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Doctors..

Goonergal said:
I think the key is to take responsibility for your own health, educate yourself and find a route that works.
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Agreed @Goonergal. Interestingly, so does Dr. Clare Gerada, a former Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners: "“The idea that you need to consult me as the GP to tell you where to go is a nonsense in tomorrow’s world. In yesterday’s patronising world where I had the knowledge and I kept it from you, fine, but you are just as responsible."
http://vernerwheelock.com/272-consumerisation-of-healthcare/
 
bulkbiker said:
I would have thought/hoped so to. However when did you last see a GP who had read your notes before the consultation?
I don't think Tom is saying we should be giving medical advice but that all of us should educate ourselves as to personal health matters so we are informed and can use the Doc as an advice giver rather than blindly do what they say.
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I've been in and out of hospitals all my life because of cystic fibrosis.... mistakes get made. Usually when a doctor doesn't read your notes and walks in "blind" and treats you. I've been prescribed antibiotics that my records clearly show not to give. 4 years ago I was prescribed an antibiotic in an emergency room for pneumonia by a doctor who didn't look at my notes and had no clue I'd had a double lung transplant. Once I had asked if he had checked with my transplant doctors if this drug was ok, he immediately went and read my notes. Antibiotics have different effects on transplant meds and their effectiveness. Drug interactions can be dangerous, and when a doctor doesn't bother looking at your notes there is plenty of room for bad things to happen that shouldn't.

Having said that, 99% of the doctors I have seen are good at their jobs. It's not an easy job. So for medical advice, that's where I go. And I have refused to take some drugs prescribed, if the side effects are just too risky and out weigh the benefits. Doctors sometimes don't even know them, and or never mention side effects.

For diet and exercise advice, I've spent years researching it and experimenting with it. And asking questions. As that post states, taking control of your health relies a lot on yourself. You usually know when something isn't right, or when you are onto to something.
 
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Sue192 said:
An excellent post from him and he's right: they won't have the complete picture about one's personal 'engine' and it is up to us to be the engineer of our learning about diabetes or any health matter that affects us, as much as we can. GPs cannot possibly know everything about your condition
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I agree @Sue192, and would add that when actual engineers look at their medical conditions using an engineering approach, they realize that there was much mainstream medicine does not know. @FatEmperor's story is a case in point. His journey started when several of his own blood markers were elevated. He went to three different doctors seeking the root cause of his elevated markers. Not one could provide an explanation that made sense to him as an engineer. He then did his own research (his expertise is in root cause analysis/complex problem-solving) and he found the root cause within a few weeks. @DaveKeto is another example. He is taking on the conventional wisdom in lipidology.

Other points to consider: there is a saying in medicine along the lines of 'half of what you learn in medical school is obsolete before you graduate; the problem is, you don't know which half'. Another point, most physicians will agree that their undergraduate medical education in nutrition is very short indeed, I've heard some say a mere four hours. And lastly, the guild mentality, where professional groups (and this is not solely directed at medicine, I would include all licensed professions here) seek to restrict dissemination of knowledge to protect their status - is no longer fit for purpose (and no longer viable in the internet age, TBH). We need the knowledge that the brilliant minds in other disciplines bring to the health and wellness discussions, as well as the knowledge of lived patient experiences. We all benefit from this.

Thank goodness for the internet, this forum and others like it. I have learned so much.
 
I would be dead now if I had believe one oncologist and not sought advice from another!

I pity those who don't inform themselves and work in partnership with informed health professionals.

So many educated people have a head in the sand attitude and doctor knows best outlook!
 
lindisfel said:
I would be dead now if I had believe one oncologist and not sought advice from another!
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Similar happened to me when an oncology registrar tried to put me on the wrong (and very unsuitable in my circumstances) chemo regimen. I knew it was wrong as I'd researched very carefully. Thank goodness his boss consultant jumped in a few days later before I had chance to complain, and changed it to the one I knew I should be receiving.
 
I think, having recently had my life saved by my GP by him knowing the consultant was wrong, that my surgery team do their best. But, knowing they are overworked and underfunded, I take my mantra from the health and safety rule:

Workers have a duty to take care of their own health and safety

so I consider my input and knowledge is just as vital, and i have a duty to inform myself of health considerations and options that could affect me. The days of a GP having known you from birth, and having time for each and every patient to give a full run down and understand their condition, are over. If it ever existed at all. I believe I have to tailor my expectation and outcome to the reality of what the NHS is now.
 
I sometimes think that the great british public (choose to) forget that doctors are simply people with a professional training based on and limited by what science ‘knows’ at this curent point in time, not gods
Im sure ‘doctors’ centuaries past had some patients who believed in phrenology ( feeling bumps on the head) as a diagnostic aid and others who called them charlatans
Sad thing is its easier to put yor trust / faith in a god than to recognise youre dealing with a fallible individua with a knowledge base that constantly evolves but is never all ecompassing
 
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Boo1979 said:
Sad thing is its easier to put yor trust / faith in a god than to recognise youre dealing with a fallible individua with a knowledge base that constantly evolves but is never all ecompassing
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We all start off believing in our parents as gods. The transition to making our own decisions on the basis of inadequate information is scary. Some of us don't make it at all, and perhaps all of us are glad to regress from time to time.
 
