Dr. Thompson's Blog

Beneficial Treatment for Patients with Devastating Illnesses

Taylor Dardan sent an e-mail asking if she could post an article on this Blog as a guest author. Because her comments are similar to those that I posted in the past, I will add just portions of her article. In general, she is saying that there are non-traditional, as well as alternative ways that people will terminal or devastating illnesses can be made comfortable and their quality of life improved. The one caution that I would add after reading her article is that anyone who uses only alternative or holistic medicine and will not accept or listen to physicians with traditional medical training may be denying themselves much needed pain relief and shorten their lives. I have seen this happen several times and it is heart-breaking.

Taylor Dardan notes that "With holistic approaches in all areas of life growing increasingly popular, the world of health care and treatment is also starting to take slight turns this way. ----------Some of the most popular examples include acupuncture, meditation, and aromatherapy." (I would add that massage can be one of the most beneficial.) -------"The combination of routine/traditional treatmenrts coupled with complementary types of therapies and methods could prove the best route for many patients," {though certainly not for every patient.]

I would add that many medical centers, such as the Mayo Clinic, have alternative medical therapies available and acupuncture and other forms of non-traditional medicine are being taught in many medical schools. Certainly, we can learn a lot from every type of medical treatment.

Caring for the Caregiver

As more and more family members and friends age or have chronic or devastating illness, many of us are put into the role of caregivers. If you have a large family and lots of friends close by then hopefully they will be helpful. However, if you have a small family and you are the designated caretaker, taking care of yourself is very important. In my experience I have found that  one or two people in a family are the ones who usually end up being the caregivers. The others come  when they want something but otherwise they keep their distance. If you are in another town or state, caretaking can become even more difficult and you must find ways to treat yourself with a good book or something special. Also you need to ask for help if you are beginning to feel too tired and stressed.

Many parents who have  children with chronic or progressive illnesses become almost numb as they go about their caretaking tasks. I remember the mother of two Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients who said she would have no idea what to do if she had any time away from her two sons. She also had a great deal of unresolved anger  because she knew that she was a carrier of Duchenne dystrophy and yet her husband convinced her it was her duty to have children. He left as soon as the two boys became weaker and weaker  In one study, 85% of the fathers left  when there was a problem with a child. Sometimes it is the mothers who leave.

If you are a caretaker, then you MUST speak up if you start to become tired or angry about what is happening.  One of the hardest things for me as a physician  is to see a family member receiving extremely poor medical care but refusing  to change doctors.  I have seen this happen three times in my own family. Different doctors could have both prolonged their lives and possibly prevented tragic outcomes.

 

More Generic Drugs May Be Coming

The drug companies may lose some of their gigantic profits if some of the popular drugs become generic. Then their CEOs may have to survive on a few less millions. According to Duff Wilson in the 3/7/11 New York Times, if some of the most sought after drugs become generic, the drug companies could lose almost fifty billion dollars. Since many of the CEOs make millions of dollars each year, I can't feel too sad for them. When I hear that a patient has to pay several thousands of dollars each month for a single drug, I am outraged. Of course, the drug companies say they have to charge these prices in order to continue with research and development of new drugs. That is simply not true.

The same amount of research is done in Europe and yet their drug companies do not make the outrageous profits that many drug companies make in the United States. Health costs in the U.S. are  exorbitant due to the large profits that drug, insurance, and medical equipment companies make. I certainly hope that a great many more drugs lose their patents and become generic, then hopefully many people will be able to afford the drugs they need.

 

Scary Nursing Home Information

It is always sad when a loved one has to be admitted to a nursing home. Some are fine but others are just plain awful. I have had teenage patients in nursing homes, as well as family members, and have seen  both good care and some really bad care. The medical care, too, can be problamatic because in some states physicians can get by with visiting very infrequently. Much of the care is then left completely up to the nurses and other staff members.

Now it seems that there is another worry. According to an article by Robert Pear in the March 3, 2011 New York Times,  a survey was done showing that there may  be almost no background checks on nursing home employees. Thus, there is a real risk of abuse, assult, and stealing. I have had personal experience with the stealing becasue anything of value always walked out the door when my father was in a nursing home. I quickly learned that even  clothes disappeared and it was the best nursing home I could find for him.

Mr. Pear noted in his article that "Nearly half of nursing homes employed five or more individuals with at least one conviction." Also, there is no federal law requiring nursing homes to check if  employees have criminal records.  The new health care law is hoping to improve this by providing  $160 million for states so that criminal background checks can be done in long-term care facilities.

Concerns about X-raying Babies

There was a long and startling article in the February 28, 2011 New York Times by Walt Bogdanich and Kristina Rebelo about X-raying babies. According to the article, many hospitals do not adequately protect a male baby's genitals or a female baby's breasts. I have never seen this kind of error and have seen many, many babies X-rayed. Some hospitals, the article stated, have done or still do what are called babygrams or full body X-rays. This gives a baby far too much radiation and is not necessary without proper protections.

The other startling revelation was that many X-ray technicians are not adequately trained and there are no laws that require a technician to have specific training or even licensing. I have always understood that an X-ray technician needed to be licensed as are doctors, nurses, and others who work with patients. Another problem that has been found is that many of the X-ray machines are not properly calibrated and give a much higher dosage of radiation than is needed.

Some legislation is pending in Congress which should prevent some of these problems. However, with the currect stalemate between the Republicans and Democrats on almost every issue, I wonder if this legislation will pass? I would hope that the American Academy of Pediatrics, of which I am a member, will speak up for the legilation so our babies will have better care.