About this episode

This episode explores the misinterpretation of Alzheimer's research, inspired by Jeanne Lenzer's article.

Note: If you haven’t, please read Jeanne Lenzer’s recent piece, “ The Campaign to Turn Healthy People into Alzheimer’s Patients .” Jeanne is a brilliant and ferocious journalist, and her piece prompted me to dig into the research history behind it. The next few weeks will be like the Cholesterol Mistake Series : short pieces describing precisely how Alzheimer’s research has been misinterpreted and distorted. The Alzheimer’s Mistake Series is my attempt to explain how we got here. “Is it some weird poison??” Nicole, our PA, held up a catheter bag. The urine in it was purple—bright purple. “I drew bloods, started a line, and paged renal. Antibiotics?” She added, grimacing, “This can’t be good.” I looked first at the chart, then at the man, who sat comfortably, sipping ginger ale and giggling at The Price is Right. “No need,” I said. “And you can cancel the consult.” RT is entirely reader-supported. I’d like to keep doing it, so please become a paid subscriber. Purple Urinary Bag Syndrome, as it’s known, is a thing—and it is something to behold. The enzymes and bacteria in urine can, on rare occasion, blend to form a witch’s brew that looks like grape soda. But the color, which…

People in this episode

Host: David Newman

Topics covered

• Alzheimer's research
• Amyloid
• medical misinterpretation
• health journalism
• Purple Urinary Bag Syndrome

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Price is Right

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