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Diagnosis and Treatment Options |
CONTENTS
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Treatment options and strategies
Correcting a health problem is the most difficult task you could face. The body is far more complex than any machine you have ever encountered. Even if you have a medical degree and PhDs in industrial engineering, computer science, biochemistry, biophysics, and statistics, you cannot possibly read all that has been published that is relevant to treat a complex health condition. Even if you could read all the material, you could not comprehend it and make an optimal decision.
I suggest that people with severe diseases follow this approach
Understand the problems and limitations of your disease. Understand the key options for treatment: drugs, surgery, radiation, nutrition, etc. Learn about pros and cons. Ask a specialist other than the treatment doctor to give you a detailed evaluation of the pros and cons.
The Internet can be quite helpful for these situations. Many sites have disease descriptions for patients. Sites from universities, government agencies, and major public health organizations are usually accurate, although they may be outdated for some conditions and perhaps too conservative for individuals willing to take risks with new therapies. Books often provide excellent overviews and are a good starting point. Books can present integrated approaches and include modern research. However, beware of great differences in qualifications and writing skills between authors. Read the author's qualifications before purchasing. Choose an author who did the original research, rather than one who writes well but reviews other people's research.
Narrow down your treatment options based on your research and your doctor's recommendations. After reviewing the Internet, ask a specialist for a one-hour consultation. Give the specialist material to review before your consultation.
Smart people seek expert help for complex problems. You can learn your options and then evaluate them in terms of pros and cons. Only YOU can decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks, and what risks you are willing to take.
When my 70 y.o. father developed an aggressive form of prostate cancer, I convinced him to have his prostate gland surgically removed, and to treat the cancer with radiation and drugs. The side effects were minor compared with his expected improved life expectancy. However, if I had a 50 y.o. brother with prostate cancer, I may not recommend surgery, because the risk of his becoming impotent or incontinent would probably outweigh the benefits (new surgical procedures could change my mind).
There are a few experts for almost every condition. If your problem is severe or unusual, and you can afford the time and money involved, go and see these specialists. Whatever it costs, it is money well invested.
It is unfortunate to see many people who have been treated inappropriately, spending thousands of dollars on supplements and drugs that either hurt them or force them to postpone life-saving treatments. An expert may save you money and improve your life by giving you honest evaluations of what you can do and what you should avoid.
Beware of approaches endorsed by famous people-- just because a person is famous does not mean he received the best treatment. It is said that president Lincoln died because the "famous" doctor they got to treat him was old and (against the advice of younger physicians) tried to remove the bullet from Lincoln's head.
Famous actors or sport players are very good in their specialties but have little time to learn medicine and science. You would not ask a brilliant physicist with muscular dystrophy to play soccer, and you should not ask a soccer player to perform or comment on brain surgery or drugs.
I collected a long list of rich and famous people who were treated for heart disease and died young (read Dr. Siguel's book "EFAs in Health and Disease." Unfortunately, most of these rich and famous people probably did not know of better treatments that could have saved them (obviously, if they knew of such treatments, they would have tried them!).
One very rich person consulted me after seeing some of the top cardiologists in the US (and the world). Without my intervention, he would most likely be dead now instead of enjoying life. You can read about him in Siguel E, et al. The effect of low-fat diet on lipid levels. JAMA, Mar 13 1996; 275(10): 759-760.
Do you need additional diagnostic tests?
Most doctors can diagnose common conditions. However, nowadays even common conditions such as diabetes can benefit from advanced diagnosis that "stages" or "categorizes" the type of disease you have. For example, cancer may now be classified in terms of aggressiveness, rate of cell growth, likelihood cells will migrate, etc. Doctors rarely know all possible diagnostic tests, or may not be able to order them because the insurer does not cover them.
