Even if you have normal lab scores, you may still have symptoms that cause you discomfort or distress, and you may still be sick.
There are major disagreements over the practice of medicine and the way it is done in America. One of those arguments focuses on whether or not physicians should work to treat symptoms or whether they should work to eliminate to potential for disease and illness by what is called preventative medicine. Which of these two approaches is the better one for the patient and for our society as we attempt to reduce and regulate both the cost of illness in America and the experience of illness in America.
Historically doctors have been trained to identify and attack specific symptoms. If you can eliminate one of the symptoms of a disease then the next one will rear its ugly little head and you can attack it. As you progress through the various symptoms you may stand a chance of eradicating the disease or the illness . Many doctors enjoy this quest for symptom defeat. It is a challenge for them and they see and can measure their progress.
Sometimes the identification of illnesses is done through lab work and lab scores. Generally speaking when you have a panel of lab tests done at your doctor’s request you get back a score sheet that identifies all the number profiles they have asked for. The doctor is looking to see if you are in the “healthy normal” range (typical, and normed over thousands or hundreds of thousands of people) They look at these scores and define a treatment for you that is aimed at getting your scores into the normal range. As they say in France, “Voila!” you are all better, your number scores are normal.
The sad fact is that often, even if you have normal scores, you may still have symptoms that cause you discomfort or distress and you may still be sick. So, sadly, doctors are still facing the necessity of knowing about your symptoms and treating those symptoms to help you obtain relief.
Doctors and Nurses are trained in school to notice symptoms. They are taught to look at a patient and make an assessment of what they see. They look at posture, finger nails, skin color, breathing, they notice how you move, sit and stand, and they listen for the way you breathe and speak. Doctors need to know about body language and its relationship to illness. If a physician is trained properly he or she is constantly observing their surround and noticing health problems that they think people around them might have. Socially, they have to ignore this data because they have no legal right or responsibility to interfere with you and insist that they notice your health is in trouble. However, they are expected to step in and try to help you if you become in extremis even if they do not know you. There are good Sam laws in most states that protect them when they do this.
Because your thyroid is so critical to maintaining good health it is imperative that you and your doctor know whether or not you have a thyroid that does not work the way it is supposed to. In this healthcast we are talking about the symptoms of thyroid problems.
This Health cast was written and presented by Dr. Kathy Maupin, M.D., Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Expert and Author, with Brett Newcomb, MA., LPC.,Family Counselor, Presenter and Author. www.BioBalanceHealth.com.
