Modern medicine
Yesterday en route to my doctor I listened to a Radio 4 programme on medicine. It made the point that the modern doctor does not carry a Gladstone bag nor wear a white surgical coat as all the information he/she needs is on his smart phone and the image has changed.
It’s precisely because of this that I like my doctor who must be in his early sixties. At that age and with such experience he is perfectly qualified to diagnose. Often he will say nothing can be done, it’s a fact of old age but can prescribe some helpful medication. Added to that his face is not sunk in his computer screen, he combines eye contact with a cheerful manner. He also runs his patient list efficiently . You are allocated 20 minutes and I have never known him to be late . My Italian teacher could learn from this as his lesson normally overruns by 15-30 minutes . We do not do much conversation ( except for his) but the watching of a film stopping for comprehension takes longer than the 45 minutes allocated causing a punctual man like me stress.
At my Italian class beforehand somebody was holding forth on the benefits of homeopathic medicine and how big Pharma stifles it. I have seldom heard such piffle and I was pleased the good doctor was in agreement.
There are no proper clinical trials, you do not even know if the medication you are taking is the same as its description. I thought of a close friend with critical cancer, now 10 months on since diagnosis whose successful treatment is medication based. If he had relied on homeopathy I would be speaking of him in the past tense. The doctor spoke of the conditions that a local Chinese herbalist can treat with considerable scepticism.
A few years ago I attended a diet/training course. The young life coach expressed surprised that I had not had a heart attack given I was so overweight. I countered that my father was not convinced by the relationship between obesity and cardiac problems.
“Your father is wrong” replied the know-all whipper snapper. I asked him for his qualifications. He had been on a course. I told him it takes five years to be become houseman and after that my father had 50 years experience at the coal face.
No – when it comes to your medical welfare there is simply no substitute for experience. Vitamin pills. herbalists, life coaches and the internet will not get you through.
