On 20/02/2013 02:14, Arfa Daily wrote:


"polygonum" wrote in message
...
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


All agreed 100%. The good thing about being able to look this stuff up
on the 'net, is that you get to read papers from physicians and
researchers in many different countries. I think that in general,
standards of diagnosis and clinical care seem to be higher in America,
and some of the best research and write ups that I've seen, come from
there.

Arfa

I have also found some German papers to be excellent - though,
annoyingly, some are in German! And a huge number of Chinese ones.

Absolutely - the reading of the papers. I have seen lots of things such
as statements on the Patient Information Leaflets which, as they appear,
do not seem to make much sense. But when you have delved and seen what
was originally written in the papers, it often makes useful sense. Crazy
when you think that the PILs are *supposed* to be for patients but so
often confuse.

--
Rod