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That's a fair criticism. I guess when you said you weren't impressed by medicine it seemed like you were leveling that comment at the entirety of our medical es
by gph 9y ago
That's a fair criticism. I guess when you said you weren't impressed by medicine it seemed like you were leveling that comment at the entirety of our medical establishment instead of the fact that our resources in this specific branch of medicine are way out of line.
I think part of the problem is that there's likely a large amount of problems that lead to stillbirths and SIDS, so it's hard for researching to get funding to study a very general problem. Most the time they need to have a clear purpose and idea of what it is they are trying to figure out. And in the case of IVF/embryos there has been a much clearer path for them to take.
Not saying that's right, but it's often how it goes in science in general. If you're got something specific where a study will likely lead to meaningful and actionable results you're both more likely to get funded and more likely to have collaborators, etc.
- tathougies 9y agoNo, not at all. Modern medicine is wonderful, and there are a lot of doctors doing really great work. Yeah, I totally agree that the magnitude of the problem is certainly part of the issue, and that IVF offers an easy path forward for those who can't conceive. Still it's depressing when you conceive easily, lose the baby, and the doctors have no clue (a few of my friend's stillbirths have been birth control failures, so they weren't even trying).
- djsumdog 9y agoI wonder if there's also not a big effort to ask the parents if they want an autopsy, or if many simply refuse? It's an emotional situation and there might just be a big lack of data here (plus you need a lot of working hypothesizes on what to be looking for as well).
- tathougies 9y agoThere is a huge lack of data, and huge unwillingness to keep track of it. My wife and I are both math majors, and our immediate reaction to any of this stuff is to keep data. We would love to submit our experiences (which we've kept detailed records of) to some kind of database so that researchers can formulate hypotheses, but no one wants it.
- yourapostasy 9y agoSorry for your loss. There must be web fora of parents who suffered the same, might that be a starting point to establish an independent data repo?