Dr. Stephen Byrnes dies suddenly.

[Kent]

I am very sad to report the passing of member of this forum as reported in an email from his website. I believe he posted on the Low-Carber Forum under the name of DrBrynes.

I first met Dr. Brynes several years ago online in an AOL nutrition board. We were both posting messages describing why the vegetarian diet is unhealthy. Dr. Brynes was an ex-vegetarian and a member of the Dr. Weston A. Price Foundation. (http://www.westonaprice.org/splash_2.htm)



Kent

===============

HEALTH ON THE EDGE
June 2004

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It is with deep sorrow and regret that I am forced to write this issue of
Health on the Edge. I have been Dr. Byrnes' webmaster and friend for the
last 8 years.

This past weekend I was informed that Steve suffered a stroke on June
10th, 2004 and passed away on June 17th in Hawaii.

Words escape me at this time. The pain and shock of losing such a
wonderful friend is coupled with the relief in knowing that he is truly
without suffering and fear for the first time in a very long time.

My heart and prayers go out to family, those of you who knew and loved
him, and those of us who came to rely upon his articles and commentary to
keep us aware and informed.

Dr. Byrnes website http://www.powerhealth.net will continue to stay up,
until further notice and I will personally attempt to keep his newsletter
active in an effort to keep his written works alive.

May his legacy of good works live on...

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[fluffybear]

What was the cause of his death?

[Hellistile]

He died from a stroke according to the article.

[Kristine]

I am really shocked and saddened to hear this! I really enjoyed his posts here; I wish he would have stuck around, but I'm sure he was very busy elsewhere on the 'net.

He was a knowledgable man and a good writer. I've often sent people to the "myths of vegetarianism" article on his site.

:tears: I don't know how old he was, but he was definitely too young. This is very sad.

[fviegas]

Hi,
I really enjoyed the info on his site, and he seemed such a jovial person,
I was trully sadened. Lately on my country there have been a lot of
sudden deaths of young people, and especially sportspeople, and with
the Euro2004 going on there have been reports of an unusually high
incidence of strokes and cardiac arrests. This leaves me really scared,
all my grandparents died of stroke, am I going to die like this also ??

Does anyone know how old he was ? The site mentions that he was
at last free of pain and fear, did he suffer from a long-time disease ?

My deep sympathy for the family.

[PacNW]

Did he write this history of low carb?

http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Nutrition/byrnes82.htm

[doreen T]

Did he write this history of low carb?

http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Nutrition/byrnes82.htm
Yes he did. There's a short bio about the author in the sidebar, and a link to his website, www.powerhealth.net. That same article is posted on his website, but has a different title .. Chewing the Fat: The Low-Carb Diet Phenomenon (http://www.powerhealth.net/articles6.htm).


Doreen

[Kristine]

Affirmative. :thup:

(edit - oops, didn't notice the other responses...)

[doreen T]

..Lately on my country there have been a lot of
sudden deaths of young people, and especially sportspeople, and with
the Euro2004 going on there have been reports of an unusually high
incidence of strokes and cardiac arrests. This leaves me really scared,
all my grandparents died of stroke, am I going to die like this also ??

Does anyone know how old he was ? The site mentions that he was
at last free of pain and fear, did he suffer from a long-time disease ?
:there:

I believe the "at last free from pain" refers to the fact that his stroke occurred on June 10 and he remained in hospital suffering from this, until his death on June 17. Perhaps his end was very much like Dr. Atkins, who fell and hit his head on April 9 '03, and remained on artificial life support until his passing a week and a half later, on April 17. :( :tears:

Strokes in younger people are uncommon, but very real. Most often the cause is due to direct trauma to the head or neck, or a blood clot that has migrated from elsewhere in the body, or an aneurysm - a defect in the blood vessel wall, causing a weakened area which can balloon out, creating pressure in the brain; or it can rupture. Aneurysms are often congenital, meaning the person is born with the defect.

re - the sports people/athletes .. Is there a possibility their "sudden" heart and stroke problems were related in any way to use of, or previous use of perfermance-enhancing drugs or supplements, which are known to have such serious consequences, even months after stopping.

In older persons, strokes are more often the result of atherosclerotic disease of the blood vessels ... just like heart attacks. The risk factors include high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, diabetes and high blood pressure .. and, well ... old age. We can reduce our risk factors by making simple lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking (note - I said simple changes, not easy ;)) and adopting a low-carb diet which will improve blood lipids, blood sugar and insulin levels, weight loss and lowered blood pressure.


hth :rose:


Doreen

[woodpecker]

Yes Byrnes posted a lot on Mercola's site as well. Here's one that stands out (part of a series).

Are Saturated Fats Really Dangerous For You?
By Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP

Myth #6: Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause heart disease, atherosclerosis, and/or cancer, and low-fat, low-cholesterol diets are healthier for people.

This, too, is not a specific vegetarian myth. Nevertheless, people are often urged to take up a vegetarian or vegan diet because it is believed that such diets offer protection against heart disease and cancer since they are lower or lacking in animal foods and fats.

