The changes to our health care system have made it more important than ever that patients receive the information they need to make educated decisions about their care. The amount of time that people get to speak with their doctors is often quite limited these days. And the entrepreneurial nature of medicine today, both on the fee for service and on the managed care side, should make people wonder whether recommendations concerning their care are always being made in their own best interests. Even among more ethical practitioners, there often seems to be a bias toward riskier treatment involving surgery or drugs, even when more conservative approaches may be successful. Prevention and nutritional approaches are generally ignored. To help people protect themselves, I decided to create what I call a "self-defense manual for today's health care environment."
There is no need for any alternative medicine. Contrary to what the propagandists of alternative, complementary, or integrative medicine say, the modern practice of medicine is not restricted to the use of drugs and surgery -- or to any specific dogma, for that matter. Any form of treatment for which there is at least some evidence of effectiveness, and which has been proven to be safe, may be employed. That includes nutritional approaches, standardized herbal remedies, acupuncture, prayer, meditation, etc. It is unfortunate that many doctors today do overuse the surgical and drug approaches to treatment. But that is a problem with individual practitioners, not with the science of modern medicine.
Unnecessary surgery has always been a problem but became even more so when the Federal Trade Commission in the United States ruled that doctors could advertise, a practice that has always been considered unethical. So one of the best approaches is to avoid the entrepreneurial medical offices that advertise, employ marketing consultants, call themselves "institutes," etc. Educating yourself also helps level the playing field and often allows you to make an educated decision regarding your own care.
Nutrition is the primary determinant of health, including that of the eyes. We now have good evidence that age-related macular degeneration, the number one cause of poor vision among the elderly, can often be prevented by simply eating more of certain foods. A nutritional approach may help keep diabetics from developing sight-threatening problems with the blood vessels in their retinas and may avert the need for laser treatments even if these problems develop. And a certain standardized herbal extract may help protect the optic nerve from further deterioration in people who have glaucoma.
I will attempt to accommodate requests for appearances whenever possible. Please contact me (Dr. Lavine) for more information.
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