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Newsweek cover story on Oprah & 'wacky cures'

17 years ago

I have this issue on my desk at work, but the cover story about Oprah is online, too, if anyone is interested. I'm a fan of alternative medicine most of the time, which I'm guessing is a target of the article (although I may be wrong), but I'll be interested to read what it has to say.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful:

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Comments (16)

lydia1959
17 years ago
Your link is not helpful. lol
alisande
Original Author
17 years ago
LOL What happened?? I know I typed it. I'll try again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crazy Talk - Newsweek's story about Oprah
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Quotes 12 - 21 - 17 : 3, Winchell, Hoagland, Donahue, Zappa
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Paul Winchell Quotes American - Entertainer December 21, 1922 - June 24, 2005 Children are so used to seeing puppets that when they see a real ventriloquist they don't understand it. Paul Winchell I first met Walt Disney 25 or 30 years ago. Paul Winchell I think television defeats ventriloquism. Paul Winchell On television, everyone talks and they don't care about the mechanics. Paul Winchell Ventriloquism today is in a slump. Walt gave me a VIP tour of the studio. I remember people doing voices. Paul Winchell Edward Hoagland Quotes American - Author Born: December 21, 1932 Country people do not behave as if they think life is short; they live on the principle that it is long, and savor variations of the kind best appreciated if most days are the same. Edward Hoagland In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog. Edward Hoagland Animals are stylized characters in a kind of old saga - stylized because even the most acute of them have little leeway as they play out their parts. Edward Hoagland Once I climbed into a mountain lion's cage and she bounded at me and put her paw on my face, but she kept her claws withdrawn. Edward Hoagland City people try to buy time as a rule, when they can, whereas country people are prepared to kill time, although both try to cherish in their mind's eye the notion of a better life ahead. Edward Hoagland The question of whether it's God's green earth is not at center stage, except in the sense that if so, one is reminded with some regularity that He may be dying. Edward Hoagland Like a kick in the butt, the force of events wakes slumberous talents. Edward Hoagland Men greet each other with a sock on the arm, women with a hug, and the hug wears better in the long run. Edward Hoagland Land of opportunity, land for the huddled masses where would the opportunity have been without the genocide of those Old Guard, bristling Indian tribes? Edward Hoagland Many people have believed that they were Chosen, but none more baldly than the Texans. Edward Hoagland There were periods during my childhood when I stammered so badly I couldn't talk at all. Edward Hoagland When I was 18 I worked with the Ringling Brothers circus, taking care of menagerie animals. I used to rather deliberately risk my life with the big cats. Edward Hoagland Black bears, though, are not fearsome. I encountered one on the road to my house in Vermont, alone at night. I picked up two stones just in case, but I wasn't afraid of him. I felt a hunter's exhilaration and a brotherly feeling. Edward Hoagland Phil Donahue Quotes American - Entertainer Born: December 21, 1935 Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Phil Donahue Spanking and verbal criticism have become, to many parents, more important tools of child rearing than approval. Phil Donahue I have moved from certainty to doubt, from devotion to rebellion. Phil Donahue December 25th has become guilt and obligation. Phil Donahue Presenting statues of honor to reporters for covering an earthquake is like presenting a first prize to a doctor for performing surgery. Phil Donahue Some people are uncomfortable with the idea that humans belong to the same class of animals as cats and cows and raccoons. They're like the people who become successful and then don't want to be reminded of the old neighborhood. Phil Donahue At first, I thoroughly enjoyed being famous. Phil Donahue I was proud of the waves I had made, but wondered how many boats I was supposed to rock. Phil Donahue Praising the Lord and passing the ammunition are mutually exclusive ideas. Phil Donahue To a journalist, good news is often not news at all. Phil Donahue Miss Child is never bashful with butter. Phil Donahue I think the idea of creating a television news source that is not beholden to corporate interests is nirvana. Phil Donahue Marlo taught me things I thought I knew. Phil Donahue I tip like crazy. They'll remember me. Celebrity can be expensive. Phil Donahue Airlines are interesting. They not only favor celebrities, they court them. Phil Donahue A large psychic void is left by a loss of faith. So many Catholics have tried so many things to replace it. Phil Donahue The Tube is a vehicle for selling things, not for exploring ideas. Phil Donahue I have had time to analyze my feelings. I am certain that they are totally neurotic, sexist, silly, and a big waste of time. Phil Donahue We should not use crippled children to sell hamburgers. Ever. Phil Donahue The system of volunteerism is divisive. It pits one charity against the others for the charity dollar. Phil Donahue Television is not the exclusive target of promoters. Is Superman really worthy of a Newsweek cover? Phil Donahue Recognition should come to the reporter who uncovers public cheating or proves a convicted man innocent. Phil Donahue In reality, the most important things happen when you don't look for them. Phil Donahue When I was a kid, people who got divorced were people who had no gumption. Phil Donahue When we had been married five years, we had six children. What, in God's name, was wrong with me? Phil Donahue Is it any wonder that for millions of men the only intimacy is physical, silent, and predictable? Phil Donahue In 1953 there were two ways for an Irish Catholic boy to impress his parents: become a priest or attend Notre Dame. Phil Donahue I believe celebrity spoils people - some worse than others. Phil Donahue I find celebrity status difficult to bear when I am in the company of my mother. Phil Donahue They were terrified that we were going to become an anti-war kind of platform. Phil Donahue Everybody is under pressure to shut up and sing. Phil Donahue In a network situation, a vice president, while he's shaving, can decide your history. Phil Donahue I could never understand how we could put 120,000 Japanese behind a fence in World War II. I remember being bewildered about that. Phil Donahue Oprah is more than an institution. Oprah is a very special star in the firmament. I can't imagine a greater success than she's enjoyed. Phil Donahue Saddam was a bastard, but he was our bastard. Phil Donahue Frank Zappa Quotes American - Musician December 21, 1940 - December 4, 1993 Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. Frank Zappa Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe. Frank Zappa There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. Frank Zappa You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. Frank Zappa Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. Frank Zappa If you want to get laid, go to college. If you want an education, go to the library. Frank Zappa Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff. Frank Zappa You can't always write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say, so sometimes you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream. Frank Zappa Without deviation progress is not possible. Frank Zappa I searched for years I found no love. I'm sure that love will never be a product of plasticity. Frank Zappa A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians. 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If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another. Frank Zappa Love, Music, You Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read. Frank Zappa One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds. Frank Zappa Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something. Frank Zappa No change in musical style will survive unless it is accompanied by a change in clothing style. Rock is to dress up to. Frank Zappa
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helencolby
17 years ago
I quit paying any attention to anything Oprah has to say anymore. IMHO, she is totally over the top and gone around the bend. Very weird woman. VERY weird.