Whether or not you obtain advanced diagnosis depends on the money you are willing to spend and the treatment options you will consider. Every diagnostic method must be evaluated in light of what you plan to do once you know the results. However, be sure that the methods and treatments you use are supported by articles in peer reviewed scientific journals, and that you have an expert to help you navigate the wonders of diagnosis and testing. Otherwise, you will likely waste valuable blood and money (and risk side effects) from worthless tests.
Ex: until recently, free and bound PSA were not considered clinical tests, even though they provided excellent information to discriminate prostate cancer from an enlarged prostate. This new test may encourage you to get a prostate biopsy, or help avoid one.
You can learn to confirm your diagnosis and the severity of your diagnosis. There are huge variations in disease status. You could have a mild prostate cancer that advances so slowly that it may not require treatment, or you could have an aggressive form that requires the most aggressive and comprehensive treatment.
Do you need help selecting
optimal treatment?
For simple conditions, the optimal treatment is often well established. Sometimes, however, a person may have an unusual response to the commonly recommended drug, necessitating an alternative approach. Such alternatives are often well known; however, a qualified expert is your best bet because he is familiar with side effects and alternatives. Again, physicians cannot be experts in all fields of medicine, and therefore even a fantastic doctor may not know the best options in your case.
If you have a problem that is complex to treat, if there are several treatment options with different risks and benefits, or if you are looking for new treatments which your doctor may not know, you should consult web sites and textbooks for help. Some computer programs can evaluate risks and benefits far better than human minds, but be careful with the data you provide them (garbage in, garbage out). A major medical center can probably do the same task more effectively, although it would cost more money.
Before you have tests done
Ask the doctor why the test is needed. Ask if there is a less risky alternative (ultrasound instead of X-rays, MRI instead of CAT scan). Ask: "How will my treatment change depending on the test results?" Avoid all unnecessary diagnostic testing unless the doctor explicitly tells you how it will influence treatment. Avoid diagnostic testing when the treatment options are not those that you would like to pursue.
For example, if you have Crohn's disease, the
specific location and extent of intestinal damage has little
impact on treatment. Instead, treatment effectiveness relies on how you feel.
For IBD patients, my approach is to avoid surgery as long as possible. It is
preferable to have a long course of parenteral nutrition (TPN) for up to 6
months (or longer if the condition improves), enteral nutrition with an
elemental diet (for up to 12 months or longer if the condition improves), and
short-term antibiotics. Surgery should only be considered when these treatments
fail or if there is a risk of immediate death. X-rays to find the extent of
bowel involvement are rarely needed. Treatment is mostly empirical, depending
on how you feel (be sure to give enough time for the medical treatments to
work)
However, blood testing for nutrient deficiencies is critical. Patients with
malabsorption require high doses of vitamins, minerals and essential fats.
Knowing which ones you need helps you determine whether you should have
injections of Vits B12 and K (or if you can survive with oral doses), and
whether you need more Zn and Se. Too much of these nutrients can create
imbalances in your body. You might even become deficient because you urinate
excessive nutrients and in the process lose needed ones (healthy people
regulate nutrients better).
Use only the tests that will help you change your treatment (see exceptions). Most diagnostic tests have side effects and could make you worse (or deplete resources you can use elsewhere). X-rays can induce cancer and damage tissue. Ultrasound is used to destroy tissues and can damage cells. Blood tests require blood and can contribute to chronic anemia and muscle weakness. More invasive procedures can cause severe cell damage or even death. However, some tests, such as urine or fecal tests, have practically no side effects.
Distinguish between tests that help diagnose the problem, tests that help evaluate the extent of the problem, and tests that help monitor your response to treatment. Monitor only those parameters that affect your therapy or your life style.
Good diagnosis is critical; invest as much as needed. Some tests may not affect treatment but could affect your life strategies. Ex: tests can indicate whether you may pass a disease on to your children (genetic testing), can help you estimate your life expectancy, or can determine whether you may pass a disease to your partner (are you shedding the virus now?).
