4 ms·

I actually gave this guy different advice a few years ago on Slashdot. At the time, I told him to go to the most prestigious academic medical center in his are

I actually gave this guy different advice a few years ago on Slashdot. At the time, I told him to go to the most prestigious academic medical center in his area and not to trust the average primary care doctors. So I assume he's done that already. How else do you explain 18 years of going to doctor after doctor without any improvement. Suppose he'd instead said that he'd been to astrologer after astrologer and found no improvement, in spite of the recent realization of the placement of Mars. You'd probably not tell him to keep trying to find an astrological explanation... so why are you so confident that there is a medical explanation right around the corner? The body has incredible ability to heal itself. By following my advice (after 18 years of following yours) he may actually stumble upon some information that helps lead toward a solution. For example: - Maybe he gets no exercise at present because he uses what energy he has for work. - Maybe he has a rare food sensitivity. If so, eating the diet I suggested may make it much better or much worse. In either case he gains information. - Going to a relaxing place (CR has the happiest population in the world) will help alleviate all the existential stress he's taken on after 18 years of dealing with this illness. My suggestions are based on big picture lifestyle approaches that actually do work. Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it. I predict that if you could do a study where people followed the therapy I proposed you'd find it was more effective than many of the most lauded pharmaceuticals and surgical techniques in use today for a variety of ailments. There is also the chance that this guy has some exceptionally rare condition that is not even known/understood by medical science. If so my advice would be to just enjoy life as much as possible rather than become a human lab rat.

