As reported August 17th in The New York Times, a fascinating study published in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology -- suggests that even Lou Gehrig may not have had Lou Gehrig's disease. Rather, it's possible that Gehrig had progressive, neurological deterioration mimicking amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) due to head trauma (among other things, he was hit in the head by a fastball).
The obvious implication of this report is that the head trauma to which many athletes (and soldiers, and to a lesser extent, others) are subject may have serious long-term health consequences not previously recognized. If some ALS is, in fact, due to trauma, perhaps quite a bit is. Perhaps many other conditions of the brain were caused by, or at least propagated by, injury.
This is only novel thinking up to a point. Muhammed Ali's Parkinson-like condition is widely recognized to be a consequence of his many years of suffering blows to the head. Boxers have also long been known to be subject to a form of dementia named for their trade: dementia pugilistica.
But for me, a doctor who these days specializes in the care of the hard-to-treat, the implications run much deeper. If physical trauma can cause the nervous system to fail, what else can it do? Can it cause chronic inflammation we don't know how to measure? Can it lead to chronic pain we can't detect on any scanner?
And if physical blows can take a toll we have overlooked until now, what of psychological blows? Can emotional and psychological trauma induce failures in the immune system, the endocrine system and/or the nervous system, resulting in chronic pain, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia?
And what of low-level exposures to toxins? While many of us may be resistant to adverse effects of chemical residues, traces of pesticides or air-borne solvents, isn't it possible that some are more sensitive than others? And if so, might not this 'trauma' also exact a toll?
Each time medical knowledge and understanding advance by even a single step, it tells us something we neglect at our peril, and certainly the peril of our patients: our knowledge and understanding are incomplete. They are subject to such advances. We will know something tomorrow we simply don't know today.
Such ignorance is a potent goad to humility for anyone paying attention. How much easier it is when the source of a patient's pain or fatigue can't be traced to its origins with a blood test or MRI ... to blame the patient, rather than our own ignorance. How much easier it is to imply that it must be "all in the patient's head," rather than concede it is knowledge that isn't yet in ours! How easy, and how wrong.
In general in medicine, the term 'syndrome' is used for conditions we understand imperfectly: complex regional pain syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, premenstrual syndrome. Alas, we tend to respect them quite imperfectly as well! The legitimacy of a condition is in question when modern technology can't elucidate its etiology, or pinpoint its pathogenesis.
But we have more and more evidence that the traumas of life -- the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune -- can cause the body to fail in ways we don't yet understand. Confronting the patients who are victims of such unkind fate with cynicism adds, in the most literal sense, insult to injury.
Good medical practice is comparably undone by such cynicism as by vapid gullibility. Our patients, and the complexities they present, warrant our most thoughtful reflection, our deepest thinking, and often, even, our open-minded skepticism. But cynicism? Blaming the victim for our own limitations? Never that. Patients who happen to have what we don't yet understand are not to blame for such precocity.
The patient deserves the benefit of any doubt, and there is ample cause for us to doubt. The inexplicable pain, headache, limp, fatigue that tempted us today to roll our eyes, may be the breakthrough reported in tomorrow's New York Times; may be the basis for next year's Nobel Prize.
Dr. David L. Katz; www.davidkatzmd.com
Follow David Katz, M.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrDavidKatz
Medical Industry News | Primary Care Medicine - ModernMedicine
AHA : Issues : Communicating with Patients
A perfect example is the fact vaccinations have proven to be hazardous to the health of children, if not directly afterwards causing many differing neurological disorders & gut problems, then later in life these children join the growing population of adults that become part of the many epidemics that make up this once great nation. Many doctors, not all, are still pushing the deadly toxins which are crimes against humanity. These epidemics have grown right in step with the increase through the years of the many vaccines let loose on us.
One example, among many, is the fact this government study has been out almost a year concerning the chicken pox vaccine & they are still giving them:
"Chickenpox Vaccine Linked with Shingles Epidemic"
Abstract: Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2009 Nov;28(11):954-9.
Civen R, Chaves SS, Jumaan A, Wu H, Mascola L, Gargiullo P, Seward JF.
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90011, USA. rciven@la.publichealth.gov
"The incidence and clinical characteristics of herpes zoster among children and adolescents after implementation of varicella vaccination."
http://www.herpesdoctor.com/chickenpox-vaccine-linked-shingles-epidemic
I agree, all that poison is the cause of autism and no one can convince me otherwise. I have to say I never saw a young doctor in Europe.
I had CFIDS, I was in a car accident which gave me head trauma and whiplash, and then I had
an awful fall/ ankle sprain that took ages to heal. The CFIDS started soon after that fall. I have
always wondered if there was some connection.
