dysfunction. Other researchers have noted anxiety and psychiatric disorders as well as overeating (is obesity connected? I will leave that to somebody else to comment.) .

Yes it is expensive to redo the railroad crossings so that they are safer and noise free but the health of the people, of our children is not for sale. There is no overarching right to profit and specially not at the cost of our health."

Regulations for large businesses only - small is beautiful

2006-08-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

Pasteurization was introduced in the 20th century because of the risk of
Tuberculosis in cows infecting humans thru their milk.
That risk is miniscule now.

As has happened with other regulations the small producer(or in the case
of Medicare- the solo physician) is unable to keep up.
Benefits (profits) of scale lead to ever larger facilities and soon we
end up with regulation induced ( malignant) growth throughout all
enterprises food producing, food serving, food manufacture and even all
human services too.

The bottom line is all that matters.

In milk production cows are fed whatever is cheap, and antibiotics and
hormones are used as we all know.. What cows are fed in corporate milk
factories is nauseating. If only they could talk.

A solution out of this regulation induced rampant growth would be good.

Small producers - and small can be whatever would provide a living wage
for each able bodied person in the family enterprise- should be exempt
from science driven well intentioned regulation. Thus milk producers,

meat, eggs and other small scale agricultural production could thrive
again and give much needed boost to non urban lifestyles. The buffalo
commons would fade away.

If you doubt, remember the largest milk induced food poisoning was the
infamous 200,000 patient outbreak of Salmonella gastroenteritis due to
transport of fully pasteurized, cold refigerated liquid Schwan ice cream
in a tanker that had carried liquid eggs on the prior trip. Small
production has inherent safeguards. We all remember the million pound
beef recalls when E Coli contaminantion of mega facilities with their
mega containers makes the news.
Smallness protects us.

Urban Assaults and increased railroad noise

2006-08-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

SLEEPLESS (AND VIOLENT) IN BIS-MAN

A front page story in the Bismarck Tribune noted a dramatic increase (45-100%) in assaults in Bismarck and Mandan this summer compared to last year. That is of concern.

Why are more people settling disagreements in this way? Why is Bis-Man more violent this summer? Why are we less human, less civilized?

Some say our population is up, some blame alcohol. Some say the police force needs to be bigger.

Could increased noise be to blame?

Behavioral scientists have clearly proven that increased violence accompanies increased noise exposure in both humans and animals. Noise increases rage.

A major criterion that defines noise is that you have no control over it. It’s the lack of control that triggers a release of stress hormones. Thus I can blissfully mow my own lawn while my neighbor, trying to sleep, would find it intrusive and noisy. The Jet Ski is fine to the person riding it but not to the person quietly reading a book. Noise causes high blood pressure.

Our towns are noisier. Highway noise has increased. We drive more and bigger vehicles at higher speeds. Noise promotes urban sprawl that adds to the noise.

One man's noise however is another’s productivity. Who can be blamed for using the fastest tool to get the job done? Time is money. Quiet is expensive. The cost though does not fall on the one who makes the noise.

So what has increased this summer as dramatically as assaults?

It is the super long and loud railroad crossing whistles. This summer Bismarck-Mandan citizens have been treated to the new corporate sought rule that requires RAILROAD WHISTLES to be blown for 15 seconds MINIMUM at each crossing.

Many sleep with windows open. They suffer the most. We can close our eyes but not our ears. Brain wave electrical recordings have proven that we hear everything even in sleep. We may not know it, but sleep is disturbed by abnormal or loud sounds.

The whistles blow night and day.

Could increased noise and sleep deprivation make people violent? Yes!

Noise is cumulative. The louder, longer railroad whistles may be the straw that break's the camel's back. Urgent thought needs to be given to measures to control noise. Email BNSF at lynn.hartley@bnsf.com . I have.

There may be other causes. Maybe economic pressures have increased in our low wage state due to increased energy costs.

A citywide task force appointed by our Mayors and Police Chiefs to look into and control assaults is warranted before they become epidemic.

Our health and our quality of life depend on it.

Overweight moms=overweight babies

2006-08-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

A Harvard study shows America's obesity extends to its infants too.All in the space of two decades. The last year studied was 2001 and from my experience in my medical office obesity has made tremendous inroads the last 5 years so things could be even worse by now. Vinod Seth
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115525548877732835.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Impact of adolescent overweight on adult mortality

2006-08-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Impact of adolescent overweight on adult mortality

Published: Sunday, 6-Aug-2006

BEING OVERWEIGHT AT 18 PREDICTS INCREASED MORTALITY AND HEALTH CARE COSTS TO COME!
ALL PAYORS OF HEALTH CARE, PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENT NEED TO WAKE UP TO THE HUGE COSTS IN THE YEARS TO COME FROM WHAT USED TO BE A GENERALLY HEALTHY POPULATION IN THE PAST.
BABY BOOMERS AGING, THE YOUNG GETTING UNHEALTHIER DUE TO OBESITY FROM SUGAR LOADED DRINKS AND FAST/FRANCHISE TRANS FATS LADEN CHEAP FOOD AND ALWAYS-IN-THE-CAR-INACTIVITY --WE ARE IN FOR AN EXPLOSION IN COSTS FOR HEALTH CARE.VINOD SETH 8-7-06

Children and adolescents in the U.S. and around the world are becoming more overweight.

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that there may be serious consequences to that trend. Researchers found that being overweight at age 18 is associated with an increased risk of premature death in younger and middle-aged women. The study appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Our findings add to studies on overweight in middle-aged and older populations by providing insight into the impact of adolescent overweight on adult mortality," said Rob van Dam, a research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH and lead author of the study.

Some previous studies had looked at the relationship between being overweight in childhood and adolescence and premature death in adulthood, but those studies tended to look at older cohorts (people born before 1945), in which few participants were overweight during their youth and the majority had smoked.

Van Dam and his colleagues examined data from 102,400 female nurses in the Nurses' Health Study II, a prospective study launched in 1989. At that time, study participants, all aged 24 to 44, reported their current height and weight and their weight at age 18. Researchers calculated body mass index (BMI)--weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. Participants also answered questions in a number of other areas, including disease history, alcohol consumption, smoking and exercise. Follow-up questionnaires were sent to participants until July 1, 2001, or to the date of death, whichever came first.

The results showed that women with a higher BMI at 18 consumed more alcohol, smoked more and were less likely to engage in vigorous physical activity during adolescence.

During the 12-year follow-up period (1989-2001), in which 710 participants died, the HSPH researchers found that women with a higher BMI at age 18 had a higher risk of dying prematurely. That was true for even moderately overweight adolescents. Associations between overweight and premature mortality were similar for women who were younger and older than 40 during follow-up. Major causes of death included cancer (258 deaths) and cardiovascular disease (55 deaths); of the deaths due to external causes (144 deaths), suicide was the most common cause (61 deaths).

The researchers also found that women with a low BMI at age 18 did not have an increased risk of mortality. This finding contrasts with several recent studies, in which both a low and high BMI in middle-aged and older adults was associated with excess mortality. However, at older ages, a low BMI may reflect lifelong smoking habits or weight loss as a result of diseases, which may bias associations between BMI and mortality.

