Hacker News Reader

Comment by James001 | Hacker News Reader

I'm from Canada, and all I can say is I wish the doctors up here actually listened to your opinion on your own medical condition.

While it is important to consult and listen to doctors, I do think people trust their doctors too much. People should always field second opinions, especially before major interventions. Also, people shouldn't discount their own understandings of their condition.

But seriously, up in Canada I feel like we have a 3rd world medical system for dealing with chronic health conditions. For acute medical conditions, we're amongst the best in the world. But if it's chronic? Or if we cannot diagnose it? Good f'n luck, my friend.

View on HN

Problems with dealing with chronic health conditions seems to be more of a trait of modern Western medicine, which in a lot of cases is about treating symptoms only. In a first world country with free medical care it is very hard to actually die, but you may quietly suffer all your life and won't be treated because it is not perceived as being critical, and critical patients have priority.

If only there was a more holistic approach to treatment actually backed by science. For example, Chinese traditional herbal medicine is supposed to treat the underlying cause of problems, but unfortunately it is based entirely on myth and superstition. The thing is, it actually works sometimes, and helps people who have been told to "learn to live with it" by Western doctors.

My general impression of why people like (and are willing to pay out of pocket, often without any kind coverage) for alternative medicine is that they feel like they are being listened to - ironically they are paying by the hour for that, too, but the rates are better.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is an interesting mix, I wouldn't say it's "based entirely on myth and superstition" though it has plenty of that (hence the ghastly use of bear bile, tiger bone, etc. [1], though at least there are some attempts at reform), it also is partly the result of hundreds of years of trial and error experimentation with a wide range of plants on a very large number of people (proto-scientific, at the very least). It seems likely that some of its efficacy comes from placebo effect (but many pharmaceuticals aren't much better).

1: https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/asian-bear-bile-remedie...

>Or if we cannot diagnose it? Good f'n luck, my friend.

I think this is a problem for all doctors. In some countries (the USA) they'll happily spend tens of thousands of dollars doing MRIs and other procedures to rule out various conditions.

The main problem seems to be chronic pain/fatigue conditions, which in many cases are stress related. Patients naturally want to rule out other conditions, and many patients also don't like the stress explanation because they incorrectly feel it means the illness is "all in their heads" (or perhaps they just don't understand how stress causes physical symptoms).

I live in Canada and generally I find the medical system is very good, and evidence based.

Canada's gatekeeper model can be infuriating. I have various issues that I'd like to address but I've become so fed up with the long waiting times, and often lazy doctors that I keep deferring visits. It's reached a point where I don't trust or respect doctors at all.

But I wonder if the different provinces have a different system - I'm complaining about OHIP specifically.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com