I must admit I only scanned the article but when I started reading I thought, "Hmmm, gut pain and nobody knows what to do, bet the author is female," and scrolled back up to check and sure enough. This has been my experience with my daughter's complex health issues - including some absolutely horrible experiences with gastroenterologists in particular. (We're in Australia, BTW.)
Luck based medicine: my resentful story of becoming a medical miracle
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Re: Luck based medicine: my resentful story of becoming a medical miracle
#32ALL (drug) medicine is luck based. Even antibiotics have their non-responders. Best to avoid doctors and make educated self-tests after internet/Google Scholar search.
Conclusion does not follow from first assertion. Self-diagnosis, while it can be a fair starting point, carries ample risks that are best mitigated with appropriate consultation. That consultation /might/ not be with a doctor, but there does not seem to be legitimate cause to disavow all dactors.
Re: Luck based medicine: my resentful story of becoming a medical miracle
#33ALL (drug) medicine is luck based. Even antibiotics have their non-responders. Best to avoid doctors and make educated self-tests after internet/Google Scholar search.
Conclusion does not follow from first assertion. Self-diagnosis, while it can be a fair starting point, carries ample risks that are best mitigated with appropriate consultation. That consultation /might/ not be with a doctor, but there does not seem to be legitimate cause to disavow all dactors.
The art is to know when to do what.
I didn't write 'best to avoid all doctors under any circumstances'.
I am just pissed by the people nowadays running to doctors with the slightest symptoms or tiniest wounds.
If you have seen the movie Matrix, you know where this will end. Without evil robots.
Re: Luck based medicine: my resentful story of becoming a medical miracle
#34My experience with western medicine has been very black and white. Either you're completely broken and it's so obvious what's wrong with you that you barely need a doctor, or you're partially broken in which case doctors know very little and rely on experience, murky clues, and their gut. This made sense once I realized doctors know much less about the human body then they pretend to. Not only is our understanding of…
I would find joy too if it weren't the case that the same clueless professionals act as gatekeepers.
It becomes less comical when you find yourself needing to convey to a buffoon who thinks they're the beez kneez that they're full of shit and should be looking stuff up instead of guessing.
Speaking as a former doctor who's had way too many encounters of the sort, both before and since leaving medicine.
Re: Luck based medicine: my resentful story of becoming a medical miracle
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And there's such a strong force to silence criticism of the system This is partly because public discourse is incapable of nuance and because often those criticizing are in fact much much worse than the system being criticized. In the early years of the internet, we naively believed the interconnectedness of the internet would solve such things. Good will, honesty, and, proper information hygiene do not scale.
> Good will, honesty, and, proper information hygiene do not scale What does that say about "democracy" and collectivist politics more broadly?
About democracy it says that it works. Democracy does not rely on good will or on honesty, it relies on self interest.
Meanwhile, information hygiene is threat to democracy. A democracy is a careful balance, which in turn mitigates the worst outcomes of all alternatives.
As for the second part of your question, you will have to be more specific.
Re: Luck based medicine: my resentful story of becoming a medical miracle
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conclusion does not follow from first assertion. Self-diagnosis, while it can be a fair starting point, carries ample risks that are best mitigated with appropriate consultation. That consultation /might/ not be with a doctor, but there does not seem to be legitimate cause to disavow all dactors.
The art is to know when to do what. I didn't write 'best to avoid all doctors under any circumstances'. I am just pissed by the people nowadays running to doctors with the slightest symptoms or tiniest wounds. If you have seen the movie Matrix, you know where this will end. Without evil robots.
I, too, am against "running to doctors with the slightest symptoms or tiniest wounds" on the grounds that it seems like a form of hypochondria, and can produce something like a Denial of Service attack, especially at Emergency rooms. But I'll acknowledge that some 'small' indications are, with appropiate context, worth a consult.