To adjust for smoking, van Dam and his colleagues looked at the results for women who never smoked. They found the same results--women with a higher BMI during adolescence who never smoked had a significantly increased risk of premature death than those with a low BMI. Another key finding was that BMI at age 18 was a strong predictor of BMI in 1989 when women were, on average, 34 years old. Still, BMI in 1989 only partly explained the association between BMI at age 18 and premature death. In other words, being overweight as an adult couldn't fully explain why women died prematurely. Health effects of overweight that are specific to younger ages, differences in location of fat deposition, or long-term exposure to metabolic effects of overweight may explain this finding.

Past studies have also shown that overweight children and adolescents have higher risks of cardiovascular problems and chronic diseases. The results of this study, which show a risk of premature death for younger and middle-aged women, are in line with these findings. "This paper underscores the importance of efforts to prevent excessive weight gain in children, not only to prevent obesity but also to prevent moderate overweight," said Frank Hu, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH and a co-author of the study. "Given the prevalence of overweight, large-scale preventive strategies aimed at increasing physical activity and stimulating healthy eating habits in U.S. children and adolescents are warranted."

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

Laws for the Common Good, Letter to Editor, Bismarck Tribune, July 27,06.

2006-08-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

Laws for the common good
By VINOD SETH
Bismarck
The banner headline across the top of page 4A of our Bismarck Tribune on Tuesday declared, “Some Chicago laws starting to seem intrusive.”

The AP byline story noted the crackdown by the Chicago City Council on “things they deem unhealthy ...”

Apparently, the city council in the past year has passed laws banning “smoking in nearly all public places, use of cell phones while driving” and was now proposing to “restrict fast-food chains from cooking with artery clogging transfat oils.”

Now what’s so intrusive about that?

Even big business, tired of rapidly rising health costs from unhealthy food and sugary drinks, wants change.

Only the fast-food giants who use transfat oils would find such laws intrusive.

Not most people. It is why we elect our leaders, our government: to pass laws for the common good.

We know about secondhand smoke. Driving while talking on the cell phone is like driving drunk. And transfats clog arteries. That’s proved.

Maybe our city commission will go the Chicago City Council one better and ban transfat oils at all restaurants, at cafeterias in schools, colleges and workplaces and in food served to patients in nursing homes and hospitals.

Healthy kids, healthy moms, healthy dads, a healthy Bismarck.

What’s wrong with that?

(Seth is a local physician. — Editor.)

Diabetes is like adding 15 years to your age!- say no to sugar loaded pop/ trans fats

2006-08-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Lancet, the medical journal from the UK in a July 1 research article GL Booth from Univ of Torornto and others Lancet 368:July 1 29-36,2006 points out that having diabetes is like ageing 15 years.Earlier onset of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery diseas in men and women.
Another reason for no sugar loaded pop and trans fats laden fast food as well as the sit down franchise food restaurants.

E Coli, She Coli, He Coli NO M-E Coli

2006-07-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

FOOD OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE

Fears about home canning already are great and now with a letter to the Editor on another two infectious agents these fears will be further fanned.
More people will depend on canned goods shipped from low wage factories far away. More anxiety will be unnecessarily created.
Our infection health will be no better.
Our mental health could be worse.
Many high sounding words, " research" and "scientific", and many numbers were used. This letter was full of factual errors, half-truths and equivocations. Please read on.

BOTULISM
Botulism as a disease is most often NOT a food borne illness. Yes, food borne botulism is a serious disease when it happens, but in 31 years, first in Infectious Disease Fellowship training at Washington University and then in practice both in St Louis and Bismarck in the specialty of Infectious disease I have not seen a single food borne case. Deaths, nationally due to food borne disease, number 1- 2 a year and total cases of food borne Botulism have been a median of 24 a year in ALL of USA. 42% of food borne Botulism cases from 1976 to 1984 were restaurant acquired according to the Center for Disease Control website I reviewed for this article.

LISTERIOSIS
As far as Listeriosis the mini treatise was WRONG. Home canning as a cause of listeriosis must be quite rare. I found no mention on it at a CDC website Nor at the Agricultural Research Service, the FDA websites nor in a 15 min Google search. This bacteria is killed at 75 degrees Celsius, well below the boiling point of water, so home canning is not an issue. Listeria multiplies after refrigeration. Cold cuts of meat are a big issue with Listeria. See article from Time magazine excerpted below.

This is what the FDA says( http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap6.html) -L. monocytogenes has been associated with such foods as raw milk, supposedly pasteurized fluid milk, cheeses (particularly soft-ripened varieties), ice cream, raw vegetables, fermented raw-meat sausages, raw and cooked poultry, raw meats (all types), and raw and smoked fish. Its ability to grow at temperatures as low as 3°C permits multiplication in refrigerated foods.

FOOD POISONING
Cases of food poisoning have increased in the USA since the 70’s.The numbers of outbreaks though has NOT changed in the private home but has increased 500% in the restaurant setting between 1973 and 1999. ((http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03530.pdf, Fig 4 page 55.)
Why?
From careful reading and experience it is clear it is first because of concentration in ownership of sale and manufacture of food and because of concentration in agriculture processes such as meat and dairy production and the increasing importation of fruits and vegetables from countries with poor hygiene. Inspection by our Government is curtailed due to corporate pressure and political influence buying. See March 3, 2003 Time Magazine Vol. 161 No.9 -- CAN COLD CUTS KILL? THE USDA MAY BE DRAGGING ITS FEET ON INSPECTIONS AND FAVORING THE INDUSTRY Michael Weisskopt
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030303-426039,00.html
Also numbers of inspectors is reduced as increasing budget deficits from tax cuts strain local budgets, weakening our government’s watchdog role. Concentration has also resulted in a poorer labor force at mega poultry and meat-processing plants, often locked in to get the most out of them. Conditions are deplorable. The answer to this contamination has been more antibiotics for the animals and lately X Ray nuclear irradiation of meats as well as certain imported food and fruits. We suffer not only more food poisoning but in more resistant bacteria around and on us.
A second reason is increased and indiscriminate use, primarily in the last two decades, of medicines that shut off the stomach acid making the stomach much more hospitable to bacteria. As this acid is shut off our God given food sterilizer, our stomachs, no longer do that work. No wonder contamination of food with smaller numbers of food poisoning bacteria causes disease.
A third reason, especially for the dramatic 500% increase in outbreaks at restaurants, is the poorly paid workforce with rapid turnover at franchise restaurants. This results in low morale and inadequate training. In Bismarck I have noticed that many fast food places have a permanent help wanted sign outside. There has always been one at McDonald's on Tyler Parkway near my home with cool messages to attract the minimum wage, no living wage, child laborers our state and nation's laws permit.

The fourth reason is clearly non intuitive. Use of plastic gloves has been pushed at street fairs, restaurants and cafeterias in schools and hospitals, while logical, is a mistake. Our God given hands have oils on them with natural antibacterial activity. Gloves, machine made, have no such activity. Actually the opposite occurs as the increased moisture and warmth under the gloves provide a perfect incubator allowing bacteria to multiply and thrive. People wearing gloves also actually contaminate them more over time - they itch with their gloved hands and scratch without a thought the same places that contaminate our ungloved hands. Don't believe me. Next time stand afar and see for yourself.. Unfortunately a false sense of security exists in the glove wearer. Hand washing becomes a low priority.

The Solution

Solutions to some of societies' problems might in general lie in having a two tier system of regulation in certain biological systems. One for the individual, small scale producer be it agriculture, food, animal breeding and one for the corporate. mega producer of the same. In biological systems, where small mistakes tend to be magnified, large scale production should be actively discouraged.