I was an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist for almost 25 years, worked like a demon, had more energy than one can imagine, and loved my work. Then, I was injured in an auto accident severely enough that both achilles ruptured at the heels. Talk about pain...but I was back at work full-time in that demanding environment in six months. Little things began to start to go wrong...I suddenly didn't sleep well, began having infections, infections which would culture as normal bacteria which shouldn't be causing an infection, no HIV infection although I had experienced a needle stick, stiffness, pain in the muscles, fatigue, when I had been the one with so much energy.
Then, I fell in the shower, was knocked unconcious, injured my pelvis and it wiggled around and the muscles and support system didn't work. I couldn't walk, stand or climb onto ICU beds to put patients to sleep and intubate them. The infections went wild. I was diagnosed with more things than one can imagine, but the sleep disorder became so bad I was told NO MORE WORKING, along with the inability to handle the physical portions of the job, the lack of restorative sleep just floored me.
Then, I received the diagnosis of Chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia syndrome and the worst ten years of my life started. No one gives that any respect. I knew I had something seriously wrong and could explain things in medical terms...no one seemed to listen. A pain med doc did some steroid injections into my spine because I had developed arthritis in it...and I ended up in the hospital with a near fatal respiratory infection. No HIV or anything. Then, finally I demanded they check differentials of WBC, and my B lymphocytes were so low it was scary. I finally was diagnosed with primary humoral immunodeficiency and how I reached age 54 before the diagnosis was astounding. I should have died. The docs can only explain it as it was genetic, I had it all my life, but sustained and repeated insults to my system finally overwhelmed it. I pointed out to the doctors that I had treated patients branded with a "syndrome" as was I, and that "syndrome" turned out to be AIDS, and physicians need to understand how repertitive insults to the system can lead to breakdowns in neurological and immune systems.
Patients with persistent mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) (mean 2.93 years since injury, SD 3.1) were randomly assigned to receive a homeopathic medicine or placebo. The primary outcome measure was the subject-rated SRH-MBTI Functional Assessment, composed of three subtests: a Difficulty with Situations Scale (DSS), a Symptom Rating Scale (SRS), and a Participation in Daily Activities Scale (PDAS). The SRH Cognitive-Linguistic Test Battery was used as the secondary measure.
Analysis of covariance demonstrated that the homeopathic treatment was the only significant or near-significant predictor of improvement on DSS subtests (P =.009; 95% CI -.895 to -.15), SRS (P =.058; 95% CI -.548 to.01) and the Ten Most Common Symptoms of MTBI (P =.027; 95% CI -.766 to -.048). These results indicate a significant improvement from the homeopathic treatment versus the control and translate into clinically significant outcomes. This study suggests that homeopathy may have a role in treating persistent MTBI.
Reference: Chapman, E, Weintraub, R, Milburn, M, et al., Homeopathic Treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 14,6, Dec, 1999, 521-542.
Suggesting that this study is conclusive is misleading.
Doctors are insanely expensive and there is very often very little bang for the buck. There are some things they do very well, and in those areas I trust them, but they are not particularly good with hard problems most of the time.
Well, they were right.....it WAS all in my head. I had a brain tumor!! I finally found a most lovely, wonderful, and life saving Endocrinologist. He sees patients only Tuesday nites and does research studies full-time. He studied these very rare brain tumors for 15 yrs at the NIH.
I walked into his office, he looked me up and down, asked me a few questions and said "I think you might have Cushings". After many MRI's, and gallons of bodily fluids donated to the cause.....I was diagnosed.
He's the smartest doctor I've ever known....and I've known ALOT!!!!! Yet, when I first saw him and asked what the odds were he'd be able to help me he said "about 80%". What a lovely and honest answer!!!! He did get me diagnosed, and I had the tumor removed and I'm well on my way to being me again!
Don't ever let docs tell you it's "all in your head". It just means they are too stupid, or lazy, or know-it-all to figure out what's really going on".
How much of the failure to consider all options, is simply an assembly line mentality. The faster you move your patients through the doors, the more money you make.
There are difficult patients, and quite frankly some with mental disorders (recognized or not), but that is part of a Doctors practice and supposedly they have been trained to deal with these contingencies.
IMHO, much like in the political arena, a great many problems in medicine could be obviated by the removal of monetary gain from the equation. The quotation "Physician heal thyself" has been used repeatedly for over 2000 years. Perhaps someday it may come to pass. Greed may be the most destructive disease of our age. I doubt a cure will ever be found.
