Concept2 Forum

Cayenne wrote:Would it not be more accurate for the "PCRM" to change it's name to "PCVeganism" ?

Yes, the debate as to best nutrition is ongoing, but the "RM" implication is, IMO, presumptuous, if not offensive. Plenty of "responsible" physicians are non-vegan, and have (at the very least,) credible evidence to support their position. What makes the PCRM any more "responsible" than these other Docs ?

All the best,

Eddie

Storm Petrel wrote:

Cayenne wrote:Would it not be more accurate for the "PCRM" to change it's name to "PCVeganism" ?

Yes, the debate as to best nutrition is ongoing, but the "RM" implication is, IMO, presumptuous, if not offensive. Plenty of "responsible" physicians are non-vegan, and have (at the very least,) credible evidence to support their position. What makes the PCRM any more "responsible" than these other Docs ?

All the best,

Eddie

Eddie, please eat what ever pleases you and makes you feel strong and healthy.

Thanks SP, likewise

Physicians Commitee for Responsible Medicine is the name the organization adopted for itself.

Agreed. Arguably, it is a misleading name or, at least not fully forthcoming as to their agenda.

Subjective perhaps - and you may certainly draw your own conclusions. True. Thanks.

I soley wanted to make note of the release of the new nutritional text and the fact that it has been provided to current 2nd year med students. And yes the organization promotes a vegetable based diet for humans.

Thanks again. I pray these future physicians, at the very least, subject PCRM to a few minutes of "google" research to evaluate the source and potential bias of what they present.

IMO, nice to know what our future docs are being taught. Agreed.

From their site:
PCRM is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) working to promote good nutrition and higher standards in both human and animal research. PCRM has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
PCRM both conducts clinical nutrition research and helps educate the public about preventive medicine, especially the multitude of health benefits possible with low-fat and vegetarian diets.
PCRM also opposes unethical research.
PCRM exposed experiments in which short, healthy children were to be injected with genetically engineered growth hormone in an attempt to make them taller.
PCRM also exposed the practice of using massive estrogen doses to suppress height in tall adolescent girls.
PCRM promotes alternatives to the use of animals in medical education and research through a variety of innovative programs.
PCRM’s physicians, dietitians, and scientists are leaders in their field. They publish their work in peer-reviewed academic journals, present their findings before scientific conferences, and serve as consultants on government panels.

They were involved with a recent study targeting type 2 diabetes and diet:
"The diet appears remarkably effective, and all the side effects are good ones—especially weight loss and lower cholesterol...I hope this study will rekindle interest in using diet changes first, rather than prescription drugs."
http://www.pcrm.org/magazine/gm06autumn/diabetes.html
http://www.pcrm.org/health/clinres/diabetes.html

And recently highlighted in Clinical Biochemistry was their development of a cruelty-free insulin assay.
"The traditional ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a method of detecting specific proteins in complex protein mixture i.e. insulin in human blood. Labs detect human insulin using antibodies produced by cells placed into the abdomens of living mice. The procedure, called the ascites method, is considered so cruel that it is banned in some European countries. Even when the antibodies are produced from cells in test tubes, fetal bovine serum is commonly used to grow live cells. The serum is obtained from bovine fetuses by puncturing their hearts without anesthesia."
So far the new cruelty-free assay has shown to be slightly more accurate than the traditional assays.