4 ms·

> If they didn't, you could practice your own medicine. Which most people do.

arcticbull 6y ago
No, they don't. They practice first-aid. There's a big difference between slapping on a band-aid and a DIY hip replacement, or cancer diagnosis. Maybe this is a uniquely American thing and with the self-sufficiency narrative being so at the fore. I don't fix my own car because I'm not a mechanic -- I share the symptoms with a professional. I don't tell my doctor what to prescribe or what's wrong with me because I'm not a doctor -- I share my symptoms with a professional. As a concrete example, advertising prescription drugs direct to individuals in Canada is illegal. It's illegal in most countries. [1] As it should be! [1] https://www.cmaj.ca/content/169/5/425 https://www.cmaj.ca/content/169/5/425
- Alex3917 6y ago
  75%+ of American adults take supplements, and that’s just one of many different self-directed medical activities that people practice.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    I think you're unintentionally proving my point. Dietary supplements largely don't work, at all, and some of them are outright harmful. They basically do nothing, at best. So 75% of America probably, er, shouldn't. This is something a medical professional might tell you if you asked them. This visualization should help you understand the magnitude of just how little dietary supplements do -- it came up here on HN a while back as an example of a beautiful visualization [1]. Most multivitamins are totally worthless unless you're eating an incredibly poor diet. There's actually an association between multivitamin use and an increase in all-cause mortality [2] with a more pronounced effect in smokers [3]. So, I re-iterate, there's a reason these people went to school to become doctors. [1] http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/ http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-o... [2] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1105957 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar... [3] https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/152/2/149/87699 https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/152/2/149/87699
    - Alex3917 6y ago
      > I think you're unintentionally proving my point. My point was that the majority of American adults practice their own medicine, which is factually correct.
      - arcticbull 6y ago
        Again, in context, what I said was that there's a big difference between first aid and supplementation and a diagnostics and treatment. Nobody is arguing people don't take supplements and that probably technically counts as medicine, however it's clear in context that's not the kind of medicine I was referring to. Also, people are by and large bad at it, and shouldn't.

No, they don't. They practice first-aid. There's a big difference between slapping on a band-aid and a DIY hip replacement, or cancer diagnosis. Maybe this is a uniquely American thing and with the self-sufficiency narrative being so at the fore. I don't fix my own car because I'm not a mechanic -- I share the symptoms with a professional. I don't tell my doctor what to prescribe or what's wrong with me because I'm not a doctor -- I share my symptoms with a professional. As a concrete example, advertising prescription drugs direct to individuals in Canada is illegal. It's illegal in most countries. [1] As it should be! [1] https://www.cmaj.ca/content/169/5/425 https://www.cmaj.ca/content/169/5/425

Alex3917 6y ago
75%+ of American adults take supplements, and that’s just one of many different self-directed medical activities that people practice.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  I think you're unintentionally proving my point. Dietary supplements largely don't work, at all, and some of them are outright harmful. They basically do nothing, at best. So 75% of America probably, er, shouldn't. This is something a medical professional might tell you if you asked them. This visualization should help you understand the magnitude of just how little dietary supplements do -- it came up here on HN a while back as an example of a beautiful visualization [1]. Most multivitamins are totally worthless unless you're eating an incredibly poor diet. There's actually an association between multivitamin use and an increase in all-cause mortality [2] with a more pronounced effect in smokers [3]. So, I re-iterate, there's a reason these people went to school to become doctors. [1] http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/ http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-o... [2] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1105957 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar... [3] https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/152/2/149/87699 https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/152/2/149/87699
  - Alex3917 6y ago
    > I think you're unintentionally proving my point. My point was that the majority of American adults practice their own medicine, which is factually correct.
    - arcticbull 6y ago
      Again, in context, what I said was that there's a big difference between first aid and supplementation and a diagnostics and treatment. Nobody is arguing people don't take supplements and that probably technically counts as medicine, however it's clear in context that's not the kind of medicine I was referring to. Also, people are by and large bad at it, and shouldn't.