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Jim Sanders's avatar

‘Sure, a multivitamin can act as a safety net, but if you eat a well-balanced diet, you may not need it.’ I live alone and prefer it that way. Eating a well-balanced diet is not that easy. It is difficult to buy food, prepare it and save it for one person. Not complaining as it is a trade off for leading a life ever so wide rather than ever so long.

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Moishe ben Nechemia's avatar

Hi Dr. McBride, I think something went wrong and you did not answer Gerald's question about heart palpitations on question 4 above

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Dr. Lucy McBride's avatar

You are correct - I fixed it - thanks!!

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Chris Fehr's avatar

In question #4 you mention HRV. I've found it correlated well with exercise fatigue, broken bones and when I had COVID. In all those cases it would go low. It's stayed low for 2 months now. It went low when I took the second round of antibiotics for a tooth infection. Now with the tooth out and the pain almost gone I was hoping to see HRV return to normal. You can't diagnose this, it's just background.

The question I have is are doctors familiar with HRV? I mentioned it to the dentist before the root canal (didn't go well and another dentist had to remove it) and he had no idea what I was talking about. Then I had to do a hearing test and had to talk to the company doctor. I speculated the left ear might not be 100% because it was near the infected tooth and mentioned HRV, again he had no idea what I was talking about.

In 3 more weeks I've got a check in with my GP and I'm wondering if I should mention it at all. I've got a few specific items I want to discuss and I don't want to distract him explaining what HRV is.

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Dr. Lucy McBride's avatar

HRV is more of a construct of the wellness industry than it is a medical term ... it's not that HRV isn't interesting; it's that there are other, more nuanced ways in which medical providers evaluate cardiovascular risk and health

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Leslie Everheart's avatar

As an older person (78) should I add creatine to supplements I take? Currently I only take a few supplements such as a multivitamin but it contains no creatine

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Dr. Lucy McBride's avatar

It's usually not necessary if you eat adequate protein in your diet

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Judith Rice's avatar

I have occasional UTIs. Just saw my urologist's NP for symptoms of UTI. She recommended that I take a cranberry supplement, specifically 36mg PAC. Can you explain what that means? Does evidence support cranberry juice or supplements for UT health? Thanks!

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Linda Alexander's avatar

Interested in learning more about Lipo (a) - mine is elevated, family history, seeing a cardiologist.

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