http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/ ... erous.html
This article comments on a number of 'dangerous and unproven treatments' within the health system. It's research data comes from the U.S., however, similar treatments are offered in Thailand.

'...some researchers speculate that one-third or more of all treatments and procedures performed in the United States have no proven benefits. What’s more, a number of these unhelpful services produce hazardous side effects in patients.'


Please note the use of 'some' and 'speculate'. Completely accurate figures are hard to come by because comparative studies between treatments are rarely conducted.

How can members make use of this information? Well. I can only speak for myself.

If I accept the article's findings, I would:

1. never take antibiotics for a cold or flu.
2. seriously question the need for an hysterectomy in any female member of my family
3. not receive any CT or MRI unless there is no other means to diagnose a condition.
4. question the need for knee surgery for arthritis
5. not have any prostate cancer PSA test without other symptoms being present.
6. not take drugs to reduce high blood pressure but use herbal diuretics or natural products such as good old apple cider vinegar.
7. not undergo lung surgery
8. research the risks and success rate of spinal-fusion surgery before allowing a knife anywhere near me.
9. If there were only the two choices, select drugs over angioplasty with heart stents. The outcome appears to be the same with less risks.

In Thailand private hospitals DO have to make a profit. Whether that influences their treatment recommendations or not is open to debate. Feedback from friends suggests it does.

Those who normally object to these kinds of posts, please review the sources used in the article before complaining. Otherwise you will be ignored.

MrP,

I pretty much agree with most of the assertions and evidence in your post except numbers 5 and 6 on your list. I must say I will research the PSA thing more but so far I've always had one recommended and done since age 50 whenever I have a complete physical exam (approximately once a year). As for number 6, I tried apple cider vinegar (as you know) in an earlier experiment while not taking my prescribed BP meds and my pressure shot up to scary levels (to me).

Blood pressure problems, like many other things can just be hereditary and maybe little can be done about it other than using drugs. I was pronounced with borderline high blood pressure when I was 18 years old, thin as a rail, and fit as a fiddle, so I think it is hereditary in my case rather than a product of lifestyle. Same goes (in my case) for cholesterol. I take meds for that too but when I was first tested (around age 35) and found a level of 280 (with LDL being way out of proportion as well), I followed the doctor's advice for six months rigidly (he dictated my diet and got me exercising). While I lost weight and felt (and looked) better after the six months, my cholesterol level remained almost exactly the same... heredity strikes again, therefore meds necessary or I stroke out like my father and grandfather did with clogged arteries.

This may well be true.

However an observation from personal experience of both good and bad practice from the same hospital.

Prior to April this year I was experiencing acute symptoms of an enlarged prostate - peeing lord knows how many times a day and night - literally little & often.

This was fueled by previously being advised of a minor enlargement two years before during a medical and being prescribed expensive drugs to assist in the matter - which ultimately were not working.

Working here in India and prior to my trip back home last April, I had got myself into such a state of mind that I had booked a check up with the Eurology dept at Bumrungrad, arranged for insurance cover of a possible TUR-P operation and headed for Bangkok.

(In short - the TUR-p procedure is to insert a large tube up one's bell end into the area being obstructed by the enlarged prostate. Said enlarged area then being either zapped by laser or burnt out by electrode. Said procedure being about THB 250,000 + or minus THB 50,000 and 4-5 days in hospital.)

When checked the next day by a different doctor than the doctor who first 'diagnosed' the prostate - I had a shock

I spent almost 8 hours having tests and some retests - there were all sorts of exclamation marks over my results............

I finally sat in front of the doctor fearing the worst.

He showed me all the results, ultrasound images etc etc - explaining all.

YES, I have an enlarged prostate - but no more than what a normal 60 year old fat git would expect to have - and it had NOT enlarged from my previous examination.

No big C and generally all clear.

So WHY? - Says I - do I keep peeing egg cups each time I go?

'It's in yer head' says the Doc.

YOU need to be in charge of your bladder - instead it's in charge of you!!!!!!!
You need potty training.........

I followed his advice - and all is well with the old pecker

My conclusion?

If you are not sure - get a second or third opinion or you may be seriously out of pocket and have undergone a completely unnecessary procedure.

On the other hand..............in May of 2002 I noticed a little arrowhead-like projectile in my toilet bowl whenever I peed......examining one of these as closely as I could, I determined it was a little blood clot, took a sample to my physician and asked what it was.

This led to a quick visit to a urologist, a very fun dick-ectomy (if you don't know you don't want to) and a subsequent T-Urp to see what was up.

What was up was a tumor right at the joining between my prostate and my urethra.

The big point of all this is my PSA was a nearly undetetctable .012, and had been for years.

The PSA test is just an indicator............make sure you get regular physical checkups. Just like with your heart, lots of people who seemed perfectly healthy drop dead every day because they never took the time to get regular checkups and make sure what looked O.K. really was.


.

Yes. I recall your experiment with ACV. In this instance I would have tailed off the drugs gradually. ACV typically takes about 3 weeks before you see good effects.

There are differing views on here about the PSA test. Which is why my opinion is a personal one.

Just in case...

Please do not change your treatment based on anything said on here without conducting your own research or consulting a qualified Doctor. Ideally one familiar with alternatives.

There's some more useful info here on PSA testing from a well respected agency :

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinfor ... Atest.aspx

[quote="MrPlum"]http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/07/costly_and_dangerous.html
This article comments on a number of 'dangerous and unproven treatments' within the health system. It's research data comes from the U.S., however, similar treatments are offered in Thailand.

