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I would choose conventional medicine in both cases, but when it comes to chronic conditions and other diseases, should we place all our faith in medical doctors?
According to a recent survey in the New England Journal of Medicine:
95% of all doctors admit they had "contact" with big drug companies;
35% have been reimbursed by these companies for costs associated with attending medical meetings and conventions;
28% were also paid for lectures and consulting work; and
7% accepted free tickets to professional sports games, concerts and other events.
This evidence raises the question of whether doctors are working for the best interests of us patients or their drug suppliers.
For most of my life I've taken my doctor's advice. But after watching my two closest relatives lose their lives within 21 months of each other while under the care of top rated, board certified oncologists, I began to reassess my beliefs.
One of the hardest things about breast cancer treatments is the avalanche of available, often conflicting, information about which treatment or therapy is best.
At the end of 2002, my 65 year old mom's breast cancer returned after 19 years in remission.
In the spring of 2003, my 43 year old sister was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time.
They both benefited from some of the "best" conventional medical care in the San Francisco East Bay Area.
I know because the shelves of their medicine cabinets were lined with bottles of prescription medicine, a good proportion of which were experimental drugs.
They also had access to leading alternative health therapies too.
Acupuncture, essential oil therapy, deep tissue massage, and herbal treatments are considered viable, highly respected alternatives in northern California.
But not to their highly respected, board certified oncologists at the hospital.
They had to sneak around their oncologists when they went to their see their naturopaths or have acupuncture treatments.
In many cases, these alternative treatment alleviated the debilitating side effects of "conventional" drugs and chemotherapy.
Having to downplay or even hide the truth of what they were doing certainly did nothing to calm or ease the stress of their respective situations, either.
I don't blame the doctors or hold them accountable in anyway for the eventual loss of my loved ones, but I was frustrated and very disappointed by their across the board refusal to explore or even allow for open discussion of alternative therapies.
Whether they be conventional practitioners or alternative healers, credentials and word of mouth are two key factors when choosing my own health care providers.
I had a sit down interview with primary care physician and asked pointed questions about his experience treating asthma and allergies and the types of patients he had under his care.
He was forthcoming and personable and admitted that he would never have all the answers.
My acupuncturist and chiropractor were friends of friends before becoming integral members of my chosen family.
There are lots and lots of credentialed and non-credentialed experts on the internet.
Who's advice do you trust?
What information do you believe and why?
Mostly it's instinctual. Or really good word of mouth.
Think about how much trust you place in strangers. When you're in line for a movie and the previous show is letting out, how often do you listen to the 'off the cuff' reviews of exiting moviegoers?
When's the last time you went to new restaurant without reading a review or talking to a friend or co-worker first?
How about buying a new cell phone? Or digital camera?
Reviews, testimonials and recommendations from satisfied customers often make the difference between a pass and a sale on the internet.
People inherently distrust anything they don't understand or have never heard of before, so other people's opinions and insights usually make the difference between giving up the cash and clicking back to that page of Google search listings.
But, and this often gets overlooked in the decision making process, what works for one person doesn't always work for another.
This is particularly true when if comes to your health.
The internet is a primary tool for disseminating information on any health topic -- virtually everything you buy comes with a money back guarantee.
But we don't really want our "money back", we want to feel better. We want the guarantee of success that the advertised "health benefits" promise.
That's what we really want.
We all want to feel better and get help for our ailments and we spend increasing amounts of time online looking for answers.
This is what we all are doing with ever increasing regularity.
Finding the information is easy. Trusting your gut and the opinions of others when making a decision about your health can require a little more time and effort.
Stay informed. Read testimonials. Send emails to eBook author or product manufacturer. Get your hands (and eyes) on as much FREE information as possible.
Your doctor can only do so much for you beyond checking your vital signs and writing a prescription; It's your responsibility to seek your own answers by surfing responsibly on the internet.
As I've grown more confident in making my own informed judgment about my health, I've thought about asking my doctor if he's ever been able to CURE any of his patients of asthma and allergies.
I might just do that the next time I see him.
To your health and well-being,
Jay Greene
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