kpfleger Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 How do people here (or who do CR in general) find primary care physicians knowledgeable about CR, fasting, etc.? One presumably wants someone who can spot when the "Optimal Nutrition" part of CRON isn't happening and monitor for other problems/side-effects of CR to make sure they don't get problematic, such as when bone density gets too low, when immune function is compromised, etc. in addition to when one goes too far into malnutrition. Is there a list of CR-knowledgeable doctors somewhere? I live in San Francisco, so I would assume that I'm luckier than most about the likelihood of having an appropriate doctor nearby but I'm sure my current default family doctor hasn't read too much of the CR literature (or this site). And I didn't see this topic discussed previously when I did some Google searches on this site. -Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Great question. We had a wiki at one point, with the beginnings of a list of CR-aware doctors/practitioners. It might be time for the CR Society to recreate the wiki. Google Drive may also work: CR-aware healthcare practitioners. For now, people could add to the above file if they know of CR-aware healthcare practitioners. Don't worry about formatting: that can be dealt with later. Just type away! - Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Anywhere near where I am it is completely unrealistic to expect to find a CR-aware GP who is still accepting new patients. More realistic might be to find a *competent* GP who is open-minded in the case of those who are seriously interested in taking care of their health, in contrast to the average Joe who could hardly care less about it. Such a doctor is likely to be much more responsive to people like us who are determined to do whatever it takes to remain healthy. Such a doctor possibly, perhaps, maybe, might be understanding and *cooperative* - if not knowledgable about - regarding CR. One way I have found useful to measure a GP's suitability is to discreetly 'interview' them and ask the following question: "Can you please tell me what I should be doing to make sure I remain healthy?" The responses I have had to this question have really sorted out the sheep from the goats. (And in my experience the majority have been goats,) Responses have included: A) A dumb-struck vacant look, indicating they have never considered such a thing, and have no clue how to answer. (Translation: "If you don't have an ache how can I tell what pill to take, or which leg to cut off?") B) (To me as a patient then aged 40) "Well, how do you feel?" "I feel fine." "In that case continue what you have been doing." C) Quite recently: "It is God who decides how long you are going to live and there is nothing you can do to change that, so there is no point in even trying. These tests you want are all a waste of time and money. You should stop worrying about your health." (the intended meaning of the put-down, of course, being "you are a hypochondriac for asking that question, so get out of here." D) "Well some people think eating mainly a plant-based diet may reduce the risks of several major diseases." I knew he was a Seventh Day Adventist, but he didn't know I knew! E) In 1982: "It is unusual, and nice, to come across someone interested in preserving their health. All the doctors I know complain they have no patients willing to change anything about their lifestyle in order to improve their health. So how can I help?" After the latter response I stopped looking any further! She knew nothing about CR at the time (neither did I). But she knew plenty of other stuff I didn't know about and was amazingly helpful to me over many years. I have since moved to a location 1700 miles away, but would definitely fly back if necessary should I need urgent advice. Besides, after 30 years of excellent advice, and starting CR as well, the chances I will need urgent advice are much diminished. Hope this might help a bit. Rodney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Please replace that silly smiley with "B)". I don't know how the smiley got in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicholson Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 I suppose I should add that I have found www.ratemds.com to be really helpful to check out the opinions of patients about doctors. My '1982' example quoted above has 25 reviews at ratemds.com, 24 of them glowingly complimentary and one obviously unreasonable negative one. A doctor near where I am now also has 25 reviews, all of them saying: "at all costs avoid this doctor, she is totally incompetent" . Of course the problem is that after a doctor already has enough reviews for a potential patient to get a feel for their suitability, the doctor will likely no longer be taking new patients. Rodney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 I'm lucky. My Endocrinologist, Nephrologist and GP are CR-friendly. I have a host of specialized doctors-- most members of the faculty of Strong Memorial Hospital (recently renamed "UR Medicine"). E.g, my Endocrinologist is the head of Endocrinology at Strong; and my Nephrologist is well aware of the significance of serum IGF1, etc. So, here's an (easy?) solution: Become a Professor at UR! (Or some other Research University. Harvard's great!) :) -- Saul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianMDelaney Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Good point, Saul. Hope you don't mind my adding that point to the above Google Docs document (at the bottom). (Maybe if you have a particular name or two, you could add those, just to get us started!) - Brian P.S. Perhaps we should have a wiki? If you have thoughts on this, please go here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Hi Brian! I added a very CR-friendly doctor to the Google document. -- Saul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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