I always find it interesting that I have really good experiences with physicians. Perhaps it goes with the fact that I approach my encounters with them from a level of respect for their training and their experience. I find them to be very open to questions. Why do you recommend this test? What piece of information will this test provide to you over alternative means? What is the standard of treatment in these matters? Here's why I think my case deviates from the protocol ... and then being able to back it up with data. At the same time, he's not a miracle worker and he's not responsible for my lack of compliance with his advice.
Lastly, I'm going to die. So is my doctor. Regardless of how skilled he is in the art and science of medicine, I'm still going to die. And that is a hard reality for many people to accept.
Health literacy is a huge barrier to physician-patient interaction and communication, and patients need to empower themselves by educating themselves in health and wellness or whatever ails them.
Even digging around on the internet for answers can take yrs until you are finally convinced of the disease you think you might have!! Then you have to convince the docs of it. It's not always an easy task.
I can walk into most Endocrinologists office right now, and more effectively diagnose a Cushings patient than the Endo. I know that people with cortisol levels in a "normal range" mean very little for a Cushings patient. I know that Cushings ACTH production can be cyclical. Sometimes the tumor suppresses production and then the patient feels horrible but you don't get high cortisol readings. Alot of docs don't even believe that's possible. Well, I'm living proof they are wrong!!!!I
Forget a GP.....they just try to put you on psych drugs if you walk into their office with symptoms of Cushings.
Don't blame it on the patients. The docs need to get a clue that they DON'T know everything. The correct thing to do with someone you can't diagnose is tell them you don't know what is wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not put them on psych drugs and tell them it's all in their heads.
One doctor told me that the testing was useless because I could not have reached the age I had reached and worked in the hospital around all those infectious things and not have died, but I demanded the testing, and he discovered I have primary humoral immunodeficiency and my B lymphocytes were in the tank and didn't budge with stimulation. I had been having infections with cultures which didn't make sense for years, and had been tested for HIV from having a needle stick ten years before, and then just ignored. Finally, a near fatal respiratory infection just infuriated me and I demanded all this further testing. I had seen 10 different doctors in the hospital and I made certain that all ten of them knew what was found. Just because they may not have seen it before, doesn't rule it out as a possibility.
I don't blame docs for not knowing everything. My goodness these bodies are terribly tricky and complicated sometimes! One person can only know so much. What I find so despicable is when they are not compassionate, talk to you in a condescending manner, and tell you there is nothing wrong since they can't find anything!! Like they are the final word on all things medical. Ugghhhh........
My current Endo (who diagnosed me) is so cool. I go see him 3-4 times a yr, and I tell him what tests I want him to do and why, and he says fine. Sometimes he thinks it's unnecessary.....fair enough!! But he always backs me up on what I want. He works with me as a team member. It's very nice.
Seen it lots of times.
CNN from huffpost link "The end of the autism/vaccine debate?"
a more correct understanding is that healthy habits ' consciousness ' saves life ; strictly speaking it is not correct but very profitable to say vaccines saves lives
unless one also says vitmain C saves lives anti-oxidents saves lives ; undamaged organic ecology saves lives , stresslessness saves lives
inother words vaccines are a unfortunate need of a shortcut to boosting th e immune function becaus eof neglect of consciousness of healthy habits and because of degradation of habitat
the one sure way of reducing infections is to reduce commercial meat consumption to less than 25% of platefull ideally less than 5%
{ also reduce alcohol consumption but all this is in the 2 words healthy habits ]
in connection with my previous comment consciousness is best enlivened at its foundation by Maharishi vedic medicine as explained in detail BY Robert Schneider MD FACC
First, there is no causal link between autism and vaccines. PERIOD. The factual debate is over.
Jenny McCarthy and other advocates for the return of smallpox, measles, typhoid, polio, et al, may claim whatever they want, but the facts do not support their allegations.
While some bacterial and environmentally borne diseases can be prevented through better hygiene and more healthful diets, these measure cannot eliminate the need for efficacious vaccines. Polio actually became a problem because better hygiene reduced the low-level exposure that had created the immunity in earlier generations. We learned how to create that and other immune responses that protect us from deadly and debilitating diseases that plagued humanity for millennia.
A modified lifestyle may increase one's resistance to certain vectors of disease, but it cannot prepare the body for every pathogen we may encounter.
You refer to vaccines as a shortcut. In a manner that is correct. However, what it is a shortcut toward you have missed. It is a shortcut past virulent diseases that we have not already evolved natural immunities to. Rather than wait many millennia, and allowing billions to die needlessly, while we evolve inborn immunity, we choose to use the technology we have to eliminate these threats now.