If you have cardiovascular disease, sophisticated nutrition testing may help you determine whether your vitamin E levels are at the top of the normal range (and you should not eat more) or below normal (and you should eat more), whether you need more w6 or w3 essential fats, and how much of each EF you need. These numbers can help you promptly correct for 20 years of poor eating habits that contributed to your disease by allowing you to adjust your intake of these critical nutrients.
Many times, the doctor already knows the diagnosis. Further testing only helps to get a better description of the disease, without improving treatment or outcome. Such is the case with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), where most gastrointestinal X-rays contribute very little to optimal treatment but increase the risk of damage to the intestinal system (worsening the disease) or other body parts or creating cancer. X-rays might give a nice picture of the problem, but they have zero impact on what treatment steps to take. Often, no matter what the x-rays show, the treatment is the same (usually TPN, elemental diet, antibiotics, bowel rest, and avoidance of surgery).
Many tests help to characterize a disease for further research, to determine what types of treatment to use, or to monitor the progress of the disease. Other tests are excellent gimmicks or reincarnations of old approaches long discarded as useless.
Be careful not to overdiagnose. Many diagnostic tests have no clinical implications (the answer will not help you to treat your problem). Many diagnostic tests are useful in research, to monitor a disease, or to classify the severity of the disease until it is found how to treat it better.
Many "abnormalities" are mild and go away best by themselves. Exercise, foods, normal fluctuations in laboratory measurement, laboratory errors, and many other factors can produce abnormal values. This is why so many studies show improvement: practically anything you do works some of the time. Eating well and living a healthy lifestyle is your best strategy.
Your cholesterol values can vary by up to 30% depending on factors such as your last meal before testing, exercise before testing, hours fasting, time waiting to have your blood drawn, number of tubes drawn, length of time the rubber band was on your arm, position of your arm, etc.
Find out what your test results mean. How reliable is the test? All tests have "false positives" (they indicate you have a disease when in fact you do not) and "false negatives" (they indicate you are normal when in fact you have a disease). That is why doctors consider many test results and your symptoms (how you feel), signs (what they see) and other factors, instead of an individual test result. When in doubt, tests should be repeated.
Find out what the doctor plans to do if the tests are abnormal. Can you have additional blood tests done now? Can you schedule for further tests knowing how likely it is that you may need a prostate ultrasound or a colonoscopy (some tests require months to schedule)? Have the orders arrived at the correct place? Do you have adequate instructions to prepare for the tests (what to eat beforehand, etc)? Do some tests, if abnormal, need to be repeated? Does the blood have to be refrigerated? Frozen? What else can go wrong, and how can you prevent it?
I suggest that you always have your blood drawn at a national lab who knows how to promptly process your blood. If your doctor draws the blood, he may not be aware of new requirements for blood processing, such as immediate separation and freezing of plasma. He may draw blood in the wrong tube, or draw the wrong amount. It may take hours for blood to be delivered to the lab. Blood cells may rupture in transit. Invest your time wisely and have your blood drawn directly at the lab.
Informed
Consent
If you are not aware of the available alternatives, you cannot make an informed decision. You should educate yourself and learn to take care of your life.
You have the right, as a patient, to be informed by your physician of available alternative diagnosis and treatment procedures. Your physician ought to inform you that EFs are essential to your life. Your physician should inform you that you must eat enough Essential Fats. (There is complete agreement among scientists that the EFs are indeed an essential nutrient. You must eat enough of the w3 and w6 essential fats, and the ratio of w3 to w6 must be within a certain range.)
The amounts of EFs you must eat depend on your current body status. If you are deficient, you must eat additional supplements until you catch up. Your health provider should explain to you how you can determine whether or not you are deficient in EFs. He/she should inform you about the possible consequences of abnormalities of EFs. He/she should also inform you about the use of supplements to improve health conditions when such research has been published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Alternatively, he/she should refer you to a specialist that can provide you with this information.
