Tonight on the news they tried to discredit Dr. Atkins again. Sheesh! They always have to put a spin on every thing.
Claiming that his health was in question, trying to make people believe he was a fat unhealthy man with heart disease, and leaving it questionable as to if his own diet was at fault!
Give it up .... please ... the man was 72, and did have a heart problem from an infection, not clogged arteries. He appeared to be a bit overweight, but that could have been induced by medication. My mom was on medication once that made her very bloated for about a year, She was not normally a heavy person...when the medication stopped she went back to her normal size. That could have been the reason he looked heavier than he normally did.

I am really not excited about going into work tomorrow. I am sure the first thing they will mention to me is that Dr. Atkins was obese. How stupid do the PETA folks think we are anyway. There are pictures and video of him just prior to his fall and he is certainly not 60lbs overweight.

The critics will always be looking for ways to discredit him. Really stupid.

This was on my local news and to their credit, they at least mentioned that it was poosible that the weight was from medications used while he was in a coma.

After 2 years LCing, I will concede to all those critics there IS one long-term side effect of Atkins. You've all probably noticed it too:

Your skin begins to get really thick

Brian

Glad I read these posts about the medications' effects on his weight. The autopsy showed he weighed 258 lbs. I thought that sounded a little hefty....

It wasn't the meds, mainly. He was under 200 pounds when he fell. Basically, the fall caused severe brain damage; his organs began to fail and he retained liquid; some of the medicos on this board mention that that type of thing is not unusual.

So yes, he weighed 258 when he died, 60 pounds of which was fluid. Poor man.

Statement by Stuart Trager, M.D., Chair, Atkins Physicians Council on February 10, 2004 Report on Dr. Atkins Weight at the Time of his Death
NEW YORK, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's Wall Street Journal ran a story on the health of Dr. Robert Atkins and grossly distorted and inaccurately reported information that Dr. Atkins was obese at the time of his death. In fact, up until the time he became comatose and lay in the hospital for two weeks. Dr. Atkins' average weight was actually 60 pounds less than reported in the Journal. The newspaper article was based on incomplete personal medical records that were illegally delivered to the newspaper in violation of federal law, coming from a known group of Vegan and animal rights extremists.

Dr. Atkins' weight was consistently and frequently documented in the years and months prior to his fall; as he was suffering from cardiomyopathy, his health was monitored closely. Due to water retention, this robust 6-foot plus man, who competitively played tennis frequently during the week, had a weight that varied between 180 and 195. During his coma, as he deteriorated and his major organs failed, fluid retention and bloating dramatically distorted his body and left him at 258 pounds at the time of his death, a documented weight gain of over 60 pounds. How and why the Journal reported that he was obese, remains the only unanswered question in this pathetic situation.

Any implication that Dr. Atkins was obese or fat prior to his coma, shows a blatant disregard or even worse, lack of understanding of the medical facts surrounding this case, or of the physiology of severe heart failure and the degree of fluid retention that occurred during this hospitalization. None of us would expect the physicians at PCRM to reveal this in light of their past and their current motivation ... but surely as physicians they understood that this was not obesity, I guess it just didn't support the point they cared to convey ... so they chose to ignore it?

Source: Stuart Trager, M.D.

I think one of the major bread or cereal companies went to the people who sent in the medical report and paid them lots of money to file this report. Thus by discrediting Atkins lifestyle, there is a possibility of getting people to eat these products again, and making lots more money!

there is a new News story that confirms what Mrs. Atkins said "that Dr. Atkins was only 195 lbs. when he had his accident and went into the hospital"

she was smart enough to back up this statement with medical records that showed his weight when he was admitted.

keep on fighting them Mrs. A - I am behind you 100%

It's so sad how they blow everything out of proportion or are even willing to out right lie about the truth. Just to try and get people to stop eating low carb.

I'm having to deal with people at work shoving this in my face. All I can say is look at me. I'm healthy and in better shape than I have ever been, I'm not about to quit now. Just because the media says one thing. I'm not stupid enough to believe them. They lie about everything. Or the word it to their benefit. I don't buy it.

Deana

Check out this thread, wherein doreen T, a nurse, explains how it is common for patients undergoing organ failure to retain huge amounts of fluid.