Western Medicine Thoughts?

[Yowza]

What is your thoughts on the paradigm of western medicine as practiced today?

A good family doctor that provides preventative advice I think is the best.

A primary who refers out to a specialist willy nilly is not a good primary.

 

[Prison Mike]

I find that a lot of doctors today are too eager to write a prescription for some drug rather than promote preventative care like exercising and diet changes.

 

[Yowza]

Or do unnessecary surgeries that can really mess someone up badly. Some even run up insurance costs in midst of surgeries without informed consent or liability.

I know more than 1 person suffering after seeing an ENT.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I feel like western doctors don’t get enough respect and people don’t respect their advice. There has been an advertisement on the radio lately about marijuana. The speaker says, “It isn’t some chemical made in a lab, it’s a plant!” I think to myself that some of the most toxic substances on earth come from plants.

Doctors have given consistent advice about health for decades and no one listens. Get 8 hours sleep, eat a balanced diet, get exercise, don’t smoke or drink. Yet we still have damn many unhealthy people. People have never heard the adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Yet after people get sick anyway, they expect doctors to cure them without hard work.

That said, I’m that pharmaceutical companies have too much influence on politics. They must throw a lot of money around.

Interestingly, when I dropped out of college for depression (I was later diagnosed as bipolar and ADD) the doctor I visited sent me to a chiropractor. He used that chiropractor himself and said he saved his life. I went to him for almost a decade before my skepticism got the better of me. He was an old school chiropractor that believed all illness originated in a misaligned spine. So, judge every doctor individually. It helps to have an informed public.

 

[Donner]

What is your thoughts on the paradigm of western medicine as practiced today?

A good family doctor that provides preventative advice I think is the best.

I'm of the mindset that people who are skeptical of western medicine also encourage others not to get vaccines or to take Juice Plus supplements to cure their cancer.

I lived in a small town in BC that had a crystal shop and their most revered "doctor" was a naturopath. I hate that. I think naturopaths are dangerous and they breed skepticism of medications that save lives (antibiotics, chemotherapy, anti depressants, etc).

Obviously, exercise and diet are good things for you and good preventative measures, but it's not going to cure your brain tumor or diabetes.

I go to doctors for regular check ups, dieticians for food related questions, and my rowing machine for exercise.

But I sure as **** am not going to see a holistic nutritionist who tells me I need to eat more fish or something during a thunderstorm because the electrons in the air affect my diet (which is something I did hear from one of those quacks).

 

[Yowza]

When it comes to intervention (not talking prevention) with Western Medicine, I find there's always a trade off.

For example, dry needling is the Western equivalent to acupuncture practiced by some physical therapists; bigger needles with the objective to make the muscle twitch as opposed to smaller needles directing the bodies energy...

 

[Yowza]

While I must refrain from offending anyone directly, I must say that I find it odd how ignorant people are in general when it comes to trusting doctors to perform interventions.

Complex medical procedures are a significant risk to the public and quite frankly I've seen a lot of doctors (especially in certain fields) that really can't be bothered to inform patients about risks behind different medical procedures especially related to nasal breathing for instance. Too many people get atrophic rhinitus or can't feel their breathing because the doctor says they're not supposed to feel their breathing it means something is in the way then. (yeah facepalm)

Essentially years of schooling means trained to perform what trained to perform and too much information to the patient results in extra stress on the doctor afterwards hence any issue oh it must be the patient's fault then.

Yeah, I'm going on because I know people who have really been hurt. It is just mind boggling how some states a doctor can essentially be god and in their arrogance do a procedure while a patient is out sometimes to simply charge an insurance company more money. Ethics are hard to gauge and liability is actually quite minimal in certain situations...

Proper advice and informed consent before surgery isn't always a given nor is a particular skill set available a lot of the times for a non-emergency (if is an emergency more liability so surgeon is often more careful LOL) medical procedure either. Just read about people committing suicide from suffering caused by medical procedure or dying from general anesthesia (or various other side effects like nerve damage) and the doctor continuing onwards indifferently doing the same thing to others and you'll get an idea.

End Rant.

 

[Dr.]

 

[Yowza]

Oddly enough, I have actually personally been to a traditional clinic before and been told by a traditional doctor and nurse holistic doctors sometimes know a lot more in certain respects. Even specialists will sometimes encourage one to go somewhere else for treatment through an alternative route especially if profit isn't all that pressing such as like say a large hospital affiliated with the right university instead of a private clinic.

 

[Yowza]

Heh, had surgery this past month to correct an issue caused to me last summer by a doctor. Hopefully, my life is my own again.

I went to 4 doctors looking at my CT telling me wrong procedure to correct a bone spur and harmed badly. Hopefully move on from that nightmare now. I went to like over 15 specialists in the year since and only 2 didn't lie or suggest some crazy thing that would've ruined me permanently.

Still some issues have to live with but not bothering all day as much anymore. Even nontraditional medicine is risky too but I will say there's systemic abuse of trust within Western medicine that I have encountered over the last year that is horrible but nothing compared to many others.

 

[jesss]

The combination of Eastern and Western = the best

 

[Babillygunn]

There are benefits to both natural/ holistic medicine and to western medicine. The trick is to know when to use each one and for what purpose.
I have friends who bemoan chiropractors and I have friends who think they can cure everything. Personally, I think that chiropractic medicine is wonderful, but unrealistic because the human body doesn’t stay in alignment. It isn’t realistic to think that it will have any lasting benefit over a few weeks. That said, if I were a professional athlete, you better believe that I would have a chiropractor that I would see every week.

I’m a huge believer in supplements and essential oils, but not at the exclusion of western medicine. Perfect example was the COVID vaccine. My family all took the vaccine and boosters, but we also loaded up on a protocol of supplements that helped to minimize the side effect symptoms after taking the vaccine. The best course is both.

And as for preventive medicine, I believe the reason why doctors are so quick to write a script as opposed to telling people to change their diet and to exercise more is because they know that most westerners won’t do those things. They will still munch on processed foods and sit on the couch. But if a doc knows that you will be active, they will give you preventative advice. I once had a problem with a muscle tear in my shoulder that had healed but was still limiting range of motion. My primary care doc literally wrote me a prescription to try Tai chi.

 

[InCali]

I've had very, very good luck with my doctors. Years ago, I had some lower back problems (L4/L5 and L5/S1). I went to an orthopedic surgeon who was considered the best in the area. We got some MRIs and he told sent me to a physical therapist who gave me abdominal strengthening exercises; which helped some, but not enough. We discussed surgical options and he said he would do it, but if I could get through the next few months, it would probably shrink somewhat. After some discussion, I decided to get a cortisone shot. It helped immediately and when I went back a few months later, the MRI showed that the protrusion had shrunk just enough to have me basically pain free. About maybe once a year, I'll get a slight flare up, but if I just stay down for a day, I'm fine. It probably also helps that I'm not overweight and exercise regularly. He also said that acupuncture works. He said he had tried it. He also said they don't (or didn't at that time) really know how it works, but he said the proof was in the pudding.

I was listening to Dr. Klapper's radio show (he's a local orthopedic sports physician who specializes in minimally invasive surgery and even develops his own tools for surgery when it's necessary) and he's a surgeon who doesn't like surgery. He recommends pool therapy. You get into water up to your chest and walk forward and backwards for about 20-30 minutes per day. It strengthens you without putting stress on your joints. He says after a couple of months you'll feel the difference. I think I'll try it.

My doctors are all affiliated with UCLA Med Center and not one of them has steered me wrong yet or recommended unnecessary surgery. The main thing is to educate yourself too. You can't completely depend on someone else for your own health.