Factors to consider
More than 4,000 medically related journals are published every year. Each journal publishes an average of 8 times/year, with > 10 articles/issue. Including articles published at scientific conferences, there are over 400,000 new medical articles per year. On topics such as cancer or heart disease alone, there are more than 50,000 articles every year. (Popular news media present less than 1,000/year).
No human being can read more than 5% of the articles published. Doctors read publications on their areas of interest and expertise. However, very few doctors may realize applications for new treatments combining findings from very different fields for many years.
It often takes 5 years for publications in research journals to be discussed in clinical journals and be incorporated into clinical practice. An expert doctor may know what experimental treatments have been shown to succeed, and be able to use these treatments years before they are commonly available and covered by insurance. In these cases, an expert is worth the extra money.
When my father had prostate cancer, I spent months searching the world's publications for the status of prostate treatment. One urologist told me of a promising new treatment and sent me to Canada to speak with its leading proponent. I went there and discussed his treatment and findings. The treatment made scientific sense, and was based on sound scientific principles. I decided that it was the best treatment for my father (my father did not have the scientific training to evaluate the treatment). With my father's urologist's help, we developed a protocol (surgery, radiation and drugs), obtained FDA approval for the use of an experimental drug, and successfully used a treatment that is now considered "conventional." Many people contributed their time to help me prepare proposals and identify the best treatment.
Incidentally, my father's prostatic enzymes were initially found to be normal, but that was because his blood had not been stored properly. It had taken the lab more than 1 hour to analyze the blood, during which time the abnormal enzymes disappeared. Luckily for my father, I had worked in that lab during my training in laboratory medicine and was able to discuss these issues with the appropriate people. To ensure accuracy, I repeated the test, taking blood from my father directly to the lab technician for testing and waiting for the results (which were abnormal). Thousands of patients across the US probably had false negatives for the same reason.
My father's doctors were very helpful. The internal medicine, the urologist, the pathologist, and the surgeons all were willing to help and spent reasonable time with my father. However, nobody could afford the hundreds of hours it took to diagnose his prostate cancer and develop the optimal treatment. Eventually, we involved staff who did blood testing, several pathologists to read and interpret the slides (from the biopsies), technicians for ultrasound and diagnostic X-rays, physicists and technicians to calculate radiation treatment, surgeons for various surgical procedures, endocrinologists to modify hormone levels, pharmaceutical companies to provide new drugs and data on new drugs, the FDA to provide experimental approval, investigational review boards to consent to the experimental treatment, and many, many others. It would have cost > $1,000,000 for me to hire staff to spend the time I did to research the literature, review findings, prepare research protocols, etc. The money you can spend on optimal health care is unlimited.
Knowing the requirements for having lab tests done well is one key step
patients can take.
There are more than 10,000 commercially available (and often insurance reimbursable) diagnostic tests. There are more than 100,000 diagnostic tests performed in research laboratories. Practical findings can take 5 years to become clinically acceptable and reimbursed by insurance.
Ask your doctor to clearly provide, in writing, the tests that you need to have done. Understand why tests are done; doctors can make mistakes and lab technicians often misunderstand instructions.
I ordered a quantitative amino acid profile; the lab sent it out ordering a "qualitative" test. I ordered Vit. E and PSA which were done at two separate locations of the same company. The lab drew one tube and instead of splitting the sample sent it all to one lab location. The PSA did not get done. These "small" "human" errors can have huge costs in your time and life (especially if you have to be fasting etc). Spend a few minutes to save a lot.
Make an appointment for blood testing and verify that the lab has the appropriate tubes and knows how to draw blood for your tests. Labs are familiar with common tests, but sometimes are not prepared to send blood for less common tests. They may not freeze the blood appropriately, or they might draw it in the wrong tube. Ex: Trace minerals may require special dark blue super clean tubes. Vit. E must be protected from light. Some substances deteriorate unless the blood is quickly refrigerated or frozen. Shaking whole blood may destroy red cells and alter results.
