I can imagine that a few of my friends are chuckling at the title of this piece. It’s no secret that I am an outspoken critic of much of what Western medicine (allopathy) does.
But there is one area where allopathy shines… emergencies and acute situations.
Break your arm? All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to set those bones.
Gunshot wound? I don’t know about you, but I’m allergic to lead. I want those bullets dug out of me!
Go into labor at 30 weeks gestation? An IV of Magnesium Sulfate is going to be your best friend… and possibly a high level NICU in case baby decides he is coming no matter what.
When hospitals and allopathic doctors are consulted in these situations, they do great work. The near-drowning victim, the burn patient, the overdose, the critically injured… all of those benefit from an allopathic doctor.
Western medicine has also given us amazing diagnostic tools. Laboratory tests to measure everything from glucose in your urine to sodium in your blood… x-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs… if it needs to be looked at or measured, allopathy has your tools.
The problem is when traditionally trained Western practitioners try to muck about in preventative health. Once you’ve gotten yourself critically ill they are great… but they totally suck at keeping you from getting critically ill!
As an example, I recently went to my family physician with some test results. Now, the first clue is that I had gotten these test results done elsewhere. Why? Because I couldn’t get him to take me seriously. Tell him that I’m exhausted and all I would hear is, “Well, you work night shift.” Really? No freaking sh–, Sherlock! I’ve been working night shift for well over a decade. What has changed? Because obviously, something has!
So, I thought that going in with proof in hand that there was a problem (test results showed severe insulin resistance) might get me some assistance. Now, I knew that, despite my already quite good eating habits, I was going to have to make more drastic changes. I wanted to consult with him about what we could do to help my body turn the corner. I had done some research into how low levels of Vitamin D could cause insulin resistance… and since the biggest change in recent years was a move from sunny Arizona to rainy and snowy Idaho, I thought that I might have determined the culprit.
Proof that I am not nearly as jaded as I ought to be, I was shocked at his response. “That means nothing,” he said. “I’ll treat you when you’re a diabetic. In the meantime, there’s nothing that can be done.” I’m sure my jaw hit the floor.
When I pressed him to investigate further, he got even more condescending. “Maybe you’re depressed,” he said. “I would be if I was married to your husband.” Now, at this point, he’s lucky I was too stunned to claw his eyes out. You could tell he thought he was being really funny. I failed to see the humor in insulting my husband. I kept expecting to see a calendar rolling back to the 1950s and to be offered a prescription of Valium, you know, to settle the “little woman” down.
I did convince him to let me get my Vitamin D levels tested…. although he assured me that we wouldn’t find anything startling there.
A few days later I got a call from his office wanting to set up a meeting with a dietician. I told the girl that I would not be returning to see this doctor and I would arrange assistance with nutrition advice elsewhere. I also told her why…. that I was tired of being mocked, belittled and humiliated by this doctor. (This was not the first time he had acted like this. I actually do try to avoid direct confrontations, I swear. No, stop giggling, guys, I mean it, I do!)
I don’t know if he didn’t get the message about that or if he didn’t think I was serious, but a few days after that I got another call, this one directly from him. My Vitamin D levels were critically low. He advised that I start D3 supplementation and suggested I start with 2000 IU daily, mentioning that he normally only told people to start with 1000 IU daily.
Well, I did start the D3, but I did my own research in the medical journals and found that, based upon my levels, I needed to be taking 5000 IU daily, not 2000.
Now, I’m lucky. I work in hospitals. I have access to multiple care providers to bounce ideas off of (and some of them truly phenomenal. Granted… most of those are nurses or nurse practitioners!) I have access to the latest news from hundreds of medical journals and the background to know what to do with the information I find.
This is why I so strongly recommend not just blindly putting your health in the hands of whatever doctor that fate and the insurance company happened to assign you. If you leave a doctor’s office with a knot in the pit of your stomach and the sense that you didn’t really get the answers you needed… or that, even worse, the doctor thinks you’re some kind of nut for even wanting more information… you need to be proactive. Get a different doctor, if you can. Consult a naturopath, if that is at all possible.