Boo1979 said:
They are mostly taught what happens with the majority of the population
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They were mostly taught (in the 1980s) what happened with the majority of the population sometime in the 1950s, and despite the supposed refresher courses for GPs they are sticking with that "knowledge". The humbler ones are willing to accept well-documented input from patients while the ego-driven majority prefer steam-roller tactics.
 
donnellysdogs said:
What worries me is that any poster here is pretty much an exceptionnin a huge population.....its the huge population I worry about... the ones that totally believe that they can jyst totally rely upon nhs and meds and carry on with not really giving a ****...

I just worry about the masses...
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Let the dead bury the dead! Better to target your concern to people who have the intelligence and courage to search for answers beyond what the nice GP tells them. You may actually be able to help them. Those who believe that being a nice, obedient, docile patient is what it takes to survive and thrive will not listen to you and will even be annoyed because alarmed by your questioning.
 
Tophat1900 said:
I've been in and out of hospitals all my life because of cystic fibrosis.... mistakes get made. Usually when a doctor doesn't read your notes and walks in "blind" and treats you. I've been prescribed antibiotics that my records clearly show not to give. 4 years ago I was prescribed an antibiotic in an emergency room for pneumonia by a doctor who didn't look at my notes and had no clue I'd had a double lung transplant. Once I had asked if he had checked with my transplant doctors if this drug was ok, he immediately went and read my notes. Antibiotics have different effects on transplant meds and their effectiveness. Drug interactions can be dangerous, and when a doctor doesn't bother looking at your notes there is plenty of room for bad things to happen that shouldn't.

Having said that, 99% of the doctors I have seen are good at their jobs. It's not an easy job. So for medical advice, that's where I go. And I have refused to take some drugs prescribed, if the side effects are just too risky and out weigh the benefits. Doctors sometimes don't even know them, and or never mention side effects.

For diet and exercise advice, I've spent years researching it and experimenting with it. And asking questions. As that post states, taking control of your health relies a lot on yourself. You usually know when something isn't right, or when you are onto to something.
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Totally agree.
 
lucylocket61 said:
I think, having recently had my life saved by my GP by him knowing the consultant was wrong, that my surgery team do their best. But, knowing they are overworked and underfunded, I take my mantra from the health and safety rule:

Workers have a duty to take care of their own health and safety

so I consider my input and knowledge is just as vital, and i have a duty to inform myself of health considerations and options that could affect me. The days of a GP having known you from birth, and having time for each and every patient to give a full run down and understand their condition, are over. If it ever existed at all. I believe I have to tailor my expectation and outcome to the reality of what the NHS is now.
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I agree.
I think I appreciate their efforts to sort me out more than the actual sorting me out.
I havent ever met a dr yet who doesnt care.
 
The downside of this site is its a real knocking culture for some.

I'd rather have the doc, than have nothing but google.
Still, each to their own way.
If it makes you feel good in your head that's as important as your body being right.
 
Tophat1900 said:
I've been in and out of hospitals all my life because of cystic fibrosis.... mistakes get made. Usually when a doctor doesn't read your notes and walks in "blind" and treats you. I've been prescribed antibiotics that my records clearly show not to give. 4 years ago I was prescribed an antibiotic in an emergency room for pneumonia by a doctor who didn't look at my notes and had no clue I'd had a double lung transplant. Once I had asked if he had checked with my transplant doctors if this drug was ok, he immediately went and read my notes. Antibiotics have different effects on transplant meds and their effectiveness. Drug interactions can be dangerous, and when a doctor doesn't bother looking at your notes there is plenty of room for bad things to happen that shouldn't.

Having said that, 99% of the doctors I have seen are good at their jobs. It's not an easy job. So for medical advice, that's where I go. And I have refused to take some drugs prescribed, if the side effects are just too risky and out weigh the benefits. Doctors sometimes don't even know them, and or never mention side effects.

For diet and exercise advice, I've spent years researching it and experimenting with it. And asking questions. As that post states, taking control of your health relies a lot on yourself. You usually know when something isn't right, or when you are onto to something.
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I know what you mean I was prescribed an antibiotic by an on call doctor once when the registrar consultant did her rounds in the morning she threw a wobbly and got very irate asking who it was that was trying to kill me.

BTW my nephew has CF and is on the list for a transplant.
 
jcbman said:
Don't ask me, I'm good with doctors.
They do a good job, even in the face of those that know more.
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Blind faith is a wonderful thing and ignorance is bliss. So they reckon...
 
Guzzler said:
Blind faith is a wonderful thing and ignorance is bliss. So they reckon...
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Hey, mate, if you have blind faith in google, and reckon your doc is ignorant, you make your choice....
 
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