Try to avoid having your blood drawn on Friday. Tests may not be done until the following week, and your blood will deteriorate a bit (or a lot).
Insist that the lab use the minimum amount of blood required for every test. Use pediatric tubes for most tests, or ask the technician not to completely fill the tube. Your blood is your most valuable asset. Read more about blood testing in Dr. Siguel's books.
Ask your doctor to order your blood tests two weeks before you see him/her. Doctors usually review test results when they examine you. If the results are not ready, they may be missed until your next visit.
Ask that copies of all test results be sent to you directly, with the original to the doctor. 1 week after your blood was drawn, verify that all your tests were done. Be sure the proper blood tests are done.
Sometimes blood is lost or is QNS (quantity not sufficient). You can have your blood drawn again. If another test is needed, the doctor can sometimes order it from your previous blood (most labs keep leftover blood for 7 days).
Understand what the results mean and be prepared to ask questions. For urgent abnormalities, make an appointment to see your doctor as soon as the test results are expected to be ready. Even a week's wait can be too much with some infections, cancer, or stroke.
Options
for Treatment
If you are willing to spend < $1,000
Find a doctor you trust, and do what he/she suggests. Read a book for lay persons that is written by a doctor with good credentials and expertise in problems such as yours (these books are available at the library). Many professional societies publish these books.
Good doctors are willing to spend time with you. You should be able to tell your doctor everything that bothers you that may be relevant to your diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, doctors do not get paid by the hour (like many lawyers). Often, doctors are under pressure to see a minimum number of patients per hour.
If you feel like you did not have enough time to explain all your problems, or feel that you did not understand what the doctor proposed, say so and ask for additional time (better you do it than your surviving family members and lawyer). You must understand what tests he/she ordered and why. Learn what drugs you are getting and in what doses. What is the plan?
Follow instructions carefully. You will have instructions on diet, blood tests, drugs, therapy, etc. Understand precisely what you are told to do. Get it in writing. Your provider should give you written instructions on therapies, warnings, etc. Drug manufacturers have the Physicians Desk Reference and many other books on drugs dosage, side effects, etc. Verify that you have been given the correct drug and dose (many errors can occur) and that the drug looks right.
Understand what is expected from you and what you can do to make the therapy most effective.
Determine how you can follow your optimal diet, drug treatment, radiation therapy, etc. (how to best follow instructions). This is the area where you can best influence the your outcome.
Therapies have been optimized to maximize their effectiveness. Drug and radiation regimens aim to destroy cancer or microorganisms. If you skip or do not follow the treatment, the cancer or organisms have a chance to recover and kill you. Don't let it happen.
Doctors are under severe time constraints. They are also limited in the amount they can charge for an office visit. If the doctor spends too much time with you, other patients suffer. To resolve this predicament, you need to propose a solution that is acceptable to you and him, and is legal. Discuss these issues with your doctor and your health plan to see what you can do. Offer to pay the doctor for extra time for explaining what you need to do or for providing copies of articles (you may need to enter into a separate agreement, because the doctor may not be allowed by the insurer (or Medicare) to accept extra money from you for the usual visit).
If you are willing to spend $1,000-$10,000
Ask your doctor to provide the names of at least 2 specialists in your condition and make an appointment with these specialists. Ask the specialists what they would do if they (or their spouse/children) had the problem you have. Who would they see? What tests would they get?
Often, doctors are limited to give treatments that Medicare or your insurance will pay, they may even be prohibited (or actively discouraged) from recommending expensive diagnosis or treatments or from charging extra to provide additional services. Agree to enter into a private contract so that you can receive care beyond these limitations.
Doctors may not be willing to discuss new or experimental therapies, because if anything goes wrong they become liable. Tell the specialist that you will not sue him/her no matter what he/she says. Agree to sign such a statement.
