To tell or not to tell Part 2

Part 1 here http://offspaces.blogspot.com/2011/11/to-tell-or-not-to-tell.html

Come to think about it, if I had a sudden problem or life threatening occurrence and the tests showed the c word, and I needed an emergency action like finding the right doctor and then immediate surgery and so on.. would I want to know about whats going on?.. I might totally be in nervous hell anyway.

or if i had an accident and lost 3 of my limbs.. would I want to know before the surgery which will try to attach some of them?

Another thing that I dont get.. is not letting anyone stay with the patient in the ICU. someone who just woke up from an unknown and stressful surgery, finds no one around.. how ridiculous is that? Some places might not have personal room ICUs but most do.. i remember vaguely that there was this thing with a call button.. but I could never find the remote thing or focus thoughts in my mind to figure out its location and the location of the call button.. duhh.. the patient is doped up and the brain is half shut people.. there needs to be someone around to listen to the whispers or tiny actions..

Hubbs says I have a bit of angst against doctors.. well its not the doctors really.. its the medical system and the way things work. I know It cannot be perfect anywhere, but the least everyone could try to do, is find ways to help the patient with anything, help them be more comfortable, painfree ... that... does not happen.

To tell or not to tell

I just found out a major difference in the way severe news is dealt with in India versus here in the US.

If you get tests done and are diagnosed with the T or the C word, the doctors are not going to tell You in India. You will be the last to hear most likely once the treatment has already been decided. The decision is usually left on your family or whoever is with you.

On the other hand, in the US, The doc will either call you for an appointment or just call and tell you on the phone while you are at work all alone with no support really. Yeah thats what my totally heartless primary care physician did.. of course I changed him for this and some other reasons..

But the question here is, what is better.. should the patient immediately know? or slowly get to understand? the slow realization is what happens with the news slowly trickling in because of tests, doc visits and hints by the family.

Does that help you be stronger about the problem, or just the one full on smack on the head is easier.

And what about your own say in your treatment and doctors and information. I am quite a control freak, and I probably wouldnt be able to trust someone else's judgement about my treatment plan. would you?

I remember I was a total control freak all through my stay in the hospital, asking nurses about the meds they were giving me and dosage and such. that brain activity and knowledge saved me from a couple of errors for sure.

What do u think?

Why Vegan? Reverse Diabetes

A 2006 study, conducted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine with the George Washington University and the University of Toronto, looked at the health benefits of a low-fat, unrefined, vegan diet (excluding all animal products) in people with type 2 diabetes.⁵ Portions of vegetables, grains, fruits, and legumes were unlimited. The vegan diet group was compared with a group following a diet based on American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines. The results of this 22-week study were astounding:

• Forty-three percent of the vegan group and 26 percent of the ADA group reduced their diabetes medications. Among those whose medications remained constant, the vegan group lowered hemoglobin A1C, an index of long-term blood glucose control, by 1.2 points, three times the change in the ADA group.
• The vegan group lost an average of about 13 pounds, compared with only about 9 pounds in the ADA group.
• Among those participants who didn’t change their lipid-lowering medications, the vegan group also had more substantial decreases in their total and LDL cholesterol levels compared to the ADA group.

Read the rest of the article here http://www.pcrm.org/search/?cid=129

and some success stories at PCRM here http://www.pcrm.org/search/?cid=612

Video about how a plant based diet helps reverse type-2 Diabetes.

Why Vegan? Part 4

Why no dairy?

If you think about the figures,theres a 50% chance of bull calf being born .. and even with a requirement of the bulls in india by farmers, the dairy industry produces so much in excess that about 8 Million calves are slaughtered or starved to death every year.

There is no way to ensure the pasture fed, free range, well cared for, not slaughtered or anything esp in India. Cow slaughter is illegal in India and so is dowry, bride killing, and girl child abortion.

As far as US is concerned, there is a big veal and beef industry but the dairy industry still produces an excess of about 700,000 calves/year which are disposed off at birth. and most pasture fed, happy cow labels are misleading. check http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html for your local dairy listings. even 5 star rating means low cull rate, not NO cull rate.

Why Vegan? The last heart attack

Dr Sanjay Gupta at CNN explores plant based diet and its effects in reducing and reversing heart disease and talk to Bill Clinton. Watch the video here.

Why Vegan? Part 3

Why Cow's milk, or goat's or buffalo's milk? why not Hyena's milk. it is much higher in Calcium! its because these animals are herd animals, herbivores, docile and easy to control. If we could control the carnivorous and ferocious hyena, they would be factory farmed for their milk too.

There is NO nutritional component of Cows milk that is necessary for humans more than a hyena's milk.

Cows do not "give" milk. We steal it from them.

Humans are the only mammals drinking any kind of milk into adulthood. -Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

See her video here..

Why Vegan? Continued..

Photo courtesy: julieoneill.

That is a dying baby calf.. starving slowly to death in a local, small, family run, "caring" dairy farm in the holy city of Rishikesh.. where cows are "worshipped".

From Julie's blog post.

"In north India there is a holy city called Rishikesh. It is a par­adise for yoga lov­ing veg­e­tar­i­ans. The respect for cows fills the air here. As they roam freely, vis­i­tors and res­i­dents alike gen­tly stroke their fore­heads and offer them treats of fruits and veg­eta­bles. Through the streets traffic patiently waits for the noble beasts to pass.

Here espe­cially, the cow is con­sid­ered sacred and no meat is allowed in the entire city! But plenty of milk is con­sumed. I decided to pop into a small fam­ily run dairy just off of the main drag in Rishikesh. I fig­ured that if any­where in the world mother cows would be treated well it would be here. If there was any­where that I could have a guilt free cheese sand­wich it should be here. The fol­low­ing pho­tos are from this small fam­ily run dairy."

Please read her entire post here. http://www.julieoneill.com/blog/?p=1438