Doctors not diagnosing

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Gabes-Apg
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Doctors not diagnosing

Post by Gabes-Apg »

Interesting article about doctors not diagnosing gluten intolerance

Almost a quarter of British people suffering from gluten intolerance visited their doctor for 11 years or more before getting a proper diagnosis, research shows.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-wo ... 10r8j.html
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Post by tex »

Gabes,

I'm proud to say that our doctors are almost as good as British doctors, when it comes to diagnosing celiac disease. :lol: In this country, the average length of time to get a diagnosis is listed at about 11 years. Some get diagnosed sooner, and just like in Great Britain, some have to wait another decade or so, but the overall average is about 11 years. :roll: Is that pathetic,or what? I'm amazed that society puts up with such incompetence.

IMO, the primary reasons why it takes so ridiculously long to get a correct diagnosis is because:

1. Doctors are too "dumb" to test for it. (I know that's not a nice term, but how else can you describe such incompetence?)

2. The diagnostic tests that they use, have such poor sensitivity, and such poor reliability, that a patient has to have the disease for years, before the tests will detect it, and they're too dumb, (there's that word again), or too hard-headed, to use the stool tests developed by Dr. Fine at Enterolab, so they are probably stuck in that rut for a long time to come

3. Many of them aren't even sure how to interpret the test results, and they apparently mistakenly believe that if a patient has a negative test result, there is no need to retest later, because they actually believe that the patient will never develop the disease, once they have a negative test result. :roll:

4. The blame, of course, ultimately has to rest with the staff of the medical schools, and the incompetent, out-of-date training that they offer

:rant:

Tex
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

i thought one of the last paragraphs intersting... that maybe there should be financial incentive for the doctors
WHAT THE????? a bonus if they diagnosis a patient correctly within the first two years of symptoms appearing
IT IS THEIR JOB!!!!

As ant has stated in a similar discussion, as a consultant if he doesnt do his job he doesnt get paid.

it is the whole system, government, big pharma, ongoing training for medical professionals. to overcome these issues would require a drastic change and overhaul
as it is not considered a life threatening condition then this level of non diagnosis is considered acceptable.
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Post by tex »

But Gabes,

Medical school, (like all other higher education, these days) is so expensive that by the time they get a practice set up, they're barely able to keep up the payments on a garage full of new BMWs and Mercedes, and their summer vacation homes, etc., and all their investment properties, especially with the economy so bad right now. How could you expect them to concentrate on their work? :lol:

Maybe they need a reverse financial incentive each time they miss a diagnosis - such as an hour or so of social service, (treating the disadvantaged), to make up for some of their patient's suffering, caused by their missed diagnoses.

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

Tex
you forgot that they have to save money send their kids to private school and university so their kids can be doctors (or
lawyers)

ha ha ha

cynacsim aside, the situation is less than ideal and unlikely to change in our lifetimes *sigh*
at least the societys are starting to speak out and there is definately a great focus on conditions like this.
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Post by tex »

The GF movement is certainly receiving more attention. Yesterday, the NBC "Today" show did a 5 or 6 minute feature on the GF diet titled Gluten-free: Diet Fad or Healthy Option?

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by adelie »

As far as doctors go, I'm thinking of searching for a good vet. They actually have to think because their patients can't talk. Since I moved a couple of years ago, most of the doctors I've been referred to now might as well be internet doctors - and not good ones. Being new to the area, I get the referrals to the new guy in town because he actually has appointments available. I try to go in with the attitude of, hey, he's fresh out of med school, so maybe he'll have some new and latest ideas. Nope. More of what I find is the computer printout checklist. MC - oh, that's an IBD, so you take this. Oh, it says we should do this test. I humor them and do the test. The test says you're fine. Why yes, because you were supposed to do that test before I started taking the medication.... My favorite recent one was a referral to an infectious disease doctor for recurring staph infections - there's a pocket of spores somewhere that acts up every now and then. For some reason he thought if he handed me the paper with the protocol and the script for the antibiotic that the same protocol I've been following for a couple of decades would suddenly work. Not so surprisingly, it didn't! Yea, won't be going back there.

Of course, I've already had my run-ins with the vets office and I didn't even have a pet at the time. Back when I was at doctors's offices multiple times per week before they figured out the MC diagnosis, I got home and found a message on my phone: "Yes, this is Dr. Barry's office. We're waiting for you. According to our books, you have an appointment with us to be uh... neutered today." What? The brain fog was pretty bad at the time so at first I was concerned I had missed some appointment (who's Dr. Barry?), but then I got to the end of the message and last time I checked, I was female and human, so I'm pretty sure I didn't make that appointment!

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Post by tex »

:ROFL:

Pretty bad mistake. :lol:

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

not that situations are funny Karen, but your post did make me giggle we have to laugh.

I had a GP not that long before my MC diagnosis that questioned why i had been eating gluten free, yeast free and lactose free for almost 10 years. I replied because i sleep better, my body and digestion is 200% happier if i follow that. She made me eat wheat (gluten) for 2 weeks to do the cealiac blood test. of course it was negative and it took me a month to 'feel good' again.
at the apt she confirmed i was not cealiac and said that my mixture of health issues was 'too hard' for her and she wouldnt accept that i had been ok using diet and acupuncture and she was confused as she didnt know whether to refer me to a gyno for hormone issues, Gastro for the digestion issues or immunologist for the other symptoms, i thanked her for her time and proceeded to find a new GP
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