More Biomedical Myths Article Date: Jan 25, 2012 More Biomedical Myths
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the current leading causes of death in the United States are, in order: heart disease, cancer, stroke, and adverse drug reactions. Since nearly one out of every four hospital admissions have been reported to be the result of adverse drug reactions, there is no way of knowing the number of people whose deaths, thought to be caused by disease, may instead have been caused by adverse reactions to a prescribed medication. The same article reported that 180,000 people die each year in American hospitals due to incorrectly prescribed medicines. This figure is currently greater than all crimes and accidents combined.
In spite of billions of dollars spent on cancer research, the incidence of this disease, with all of the expensive, dangerous, and lethal treatments, is higher than ever. Studies have shown that the consumption of meat and animal fats poses a strong risk factor in heart disease and cancer, yet many fast-food restaurants are serving larger hamburgers than ever. Hospitals routinely serve patients suffering from heart disease meat, butter, and milk. Patients with cancer are given gelatin loaded with artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners that are known to be carcinogenic to laboratory animals.
With all the recent advances in medical treatment, heart attacks, which were a rarity a hundred years ago, are a leading cause of death today. Recent clinical and laboratory studies have seriously questioned the validity of the theory that a blocked coronary artery is the primary cause of a heart attack. The angiogram, an invasive test to evaluate coronary artery blockages, poses significant risks, and has often been discredited. In many cases, bypass surgery is considered unnecessary and dangerous.
Some of the most commonly prescribed anti-hypertensive medications to control high blood pressure are often considered ineffective, and may actually produce an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. A medical study of 291 patients concluded that calcium channel blockers used as anti-hypertensive agents appeared to increase the risk of heart attack, even in otherwise "healthy" hypertensive patients. A compilation of sixteen prior studies had shown that, compared to a placebo, several calcium channel blockers actually tripled a patient's risk of death." An estimated six million Americans take calcium blockers, spending about $3.5 billion on the drugs each year. This is in spite of the data demonstrating that diet, exercise, and meditation significantly assist the body in eliminating not only hypertension, but advanced heart disease as well.
In the United States, flu deaths among adults continue to rise in spite of massive flu inoculation programs. Results of a clinical study presented at the American Geriatrics Society in Atlanta in 1997 suggested that people over sixty-five may not benefit from annual flu shots. According to Dr. Haim Dannengerg of the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, the study showed that the subjects (whose average age was seventy-two) who had been given repeated flu vaccines had lower antibody levels against three major strains of flu than those who were not vaccinated. Dr. Dannengerg also found, "Our study showed that a decreased immune response to some influenza strains may follow repeated annual vaccinations."
Antibiotics, once considered allopathic medicine's answer to infectious disease, are being viewed as the cause of dangerous superinfections. The use of antibiotics to fight three common respiratory conditions — colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis — is now considered ineffective at best. Seventy percent of all infants in the United States are subjected to their first course of antibiotics during the first two hundred days of life.-' Middle ear infections are the most common reason, despite the fact that amoxicillin, the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, was demonstrated to be ineffective for this purpose in most cases. Many physicians still prescribe antibiotics for these illnesses despite evidence that they do little or nothing to treat the problems.
An editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated: "Unrealistic patient expectations coupled with insufficient time to discuss with patients why an antibiotic is not needed" are the major reasons why physicians over prescribe antibiotic drugs when they know the drugs will be ineffective and make the patients prone to superinfections. The gospel of modern medicine that inflated the importance of prescription drugs and surgery in the restoration and maintenance of health is beginning to change, but the change will not be easy. The physician, who is the quasi-ecclesiastic representative of the old story, must now communicate a new story with the "congregation," or patients. Communicating a change in the old myth by telling patients that such drugs may not be necessary is not an easy task without referring to (and questioning) the underlying mythology itself. The doctor must not only accept the changing roles between doctor and patient, and treatment and healing, but also assume a greater role as storyteller.
At the core of the biomedical approach to curing is fear. Delaying or refusing treatment within the medical mythos can be likened to not accepting the edict of a high priest or not taking the sacrament of the Church a few hundred years ago. Fear motivates us to adhere to the story that preaches hope for the individual only through the sanctioned rituals of the dominant medical culture. Healing modalities with a different story that don't follow the exact procedures of the dominant "church of medicine" are attacked and dismissed without objective evaluation. Excommunication is never pleasant. As we have seen in cases where individuals challenge cultural mythologies, punishment may be severe for those who are not "of the faith" or who convert to other beliefs regarding the philosophy of health and healing.
Those who question popular applications of the allopathic model are often met with bigotry, ignorance, and attack. Parents who reject the medical story, and refuse what they consider potentially dangerous vaccinations or medical treatment for their children, are subject to ridicule and even criminal prosecution as child abusers. A doctor who fails to recommend the treatment of choice for a serious disease, regardless of its safety or effectiveness, can lose her license, face heavy fines, and even risk a jail sentence.
Even when evidence is published in respected medical journals documenting the dangers of certain drugs and procedures, the unquestioned and almost religious belief in the biomedical model still rules the decision-making process among doctors and patients alike. If the above findings applied to practitioners of any other healing art, including chiropractors, acupuncturists, or herbalists, their professions would have been eliminated, their proponents ridiculed or thrown in jail, and their schools closed by order of the courts. Instead, the medical establishment today enjoys incredible prestige. Philanthropists donate billions of dollars for medical research, construction of hospitals, and other curing establishments. Even when it is proven that certain drugs or procedures never worked or no longer work, new treatments, based on the old biomedical story, are generated every day.
Other than advancements in repair or trauma surgery (which are amazing in their ability to save lives and restore the quality of life), conventional medicine in America probably kills more people each year through its procedures, treatments, and story than almost any other cause. The majority of people who read this will still resort to the same medical institutions for care; others will question the system. I suggest, instead, that we question the underlying myths that generate and empower the prevailing medical culture. I contend that unless we evaluate the myths that control our lives, we will often seek the same choices we have been trained to choose, even if these choices are killing us.
Network Family Wellness Center
Drs. Daniel & Richelle Knowles, D.C.
1715 15th street
Boulder, CO 80302
303.998.1000 |
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