OT: Becoming obsessed with medical test results

[frostyjan]

How are you feeling?

Is something wrong that you are concerned about your test results?

I have been an RN for 33 years and basically think conventional medicine is a failure except for the most specialized areas (oncology is one example).

I wouldn't worryabout normal range results if things are going well for you physically.

I had completely normal lab results but felt ill for three months in my late forties. My doctor said I was fine based on my labs. It wasn't until I did a food elimination diet that I discovered I had developed a dairy sensitivity that presented as fatigue/headaches/joint aches. I have been fine ever since I eliminated dairy.

Until the medical community comes around to the reality that optimal health begins with the correct diet/exercise/sleep for each individual patient, they will continue to waste patients time and $$ and potentially cause harm by prescribing medications with unintended consequences.

JMHO.

[JackieB]

Originally Posted by frostyjan

Until the medical community comes around to the reality that optimal health begins with the correct diet/exercise/sleep for each individual patient, they will continue to waste patients time and $$ and potentially cause harm by prescribing medications with unintended consequences.

JMHO.

Agree.

[Taiga]

Originally Posted by frostyjan

How are you feeling?
.......Until the medical community comes around to the reality that optimal health begins with the correct diet/exercise/sleep for each individual patient, they will continue to waste patients time and $$ and potentially cause harm by prescribing medications with unintended consequences.

JMHO.

Agree x 2. If we focused on prevention of disease, there would be so much less suffering and plenty of money left for quality medical care.

[Gams]

I just lost a very long post, but basically I think the general public is more to blame for a lack of interest in preventive care than the medical community. Most people I know don’t even think about their health until they have a problem. The people I know who have quit smoking haven’t tried until they were faced with a medical issue. And as far as eating healthy, they have a “I’d rather eat what I want and be happy” attitude. I know 3 people in the last couple months who have been told by their doctors that they need colonoscopies and each one basically told me, “Nobody is sticking anything up my butt.”

My stepmom was told years ago to exercise and eat healthier, but she wasn’t interested because she felt fine. She’s now in a wheelchair and even though doctors have told her she could walk if she would go to physical therapy, she refuses to go. She likes having my dad take care of her even though he’s 84, has a bad heart, prostate cancer and has had a cancerous kidney removed. She has fallen 4 times and each time the fire department has had to come out and get her up off the floor. She thinks it’s great - her attitude is “why worry about falling, I can always call the fire department.”

[Taiga]

Our society makes it too easy to choose bad health. I would even go so far to say that it encourages bad choices through established policy. If fish and fresh fruit and vegetables became more economically feasible than Taco Bell and Dollar Store junk food, a lot of people would shift their diet. As it is now, you have to pay extra not to have poisonous chemicals on your produce (organic)--how warped is that? The advertising marketing budget for pushing unhealthy food choices (anything from Doritos to green ketchup) to children is in the millions. How many commercials do you see for farmer's markets? And we allow industry to poison our environment because profit has priority over health.

Better city planning could easily encourage more movement (such as walking to a corner grocery store or produce stand) but huge box stores are more affordable so small community stores die off and instead we drive to Walmart for huge bags of sugary cereal and super cheap liters of soda (with endless amounts of environmentally damaging packaging). Our current health system has insurance covering multi-million dollar heart attacks but where are the financial incentives and preventive measures to prevent heart attacks and diabetes? Make healthy foods as easily available as junk and tax junk food (as with cigarettes) and even video games/tv at a rate that matches their cost to our health care system. Give incentives for businesses to provide treadmill/standing desks to employees. Make bike trails and parks more available (and safe). There will always be short-sighted folks when it comes to health choices. We need to make better choices more readily available and poor choices more costly/less convenient to the point that it is easier just to go with better choices. In short, make good food and movement more convenient and less expensive than junk food and pills.

[JackieB]

Originally Posted by Gams

I just lost a very long post, but basically I think the general public is more to blame for a lack of interest in preventive care than the medical community. Most people I know don’t even think about their health until they have a problem.

Originally Posted by Taiga

Our society makes it too easy to choose bad health. I would even go so far to say that it encourages bad choices through established policy.

I think it is the perfect storm. It's easy and much less expensive to make poor health choices, and our health care system's solutions are quick fix drugs and surgery.

[Gams]

I know I’m in the minority here, but I think people choose Taco Bell over salads because it tastes better. I also think eating healthy is cheaper than eating junk food. You can buy large, cheap bottles of pop at the store, but it’s even cheaper to drink water and I personally like tea, so it costs me $2.00 for a box of 100 tea bags which will make 10 gallons of tea - I spend almost nothing on beverages. I also spend less on food when I eat healthy partially because I buy so much less food and eat in smaller quantities.

I think we often eat for the wrong reasons - not just because we are hungry and need fuel, but we are accustomed to eating when we’re bored or socializing, etc.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

I really think convenience is a huge factor. Even if vegetables were free, plenty of people would not bother to cook from scratch. It takes time and most people don't want to bother, at least, not when there are cheap, easy, convenient alternatives.

That said, I think plenty of people do care about their health, but many have followed the crappy dietary advice we've been given and it has not ended well, or gotten frustrated by the myriad conflicting soundbytes that are broadcast on an almost daily basis by the we-need-something-to-write-about media outlets.

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by Taiga

Agree x 2. If we focused on prevention of disease, there would be so much less suffering and plenty of money left for quality medical care.

I always bring up the magazine, "Prevention," in health discussions. It has (or, used to have as I stopped reading it) so many ads for pharmaceutical drugs, they ought to rename it, "Prescription." This is a magazine that allegedly encourages natural health!

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

I really think convenience is a huge factor. Even if vegetables were free, plenty of people would not bother to cook from scratch. It takes time and most people don't want to bother, at least, not when there are cheap, easy, convenient alternatives.
...

Fresh food is so perishable, it would not be cost-effective to serve it round the clock at eateries. There would be a lot of spoilage and waste. Not all fruits and vegetables freeze well. Many restaurants and fast food joint use frozen items.

But those nachos with cheese sauce at the 7/11 will never expire!