Tonwen Jones, <a href="http://www.colagene.com/en/">colagene.com</a>

Ready to Believe

Re: July 31 cover story: “What If I Cured Alzheimer’s and Nobody Cared?”

Fascinating article! Thank you for running it. I have known doctors resembling Dr. Abramowitz. I have been impressed by them, and frustrated by the way their peers dismiss what they say.

For example, I wrote a book featuring an osteopath who used to practice in La Jolla, and who attracted people from all over the world, but who was unknown or dismissed by local professionals.

One important result of that phenomenon is creation of a wall of distrust between (a) medical consumers who see merit in new ideas and (b) mainstream providers who resist them. Nobody is served when that happens, and I submit that all parties are somewhat at fault — the regular MDs who insist that if they don’t already know about something it isn’t worth knowing, the sometimes-desperate patients and families ready to seize any straw and to reject anyone still raising questions, and (this is not meant as criticism of Dr. Ambramowitz, whom I’ve not met) some alternative providers who actually seem to prefer the role of solitary prophet.

My book also introduces the founder of a very popular alternative-medicine center that came into being because mainstream medicine at the time of its creation was doing nothing to address a critical problem. He then seemed to spend at least half his time belittling the mainstream, and comparing himself to great medical pioneers of bygone days — e.g., Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, whose career and life were ruined by colleagues who resented his suggestion that they wash their hands before seeing each patient.

The fact that Dr. Semmelweis was scorned by his contemporaries does not in itself mean every scorned doctor is the next Semmelweis. But having said that, I’m entirely ready to believe that Dr. Ambramowitz is on to something important, and that his idea deserves a fair hearing.

• Stephen Gallup
• Carmel Valley

Tell Us More about This T3

I have a question concerning Bill Manson’s cover article, “What If I Cured Alzheimer’s and Nobody Cared?” (July 27). Dr. Joseph Abramowitz refers to the thyroid hormone tri-iodothyronine (T3) and Dr. Abramowitz says a solution to a lot of people’s problems is to have a lifelong T3 replacement. My question is, where do you get this T3? Can you get it without a prescription? Do you take it orally? He seems to imply that it’s not going to hurt you, taking T3.

The reason I’m interested is that a long time ago, around 1956, my younger brother mentioned to me that a lot of people in our family had low thyroid. My grandmother had an overweight problem and she took some sort of thyroid pill, and my brother mentioned that he was taking it too.

My grandmother, around 1962, when she was about 76 years old, stated having problems with memory loss. By the time she died in 1966, she was never diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but she did show signs of senility and memory loss. My brother wound up being schizophrenic around 1968 or 1970, at the age of 33. Except he’d been acting nutty for years before that.

So, I’m just curious about this T3. Where do you get it, and can you get it without a prescription? Is it safe to experiment with self-medicating oneself? My brother was more or less obsessed with low thyroid, and I know at one time he was taking some sort of thyroid pill. I had an overweight problem and he said I should probably be taking thyroid medication, as my grandmother did.

I’m 82 years old now. Thank God, I haven’t had any memory problems or Alzheimer’s symptoms yet, but I’d be interested in this T3. In fact, I’m going to cut out this article and mail it to my brother, He might be interested in it also. Reading this article rang a bell, that my brother was telling me about this years and years ago.

So, good for you and good luck to you, Dr. Abramowitz. Tell us more about this T3.

• Name Withheld
• via voicemail

You would be best to write direct to Dr. Abramowitz with your questions. His office address is Dr. Joseph Abramowitz, 3450 Bonita Road, Suite 210, Chula Vista, CA-91910. — Editor