Episode 172: Bob Newhart / Polycythemia

Doctor Vs Comedian

Today Ali and Asif (who is battling a cold) discuss the career of the late Bob Newhart (1:47). They discuss his early life and how he got started in comedy. They then discuss his phenomenal success with his debut album “The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart”. They discuss his comedy style and why it has been so hard for others to duplicate it. They also go over a bit of trivia, namely how Bob Newhart at the first pay-per-view television special. They then go over his class television shows ‘ The Bob Newhart Show’ and ‘Newhart’, including the latter’s classic final episode.

Newhart died on July 18 2024, following a series of short illnesses; but during the time he was on ‘Newhart’, in 1985, he was taken to the ER due to secondary polycythemia. In the second half of the episode (28:29), Asif talks to Ali about the 3 different kinds of polycythemia. Asif describes how spurious polycythemia is actually due to volume contraction and how secondary polycythemia (which Newhart had) can be due to a variety of causes, including obstructive sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heavy tobacco smoking. He then talks about polycythemia vera, which is actually a type of blood cancer. He then goes over the presenting symptoms, investigations and treatment for polycythemia.

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Music courtesy of Wataboi and 8er41 from Pixabay

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• Bob Newhart, Beloved Comedian, Actor and Newhart Star, Dies at 94: https://people.com/bob-newhart-dead-comedian-actor-was-94-7502376
• Polycythemia: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526081/
• Secondary Polycythemia: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/205039-treatment
• Polycythemia Vera: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/hp/cancer/if-hp-cancer-guide-lyhe009-pv.pdf
• Polycythemia Vera: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/205114-overview