Please note the use of 'some' and 'speculate'. Completely accurate figures are hard to come by because comparative studies between treatments are rarely conducted.

How can members make use of this information? Well. I can only speak for myself.

If I accept the article's findings, I would:

1. never take antibiotics for a cold or flu.
2. seriously question the need for an hysterectomy in any female member of my family
3. not receive any CT or MRI unless there is no other means to diagnose a condition.
4. question the need for knee surgery for arthritis
5. not have any prostate cancer PSA test without other symptoms being present.
6. not take drugs to reduce high blood pressure but use herbal diuretics or natural products such as good old apple cider vinegar.
7. not undergo lung surgery
8. research the risks and success rate of spinal-fusion surgery before allowing a knife anywhere near me.
9. If there were only the two choices, select drugs over angioplasty with heart stents. The outcome appears to be the same with less risks.



Reading the sources you have used does give a lot of food for thought Mr P

# 1. I never take antibiotics for a cold, just lots of Vit C and maybe a paracetamol if required.

# 3. I have had CT and MRI scans to help diagnose bone and soft tissue cancer and damn glad I did, as it enabled the doctors to catch it before it got a good hold of me.

# 5. I have a PSA test done each year but unless I had other symptoms such as, difficulty in passing urine, unable to urinate, peeing often (particularly at night), weak or interrupted urine flow, pain when urinating, blood in the urine and pain in the lower back, hips and upper thighs, then I would not bother to have any other invasive (biopsy) tests done, as some of these symptoms can also be caused by other conditions such as benign prostate enlargement. False positive results can also be a bit scary for a guy to receive.

# 6. I tried the ACV for about 5 months but my Systolic and Diastolic results went up like HHFF but I know of others who have tried the ACV and their BP results have gone down?

# 9. I have had two stents fitted and I'm also on a cocktail of drugs for heart and vascular disease, this after suffering 2 Heart attacks. The stents I had fitted were the expensive ones (drug coated) and I don't seem to have suffered from any ill effects from them up to now. Fingers crossed.

All in all Mr P, good advice.

Some months ago I was suffering from Anemia and was admitted to hospital with a very low HB (Iron) level.
It was around 5.4 and should have been 12-17. I declined a transfusion and instead, with the Consultant, decided on a series of semi-invasive tests to get to the bottom (no pun intended) of the problem.

I had a colonoscopy but they had to stop due to the pain (loopy colon) so I was given a barium enema which was also unsuccessful, as they missed (loopy again ) the ascending colon section.

Then I was given another colonoscopy under general anaesthetic but nothing was found in the large colon but I was still suffering from anaemia, so I was sent to a specialist cancer hospital where I was given a Capsuloscopy.

This involves fasting for 12 hours before swallowing a small camera with flashing lights and wearing a receiver around your waist and 8 sensor pickups stuck to your body.

The camera transits through your stomach, then through the small intestine and finally the colon, which takes about 9 hours and you can eat after 5 hours.

The camera takes around 55,000 pictures, which are transmitted to the receiver and are downloaded to a computer at the end of the test.

The gastroenterologist then runs the pics like a video, whilst the camera passes out the next day and is flushed away. I saw the pics which were crystal clear and show up any lesion/problem in the large and small bowels.
In my case, it was suspected I had cancer in the small bowel which was causing me to lose blood, but it turned out to be Angiodysplasia, (google it) unfortunately in my case it is virtually untreatable and definitely incurable, as I have it in many areas of the small bowel, but it's better than having cancer. So I'm not complaining as I've had that before.

Whenever I see my doctors on any issue I ALWAYS question the treatment plan they offer and get on to google before allowing them to do anything to me. So far, so good.
For most people, when faced with a serious symptom they tend to put all their hopes in a doctors hands, and never question them on what tests they use to get a diagnosis.

I tend to push the doctors, and generally we come to an agreement on the best (for me) way forward.

I pretty much agree with HHF here - in particular the hereditary factor in high BP and cholesterol. An increasing number of my friends are on meds for high BP in particular - but only one has made a stance and investigated alternative dietary control, which seems to be working. One struggled for a year to control her high cholesterol through diet, but eventually caved in to statins. So I think it's very much 'horses for courses' with these conditions. If it works - go with it.
But having lost a friend to prostate cancer in January I do believe that regular screening for men should be just as routine as PAP screening for women. One problem with that is that men just don't seem to be as aware of the risk as women are. In the UK it has become routine for women to be called for both PAP and regular breast screening, and by and large we trot along. Men don't.

As for antibiotics for colds and flu - no way. Fluids, warmth if needed, aspirin if you think it will help. These things run their course and won't be rushed.

Stents and knee surgery - well I've seen some very successful outcomes for both, particularly with stents, which can really change the quality of life. Knee replacements can as well, but still have a relatively short lifetime before another replacement is needed - and in the UK are largely restricted to patients over 60.

Hysterectomies are another matter altogether. I don't agree with elective surgery simply to avoid the symptoms of menopause. There are other ways to cope. But the smear test doesn't detect ovarian cancer, and if some women prefer to pay to avoid the risk fair enough. There are also women who suffer so severly with heavy/painful periods that a hysterectomy would be a blessing - were it routinely available on the NHS. Lets face it - once childbearing is over there is no use at all for a womb and a pair of ovaries! Whereas men still need their bits...