If it weren't for modern medicine, would you still be alive?

I am just curious how many among us wouldn't be here if it weren't for modern medicine. I am not talking about general health improvements from things like vaccines and check-ups, I am asking about major medical issues that would have been life threatening in the past.

Personally, I would still be here. My wife most likely would not though. I always find it interesting when someone undergoes a major surgery or something like Chemotherapy like it was nothing. Failing to realize that without modern medicine, their life would be over.

As much as I distrust the medical industry, it is hard to deny the amazing things that they can do now. So I am curious, would you still be here without it?

I'm pretty sure I would still be here. I've never broken a bone or had any kind of surgery unless taking out wisdom teeth counts

On the part of distrust.... well that's the reason I don't go to a doctor. My mom went in for a day surgery to remove some scar tissue from a previous surgery and she almost died... ended up in the ICU for 28 days. Scary stuff for me at the time, I was 17 and they were making me sign all kinds of papers to do more stuff and if she died it wouldn't be their fault.

reply to post by Estharik


Yeah, it certainly isn't perfect. There are plenty of people out there who are no longer with us thanks to modern medicine as well. I think that our lifespans show that the good outweighs the bad though.

I wouldn't. Apparently i was a very sick child with a couple of scares that landed me in the hospital when i was a couple months old. Since then, i've been perfectly healthy sans a pulled achilles tendon last year so yeah, i owe my life to modern medicine...

Modern medicine. I have a few thoughts on that and none are good. I don't respect doctors or their prescriptions. I don't trust specialists and insurance companies. All with good reason.

My distrust started the day I took my 2 yo daughter to the dr. for chest congestion. He prescribed bronchitis medicine, sent her home with me. The next day her symptoms were so bad that I called an ambulance (1984) that rushed her to the hospital. The doctors at the hospital were going to charge me with neglect because she had double pneumonia!!

2005. I went to a specialist to find out why my fingers were going numb. Long story short, I had surgery to release a nerve trapped in my elbow. The surgery caused more damage and more pain than before!!

2007. Dad went in the hospital (diabetic) for a heart attack and came out with a punctured kidney because the nurse couldn't insert a catheter. Oh and he died 2 weeks later from "compliations".

So, no. I don't think modern medicine is worth my trust. I will suffer and die a painful death before I let another quack near me!!

Besides, I've been studying up on herbal remedies, natural medicine and naturopathy. I have more faith in my potential than some "doctor" who has to keep up with the Jonses, pay their college debts and insurance/malpratice fees and can't even pronounce my first name correctly.

Thanks for the post. I'll be interesed to read other replies. I'm sure some will be quite heated.

reply to post by Karlhungis


I agree about it doing good... I mean back before modern medicine our lifespan was what.... 35? 40 if we were lucky? I still don't trust doctors or hospitals though... if I live to 40 I'll be happy I never said I wanted to live past that

reply to post by Hazelnut


I am sorry that you have had such a terrible experience with it. Like I said before, I don't think it is perfect but I just know that there are a lot of people who wouldn't be here without it.

It is funny that you mention naturopathy. I recently went to a local naturopath for some various issues. To be perfectly honest, I walked out of there with a huge feeling that I had just been taken advantage of. I was overwhelmed with the feeling that it was just a front for selling expensive supplements.

For relatively insignificant issues like I was getting addressed, I don't trust regular doctors and I was very open to the naturopathic method. I looked forward to the appointment and was really really let down by the experience. I can't express how disappointing it was for me.

My mother had a routine colonoscopy done last year. All seemed well until about 12 hours later when she developed severe pain. She was rushed to the hospital and it was discovered that her spleen had been ruptured as a result of the colonoscopy. She died 2 days later.

My brother had an injury to his head resulting in a subdural hematoma. 10 years later he started having grand mal seizures. He is now on meds that control the seizures and give him the ability to have a normal life. Without those meds he would be in a coma and or dead.

As you can see, I've seen both the good and bad of modern medicine. I believe in natural remedies for myself, but in a life threatening situation I would most likely concede to modern medicine if it is the only choice I have left.