Helen
LorifromUtah
17 years ago
Hi helencolby.
I agree totally with you!

Welcome to the KT!

Lori
wildchild
17 years ago
Just add my name to Helencolby's post. I've felt that way for a long time. Oprah is a very sad, disturbed person. Goes to show money can't buy happiness.

Welcome to the board Helen.
quilly
17 years ago
The Newsweek article did a decent job of describing the show with Suzanne Sommers. I watched that show and it reminded me of an infomercial. I was waiting for a QVC host to come on and start shilling the products. After 15 minutes of listening to Suzanne Sommers describe her health routine and all the pills, injections and procedures she routinely undergoes I decided she's still as crazy as her character from Three's Company.

There are times when I'm watching Oprah that I wish she would have done her homework or had her staff research the topics more thoroughly or at least present a broader discussion of the issue. While celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Suzanne Sommers are well intentioned Oprah listens to their comments and presents their opinions with the same authority as Dr. Oz.

I should just try to remember that Oprah is 'Entertainment' and that she's trying to appeal to a broad audience. But I also wonder how many people believe what they hear because it's on Oprah. Perhaps there should be one of those scrolls at the bottom of the screen stating "The opinions presented here have for the most part not been scientifically proven."
lydia1959
17 years ago
I don't care much for Suzanne Sommers and I sure as heck don't want to live to be 110... but I do think some of what she says could be helpful. I'd rather take herbs and vitamins than a lot of the prescription drugs that have side effects worse than the original symptom!

I've found Progesterone cream extremely helpful (especially for cramps/fibroids which I had been suggested by my gyn to have a hysterectomy for - the fibroids are gone, cramps almost non-existant now), I am also low in B12 and take injections for that (monthly prescribed by my gp) as well as some of the other vitamins mentioned. IF I were rich I'd take growth hormone too which I am most likely deficient in (my gp ordered the test, but none of the hospitals in my area do it). At about $5000. a month for human growth hormone.. I doubt she will have too many followers.

Don't know that I'd agree with all that SS does, but I'd probably listen to her more than some of the cr*ppy doctors I've had the past 10 years.
rthummer
17 years ago
Poor little rich girl, Oprah...reminds me of Michael Jackson. Sometimes the more money they have the more isolated they get, or at least they acquire people around them that are nutso, so they become nutso. Michael Jackson was not always as wierd as he is now...Oprah's rating are going down also. I never have been a fan of hers anyway. The last time I watched her show was maybe 13 years ago, but I don't think I missed anything. LOL.
Toni S
17 years ago
Oprah said,"After three days, the sky was bluer, my brain was no longer fuzzy, my memory was sharper. I was literally singing and had a skip in my step." On the show, Oprah had her own word of warning for the medical establishment: "We have the right to demand a better quality of life for ourselves," she said. "And that's what doctors have got to learn to start respecting."

I don't know what she is doing but she seems to like how she feels. Time will tell though.
As far as the medical establishment, I feel there are some good family doctors and quite a few that become complacent and uninformed. Just keeping up with all the new drugs is time consuming. I personally don't think enough doctors look at women as a whole and try to find out what each woman needs to feel healthy. I went to a PA a few months ago when I had various symptoms and by the end of our conversation she said, could you pick one thing out that bothers you the most? Hmmm, should I pick the racing heart or the fuzzy memory or should I pick the ear ringing? She made me so mad. Eventually my doctor called me at home because I made the comment to his wife/nurse that they were in it for the money. I told him what I thought of about his PA and the "pick one thing" attitude. A month later he had me in again and FINALLY made the statement that my heart shouldn't be racing for so long. I could have hit the roof about then. I'd been telling him for a few years but they kept shrugging it off and by now I felt quite a few other symptoms. My eyes bugged out and my jaw dropped when he acted like he had some kind of eureka moment. I felt like pooping him in the eyes with my two pointer fingers like one of the three stooges.
I agree with your last sentence Lydia.

