Many a true word spoken in jest!
Although this essay is a skit at US attitudes toward health and their health system, much of it applies to western cultural beliefs about health andmedicine - enjoy. :D
Andrew.
Answers:
I'm not sure I'd use the word 'skit' in this context, but I agree it could equally beapplied to western cultural beliefs about health andmedicine.
Rather ironically, I thought the attending-grabbing headline bore remarkable similarity to those seen daily in the newspapers the author cites with his "don't believe everything you read in them" message. ;)
Some of the one-liners made me smile, like the one about giving antibiotics "just in case" and "hospitals are clean and safe". :D
The article wasclearly written for a target market - readers in the US - and while quite a good read, I found it a bit same old, same old, really.
Just my personal POV.
Holistic
Answers:
Yes, some of the one-liners are a bit funny, but it's targeted - or should be - at the West in general and is relevant beyond the health profession. Scary stuff, but true. There are indeed people like this who don't think the average person has the ability to make good decisions, and therefore must be 'guided' by their elite.
The opposite to democracy and freedom.
V
Answers:
Sounds like it's written by a US chiropractor having a rant, but actually feel - good on yer!
Not sure if it would be more or less funny if some of them weren't so true.
This one for example:
That is actually the very reason why the give antibiotics in case of 'glue ear' - just in case it does get infected. They don't actually do anything to help the condition, which I suspect is only very rarely explained to the parent/s. They're given a tablet, so they think the tabletis to treat the condition, so they're happy in the belief that all that can be doneis being done. [sm=banghead.gif]
Don't even get me started on some of the others! :D
Andrew.
Answers:
Nah, Andrew, it'll be fun to keep you going! :D
Let's pick out this one:
* The purpose of the health care industry is health
Many years ago my mother visited her brother who is now an American in Florida. He just thought for some reason it would be a good opportunity for her to have a 'better' health check, as they have so many there. But she was in fine health. Anyway her arm was twisted.
The Florida medics (hospital?) found she had cancer. What a shock! (I forget what kind - I was young.) "I'll go home to get treated," she said. Apparently she then came under a huge campaign to get her to stay for treatment there. (You know the cost of such to the uninsured in the USA, right?) Somehow she felt quite placid and waited till she got home.
You know what I'm going to write, yes? No cancer whatsoever. But how would you know that if they'd operated and charged a massive fee?
* The purpose of American health care is usually to make money out of you!
Oh, now I've got myself going! More recently the medics there, again at much cost, insisted my uncle had to spend abouta third of the time on an oxygen-enhancing gizmo, on wheels. It prevented him coming over here since the practicalities couldn't be sorted out. Looking into it, we discovered that such gizmos don't even exist over here, I think I'm right in saying - we couldn't find one to use in a visit. They told him it was for life.
One day he just discarded it, went for a walk, and saved his money! [&:]
Venetian
Answers:
Was it a hyperbaric chamber - because they do exist over here, but I imagine that there's insufficient evidence for the NHS to pay for them as a treatment.
I was interested to hear last year that last year a local hospital dida standard operation for ingrowing toe nails under general anaesthetic.
To cut a long story short they bandaged up her feet forgetting to take off the torniquets off and despite her frequent visits to A&E complaining of extreme pain - no one actually thought to remove bandages to look.
Finally about a week later at her follow up appointment about a week later they did check. [:o]
No circulation for a week! - ifyou can imagine the amount of dead and dying tissue in the feet. They immediately sent her to a local private hospital that has two hyperbaric chambers and they did manage to save most of her toes.
What makes it worse was that she is a single mum and an operating theatre nurse at the very hospital that did the op.
Also interesting that it's not a treatment that is regarded as being useful enough for the NHS to provide, unless they have cocked up big style. [sm=scratchchin.gif]
This is not an urban myth, it actually happened, but it would be out of order to reveal my source, as they say.
I'm not saying that they weren't being overzealous in the US and that regular execise,yogic breathing excercises or similar cheaper alternatives would equally helped your uncle.
Andrew.
Answers:
Hi Andrew,
I forget what the gadget was - a kind of adopted step-brother did most of the looking into this.
This is off-topic but a reverse-example (?) of medics doing their best in hospitals under 24-hour shifts. Also not an urban myth as it was me! I'd never normally dream of going into hospital for an ingrowing toe nail! - but once I was advised to as it was looking pretty awful inside (infected). I never dreamed it would be a local op, but it was. A doctor had me lie down and got a syrnge for the local anaesthetic. He was about to use it when he dropped it onto the floor. "Sorry, I've done 19 hours so far and I'm pretty tired," says he.
No kidding - he prepared a second, clean one, and dropped that. By now I'm thinking, 'Get the third one ready and show me where to jab it!' Anyway, it was third time lucky and he even invited me to take a look - which I could have done without as the hole he'd made went right to the bone. [&:]
Anyway I guess that's a reverse-example of a normal doctor trying to do his job. (What ARE those huge shifts, in the USA and UK, all about?)
