Diner wants to hush loud fellow diner Vitamin E worth a trial for some
Dear Amy: During a recent dinner at a neighborhood restaurant/pub, four people at one table near us were having a very lively conversation, loud enough that nearby diners heard whether we cared to or not.
The primary speaker was apparently very earnest, or passionate, or a bit limited in his vocabulary: most of his sentences included an Fbomb dropped as an all-purpose adjective or adverb.
When I asked my dining companions if I should gently ask the primary speaker to please lower his volume and suggest that he lighten up on the profanity, their reply was, “Absolutely not — it’s not your place.”
Was I out of line to be frustrated by the primary speaker’s language? Would your answer be different if children had been within earshot?
If he was being inconsiderate of his fellow diners, what would have been the proper course to attempt to rectify the situation? — Distracted Diner
Dear Distracted: Of course you were frustrated by these other diners! Restaurants overall seem to have become very loud environments, but sometimes one person’s voice and language cuts through the din.
All the same, I don’t think it’s a good idea to directly interact with disruptive and foulmouthed people. There are simply too many unknown factors to do this safely, including consumption of the great idiotmagnifier: alcohol. Intervening would also basically end your party’s overall enjoyment completely, because now the evening would be all about this episode.
In this situation, you could speak to your wait staff and/or the manager. They would also not likely intervene directly (unless the disruption had become dangerous), but they might offer to change your table and/or comp your drinks or dessert.
Dear Dr. Roach: I was diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and had very high AST and ALT numbers. I lost about 25 pounds, and the numbers were normal. As a result of other health issues, the weight came back and the numbers went up. My liver specialist suggested we try 800 IU of vitamin E daily. Without losing weight the reports are now in the normal range. — J.T.
Weight loss and abstinence from alcohol are the interventions with the best evidence to prevent progression from nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (commonly called “fatty liver”) to fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver.
However, there is evidence, beyond anecdotal, to support the use of vitamin E in some situations. The largest trial done for this was in 2010 and showed that people who took 800 IU of vitamin E were more likely to have improvement in their liver disease, as proven by biopsy. Many experts will use this dose of vitamin E in some people with NASH. However, it is not proven for people with diabetes or with advanced fibrosis. Vitamin E also has been linked in one study to increased risk of prostate cancer, so men with a history of or at high risk for prostate cancer usually should not take supplemental vitamin E.
Dear Dr. Roach: My voice gets raspy each day. I’m a male in my mid-50s in good shape. I take omeprazole for help swallowing food; I also have Barrett’s esophagus. Any thoughts? — R.C.
Your diagnosis is most likely chronic laryngitis. Barrett’s esophagus is a condition where the lining of the esophagus changes in response to frequent damage by acid reflux. People with Barrett’s esophagus are at risk for laryngopharyngeal reflux, where the acid goes up not only into the esophagus but all the way into the larynx, where it can damage the vocal cords.