jacquesm 16y ago
> I actually gave this guy different advice a few years ago on Slashdot. I can't tell one anonymous poster from another. > At the time, I told him to go to the most prestigious academic medical center in his area and not to trust the average primary care doctors. What changed your mind ? > So I assume he's done that already. How can you be sure ? How do you know for sure it is the same person ? > How else do you explain 18 years of going to doctor after doctor without any improvement. Mis-diagnosis. Possibly unresponsive to treatment. Mistakes can and do happen. > Suppose he'd instead said that he'd been to astrologer after astrologer and found no improvement, in spite of the recent realization of the placement of Mars. You'd probably not tell him to keep trying to find an astrological explanation... so why are you so confident that there is a medical explanation right around the corner? Because each and every of his symptoms ties in with at least two fairly common and very serious conditions that are in spite of being so common routinely mis-diagnosed and/or mistreated. > The body has incredible ability to heal itself. Right, let's use the power of our minds to heal. Some guy not personally known to you comes with a veritable laundry list of symptoms and instead of sticking to tried and true medicine you want him to practice yoga. > By following my advice (after 18 years of following yours) he may actually stumble upon some information that helps lead toward a solution. Or he may waste 3 more months on a trajectory that seems to be deteriorating to the point that he's asking total strangers for help. Not that we're going to be able to give him concrete advice, only a very qualified doctor could do that. But instead you advise him to get away from it all. > - Maybe he gets no exercise at present because he uses what energy he has for work. > - Maybe he has a rare food sensitivity. If so, eating the diet I suggested may make it much better or much worse. In either case he gains information. It may be, or it may not be. But changing so many variables at once is never going to give him information, you do that by keeping a diary and slow variation over time so you can isolate a cause. > - Going to a relaxing place (CR has the happiest population in the world) will help alleviate all the existential stress he's taken on after 18 years of dealing with this illness. That's great, and I'm sure the Tourist Board of Costa Rica approves of your message. But that's not medical advice. > My suggestions are based on big picture lifestyle approaches that actually do work. Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it. I predict that if you could do a study where people followed the therapy I proposed you'd find it was more effective than many of the most lauded pharmaceuticals and surgical techniques in use today for a variety of ailments. Poppycock. Surgery and medication when needed are effective ways of dealing with a large variety of ailments, and good lifestyle can help you avoid those for a long time. Lots of people die on an annual basis because of following the well meant advice of quacks that have little knowledge and too much self confidence. Red flag right there "Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it", if a change in life style was all that is needed to treat Chron's, Lyme's and a whole pile of other serious diseases you can bet that plenty of people would be following it. I'm not saying that there are no individuals that would not benefit from changing their lifestyle, but we can't all live in Costa Rica and even some of those that could follow it might end up seriously dead if their conditions are not treated by an application of medical knowledge. > There is also the chance that this guy has some exceptionally rare condition that is not even known/understood by medical science. If so my advice would be to just enjoy life as much as possible rather than become a human lab rat. Then say that, and qualify it.
- grandalf 16y ago
  Medicine works if you get athlete's foot or asthma or if you need blood thinners or antibiotics... and occasionally there is a Lorenzo's oil sort of story. So you're telling this guy to pray to the medical gods that someone will come up with a miracle cure which he can magically ingest in pill form and then go back to a normal life. This view dramatically oversimplifies the human body. One achieves health by eating a nutritious diet, exercising vigorously, by breathing clean air and drinking clean water and by having a calm and focused mental state. Only then can the body's complex systems function properly. You fall into the Cartesian trap of mind/body dualism. It's all the same material. If you're not exercising vigorously, eating a superb diet, relishing and enjoying life, and enriching relationships with people you care about you are simply not going to be as well/healthy as you could be. I imagine the medical technology of the future will actually be machines that twist the patient into yoga poses. Eventually we'll even see machines designed to trigger the adrenaline response of surfing a big wave or fucking a hot person, etc. All in the name of healing. Don't knock it unless you've lived it. Try it for just 30 days. Eat tropical fruit and rice and beans, exercise a lot, swim in the ocean every day, read for pleasure, plan some surprises.... and then take a moment and observe how you feel. Since we cannot instantly experience the impact of lifestyle, our brains average our experience and we don't realize how horrible life actually is in our unfit, unhealthy bodies... we have a hunch, though, which is why we define ourselves only on the basis of what is above the neck.
- eitally 16y ago
  "Red flag right there "Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it", if a change in life style was all that is needed to treat Chron's, Lyme's and a whole pile of other serious diseases you can bet that plenty of people would be following it." Wrong. Most people are inherently lazy and lifestyle changes are difficult, all-consuming commitments that a lot of people aren't willing to undertake. Coincidentally, I listened to an intriguing story on NPR (sorry, couldn't find a link) last weekend in which the MD was proposing that depression is a lifestyle disease along the same lines as most cancers, heart disease, and most of the other top killers in the western world. Those things just don't exist in [places like] rural, coastal Costa Rica (or any other aboriginal environ). This isn't to say I wholeheartedly support Grandalf's proposal, but I don't agree that total reliance on the medical establishment is a great idea, either. My family is fortunate to have a PCP that will call us and say "Here's my latest research [from reading journals, talking to peers & specialists, etc] -- would you like to come in and talk about it?" Even though we often have to wait an hour or more to see her, having this kind of a personal, caring relationship is priceless.

