Health Notes August 15, 2002February 21, 2017 EIGHT GREAT YEARS Today is our eighth anniversary. I’m stuck out West asking people for money for the upcoming election, but that’s OK, because it’s part of a process. At some point a majority of Americans, and their representatives in Congress, will decide that a gay couple that’s been together eight years is entitled to the same economic rights and benefits as a straight couple that’s been together eight years. (Indeed, the straight couple gets these benefits even if they met yesterday.) And that a society that wants to encourage stable, responsible, loving relationships should recognize them. BUT WILL GRAPEFRUIT KILL ME BEFORE OUR NINTH? Kerry Moskop: ‘If you’re still taking Lipitor … well, nibbling on them … grapefruit is a ‘no-no.’ My Lipitor prescription container has a big, red warning label: ‘Do not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice at any time while taking this medication.’ I don’t know if it’s because grapefruit counteracts the beneficial action of Lipitor or the two, work together, do something dastardly to you.” Vince DeHart: “From MedicineNet.com: ‘Grapefruit juice inhibits a special enzyme in the intestines that is responsible for the natural breakdown and absorption of many medications. When the action of this enzyme is blocked, the blood levels of these medications increase, which can lead to toxic side effects from the medications.’” ☞ I quit taking Lipitor when I discovered this conflict. I decided grapefruit and exercise were better for me than Lipitor and its potential side-effects. I was also offended by a slick brochure the manufacturer sent out trying to help me with a friendly warning never to split the tablets. Ostensibly, this was for my benefit. In fact, I believe, it was for theirs. At Drugstore.com, a year’s supply would have cost $678 if I had bought the prescribed 10mg size, versus $269 if I bought the 40 mg tablets and cut them in quarters. I PAID THREE GRAPEFRUITS TOO MUCH John Seiffer: “I usually go lower than you on Priceline.com. In Dallas I get 3-star hotels for $30. One time I was at the DoubleTree and asked if I could extend the stay at the Priceline rate of $30, saving them some fee I imagine they must be paying Priceline. They said no, so I went back on Priceline to extend the stay and got the same hotel for $30. They did let me keep the same room.” PHILIP MORRIS: ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR HEALTH Speaking of companies that have only your best interests at heart, the New York Times reported yesterday that Philip Morris and others in the 1980’s and 1990’s successfully pressured drug companies to dial back their marketing of nicotine gum and skin patches that help people quit smoking. TAKING GRAPEFRUIT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT Mike Kozlowski: “You should have tried the salt on the grapefruit. Someone told me about this, and I was very very skeptical, but: It’s good! It doesn’t taste salty at all; it just brings out the grapefruit’s taste more. Delicious.” EAT WHAT YOU WANT I became famous in our family (with just one sibling, it was hard to be an unknown) for the simple observation to my indecisive cousin – age five at the time, like me, and unsure of a piece of Thanksgiving dinner – “Michael! If you want the ham, eat the ham. If you don’t want the ham, don’t eat the ham. But let’th not asCUTH it all the time!” It is vaguely in that vein that this bit of Internetiana could be read, forwarded by Eric Loeb. You may already have seen it: The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.