Patient Perspective Blog #3

From a patient’s standpoint, it is hard for me to pick one side. There are so many things that the patient is not told from the beginning as well as information that the patient might have chosen not to inform the physician about that can lead to adverse effects. No and days we want to have an open relationship with our primary care doctor but there are still things we do not tell them and therefore cannot receive the best care possible. And in the case of emergency if this information is not in our file how will we get the best possible care.

I feel that doctors today seem to have trouble telling their patients what they need to do. For example, my maternal grandmother is considered overweight by BMI standards; however her doctor has not told her she needs to lose weight. He has only congratulated her on lowering her cholesterol levels. Why is he afraid to tell his patient the truth? I would personally respect them more for telling the truth than for omitting it. I think it stems back to the fact that if physician themselves is overweight, they do not want to look like a hypocrite telling patients to lose weight when clearly then need to as well.

As a patient I might be thinking that I don’t want to bring up too many problems and risk the chance of my health insurance skyrocketing. Sometimes patients do not want to hear the truth and would rather live in a dream world where everything is perfect. Another example, one of my relatives is grossly overweight and a diabetic; they have been switching doctors for years because they do not want them to know they are eating way too much on a daily basis. They recently had foot surgery and because of their weight and immobility the wound never closed. It actually got to the point where they were placed in the hospital and the doctors were considering amputation. Thankfully they still have their foot and this experience has put a scare into them. But are they doing anything about it at this point? They tell everyone that they have lost weight but the only person who would really know is their doctor and they have been switching every six months. This, in my opinion is clearly case of delusion that there is nothing wrong with them. But patients such as this one do it all the time. So who can we really believe is a fault, the physician or the patient?

Wild Card Blog

Wild Card Blog:

Given free rein on writing about whatever I choose to. I found this article about Bill Gates recently donating money to Nigeria to help with polio outbreaks that are occurring. In 2009 Nigeria had about 256 polio outbreaks and they are happy to report that only three have happened this year so far. The article did not state how much money the foundation contributed but it did state that in the past 17 months there has not been a single record of the virus affecting the Kano state.

Polio is a contagious, historically devastating disease that was virtually eliminated from the Western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th century. Although polio has plagued humans since ancient times, its most extensive outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s before the vaccination, created by Jonas Salk, became widely available in 1955 (kidshealth.org).

Polio is a viral illness that, in about 95% of cases, actually produces no symptoms at all (called asymptomatic polio). In the 4% to 8% of cases in which there are symptoms (called symptomatic polio), the illness appears in three forms:

• a mild form called abortive polio (most people with this form of polio may not even suspect they have it because their sickness is limited to mild flu-like symptoms such as mild upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, and a general feeling of being ill)
• a more serious form associated with aseptic meningitis called nonparalytic polio (1% to 5% show neurological symptoms such as sensitivity to light and neck stiffness)
• a severe, debilitating form called paralytic polio (this occurs in 0.1% to 2% of cases)

People who have abortive polio or nonparalytic polio usually make a full recovery. However, paralytic polio, as its name implies, causes muscle paralysis - and can even result in death. In paralytic polio, the virus leaves the intestinal tract and enters the bloodstream, attacking the nerves (in abortive or asymptomatic polio, the virus usually doesn't get past the intestinal tract). The virus may affect the nerves governing the muscles in the limbs and the muscles necessary for breathing, causing respiratory difficulty and paralysis of the arms and legs (kidshealth.org).

I think it’s wonderful that Bill and Melinda Gates use their fame and fortune to create a foundation that gives to those, whether they are a country or a high school senior the opportunity to do great things. Because of their work the virus is almost destitute in the country of Nigeria. People are starting to not worry about losing loved one to a disease that can be stopped with the right vaccinations. Hopefully more people will start to help other countries as do Bill and Melinda Gates.

References:

Google (2010, June 7) Nigerian leader lauds Bill Gates on polio, healthcare AFP retrieved from http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5huKSzPKuqtYzJMy5Oa810tdLxY9w

Klein, J. Dowshen, S. (2007) Polio retrieved from: http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/polio.html