Renegade Psych

Here, I rant about the underutilization of lithium and all of its potential benefits, setting the stage for more in-depth conversation and discussion about its array of uses, then introduce Dr. Sudhir Gadh, a New York City psychiatrist who has had tremendous success utilizing low dose lithium in the addiction setting, as well as in his non-addiction, private practice.

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This series is about all of the potential mental and medical benefits of low doses of lithium, featuring New York City psychiatrist and low-dose lithium expert, Dr. Sudhir Gadh, MD. We talk about several potential benefits of low dose lithium, from reducing the risk of suicide, to aiding in detox and addiction recovery, as an antiviral, as a neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agent, and so much more. Lithium is in a long line of underutilized, old, cheap, natural, and most importantly, effective treatments in medicine. Hope it's educational and intriguing.

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This episode is from the FIRST TIME I EVER RECORDED, with my friend and audio engineer, Rob Goodknight, a non-medical but curious and inquisitive mind. We talk about some of the same issues I discussed with Dr. Beckman, but in a much more conversational and, at times somewhat crude, manner. I wanted to release this recording, but it really hasn't fit with any other series. It fits quite well here and while there is some overlap of information, it is presented in a much different format. Let me know if you like this format better than previous episodes at the links below!

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Here, we give some of our closing thoughts and present some generic, system-wide possible solutions to some of the aforementioned problems with our system, as well as some specific methods of fighting over-billing and under-coverage by insurance, to reduce the overall cost of medical bills. Stick around after the disclaimer for a listen to a local Louisville artist, a man with an absolutely beautiful voice and good soul, Jared Foos, with his unreleased single, "It's All Good."

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Here, we talk about several examples of over-treatment in our healthcare system. First, Taylor leads the discussion about how heart catheterizations are not necessarily good for everyone with a known blockage in one of their coronary arteries, and provides nuance about STABLE vs UNSTABLE PLAQUES, along with some of the dangers of disrupting unstable plaques. Then, we launch into a discussion on the new Alzheimer's monoclonal antibodies, Aducanumab and its successor, Lecanamab, that target beta-amyloid plaque removal. This was the leading theory of the cause of Alzheimer's that is being strongly called into question based on the lack of efficacy of these drugs, as well as more recent dire revelations on manipulated, photoshopped images of the initial research supporting the beta-amyloid deposition theory dating back to the early 2000's. Lastly, we pump the brakes on the use of GLP-1 agonists for weight loss (NOT as part of one's routine diabetes medication regimen), including Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro; while weight loss is absolutely important to our physical and mental health, patients need to be informed about the potential long-term side effects and preventive measures should be emphasized at every visit.

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Here, Taylor and I weave a historical tail of how the United States is trending towards Corporatization of Healthcare in a monopolized system. The old-timey private practice doctor providing quality care to his or her community is being replaced by large systems trying to provide cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all treatments, and a fast-food drive-thru-esque-type of approach to healthcare. Capitalism is not the enemy, but unfettered capitalism can be toxic in medicine, as medical treatments SHOULD NOT BE SOLD TO US, but rather should be proven through unbiased research, prior to experimenting on healthcare-undereducated Americans.

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

In this segment, we discuss the high cost of healthcare, both from a systems-perspective, as well as specific cases of patients, personal contacts, and our own medical bills. It's kind of crazy that we spend nearly twice as much per person on healthcare as THE NEXT HIGHEST HEALTHCARE SPENDING COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. You would expect that means we have significantly BETTER healthcare, but the #1 health indicator, our life expectancy, drags nearly 4 years behind other developed countries. While there is something to be said for the amount of innovative treatments and therapies created within our system, is it worth it if 99/100 fail? Is it worth it if 9/10 fail and subject those 9 persons to poor outcomes? There simply has to be a better way, where we can maintain our stronghold as healthcare innovators, without making our country so much sicker (at a significantly higher cost) than others. ENJOY!

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This episode starts out with a typical monologue intro rant about some of the Inherent Problems in U.S. Healthcare. Then, we transition into learning more about our guest, Dr. Taylor Beckman, DO, who will finish his residency training in June and start on a cardiology fellowship in July. We talk about the issues with the horrifically high (and only getting higher) costs of healthcare in the United States, especially in comparison to other first-world countries and health systems, as well as in comparison to our past selves. We discuss several individual cases of healthcare expenditures for patients and how there is no set standard for what hospitals in America are allowed to charge for their services, and how the complicated intricacies of hidden hospital fees and insurance coverage are bankrupting Americans. Spending so much on healthcare as a country restricts spending in other areas (I certainly AM NOT recommending we spend any more money on defense) and ultimately, makes it difficult for so many individuals and families to save money and accumulate assets and generational wealth. This is leading to a progressively widening wealth gap in America, where the richer get richer, and the middle-class is just getting by. Some of the statistics will astound you.

Next, we discuss the corporatization of our healthcare system, how changes in the last 20-40 years have led to fewer and fewer providers operating their own private practices as the system continues to funnel them into working for large corporate conglomerates trending towards a monopolization of healthcare. HIPAA was a huge factor in this trend towards corporatization and nearly co-emerged with the advent of the Electronic Health/Medical Record (EHR/EMR), which today is essentially mandated by the system. This forces providers to document NOT based on effectively transmitting the most important information for other clinicians (as it was in the past), but rather to document so that patient's visits get covered and providers claims are accepted, with so much erroneous data that it waters down the medical record. Not to mention, it is damn near impossible to get medical records in a timely fashion, despite these supposedly 'integrated' systems. Lastly, on this topic we discuss how a conscientious and persistent Bronx Urologist, Alex Shteynshlyuger, unveiled the corruption of former CMS employee Matthew Albright and the Electronic Transfer Fees, or ETFs, payment system that allows ANOTHER group of middlemen to siphon profits from prescribers, making it even more difficult to co-exist with these large conglomerates in your own private practice.

Lastly, we give several examples of over-treatment in the American system, specifically discussing the overabundance of heart catheterizations, the MAJOR problems in manipulating the research around what's called the beta-amyloid deposition theory of Alzheimer's Dementia and how the new Alzheimers' drugs targeting beta-amyloid removal, Aducanumab and Lecanamab, don't really work AND likely cause more harm than good. Finally, we talk a little bit about the trend of GLP-1 Agonists, including Ozempic, and again try to bring the discussion back towards the center; while they're helpful for weight loss, they are not devoid of side effects and co-utilizing them with preventive measures and limiting prescription lengths may be more beneficial in treatment. In our final section, we discuss potential system-wide solutions, as well as give listeners specific advice on how to fight their high healthcare costs.

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This is the teaser for the upcoming series on inherent problems in U.S. healthcare, where we'll talk about the absurd costs of our healthcare, the trend towards Corporatization of healthcare, and some other major pitfalls of the American medical system. My guest on this series is Dr. Taylor Beckman, a 3rd-year internal medicine resident at The University of Louisville, whose starting his cardiology fellowship at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, in July. This series is a little more conversational and laid back. Feedback is welcome!

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

I surprised myself on this one with a vicious rant about Makena, a synthetic intramuscular drug FDA approved in 2003 for preterm labor that was recently recalled in 2023. I get pretty elevated in my 8-minute rant introducing this segment and talking about the implications of the Makena catastrophe. Other than that, we talk about other failed treatment options for menopausal or postpartum symptoms, as well as the content of psychosis in patients, and how that content has changed historically based on societal values, norms, and fears of new technologies. Hope you enjoy! Follow RenegadePsych if you're not already.

Thanks for listening. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @Renegadepsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/ to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.