Ask Dr. Weil: Quitting smoking cold turkey may be best

Is Dr. Weil really a doctor? How can that be when there is no mention of anything but dopamine in the brain when it comes to smoking?

No mention of the extremely intense biological activity that occurs when someone who has smoked for a long-time suddenly quits. No mention of cellular activity, blood pressure, or stress on the body in general. Doesn't sound like a real doctor to me.

Is there research for how many strokes and heart attacks occur within the next couple of years after quitting because a "doctor" said that if the patient didn't it would kill them? It is doubtful. Do most people even realize that tobacco is a botanical and that there is serious ongoing research into it for medicinal purposes? For those who no longer think when it comes to this subject, please do not reply.

If anyone cared to learn about it from a physical and biological standpoint, instead of a social one, they might come across the research results that suggest that smoking has protected people from asbestos related and other work related respiratory cancers, also parkinson's disease, ulcerative colitis, etc. There is also research in which results strongly suggest recently ex-smokers are at higher risk to get certain diseases.

Of course learning about these things would require effort and objective reasoning. I will not backtrack and supply the research here, it is all available to anyone who does not fear complexities. It is there for anyone who has not been so brainwashed as to believe that smoking is the cause of all ills and that quitting cold turkey is inherently a good idea.

Even in the article it says Chantix might cause kidney problems. There is that physical reality again. That complexity that non-thinking people just can't deal with. Kidneys don't just sit there as an exclusive organ. The body is a system. Is the Chantix effecting the kidneys or something else in the body that may be actually causing the kidneys a problem. If so, then Chantix may really be causing problems in other areas of the body. Oh well, as long as you don't smoke right?

"Doctor" Weil. What a joke. I wonder how much corruption will be involved in denying malpractice lawsuits against these new social doctors who say cold turkey is the best way. I wonder how much research will be stifled and just not pursued because of social obsessives.

And before some dummy suggests it, no, I am not promoting smoking. I am not for prohibiting either.

Mythos wrote:

Is Dr. Weil really a doctor? How can that be when there is no mention of anything but dopamine in the brain when it comes to smoking?

...

"Doctor" Weil. What a joke. I wonder how much corruption will be involved in denying malpractice lawsuits against these new social doctors who say cold turkey is the best way. I wonder how much research will be stifled and just not pursued because of social obsessives.
And before some dummy suggests it, no, I am not promoting smoking. I am not for prohibiting either.

http://www.time.com/time/2004/obesity/speaker...

"Dr. Weil received an A.B. degree in biology (botany) from Harvard and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School."

So, yes, he IS a medical doctor, one who received his degree from the Harvard Medical School. Your attack on him was both mean-spirited and ill-informed.

Now tell us about YOUR credentials.

KHartman wrote:

<quoted text>
http://www.time.com/time/2004/obesity/speaker...
"Dr. Weil received an A.B. degree in biology (botany) from Harvard and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School."
So, yes, he IS a medical doctor, one who received his degree from the Harvard Medical School. Your attack on him was both mean-spirited and ill-informed.
Now tell us about YOUR credentials.

Since you are so into credentials. Here is someone who got his MD from the very same college talking about the very same EPA report you claim has been vindicated.
http://veritasvincitprolibertate.wordpress.co...

He attended Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as an undergraduate, graduating summa cum laude in 1964.[3] Crichton was also initiated into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He went on to become the Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellow from 1964 to 1965 and Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom in 1965. He graduated from Harvard Medical School, obtaining an M.D. in 1969, and did post-doctoral fellowship study at the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, from 1969 to 1970.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton

The Harvard School of Medicine is a corrupt nest of charlatans who have conspired to shove Nazi pseudo-science down the world's throats for a full century now! They are the ones who invented chemical hysterias and practically all their studies are based on nothing but LIFESTYLE QUESTIONNAIRES. They conspired with the American Cancer Society to create a taxpayer-funded propaganda machine of lies and deceit, so they could shove a totalitarian dictatorship down the world's throat!

http://www.smokershistory.com/Harvard.html

Their puppets, the Surgeons General, et al., are guilty of flagrant scientific fraud for ignoring more than 50 studies which show that human papillomaviruses cause over ten times more lung cancers than they pretend are caused by secondhand smoke. Passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus, so their fraudulent lifestyle-questionnaire studies falsely blame passive smoking for those extra lung cancers that are really caused by HPV, on purpose.

http://www.smokershistory.com/hpvlungc.htm

Free_America wrote:

