How do you know who to trust? In the old days, most people trusted their docs! The internet did not yet exist. Medical breakthroughs were reported in journals which came through the mail and sat in piles on your doctor’s desk waiting to be read. The major TV channels had actual programs that reported the news as news, not commentaries.
When you saw or were examined by your doctor, he/she actually was a doctor, not a provider/NP or PA. You trusted that your doc would stay up-to-date and give you the best advice available. If you wanted more information, you went to the library, not your friend’s house.
Today, the world is radically different. The internet offers up a plethora of medical advice. Your neighbors have become medical specialists based on what they read on the internet and anyone can find “facts” to justify any belief system they adhere to. Anti-vaxers can find volumes of information disparaging vaccines and proving that they are harmful to humans and sponsored by a government that uses vaccines in an attempt to enslave its constituents. Emotions run high!
Doctors still talk about “peer reviewed” studies as being the pinnacle of research; yet true peer reviewed, published research is often boring with page after page of written material describing every protocol and tool utilized before getting to the data which is described in a language foreign to most. The material is presented in such a manner to allow scientists and doctors to draw their own conclusions.
Material on the internet is usually presented with just enough information to support the author’s opinion. It is often sensationalized/politicized; and the goal appears to “go viral” rather than inform those who need the information to make the appropriate patient care decisions. People from all walks of life have become their own experts, bypassing their docs and treating themselves according to their own belief systems. It used to be said that only the fools treated themselves. If that dictum was true, then we have become a society of fools.
People I respect, friends I enjoy being with and truly like, have schooled me in Covid management. Some believe that a dysfunctional government is inserting itself into their lives, forcing vaccines down their throats. (Yes, the government is dysfunctional. Democrats and Republicans seem bent on tearing this country apart.) Others believe that the vaccines, themselves, are evil. No matter what their beliefs are, they are entrenched and willing to fight to make their point.
I try to avoid getting into the fray. The old days are gone, no matter how closely I follow the actual data and research. Afterall, I’m a retired doctor. What do I know? Once again, I am trumped by Google!
Sometimes, I can stay out of the conversation. I always regret entering the fray. Emotions run high and friendships can be fragile. It’s a pity. Covid has caused so much damage and loss of life. Now its coming between friends and families. Unfortunately, we are at the beginning of Covid, not the end. Unfortunately, Covid has become more than a killer virus; it has become a political infection.
One of my most vivid childhood memories is standing in line in my high school gym with thousands of people. I was scared and excited at the same time. The nurse used a futuristic air gun to shoot the polio vaccine in my arm. Polio was crippling people and we came together, as a nation, to fight it. We succeeded! We have come together to fight measles, mumps, and chickenpox with remarkable success, as well.
What’s different now? Back then, we trusted our docs. Now we don’t trust anyone! What a pity.
Here are your jokes for today:
My girlfriend invited me to her house, I found her sister alone in the house, she was unbelievably sexy, she whispered in my ear, “i have feelings for you, shall we have sex” , I immediately turned around and walked to the front door to go to my car, I found my girlfriend standing there, she hugged me and said: “you’ve won my trust”… Moral of the story: always keep your condoms in the car.
5 Important Qualities to have in your women:
1. It’s important to have a woman, who helps at home, who cooks from time to time, and has a job.
2. It’s important to have a woman, who can make you laugh.
3. It’s important to have a woman, who you can trust and who doesn’t lie to you.
4. It’s important to have a woman, who likes to be with you. 5. It’s very important that these four women do not know each o
I, too was in the test group in 1952 for the new Salk vaccine. I remember parading into the public school gym to get my shot. My group received the placebo. I still have my pin commemorating my participation. You are quite right Stewart, it was a different time.