The totally off-topic thread

[Pushka]

On medical matters be totally guided by your medical practitioner. Dr Google can get you into trouble.
Life is NOT a dress rehearsal.

But I always maintain we are our own best advocate. MrP experienced cancer in his early twenties before the www and dr google. He went to his GP who misdiagnosed him. Dr Google would have diagnosed him in a flash. Thankfully the locum whom MrP saw 3 months later but seriously compromised (aggressive cancer now metastasized) became our hero.

 

[whatmeworry]

Oh I don't disagree with that at all. The whole issue of prohibition is a very interesting one.

I think as a society we should be aiming firmly at harm minimization. The ways to do that are easier and more publicly accepted for some poisons (eg. stimulants used to make illicit amphetamines) and less so for alcohol and tobacco.

I have read posts on reddit where people do a cost analysis on alcohol/tobacco/cannabis/meth... Sad thing is, they concluded cheaper to party on Meth rather Alcohol and cheaper to smoke Cannabis then smoke tobacco.

 

[amaroo]

But I always maintain we are our own best advocate.

<snip>

+ 1

(post filler)

 

[DaveB]

hahaha not the first time I've sensed these sentiments Anyway, the cessation of dose, after dose, after dose, year in, year out of antibiotics - is one the best things that has happened to me!

It's all happy days at this end :mrgreen:

Also a strong convert to chiro's seeing them for the first time approaching 40 some 15 years ago to help with ongoing hayfever, eye strain and headaches. Besides addressing these issues, restoring energy levels I had 20 years earlier and never feeling tired are side benefits the skeptics will never accept.

 

[erkpod]

But I always maintain we are our own best advocate. MrP experienced cancer in his early twenties before the www and dr google. He went to his GP who misdiagnosed him. Dr Google would have diagnosed him in a flash. Thankfully the locum whom MrP saw 3 months later but seriously compromised (aggressive cancer now metastasized) became our hero.

I totally get that.

I was unwell recently. Described the symptoms to 2
different GPs. They both thought I'd be OK in a couple of days.

I strongly insisted on a blood test which found I was low in Vitamin B12. Back to the GP with the results & a course of B12 injection. Then I Dr Googled low B12 levels to understand more about it & I could tick off all of the symptons.

 

[JohnK]

It's an interim decision but IMO won't be overturned and will come into effect in June 2016.

This will bring us into line with the US etc.
Those with chronic pain will still be able to access appropriate medications via prescription.
FWIW JohnK there is overwhelming evidence that ongoing opiate use (of which codeine is an example) is of no benefit in non-cancer chronic pain.

The problem with prescriptions is the doctor can only prescribe 1script without repeat unless that's changing. I don't have time to run to doctor ever 1-2 weeks.

I don't understand my pain. It never stops. Mainly I am fine with the pain because I can ignore it. Sometimes it's unbearable which is where something such as Panadeine Forte comes in handy. Panadeine Forte usually gives me close to 4 hours of what I would describe as numbness. Most pain disappears.

Each specialist I see thinks they have the answer. The latest one thinks the pain is osteoarthritis. So on Naproxen daily. So far nothing and I have taken Naprosyn in the past to help with golf pains and it works.

I suffer from arthritis. Ankylosing spondylitis. Tendonitis. Bursitis. Muscular pain. Fluid retention in legs and veins working overtime. And yes I do know everyone suffers but don't know the extent of their pain. I know mine.

 

[amaroo]

Also a strong convert to chiro's seeing them for the first time approaching 40 some 15 years ago to help with ongoing hayfever, eye strain and headaches. Besides addressing these issues, restoring energy levels I had 20 years earlier and never feeling tired are side benefits the skeptics will never accept.

Skeptics They are everywhere - just look at the OTT rhetoric on the recent MBS review https://ama.com.au/media/ama-media-...-review-attack-medicare-and-integrity-doctors

 

[whatmeworry]

Health buffs and medicos: what are the best ways to support a good liver / liver function?

I've been recommended:

• Drink citrus water (I do half a lemon in a mug of hot water)
• Ensure 8-12 glasses of water per day
• More vegetables
• More fibre
• Less sugar and fried stuff
• Less alcohol, though I don't drink much at all
• More exercise
• Avoid medication

I know milk thistle is useful for milking the liver, but that's a bit hard to get.

