The Global Experiement #8 - Medical Misdiagonsis

Today I’m sharing with you a critical reason to become health empowered and to be your own first point of call when it comes to your health. Do you know how to prevent disease? Do you know steps to take when you are injured? Do you know how to advocate for yourself when interacting with any medical system (alopathic, alternative or other)? Do you know how to care for yourself post injury?

In 2022 a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality showed that there are approximately 7.4 million misdiagnosis in the USA each year in the emergency department, which results in approximately 300,000 deaths or serious disability. This is not a new phenomena. In 2001 Barbara Starfield, professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, showed that iatrogenic injury (injury form health care) has been the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. So it’s never been more important to know what to do when interfacing with health care providers.

The misdiagnoses resulting in the most severe adverse outcomes are primarily missed on cases of: 1. Stroke, 2. Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack), 3. Aortic Aneurysm or Dissection, 4. Spinal Chord Compression or Injury, and 5. Venous Thromboembolism.

As hospitals get bigger, they are more run by administrative employees and less by physicians. As hospitals depart from quality of care and move more towards performance tied to compensation, it may be that things will get worse. Doctors are now needing to attend on boards of committees and are held up against patient satisfaction surveys instead of care outcomes. This pushes hospitals and their care further towards the business of medicine.

Digging deeper into the study: From the approximate 130 million annual visits to the U.S. emergency departments country-wide, the study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that diagnostic errors end in death for as many as 250,000 patients, while another 370,000 suffer serious harm. Approximately 1 in 18 patients visiting the emergency room receives an incorrect diagnosis.

Let’s use the example of a heart attack: When someone comes into an ER after suffering a heart attack, they first disclose their insurance information and then go to triage. In some triages there were no EKG’s to diagnose the heart attack straight away. A heart attack can also be diagnosed by a blood test showing up cardiac damage in blood if present, but EKG is much preferred. There have been cases in the past with people walking into ER with chest pain and the patient is later found dead in the waiting room because they died and did not receive adequate medical diagnostics or care. I hope this has changed now and this most certainly is not everywhere, but it’s something to note nonetheless. Another reason behind this growing problem of misdiagnosis is to do with electronic medical records and how medical students are taught in universities. Students are taught from a medication/treatment approach rather than being taught how to think well. This leads to young doctors strictly following measures in order to ensure ‘standard of care’ and be remunerated. However, some medical doctors break out of this mould by starting their own practices - this then brings accountability and an increased ability to think to help their patient more effectively. But until then, doctors are on the prescription for every ill bandwagon keeping the medical business rolling. If you’re going to undertake a medical procedure, know the risks. Just because your knee hurts, it may not be wise to visit an orthopedic surgeon straight away because they only have a small selection of tools.

A dear friend of mine has a 15 month old baby boy who experienced a home emergency the other day. I was over having dinner with my friend and his wife was nursing his baby boy from a bout of gastro and high fever when he started convulsing. My friend rushed over to his son, placed him in the recovery position, placed a cold damp towel on his forehead and called the ambulance. My friend calmly spoke to his unbreathing son letting him know what he was going through was perfectly normal and whatever he needed to pass through his body was OK. He let him know that he was here for him and that he is safe and loved. My friend’s wife was on the phone intently describing to the 000 operator the situation. About 40 seconds had passed and the baby boy’s face began turning blue. Just then, he took an inhalation as the convulsions slowed. Crying and gasping the little one’s lungs refilled and the blue in his face started to normalize. But they were not out of the woods. The ambulance was on its way and my friend’s father who had just arrived began assisting in the recovery position as he cradled the little boy’s head to the side. My friend continued to speak kindly, lovingly and surprisingly calmly to his baby boy, reassuring him that everything will be OK. 5 minutes later the ambulance arrived and after several questions, asked for the baby’s blue book. My friend and his wife let them know that he had been a home birth and had never seen a doctor or taken medication in his short life thus far. The paramedics were surprised, but were able to assist the boy to the ambulance and with my friend and his wife drove to the hospital. Over the next two days they proposed several solutions based around the germ theory of medicine including antibiotics, pain killers and antibacterial/antiviral medications. But because my friend and his wife knew how the body really works, they allowed the hospital to plug a line of saline mineralised water (Hartman’s solution) and allowed him to be monitored under their care. The baby boy’s C-reactive protein inflammatory marker came back 20 times above the range at about 138, which I had never heard about before, but showed his boy working very hard to put out a fire that was going on in his little body. My friend went home the next day to bring to the hospital, homeopathic remedies, various herbal supplements, pre-pumped breast milk, a P-EMF device, a Photobiomodulation device, bone broth and organic quality food for his wife who would stay there the next 2 nights with their little boy and blue light blocking glasses and a blackout sleeping mask amongst other biohacking solutions. In two days, the boy and his mum were home, physiologically and biologically upgraded from the experience. If they had not been health conscious and had some theoretical experience with acute emergency situations via books they had read and intuitively guided by their bounty of experiences as health professionals, the situation may have looked and felt quite different. It was remarkable to play witness to the events and has motivated me to share this with you in the hope of reminding you: No matter how naturally cared for or healthy a child is, there can always be unexpected experiences and to be prepared in some way for in-home acute emergency medical care until an ambulance arrives, is essential for all people, especially parents. To me this experience also showed me how important it was and is to advocate for yourself or loved one when you know the doctors are approaching the situation from a perspective which may not be entirely correct. When you’re in their house (hospital) and under their care (doctors and nurses of germ theory) they certainly deserve some respect, but letting them do anything they want to you or your child may not be wise. Brush up on some of the below books so you can know what to do in the case of in-home health care.

So how do you deal with medical challenges at home on your own?

Implement Foundational Health Strategies each day to take control of your health and be well for as long as you choose. If you don’t have Foundational Health Strategies tailored specifically for you, book a time to speak with Nathan Siles.

When you know better, you do better if you take action today.

And finally, I wanted to share my recent experience with medical disclosure. When I interact with the medical system, I am careful with any medical disclosure. Questionnaires with questions such as ‘how many alcoholic drinks do you consume each week’ may be totally irrelevant for the care you are looking for. If you don’t have a good understanding of health and cannot advocate for yourself if risky treatment is proposed to you it’s important to take your time with the decision and understand the risks. I’ve had cancer twice and was asked about this when I was visiting an orthodontist on a survey form before the appointment. I chose not to disclose this and it did not affect my care and treatment plan. I also disclosed that I was allergic to fluoride and they subsequently didn’t use fluoride in my check-up’ which saved me from saying I’d prefer them not to use fluoride. As a result they checked all the ingredients of their creams and washes very carefully before using anything on me. Be smart when interacting with a medical system.

Cites:

  • Study: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/health/hospital-misdiagnoses-study/index.html

  • https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/misdiagnoses-lead-to-250-000-er-8669286/

  • https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/health/medical-errors-emergency-rooms.html

  • https://home.solari.com/rebuttal-letter-to-european-medicines-agency-ema-from-doctors-for-covid-ethics/

Nathan Siles#foundationalHealth, #Healthcare, #RealHealthCare, #It'sNowYouComment