<quoted text>Since you are so into credentials. Here is someone who got his MD from the very same college talking about the very same EPA report you claim has been vindicated.
http://veritasvincitprolibertate.wordpress.co...
He attended Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as an undergraduate, graduating summa cum laude in 1964.[3] Crichton was also initiated into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He went on to become the Henry Russell Shaw Traveling Fellow from 1964 to 1965 and Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom in 1965. He graduated from Harvard Medical School, obtaining an M.D. in 1969, and did post-doctoral fellowship study at the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, from 1969 to 1970.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton

As for the Salk Institute, look who was in charge of that joint in 1971!

http://www.smokershistory.com/Salk.htm

Exactly the kind of people you would expect to conduct CIA-type "black operations" of fake opposition, in order to make our side lose. So don't waste your time with phonies like Crichton, or with anyone else who lets the anti-smokers get away with using lifestyle questionnaire studies to falsely blame smoking for diseases that are really caused by infection.

KHartman wrote:

<quoted text>
http://www.time.com/time/2004/obesity/speaker...
"Dr. Weil received an A.B. degree in biology (botany) from Harvard and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School."
So, yes, he IS a medical doctor, one who received his degree from the Harvard Medical School. Your attack on him was both mean-spirited and ill-informed.
Now tell us about YOUR credentials.

Who is this "us" and "we" I keep hearing about from individual commentors? Besides that, I was making the point that he does not PROVE himself to be a REAL doctor, regardless of the title M.D.

The books, government, judges, and drug reps didn't say that quitting cold turkey would be harmful so neither did he. What other reason could there be for a supposed biological expert to completely ignore the VIOLENT process of smoking cessation after smoking for many years? After all, in this world, peanuts can kill and a cheese pizza can send some people to the ER.

The human body and its' interactions are very complex. Way beyond where "experts" are now.

Oh well, pull out the pen with a drug company advertised on it, write out the prescription for Chantix on the stationary with another drug company advertisement on it. The Health Care Industry marches on.

Mythos wrote:

<quoted text>
Who is this "us" and "we" I keep hearing about from individual commentors? Besides that, I was making the point that he does not PROVE himself to be a REAL doctor, regardless of the title M.D.
...

I say "tell us" because I realize that your reply will be read by many and not just myself.(Is English a second language for you?)


"...does not PROVE himself to be a REAL doctor..."

Getting an M.D. from Harvard is proof enough for me. What kind of proof would satisfy you?

Speaking of degrees, all of US are noticing that you said nothing about YOUR training or credentials... Just an oversight, I'm sure.

hey, he could be one of those tv shysters pushing the miracle cures LOL

*
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KHartman wrote:

<quoted text>
I say "tell us" because I realize that your reply will be read by many and not just myself.(Is English a second language for you?)
"...does not PROVE himself to be a REAL doctor..."
Getting an M.D. from Harvard is proof enough for me. What kind of proof would satisfy you?
Speaking of degrees, all of US are noticing that you said nothing about YOUR training or credentials... Just an oversight, I'm sure.

there are people with the title but not worth monkey dung

hey MD & monkey dung

KHartman wrote:

<quoted text>
I say "tell us" because I realize that your reply will be read by many and not just myself.(Is English a second language for you?)
"...does not PROVE himself to be a REAL doctor..."
Getting an M.D. from Harvard is proof enough for me. What kind of proof would satisfy you?
Speaking of degrees, all of US are noticing that you said nothing about YOUR training or credentials... Just an oversight, I'm sure.

No. It is you who are purposely distracting from the point. Why? Do you have an opinion about what HE SAID or not? If not, then why are you here?

If you want to dispute my main point about smoking cessation then ok, if not, stop riding on my coattails. Stopping buzzing around me. Why don't you just reveal what your real issue is. Do you think your tactics are not obvious?

u cannot own me wrote:

hey, he could be one of those tv shysters pushing the miracle cures LOL
*
Study with Dr. Andrew Weil
And all the top natural health pioneers. 1 yr (10 weekends) in NYC.
www.integrativenutrition.com
*
Dr Weil's Vitamin Advisor
Recommendations from Dr Weil based on your health concerns.
www.DrWeil.com
*
Dr. Weil - 42% Off
Same Day Shipping, 5 Star Guarantee Shop and Save Today - Buy Now.
www.vitacost.com
*
Dr. Weil
Thousands of Products on Sale Every Day 20-70% Off.
www.omnisupplements.com
*
Dr. Weil Vitamins on Sale
10,000 Natural & Organic products. Free shipping with $49 order.
MotherNature.com

HA HA HA HA!!!! He hocks candy bars.

