Not sure if you’re in community with many women or POC that feel comfortable speaking to you about these things, but VERY basic issues aren’t even being looked into. PCOS and cancer are two common ones. Things can vary place to place, but it seems like a pretty universal experience in my circles.
I mean I’m not a woman or PoC and I still get that same advice from doctors.
And as someone that’s worked in healthcare before, a lot, if not most, of what people go to doctors for is trivial or psychosomatic, so if they did a full range of tests for everyone that says they get headaches, then people with genuine conditions would be in an even worse place as they need to wait for resources to free up.
I did not say that only women or PoC get this suggestion, just that it’s common for their issues to be dismissed. I don’t know your personal medical history, but sometimes it is just that people need better diet and exercise. That does apply to women and PoC too. It’s possible that advice is or is not salient to your health, but I can speak from personal experience that it is used to dismiss life threatening conditions.
I don’t know where you live, but 1/3 of Americans don’t have a primary care physician and almost half of Americans didn’t get medical treatment due to costs in 2022 from a cursory search. This is not a population that can afford frivolous medical visits. I don’t know where in the medical field you worked, but your assertion does not seem evidence based. That may well be your personal experience, but that is subject to so many biases and if you were not giving people a full range of tests, how could you even know you weren’t turning away legitimately sick people. Maybe the medical field was not right for you if you truly believe it’s possible that most issues people seek treatment for are trivial or psychosomatic.
Then they should potentially be even more likely to be correctly diagnosed in people that are overweight. Having issues exacerbated by your weight does not mean that your weight is the issue. Additionally, PCOS and cancer can both cause weight issues, so it’s even less helpful to suggest that the weight is the issue if the weight could be caused by an underlying disease.
My previous misdiagnosis put me on meds that hid my symptoms and covid had my doctor’s office telling us that if we had no concerns, to not come in. By the time my symptoms began to show even with the meds, my heart was the size of a football (gridiron football, not association football) and required a transplant. Any increased effort made me nearly pass out.
I get where you’re coming from, MOST OF THE TIME diet and exercise are better than not. My circumstances were pretty atypical too, but lets not act like telling anyone that walks into a hospital just needs to jog their ailments away is the way to go. A lot of doctors would do well to try just a little harder, it likely would have saved me from needing to wait for another person to die to be able to continue to live.
I’m very sorry that happened to you. My problem was with your phrasing. As I’m sure you know: eating better, working out, and sleeping more did not make your condition worse. I interpreted that as what you claimed.
You were a victim of malpractice and negligence, not living a more healthy life.
Yeah, I know that. I just bristle at the thought of being told to lose weight instead of actually getting the help I needed. I don’t ACTUALLY think that stuff made me worse off. It was mostly the look on the doctor’s face when I told him I WAS working out and eating better, and he laughed in my face because I was gaining weight. Too bad I was retaining fluids… There’s a lot more to the story, but I don’t care to get into it.
Can you tell I’m a bit salty? Sorry for the trauma dump.
No worries, I believe you. I don’t have any reason not to. I’m also dealing with major health issues, so I hope you have found solutions that work for you.
I don’t know what their situation is like, but with ME/CFS, for example, anything more than light exercises will actively make things worse: https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Exercise
… I mean, have you tried diet, exercise, and sleeping more? For more than a week or two?
Outside of a drama TV show where a 1 in a billion case shows up once a week, that’s usually a good start.
Not sure if you’re in community with many women or POC that feel comfortable speaking to you about these things, but VERY basic issues aren’t even being looked into. PCOS and cancer are two common ones. Things can vary place to place, but it seems like a pretty universal experience in my circles.
I mean I’m not a woman or PoC and I still get that same advice from doctors.
And as someone that’s worked in healthcare before, a lot, if not most, of what people go to doctors for is trivial or psychosomatic, so if they did a full range of tests for everyone that says they get headaches, then people with genuine conditions would be in an even worse place as they need to wait for resources to free up.
I did not say that only women or PoC get this suggestion, just that it’s common for their issues to be dismissed. I don’t know your personal medical history, but sometimes it is just that people need better diet and exercise. That does apply to women and PoC too. It’s possible that advice is or is not salient to your health, but I can speak from personal experience that it is used to dismiss life threatening conditions.
I don’t know where you live, but 1/3 of Americans don’t have a primary care physician and almost half of Americans didn’t get medical treatment due to costs in 2022 from a cursory search. This is not a population that can afford frivolous medical visits. I don’t know where in the medical field you worked, but your assertion does not seem evidence based. That may well be your personal experience, but that is subject to so many biases and if you were not giving people a full range of tests, how could you even know you weren’t turning away legitimately sick people. Maybe the medical field was not right for you if you truly believe it’s possible that most issues people seek treatment for are trivial or psychosomatic.
That is a very good point.
Appreciate your willingness to see things from another perspective and update your thoughts based on that.
Fun fact, both pcos and cancer have strong links to obesity as a major aggravating factor.
Then they should potentially be even more likely to be correctly diagnosed in people that are overweight. Having issues exacerbated by your weight does not mean that your weight is the issue. Additionally, PCOS and cancer can both cause weight issues, so it’s even less helpful to suggest that the weight is the issue if the weight could be caused by an underlying disease.
I did, it made my condition worse, thanks.
I sincerely doubt that, but if you’d like to elaborate I’ll listen.
They made a top level comment about a previously-unknown heart defect. Diet and exercise doesn’t fix a hole in the heart
Did they post anything to support that claim?
Diet and exercise can fix most “holes in the heart”. Even if they are the 0.01%, that doesn’t change my message for every single other person.
My previous misdiagnosis put me on meds that hid my symptoms and covid had my doctor’s office telling us that if we had no concerns, to not come in. By the time my symptoms began to show even with the meds, my heart was the size of a football (gridiron football, not association football) and required a transplant. Any increased effort made me nearly pass out.
I get where you’re coming from, MOST OF THE TIME diet and exercise are better than not. My circumstances were pretty atypical too, but lets not act like telling anyone that walks into a hospital just needs to jog their ailments away is the way to go. A lot of doctors would do well to try just a little harder, it likely would have saved me from needing to wait for another person to die to be able to continue to live.
I’m very sorry that happened to you. My problem was with your phrasing. As I’m sure you know: eating better, working out, and sleeping more did not make your condition worse. I interpreted that as what you claimed.
You were a victim of malpractice and negligence, not living a more healthy life.
Yeah, I know that. I just bristle at the thought of being told to lose weight instead of actually getting the help I needed. I don’t ACTUALLY think that stuff made me worse off. It was mostly the look on the doctor’s face when I told him I WAS working out and eating better, and he laughed in my face because I was gaining weight. Too bad I was retaining fluids… There’s a lot more to the story, but I don’t care to get into it.
Can you tell I’m a bit salty? Sorry for the trauma dump.
I cannot even fathom what you’ve been through. There is no need to apologize.
If you want to share more, I’ll listen.
What do you want, their medical records? Their doctor’s phone number?
I have a PDF of all of the paperwork. I won’t be sharing, of course, but I have it.
No worries, I believe you. I don’t have any reason not to. I’m also dealing with major health issues, so I hope you have found solutions that work for you.
Yes, if someone claimed that diet, exercise, and such had actively harmed them, I would want medical records to back that up.
That wasn’t what happened, and I understand that now.
Why should anyone show you their private medical records? Who do you think you are?
Someone who claims blatant lies should absolutely show some proof to back them up. Do you agree with that statement?
I was going to warn you not to engage with this guy, but I can see it’s already too late.
I don’t know what their situation is like, but with ME/CFS, for example, anything more than light exercises will actively make things worse: https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Exercise