Medical Conditions: Looking at the Smaller Components Together as a Whole
Abnormal Blood Test Results
A couple months ago I applied for a government job which involves a lot of background checks and a medical component. I went in for my required blood tests and check-up, and the doctor was astounded with how ridiculously healthy I am in terms of my low blood pressure and such.
So when I got a phone call a couple weeks ago from the occupational nurse working for the organization I was applying to work with, I was more than a little nervous. She informed me that some of my tests came back abnormal – but she didn’t say what “abnormal” means – and that she would be mailing me the results and I was to get re-tested to see if there’s a problem.
I did my best not to worry, but when you get a phone call like that, it’s really hard to just let it go.
When I received the blood test results in the mail, I stared at the lab papers and the cover letter in complete bewilderment. How was I supposed to understand any of it? So I showed the documents to the mother dear and asked her if she could explain them to me.
Different Forms of Medicine
The mother dear is a veterinarian. Several years ago she became specialized in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and she opened her own business at which she solely practices Traditional Chinese Medicine. This involves acupuncture, chiropractic, physio, herbs, and food therapy. I figured that with her medical background – even if she deals with animals and not people – she’d be able to decipher the numbers for me in no time.
Just as I suspected, it took her about thirty seconds to scan the entire thing and then to tell me that I’m mildly anemic.
I felt this simultaneous huge flood of relief and exasperation: thank God I don’t have cancer but couldn’t the nurse have just told me that over the phone?!
Analyzing Blood Test Results
Something that really frustrated both myself and the mother dear was that whoever was looking over my tests clearly hadn’t looked over all of it. For example, one of their concerns was that my Leukocytes (white blood cells) were below the normal range. If they had taken an extra ten seconds to examine my red blood cell count, they would have seen that the red blood cell count is still within the normal range but at the extreme low end of the normal range.
If they had also taken the time to read the medical questionnaire I had been required to fill out, and if they’d compared it to the lab work, they would have seen that I am frequently tired and cold.
All of these things combined, in conjunction with the fact that I tend to eat vegan or vegetarian most of the time, points to the likelihood of being anemic. After looking at my lab results, the mother dear did a quick Traditional Chinese Medicine “exam” of me to look at my tongue and to check my pulses (it sounds weird, but it all makes sense in TCM. Sometime soon I’ll see if the mother dear will write a guest post explaining how TCM works :)), and she told me that I’m qi deficient and gave me a list of foods that will help balance out my body.
Focusing on the Long-Term
It’s situations like this that are a major reason why I don’t often visit the doctor’s office. In Western medicine, doctors typically only look at one “problem” at a time and refuse to look at any other problems you might have.
The argument for this procedure is that there’s not enough time to deal with every problem. There are two reasons why that’s a lame excuse:
1) Every part of the body is connected. If you’ve got two things wrong with you that appear to be un-related, guess what? There’s probably a connection between them! The body functions as a whole, which means that every part of it works together. If one part isn’t working so well, it’s going to affect another part. Which leads me to the second reason…
2) We need to think long-term results, not short-term gains. It’s true that if a doctor listens to the patient and takes a look at a few seemingly unrelated problems that the patient has, the appointment is going to take longer than if they were only addressing one issue. However, this also means that the root problems that the patient has will be identified and therefore the person will be healed more quickly. The key is to put in a little bit of extra time at the beginning of it all in order to save time later on down the road.
If we could re-work our health care system to incorporate these kinds of strategies, our entire society would probably be a whole lot healthier. What we need is an emphasis on communication and a willingness to look at smaller issues as a whole.
What do you think? Do you focus on little things or do you try to see the big picture? What are your opinions on the current health care system? What kind of changes would you like to see made? And what do you think of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
Pingback: Looking At The Real Value Of Business Voip » Voip, Business, Computersl, Articles, Amelie, Internet » robocomp
I couldn’t agree more especially as I recently went through a very similar process and came out with the same result. I think the various bits of 2+2 could have come out as 4 much much earlier with a bit of joined up thinking.
SNAP – I’m a bit anemic too!
It really is the little things when it come to health. And even the lower end of “noemal” range can be too low for some. I know I’m on the low end of normal for vitamin B12 and the blood cell counts they use for anemia. So even tho I’m not “really” anemic o low on B12 I’ve made a concerted effort to take vitamin B complexes, fish oil extracts and eat more protein, as it was the only thing my doc could think of that was making me cold/tired a lot and having mild digestive issues. Mind you, I have an amazing doctor who knows I’m a scientist, so she’ll answer any and all of my questions, even the wierd ones 🙂
With those changes I feel much better. I haven’t had any recent blood tests so I’m curious to see what these changes will reflect in my next physical reaults in teh spring…
Holism is key!
So interesting!! That’s crazy that your doctors didn’t catch the anemia – you’d think that would be one of the first things they’d look for in someone of your age, stage in life and with those symptoms. Good thing you have such a smart mom! (And I’d love to read a guest post from her sometime… sounds like a fascinating person!)
Oh she is fascinating!
And yeah. I wasn’t very impressed by that doctor. I’m glad I have friends in med school because I KNOW that they’ll be more attentive to their patients!
Since you are not giving actual values for your tests I am limited. I tend to think that a little anemia is not that big a problem. From what you said, perhaps your mother recommended an iron supplement. Borderline low WBC levels are OK, but not if they are significant.
I treat my animals, so I guess it’s OK that your mom treats you 🙂
My mum always says she raised me like a puppy.
…I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing… hehe.
And yes, she did happen to recommend an iron supplement. I said no way. I’ve heard bad things about the side effects of iron pills.
What an interesting and insightful post Sagan, thanks!
I like the approach of eastern medicine, but sometimes I find it’s not direct or fast-acting enough. When I have a mild discomfort, I have no problem applying herbs and “softer” remedies. But when I’m in serious pain, I beg for the drugs!
I think you are right and we outgh to look at our bodies as a giant, complex, interconnected system, in which every single component has an effect on the rest. I’ve heard of some conditions triggering others that you’d never think would be correlated. But that’s the way the system works. This is why it is so important to treat the entire systemw ith care, healthiness all around probably ensures that all the individual components work optimally on their own.
I’d agree with you – my thoughts are that we need a combination of Western and Eastern medicine to create that happy balance!
Hey, just found your site.
I have had the same problem with doctor’s and blood tests. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO READ. YOU WENT TO SCHOOL FOR IT. plus my life is at stake if you can’t interpret it correctly. My hair has been falling out, and my skin has been pale. My hemoglobin levels were low on my first blood test with one doctor (113, it should have been 115-165). My first doctor didn’t inform me, however two months later I was notified after another blood test. I’m not sure what to do now, I’m just focusing on full meals with nutritious components instead of all raw, all the time. What are you doing for your symptoms?
I’m sorry to hear that 🙁
I’m focusing on nutrition for now (trying to do some research and incorporate more iron in my diet, as well as make it more bioavailable for my body), but I have a doctor appointment in a couple weeks so I’m hoping they’ll have a few suggestions. And I think it’s a good thing to monitor – to get blood tests done after a while to check if there’s been a change once you’ve made some lifestyle changes.
Love you mom already!! I’m glad that you found out what it is, and I think it is so important not to take things in isolation, but rather as the whole person.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree with Dian’s comment too.
Well, the heathcare system here in the US is owned by lobbyists & the insurance companies.. no, not affordable for regular ole folks & self-employed! I hope they continue to try & improve it. Repealing it is not the answer but in this country, that side says no to everything. Sorry to get political…