I have just been wondering. Outside of medical emergencies, complicated childbirth, pneumonia and things like cancer, stroke and heart attack, do you really need the medical establishment. Granted, there are many health conditions which need attention, sometimes urgent, such as high blood pressure. However, many of these conditions can be treated at home with diet and exercise and may be things like acupressure and such.
There is lots of information online about these things. People nowadays complain that doctors don't give them nutrition advice, but in my experience, it's not really true. Doctors constantly urge their patients to lose weight, to exercise, to eat properly but many people have really zero self-control and will rather take pills and continue to stuff themselves with fast food and, in general, be unhealthy slobs.
I'd like to post a disclaimer that this above is purely rhetorical. When in doubt, ask your doctor. I'm not one and give no medical advice. However, taking charge of your own health can be truly empowering, especially when you realise that you can be more in control of your general well-being than you thought.
I have been thinking the same. In my country, national health care focuses very much on preventive health care, meaning tons of unnecessary tests for people who feel completely healthy. Then those people start to FEEL sick, when they here that some blood test is slightly unnormal, and it must be monitored. That causes ridiculous amount of unnecessary stress for health-concerned people -and those who are not health-concerned, do not make any dietary or lifestyle changes, no matter what their tests show.
ReplyDeleteAlso one doctor told be, that 10 % of HEALTHY people are ALWAYS "outside normal range" in all tests, because that is how "normal" in blood tests is defined. They measure healthy peoples blood and then remove 5 % from both ends to be on the safe side.
You might find this interesting:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Mammography-Screening-Truth-Lies-Controversy/dp/1846195853
Writer is professor and head of Cochrane-institute, so he should know a thing or two about medicine.
We have few tests over here and they mostly start after certain age. Mammography, for instance, begins at 55. Also, they warn you that every screening test can result in unnecessary treatments since some health conditions resolve on its own;)
ReplyDeleteAlso, mammography is done once in 5 years, not yearly like in the USA.
DeleteAlso thanks for the link!
ReplyDelete