Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health Facts
Concerns About Conventional Medicine:
Reasons to find out about choices in alternative/complementary medicine, which can be safer, less expensive, and as effective, or more so, than conventional medicine
[Medical Errors] [Medical Bias] [Unnecessary Procedures] [Infection Control] [Unsafe Practices] [Studies not Supported by Testing] [Drug Side-effects] [Diet/Nutrition] [Ignorance] [Health Costs] [Pain Mis-management]
Conventional Medicine:
- There is increasing reliance of conventional practitioners (and the public) on media medical news, news that may be deceptive, biased and inaccurate ('spin doctoring'). Physicians by their own admission have little time to keep up with all the latest facts about medicine; the warnings about drug interactions, safer medication, advances in treatment, many do not even have time to keep abreast of their specialty.
- "Junk Science" - PR firms have learned how to attach the names of famous scientists to research that those scientists have never even looked at, and the media can manipulate facts of a medical study so that it is different from what the researchers reported. Often TV presents a health issue and only airs one side, omitting film that was made to balance the information; such as has been done with alternative therapies, vaccinations, etc.
- In conventional medicine the emphasis is on drugs, not lifestyle choices and prevention, and patients often rely on doctors rather than themselves for good health.
- With 8-minute visits the doctor doesn't really have time to do a proper workup, and two-thirds of the time a prescription is given. Misdiagnosis is as high as 50%.
- Conventional medicine often just substitutes one disease/illness for another; for example, prescribing Tomoxifen to reduce breast cancer risk, but the side effects are: increased risk of uterine tumors; prescribing antacids which reduce/eliminate the absorption of needed nutrients; and chancing problems when prescribe a drug/drugs with the chance of dangerous or deadly interactions.
- Medical errors have tripled in the last decade.
{Lancet -1998}
When considering choosing someone in the health field, it is suggested that the credentials and expertise of alternative healers be checked just as one would conventional doctors. Many alternative care providers are physicians who are knowledgeable about both conventional and alternative medicine, so they are able to inform the patient of the best choices. When a physician is limited to knowledge about only surgery and drugs (and knows little or nothing about alternative therapies), that will be what he/she recommends to their patient.
An estimated 15 million patients each year undergo a general anesthesia in the U.S., and all of this happens in the absence of any real scientific knowledge of how anesthesia does what it does. "I don't believe we're that much closer to understanding how anesthetics operate on the body that we were 150 years ago," acknowledges Jeffrey Joseph, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Jefferson Medical College. Anesthetics has been a field where trial, error and guesswork remain the method of progress. "There are as many theories about where anesthetics are acting as there are researchers in the field," says Joan Kendig, Professor of Biology in anesthesia at Stanford University School of Medicine.
{"How Does Anesthesia Work?" U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 18/25 1997} Editor's comment: I hope those who are skeptical and criticize some of the alternative approaches (Homeopathy, Acupuncture, herbs, etc.) will take note. Medical researchers have the same problem knowing exactly how aspirin and some antibiotics, even Prozac, operate in the body, for although we know more now than we did when aspirin first was introduced for pain, aspirin was widely used in conventional medicine at a time when very little was known about it.
Medical Errors
A landmark report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that as many as 98,000 hospitalized patients die each year as a result of medical errors, many of them preventable and most of them unreported. A report appearing in the journal 'Nature' found that staying awake for 24 hours impairs cognitive and motor skills to the same degree as having a blood alcohol level of 0.1% - above the legal limit for driving drunk in most states.
Numerous studies clearly demonstrate that sleep depravation causes errors, and fatigue erodes every aspect of performance. "Medicine is the only high-hazard industry that has successfully ignored this issue," said Stephen K. Howard, anesthesiologist resident, who is now Associate Director of the Patient Safety Center of Inquiry at the Palo Alto Health Care System in California. He noted that airline pilots are barred from flying more than eight hours a day, truck drivers are limited to ten consecutive hours behind the wheel, and 'rest breaks' are mandatory for air traffic controllers. In most residency programs interns are most closely supervised by second-year residents who are as sleep-deprived and overburdened as the interns, and have only one additional year of experience.
The lowest person, the intern, is given the most responsibility for the care of patients, and mistakes by interns and residents kill more people than medication errors, says Bertrand M. Bell, the maverick medical educator who chaired a New York state commission that drafted the nation's first and only regulations limiting resident's hours. Another consideration is that patients in the hospital are now much sicker than they used to be.
Residents are afraid to complain because their careers depend on the good will of their supervisors, and there was a case of one resident who had worked a staggering 136-hour week. Residents have been seen falling asleep in the operating room, sometimes even holding a scalpel in their hand or toppling into the sterile surgical field, contaminating it.
