4 ms·
Great points! Wish I had time to respond. Edit: Meeting got out early so I have a minute. You're right. Surgery is the only option in some cases. The question
by adammichaelc 15y ago
Great points! Wish I had time to respond.
Edit: Meeting got out early so I have a minute.
You're right. Surgery is the only option in some cases. The question to the surgeon was about heart disease in general, or hardening of the arteries.
The doctor and I had a chat about it after the patient left. He said, "There are some researchers whose studies show that you can reverse heart disease with lifestyle changes, but when you look more closely at their data you can't tell which interventions actually help. The bottom line is that most people need the drugs and surgery to help them."
To me, it seemed like the doctor had a bias against non-drug or non-surgery options, and he didn't want to explore it with an open mind. Makes sense for him. His entire practice was based on surgery and drugs. If I were in his shoes I'd want to believe that drugs and surgery were the best option.
- arn 15y agoYou seem to have the opposite bias, no? Do you believe that diet alone is better than diet + drugs? Do you believe that diet alone is better than drugs alone?
- adammichaelc 15y agoI think it's fair to say that I'm biased against drugs, yes. To your second set of questions, it totally depends on the situation (patient's willingness to change, type of disease, science of drug-based vs non-drug-based interventions, whether the illness is acute or chronic, etc). It's really impossible to make blanket statements about which interventions are most appropriate.