Although it is commonly believed that saturated fats and dietary cholesterol "clog arteries" and cause heart disease, such ideas have been shown to be false by such scientists as Linus Pauling, Russell Smith, George Mann, John Yudkin, Abram Hoffer, Mary Enig, Uffe Ravnskov and other prominent researchers (49). On the contrary, studies have shown that arterial plaque is primarily composed of unsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated ones, and not the saturated fat of animals, palm or coconut (50).

Trans-fatty acids, as opposed to saturated fats, have been shown by researchers such as Enig, Mann and Fred Kummerow to be causative factors in accelerated atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, cancer and other ailments (51).

Trans-fatty acids are found in such modern foods as margarine and vegetable shortening and foods made with them. Enig and her colleagues have also shown that excessive omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake from refined vegetable oils is also a major culprit behind cancer and heart disease, not animal fats.

A recent study of thousands of Swedish women supported Enig's conclusions and data, and showed no correlation between saturated fat consumption and increased risk for breast cancer. However, the study did show,as did Enig's work, a strong link between vegetable oil intake and higher breast cancer rates (52).

The major population studies that supposedly prove the theory that animal fats and cholesterol cause heart disease actually do not upon closer inspection. The Framingham Heart Study is often cited as proof that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat intake cause heart disease and ill health. Involving about 6,000 people, the study compared two groups over several years at five-year intervals. One group consumed little cholesterol and saturated fat, while the other consumed high amounts. Surprisingly, Dr William Castelli, the study's director, said:

In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol ... we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, [and] ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active. (53)

The Framingham data did show that subjects who had higher cholesterol levels and weighed more ran a slightly higher chance for coronary heart disease. But weight gain and serum cholesterol levels had an inverse correlation with dietary fat and cholesterol intake. In other words, there was no correlation at all (54).

In a similar vein, the US Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT), sponsored by the National Heart and Lung Institute, compared mortality rates and eating habits of 12,000+ men. Those who ate less saturated fat and cholesterol showed a slightly reduced rate of heart disease, but had an overall mortality rate much higher than the other men in the study (55).

Low-fat/cholesterol diets, therefore, are not healthier for people. Studies have shown repeatedly that such diets are associated with depression, cancer, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide (56). Women with lower serum cholesterol live shorter lives than women with higher levels (57). Similar things have been found in men (58).

Children on low-fat and/or vegan diets can suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive, and learning disabilities (59). Despite this, sources from DR Benjamin Spock to the American Heart Association recommend low-fat diets for children! One can only lament the fate of those unfortunate youngsters who will be raised by unknowing parents taken in by such genocidal misinformation.

There are many health benefits to saturated fats, depending on the fat in question. Coconut oil, for example, is rich in lauric acid, a potent antifungal and antimicrobial substance. Coconut also contains appreciable amounts of caprylic acid, also an effective antifungal (60). Butter from free-range cows is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium, as well as all of the fat-soluble vitamins and beneficial fatty acids that protect against cancer and fungal infections (61).

In fact, the body needs saturated fats in order to properly utilize essential fatty acids (62). Saturated fats also lower the blood levels of the artery-damaging lipoprotein a (63); are needed for proper calcium utilization in the bones (64); stimulate the immune system (65); are the preferred food for the heart and other vital organs (66); and, along with cholesterol, add structural stability to the cell and intestinal wall (67).

They are excellent for cooking, as they are chemically stable and do not break down under heat, unlike polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Omitting them from one's diet, then, is ill-advised.

With respect to atherosclerosis, it is always claimed that vegetarians have much lower rates of this condition than meat eaters. The International Atherosclerosis Project of 1968, however, which examined over 20,000 corpses from several countries, concluded that vegetarians had just as much atherosclerosis as meat eaters (68). Other population studies have revealed similar data. (69)

This is because atherosclerosis is largely unrelated to diet; it is a consequence of aging. There are things which can accelerate the atherosclerotic process such as excessive free radical damage to the arteries from antioxidant depletion (caused by such things as smoking, poor diet, excess polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet, various nutritional deficiencies, drugs, etc), but this is to be distinguished from the fatty-streaking and hardening of arteries that occurs in all peoples over time.

It also does not appear that vegetarian diets protect against heart disease. A study on vegans in 1970 showed that female vegans had higher rates of death from heart disease than non-vegan females (70). A recent study showed that Indians, despite being vegetarians, have very high rates of coronary artery disease (71). High-carbohydrate/low-fat diets (which is what vegetarian diets are) can also place one at a greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer due to their hyperinsulemic effects on the body (72). Recent studies have also shown that vegetarians have higher homocysteine levels in their blood (73). Homocysteine is a known cause of heart disease. Lastly, low-fat/cholesterol diets, generally favored to either prevent or treat heart disease, do neither (74).