Oprah might be going to greater lenghths than most of us to keep a certain quality of life but I think she is on to something by telling us we need to look at the whole picture.We should Find out what each person needs, to feel better.
I kind of wonder, since Oprah is rich, single, and childless, if this doesn't give her more time to ponder and explore unconventional ideas. I'd like to see how she is doing in a year.
helencolby
17 years ago
[Oprah said,"After three days, the sky was bluer, my brain was no longer fuzzy, my memory was sharper. I was literally singing and had a skip in my step." On the show, Oprah had her own word of warning for the medical establishment: "We have the right to demand a better quality of life for ourselves," she said. "And that's what doctors have got to learn to start respecting." ]

While I agree that many doctors do not listen to what their patients are trying to convey to them, I also believe that each person needs to take on the responsibility of finding the right doctor that WILL listen to them and take them seriously when they explain what is going on and why they have concerns about their health.

But for the most part, I take anything that Oprah says with not just a grain of salt, but an entire box of salt. That woman will embrace any new avenue that opens up to help her and her friends fill their bank accounts.
I am not saying she doesn't do a lot of good things with some of her money, but she does those things to enhance her own status in this world. It is to glorify "Oprah" and for no other reason.

And thank you Wildchild and lorifromutah for the welcome to the Kitchen Table.

Helen
lydia1959
17 years ago
I went to a PA a few months ago when I had various symptoms and by the end of our conversation she said, could you pick one thing out that bothers you the most? Toni, I had a doctor like that too! I had been so excited to go see him since he was an endocrinologist. I gave him a long list of about 25 symptoms (20 of them were indictive of hypothyroidism) and instead of thinking "maybe I should do some serious testing on this woman..", he wants to treat me for each symptom individually! Needless to say I didn't go to see him for long. It took another 6 years to finally get diagnosed with what I knew I had all along - hypothyroidism.
mcmann
17 years ago
Welcome to the KT Helen, I hope you enjoy it here.

Now as for Oprah and the 'wacky cures' - I don't pay much attention to those shows. I think the Newsweek article was accurate. For the most part Dr. Oz does a great job. Dr. Northrup is a little too 'spiritual/mystical/touchy/feely' in her presentations. When celebrities like Suzanne Sommers and Jenny McCarthy appear and promote their personal experiences/books, products etc. I almost think Oprah owes it to her audience to present a balanced view and allow other opinions to be presented. It's one thing to discuss what you have experienced and discovered and use that as an opportunity to offer one option but it's another to actively proclaim that your way is right.

As for our own health- we must be our own advocates and take an active part in our health care. Ask questions, take notes, speak up.

Susan- have you had a chance to read the article- what did you think?

Here is a link that might be useful: Patient info
alisande
Original Author
17 years ago
I started reading the article at work last night, but only got as far as the Suzanne Somers part. My plan is to finish it online....but right now I'm on my way out to get the shingles vaccine. I heard about it here, not Oprah. :-)
marilyn_c
17 years ago
I didn't read the whole article...got about to page 3 before I lost interest. Actually, I am interested in alternative medicine and I don't believe in takeing medicine...or vaccines...if you can avoid them. I did not have any vaccinations when I was a kid...and I am probably healthier than almost anyone I know. However, my rehabber friend just lost two raccoons she raised to tetanus and I am planning on getting a tetanus shot. I have had one before, when I had a very bad bite by a horse.

As far as Suzanne Sommers....the extent she goes....that is just too far out for me. But, if it works for her....it's her money.

As for Oprah...I don't care for her. I realize she has had enormous success and respect her for that, but I quit watching her program years ago.
gadgets
17 years ago
IMO....I've watched O off/on for years....more off than on the last 10. Just like with her weight losses over the years, she jumps on first one bandwagon, touts it on her show, in print, etc like it's been a message from the most high......then all of a sudden, it's rarely/never mentioned, and she's on to the next thing. A lot of people have that tendency in life, but 99.99% of the people don't have her avenues to 'spread the news' and have it believed/followed by thousands of others.

Shirley
sue_va
17 years ago
I read the whole article. A couple parts were so ridiculous I actually did LOL while I was reading.

Suzanne is a basket case.

As for Oprah, I think she has done an incredible job of going from "rags to riches," but like so many others has found that "riches" is not what it appeared to be.

I'm not a fan of Oprah's. I watched the show in the beginning when I could, but not any more.

I think Oprah is actually bored and still trying to find meaning in her life.

What happened to Steadman? Is he still in the picture?

I think being a "nobody" is a pretty good way to live!

Sue

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