by Barbara Berkeley, MD
Greetings from the land of semi-retirement.
It has been just over a year since I left my primary practice--fully intending to continue patient care in another setting. But fate intervened in the form of a local dance contest and shifted my focus to pursuit of a lifelong dream of becoming a dancer. If not now...when??? Since that fateful moment, I have trained endless hours and have competed in three world salsa competitions (not very successfully!). I am also part of a ladies salsa team. I have travelled to Mexico and Miami for competitions and have performed in many local venues too. It has been magical and amazing, but more of that later. Beneath the sparkly costumes and sore muscles I remain a doctor and I cannot shut down that part of me that remains ever-curious about observing illness and health.
And here is what I see: an increasing and disturbing reliance on technology and pills. While both can be miraculous....life saving.....this reliance has a destructive side. I would venture so far as to say that for most of us, the harmful aspects of readily available technology and of our belief in the magic of medicines overshadows their benefits.
The Vortex
The vortex is the word I use to describe what happens to patients who unwittingly get sucked into the techno-medical machinery. Example: you have a nagging little pain in your lower abdomen. Your doctor decides maybe you should have a CT scan. The scan shows an unrelated spot on your kidney. You are referred to a kidney doctor. A urine test shows a tiny amount of blood in your urine. You are told you need a cystoscopy to look into your bladder. The kidney doctor orders additional kidney tests. The spot doesn't look worrisome, but now you've received alot more radiation. The cystoscopy doesn't turn up anything but causes you to develop a urinary tract infection. You are put on antibiotics. The antibiotics kill off the healthy gut bacteria and you develop diarrhea. You are told you have c diff--an infection that occurs when bad bacteria in the gut takes over. You are put on a course of another antibiotic to kill of the c diff. Meanwhile, your abdominal pain went away a long time ago.
This example is not at all overblown People are sucked into the vortex every day. If you speak with doctors about their own medical care they will tell you that they don't want most of the testing that is prescribed to patients. What they most fear is the vortex. But when doctors see patients they are moved to be much more aggressive than they themselves might want. They fear being sued. And they also realize that patients have been conditioned to believe that testing is good. Patients think that looking for things will provide answers. In fact, looking too much can be a disaster. A good doctor knows when to look and when to tell you that there is probably nothing wrong with you. That it's ok to wait it out. But in order to do that, a doctor must know and understand you. You must have a relationship. And who has a relationship with their doctor anymore?
The Magic Beans
Perhaps we can be forgiven for thinking that pills are magical. Our love of pills reminds me of our affinity for Jack in the Beanstalk, the childhood story in which a poor boy receives the gift of some colorful, shiny beans. They grow into a giant beanstalk that ultimately leads him to defeat the evil giant and win the golden goose. We are taught to believe that medicines will defeat the evil force of illness and lead to the land of ultimate happiness.
Every day we are bombarded by TV and print ads that tell us that pills are magic beans. They will cure our sadness, make our bowels work better, take away our psoriasis, release the diabetes cure that is "within". And then there are all the over the counter pills: the ones that will restore brain health with a chemical "found in jellyfish", provide health and vitality through combinations of vitamins and minerals.....and on and on.
We have come a long way with medicines, but they are far from magic. If we believe that taking a pill cures us it takes away our responsibility for our own health. And this is a great tragedy. The magic is not in the pills....it is in US. We inhabit the miraculous machine that can heal itself. But the most potent healing comes not from a pill, but from restoring the body to a pristine healthy state through basic, proper care. If, with scrupulous care and good maintenance, we still need a pill for blood pressure, cholesterol, or whatever...it should be an add on to what we are able to do ourselves.
In the past week, it has been reported that urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly dangerous because the magical pills that cure them have stopped working. Read an article on this here. Another major study confirmed the finding that almost no dietary supplements show any ability to prolong life or protect our hearts. In other words, they are just expensive placebos. Read here.
And no medicine should be considered free of side effects. We often do not recognize significant problems with meds until they have been on the market for some time. The anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx, which I used freely in the days before I became suspect of meds, was pulled from the market for causing a significant increase in heart attacks. GI doctors like my husband can tell you how often they have to stop GI bleeds in people who are taking anti-inflammatories that can be bought over the counter in any drugstore. Even the ubiquitous drug Tylenol can kill you if taken in an overdose. Antidepressants, while vital for those with true clinical depression, are often given to people who are just overwhelmed or having temporary troubles. Over the course of the years I have seen countless patients who were never taken off these meds and who gained tremendous amounts of weight on them, never realizing that they probably no longer needed their "happy pills".
And, as I've written here before, pills often give you nice lab results but don't interrupt the underlying processes that are causing your problem.
But you. You can do so much that is truly real for your health by getting down in the trenches and doing the hard work. After all, nothing in life is achieved without work and focus. We know this, but the instant fix looks so good!!!
How to Dance (or do whatever your heart desires) And Keep on Doing It
So, back to the salsa dancing. From the moment we are born, we start the process of dying. Yet when we are young we don't think of ourselves as aging or falling apart. At some moment, we start to believe something different about ourselves, that we are over the hill--- when in fact we have been changing and getting older all along. The moment of believing you are no longer capable comes at a different time for each of us and once it has overtaken us it severely limits our beliefs about what we can do. Wouldn't it be great to live the vast majority of our lives with the belief that we can do pretty much whatever we want to? That's my personal goal. So let me share what I believe to be the keys...and as always I will qualify this by saying that these are just my own beliefs.
- Take scrupulous care of the miraculous machinery you inhabit: your body. Do this FIRST, before you resort to medicines, treatments and supplements. To do this: keep your weight in as healthy a range as you possibly can, don't eat alot of calories, spend parts of each day without eating to allow your body to balance its stores, don't eat late into the evening, eat many fewer carbohydrates except for fruits and vegetables, get 7 hours of sleep, limit your screen time, and EXERCISE every single day with joy.
- Challenge yourself physically and mentally. There is alot written about doing crosswords and mental games, but I believe that mental challenge means forcing yourself to stay in the mainstream. Read. Keep up with what is going on in the world and remain technologically savvy. Learn how to use technology capably so that you can remain relevant over time.Right now, I'm learning Spanish and I would highly recommend learning to speak another language as a worthwhile mental goal. As for physical challenge, try very hard not to believe that you are incapable of doing new physical things. I found out I could run after I tried. I found out I could do a split after I actually gave up believing I couldn't. Work with someone who can help you, but try. You will amaze yourself.
- Stay relevant. It is easy to retreat into a smaller world of games, netflix binges, and food. Don't let the world pass you by. Spend time with people who are interesting and who challenge you. Don't limit your friendships to people of your own age. Run the gamut. If you are able to do it, travel and learn about what lies outside our borders. Let go of the past and live in the today. Your past will make your richer and more interesting, but it cannot be where you live.
- Hold onto the belief that you can actually do amazing things. This will be hard and you will get discouraged at times. But when you do something that simply stuns you it will be so worth it!