Venetian
Answers:
That is actually the very reason why the give antibiotics in case of 'glue ear' - just in case it does get infected. They don't actually do anything to help the condition, which I suspect is only very rarely explained to the parent/s. They're given a tablet, so they think the tabletis to treat the condition, so they're happy in the belief that all that can be doneis being done. [sm=banghead.gif]
Don't even get me started on some of the others! :D
Andrew.
Re "funny" ... I won't go back and edit my first post, but when I said:
Perhaps I should have substituted "wry grin" for "smile" and put a different smiley [&o]
I believe I'm right in saying that peoplebuild upan immunity to antibiotics because they are dished out for anything and everything, so thatnewer and stronger ones have to be developed? Correct me if I'm wrong.
One doctor (not my regular GP) actuallyonce said to me, of antibiotics: "These are my stock-in-trade". [:-]
Laura.
Answers:
I would say that it's the bacteria that evolving with an acquired an immunity to the current antibiotics.
Several drug companies have admitted that they're not researching into new ones because there's insuffucient profit to be gained.
Some are looking at it a fairly radically different, which sounded promising at the time, butunable to remember how at the mo.
RE. People, well there just acquiring allergies to anti - B's, especially penicillin based ones, with estimates of 10% of western population being allergic to it. Also, because it's derived from a mould, then these people typically also have allergies to various common household moulds like aspergillus niger. As moulds come under the broader heading of fungi, as do yeasts, then you can throw those two in there too! [:o]
You'll find whole web sites dedicated to such things i.e.
RE. Western health care systems, then I suspect that the way forward would be something in between an all private system like the US and an all national system like the UK.
Maybe something along the lines of the french and other continental European countries' systems.
Either way I think that a lot of drugs are on the way out and there's now a government working party to address theissue of the underhand tactics ofthe big pharma's. It'll no doubt be painfully slow, but it's a start.
A year or 2 ago a directors of one of the big pharma's came out and basically said that the majority of commonly prescribed drugs simply don't work. Where was everyone? Did I step into a parrallel unveriverse at the time? I since haven't been able to trace the story and would much appreciate it if anyone can.
BTW if your wondering why they may have done this, then it seems that particular company where investing heavily ingene therapy. Methinks he spoke a little too soon. :)
Andrew.
Answers:
PS to big V
The oxygen thing - if it was a gadget and likely not a hyperbaric chamber, then it could have beenasystem to provide extra oxygen whilst sleeping. THey are to reduce the ill effects of sleep apnoea.
The most commonly used one was developed by an Australian, but don't recall his name or the name of the system. :(
Andrew.
Andrew.
Answers:
I'm not sure I'd use the word 'skit' in this context, but I agree it could equally beapplied to western cultural beliefs about health andmedicine.
Rather ironically, I thought the attending-grabbing headline bore remarkable similarity to those seen daily in the newspapers the author cites with his "don't believe everything you read in them" message. ;)
Some of the one-liners made me smile, like the one about giving antibiotics "just in case" and "hospitals are clean and safe". :D
The article wasclearly written for a target market - readers in the US - and while quite a good read, I found it a bit same old, same old, really.
Just my personal POV.
Holistic
Answers:
Yes, some of the one-liners are a bit funny, but it's targeted - or should be - at the West in general and is relevant beyond the health profession. Scary stuff, but true. There are indeed people like this who don't think the average person has the ability to make good decisions, and therefore must be 'guided' by their elite.
The opposite to democracy and freedom.
V
Answers:
Sounds like it's written by a US chiropractor having a rant, but actually feel - good on yer!
Not sure if it would be more or less funny if some of them weren't so true.
This one for example:
That is actually the very reason why the give antibiotics in case of 'glue ear' - just in case it does get infected. They don't actually do anything to help the condition, which I suspect is only very rarely explained to the parent/s. They're given a tablet, so they think the tabletis to treat the condition, so they're happy in the belief that all that can be doneis being done. [sm=banghead.gif]
Don't even get me started on some of the others! :D
Andrew.
Answers:
Nah, Andrew, it'll be fun to keep you going! :D
Let's pick out this one:
* The purpose of the health care industry is health
Many years ago my mother visited her brother who is now an American in Florida. He just thought for some reason it would be a good opportunity for her to have a 'better' health check, as they have so many there. But she was in fine health. Anyway her arm was twisted.
The Florida medics (hospital?) found she had cancer. What a shock! (I forget what kind - I was young.) "I'll go home to get treated," she said. Apparently she then came under a huge campaign to get her to stay for treatment there. (You know the cost of such to the uninsured in the USA, right?) Somehow she felt quite placid and waited till she got home.
You know what I'm going to write, yes? No cancer whatsoever. But how would you know that if they'd operated and charged a massive fee?
* The purpose of American health care is usually to make money out of you!
Oh, now I've got myself going! More recently the medics there, again at much cost, insisted my uncle had to spend abouta third of the time on an oxygen-enhancing gizmo, on wheels. It prevented him coming over here since the practicalities couldn't be sorted out. Looking into it, we discovered that such gizmos don't even exist over here, I think I'm right in saying - we couldn't find one to use in a visit. They told him it was for life.
