On 19/02/2013 17:00, John Rumm wrote:
On 18/02/2013 12:38, DrTeeth wrote:

Strange thing is that they knew about resistance 50 years ago, but
didn't ensure that it was generally understood by patients.

Patients do not need to understand it, they just need to do what they
are told by those that do.

Its that sort of attitude that contributes to the problem. Instructions
to blindly "do as I say" are rarely the best way to engender
co-operation from a good selection of people.

One of the very significant effects of the internet is that patients are
now able to look things up and check them out in ways never previously
viable. (Yes, I know you could find a suitable library and so on, but it
is ludicrous to think of vast numbers of people doing that.)

For one medicine with which I am familiar, advice from GPs has usually
been one of:

Take in the morning on an empty stomach.
Take with breakfast.
It doesn't matter when you take it.

Recent research, and the experiences of considerable numbers of people
contradict this dramatically:

Take at bed-time on an empty stomach.
Taking near breakfast causes erratic dosing.
Being consistent is more important than almost anything else.

These are backed up by some research (several papers in the past year or
three) and patients' experiences strongly suggest that these ideas have
improved the stability of dosing and the overall effect of the medicine.

That so many people have found it better, and in such a short time, has
only happened because people are now questioning AND have the resources
both to question and to discuss with others. Traditional routes might
have meant it taking years to decades for this simple bit of information
to get out to patients.

--
Rod