Posted on 01/03/2007 12:14:13 PM PST by neverdem
For most Americans, the biggest health threat is not avian flu, West Nile or mad cow disease. It’s our health-care system.
You might think this is because doctors make mistakes (we do make mistakes). But you can’t be a victim of medical error if you are not in the system. The larger threat posed by American medicine is that more and more of us are being drawn into the system not because of an epidemic of disease, but because of an epidemic of diagnoses.
Americans live longer than ever, yet more of us are told we are sick.
How can this be? One reason is that we devote more resources to medical care than any other country. Some of this investment is productive, curing disease and alleviating suffering. But it also leads to more diagnoses, a trend that has become an epidemic.
This epidemic is a threat to your health. It has two distinct sources. One is the medicalization of everyday life. Most of us experience physical or emotional sensations we don’t like, and in the past, this was considered a part of life. Increasingly, however, such sensations are considered symptoms of disease. Everyday experiences like insomnia, sadness, twitchy legs and impaired sex drive now become diagnoses: sleep disorder, depression, restless leg syndrome and sexual dysfunction.
Perhaps most worrisome is the medicalization of childhood. If children cough after exercising, they have asthma; if they have trouble reading, they are dyslexic; if they are unhappy, they are depressed; and if they alternate between unhappiness and liveliness, they have bipolar disorder. While these diagnoses may benefit the few with severe symptoms, one has to wonder about the effect on the many whose symptoms are mild, intermittent or transient.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This epidemic is a threat to your health. It has two distinct sources. One is the medicalization of everyday life. Most of us experience physical or emotional sensations we don’t like, and in the past, this was considered a part of life. Increasingly, however, such sensations are considered symptoms of disease. Everyday experiences like insomnia, sadness, twitchy legs and impaired sex drive now become diagnoses: sleep disorder, depression, restless leg syndrome and sexual dysfunction.
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BINGO we have a winner.....My Nana always said going to the Doctors makes one sick....she was so right. She lived to be 90. In good health until the final 4 months.
Good point. Overall this is a real interesting article -- thanks for the post.
Childhood? Heck, the medicalization of everything. Restless Leg Syndrome, Adult ADD, The Heartbreak of Psoriasis, Aggravated Bladder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Enlarged Prostate Condition... and on and on and on.
How sick you are depends on your health care coverage.
The sentence on asthma gave me pause. I do not believe just caughing after a soccer game gets a child diagnosed as asthma.
Good article, I refuse to see a doctor unless absolutely necessary, same with pills. I'm almost 40 and the only prescription I've ever had was for penicillin. I plan on living to be 100 :)
"Perhaps most worrisome is the medicalization of childhood."
I want to take an informal poll here.
1. Does anyone have children in public school?
2. Do you remember that much crap on the walls when you went to school? Or do you remember a number line, the alphabet, a chalk board and a coat hook?
3. Do you think that might be a distraction for kids trying to learn?
4. Does your kid have A.D.D.?
Medicare and most majors will not pay without a diagnosis.
Wow, this article is so great in so many ways. I have several nieces and nephews who are walking pharmaceutical test labs. It drives me crazy.
For instance, I know someone who's kids have a genetic intolerance for sugar. It's rare and their kids are 3 of about 500 in the country.
Suddenly, two of my brother's kids are allergic to sugar. Guess what, when my kids eat too much sugar, they get the runs too. Solution, don't eat too much sugar.
My uncle (no blood relation) has Celiacs disease (intolerant to Gluten, the latest fad disease) Suddenly, a bunch of nieces have it too.
My kids, who share many genetic similarities have no health problems to speak of.
Hear, hear....this is why I stay out of Doctor's offices unless and until I need treatment. I haven't been serioulsy ill ever in my life and I'm 50.
FANTASTIC article! I recently switched doctors because everytime I stopped in for one thing, I was given medication for some other condition. Enough already!
We home school but our church meets in a public school. My wife and I have had conversations about the amount of distractions on the walls. It's ridiculous.
While we do not have desks and the kids work on the floor or table, I think in a class with 30 kids, you need to have the order that desks require.
To add, I have and still experience many sympoms listed in the article, Sadness, anxiety, sleeplessness, my knee bounces sometimes, ect... That's life, these pills haven't been around for ever and the human race still survived. It's called life. Deal with it.
On a slightly different topic: Hospitals are full of germs. That's not surprising, really. But you can go to the hospital for one thing (and maybe it's a test you don't really need) and you can pick up something else. Also, a staggering amount of deaths in hospitals are caused by medical errors. Health care facilities can be dangerous places -- you may be better off avoiding them.
Now, there have been real advances in some medical areas. But the longer human lifespan is overwhelmingly due to a decrease in infant mortality. If you survive your first few years, and have access to antibiotics, you are likely to live to 70.
The whole ADD thing is a bit of a sore spot with me. From what I've read, it's disgnosed about 10 times more often than it needs to be -- maybe even more.
When I went to the doc for a followup on glucose intolerance and left with two prescriptions for a colonoscopy and mamogram required by law I concluded that the radiologists had lobbied Congress. I threw them out, but most comply.
A great deal of blame for this is TV drug ads. Old folks have nothing to do but sit in front of the TV where they are bombarded with every expensive prescription ad that promises it will make them feel like 25 again. This should have never been allowed. It runs up the price of drugs and the cost to the taxpayers through Medicare Part D, and it almost assures that seniors are taking combinations of prescriptions that will make them sick.
Carolyn
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