General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Naturopaths and the creep of pseudo-science [View all]IdaBriggs
(10,559 posts)I think this holds true for most folks, including the medical community.
I have posted about the work I do with the Preemie Growth Project, and what we have learned is nothing short of stunning, but the political battles I am forced to deal with to get this investigated, when the basic concepts are standard industry practice for the veterinarians/animal husbandry industry, are simply flat out stunning. I would love to blame it on some "global pharmaceutical conspiracy" but the truth is that getting things investigated "outside the realm of current understanding" depends on funding, personality, prestige, and a host of barriers that those outside of the situation have zero comprehension about -- and while some people might think "grad students" are a dime a dozen, if you aren't in the field, finding them to help analyze data is "challenging" to say the least!
The first thing to be addressed is the role of the "clinician" who sees patients and uses what they've learned in their schooling (which has some insane issues strictly there - don't get me started on the standard "residents should work 90+ hour work weeks, because sleep deprivation is a great way to train people!" , and the fact we keep getting the words "stunning" and "never seen anything like it" reported by the physicians and parents BUT NOT ONE PHYSICIAN HAS *INITIATED* CONTACT WITH US. (I have lost count of the numbers I have spoken to, and apparently the protocol is very slowly gaining some traction with pediatricians - maybe. Sigh.)
I choose to believe they aren't oblivious to the "miracles" they are seeing (direct quotes), but instead think they are happy to see patients who do not need their assistance / can then move on to the next who *does* need their help. This may be naive, but it is how I don't end up howling with rage because, while I am a woman of faith, I know that the "miracle of science" is that you can repeat the results, and with the number of babies/children we've done that with now, somebody should bloody well be paying attention -- And They Aren't.
(Disclaimer: I was instructed by an NIH physician to write an article for one of the medical journals; when I contacted the journal, I was told that there was no spot for an article by someone like me under the submission guidelines. Yeah, team!)
And then there are the "researchers" who are very busy dealing with their own projects and the politics of their various organizations. I have lost count of the number who are interested in what we are seeing, and really think "someone should investigate that" -- really? What a bloody good idea!
And then, while this takes YEARS to get through, and eventually does get the rigorous formal investigation it should get (which will take years more), the very conservative organizations in charge of things lose their credibility with the people who can investigate it for themselves, and see the results that cannot be duplicated by the methods currently in use *because they don't know how to look at the whole picture*.
Oh, and don't get me started on the folks who are running the organizations that supposedly advocate for the people affected by these conditions -- nice people, but unless I want to donate a couple of thousand dollars to each organization to attend their conventions as a vendor (with nothing to sell, by the way), well, the space is all filled up. (To be fair, they use the conventions to cover the operating costs of the different organizations, which support the conventions, which are great opportunities to get everyone up to date on the latest research data, and getting published is Really Important.)
I am struggling with the summary for the Project, and how to explain things that seem (at this point) so blatantly obvious to anyone who spends more than five minutes thinking about things. To be honest, at this point I am convinced that if someone like myself can see it (with the initial data coming from reading about how to eat while pregnant, then seeing what happened to my own children, then reading the d*mn medical textbooks and journals and putting the pieces together, then seeing what happened to the other children who followed the same protocol), What The Heck Is Wrong With These People that they didn't figure it out already?
Eh, my little rant about my little corner of the planet. But swear to heavens, the next person who says, "well, if what you are saying is true, then they will come beating a path to your door, which means you are not telling the truth!" is going to get an earful.
And don't ask me to say anything nice about the March of Dimes. Seriously, at this point, I think those folks are just in business to make sure they keep making money.
Grrr...