Anyway, although I need to or probably should do all of those, seems just like a generic list...

Vitamin B complex in the short term plus milk thistle. Milk thistle has mixed research results but is totally safe to use.

Exercise and good diet are probably key. So make sure you get a good work/life balance so you can take care of yourself properly.

Also have your medicos investigated possible viruses or things like Lyme disease?

 

[whatmeworry]

Also a strong convert to chiro's seeing them for the first time approaching 40 some 15 years ago to help with ongoing hayfever, eye strain and headaches. Besides addressing these issues, restoring energy levels I had 20 years earlier and never feeling tired are side benefits the skeptics will never accept.

Friend had his neck broken by a chiro.

 

[drron]

There are quite a few reports here on the Placebo response.Hay Fever and Asthma have very high levels of a placebo response ie a drug or procedure having the same response as a sugar pill or sham procedure.
Many is the time though that I wished it was ethically responsible to use a placebo.If a placebo works I am happy for that response even though I know it wasn't scientifically right.
By the way my one research year was in Asthma research.

 

[drron]

Friend had his neck broken by a chiro.

And I have seen a fellow left paraplegic after a neck fracture by a chiropractor and a woman with a stroke due to damage to the Carotid artery with neck manipulation.So good reasons to be a sceptic.

 

[amaroo]

And I have seen a fellow left paraplegic after a neck fracture by a chiropractor and a woman with a stroke due to damage to the Carotid artery with neck manipulation.So good reasons to be a sceptic.

Unfortunately, it appears to be a common work place issue Why Are Medical Mistakes Our Third Leading Cause of Death?Â*|Â*Allen Frances

http://www.hospitalsafetyscore.org/...dleading-causeofdeathinus-improvementstooslow

[h=1]Hospital Errors are the Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S., and New Hospital Safety Scores Show Improvements Are Too Slow[/h]

 

[JohnK]

And I have seen a fellow left paraplegic after a neck fracture by a chiropractor and a woman with a stroke due to damage to the Carotid artery with neck manipulation.So good reasons to be a sceptic.

My old GP in Sydney used to also use chiropractic techniques. Cracked my back on more than one occasion. One time I had a stiff neck and he sent me to a chiropractor. Saw the chiropractor twice. Didn't like what he was doing to my neck. Never again.

 

[Foreigner]

WTF! 8 male players in women's national soccer team:

http://m.foxsports.com.au/what-the-...all-team-are-men/story-fnn4peyo-1227553188178

 

[Princess Fiona]

Unfortunately, it appears to be a common work place issue Why Are Medical Mistakes Our Third Leading Cause of Death?Â*|Â*Allen Frances

http://www.hospitalsafetyscore.org/...dleading-causeofdeathinus-improvementstooslow

A healthy person dying as a result of a vertebral artery dissection due to Chiropractic manipulation for headaches is one thing. Someone dying after medical errors in hospital is another.
I suppose the end result is the same. At least one patient's family can be assured that a reasonably robust investigation procedure will take place. Including looking at whether or not the treatments and care given was indicated and delivered according to current standards.

The same cannot be said of the other...

 

[Princess Fiona]

I totally get that.

I was unwell recently. Described the symptoms to 2
different GPs. They both thought I'd be OK in a couple of days.

I strongly insisted on a blood test which found I was low in Vitamin B12. Back to the GP with the results & a course of B12 injection. Then I Dr Googled low B12 levels to understand more about it & I could tick off all of the symptons.

Great example of how Dr Google shouldn't be relied on by anyone, including medical professionals.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/02/fetish-vitamin-b12-shots.html

 

[TheRealTMA]

Great example of how Dr Google shouldn't be relied on by anyone, including medical professionals.

Behind the fetish of vitamin B12 shots

Nice one, PF.

 

[medhead]

Live without wifi - not bad.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Live without wifi - not bad.

Well how about, life before wif-fi? Not bad also?

 

[cove]

Two more of my 65 year old friends have shingles. I felt sure I told them that getting a shingles shot was now available in Australia. In the US it is recommended for those over 50 years of age who have had chicken pox. It may not totally eliminate an outbreak but will substantially reduce the pain and other symptoms.