Small producers sell locally and are vulnerable to damage to their reputations. Their customers know them and often their family. Small producers are thus directly accountable to the people. Government is not needed nor is the courts as the small have a healthy regard for the power of both. Large corporations with their public relation machines and lawyers know they can wriggle out of damage from bad practices or tie up any punitive fines in court. They are increasingly unaccountable to the people, to their government, to their courts. More regulations have been proposed. Regulations have not been the answer. Regulations only work under a system of strong inspections and fines. All that regulations have achieved is to drive the small producer out. The mega corporations thrive. Big gets bigger. With impunity.

Some years ago a corporate food supplier was finally proved as the cause of more than a few hundred thousand cases of salmonella food poisoning. Their ice cream was contaminated. Many died nationally. A small producer would have closed up from loss of business. Or shame.
This corporation, like others with similar stories, is thriving. Corporations not being a person cannot have shame. Big gets bigger. Shamelessly.

Big corporations also shift costs - in manufactured food - at the expense of your health.
Transfats are a story for another day. Big gets bigger because we do not know.

In our rural state we could avoid contaminated meat from mega plants by connecting with local meat and dairy producers and local butchers in the rural areas. Some of this especially dairy is not legal at this time but if enough of us spoke up the law of our state would be changed. Why if they can sell cigarettes and tobacco with a little notation it could kill you can people not sell milk in our state with a much larger notation” Boil before use or you will get food poisoning." Rural prosperity could ensue.
Why not free the small meat producers( maybe 10- 20 cows slaughtered a month and equivalent poultry/pork/lamb/ostrich) and decentralize and truly deregulate meat production for the small seller/producer. This could knock out the strongest cause of food poisoning - centralized production.

Nobel Prize winning author E.F. Schumacher has written a beautiful book “Small is Beautiful, Economics as if People Mattered"

In the case of food, small indeed is beautiful.
Small has less pesticides,
Small has less antibiotics,
Small has less hormones,
Small is actually cheaper
Small uses less energy..
It is local. It is safer.
More people have meaningful work.

Please eat food we know, from people we know.
Because we matter. Our children matter. Our families matter. Our health matters.

Because we are what we eat. And drink.
People matter.
Corporations are not people.

TURMERIC - A spoonful a day keeps the doctor away.

2006-07-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to eat. They change their minds all the time!!

My patients share their confusion with me often. What do I eat? No eggs, yes eggs, no butter, yes butter, yes margarine, no margarine. Yes Vit E, no vitamin E, yes Calcium, no Calcium, yes Beta- carotene, no Beta-carotene. Low carb, high carb, no carb. Confusion reigns in the world of nutrition as defined by science.

Humans have known what to eat and drink for millenia. The food habits of the vast majority of Indians who have been vegetarian for generations are a case in point. The veritable garden of Eden that India was provided a vast laboratory for long term observation and deduction.

The story ot turmeric is a case in point.

How did the deeply yellow ginger-like root turmeric became a ubiquitous ingredient of Indian dishes giving curry its color and stain? How did they know that turmeric was so good for you?

It was only a Vippasna meditation retreat in rural Rajasthan that reintroduced me to the magic of turmeric. At this retreat we took a vow of silence for 10 days. People of all color and national origins and ages were there. Many were folks from rural India. After 5 am meditation at breakfast I found that salt, sugar and turmeric in big bowls were available for us to use. Many would add a spoon of both sugar and turmeric to their glass of hot milk. The second day I followed suit. It felt right.

I had to wait till the end of the retreat to ask about this. Each and everyone of these rural folk, in reverential tones, talked about how good turmeric is for health and how for generations everyone in their towns and villages used it all the time for its healthful qualities, for "blood purification" and remarkably, also in many religious rituals ....And here I was an informed doctor, an "educated urban elite", an avid reader, and I knew little about turmeric. I had taken it for granted. I vowed to learn more.

When I returned to the States shortly after the devastating Gujarat earthquake I spent hours reading and researching Turmeric. Modern science keeps finding new and incredible positive effects - Alzheimer's, arthritis, Cholesterol, woumd healing, antisepsis, the good news did not seem to end!
My patient's who cannot drink milk say it tastes great in V8.
My kids laugh because whenever they get a cut or boil - this Board certified Infection specialist uses a turmeric in butter paste with added silver.

And my colleagues gave me a jar of turmeric for my birthday in the clinic since I told my patients' with wounds all the time. The recipe will come in a later post.

And I thought more about the holy spices and foods of India. HOLY. No wonder all of India believed in them. TV as a way to change the minds of people was still two millenia away. Marco Polo mentioned turmeric in his writings from 1280 after his trip to India.

MORE later about those holy spices and foods that science keeps rediscovering.

MORE later about eating as the people did before mind changing through ads (brain washing) made money for those who had something to sell.

More later for our wellness and that of our loved ones.

Some food for thought about turmeric......
A t-spoon a day keeps the doctor away.

Fat. Fat. Fat. Fat. By RAYMOND SOKOLOV July 27, 2006; Wall Street Journal

2006-07-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

Fat. Fat. Fat. Fat.
By RAYMOND SOKOLOV
July 27, 2006; Page A12
Fat-lovers all over Chicago are quivering like jelly, from their 24-inch necks to their long-lost-from-view ankles. Why? Alderman Edward M. Burke has proposed an ordinance banning restaurant chains from cooking with oils containing trans fats. Windy City high-on-the-hoggers have already been hit with an aldermanic ordinance banning foie gras in restaurants. Now this.

So begins an expose of the continued use of "gazillions of gallons" trans fats in the restaurant and fast food industry to improve shelf life of their products . Mr Sokolov fails to mention that substititutes are widely available but more expensive. And in a classic line that I hope to quote in all talks about trans fats he asks "What if arsenic also conferred profitable advantages to margarine or potato chips? Clearly we would ban its use , he states. Bravo, Raymond Sokolov that is an elegant way to put it. I wholeheartedly agree. Trans fats however are worse than arsenic because they are so ubiquitous, worldwide.

The article only mention about trans fat cardiac/cholesterol issues. Don't forget how well transfats block long chain fatty acid(LCFA) formation from dietary fatty acid sources in humans. These long chain fatty acids are the essential building blocks of the brain and trans fats in pregnant women cross into the fetus and after birth to the breast milk to reduce availbilty of these LCFA utero to the rapidly growing brain. LCFA deficits have been shown to reduce IQ in the infant.See earlier post on blog.
No mention is made of increased macular degeneration, increased gall stones, diabetes complications and increased deaths from arrythmias as well as eclampsia in late pregnancy. Its not just cholesterol and clogged arteries that are an issue.

And then as many others have done Sokolov blames fat for America's main health problems. He states "French fries, no matter what oil they bathe in are not good for your system or your weight" But that does not mean you should sprinkle them with arsenic. Fat is essential to the human diet, to the human body and to healthy nutrition. You could not become a fruitarian Mr Sokolov because you would never feel satiated. Fat in a meal satisfies us. Salads don't.

And as far as weight gain with apologies to Bill "its the (liquid)sugar stupid". Its sugar in liquid form as pop, sports drinks and even clear juices that challenge the pancreas into oversecreting insulin as the sugar is too rapidly absorbed into the blood. Also, the satiety center in the hypothalamus somehow never recognizes these rapidly absorbed calories leaving one much more hungry than an equivalent amount of dessert calories would. We end up with more total calories at each meal when we drink 300 calories of pop. At 15-18 spoons of sugar equivalent per drink these calories rapidly add up daily weekly and monthly. And unlike fat calories these sugar calories leave you hungry for more. Yes its the one two punch of trans fats and pop that has rapidly escalated our health care costs.

