March 30, 2013
-
Ounce of prevention > Pound of Big Macs
A friend of mine (Family Practice Resident) was recently telling me about an experience he had. I find this terrifying. This apparently actually happened… and it’s not that infrequent.
Dr. Optimistic: “Hey there Mr. Loh-Ai-Cue I see you are here for your routine check up”
Mr. Low-Ai-Cue: “Yeah, I just wanna make sure I’m doin’ OK”
Dr. Optimistic: “Sure thing, let me just get up your labs and… HOLY CRAP! Your Hb A1c is 12.5! That means you have the worst diabetes I have ever seen! Oh, and don’t get me started on your blood pressure”
Mr. Low-IQ: “Yeah, well, I didn’t change my diet”
Dr. O: ”But, your diabetes…”
Mr. Low-IQ: ”Yeah, I’m not exercising either, and those insulin shots hurt, so I’m not taking those.
Dr. O: ”But… but… you really need to. I mean you are going to destroy your kidneys, and your blood pressure is through the roof. You are horribly straining your heart-”
Mr. Low-IQ: ”Listen. I’m not going to change my diet or take those pills, K? I’m just here to get my check up”
Dr. O: ”But if you ignore everything we say, why even come here in the first place?”
So that’s medicine in a nutshell. In fifteen years this person will have a heart attack, his toes will be falling off, he will need dialysis three times a week and his quality of life will be absolute crap compared to now. We could prevent horrible things from happening, but the typical US citizen would rather face the horrible consequences later than have mild adjustments now.
I really feel for the Family Practice doctors. It is impossible to help someone who will not help themselves.
Thoughts??
Comments (2)
My (very young 60 yr old) mother in law, bless her heart, has hypothyroidism of some sort. She only takes half her medication because she thinks that the dose is “too high for a small asian woman”
She also is taking some sort of vitamin (for her thinning nails and hair, see above!) where she is supposed to take 2 pills a day, but divides one pill in half because 2 pills = 1000 microliters and holy shit 1000 is a really BIG number.
When I try to explain.. um.. science… to her, she dismisses this as basically sorcery and tells me that I am feeding the children too many “cold” (its a chinese thing, not a temperature thing) foods and that’s why they are naughty. I feel so sorry for her doctors and if she lived here, I would make sure to be at every appointment.
@sahel578 - Hah, I feel your pain. Usually, the American approach to medicine is the exact opposite. I think it was Jerry Seinfeld who talked about it. GIVE ME THE MAX STRENGTH! Find out how much will KILL ME, and then give me juuuuuust a little less than that. Though with parents not wanting to take too much, it can be the same thing…