Again, doctors often cannot charge patients extra for "extended" appointments, and doctors are often required to see X patients per hour. Discuss these issues with your doctor and see if you can pay for care beyond that of your insurance policy.
Most of the time, your insurance will pay for treatment if it is found medically necessary and useful, but will not pay for diagnosis unless you prove that the diagnosis helps (a catch-22). If you cannot prove why you need the diagnosis (medical necessity), you can not appeal the decision.
One way out is to pay to prove that the diagnosis is useful, and use that information to request payment for future tests or treatment. For example, you might pay for the fatty acid profile EFA-SRä and find that you are EFA deficient. Then you can ask your insurance company to pay for the treatment as well as for the diagnosis, because you have shown that it is useful.
We suggest that you invest your money in several experts ($250-$500 per consult) to determine what treatment is useful. Get the sophisticated diagnoses these experts recommend (the limit here is how much you are willing to spend). Then use the information you acquired from the experts to appeal for payment of your expenses, of further diagnosis and testing, or of both.
If you are looking for optimal care, spend money on advanced monitoring that helps you determine how effective your treatment is and how to improve it.
If you are willing to spend $10,000-$100K
Get all the tests available that have practically zero side effects and require little blood. Get research tests, even if they are not currently available for insurance reimbursement. Although some of these tests may only be marginally useful, the extra "margin" of diagnosis may be what you need to improve your chances of survival. The constraint here is that the side effects of testing should be negligible. Be cautious of diagnostic tests that use radiation, high-energy ultrasound, or other invasive, potentially harmful tests. Do not provide more than 50 ml of your blood per month (this suggestion is far below common recommendations). If you are sick, you may not make much blood.
For treatment, consider combinations of drugs that together have enhanced effects but fewer side effects. This approach is particularly useful with infections. Use sophisticated nutrition evaluation and nutrition therapies. Chose the surgeon with the best experience. Travel where the experts reside to consult or be treated by them.
Hire a "personal advocate" and "personal consultant" to research the alternatives, communicate with providers, and help you make the best decision.
If you are willing to spend $100K-$1,000,000
Support research on your condition. Identify people who are doing research on problems such as yours. Pay to participate in a study that uses new diagnostic or treatment approaches.
If you are willing to spend > $1,000,000
With $1,000,000, one can hire staff to review publications and clinical trials and determine optimal diagnosis and treatment. With $100,000,000, one can develop effective new treatments for almost any disease.
Find some of the best minds working on conditions similar to yours and offer them $500K+ if they improve your life expectancy. Reimburse them for all expenses other than salary, to encourage them to search for better ways to diagnose and treat your condition.
Some disorders are very difficult to diagnose or treat, no matter how much you spend. However, practically every condition can be treated far more effectively than is customarily done if you are willing to spend a lot of money outside your insurance plan.
Should you
purchase a summary of research findings on
your disease?
Some organizations offer research summaries of a few hundred articles, for fees ranging from $50 to $1,000. You get a list of scientific articles that may be relevant to your condition. Sometimes they are annotated with comments to help you interpret their meaning.
I found those reviews to have very limited value. The individuals doing the research are not experts in the specific research field (otherwise they would charge $300/hr and the review would cost > $5,000). It takes a scientist with excellent knowledge and skills several thousand hours to review 1% of the articles he considers important.
A more effective approach is to buy a recent edition of a medical textbook (preferably one suitable for your education and expertise) that covers your condition. You can also ask your doctor to provide review articles about your condition from scientific journals (a specialist probably has copies of these articles in his files… or should have them!).
Once you have finished reading the textbook and a few review articles, and have a basic understanding of the issues involved, you can expand your knowledge by visiting free sites on the Internet. Several web sites offer access to abstracts from major scientific journals and publications. Search for articles on your condition. If you find an article that is very relevant or interesting, you can try to get a copy from a library, or you can usually purchase a copy directly over the Internet or telephone (about $15/article).
