Dr. Oz’s Miraculous Medical Advice

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Dr. Oz’s Miraculous Medical Advice -- Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

From Slate:

http://www.slate.com/articles/healt...n_conflicts_with_the_best_science.single.html

As people were getting ready for the holiday season and its accompanying waist expansion late last year, Dr. Mehmet Oz let viewers of his TV show in on a timely little secret. “Everybody wants to know what’s the newest, fastest fat buster,” said the board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon and one of People magazine’s sexiest men alive. “How can I burn fat without spending every waking moment exercising and dieting?”

He then told his audience about a “breakthrough,” “magic,” “holy grail,” even “revolutionary” new fat buster. “I want you to write it down,” America’s doctor urged his audience with a serious and trustworthy stare. After carefully wrapping his lips around the exotic words “Garcinia cambogia,” he added, sternly: “It may be the simple solution you’ve been looking for to bust your body fat for good.”

In Dr. Oz’s New York City studio, garcinia extract—or hydroxycitric acid found in fruits like purple mangosteen—sounded fantastic, a promising new tool for the battle against flab. Outside the Oprah-ordained doctor’s sensational world of amazing new diets, there’s no real debate about whether garcinia works: The best evidence is unequivocally against it.

The miracle cure isn’t really a miracle at all. It’s not even new. Garcinia cambogia has been studied as a weight-loss aid for more than 15 years. A 1998 randomized controlled trial looked at the effects of garcinia as a potential “antiobesity agent” in 135 people. The conclusion: The pills were no better than placebo for weight and fat loss.

Good article.

 

[sophia8]

The supplement is extracted from the rind of the Garcinia Cambogia fruit (a small pumpkin shaped fruit sometimes called a tamarind) and has been around for a long time which made Dr. Oz feel “comfortable about the safety.”

From here.
This guy went to medical school - he must surely remember "the dose makes the poison". Eating the dried fruit rind as flavouring in a meal (the fruits' main use in the regions where it grows) is way different from swallowing 500mg caps of the concentrated extract every day.
In any case, the dangers of using concentrated Garcinia cambogia extract have been known about for years:

There is a growing number of case reports of hepatoxicity from the widely marketed weight-loss supplement Hydroxycut, which contains the botanical ingredient Garcinia cambogia. These case reports may substantially undercount the true magnitude of harm. Based on the past experience with harmful dietary supplements, US regulators should assume the more precautionary approach favored by Canada and Europe. Lacking effective adverse event surveillance for supplements, or the requirements to prove safety prior to coming to the market, case reports such as those summarized here assume added importance.

Maybe he'll get sued by somebody who develops liver disease as a result of taking this stuff on his endorsement. (Yes, I know - that would highly unlikely. But we can dream, can't we?)

 

[DPR]

Does anyone know if the african mango supplement he recommends is okay to take? My dad takes it and has lost a lot of weight, although I'd be willing to bet that he lost the weight due to eating better and not african mango. If the stuff is harmless then I'm fine with him believing that he's losing all this weight due to african mango, but if it is not a good thing for him to take I want to let him know.

 

[pakeha]

From here.
This guy went to medical school - he must surely remember "the dose makes the poison". Eating the dried fruit rind as flavouring in a meal (the fruits' main use in the regions where it grows) is way different from swallowing 500mg caps of the concentrated extract every day.
In any case, the dangers of using concentrated Garcinia cambogia extract have been known about for years:

Maybe he'll get sued by somebody who develops liver disease as a result of taking this stuff on his endorsement. (Yes, I know - that would highly unlikely. But we can dream, can't we?)

I think that event will be on my wish list for the Reyes Magos, due to arrive on Epiphany.
We can dream!

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Another analysis of Dr Oz and the harm he does.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/02/04/130204fa_fact_specter?currentPage=all

(All Highlighting mine.)

By freely mixing alternatives with proven therapies, Oz makes it nearly impossible for the viewer of his show to assess the impact of either; the process just diminishes the value of science.

Last year, in a show about weight loss, Oz introduced raspberry ketones, an herbal supplement, as “the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat.” That set off a wave of panic buying throughout the nation. The supplement quickly vanished from the shelves of health-food stores. Oz told his audience that the product regulates the hormone adiponectin, which could help teach the body to be thin. But the only relevant research he cited had been conducted on laboratory rats and cell cultures—not on humans.A similar buying frenzy followed his embrace, a few months ago, of “the miracle” of green coffee beans. “You may think that magic is make-believe,” Oz said at the beginning of the show. “But this little bean has scientists saying they have found a magic weight-loss cure for every body type. It’s green coffee beans, and, when turned into a supplement—this miracle pill can burn fat fast. This is very exciting. And it’s breaking news.”None of those assertions turn out to be accurate. When coffee beans are roasted, the plant compound, chlorogenic acid, is broken down. Scientists think that the compound itself has an effect on limiting glucose absorption, which in turn helps reduce weight. While the beans are still green, the chlorogenic acid remains intact. In theory, that means the beans can aid metabolic regulation—but theory is not data.

When he tells people the number of sexual encounters they need each year to improve their lives in a specific way, or how to lose weight in three days—this is simply lunacy. The problem is that he is eloquent and talented, and some of what he says clearly provides a service we need. But how are consumers to know what is real and what is magic? Because Mehmet offers both as if they were one.”

Dr Oz is a blowhard Know It All who "just knows" he is smarter than science.

Edited by Locknar: 

Edited, breach of rule 4.

 

[Sideroxylon]

He sometimes comes back home to Turkey and tells people to eat a handful of hazelnuts everyday. Goes down well in the world's biggest producer.