Jennifer Brea interviewed on Dr Oz Show December 18, 2017

MeSci

MeSci

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/cau...when-extreme-exhaustion-takes-over-your-brain

Caught on Tape: Watch What Happens When Extreme Exhaustion Takes Over Your Brain
Airs 12/18/2017

Have you ever been so tired and exhausted that you can barely move a muscle? Millions are struggling and don’t know why. Could your exhaustion be something more? The four questions everyone needs to ask themselves.

Guests: Jennifer Brea, Omar Brea, Dr. Natalie Azar, Amy Parker, Gina Pell, Anne Burrell, Frank Squeo

(I think they've got her husband's surname wrong!)
 
MeSci said:
http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/cau...when-extreme-exhaustion-takes-over-your-brain

Caught on Tape: Watch What Happens When Extreme Exhaustion Takes Over Your Brain
Airs 12/18/2017

Have you ever been so tired and exhausted that you can barely move a muscle? Millions are struggling and don’t know why. Could your exhaustion be something more? The four questions everyone needs to ask themselves.

Guests: Jennifer Brea, Omar Brea, Dr. Natalie Azar, Amy Parker, Gina Pell, Anne Burrell, Frank Squeo

(I think they've got her husband's surname wrong!)
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I thought I'd posted this earlier! This is now viewable, if the two clips of 4 minutes plus are all there is.
 
MeSci said:
I thought I'd posted this earlier! This is now viewable, if the two clips of 4 minutes plus are all there is.
Click to expand...

I could relate to this quote from the second Dr Oz clip...”not everyone goes from climbing mountains to being in a wheel chair”. That just about sums up the “before” and “after” image of the drastic life changing events many of us are forced to manage on a daily basis.
 
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Don't get me started on Mehmet Oz! :mad: I think the guy's a charlatan. He promotes plenty of pseudoscience on his show.

He couldn't bother to say the name of either ME or CFS. He just talked about "extreme exhaustion." To me, that's the equivalent of the woman with her head resting on the table that we're all so tired of. Clearly Oz doesn't even know enough to ask the right questions. And it sounds as if Dr. Azar thinks there are specialists everywhere who can and will diagnose this, and then you'll get treatment.

I want to be glad that he's paying attention; but the way Oz talked about our disease made it sound like you're just overdoing it. Do we need even more series of questions to diagnose it? I'd like to see some really knowledgeable discussion on ME/CFS, not just more drivel! I'm not sure drivel serves us in the long run.

I know--I'll probably regret this tomorrow!:laugh:
 
I will admit to not being a huge Dr. Oz fan. I was concerned. I watched it today and was pleasantly surprised. I liked the battery demonstration. Did a decent job describing PEM. It was emotional. I thought it was presented in a very easy to understand way. I clearly heard her say she was lucky to find a doctor who would prescribe her antivirals off label. Hopefully viewers got it.
 
Diwi9 said:
I believe the message she is trying to spread is for doctors to inquire, investigate, and try with this disease...not just turn patients away. No, there is no cure, but neither must we all be sent home helpless.
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It was Dr Oz who claimed that ME was treatable.
 
Louie41 said:
Don't get me started on Mehmet Oz! :mad: I think the guy's a charlatan. He promotes plenty of pseudoscience on his show.
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I think his heart is in the right place; he wants people to take better care of themselves. But I do agree with you that he has a lot of pseudoscience on his show and he is forever contradicting himself with what is good for you/bad for you.
 
TigerLilea said:
It was Dr Oz who claimed that ME was treatable.
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Right, but Jen was criticized for featuring her improvements with Valcyte on "Unrest" too. I understand the concern, its just that most people - doctors included - do not understand the basics of this diseases, let alone the finer points. I though Omar did a great job of pointing out that they are part of the privileged 1% that has access to quality insurance and medical care. Technically speaking, it cannot be cured, but there are "treatments"...but lightweight and not the bullseye we need, yet. Dr. Oz made the point that doctors need to step up and learn the clinical features so they can DX and TX patients, not just leave people suffering. This is an important start to normalizing dialogue in mainstream America, and perhaps internationally too.

ETA: I don't want to get OT, but speaking from my own experience, I was sick for 7 years before I was diagnosed (post-IOM and because of IOM). My doctor sent me home saying there was no available treatment. I started researching and brought information to my doctor, who supported me trying various treatments, like LDN, gabapentin, sleep aids, etc. Doctors need to be interested in this disease and how to treat it in order to be interested in us as patients.
 
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This is at least the third time that "Dr. Oz" has done a feature on ME/CFS. I know he did one in the wake of the XMRV paper; more recently he interviewed Dr. Lipkin about Columbia's cytokine study, and now this segment with Jennifer Brea. It seems as though someone on the "Dr. Oz" staff is at least aware of ME/CFS and has it among their topics to keep an eye on.
 
I normally can't stand Dr Oz and would never watch, but I thought this piece was amazingly off-script from the usual regurgitated bs we've historically endured from tv. I maybe missed a segment in the clip I viewed, bc i didn't catch that he said it was treatable?

The 4-question survey was a total cringey eye-roll for me, but even that surprised me bc it was better than expected. He must've really listened to Jen, bc he managed to fit in as many salient points as possible in a short time.

My expectations from mainstream tv are very low-- and this was shockingly above par.
@Louie41 's points are all good ones, but to be honest I expected so little from Oz that I was pleasantly surprised.

The biggest win from this international tv chat show circuit is that the narrative has drastically shifted. Public Opinion (it's a real thing, and it has darkened our landscape for far too long) is being erased and rewritten as we lie here and watch.

OTOH, I noticed that Jen is looking really exhausted. I hope she is taking good care of herself on this media blitz!
 
Dr Oz: (seemed to be prerecorded) “90% of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome cases are undiagnosed. And too often this treatable condition can make you feel lost. But today more and more people living thru this are being heard, thanks to Jennifer’s brave story.”

Later in the segment...

Dr Oz: “Part of this story that fascinates me is that there is hope. There are things that we believe are coming down the pipe that might be helpful. Not just to you, but all of the different kinds of chronic fatigue syndrome that are out there. How do you treat yourself and what gives you a belief that there is something out there to help?”

Jen: “So, I have been really lucky, so when I was bedridden I met a doctor who was able to prescribe me “off label” antiviral medications. And that’s what got me out of bed and now to able to be here in the studio today”.

Dr Oz: “Oh my goodness, that much of a difference, off-label use of drugs designed for viruses.”

Jen: “Yes. And so, I think this is a condition that is treatable; we need better treatments. But there are probably drugs that already exist that could be used for patients.”
 
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