Many would agree with me that medicine has changed significantly over the past decades. Doctors have stopped approaching patients’ problems individually and now only listen to the patient for a few minutes, whereas in the past, the initial visit could last an hour or more. Previously, a doctor could make a house call if a patient was feeling unwell, but now patients have to wait for hours in the hospital queue, even if they can barely stand and are on the verge of losing consciousness.
On one hand, this system is newer and should be an improvement over the previous one. On the other hand, it doesn’t reflect the reality. So why have there been so many more health problems lately? And why doesn’t a doctor’s visit, which sometimes requires waiting for months, always solve your problems?
The difference between acute and chronic issues
Problems can be acute or chronic. Modern medicine is well-suited to addressing acute problems; that’s what it tends to identify. However, when it comes to chronic issues, the situation is less promising. You may have heard that Lyme disease is not treated in Canada. In reality, they do treat it, but only in its acute form. And even the acute form is not always treated because doctors want to see the typical Lyme rash immediately after a tick bite, and this rash appears in only 30-50% of cases. The tick bite test never gives a positive result.
The same story applies to heavy metal poisoning. Acute poisoning is treated, but chronic poisoning is never even checked. A similar situation is currently unfolding with COVID-related problems. The whole country has been collectively treating acute COVID for three years, while post-COVID chronic issues are systematically ignored.
Who can help understand chronic illness?
Functional medicine doctors are the ones who address chronic diseases. They can be MDs (Medical Doctors) or NDs (Naturopathic Doctors), although in Canada, NDs are more common. In terms of cost, ND services are much more accessible. As for insurance coverage, an MD practicing functional medicine in Canada cannot use our provincial health insurance to cover their services. After all, chronic problems are not resolved in a matter of minutes, and insurance typically covers only brief visits. NDs may be able to use benefits for your diagnosis and treatment, but they often fall short if you have a serious chronic problem. However, at the very least, benefits can allow you to undergo basic tests and make decisions based on that information.
When can you expect a doctor to solve your problem in a single visit?
For example, if a child develops a sore throat and a fever, it’s an acute phase of an infectious problem. There are antibiotics that can solve this problem. It’s straightforward – a few days of treatment, and the problem is resolved without needing to return to the doctor.
But everything changes if, after such treatment, the body starts producing antibodies that attack the basal ganglia, and now this problem is called PANDAS. No specialist will ever recognize it immediately, let alone cure it right away. It has become a chronic problem.
If we compare it to a race, the first case is like running a short distance, while the second is like running a marathon. Quick fixes won’t work here; the treatment is lengthy and requires changes in diet, lifestyle, and the use of various therapies.
Furthermore, official Canadian medicine doesn’t yet recognize many of these problems. This means that your family doctor will never diagnose PANDAS; such a disease isn’t even listed among the diagnoses they can make. You can endlessly go from one doctor to another for this reason because all MD doctors in a specific province follow the same guidelines.
If a patient is seeking a quicker solution, it will hinder the treatment of a chronic illness
Chronic problems require time, often much more time than most people think. It takes time to identify the issues, and it takes time for the necessary changes to occur in the body. If a patient is not prepared for such work, they may be unsatisfied if the problem is not resolved in 1-2 visits. In that case, the only advice is to use something to alleviate the symptoms, such as sleeping pills or painkillers. However, this will only suppress the problem internally and make it more advanced. But it’s every individual’s right to decide which approach to use for their treatment.
If you truly want to cure a chronic problem, it cannot be done quickly or on its own. You need to regularly visit a doctor who is willing to work with your problem using a comprehensive approach, such as incorporating functional medicine methods. Regularly means not every day but once every 1-2 months, which is usually sufficient. Regular preventive check-ups, which help identify problems at an early stage and often allow for their reversal, are typically done once a year.
Main factors that can lead patients to believe that treatment is not working:
The fact that modern medicine is currently built on short visits lasting a few minutes has led many patients to believe that this approach can treat any problem. When doctors can’t immediately help them, patients think they simply don’t want to. In reality, only a specific list of the most common problems can be addressed on the spot. If you don’t fit into the standard scheme, your problem will go unnoticed until it develops into a critical health issue. And when everything becomes more evident, your problem will be identified, and treatment will be prescribed. Needless to say, if the illness hadn’t progressed to such an extent, you probably wouldn’t have such a serious health problem. Your body likely warned you about the problem, but you took a pill and eliminated the unpleasant symptom.
