For those worried by heart disease, you might want to keep an eye out for a new documentary called "The Widowmaker".
One of our members, Ivor Cummings (aka Fat Emperor) gave a lecture prior to a screening of the documentary in Dublin on 11 May 2016 on the root causes of heart disease and the test that could save your life (the CAC - coronary arterial calcium score):
Hi
I had a look at the video and felt a sense of unease. Why in God's name is an electrical engineer lecturing about the heart etc.
He then introduces this dude called Thomas Dayspring, who is an Assistant Professor at some place that he (the engineer) has forgotten to display.Oh! and he labelled everything this Dayspring dude sent him as "my interpretation". Now I am really interested. I thought this Dayspring spoke English, so why the need to interpret.
It turns out that the good "Professor" is with an organization called "the Foundation for Health Improvement and Technology" which is funded by certain industries. (Foundations are very popular in America and also here in Australia - they are generally funded by dubious philanthropists who want their identity kept secret. The modus operandi is the same as the tobacco companies used and more recently the climate change deniers. Basically, you use some lawyers, funnel the fund through them and then client privilege protects you. NICE! You then send out educational stuff to the press, get your name in print, hold conferences and after a while you can start to quote all the press articles about you. All of a sudden you have exposure and stature and present yourself as an expert..EASY!)
Next thing that caught my eye is that the "professor' had been in private practice for 36 years and is now a professor of a somewhat dubious body that cannot bestow such titles.
Why do I say dubious. Because they have a membership of some 3500 of whom about 600 are physicians. BUT, the organization is NOT recognized by the the American Board of Medical Specialities which has
850,000 members and has been functioning since 1932. It is the premier Medical Body in America. You might as well appoint yourself as the Bishop of WOOP WOOP without being invested by the Pope.
I might be a cynical old *******, but I need a lot more than the word of a electrical engineer and self appointed professor come lipidologist before I regard them as authorities in anything but self serving promotional activities.
Its late in Oz, I'm off to bed - at my age I need my beauty sleep.
Toodles