It is unconstitutional to ban a poison! All because it is more profitable in commerce. No that's just not common sense.

Eat the Popeye cajun chicken, eat McD french fries. But ask McD's if they could change the oil in Europe years ago why not in America?
We do matter. Our health is our bottom line!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115396408708218663.html?mod=todays_us_opinion

Health Is Wealth: McDonald’s Transfat Settlement – We the People Say No.

2006-07-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Health Is Wealth: McDonald’s Transfat Settlement – We the People Say No.

Health Is Wealth: MCDONALD’S TRANSFAT LAWSUIT Aug 2005 TESTIMONY

2006-07-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Health Is Wealth: MCDONALD’S TRANSFAT LAWSUIT Aug 2005 TESTIMONY

McDonald’s Transfat Settlement – We the People Say No.

2006-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

McDonald’s Transfat Settlement – We the People Say No.

LEGAL WEBSITE FOR ALL DETAILS--www.tfasettlement.com

On August 24 in Marin County California a Final Fairness Hearing is scheduled in the case of BANTRANSFATS.COM and Katherine D. Fettke, an individual and all others similarly situated vs. McDonald’s Corporation.
FOR LEGAL DETAILS OF LAWSUIT and settlement visit www.tfasettlement.com. This is my non-legal interpretation as a doctor.

I believe that the settlement is not in the public interest. I will be traveling from North Dakota to Marin County, to speak up against it as a concerned doctor. Join me.

According to the original lawsuit McDonald’s in September 2002 in a huge multimedia event, successfully proclaimed to the whole world that it was going to in the words of it CEO “do the right thing” and take a “major step towards the elimination of TFA’s from its cooking oil” used to fry French fries, hash browns, chicken, fish etc. McDonald’s Europe “already has attained comparative levels” the President of McDonald’s USA was quoted as saying in the filings included with the original lawsuit.

A few months later McDonald’s changed its mind - quietly. This lawsuit was initiated by BANTRANSFATS.COM some months later. www.bantransfats.com.

“It was indeed the right thing to do” says Dr. Seth. “Transfats (TFA’s) represent one of the most serious public health hazards of the modern age.”

“Transfats, produced by catalytic high temperature chemical hydrogenation of vegetable oils, have been categorically proven to dramatically increase heart attacks and heart arrhythmias; to cause poorer pregnancy outcomes by increasing pre-eclampsia and decreasing fetal birth weight; to impact nerve health potentially lowering IQ in the new born and infant and damaging the retina increasing macular degeneration and blindness in the elderly and also to increase complications in diabetic patients at all ages. More complications will be found as we continue to peel the Transfat onion.”

The NY City Health commissioner, last week, equating TFA’s with lead and asbestos, asked for a voluntary TFA ban for restaurants and food suppliers. Denmark strictly limits use. Canada is actively working towards a national ban maybe because its National Health Insurance ends up paying for TFA caused health problems. Many US Corporations face rapidly inflating employee health insurance costs. They need to realize, as Canada has that they are enhancing the TFA purveyors’ bottom line, to the detriment of their own. The latter pay limited benefits to their low wage employees.

In Feb 2003 McDonald’s changed its mind. It did so very quietly almost as if the big Corporation felt ashamed and did not want us to know. We know that’s not true. Corporations are not people. Only people feel shame.

It released a cleverly worded, low impact, five-line press release at an expense of $460.00. Few noticed. Was that the idea? You decide.

In comparing the two events, one could describe the first as a Fourth of July Public Fireworks extravaganza in a big US city and the second as a 10 year old’s backyard sparkler.

“ No wonder” says Dr Seth, “many still do not know that McDonald’s broke its promise.” The Aug 16 editorial in the Washington Post is a case in point. It states and I quote “McDonald's has also moved to modify its french fry recipe to reduce, though not eliminate, the trans fat content" Not true. McDonalds itself admits says it did not, in the Legal Notice from April 2005 required by the lawsuit settlement but this highly educated editor like my friend the pathologist in my hospital many of us just remember the Sept 2002 hoopla. Ordinary Americans, specially the low income and young I believe would be even less likely to know about the broken promise of 2002.
Was this a planned corporate strategy to appear as protectors of the public’s health, to be as McDonald’s put it then, the first “national quick serve restaurant (QSR) to set a goal of eliminating TFA’s in cooking oil”? Nothing in the lawsuit website says that.

The broken promise did come about just as people were beginning to question fast food and just as the Food Drug Administration was increasingly focusing on TFA’s health consequences. Whatever may be the case, this was successful in making people comfortable with McDonald’s worldwide, reassured that indeed McDonald’s was guarding their nutrition and health.

Dr Seth says, “Life span in America is starting to drop. Millions and millions of pounds of TFA’s hidden in fast food, franchise restaurant food, school and employee cafeteria food as well as most baked goods and many other items on grocery store shelves is a major culprit.”

This broken promise indeed is unfortunate. If McDonald’s had kept its promise and taken a “major step towards the elimination of TFA’s from its cooking oil” others restaurants would have had to followed.

This settlement is inadequate in comparison to the damage done to the public who are members of the class.

The final settlement it appears would release all claims that relate in any way to the trans fatty acid levels in McDonald’s products (see Stipulation of Agreement pages 4 and 5 section 1.24 to 1.26 at tfasettlement.com in court documents). Proven TFA issues specifically cardiovascular injuries e.g. heart attacks or strokes and many other ailments are noted.

In essence is not McDonald's buying a single premium insurance policy good against all health claims related to Transfat levels in its food under any local, state or federal law? That would be quite a policy. See section 1.24 above.

Johns-Manville Company would have loved that before the asbestos caused health problems tornado hit 5 decades ago. The transfat tornado too is going to hit. McDonald's knows. It is just a matter of time. McDonald’s wants insurance. But people do not benefit from this insurance policy. The beneficiary is McDonald’s. Asbestos has cost companies billions of dollars; the Tobacco settlement was also for billions of dollars.

This settlement allows McDonald's to escape from under the Transfat cloud with a slap on the wrist.

Corporations who focus first and foremost on their own profitability ignoring costs to humanity will prosper while generations to come pay the price. Life span will indeed continue to drop.
.
This settlement is not in the public interest.

I will be traveling from North Dakota to Marin County as a concerned doctor. Join me.

Tell others. TFA use does keep food cheap. No thanks!

We would rather pay now, not later.

VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Facs 701 222 0712

Life Span is dropping- specially among People from India

2006-07-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Life Span is dropping- specially among Indians
Life span in America is dropping. We Indians are dramatically affected. Pop along with the Trans Fatty Acids hidden in fast food, franchise restaurant food, school and employee cafeteria food and many items in our grocery stores, are major culprits. They are indeed quite a one two punch straight to our gut. They attack us together, often on the same fast food or school cafeteria tray.

At issue for Indians in addition is continued use by many Bakeries, Halwais, Chatwallas (papri, alloo tikki, jalebi, mutthee, gulab jamun etc) and some restaurants including fast food restaurants such as Haldiram/s, KFC, McDonald’s among others and Pizza places of this industrially manufactured harmful food ingredient. Most New York Halwais and also Chicago and elsewhere use Vanaspati. It’s cheaper for them but we pay the price.