Originally posted by Estharik
I'm pretty sure I would still be here. I've never broken a bone or had any kind of surgery unless taking out wisdom teeth counts

Same here - wisdom teeth.

That is not exactly modern medicine either - except for the anesthetics.

I am required by my job to have a physical examination every 2 years, but other than that I avoid hospitals and doctors. So far, clean bill of health. Healthy diet and healthy hygiene have done me well, so far.

However, I do see the importance of early-detection exams like mammograms and colonoscopies; at the same time I disagree with the medical approaches when said exams find positive results (negative from the specimen's point of view).

While there are many cases of radiation therapy success stories... there is also a multitude of tragic, disgraceful examples.

And on a lesser scale, there are countless examples of over the counter drugs that do not work as intended. Every day people give children cough syrup that is known to induce hallucinations. Every year people get flu shots that diminish their immunity to the influenza virus in the long run.

Clearly there is alot of room for debate on this topic.

But, to answer your question: I just typed that big paragraph full of junk, so I AM alive today...

well, there was this one time that i ate a grilled chicken burger from burger king, and i suppose it wasnt cooked too well

anyhow i got food poisoning which i became extremely ill, within around 30ish hours my roommate rushed me to the hospital because i wouldnt stop vomiting...

and they had this green stuff at the hospital, a mixture of maloxx and something

anyways that fixed my stomach in like 10minutes it was great, and so i checked out quickly because they were trying to sell me more meds

i probably would not have died, but i wanted to, food poisoning is rough

Probably not. I had a heart attack two years ago. Although I never felt I was close to death, the doctors told me if I hadn't gotten to the ER as fast as I did, I wouldn't have survived. I had always been healthy as a horse, never got sick and stayed as far away from the medical establishment as I could. As a result of the heart attack, I discovered I have extremely, outrageously high blood pressure, probably the cause of the heart attack. I took BP meds for about 6 months after the heart attack, then stopped. I tried to control it through diet change, exercise, natural herbs and stuff, but that didn't work.

Fortunately, I have a doctor that actually listened to my concerns about the side effects of taking statins and she prescribed non-statin BP meds. Three are inexpensive, generic meds, the other two a bit more expensive, but affordable.

Without the BP meds, my BP is so high I would probably explode!

Originally posted by Guzzeppi
As you can see, I've seen both the good and bad of modern medicine. I believe in natural remedies for myself, but in a life threatening situation I would most likely concede to modern medicine if it is the only choice I have left.

That is touching.

Couldn't agree more with your final statement. When the end comes, I want some doctors working off their student loans on my behalf.

reply to post by SelfDestruct

I would rather have a doctor that paid off those loans long ago. No green docs for me!

In march 2006 i drove myself to the hospital because i was having strange symptoms and had a heart attack in the hospital parking lot. (VA hospital)

Within 30 minutes they had me in the heart catheterization lab at UCLA and had the blockage cleared and two weeks later i had a 5 way bypass. CABGx5.

If i had not went to the hospital because of the strange symptoms that i later found out were a atypical form of Angina Pectoris who knows how long before i would have collapsed.

In my case the angina was a burning sensation under the chin that spread down my neck and across my shoulders
I never did have any chest pain or shortness of breath.

The only reason I went to the hospital was that when i worked as a firefighter/EMT I had a patent one time that had the same atypical Angina.

I have not had any heart problems since because of the fast treatment.

reply to post by Hazelnut


:/ i'm sorry for your horrible experiences with modern medicine but the thing is that these events seem to have occurred due to human negligence. My girlfriend works as a nurse assistant at a nursing home. Since she can't administer any sort of medical attention to the residents, she tells the nurses and even goes straight to the doctors about any problems the patients have, from potential bedsores, to male patients trying to remove their catheter (which they do with devastating effects that lead to death depending on pre-existing medical conditions), drops in blood pressure etc...but they're just really cold about it and pretty much act on it too late, thus the patient suffers medical complications that could ultimately lead to death.

