Ask Dr. Marie

A small study that made national headlines this week suggests that cutting calories may help improve memory for the elderly. The title of the article, “Caloric Restriction Improves Memory in Elderly Humans” in this week’s online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences caught my attention because it seemed so simple and yet likely too good to be true.

But yikes — when I read the article, I found the headline not only deceptive but potentially providing risky advice for thousands of elderly seniors who can ill afford to cut calories any more than they do already.

Friends and patients have asked me many questions during the last few weeks about Oprah Winfrey’s recent revelation that she had thyroid disease.

How could she successfully stop all of her thyroid medications? Does she really have thyroid disease? Does her medical history as she reports it make sense? Why can’t I stop my thyroid medication too?

So I thought I would respond to these questions in my “first of the new year” newsletter.