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Oct 28, 2024 | 
irishtimes.com | Paddy M Barrett
In 1946, Randy Gardner participated in a Stanford University study to assess how long humans could go without sleep and whether there were any ill effects. After 11 days and 25 minutes, he finally fell asleep. Waking after a 14-hour nap, he claimed that staying awake for so long had no adverse effects. The researchers, however, thought otherwise, noting that he had suffered from short-term memory loss, paranoia and hallucinations.
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Sep 18, 2024 | 
newsletter.rationalwalk.com | Gregory Meyer |Roger Lowenstein |Erik Rostad |Paddy M Barrett
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.
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Aug 25, 2024 | 
irishtimes.com | Paddy M Barrett
Weight-loss medications such as Ozempic are contentious, and polarised opinions on them have created a lot of confusion for patients. While some see them as miracle cures, others view them with significant scepticism. Sometimes, they are even seen as reflecting a moral failing for not having the discipline to lose weight by using lifestyle measures alone. Like all problems in life, the answer is never at the extremes, but somewhere in the middle. As a cardiologist, here is what I tell my patients.
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Aug 8, 2024 | 
newsletter.rationalwalk.com | Edwin Dorsey |Paddy M Barrett |Thomas J Bevan
Berkshire Hathaway released second quarter results on Saturday, August 3. The company now holds an astounding $271 billion of cash and treasury bills after selling approximately half of its shares of Apple during the quarter. There have been many highly questionable takes on why Warren Buffett has built up such a large cash position. The most dubious theory is that he has done so because he is nearly ninety-four years old and has a limited life expectancy.
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Jul 5, 2023 | 
paddybarrett.substack.com | Paddy M Barrett
If you have an early family of heart disease, you need to assess your Lp(a) levels. Elevated Lp(a) is one of the most common genetic reasons people develop early heart disease. It is super common. In some populations, 20 - 30% of people have elevated levels of Lp(a). But here’s the problem. Most people don’t know about it. Most doctors, even cardiologists, don’t test for it. There is at least a one in five chance I am taking about YOU. There is a 100% chance I am talking about someone you know.
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Apr 5, 2023 | 
paddybarrett.substack.com | Paddy M Barrett
Everyone wants to be healthy. But there are many things in life we want to do. But don’t. The reason for this comes down to motivation for the reward. In this case, it would be being healthy. ShareHowever, we are motivated far more by a negative outcome as opposed to a positive one. This is known as ‘Loss Aversion’. This is where the pain of losing something is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining something. I will give you $100 to run for 1 hour.
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Mar 29, 2023 | 
paddybarrett.substack.com | Paddy M Barrett
When people say ‘Heart Disease’ what they usually mean is coronary atherosclerosis. I.e. plaque in the arterial wall. Although there are many risk factors for developing coronary atherosclerosis, a necessary precondition of having atherosclerosis is that a cholesterol particle crosses the wall of the artery, is trapped and sets off an inflammatory process. ShareThe coronary atherosclerotic plaque process has begun.
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Mar 22, 2023 | 
paddybarrett.substack.com | Paddy M Barrett
Munitions workers during World War 1 were often exposed to a chemical substance called DNP or 2,4-dinitrophenol. This resulted in substantial weight loss as a result of an acceleration of their metabolism. As you might expect, this highly desired side effect resulted in DNP being sold as a ‘Miracle Weight Loss Pill’. That it surely was. There was just one catch. It was killing people. Lots of them. Since DNP, the world of weight loss medications has been a graveyard of failures.
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Mar 15, 2023 | 
paddybarrett.substack.com | Paddy M Barrett
A common patient I see is someone with high cholesterol who is reluctant to go on cholesterol-lowering therapy. Most of these patients just need some additional time and an overview of the data that supports the utility of such an approach. While lifestyle measures will get some of these patients to acceptably low cholesterol levels, many will have persistently high cholesterol. And a small percentage of patients choose not to go on cholesterol-lowering treatment. Ultimately, this is their choice.
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Mar 8, 2023 | 
paddybarrett.substack.com | Paddy M Barrett
Greater amounts of fat are associated with a higher likelihood of an earlier death. This should come as no surprise. However, not all fat is created equal, and not all of it comes with the same magnitude of risk. We have all seen the case of the individual with a very high BMI and significant amounts of fat (Adipose Tissue) who has no evidence of heart disease, diabetes or cholesterol elevations. A term used for this group is ‘Metabolically Healthy Obese’. Why is this the case?