The truth is, not every nurse or doctor practices their profession with the utmost dedication it should, but rather as a tedious chore. So like i said, modern medicine (i.e. medicine) is great, however the practice of modern medicine isn't flawless due to the human element can pretty much suck and could be very damaging. I guess I was one of the lucky many who has had favorable and life saving experience with medicine and the practice of medicine.

Originally posted by Estharik
reply to post by Karlhungis

 

I agree about it doing good... I mean back before modern medicine our lifespan was what.... 35? 40 if we were lucky? I still don't trust doctors or hospitals though... if I live to 40 I'll be happy

I never said I wanted to live past that

I think this is the most valid argument anyone has made...

5 generations ago, our life expectancy was 40 years and infant survival rate was 1/3.

Take a look at the increase in human population since we realized sanitation and sterilization. It is staggering.

The most valuable medical procedure of AMA medicine is by far the saline IV. I had an accidental poisoning last year and spent a week in the emergency room. Multiple doctors solicited me with business cards for on going medical assistance. None could help in any way in even identifying what the problem was, even though I told them what I thought it was going in. The doctors treated and tried to profit from other conditions having no relationship to why I was there. The saline IV was ultimately the only useful treatment they could provide even if they had listened to me. Flushing the kidneys is the best way to flush out the poison.

I recognize for some situations. Surgeries are needed. Perhaps some drugs are useful short term, Anti venome, etc..

But, in general there are only a few things needed to keep basic health (unless Karma is in the way).
1. Anti Microbial like MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement)
2. Regular Detoxification via a legit Ionic Foot Bath, Colonics
3. Moderate exercise and the use of treatments like massage or good massage chairs.
4. Deliberate stress avoidance
5. Avoiding toxins and harmful substances and associations
6. Right thinking and behavior

Generally AMA medicine has been proven to do as much harm as good. Some years back (in the UK I believe) there was a nurses strike and few where being admitted to the hospitals. The statistical result was a reduction in deaths that year. There are good parts to any medical treatment and there there are bad parts. AMA unfortunately offers much less real help than it does profit and harm. But, help they do.

Chiropractic is of some value but is mostly geared towards perpetual income. Same with acupuncture. Everyone's condition is different. But my experience is that there are very, very, very few real true doctors left in the world in any specialty. Most of what we call doctors are just assembly line technicians who know their little piece.

Originally posted by ReelView
Chiropractic is of some value but is mostly geared towards perpetual income. Same with acupuncture. Everyone's condition is different. But my experience is that there are very, very, very few real true doctors left in the world in any specialty. Most of what we call doctors are just assembly line technicians who know their little piece.

I'm glad you brought that up.

I have a cousin (by marriage) that practices both chiro and accu... and she makes a pretty decent living at it.

However, neither of the above are modern or medicinal. Period.

Chiro is likely to do as much damage as good (IMHO, your lawyer will tell you otherwise if you are hit by a drunk driver). Accupuncture, while a centuries old technique, has never been proven to be beneficial.

Both techniques claim to cure something but the practicioner will always tell you you NEED to return for further treatment.

I most certainly would've been dead right now, as I was 8 and had to have surgery for appendicitus, It was almost burst. Also My brother would've been dead too, at the age of around 8 because he had a fever of 104 and had to be rushed to ER. It certainly is amazing what we've accomplished medically in this age. S&F for thread.

When i was born i had a hole in my heart, which made my blood go the wrong way around my body. I had trouble even getting up a small set of stairs.

At 6 (1992) i had the operation, as far as i can tell (the medical notes are pretty hard to understand) they added an extra right ventricle to change the direction of my blood and filled up the hole with muscle tissue from somewhere in my body. This in turn has given me a rare heart beat (which is in awe of all medical students everytime i go for a check up). If I didn't have this op i wouldn't have survived to my 18th birthday.

Apparantly I was the 8th person in the world to ever have this successfully done. So thanks to medical science and The Royal Brompton Hospital in London I can have a normal life with no issues whatsoever.

However i refuse to take prescriotion drugs as I think they just lower your immune system overtime and making your body more reliant to them.

[edit on 9/6/09 by Borag the Horse]