The influence of the internet on treatment:
Studies show that even if a doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong with a patient and doesn’t prescribe any medication, the time spent with the doctor has a therapeutic effect on the patient. Often, patients can come to the right conclusion themselves if the doctor spends a little more time and asks them the right guiding questions. The doctor should also explain why certain conclusions are incorrect. Diagnosis is a complex matter, and in the absence of a specialist who will listen and help figure things out, people resort to self-diagnosis on the internet and sometimes even self-treatment. After all, people still need to share their problems with someone and discuss them.
The fact that doctors no longer spend enough time with patients and fail to explain even critical things, such as the possibility of medication dependency, has a profoundly negative impact on the modern situation. As a result, people try to find solutions on their own and, of course, make many mistakes.
What happens with self-diagnosis:
It is very common to hear someone say, “It helped my friend, and I thought I had the same symptoms, so I decided to try it too.” Symptoms can be the same for diametrically opposite problems.
There is also a risk in using the wrong combination of supplements. It doesn’t matter if you bought a bottle where everything was already combined before you, as it does not guarantee safety. Calcium with vitamin D needs to be taken at different times. Pay attention to how many supplements are sold with calcium and vitamin D. Such supplements pose a risk of calcification throughout the body. Calcifications can disrupt blood flow, and at the sites where they form, infections or malignancies can occur.
Of course, you need to take such a supplement for a long time to experience noticeable harm. But how often does it happen that a doctor prescribes something, you start feeling better, and you simply continue purchasing that supplement on an ongoing basis? However, the doctor most likely planned to conduct a course and then change the prescription.
Therapy should be individually tailored to treat each patient.
There is no universal approach to treating even a single problem. Each therapy has a success rate, and doctors try to use therapies that have shown effectiveness in the highest percentage of people. This often works, but if the problem is complex, a universal approach is not possible. It is also important to understand that with a chronic problem, it is necessary to treat the underlying issue layer by layer. This requires subsequent visits. Prescriptions are made, then progress in the treatment is analyzed, the protocol is adjusted, and on the next visit, the process is repeated.
Pay attention to how supplements and medications are prescribed to you.
Each prescription states: take 1-2-3 times a day, in such a dose, with or without food, for 1 month, and then reevaluate. This is not written just for the sake of it! The reevaluation may lead to a decision to continue the therapy, order tests to assess the need for its continuation, prescribe an alternative therapy, or decide to discontinue the current therapy. To facilitate this process, it is necessary to schedule a follow-up visit after a month to discuss what has transpired during that time.
Why it is important to have criteria to track progress.
The bad quickly fades from memory. Often, patients come in with multiple problems and on subsequent visits, they say that nothing has changed. It becomes necessary to review the records of previous visits and inquire about any changes related to each of the initial problems. It is then revealed that the headache has stopped, and there are fewer sleep issues, but somehow it has been forgotten. In other words, some of the problems have disappeared, and the patient has already forgotten about them. Let me say right away, this is absolutely normal. People should generally forget the bad and focus on the good. This is where questionnaires and repeat laboratory tests come in handy, as they allow tracking the progress of the treatment. Tracking progress is important as it helps adjust the treatment plan. Additionally, a negative result is also a result and can be useful for protocol adjustments.
So why doesn’t therapy always work even when prescribed by a specialist?
It is important to remember that patients often come to the doctor when the problem has become unsolvable for them. And, as mentioned before, except in cases of acute conditions, a single visit is not enough. Even when the correct treatment is prescribed, patients can become confused with the recommendations. This can happen due to poor concentration resulting from illness or simply because they forgot what the doctor told them.
The only way to address poor concentration is through subsequent visits, which allow checking the correctness of following the recommendations. It is during these visits that adjustments can be made if there is no adequate response to the therapy.
If patients forget the recommendations, it is better to write everything down for them. That’s what I always do. However, there are cases where patients do not carefully read what I write. There is nothing to worry about as long as the patient regularly returns for ongoing treatment. Even if a patient gets confused and makes a mistake in the dosage, a follow-up visit allows correcting that error by adjusting the dosage.
Why are follow-up visits necessary?
Let’s list once again why follow-up visits are necessary for treating a chronic problem in consideration of the language used in Canada:
- Check if therapies are being implemented correctly and adjust medication dosages.
- Discontinue or introduce new therapies.
- Schedule repeat tests.
- Review the initial diagnosis and adjust the treatment plan.
- Discuss new problems that also need to be addressed in the treatment plan.