{"He'll Be Right With You: your doctor is a rookie. He's been on duty more than 30 hours," by Sandra Boodman, Washington Post Health, Mar. 27, 2001}
Citing an increase in surgeries on the wrong body parts or even the wrong patients, a hospital accrediting agency is urging patients to make sure the doctor marks in ink on the body the correct site before the operation. Dr. Dennis O'Leary, president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Organizations, which evaluates and accredits hospitals and health care groups, says there are more than 150 such cases reported since 1996, but the numbers are probably grossly underreported.
{"Experts: Surgery patients be wary," The Daily Progress newspaper, Charlottesville, Virginia, Dec. 6, 2001} and {People's Pharmacy, Dec. 8, 2001}
The American Red Cross recalled thousands of pints of blood products, and some hazardous blood was transfused into patients before word reached the doctors not to use it. Recalls were up 18-fold from 12 years earlier. This raises serious questions about the ability of the American Red Cross (who provides 45 percent of the nation's blood) to ensure the safety of its blood supply, says Senator Edward Kennedy. Both he and Senate majority leader Tom Daschle called the allegations serious.
{"Senators to investigate Red Cross blood recalls," AP, The Daily Progress newspaper of Charlottesville, Virginia, Jan. 25, 2002}
Avoidable medical errors are to blame for up to 100,000 deaths a year in the U.S.,
according to a recent report from the Institute of Medicine. The American Heart Association in Circulation, tells us that as many as one in seven heart attacks in heart patients may be the result of medical errors, accidents that could have been prevented by more vigilant physicians. There is a reluctance of doctors and hospitals to accept blame, and denial is ingrained in the system, says Bill Hendee, Vice President of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Secretary of the National Patient Safety Foundation.
{healthscout.com - Nov. 2002}
Two-thirds of all physician visits end with a prescription being written. Unfortunately, up to half of all prescription medicines are used incorrectly. One of the reasons is poor communications between health professionals and their patients.
{Paul Rogers, chairman of the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE), information in Ann Lander's column, Mar. 18, 1997}
A large research study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that patients receive the correct diagnosis and treatment for a variety of different conditions only about 55% of the time. As many as 11% actually received care that was not recommended at all or was potentially dangerous.
{“The Quality of Health Care Delivered to Adults in the United States,” NEJM, June 26, 2003, on thyroid.about.com - June 2003}
Bias Against Alternative Therapies
We often hear the media reports, and conventional physicians, warning about the use of alternative therapies, labeling them as possibly unsafe and even dangerous - and without proper studies. Sometimes the public is warned that using alternative/complementary medicine would keep them from seeking life-saving 'conventional' help, yet when we see the many risks and uncertainties that accompany many conventional therapies: the alternative approaches can be the most "life-saving." Powerful drugs and surgery are not always needed, they can sometimes lessen or inhibit the ability to heal, and can compromise health so that other approaches are less effective. For many, gentle action is all that is needed to stimulate the immune system: rarely does it need a 'shot gun' approach.
Those physicians who are 'down' on alternative therapies are often not 'up' on them - meaning they know little or nothing about them, and their bias keeps them ignorant. Many alternative therapies have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, and actually, conventional medicine is the 'new kid on the block.' Although there are thousands of studies in peer-reviewed journals showing the efficacy of alternative therapies, conventional physicians tend to consider information in medical journals valid when it fits their way of thinking, but useless when it does not. Alternative medicines need a different criteria for testing as it is virtually impossible to test the same way as conventional therapies.
Unnecessary Medical Procedures
There are mounting collection of studies that suggest that some standard medical procedures contribute little to longevity, and some can even be dangerous, uncovering abnormalities that cause unnecessary stress and medication, even surgery.
{Dr. James Gordon, "Manifesto for a New Medicine"}
Articles such as those sent by the UPI to numerous media often omit any controversy. The U.S. is in the midst of a screening epidemic, as just about everyone is being nudged to be screened for one thing or another. That’s often Big Business at play, not medical science.
{Prostate Cancer, Health News Analyzer, Feb. 2003}
Infection Control Procedures Not Followed
A study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that stethoscopes were contaminated with bacteria 89% of the time {Washington Post Health, 1995}, and a study of 26 institutions found that almost a fourth of cleaned endoscopes had cultural bacteria in them {Newsweek, 1999}. The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the spread of disease could be cut by 25 percent if the doctors would only wash their hands before moving on to the next patient; most don't.
{The Daily Progress newspaper, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1992}
The number of people who die from infections caught in hospitals is twice as high as compared with deaths from traffic accidents; only half (50%) of doctors and nurses wash their hands regularly; approximately 90,000 deaths from infections caught in hospitals occur each year in hospitals in the U.S. — 75,000 that resulted from unsanitary conditions.