If you cannot do this work, hire somebody to help you do it. We routinely hire college students to do this research for us. However, we use experts to read and understand the material. Your best bet is often to assemble the relevant material, and then pay an expert for a 1-hour consultation to discuss what it means.
Reviewers can easily miss important articles and fail to grasp the meaning of the articles reviewed. Only a person with expertise in a specific field can interpret thousands of articles and make an informed decision about the next research step or best diagnosis or treatment approach.
Treatment
Treatment protocols are developed after careful evaluation of the benefits and risks for an average group of patients. Most treatments need to be adapted to each person. The amount of drugs or radiation you need often depends on your weight and height. A 6'2" person who weighs 220 lbs may need a larger dose of a drug than a 5'2" person who weighs 100 lbs.
Your doctor may be reluctant to change drug dosage because of liability (doctors can be sued if there is a problem which can be attributed to variations from the standard prescription). Offer to sign a liability release stating that you agree to a different dose.
For obvious reasons, adapting drugs or radiation treatment to each person is not an exact science. Individuals have very different biochemical characteristics and responses to drug therapy. When treating an infection, you may want the highest dose possible as long as it has few side effects. However, when treating a medical problem such as diabetes, you want the dose that achieves best results for you (trial and error may be the best approach to find the optimal dose). Too much or too little of a drug may be counterproductive. Too much may cause undesirable physiological changes; too little may be ineffective.
Follow the regimen recommended by your doctor as closely as possible. If you start to feel better, it means the treatment is working; it does not mean you no longer need it. For example, stopping antibiotics too soon may encourage resistant organisms to grow. Your disease gets worse and the previous treatment no longer works!
You may want to exchange a small reduction in life expectancy for a great increase in happiness. Perhaps a shorter course of radiation or drugs may keep the disease under control but dramatically improve your mental health.
Ask about the effectiveness of available treatments: short vs. long term
side effects.
Evaluate increases in life expectancy vs. changes in lifestyle. Surgery for prostate cancer limited to the prostate may "cure" you but could dramatically influence your sex life or urinary habits. Radiation treatment may be almost equally effective with fewer risks. If your cancer is not aggressive, mild therapy may be better. If the cancer progresses, then you can consider additional therapy.
Practically every treatment has side effects. The more aggressive treatments cause substantial changes in body composition and function. Ex: drugs produce significant changes in body biochemistry and could cause long term harm to the body.
You need to evaluate the likelihood of short-term damage to your body (or death) by your current disease vs. the side effects of treatment. If you have a cancer that may kill you in 5 years, you rarely need to worry about changes to your lipids that could cause disease in 20 years. But you should consider coagulation changes that could give you a clot, MI (heart attack), or stroke in 2 years.
Further Notes
As you can see, treating a complex health condition is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Not even an expert in the field can know all things about medicine and keep up with all of the latest strategies and tests. You will likely hear conflicting opinions from various sources, and the data may be confusing to you.
Do not be left out of the process just because it is challenging and confusing. Participating in your treatment will likely help you both physically and mentally. Be sure you find doctors you can talk to and trust. Educate yourself by investing in good-quality books and spending time to understand the alternatives.
Watch for errors. Were the proper tests done? Did you receive the correct drug, correct dose? Are you getting appropriate radiation therapy? Was your surgery limited to what you need? (Removing an extra body part for free is not a bargain!)
What can you really do?
You have practically 100% control over diet and exercise, the two factors that influence most diseases. Spend enough time to learn about diet and exercise, where your behavior can make a big difference.
Nutrition is something you can understand and
modify. Only YOU control what you eat every day.
Learn to get enough exercise.
Eat a variety of foods, but usually fewer
calories is best.
Understand the drugs you are taking and their
interactions. Drugs (and extracts from foods, herbs, etc.) are very powerful
substances, and should be taken with great concern and in moderation.
What makes our approach unique?
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© 1998 Edward N.
Siguel. All rights reserved |
modified 1/15/00 |