- Perform necessary procedures.
- Additionally, during these visits, the doctor motivates the patient to continue the treatment.
If you don’t give the doctor the opportunity to conduct the treatment and simply rely on the assumption that positive progress will happen on its own, don’t be surprised if your positive changes cease. It doesn’t make sense to go to another specialist and start over from scratch. Chronic problems are not solved quickly by anyone. It will only increase costs because you will need to undergo new evaluations and start everything from the beginning. If you have achieved positive results even after the initial appointment, it means the doctor understands your problem, and you just need to be patient and continue the treatment.
What can hinder the treatment?
Conservatism in thinking can hinder a patient from changing their lifestyle and diet.
Unrealistic expectations can discourage a patient if they don’t see what they wanted to see. For example, expecting genetic problems to disappear is not realistic. No doctor can solve such a task at the moment.
Resistance is also a common reason why some people believe that therapy is not effective.
Sometimes people hold onto dysfunction because they don’t want to change anything in their life. Other examples include:
- Fear of being different, fear of having to give up something familiar in their life, such as certain foods.
- Fear of changes in relationships. Some people want to remain sick to avoid addressing a deeper problem.
- Reluctance to be labeled as “unhealthy.” Since people usually don’t discuss their health problems in a narrow circle of acquaintances, it may seem like such problems exist only for you.
What can hinder treatment?
Conservatism in thinking can hinder a patient from changing their lifestyle and diet. Unrealistic expectations can discourage a patient if they don’t see what they wanted to see. For example, expecting genetic issues to disappear is not realistic. No doctor can solve such a task at the moment. Resistance is also a common reason why some people believe that therapy doesn’t work. Sometimes people hold onto dysfunction because they don’t want to change anything in their life. Other examples include:
- Fear of not fitting in, fear of having to give up something familiar in their life, such as stopping the consumption of certain foods.
- Fear of changes in relationships. Some people prefer to remain sick to avoid addressing deeper underlying issues.
- Reluctance to carry the label of being “unhealthy.” Because people usually don’t discuss their health problems within a narrow circle of acquaintances, it may seem like you’re the only one facing such problems.
How do people assess the cost of treatment?
People never listen to financial advice from incompetent individuals. Managing finances is no easy task, which is why learning effective savings methods is essential for navigating the complexities of budgeting and achieving financial stability. However, many find it acceptable to listen to medical recommendations from people who are far from the field of medicine. The reason for this is likely the lack of trust people have in doctors. Believe me, they are well-educated, but our free healthcare system is focused on treating acute gaps and problems that have reached an extreme stage. There simply isn’t enough funding for everything else. Canadian doctors work for the system that pays them, not for you. If they exceed the allocated resources, the system will dismiss them. As the saying goes, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.”
Some people believe that the cost of illness is lower than the cost of recovery. In reality, it’s almost always a matter of priorities. If you consider a vacation trip or buying a new car more important than treatment, then those are your priorities. But you will always reach the vacation spot, and the old car still runs fine, while the illness will progress, and after some time, you will find yourself in a different, often irreversible, reality. In the end, both your home and car depend solely on your health. Without health, you won’t be able to afford anything else.
In simpler terms, if you entrust your health to our free healthcare system, your body, or rather, your vehicle, is not regularly checked, preventive maintenance is not conducted, and they simply wait until the wear reaches a critical stage, and only then does the system do something for you. After all, you don’t hold any value for this system; if it’s not you, it will be someone else. The system is more concerned with staying afloat rather than specifically caring for you. Therefore, it’s better not to ignore the signals from your body and avoid relying solely on symptomatically prescribed medications. It’s not the best solution for your body; it’s simply the most budget-friendly solution of our healthcare system.
It’s necessary to realize that your health is your responsibility, just like maintaining your home or car. You simply need to allocate funds in your family budget for your medical care and stop relying on our free healthcare system if you want to improve your quality of life and prevent critical problems that can lead to serious and irreversible consequences for your health.
Conclusion
- If you want to address the root causes of your problems rather than temporarily relieving symptoms, you need to work with a doctor who practices a functional approach to disease treatment.
- Try not to neglect your health. The earlier you address the problem, the greater the likelihood of resolving it faster and cheaper than if you let it progress.
- If you think that treatment is too expensive now when you’re still earning, what will happen if the untreated problem leads to complete or partial loss of ability to work? That often happens with chronic problems. The situation becomes particularly dangerous when the illness negatively affects brain function. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.