February 2012Monthly Archives

Perhaps we should not find good in the Europeans. After all, they have death camp hospitals where doctors decide who lives and dies. At least, this is how the more excitable GOP politicians seem to think other democratic countries work. Quite why any government could survive ten minutes if its doctors were systematically killing people off is not explained. It is simply assumed all socialist systems are dangerous to the health of those who live there. That these myths survive is proof, if you needed it, that ideas can have a powerful and long-lasting effect on people. Put another way, if you believe in something strongly enough and make it a part of your life, your belief often comes true.

In medicine, an early problem facing researchers when designing clinical trials was the so-called placebo effect. It has long been recognized that people who believe strongly enough in the cure will often be cured. So we need to start off with a definition. A placebo is a chemically inert substance or liquid that can have no effect on the human body. In a clinical trial, people are randomly assigned to one of two groups. One gets the real drug. The other gets the placebo. But there is no way anyone can know which is which. So a doctor in a white coat gives you encouragement, a smile and the “medicine”. The volunteers then describe how they feel.

Consistently, about one-third of participants report feeling better after taking the placebo. No matter what the researchers have done to eliminate the placebo effect, all they have succeeded in doing is produce a mountain of evidence that people who expect a treatment to work feel better. So, if you run a practice, a clinic or hospital, you can make a third of your patients feel better if you manage their expectations well. Physicians dress and act the part, listening carefully, carefully examining, ordering tests where appropriate, and then prescribing something that will “do the trick”. Even if this something is chemically inert, it will be an effective treatment in at least one-third of cases.

In this, it makes no different what the source of the pain. It can be a severe headache or a broken bone. The strength of the patient’s belief is the key to relieving the pain. There always has been a role for ritual and suggestion. The shamans have exploited this over the centuries. Modern medicine continues the same traditions, albeit in a different form. This is not to say the result of clinical trials are to be doubted when they show a drug effective. Many drugs like Ultram are effective no matter what the patients believe, i.e. though you may not tell a patient exactly what drug you are giving and what the expected outcome is, people routinely experience less pain. But the converse is equally true.

Many people who have pain can control it without having to use a drug like Ultram. All it requires is a belief strong enough to make the pain bearable. It is this placebo power that is exploited in the European approach to pain management and a good reason to feel grateful we live in America (or not, depending on what you believe).

Pain is one of necessary bodily processes designed to avoid injury in a dangerous environment. There’s no sense in trying to deceive ourselves and rely on drugs offered by pharmaceutical industry and misleading marketing tricks. While some medications may be good for addressing a health problem on a short time basis, introducing various tablets into everyday life isn’t wise as powerful prescription drugs lose their effectiveness as the body get used to the drug.. Hence the risk of dependence. There’s a great number of people addicted to prescription drugs and when you realize it and want to quit the drug – withdrawal symptoms arise, spoling the quality of life again. Even the popular Ultram relatively safe in side effects and reliable in many other terms is not an exception in this vicious circle.

So, medical specialist in Europe has worked out a smarter approach to treatment. The key is being self-sufficient and consistent in one’s health both from patients and doctors. This pain management strategy starts with a careful reassessment of the medical treatment till the present date.. If any procedure or therapy has been missed, now they are done. If anything wrong has been possibly done, doctors try to amend the adverse consequences. This is being done to ensure every single way that could help curing the underlying cause of the pain has been applied. From this moment specialists teach people the techniques to improve the quality of life and elaborate a personal set off strategies including lifestyle and regimen guidance as well as occupational and behavior therapies for getting the best results.

To control pain on a long term basis specialist physicians and highly trained therapists work together in a group to evaluate each patient and devise a personal regime for maximizing the quality of life. The team includes occupational, physical and behavioral therapists each doing specific jobs one after one. The first – visiting the homes and workplaces to suggest how living spaces can be designed to reduce problems and what jobs can be applied to diminish the causes of pain. The second – introducing exercises and activity programs to rebuild strength and improve. The third – teaching practical strategies to stay positive when life seems difficult. Multiple evidence shows the effectiveness of treatment under the supervision of such teams. Patients themselves, becoming the center of attention have much more confidence in the treatment and the result. This approach being introduced doesn’t mean ultram should be automatically cancelled as a treatment of pain, as it stays a good short-term treatment and is indispensable for sharp pain attacks and some other cases.