Transfats have been categorically proven to increase heart attacks and heart arrhythmias; to cause poorer pregnancy outcomes by increasing pre-eclampsia and decreasing fetal birth weight; to impact nerve health potentially lowering IQ in the new born and infant and damaging the retina increasing macular degeneration and blindness in the elderly. They also increase complications in diabetic patients.

Sugars in large quantities in the vast choice of pop and similar drinks bypass our brain's appetite and satiety center; stimulate high insulin levels and abdominal fat accumulation. Each meal eaten has hundreds of added liquid calories that we drink! That and not lack of exercise is primary in our national obesity epidemic.
When eating out ask about Trans fats.
Your heart, your eyes and your baby’s brain depends on it.
And the only liquid you should drink with your meals is water. Or milk if you so desire.
Your life depends on it.

VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Facs 701 222 0712

McDonald’s Transfat Settlement Aug 24 2005-We Say No.

2006-07-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

McDonald’s Transfat Settlement Aug 24 2005

We Say No. Our life span is dropping.

On August 24, 9.30 am in Room H, Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael, California a Final Fairness Hearing is scheduled in the case of BANTRANSFATS.COM and Katherine D. Fettke, and others similarly situated vs. McDonald’s Corporation. (www.tfasettlement.com)

Sept 2002, the lawsuit states, McDonald’s, in a publicity blitz, proclaimed to the world it was going to “do the right thing” and take a “major step towards the elimination of TFA’s from its cooking oil” used to fry French fries, hash browns, chicken and fish.

The world was impressed. McDonald’s Europe had “attained comparable levels” of TFA’s already, said the McDonald’s CEO. McDonald’s aspired to be a guardian of the public’s health as “the first national quick serve restaurant (QSR) to set a goal of eliminating TFA’s in cooking oil” and serving “the highest quality ingredients” quoting Mike Roberts, its President.

Feb 2003 McDonald’s changed its mind – quietly. Few noticed.
This lawsuit followed some months later.

Cutting Transfats (TFA’s) was “the right thing” to do. TFA’s are a public health hazard. TFA’s dramatically increase heart attacks and heart arrhythmias; impair pregnancy outcomes increasing pre-eclampsia and decreasing fetal birth weight; impact nerve health, lowering IQ in the new born and infant; damage the retina, increasing macular degeneration and blindness in the elderly and finally increase complications in diabetic patients.

NY City, last week, asked for a voluntary TFA ban for restaurants and food suppliers. Denmark strictly limits use. Canada is actively working towards a national ban maybe because its National Health Insurance ends up paying for TFA caused health problems. Many US Corporations face rapidly inflating employee health insurance costs. They need to realize, as Canada has that they are enhancing the TFA purveyors’ bottom line, to the detriment of their own. The latter pay limited benefits to their low wage employees.

McDonald’s TFA delay came Feb 2003. In 30-words. Cost paid to PR Newswire - $460.00. Few noticed. Was that the idea? Or did the big Corporation feel shame and not want us to know? Unlikely. Corporations are not people. Only people feel shame.
Most still do not know that McDonald’s did not do what it promised.

Was that the idea?

You decide.

This broken promise did come at the perfect time. By 2002 people had become increasingly concerned about fast food. Food Drug Administration was focusing on TFA’s health consequences. The Sept 2002 “nutrition” and ” leadership” initiatives” blitz reassured people that McDonald’s was indeed the guardian of people’s nutrition.

I am concerned this settlement is not in the public interest. I will be traveling from North Dakota to Marin County, to testify as an individual.

Join me

Life span in America is starting to drop. I, as a doctor, am convinced that TFA’s hidden in franchise restaurant food, school and employee cafeteria food and many items in our grocery stores, are the major culprit.

Brochures and websites serve little to inform the mostly low income or young customers at QSRs’. Labels, organic chemistry smorgasbords, often do not educate even the educated. They only shift responsibility for unhealthy ingredients to the consumer.

This settlement would allow McDonald’s and others to continue to use TFA’s with impunity fattening their bottom line at the cost of people’s health.

Life span, in generations to come, will continue to drop.

TFA use allows food to be cheap.

No thanks!

We would rather pay now, not later.

VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Facs 701 222 0712 and 701 255 2255

MCDONALD’S TRANSFAT LAWSUIT Aug 2005 TESTIMONY

2006-07-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

MCDONALD’S TRANSFAT LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT --- OBJECTION

Aug 10 2005
2nd submission

To

Clerk of the Court, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Marin,
Katherine D. Fettke v. McDonald’s Corporation. Case number CV 034828. BanTransFats.com v. McDonald’s Corporation . Case number CV 044109.

I, the undersigned hereby solemnly affirm that I am a member of the class based on the fact that I purchased or ate Chicken McNuggets®, McChicken®, Filet-O-Fish®, or Crispy Chicken sandwiches, French fries, or hash browns at a McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S. after September 3, 2002 .
I object to the settlement based on my beliefs that I have stated below

VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788
Facs 701 222 0712 and 701 255 2255

I again request the opportunity to testify in court personally on this issue on Aug 24th.

Please find enclosed my testimony that I am working on and would like to present.

STATEMENT of Vinod K Seth

Trans fats are a manmade cellular poison. They serve no purpose in the human body. Trans fats (TFA) represent one of the most serious public health hazards of the modern age. Population based healthcare epidemiology has proven that those who eat transfat-laden foods are unhealthier.
New health problems continue to surface as more research is being done on TFA’s.

Ayurveda says --We are what we eat and drink. No wonder LIFESPAN IN AMERICA IS DROPPING!
At issue is continued use by McDonald’s of TFA’s after assuring us all in the words of Mike Roberts, president, McDonald's USA Sept 2002 that they were taking “a major step toward the elimination of trans fat from our (domestic) cooking oil."
McDonald’s was right in 2002 to decide to eliminate TFA’S from their foods. Healthful alternatives to TFA’s do exist. McDonald’s knows that. BUT TFA’s are cheaper. UNFORTUNATELY TFA’s cost the consumer. Generations to come will continue to pay with more health problems worldwide because this wise decision was quietly rescinded a few months later.
McDonald’s generated much publicity and fanfare for this Sept 2002 announcement. I quote from the USA Today news story---

“McDonald's, the global symbol of fast — and fatty — food, will announce today plans to cut the artery-clogging processed fat from its french fries by nearly half…if McDonald's succeeds, rivals Burger King and Wendy's would almost certainly be forced to try to follow.”
A Few months later, McDonald’s corporation changed its mind. The coverage in USA Today was all of thirty words in a non-headlined article on the left of the newspaper.
I cannot even Google it now.
Here is the original in its entirety from McDonald’s corporate website (highlight mine)
McDonald's Press Release 02/28/2003

McDonald's TFA Reduction Timeframe Extended

McDonald's today said that it plans to extend the timeframe by which it will introduce a change in cooking oil to reduce trans fatty acids (TFA’s) and saturated fats in its fried food menu. The original intent was to complete implementation by the end of February 2003. "While speedy implementation is an admirable goal, we are most focused on the satisfaction of our customers and the quality of our products," said Ralph Alvarez, McDonald's US Chief Operations Officer.
On the same day another press release from the McDonald’s website was ---

McDonald's Press Release 02/28/2003

McDonald's Brazil Issues Its First Social Report

Report Delivered First to the Chain's 36,000 Employees
The public will now be able to become familiar, in more detail, with McDonald's corporate social responsibility concept, together with the initiatives developed McDonald's Brazil. ……………………….(This was 1 page long AND the full 54-page version was also included as a 507 Kb pdf version.)