Dr. Weil's opinion of medical school:

"When I finished my internship in it was very clear to me that I did not want to practice that kind of medicine. It just seemed to me that first of all it caused too much direct harm. And I felt very poorly equipped to teach people how not to get sick".

Other opinions, KHartmen, this one might interest you:

"To my mind the scientific method begins with controlled observation. That is you observe carefully, you note down what you observe. If you suspect a cause and effect relationship, you try to hold all variables constant and manipulate one and then observe to see if there are changes at the other end".

You should try it. It's easy. This is how you come to conclusions on your own.

I didn't realize that this was the Dr. Weil that I had learned of in my own research until I saw his picture. It's funny KHartman, he is just as anti-medical mainstream as I am. He doesn't think they have ANY MONOPOLY on the health of the individual. He also said:

"I felt that medical school was a continuation of my general education. I wanted to know about human beings...."

"I was a member of a group in our second year who petitioned the dean to let us out of all classes. We said we would teach ourselves better and take any exams they wanted to give at the end of the year...

...It was brash, and we got away with it. There was a new dean who had just came in, he granted the petition and this group of people just absconded from classes. We had great fun and we passed all the exams at the end of the year".

He is simply wrong about just telling anyone to quit cold turkey. It is irresponsible. KHartman, you just keep on touting this degree that even he thinks is worthless. His practice today has nothing to do with what he got his degree in, except making money for having "MD" in his name apparently. So why not get off of the degree tactic and put forth an actual opinion, and then of course, back up that opinion with some logic.

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/wei1i...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows...

Remember how this all started?

Mythos wrote:

Is Dr. Weil really a doctor? How can that be when there is no mention of anything but dopamine in the brain when it comes to smoking?
No mention of the extremely intense biological activity that occurs when someone who has smoked for a long-time suddenly quits. No mention of cellular activity, blood pressure, or stress on the body in general. Doesn't sound like a real doctor to me.
...

"Doctor" Weil. What a joke.

...

KHartman wrote:

<quoted text>
http://www.time.com/time/2004/obesity/speaker...
"Dr. Weil received an A.B. degree in biology (botany) from Harvard and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School."
So, yes, he IS a medical doctor, one who received his degree from the Harvard Medical School. Your attack on him was both mean-spirited and ill-informed.
Now tell us about YOUR credentials.

Mythos wrote:

<quoted text>
Stopping buzzing around me. Why don't you just reveal what your real issue is.

The real issue is that you posted an unfounded attack on somebody's credentials, to prop up your own weak argument. I pointed out that you were wrong when you said he was not real doctor.

Then I asked you about your own training and credentials to better understand what informs your opinions. Your angry response makes me suspect that you have no formal training this area, and in fact are just another angry crackpot.

Anti-smokers don't want to hear it, if they hear it they won't belive it. The truth is anti-smoking is stupid, and that's the type of people who are anti-smokers.

Happy Contented Soul wrote:

Anti-smokers don't want to hear it, if they hear it they won't belive it. The truth is anti-smoking is stupid, and that's the type of people who are anti-smokers.

[smiling] It's so funny because I was just about to make a response to this KHartman, and then I read this, and after all that back and forth and all those words, you just summed it up so perfectly that it just seemed foolish to continue.

Chantix can kill faster than smoking ever will.

fun lovin life wrote:

Chantix can kill faster than smoking ever will.

It probably only destroys your kidneys and liver, but your lungs will look great.

Weil is "a doctor" in the sense that he holds a real adult degree from Harvard Med. He legitimately possesses an MD.

However, he is not "a doctor" in the sense that he has never been active in the medical community (aside from internship once?!), not even in a research capacity, has no field of medical specialty (because he did not ever have a residency), and I can further not find any information that he is or ever has been licensed to practice medicine, meaning he might not have even taken the Step 3 USMLE.

His use of the MD title seems to stem from questionable intent. It seems to me that he does not actually possess any bona fides to speak intelligently on the study of human health, and clings to his MD as though it allows him to deliver "medical gospel" ex cathedra. He has never even published a reputable paper in any journal of note.

As a med student myself, I am leery of considering this man to be a physician, and so much the worse for Harvard to have him as an alumnus.

Also, I'm guessing that "KHartman" is a shill for Weil himself, or his website. They also actively maintain his Wikipedia entry, and make sure it never exposes readers to the mountain of pseudoscientific and medically irresponsible things Weil has said and done.