Learning to be Healthy

This article titled What Makes Canadians Healthy or Unhealthy contains an interesting discussion of why just spending more money on health care will not improve health in the general population. Many of our health problems are influenced by factors we can influence either alone or collectively as a society. 

There was an online article in the news lately talking about the Nurses Study. It stated that if you eat a good diet in your middle years you are more likely to "live long and prosper".  Here prosper means having no diseases that interfere with your work and enjoyment of life.

We have never been in a better position to find out what we need to know to stay healthy. My dad had a book of advice called "Dr. Chase's Recipes" which gave him advice on common illness. More than 100 years ago it was second only to the Bible in popularity, and sold over 4 million copies. We've come a long way since then, and we still have the same desire to know how to take care of ourselves. 

Doctor Chase from my Dad's own copy

You can find so much more accurate information now through online resources than you ever could from Dr Chase.  The internet is like a giant all-you-can-eat buffet. 

The hardest part is discovering which resources will do you the most good. In one sense it's like a first trip to Disney World where every attraction looks equally good. The truth is that they're not equal and planning the trip with a guidebook can help you hit the high points and maximize your time.

So who can you trust for your online research? Everyone says their own site is excellent.  Dr. Google gets more visits than anyone but beware - the loudest voices and top-ranked sites that come up are not always the most accurate.  On the plus side Google has changed the way it ranks sites so that credibility is more likely to be near the top of the ranking.

Knowing who and what to trust is a skill that can be  acquired, but it takes work and judgement to learn to do this. Lectures, webinars and other resources made available by credible and mainstream organizations and advocacy groups are often a good place to start you out on your search. 

Social Support is a plus 

It's when you begin to educate yourself that you need the most help to get on the right path. Here are some ideas:

Sign up for the Reaching Out with Arthritis Research (R.O.A.R.) webinar/seminar which is held in the fall every year in Vancouver Click here for past events and to hear patients, doctors, researchers and ethicists talk about the benefits and harms of using online technologies in health and healthcare.

If you have Sjogren's Syndrome you could attend the Annual Patient Conference. This year - the 10th Annual Conference - the line up of speakers was amazing. I have wanted to hear Dr Robert Fox speak for years. Now I'm looking forward to the On-line Webinar in 2017 on Oct 21. It's called Navigating an Immune System Gone Wild.

If you're starting to learn you'll find get reliable information. If you are already experienced you'll hear about the latest research. Involved patients have better outcomes!

Many pathways to knowledge

When You Know You're Sick and the Doctor Says No

We are the experts on our own bodies so if you go to the doctor with serious concerns and are dismissed with an offhand "Take 12 aspirins a day and come back in three months" you would not feel understood.

There's been a lot of talk about Dr Google and how he is an unreliable help to patients, but Dr G is there for you at all hours of the day and night, not like Dr Revolving Door. 

In my experiences the interested, engaged and enlightened doctors on Twitter and on their own blogs are exceptional. Not all doctors post videos about issues they commonly see to make life easier for themselves and their patients, nor do they make themselves available through social media to connect with others.

There are still a lot of adequate (or less so) doctors out there with blind spots and poor awareness about certain health problems, particularly if the diseases are less common. If you sent them a herd of zebras and horses we would all have horse problems and no zebra would be diagnosed.

                            Not all 4 legged quadrupeds are horses    AMcKinnon

I agree that the best way to find trustworthy online resources would be to get some guidance from the medical profession but a doctor who diagnoses you as fit or barely ill is usually unlikely to feel you need guidance on where or how to follow up so that you can learn more. 

Likewise if you don't think that those nagging pains or odd feelings add up to enough of a problem to see the doctor then Google may be helpful in alerting you that you should discuss these changes with a professional. 

When I was dissatisfied with my non-diagnosis all I did was go to see another doctor who turned out to be as blind as the first. He gave me stronger drugs at increasing doses for treatment as I continued to get worse. Seeing him was not empowerment on my part, just a defensive move. When it got really bad I gave up on the two of them and went to a surgeon - finally a proactive move! And the surgeon diagnosed the problem and sent me to a rheumatologist.

I could have been more insistent in the first and second encounters and tried to get a more helpful answer but I was an inexperienced patient and no match for the polished dismissive skills of the doctor. In fact when you're sick your thought processes are less effective so that does not help you to make progress in getting a diagnosis.
The consequences of a missed/delayed diagnosis can be serious. That's where support groups and online resources are at their best.  People who have gone through a similar experience know a great deal that can help you. 

The old adage "If it's not broke don't fix it" which accounts for some well thought-out watchful non-treatment doesn't always help. One person's "not broke" is another person's "I can't live like this. I have a serious problem."  I don't want to end up with this on my tombstone.

                                      from keywesttravelguide.com

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18155338

Reconsidering patient empowerment in chronic illness: a critique of models of self-efficacy and bodily control.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3056146/?report=classic Identity and psychological ownership in chronic illness and disease state