A woman’s doctor wrote her a prescription for vitamin E.
I was the manager of a health food store, and my jaw dropped when I read it.
“200,000 international units of vitamin E a day???” I exclaimed.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Are you sure your doctor didn’t write this down wrong? Did he actually tell you to take 200,000 I.U a day?”
“That’s what he said.”
“I’d love to fill this prescription because we’d make a lot of money on the deal. You’d have to take two hundred 1,000 I.U. capsules of vitamin E a day, and a bottle of 250 of these capsules cost fifty dollars. But you’d probably die the first day!”
“Well, that’s what my doctor said.”
“Why don’t you call him and find out for sure. You can use our phone.”
She did.
“He said yes. 200,000 is the right amount.”
“Can I talk to your doctor?”
“Sure.” She dialed him up again.
When he got on the phone, I said, “Doctor, about this prescription for 200,000 international units of vitamin E a day. That’s two hundred 1,000 I.U. capsules. That could kill your patient.”
“That’s what the research said.”
“We have vitamin E in 200 I.U., 400 I.U., and 1,000 I.U. capsules. Are you sure it didn’t say 200 I.U. a day?”
“I thought it said 200,000.”
“Do you still want me to fill your prescription?”
“No, let me look into it some more.”
I lost a sale that day.
I hope doctors don’t make the same kind of mistakes prescribing pharmaceutical drugs.
Check me out at …
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'This Story Involving Vitamin E Really Happened' have 4 comments
April 8, 2013 @ 10:55 pm atomb
Re: Eating Just Two Brazil Nuts a Day Ensures Adequate Selenium Levels.
Morning selenium only.
I confine myself to one a day at breakfast because a Brazil nut contains 1,000 more time RADIUM than any other food.
Brazil nuts in moderation and at the correct time help develop X-ray vision.
Brazil nuts in the shell contain twice as much selenium as shelled ones.
That’s due to the geographic source, not the shelling.
April 8, 2013 @ 10:56 pm atomb
Of course, we’re talking philosophical Brazil nuts.
If there’s no selenium in the soil, there will be zero milligrams of selenium in a Brazil nut.
Most plant foods regard selenium as a nuisance.
April 8, 2013 @ 11:01 pm atomb
Taming wild selenium is also important.
Dr. Emanuel Revici administered a form of selenium 1,000,000 times more toxic than selenium’s normal toxicity to cure certain cancers.
Selenium is “sulfur’s stepchild,” and its hierarchical level (what floor it lives on) must be considered.
Compared to Dr. Revici, college-graduated corporate chemists are Stone Age alca-pisseds (Swami Nitty-Gritty’s name for corporate alchemists).
April 8, 2013 @ 11:03 pm atomb
The control of selenium lies in our pinky fingers.
The left pinky speeds up selenium’s absorption by the jejunum and its transit throughout the body.
The right pinky slows down selenium’s absorption by the jejunum and its transit throughout the body.
The pinky finger is the most sensitive digit and its tip and nail bed are especially packed with arterio-venous glomic anastamoses.