Studies which conclude that vegetarians are at a lower risk for heart disease are typically based on the phony markers of lower saturated fat intake, lower serum cholesterol levels and HDL/LDL ratios. Since vegetarians tend to eat less saturated fat and usually have lower serum cholesterol levels, it is concluded that they are at less risk for heart disease. Once one realizes that these measurements are not accurate predictors of proneness to heart disease, however, the supposed protection of vegetarianism melts away (75).

It should always be remembered that a number of things factor into a person getting heart disease or cancer. Instead of focusing on the phony issues of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and meat-eating, people should pay more attention to other more likely factors.

These would be trans-fatty acids, excessive polyunsaturated fat intake, excessive sugar intake, excessive carbohydrate intake, smoking, certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and obesity. These things were all conspicuously absent in the healthy traditional peoples that Dr. Price studied.

http://www.mercola.com/fcgi/pf/2002/feb/23/vegetarianism_myths_06.htm

[bluesmoke]

In his last ezine posting, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with AIDS and outlined the treatment he was going to use. Undoubtedly the disease contributed to the stroke. Nyah Levi

[No Honey]

In his last ezine posting, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with AIDS and outlined the treatment he was going to use. Undoubtedly the disease contributed to the stroke. Nyah Levi
The article is here: http://powerhealth.net/archives/1May2004.htm

And a quote from Barry Groves dd 24 Jun 04:
Unfortunately, it is true. Stephen suffered a seizure about six months ago and had numerous health problems following that, many due to all the drugs he was given. He was actually improving, but then had the very serious stroke. As an active member of THINCS (http://www.thincs.org ) he will be sorely missed.
:(

[Lisa N]

How sad. Stephen was a relatively young man. Still...it seems that this wasn't so sudden and there were a lot of other factors that had a part in what happened.
My condolences to his friends and family.

[TheCaveman]

Do we know how old he was? Seems to me I remember him being much older than what his pictures made me guess. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

[mio1996]

Unfortunately, there are those who will use his death as an opportunity to bash lc, like they did when Dr. Atkins died. They will ignore the fact the AIDS leaves the body wide open for any imaginable problem to overcome the body. Some people are shameless. I wonder how long before they are posting here saying "HA! We told you lc was going to kill you!"

[fviegas]

yes, unfortunately you just have to go to www.vegsource.com
and see the news headings on the lower right.

I always thought it was very unfortunate that the vegan guys cant
get along with the lc, westonprice,traditional diet guys, when they are
all fighting for the same thing: humane treatment of animals, a right to
an organic and cleaner world.
They only disagree on a tiny thing: the right to eat animals,
which should be a minor thing compared with the really big issue: agrocorps
dominating the world, even Europe is starting to give in to GM lobbying
which is DISGUSTING.

Anyway, I find the newsheading at vegsource to be very disrespectful
of Dr.Byrnes death, well of anyone's death really, without all the facts,
especially in the case of an AIDS death.

[Kristine]

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and the Risk of Stroke (http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/recent/adverse_events/010704_a.html)

There's not a lot of data, but it appears that AIDS *is* associated with a higher risk of stroke.

I take their use of quotations around the word "doctor" to rather childish: do they also do that when they mention any naturopaths at their website? A vegan naturopath is legitimate, and one who criticizes it isn't?

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at most of the headlines on that site. :rolleyes:

[K Walt]

Ah, so vegans are immortal?


Me: So what is the leading cause of death of vegans? The must die of SOMETHING.

Vegan: Ha. They die of old age.


Me: Hmmm, so eating vegan ages you faster?


Vegan: No. We just live much longer and die of old age.


Me: You mean you just wear out? Eating vegan wears you out?


Vegan: Oh stop it. Everyone KNOWS vegans are immortal, don't suffer diseases. And we feel righteous doing it.

[Dodger]

Most strokes in younger people are due to defects in the circulatory system that were there from birth. I wonder if that was so in this case?

[rodrishel]

I am new to this forum but was a big fan of Dr Byrnes. I read that he may have died from complications of aids. Is this true. How old was he and does anyone know the origin of his Aids? Thanks, Rod

[doreen T]

I am new to this forum but was a big fan of Dr Byrnes. I read that he may have died from complications of aids. Is this true. How old was he and does anyone know the origin of his Aids? Thanks, Rod
Stephen Byrnes was 41 yrs old. I had the priviledge to wish him a Happy 40th Birthday (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=75630) in Dec. 2002.

He wrote an essay about his struggle with AIDS, and published it in the final issue of his newsletter in May of this year ... SAVING MY LIFE: HOW NOT TO DIE OF AIDS (http://www.powerhealth.net/archives/1May2004.htm), by Stephen Byrnes, PhD, LMT.

hth :rose:


Doreen

[Angeline]

I read his essay recently. It was sad reading it with the knowledge that in the end, it was for naught.

[woodpecker]

It sounds like his approach may have worked for a while. Dying of a stroke is different than dying from an AIDS-related disease. There may have been so much damage at the start his body couldn't recover. It sounded like he was at death's door when he was first diagnosed.