{‘Health’ magazine, Vital Stats - Dec. 2002}
Waterborne infections contracted while in the hospital kill an estimated 1,400 Americans each year. In hospitals, water used for drinking and showering can be especially dangerous to patients at high risk for infection. If your immune system is compromised the next time you are admitted to the hospital, sterilize your water by boiling it for three minutes, or use sterile bottled water. This water can be used for drinking and/or taking a sponge bath.
{Elias J. Anaissie, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Supportive Care, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock. On Bottom Line Health newsletter, Nov. 2002}
According to the Institute of Medicine report, of the 98,000 Americans who die each year because of medical mistakes in the hospitals, the most common type involves medications. But infections, affecting anywhere from 2 to 10% of the hospital patients, are the most serious because it causes greater suffering and economic loss. The majority of U.S. hospitals do not have effective infection-control programs even though it has been proven to reduce infections by one-third. Many hospitals feel they can’t afford it.
{“Hospital-Acquired Infections Can Kill,” healthscout.com, Oct. 2002}
Unsafe Medicinal Practices
The common practice of exposing lung cancer patients to radiation therapy may do lung cancer patients more harm than good, says a study in The Lancet, a British medical journal. Information was gathered over the past 30 years in nine studies, and those patients who had been treated with radiation therapy after surgery were 21 percent more likely to die, than those who only had surgery.
{London, The Daily Progress, in Charlottesville, Virginia, July 24, 1998}
Experts now believe that the kind of medical treatment you get depends on where you live. A Southern woman is nearly twice as likely to have a hysterectomy as one living in the Northeast, according to the CDC. A cancer patient in Iowa City, IA is more than twice as likely to have breast-sparing surgery as one living in Mason City, IA. There are also differences in Cesarean sections, back surgery, and heart surgery in different places in the U.S. The advice is to get a second opinion, surf the net for articles comparing one treatment to another, and consider leaving town to get it.
{"Your Address May Be Hazardous to Your Health," Health Check, Good Housekeeping, Jan. 1998}
Tests may have side effects: most are mild but some can be worse than the original disease. That's why doctors should always start with the simplest, safest tests and then move to more invasive procedures only when they are absolutely necessary. America ranks first in spending on medical care, but a disappointing 16th in life expectancy, and a shameful 24th in infant mortality. We are also at the top in atherosclerosis that is sweeping the industrialized world.
{from the book, "Conquering Heart Disease, Dr. Simone, Harvard Cardiovascular Health Center}
Studies not Supported by Testing (no FDA approval)
A study that has appeared the journal Pediatrics reported that pediatricians frequently recommend various prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids to young insomniacs. “There is no medication approved by the FDA for use in children with sleep problems,” says Dr. Judith Owens, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Brown Medical School in Providence, RI, the lead author of the study. “None of these drugs have been properly tested for this particular use and none of them have gone through the rigorous testing process for efficacy and safety.” Dr. Steven Sheldon, Medical Director of the Sleep Medicine Center at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, says that we don’t know a lot about the pharmacology of treating sleep-related problems.
{“Young Insomniacs Often Drugged to Sleep,” healthcentral.com - May 2003}
Drug Side-effects
It has been estimated that as many as 1.9 million adverse drug events occur each year, and 180,000 of them could be life threatening or fatal.
{Two Million Americans Plagued by Drug Side Effects Each Year,” JAMA, Mar. 5, 2003 on mercola.com - Mar. 2003}
In the Annals of Internal Medicine, a study in one large hospital showed that nearly one in five patients had ‘adverse events’ after they go home that result from the treatment they received - not from their underlying disease. Two-thirds of the problems resulted from drug side effects.
{“Study Looks At Effects of Medical Mistakes,” Health World Online - healthy.net - Feb. 2003}
Diet and Nutrition
The RDA's (Recommended Daily Allowances) have often been criticized for being too low, and from their inception they were intended to just prevent serious deficiency diseases. The impetus for change was the finding that vitamin E reduced heart disease in amounts that were above what could be found in the diet, and also the finding of the need for folic acid to prevent birth defects. In the future, recommended nutrient (such as from supplements) allowances may need to be distinguished from recommended dietary allowances.
{'Weighing the Need to Change the RDA's,' The Nutrition Reporter, Mar. 1995}
It turns out that more than half of the 11 members of the dietary guidelines advisory committee have ties to the meat, dairy and eggs industry, a fact that the USDA had kept from the public. The guidelines promote dairy product consumption as a means of preventing osteoporosis, when studies have shown that eating dairy products does not reduce the incidence of this disease.