But there is one area where allopathy shines… emergencies and acute situations.
Break your arm? All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to set those bones.
Gunshot wound? I don’t know about you, but I’m allergic to lead. I want those bullets dug out of me!
Go into labor at 30 weeks gestation? An IV of Magnesium Sulfate is going to be your best friend… and possibly a high level NICU in case baby decides he is coming no matter what.
When hospitals and allopathic doctors are consulted in these situations, they do great work. The near-drowning victim, the burn patient, the overdose, the critically injured… all of those benefit from an allopathic doctor.
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| A Western Medicine Book |
Western medicine has also given us amazing diagnostic tools. Laboratory tests to measure everything from glucose in your urine to sodium in your blood… x-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs… if it needs to be looked at or measured, allopathy has your tools.
The problem is when traditionally trained Western practitioners try to muck about in preventative health. Once you’ve gotten yourself critically ill they are great… but they totally suck at keeping you from getting critically ill!
As an example, I recently went to my family physician with some test results. Now, the first clue is that I had gotten these test results done elsewhere. Why? Because I couldn’t get him to take me seriously. Tell him that I’m exhausted and all I would hear is, “Well, you work night shift.” Really? No freaking sh–, Sherlock! I’ve been working night shift for well over a decade. What has changed? Because obviously, something has!
So, I thought that going in with proof in hand that there was a problem (test results showed severe insulin resistance) might get me some assistance. Now, I knew that, despite my already quite good eating habits, I was going to have to make more drastic changes. I wanted to consult with him about what we could do to help my body turn the corner. I had done some research into how low levels of Vitamin D could cause insulin resistance… and since the biggest change in recent years was a move from sunny Arizona to rainy and snowy Idaho, I thought that I might have determined the culprit.
Proof that I am not nearly as jaded as I ought to be, I was shocked at his response. “That means nothing,” he said. “I’ll treat you when you’re a diabetic. In the meantime, there’s nothing that can be done.” I’m sure my jaw hit the floor.
When I pressed him to investigate further, he got even more condescending. “Maybe you’re depressed,” he said. “I would be if I was married to your husband.” Now, at this point, he’s lucky I was too stunned to claw his eyes out. You could tell he thought he was being really funny. I failed to see the humor in insulting my husband. I kept expecting to see a calendar rolling back to the 1950s and to be offered a prescription of Valium, you know, to settle the “little woman” down.
I did convince him to let me get my Vitamin D levels tested…. although he assured me that we wouldn’t find anything startling there.
A few days later I got a call from his office wanting to set up a meeting with a dietician. I told the girl that I would not be returning to see this doctor and I would arrange assistance with nutrition advice elsewhere. I also told her why…. that I was tired of being mocked, belittled and humiliated by this doctor. (This was not the first time he had acted like this. I actually do try to avoid direct confrontations, I swear. No, stop giggling, guys, I mean it, I do!)
I don’t know if he didn’t get the message about that or if he didn’t think I was serious, but a few days after that I got another call, this one directly from him. My Vitamin D levels were critically low. He advised that I start D3 supplementation and suggested I start with 2000 IU daily, mentioning that he normally only told people to start with 1000 IU daily.
Well, I did start the D3, but I did my own research in the medical journals and found that, based upon my levels, I needed to be taking 5000 IU daily, not 2000.
Now, I’m lucky. I work in hospitals. I have access to multiple care providers to bounce ideas off of (and some of them truly phenomenal. Granted… most of those are nurses or nurse practitioners!) I have access to the latest news from hundreds of medical journals and the background to know what to do with the information I find.
This is why I so strongly recommend not just blindly putting your health in the hands of whatever doctor that fate and the insurance company happened to assign you. If you leave a doctor’s office with a knot in the pit of your stomach and the sense that you didn’t really get the answers you needed… or that, even worse, the doctor thinks you’re some kind of nut for even wanting more information… you need to be proactive. Get a different doctor, if you can. Consult a naturopath, if that is at all possible.
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