This post is just a reminder that MDs just don’t know it all.

The Hippocratic oath is to DO NO HARM but by doing things to patients without complete knowledge of certain outcomes of treatment does do harm. Of course it is understood that we live in an infinite universe, we try to be scientific, however, there are times that treatment becomes the “easy” button rather than a more conservative, longer lasting, patient guided approach.

Case: (from my perspective) Anxious male early adult. Self induced and MD induced remedies.  Tobacco, alcohol, xanax, poor diet, little interest in exercise. Chronic fatigue, depression, continued substance abuse and lethargy for 30 years.  Outcome: chronic cough, confusion, lethargy, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, drug dependence, incontinence, pancreatic cancer, chemo-induced lack of appetite and energy. I blame the MDs, largely, because the appropriate treatment would have been counseling, support, and education.  Yes we need free will, but we don’t need enabling, especially when the enabling causes such loss of quality of life.  We don’t need health-care reform as much as we need to reform our approach to health care.

“health care providers are still advised to avoid benzodiazepines in older adults to prevent important adverse health outcomes, withdrawal and dependence.”
“Benzodiazepines, Class Of Drugs Including Xanax, Linked To Increased Dementia Risk”
“Based on the strength of available evidence regarding diet and lifestyle in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, it is recommended that a normal weight status in the lower BMI range (BMI 21 – 23) and regular physical activity be maintained throughout adulthood; abdominal obesity be prevented; and saturated fat intake be less than 7% of the total energy intake”
“For instance, many anti-anxiety drugs commonly prescribed to seniors such as Valium and Xanax, have side effects that are indistinguishable from Alzheimer’s or dementia, including: Short-term memory loss — Disinhibition — Hallucinations”
“hundreds of dangerous drug interactions with Vyvanse and other drugs; with Zoloft and other drugs; with Xanax and other drugs; with Adderall and other drugs”

The number of sites and references to drug-drug interactions is enormous. I would think that the most intelligent approach to all those nasty feelings, and pains, and upsets that everyone on the planet feels every single minute of every single day, need to be dealt with in some way other than prescription drugs.  The BODY has a HEAD and the HEAD has a BODY, and the two better learn to work together for the benefit of both.  Who said “heal thyself”  they were really really smart, and also pretty dead on right.