Hi Everybody,
Here are a few new tidbits for you…
TALK ABOUT A MARKUP!- We have a friend in China having health problems that we are trying to help. One of the things we recommended were certain blood tests. This person paid around $200 for all the lab tests we recommended. In America, the same lab work would have cost in excess of $4000 in one of our hospitals.
Two things need to be said about this. First, in China, $200 is still a lot of money compared to what they make, so this needs to be kept in mind.
But here is something else to consider: In our office, we use a type of professional “co-op” to order blood work and other lab tests. The cost of the tests that our friend in China had is about $200 through our co-op, which is about the same as what it cost her. That tells us that this blood work costs around $200 universally, including a profit for the lab. However, the hospital charges upward of $4000, and uses the SAME lab as our co-op. That is one heck of a profit mark up!
MEAN MEDICAL TRAINING- Many people complain that their medical doctors seem to have no empathy for them or their condition – in other words, no bedside manner. People often describe their medical provider as gruff, know it all, pompous, or arrogant.
A surprisingly consistent body of research has developed showing that it seems to be the conventional medical training itself that causes medical doctors to be this way. Several studies concluded that this problem was a threat to healthcare. Without proper empathy, medical care was sub-par at best.
What is most interesting is the root cause of the decline in empathy of medical doctors during their training. According to the studies, the reason medical doctors end up this way is because medical training is so psychologically traumatic that it produces “real, diagnosable psychological traumas that may never be fully resolved and may adversely affect the quality of healthcare provided”.
In other words, your medical doctor may seem pompous and uncaring, but he/she may actually be suffering from a real, diagnosable psychological condition which was created by the very training that made him/her a doctor.
BACK TO THE DARK AGES- Authorities say that we are on the edge of an “antibiotic apocalypse”. Antibiotics are being so overused that germs are becoming resistant quicker that we can create new medications.
Years ago this situation was foretold, but the Pharmaceutical Industry has so far been able to create new medications fast enough to keep the threat at bay. But according to people in the know, that situation is starting to change. One of the problems is that more money is being spent on new “lifestyle medications” (like Viagra for example), and also on ongoing diseases like cancer and diabetes. These medications have far more profit potential than antibiotics and so research and development is focused on these types of drugs, rather than on new antibiotics.
What can you do about it? First, stay out of hospitals if at all possible – this is where most people acquire these “superbugs”. If you do have to be in a hospital, insist that anyone around you, especially doctors and nurses examining you or working on you, wash their hands and wear gloves. In addition, you can reduce your risk of contagious disease by up to 51% if you wash your hands more often.
Other than that, only take antibiotics when absolutely necessary (colds, the flu and routine ear infections are examples where antibiotics are really not recommended). If you do end up on an antibiotic, make sure to take the full course, even if your symptoms clear up. This is because by not finishing the antibiotic, too many bacteria are left surviving and have now been exposed to and lived through that antibiotic. Their bodies will now develop a resistance to it which leaves you with stronger bacteria.
Hope this helps,
Dr Matt and Dr Robin
mattandrobin@yahoo.com (email)
This week’s bit of Useless Information: Albert Einstein never wore socks.
This email is courtesy of Matthew Barnes, D.C. and Robin Barnes, D.C. Neither this nor any of our emails are intended to be medical advice and should not be taken as such. They are opinion and are for informational purposes only. None of the nutrients discussed here are meant to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.