{"News and Notes," Natural Health magazine, Apr. 2001}
The most vocal critic of the USDA food pyramid is Walter Willett, MD, Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health:
"The food pyramid is tremendously flawed. It says all fats are bad; all carbohydrates are good; all protein sources offer the same nutrition; and dairy should be eaten in high amounts. None of this is accurate." In two studies reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in Nov. 2000, Dr. Willett and his colleagues looked at data from 67,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study, and the Professionals Follow-Up Study found little correlation between eating according to USDA recommendations and health benefits. The USDA is considering altering its food pyramid: there are actually almost two dozen food pyramids other than theirs.
{"Food Pyramid Wars," Food & Fitness Advisor newsletter, Feb. 2002}
The truly amazing thing is that people actually listen to doctors when it comes to anything nutritional. It is not their field: doctors take one semester of basic nutrition (about 6 to 8 hours of classes at one class per week), and anyone who reads one or two good books on nutrition knows more than the average doctor. Yet, doctors set themselves up as authorities on the subject. Is it any wonder that there is so much misinformation? Look at the food served in the hospitals.
{Jon Glucotor’s response to the e-mail from Jenny Thompson, Health Sciences Institute, concerning a discussion about doctors and nutrition. In HSI e-mail, Oct. 2002}
Ignorance, Incompetence and Arrogance
Researchers found that over half of the doctors surveyed were unable to answer half of the questions on a test measuring nutritional knowledge {USA TODAY, 1994}}, and 70% of the doctors treating Medicare patients flunked an exam on their knowledge of prescribing to older adults; a majority of physicians who were asked to take the exam refused.
{Public Citizen Health Letter, Sidney Wolfe, 1998}
"I think the public would be shocked if they knew how few physicians are competent to provide CPR," said Dr. Thomas Meikle, president of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation of New York, which commissioned a report studying the issue. Only about one-half of the nation's 25,000 jobs in emergency medicine are filled by doctors who are certified to provide emergency care.
{AP, The Daily Progress, Sept 8, 1994}
In conventional medicine today there are many experts who arrogantly think they have a monopoly on truth, and who readily criticize any medical therapies that fall outside the pharmaceutical/allopathic paradigm. Drugs have become the predominate force in health care to the detriment of other approaches (like prevention), primarily because the drug manufacturers are among the most powerful political and economic groups. Yet a growing number of individuals are turning to alternative therapies in spite of the criticisms from conventional doctors, because patients are finding many of these therapies effective, safer and many times less expensive. We see that, in medicine, there is not a single approach that has all the right answers; what is safe today may be condemned as dangerous tomorrow, and doctors of equal competence may disagree with each other. Both patient and doctor need to educate themselves about the choices of both alternative and conventional therapies now available.
High-priced Health Costs, Low-quality Health Care
We now have bargain basement medicine, managed care means rationed care, and legislation - not the hospital - must pass a law to have a patient stay an extra day. Half the hospitals are gone (the smaller ones), and there is more work and less pay for those who work in the remaining ones. Nurses man the floors and the R. N. is the costliest expense. To cut down, less trained personnel are hired and called "clinical associates" to allow nurses more supervisory roles, so they get a heavier work load. Aides do the patient's vital signs, and the patients are not aware that the people who are attending them have limited training. Hospital patients are sicker and there is not enough help.
{"The High Price of Health," Apr. 1998 TV Special}
Hospitals have become unsafe environments for elderly patients. One reason is a critical shortage of skilled hospital workers, particularly geriatric nurses. As the population ages, hospitals have increasing numbers of sicker patients to take care of and fewer trained staff at their disposal. When a patient falls or experiences an unexpected "adverse event" such as a physical injury in the hospital, staff are required to submit an 'incident report' but patients and their families cannot gain access to these reports. The premier review agency for hospitals has argued that fear of reprisals, public castigation and loss of business impede the reporting of serious errors. A 2001 article in the Journal of Family Practice reported that even family physicians intervening on behalf of their own parents found the experience frustrating. They wondered how people without physician-advocates in the family ever hope to manage the fragmentation and poor communication endemic to our current health-care system. We need greater accountability and strong advocacy.
{"For nation's elderly, hospitals can be dangerous," by Joseph Spooner, neurologist and president of the Parent Care Company, a Los Angeles-based elder care consulting company, The Daily Progress newspaper, Charlottesville, Virginia, Jan. 27, 2002}
Pain Mis-management
According to Dr. Carlos Gomez, a nationally recognized expert on palliative care and health reform, author of many books and articles, says that a ten-year study of ten hospitals show that from one-half to three-fourths of the patients did not receive pain control. Worse still, was that half of the physicians did not know what the patients wanted, or if they did, they ignored them.