Inga Ortloff
09/18/11
Can American’s Benefit From Practicing Both Evidence-Based Medicine, and Preventative Medicine?
When I say preventative medicine what comes to mind? Anything? Preventative medicine is according to the Britannica Encyclopedia, “Efforts toward disease prevention in the community and the individual. It covers patient interviews and testing to detect risk factors; sanitary measures in homes, communities, and medical facilities; patient education; and diet and exercise programs as well as preventive drugs and surgery.” (Preventative Medicine 1) Preventative medicine includes naturopathic medicines and naturopathic physicians such as; chiropractors, herbalists, acupunctures, holisticians, and kinesiologists. Preventative medicine intrigues me because I want to educate people why preventing illnesses is more efficient than treating symptoms with pharmaceuticals. I feel it is my obligation as a future doctor to do what’s best for the well-being of Americans’ as a whole. An example would be diagnosing a sickness that you may not have initially conceived if you were more familiar with naturopathic ways. Americans’ are in the dark when it comes to preventing sickness, and disease and I want to change that.
My Dad used to tell me to drink vinegar when my acid reflux problems first started. I was thoroughly grossed out by the prospect of drinking a whole tablespoon of vinegar! Needless to say I didn’t drink the vinegar. I started taking Prilosec OTC which is an over the counter acid reflux pill. You can get a box of 28 tablets for $15.40. Once I was old enough to realize that my parents were paying $95 dollars every 6 months on a pill that wasn’t helping my acid reflux, I turned to the dreaded vinegar. After drinking one tablespoon of vinegar for a week, I hadn’t had one stomach ache. Who would have thought a household ingredient that you can buy for about 5 dollars, would make me feel better than a pharmaceutical?
“Evidence based medicine or EBM is the opposite of preventative medicine. The practice of EBM means integrating clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. By individual clinical expertise we mean the proficiency and judgment that individual clinicians acquire through clinical experience and clinical practice.” (Modern Language Assoc. 324)
Without evidence-based medicine we would not have any medications that help treat cancer, surgical procedures that save peoples’ lives, and have vaccines that prevent deathly diseases. EBM has been an amazing advancement in the medical community, but we can’t forget where our medical roots came from. Many members of the medical institution including EBMers and Naturopaths both recognize a paradigm shift, which according to Thomas Kuhn (philosopher) is, “During revolutions in science the discovery of anomalies leads to a whole new paradigm that changes the rules of the game and the "map" directing new research, asks new questions of old data, and moves beyond the puzzle-solving of normal science.” (Structure of Scientific Revolutions 37, 144) This paradigm shift theory can help tell the history of preventative medicine and why as Americans’ we must bring back preventative ways when necessary. Bringing back preventative medicine can prevent type 1 diabetes and other diseases and sicknesses that are becoming unnecessary worries of Americans’.
Works Cited:
(Modern Language Assoc.) J Singer, et al. “Evidence-Based Medicine and Naturopathy.” Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine 12.3 (2006): 323-328. Cinahl plus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 18 Sept. 2011.
(Structure of Scientific Revolutions) Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Change in rules on pages 40, 41, 52, 175. Change in direction of “map” of a science on pages 109, 111. Asking new questions of old data on pages 139, 159. And moving beyond “puzzle-solving” on pages 37, 144.
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