What social responsibility concept, I respectfully ask the court, was McDonald’s promoting TO ITS 36000 BRAZILIAN EMPLOYEES in this 54-page report on the same day it gave up “speedy implementation ..an admirable goal” to cut TFA’s. Some would say McDonald’s chose to deliberately mislead the people for profit.
And McDonald’s has profited. People have suffered damage to their health.

LIFESPAN IN AMERICA IS DROPPING. Is it the billions of pounds of TFA’s in our food? I believe that to be true.
Ayurveda says --We are what we eat and drink. I believe that to be true also.

WHY MCDONALD”S CHANGED ITS PLANS

Because they knew they could get away with it.
And they have, current settlement notwithstanding.

“McDonald's………....is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day.” corporate website McDonald’s.
The current settlement requires McDonald’s to spend $ 1.5 million to inform consumers that it did not make the change it promised. This is inadequate. It represents less than a penny per US consumer potentially mislead in those 150 days between the Sept 2002 worldwide publicity campaign and the Feb 2003 “silent” event. If we take into account worldwide consumers in those 150 days the amount per consumer would be 0.0002 cents.

Issue control by McDonald’s appears to be based on a combination of –
A) Political lobbying--“Cheeseburger Bills” in various state legislatures to shield corporate food from liability-many passed and similar Bills in Congress also.
B) Cosmetic changes e.g. Apple slices with the Happy Meal. And a Pedometer with the Happy Meal

THE CURRENT SETTLEMENT FAILS MCDONALDS CUSTOMERS

The current settlement and advertising campaign envisaged in the settlement would be inadequate for the vast majority of McDonald’s customers.

1) The American Heart Association (AHA) has never taken a leadership position on TFA’s and Coronary Heart Disease. TFA’s also cause other problems besides those heart related e.g. proven slowing of fetal and infant development, arthritis and inflammatory diseases, aging related macular degeneration, pre-eclampsia, gallstones, increased severity of Diabetes mellitus complications among others. The importance and education of consumers about these non-heart related issues would be minimized if the settlement were given to the AHA.

The AHA cannot reach the population most uninformed about McDonald’s and TFA’s.

2) TFA levels in McDonald’s food. Claims of TFA reductions in the Legal notice required of McDonald’s in the settlement that is included in the current case court documents are vague about the actual and absolute reduction in TFA content.. This is unhelpful for an informed decision about daily trans fat intake. This information is critical. Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of HHS, has recently said at a news conference on the FDA food Guidelines that “ the FDA may recommend that daily intake of trans fat be less than 2 grams, perhaps less than 1 gram”.
Vague statements by McDonald’s about TFA reductions continue this pattern of misinformation and do not give consumers the information needed to make a healthy informed choice.

3) More lower income people eat at McDonald’s type restaurants. More children and young men and women eat there. 7% of all people in USA eat McDonald’s food. 50 million people worldwide eat it daily. Awareness of TFA related health problems is better in higher income groups. This has been clearly shown in industry marketing surveys.

Education of lower income consumers and young people about trans fats thus has to be a high priority.

THIS CURRENT SETTLEMENT TOTALLY FAILS IN THIS REGARD.

The AHA cannot reach the population most uninformed about McDonald’s and TFA’s – especially the lower income and the young.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION :

SIMPLE POINT OF SALE INFORMATION

Currently McDonald’s nutrition information is hidden in plain view in a complex brochure in the restaurant and on the website. I found both sources impossible to get any meaningful information from.
Maybe that’s because I am a doctor from India.
I do believe most of McDonald’s customers would also find it a daunting task.

Fast food restaurants need to provide easily understood information, FAST.
People want everything fast specially the younger and lower income customers who are the majority of McDonald’s and other fast food eaters.

I would respectfully ask that we simply PUT SIMPLE INFORMATION

ON THE MENU AND
ON EACH TABLE AND
AT THE PAYMENT AREA
AS WELL AS ON THE ENTRANCE DOOR

It would not be undue hardship on McDonalds and likely could be done for a smaller $$ amount than the current settlement envisages.

POINT OF SALE INFORMATION WOULD CONSIST OF

A)“Trans Fat Used Here” sign easily visible above the menu and food sale area, and on the entrance door to the restaurant.
B) A scientific “Trans Fat Fact Sheet” listing well known health problems due to TFA’s and the TFA content per serving of the 10 most sold food items should be placed next to the condiment/silverware table clearly legible from at least 5 feet away in each restaurant.
C) A SMALLER SIZE same content framed scientific “Trans Fat Fact Sheet” listing well known health problems due to TFA’s and the TFA content per serving of the ONLY 10 most sold food items should be placed ON EACH EATING TABLE.
D) A complete list of the type currently found listing all ingredients could continue to be available as at present.

A, B and C can be removed once McDonald’s makes the change promised in Sept 2002.

An urban school based and neighborhood organizing based campaign is needed if this point of sale approach is denied or substantially modified.

SUMMARY

The current settlement could possibly send the message to the purveyors of TFA’s that they could continue to profit from the use of this cheap but unhealthy product.
Restaurants and other food service establishments account for about 38% of the fats in our food supply.

Focusing first and foremost on profitability means that decisions are explicitly based on consideration of a corporation's own costs and revenues, while costs and benefits to society are largely ignored.

McDonald’s highly publicized decision to remove TFA’s created a buzz in the restaurant industry to take out TFA also. As USA Today put it in its news story about McDonald’s TFA reduction Sept 2002 “….if McDonald's succeeds, rivals Burger King and Wendy's would almost certainly be forced to try to follow.”

This buzz was short-lived, as McDonald’s changed its plans.

The simple measures above could correct the TFA misinformation widespread especially among lower income and younger people who are the majority of McDonald’s customers.

This simple solution is respectfully offered so that people can understand fast food is cheap because it is unhealthy. It would not be undue hardship on McDonald’s.

As a Doctor committed to people’s health I firmly believe, any hours I spend on a TFA issues would impact many more of my fellow beings than all the hours I have spent in over 30 years of caring for the critically ill in Intensive Care Units in St Louis and Bismarck.

My grandmother first impressed on me about this issue. As I sat in her kitchen in Haridwar as a 16 year old while she made me a desi ghee parantha she said “ Son, anything that doesn’t melt in the 104 degree F heat of the Jaipur summer cannot be good for you.”
She was right..
McDonald’s reminded me.
Thanks.
Respectfully submitted

VINOD K SETH MD FCCP,
CLINICAL PROF OF MEDICINE,
Univ of North Dakota SCHOOL OF MEDICINE,
1250 W Highland Acres Rd
BISMARCK ND 58501 701 223 4234/ 701 426 4788

The McDonald Class Action Law Suit Aug 2005 #5

2006-07-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

Vinod K Seth, Physician,
1250 West Highland Acres Rd
Bismarck ND 58501
Tel 701 426 4788/Facs: 701 222-0712 and 255-2255

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF STATE OF CALIFORNIA
IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF MARIN

Katherine D. Fettke v. McDonald’s Corporation. Case number CV 044109.
BanTransFats.com v. McDonald’s Corporation. Case number CV034828.

