The Limitations of Western Medicine - The Human Element (It's All About Attitude)

The human element is often thought of in terms of the creativity, spirit, or life that humans can breathe into a variety of subjects.  It is also often though of in terms of humans propensity to make errors or the limitations due to physical or mental limitations.  While both definitions of the human element exist in the western medical system, the latter is all to prevalent in one sense or another.  The human element includes a number of different factors.  In this post, I'll attempt to describe how a physician's attitude can impact their execution of western medicine.  Note that human elements are equally valid for alternative practitioners.

It's All About Attitude

When Adelaide was born she could have been diagnosed as colicky.  She slept, ate, or cried.  When my father, a pediatrician, first visited, he suggested that we go to see our pediatrician and prepped us for the visit.  "Colic is usually a bad diagnosis on the physician's part," he said.  "There are three or four things that typically cause a baby to be colicky..."  He told us to have our pediatrician look into her ears and into her throat (for signs of infection) and to ask about diet.  When we went to see our pediatrician, we asked him to look at Adelaide's ears, to look in her throat, and we asked for suggestions to ease her colic through Ingrid's diet.  Instead of doing as we had asked, our pediatrician told us that babies this young don't get ear infections or sore throats and that diet wouldn't help.  He told us that colicky babies get better around age three months and that we should just carry on until then.  I did just tell you that my father is a pediatrician, right, I wanted to ask him.  And I know what you are telling me is complete bull.  I didn't say anything.  Ingrid and I thanked him, left, and never returned.

The dismissive and disinterested stance of this pediatrician is one example of how western medicine is limited by the attitude of the practitioner.  As my father put it, "if someone is in distress and there's something the physician can do about it he should do it."  Unfortunately, there are western practitioners who, for one reason or another, don't take this same stance.  So even if western medicine clearly understands and can treat a problem, as was ultimately true in my daughter's case, our former pediatrician was unwilling to help. 

I have had a number of doctors look at my health history, look at my current history, and then tell me "I don't know what's wrong with you, but you're not dying."  Some doctors, good ones, would suggest possible harmless treatments (such as diet) or colleagues (including alternative practitioners) that might be able to help.  Others would tell me that there was nothing to be done or that I was getting old and that I should learn to live with my symptoms.  Guess which doctors I've found more helpful?

Fortunately, a physician's attitude is one limitation that is possible to bypass.  A good doctor will not be dismissive or disinterested.  They will work with you or make referrals or suggestions that can help you reach your health goals.  If you are seeing a practitioner who is not working with you or has reached the edge of their abilities, it's time to make a change.