jacquesm 16y ago

> I actually gave this guy different advice a few years ago on Slashdot. I can't tell one anonymous poster from another. > At the time, I told him to go to the most prestigious academic medical center in his area and not to trust the average primary care doctors. What changed your mind ? > So I assume he's done that already. How can you be sure ? How do you know for sure it is the same person ? > How else do you explain 18 years of going to doctor after doctor without any improvement. Mis-diagnosis. Possibly unresponsive to treatment. Mistakes can and do happen. > Suppose he'd instead said that he'd been to astrologer after astrologer and found no improvement, in spite of the recent realization of the placement of Mars. You'd probably not tell him to keep trying to find an astrological explanation... so why are you so confident that there is a medical explanation right around the corner? Because each and every of his symptoms ties in with at least two fairly common and very serious conditions that are in spite of being so common routinely mis-diagnosed and/or mistreated. > The body has incredible ability to heal itself. Right, let's use the power of our minds to heal. Some guy not personally known to you comes with a veritable laundry list of symptoms and instead of sticking to tried and true medicine you want him to practice yoga. > By following my advice (after 18 years of following yours) he may actually stumble upon some information that helps lead toward a solution. Or he may waste 3 more months on a trajectory that seems to be deteriorating to the point that he's asking total strangers for help. Not that we're going to be able to give him concrete advice, only a very qualified doctor could do that. But instead you advise him to get away from it all. > - Maybe he gets no exercise at present because he uses what energy he has for work. > - Maybe he has a rare food sensitivity. If so, eating the diet I suggested may make it much better or much worse. In either case he gains information. It may be, or it may not be. But changing so many variables at once is never going to give him information, you do that by keeping a diary and slow variation over time so you can isolate a cause. > - Going to a relaxing place (CR has the happiest population in the world) will help alleviate all the existential stress he's taken on after 18 years of dealing with this illness. That's great, and I'm sure the Tourist Board of Costa Rica approves of your message. But that's not medical advice. > My suggestions are based on big picture lifestyle approaches that actually do work. Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it. I predict that if you could do a study where people followed the therapy I proposed you'd find it was more effective than many of the most lauded pharmaceuticals and surgical techniques in use today for a variety of ailments. Poppycock. Surgery and medication when needed are effective ways of dealing with a large variety of ailments, and good lifestyle can help you avoid those for a long time. Lots of people die on an annual basis because of following the well meant advice of quacks that have little knowledge and too much self confidence. Red flag right there "Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it", if a change in life style was all that is needed to treat Chron's, Lyme's and a whole pile of other serious diseases you can bet that plenty of people would be following it. I'm not saying that there are no individuals that would not benefit from changing their lifestyle, but we can't all live in Costa Rica and even some of those that could follow it might end up seriously dead if their conditions are not treated by an application of medical knowledge. > There is also the chance that this guy has some exceptionally rare condition that is not even known/understood by medical science. If so my advice would be to just enjoy life as much as possible rather than become a human lab rat. Then say that, and qualify it.

grandalf 16y ago
Medicine works if you get athlete's foot or asthma or if you need blood thinners or antibiotics... and occasionally there is a Lorenzo's oil sort of story. So you're telling this guy to pray to the medical gods that someone will come up with a miracle cure which he can magically ingest in pill form and then go back to a normal life. This view dramatically oversimplifies the human body. One achieves health by eating a nutritious diet, exercising vigorously, by breathing clean air and drinking clean water and by having a calm and focused mental state. Only then can the body's complex systems function properly. You fall into the Cartesian trap of mind/body dualism. It's all the same material. If you're not exercising vigorously, eating a superb diet, relishing and enjoying life, and enriching relationships with people you care about you are simply not going to be as well/healthy as you could be. I imagine the medical technology of the future will actually be machines that twist the patient into yoga poses. Eventually we'll even see machines designed to trigger the adrenaline response of surfing a big wave or fucking a hot person, etc. All in the name of healing. Don't knock it unless you've lived it. Try it for just 30 days. Eat tropical fruit and rice and beans, exercise a lot, swim in the ocean every day, read for pleasure, plan some surprises.... and then take a moment and observe how you feel. Since we cannot instantly experience the impact of lifestyle, our brains average our experience and we don't realize how horrible life actually is in our unfit, unhealthy bodies... we have a hunch, though, which is why we define ourselves only on the basis of what is above the neck.
eitally 16y ago
"Red flag right there "Medicine does not even remotely consider suggesting such a therapy because most people could never actually follow it", if a change in life style was all that is needed to treat Chron's, Lyme's and a whole pile of other serious diseases you can bet that plenty of people would be following it." Wrong. Most people are inherently lazy and lifestyle changes are difficult, all-consuming commitments that a lot of people aren't willing to undertake. Coincidentally, I listened to an intriguing story on NPR (sorry, couldn't find a link) last weekend in which the MD was proposing that depression is a lifestyle disease along the same lines as most cancers, heart disease, and most of the other top killers in the western world. Those things just don't exist in [places like] rural, coastal Costa Rica (or any other aboriginal environ). This isn't to say I wholeheartedly support Grandalf's proposal, but I don't agree that total reliance on the medical establishment is a great idea, either. My family is fortunate to have a PCP that will call us and say "Here's my latest research [from reading journals, talking to peers & specialists, etc] -- would you like to come in and talk about it?" Even though we often have to wait an hour or more to see her, having this kind of a personal, caring relationship is priceless.