REQUEST FOR RELIEF FROM WRONG AND MISLEADING DEADLINE FOR THE FILING OF CLASS MEMBER OBJECTIONS AND REQUEST TO POSTPONE FINAL FAIRNESS HEARING:

Honorable Judge John A Sutro Jr.,

On June 10 2005 as a private citizen and Class Member I forwarded a notarized affidavit setting forth my preliminary Objections to a proposed settlement in Cases number CV 034828 and CV 044109. I understand this proposed settlement was presented to the Court in accord with the terms of a stipulation and agreement between the parties dated January 31, 2005. It is my further understanding that this Court entered an Order dated February 9, 2005 that was based on the settlement agreement that had been entered into between the parties. I believe that in that Order the settlement agreement was preliminarily approved, as was permission to give Notice of Proposed Settlement and to give Notice to Class Action members and the setting of a Final Fairness Hearing.
In my early June 2005 Statement of Objection I requested permission to personally appear at the Final Fairness Hearing. In preparing for this upcoming hearing I have recently reviewed for the first time, the February 9, 2005 Order and find that it clearly states on page 2 (encl-1) lines 20 and 21 that the deadline for filing Objections would be “twenty days before the hearing date”. On line 8, of that same page the hearing date is noted as Aug 24, 2005. A Supplemental Order by the Court dated Feb 14 set a date of July 1 but only for those class members who request EXCLUSION (lines 4 and 5 page 1 of Feb 14 Order)

It appears to me that the parties have ignored the February 9 Order and have attempted to impose an earlier date for the filing of objections, that being July 1, 2005 and not the 20 days before the August 24 hearing that is clearly specified in your February 9 Order for class members seeking to object.

Since mid May, I have had a hectic schedule. In the last week of May, two of my daughters graduated, one from Johns Hopkins on May 25 and the other from Bismarck High School on May 30. Both events took up much personal time. Then on June 11, I left on a pre scheduled one-month trip to Africa and India. In anticipation of these absences I had to perform many details within my medical practice so that my patients would have proper care while I was gone.

I prepared and filed my affidavit of objections in early June of 2005. I tried to set forth my objections to the settlement. I requested an opportunity to be present at the Final Fairness Hearing in August. I had received notice (Encl-2) that any objections had to be filed by July 1, 2005. This was contrary to the Feb 9 Order of the Court. In the rush of my family activities, my long arranged travel abroad, my professional responsibilities and other stresses I found that if I was to meet a July 1, 2005 deadline, all I could do was dash off some objections in great haste before I left the US June 11. My filing was prepared without benefit of Counsel. It was not the most thorough or articulate set of objections that I might have filed. At best I hoped it sufficiently set forth a general outline of my concerns with the settlement. I had no time to develop objections to the Attorney Fees question.

The incorrect July 1 deadline that was promoted to me forced me to work under great pressure. This created great hardship for me. I was never able to develop my Objections to their fullest. This was especially true as they pertain to the settlement’s failing to address the needs of low-income and young people. It is they who are the least informed and also have the greatest need to be concerned about Transfat issues. As a doctor I have been concerned for many years about Transfats hidden in school and employee cafeteria food as well as in franchise and fast food restaurants.

I feel I was mislead and denied the time I needed to fully research and develop the Objections and to properly present the Objections that needed to be made.

I do not know why Plaintiffs and McDonald’s Corporation did not follow the explicit instructions set out by the Court in its Order of Feb 9th. With the resources each of these parties had at its command the dissemination of misinformation concerning filing deadlines should not be excused. As a person who feels harmed by their mistake I ask leave of the Court to accept and file a new affidavit of Objections. I have attached to this letter a draft that I have been working on for the Courts convenience of review.

The settlement in the above cases is not in the public interest, the settlement is not fair, the settlement is not reasonable and the settlement is not adequate. I object to any approval of it by this Court as a focus primarily on heart related problems would minimize the myriad other health problems of this artificial, unsafe, unnecessary and cheap ingredient used globally.

I request an opportunity to express my concerns in more detail at a Final Fairness Hearing.

I ask that settlement negotiations be continued to a later date and that in fairness to the public a new deadline for a Final Fairness Hearing be established.

I want to assure the Court that I am doing this solely in my capacity as a private citizen concerned about the public good. As a physician who has done considerable study on the subject I am very concerned about the affect increased use of transfats is having on human life spans in the US and am convinced this trend is attributable significantly to the partially hydrogenated oils hidden in foods advertised and sold by McDonald’s and others.
Dated Aug 10, 2005

VINOD K SETH

Parag Kumar MD FAAP--It Takes a village to solve our kids health problems.

2006-07-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

The phrase "It takes a village to raise a child," does apply to our children's health.

It's going to take the family, the school, the village, the city, the state, the federal government and every business to really solve the childhood health and obesity problems.

Mom and dad cannot do it alone. The kids certainly cannot do it alone.

Parag Kumar MD FAAP
Associate Prof UND
MedCenter 1 Pediatrician

Washington Post Letter Aug 27 2005

2006-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hold the (Trans) Fat

Saturday, August 27, 2005; Page A16
The Aug. 16 editorial "Trans Fat Nation" said "McDonald's has also moved to modify its French fry recipe to reduce, though not eliminate, the trans fat content." This is false.
In September 2002 McDonald's, in a publicity blitz, proclaimed that it was taking a "major step" toward eliminating trans fats from the oil it uses for french fries, hash browns, chicken and fish. It promised to complete the change by early 2003. But in February 2003 McDonald's changed its mind -- quietly -- in a 30-word news release that went almost unnoticed, as the editorial showed.

The life span of Americans is dropping. As a doctor, I'm convinced that trans fats in franchise restaurant food, school and employee cafeteria food, and many items in grocery stores are the major culprit.
Brochures and Web sites and labels often do not educate even the educated. They only shift responsibility for unhealthy ingredients to consumers.
Education isn't enough. Trans fats should be treated like lead, asbestos or smoking. They are truly more lethal because millions upon millions consume them.
VINOD K. SETH
Bismarck, N.D.

Life span is dropping

2006-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

Life Span is dropping

Life span in America is dropping. Pop caused obesity and the Trans Fatty Acids hidden in fast food and franchise restaurant food, school and employee cafeteria food and many items in our grocery stores, are a one-two knockout punch.

Transfats have been categorically proven to increase heart attacks and heart arrhythmias; to cause poorer pregnancy outcomes by increasing pre-eclampsia and decreasing fetal birth weight; to impact nerve health potentially lowering IQ in the new born and infant and damaging the retina increasing macular degeneration and blindness in the elderly. They also increase complications in diabetic patients of all ages.

Sugars in the large quantities in drinks and juices bypass the brains appetite center, stimulate high insulin levels and abdominal fat accumulation. Each meal eaten has hundreds of added liquid calories that we drink! That, not lack of exercise is resulting in our national obesity epidemic.

When eating out ask about Trans fats.

Your heart, your eyes and your baby’s brain depends on it.

And the only liquid you should drink with your meals is water. Or milk if you so desire.

Your life depends on it.

Nothing liberal or conservative about banning trans fats.

