It’s official: my wife has banned me from accompanying her to doctors’ practices.
Why? Because I actually dared to commit the heinous crime of questioning a medical doctor to protect my family.
You’ll be amazed at what happened, and how your doctor could be going about treating you or a loved one…
But, as I explained to her, doctors are not the infallible gods some of them think they are; they’re humans, humans that are indirectly trained by big pharma (through the use of their PDR) to match SYMPTOMS with drugs.
Most of them have absolutely ZERO knowledge or understanding about natural cures or nutrition, and they give you a horrified look if you even mention a natural alternative. These kind of doctors remind me of religious fanatics who proclaim that anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe will burn in hell for eternity!
Yes, it was a drama-packed week…
Unusually, I had to go to the doctor’s twice in two days; for wife’s scar removal check-up, and then to hear the verdict on whether my 12-year old son was decreed ADD based on a questionnaire that the school completed.
Even if these situations don’t affect you or concern you directly, please read on because I think you’ll find this a useful guide on how to ask doctors the right questions. You’re not being impolite, you’re doing your due diligence. If your doctor gets upset about this, then he needs to grow up and accept that his way is not the only way.
Let’s begin with the plastic surgeon. He was a nice enough guy, but my wife had developed a bad rash around the incision. He looked confused…
Doc: “I… I don’t understand…”
Me: “Yes, it was actually much worse yesterday. But then I applied pure, organic aloe vera and vitamin E gel, and it’s much better…”
Doc (with a mortified expression): “Aloe vera? Oh, that would explain the rash then.”
Me: “No, you misunderstood. The rash came first, the aloe vera calmed it down. Did you apply any creams or ointments post-op?”
Doc: “Yes. An antibiotic cream.”
Me: “Then, ipso facto, it could only have been that cream that cause the rash.”
Doc: “I’ll write down the name of a good steroid cream.”
Me: “What the…”
But at this point my wife was giving me “the look”, so I backed down and accepted his scrap of paper.
Next day, it was my son’s turn with the medical establishment. I had finally caved in to letting the school perform tests for ADD. He truly does have trouble focusing in class, so let’s explore this, I thought.
Anyway, the doctor rolls in and explains that according to these tests my son has an anxiety disorder and ADD…
Doc: “But his language teacher didn’t show him as having ADD.”
Me: “So he doesn’t have ADD in language, the class with his favorite teacher in it. But don’t you either have a condition or not have a condition? Isn’t that a bit like saying, ‘I only have diabetes on Tuesdays?’”
Doc: (vacant expression).
Me: “Okay, never mind, new question. Can you take a scan of a person’s brain to detect ADD?”
Doc: “I think there was a psychiatry test that did this.”
Me: “And psychiatrists are the people who treat everything with drugs. So it would be in their interest to say as much.”
Doc: “Correct.”
Me: “Is ADD a medical condition?”
Doc: “No, it’s a mental condition.”
Me: “So this is really the domain of psychologists then, not medical doctors?”
Doc: “Well… yes. Unless he takes a drug, then he needs a prescription from me or a psychiatrist.”
Me: “Fine, so what is your recommended action?”
Doc: “Ritalin and behavioral therapy.”
Me: “Okay. First please tell me what ‘behavioral therapy’ involves?”
Doc: “Well, he attends a class to learn how to focus better.”
Me: “But he’s ADD. He has trouble focusing in class, and you want him to attend a class? Does anyone see the irony here?”
Doc (nervous chuckle): “Well, I suppose so, yes…”
Me: “Next- Ritalin. How does this work?”
Doc: “Well it’s classed as a street drug, a stimulant, so it’s very controlled.”
Me: “So it has a direct effect on making the heart beat faster, like adrenalin.”
Doc: “Yes.”
Me: “What are the side-effects?”
Doc: “Here’s some information. But I’ve had some kids become withdrawn, one girl said she felt like a zombie.”
Me: “Who wrote this information on the drugs? The drug manufacturer?”
Doc: “I think so, yes.”
Me: “It says here that kids with anxiety shouldn’t take this. And you already said he has a high anxiety score.”
Doc: “Um, yes. He shouldn’t take a stimulant drug with anxiety…”
Me: “Like Ritalin?”
Doc: “Um, well… yes.”
And that concluded the appointment as my marriage descended into hell with a lecture on how “rude” I was to that nice doctor.
But I wasn’t being rude, it’s just that doctors aren’t used to being cross-examined in that way; they’re used to people nodding with wide-eyed compliance. Perhaps that doctor thought about things a bit more when her head hit the pillow that night.
American pharmacists hand over five times more Ritalin than the rest of the world combined, according to the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC). The United Nations International Narcotics Control Board has on two recent occasions written to U.S. officials expressing concern about the six-fold increase in Ritalin usage since 1990.
60 – 90 percent of American children kids with attention deficit disorders are prescribed Ritalin…
Ritalin has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine, but its effects are more powerful.
Ritalin warns of the following side effects:
• Increased blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Increased body temperature
• Increased alertness
• Suppressed appetite
A University of Texas study conducted in 2005 showed damage to the chromosomes of 12 kids who took Ritalin for just 3 months.
In 1993, The National Toxicology Program released results that showed feeding mice Ritalin at levels close to those routinely prescribed to children caused liver tumors, which featured rare and highly malignant cancers.
While this drug causes increased attention and concentration (no surprises there; it’s a stimulant!), it is NOT proven to improve academic performance.
There have NOT been any placebo-controlled trials to measure long-term effects from usage, and there have been some concerns noted about publication bias on the trials that do exist.
Needless to say, my boy won’t be taking that poison. But he’s already on a 100% natural and nutritious diet so I was puzzled…
Later that night, about an hour past his bedtime, I cracked open his bedroom door with a teary eye to catch a glimpse of my son and ponder on what the problem was. Why wasn’t he paying attention at school?
I immediately saw a glowing blue light coming from his pillow area. I crept closer. He was playing with his iPod!
Me: “Hmmm, do you think you might be too tired for school if you’re up all night playing video games?”
My son (with a sheepish smile): “Ummm… yeah… maybe…”
Maybe he does have Attention Deficit Disorder, but not in the way the doctors mean. Maybe he was suffering from a deficit of MY attention, not his…