One day he just discarded it, went for a walk, and saved his money! [&:]
Venetian
Answers:
Was it a hyperbaric chamber - because they do exist over here, but I imagine that there's insufficient evidence for the NHS to pay for them as a treatment.
I was interested to hear last year that last year a local hospital dida standard operation for ingrowing toe nails under general anaesthetic.
To cut a long story short they bandaged up her feet forgetting to take off the torniquets off and despite her frequent visits to A&E complaining of extreme pain - no one actually thought to remove bandages to look.
Finally about a week later at her follow up appointment about a week later they did check. [:o]
No circulation for a week! - ifyou can imagine the amount of dead and dying tissue in the feet. They immediately sent her to a local private hospital that has two hyperbaric chambers and they did manage to save most of her toes.
What makes it worse was that she is a single mum and an operating theatre nurse at the very hospital that did the op.
Also interesting that it's not a treatment that is regarded as being useful enough for the NHS to provide, unless they have cocked up big style. [sm=scratchchin.gif]
This is not an urban myth, it actually happened, but it would be out of order to reveal my source, as they say.
I'm not saying that they weren't being overzealous in the US and that regular execise,yogic breathing excercises or similar cheaper alternatives would equally helped your uncle.
Andrew.
Answers:
Hi Andrew,
I forget what the gadget was - a kind of adopted step-brother did most of the looking into this.
This is off-topic but a reverse-example (?) of medics doing their best in hospitals under 24-hour shifts. Also not an urban myth as it was me! I'd never normally dream of going into hospital for an ingrowing toe nail! - but once I was advised to as it was looking pretty awful inside (infected). I never dreamed it would be a local op, but it was. A doctor had me lie down and got a syrnge for the local anaesthetic. He was about to use it when he dropped it onto the floor. "Sorry, I've done 19 hours so far and I'm pretty tired," says he.
No kidding - he prepared a second, clean one, and dropped that. By now I'm thinking, 'Get the third one ready and show me where to jab it!' Anyway, it was third time lucky and he even invited me to take a look - which I could have done without as the hole he'd made went right to the bone. [&:]
Anyway I guess that's a reverse-example of a normal doctor trying to do his job. (What ARE those huge shifts, in the USA and UK, all about?)
Venetian
Answers:
That is actually the very reason why the give antibiotics in case of 'glue ear' - just in case it does get infected. They don't actually do anything to help the condition, which I suspect is only very rarely explained to the parent/s. They're given a tablet, so they think the tabletis to treat the condition, so they're happy in the belief that all that can be doneis being done. [sm=banghead.gif]
Don't even get me started on some of the others! :D
Andrew.
Re "funny" ... I won't go back and edit my first post, but when I said:
Perhaps I should have substituted "wry grin" for "smile" and put a different smiley [&o]
I believe I'm right in saying that peoplebuild upan immunity to antibiotics because they are dished out for anything and everything, so thatnewer and stronger ones have to be developed? Correct me if I'm wrong.
One doctor (not my regular GP) actuallyonce said to me, of antibiotics: "These are my stock-in-trade". [:-]
Laura.
Answers:
I would say that it's the bacteria that evolving with an acquired an immunity to the current antibiotics.
Several drug companies have admitted that they're not researching into new ones because there's insuffucient profit to be gained.
Some are looking at it a fairly radically different, which sounded promising at the time, butunable to remember how at the mo.
RE. People, well there just acquiring allergies to anti - B's, especially penicillin based ones, with estimates of 10% of western population being allergic to it. Also, because it's derived from a mould, then these people typically also have allergies to various common household moulds like aspergillus niger. As moulds come under the broader heading of fungi, as do yeasts, then you can throw those two in there too! [:o]
You'll find whole web sites dedicated to such things i.e.
RE. Western health care systems, then I suspect that the way forward would be something in between an all private system like the US and an all national system like the UK.
Maybe something along the lines of the french and other continental European countries' systems.
Either way I think that a lot of drugs are on the way out and there's now a government working party to address theissue of the underhand tactics ofthe big pharma's. It'll no doubt be painfully slow, but it's a start.
A year or 2 ago a directors of one of the big pharma's came out and basically said that the majority of commonly prescribed drugs simply don't work. Where was everyone? Did I step into a parrallel unveriverse at the time? I since haven't been able to trace the story and would much appreciate it if anyone can.
BTW if your wondering why they may have done this, then it seems that particular company where investing heavily ingene therapy. Methinks he spoke a little too soon. :)
Andrew.
Answers:
PS to big V
The oxygen thing - if it was a gadget and likely not a hyperbaric chamber, then it could have beenasystem to provide extra oxygen whilst sleeping. THey are to reduce the ill effects of sleep apnoea.
The most commonly used one was developed by an Australian, but don't recall his name or the name of the system. :(
Andrew.