2006-07-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

Vinod Seth wrote on July 27, 2006 11:22 AM:"I sure stirred up a hornet's nest. Trans Fats eaten by mom reduce IQ of the newborn- they reduce long chain fatty acid (LCFA) synthesis. LCFA are building blocks of the brain. Trans fats increase macular degenaration - a major cause of blindness in the elderly. Trans fats increase sudden death from arrythmias. Trans fats increase gall stones. THAT'S WHY TRANS FATS ARE CHEAP. THAT'S WHY THEY USE THEM! We can choose not to eat them- but they are hidden in restaurant food. Yes you can go to the McD website and 30 mins later know what not to eat or flip over their tray liner after you get done eating and you will find the info thru the stained paper.Maybe. First--Let us not equate eating trans fats with freedom. No one is banning fast,franchise food! eat all you want. Second --There is nothing liberal or conservative about banning trans fats. Only KFC, McDonald's et al stockholders are laughing all the way to the bank using cheap trans fats. Third--many substitutes for trans fats are available. they taste the same. They cost more.McDonald's in Europe is trans fat free. We in USA matter. Tell McDonald's that and your friends. Fourth--Health matters-health is not hilarious. Health is wealth.Ask GM -- health care costs are the single biggest part of a new vehicle's cost. Fast and franchise food is cheap up front but we pay with our rising health care premiums our worse health than the british at all age and income levels. Fifth--Attention to the common good is what makes us civilized.That is why we drive on the right side of the road, that is why we have red lights, that is why construction work does not start before 7 am, that is why as all of us have had near misses on the road with cell phone talking drivers it is for the common good to limit that. That is what good government is for. To protect our freedoms from those who would steal them for profit. And what is the ultimate freedom for all be they liberal or be they conservative. if not freedom from ill health, disability and death. "

Trans fats hurt Big Business

2006-07-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

The impact of cheap fast food on all businesses is worth emphasizing. I had it in my letter today////The extra profits that fast food companies make from use of cheaper and unhealthy ingredients hurts the bottom lines of MDU, of Basin, of our state govt, our school district, our Hospitals and all local and national businesses that pay health insurance for their employees. ////Unhealthy insureds cost all of us more in unaffordable health insurance. ////Its time non-food&sugary-drink big businesses understood that they are subsidizing the bottom line of the McD's of the world!//////
ALSO As Henry Ford understood and acted upon only well paid employees can buy Ford products. Walmart,McD,and the franchise food industry are the biggest proponents of a stagnant minimum wage.

Have a smart baby! Eat no trans fats- lower IQ

2006-02-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Trans fats lower baby's IQ. True, absolutely. Read on to understand why we should not let corporations make profits at the cost of your babies intelligence.

Our brains are mostly fats. Most of the fat in the brain is in the form of long chain fatty acids.
These long chain fatty acids are in breast milk as well as more expensive bay formula in the form of DHA and AA.
Long chain fatty acids are synthesized in the body from short chain fatty acids in our foods. Oils, nuts, meats, and dairy are the primary source of the various fatty acids in our diet. Our body can synthesize these long chain fatty acids which are the building blocks of the brain. The process is similar to making a long railroad train by connecting the individual boxcars with links.
So what do trans fats do? They BLOCK the enzyme the body uses to make these links. I mean if God were to make a specific compound to block this long chain fatty acid making process it would be trans fats. Trans fats are so similar to the real thing that they totally confuse the process.

Fetal Cord blood measurement of fatty acid composition at birth have shown an inverse relation between trans fat levels and DHA levels in the blood. Please read this study-- http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/74/3/364

Also a study published in Nature compared cognitive function in infants breast fed. vs formula with LCFA vs formula without LCFA added. Cognitive function was clearly lowest in the third group.
Visual development issues are important too as the retina is struturally neural tissue.

Uauy, R., D. R. Hoffman, et al. (2003). "Term infant studies of DHA and ARA supplementation on neurodevelopment: results of randomized controlled trials." J Pediatr 143(4 Suppl): S17-25.

Healthy term infants who are not breast-fed may need long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in their feeding, based on the changes in plasma and tissue fatty composition. However, consistent functional effects across different studies conducted over the past two decades has been more difficult to document. The interpretation of these data has scientific and public interest with the introduction of LCPUFA supplemented formula. There are 14 controlled trials in term infants that have included formula feeding with or without LCPUFA and functional assessment of visual and other measures of neural development; in addition, 7 have evaluated specific measures related to cognitive development. We chose to examine the effect of DHA dose provided daily on the development of visual acuity to explain the differences in visual acuity responses across randomized studies. A "meta-regression" was performed with the use of a DHA effective dose as the independent variable and visual acuity at 4 months as the dependent variable. Since the two main dietary determinants of DHA status are the LNA provided and the preformed DHA consumed, we defined DHA equivalent dose across studies by assuming a 1%, 5%, and 10% conversion of LNA to DHA. Results indicate a strong and significant effect of DHA equivalent dose on magnitude of the visual acuity response at all conversions tested; greatest significance was found when using a 10% bioequivalency (r(2)=0.68, and P=.001). We conclude that there is a significant relation between the total DHA equivalents provided and effectiveness as defined by visual acuity measurements at 4 months of age.

SO MOMS--NO FAST FOOD AND FRANCHISE FOOD IN PREGNANCY AND LACTATION FOR THE MOM. WATCH THE LABELS FOR HYDROGENATED OILS. EAT SIMPLY.

More later. Have a smart baby!

Vinod

USA lifespan increase over 2 decades lags behind Europe

2005-10-30T14:40:00.000-08:00

Life Span is dropping

When eating out ask about Trans fats.

Your heart, your eyes and your baby’s brain depends on it.

And the only liquid you should drink with your meals is water. Or milk if you so desire.

Your life depends on it.

Health Care Costs Escalating- unusual allies Walmart and Unions!

2005-10-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

Health Care Costs Escalating

Health costs at Walmart have gone up 50% in 3 years.

Walmart says its employees are sicker than the national average especially with obesity related health problems.

The one-two knockout punch to Walmart and our nations health is pop along with Trans Fatty Acids in fast food, franchise restaurant food, school and employee cafeteria food and grocery store items.

Let me explain.

Sugars in drinks and juices bypass our appetite satiety center; stimulate high insulin levels and abdominal fat accumulation. Each meal has hundreds of added liquid calories! One 18 oz bottle of coke per day adds up to over 7000 spoons of sugar per year. No one can keep up with that for long. We become obese.

Trans fats cause increased heart attacks, gallstones, pregnancy complications, macular degeneration among other ailments.

Health care costs escalate. Blue collar and service industry workers and the young are most vulnerable to this nutrition knowledge gap. Many who do know, have no choice as they can only afford cheap fast food.

US Corporations pay health care benefits to many employees. Rapidly inflating health insurance costs are a big concern. Unions have had to give concessions lately on health care issues. All pay higher health insurance premiums.

Fast food Corporations use Trans Fat Oils because it costs them less. Others profit greatly on pop.

Unions and corporations need to realize that they are enhancing McDonald’s, KFC and other TFA purveyors’ bottom line as well that of Coke, Pepsi and others that sell high sugar drinks, while their own bottom line suffers as health care costs rise.

Both need to join the battle against sugar and trans fats. They need to demand that schools sell no pop. They need to demand that KFC, McDonald’s and other fast and franchise food places remove Trans Fats from their food. They need to put their clout behind the push to totally ban trans fats. Maybe Walmart, GM and others should even push for a sugar tax on pop!

Or just push for universal health insurance and never again worry about their employees’ health or how much it costs them.