(a bit challenging, this one)
Our reliance on the NHS and our invariably unquestioning demand for pharmaceutical solutions leads us even further into a morass of avoidable difficulty. With our self-reliance and sense of self-responsibility noticeably eroded over the last six to seven decades, we seem to find ourselves in a place of learned helplessness. And with iatrogenesis (any injury or illness that occurs as a result of medical care) on the increase, we surrender our bodily autonomy at our literal peril!
Journal of Family Medicine and Family Care
Iatrogenesis: A Review on nature, extent and distribution of healthcare hazards.
ABSTRACT
"Modern medicine is given overarching importance in tackling disease in the human body than environmental determinants, although most of the literature confirms that the determinants of disease are there in the environment. Yet in modern times what is being emphasised is a highly limited and reductionist approach of curing ailments in the human body only, which is one of the desired interventions but is full of other side effects and risks leading to iatrogenic reactions. Most of the literature establishes that modern medicine is one of the major threats to world health....
".... In his prestigious work named “Limits to Medicine: Medical Nemesis - The Expropriation of Health” , Ivan Illich opines that iatrogenesis is structural because it undermines people's agency and competence to deal with their own disease. He also classified iatrogenesis as social and cultural. According to him, social iatrogenesis results from the medicalisation of life and cultural medicalisation is the destruction of traditional ways of dealing with and making sense of death, pain, and sickness....
"The WHO assesses that almost 50% of the medicine prescribed and sold is inappropriate and 50% of patients take these drugs incorrectly (WHO. The Safety of Medicines in Public Health Programmes: Pharmacovigilance an Essential Tool. Geneva: Uppsala Monitoring Centre; 2006.). (my emphasis) . There are issues of prescribing and delivering correct therapy to the patients. Another challenge faced by healthcare system is accurate and timely diagnosis of the ailment ..."
DID THE MEDICAL SYSTEM KILL MY MUM?
It is very hard to observe loved ones suffering side effects from a prescribed drug, only to see them being prescribed another drug to counteract those side effects.
My mother suffered quite severe rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, and for many years she only just managed to function on a cocktail of quite powerful drugs. She died at the age of 74 the night she was given a drug to stop her vomiting.
This cycle of vomiting and the accompanying medication to stop it was not new, but as far as I know nobody had ever thought to question why and if it was needed.
She'd been periodically vomiting thick yellow mucus, which is something I gather the stomach produces to protect itself from an overload of inappropriate or strong chemicals/medicines. Nausea and then vomiting can be seen as an uncomfortable but essential response by the body when too much mucus has built up.
They could have left well alone, knowing that her stomach was actually functioning as it should.
But no. More chemicals were added to her poor stomach to ostensibly stop this natural process.
Her autopsy revealed an enlarged heart. This can be caused by an overload of toxic chemicals. Wasn't she already taking enough, without then adding to it?
I am left with so many questions. Was her suffering inevitable? Could a change in diet have helped her condition? Did an over-reliance by the doctor on pharmaceuticals create the conditions for her death?
Twelve years later, I am still curious AND furious.
It seems that there is increasing ill health and suffering in our elders, in particular in autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. This is causing more and more pharmaceutical interventions, not to mention the need for full-time care, whether at home or in care/nursing homes.
Is all this inevitable?
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