Taking History

Know the past, it will help you find a cure. Here is an interview on economics but it does apply.

Lew Rockwell interviews Dr. Ron Paul




A physician typically asks questions to obtain the following information about the patient:

* Identification and demographics: The name, age, height, weight.
* The "chief complaint (CC)" — the major health problem or concern, and its time course.
* History of present illless (HOPI) - details about the complaints enumerated in the CC.
* History of past illness (HPI)(including major illnesses, any previous surgery/operations, any current ongoing illness, eg diabetes)
* Review of systems(ROS) Systematic questioning about different organ systems
* Family diseases
* Childhood diseases
* Social history- including living arrangements, occupation, drug use (including tobacco, alcohol, other recreational drug use), recent foreign travel and exposure to environmental pathogens through recreational activities or pets.
* Regular medications (including those prescribed by doctors, and others obtained over the counter or alternative medicine)
* Allergies
* Sex life, obstetric/gynecological history and so on as appropriate.

History-taking may be comprehensive history taking (a fixed and extensive set of questions are asked, as practised only by medical students) or iterative hypothesis testing (questions are limited and adapted to rule in or out likely diagnoses based on information already obtained, as practised by busy clinicians). Computerised history-taking could be an integral part of clinical decision support systems. (wiki)

John McDougall on the brain damage caused by heart-bypass surgery.

This is something every patient going into heart-bypass surgery should know:

One of the savviest politicians of our generation, known for his wit, charm, and calm under extreme pressure, Bill Clinton appears out of character in the speeches and interviews televised since his bypass surgery September 6, 2004—and his mental deterioration may be accelerating. Remember, this is the president who withstood public impeachment before the entire world for his relationship with Monica Lewinski without once losing control. Now, he is easily angered by hecklers, and makes factual mistakes and racial slurs while aggressively defending his wife’s campaign for presidency. Everyone sees his mental and emotional decline, yet to date, no medical professionals have spoken out about the cause or offered help.

Not a single one—not one bypass surgeon, cardiologist or psychiatrist—has stepped forward in his defense; even though all of them are trained to recognize “post bypass surgery cognitive dysfunction.” One of the best-kept secrets in medicine is the brain damage caused during bypass surgery. During my 40 years of medical practice I have never heard a doctor warn a patient before bypass surgery that an expected complication is memory loss. After surgery when the family complains of dad’s fits of anger, I have never heard a doctor admit that personality change is a common consequence of surgery. Yet these well-recognized side effects have been reported in medical journals since 1969.¹

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Venezuela to Provide Discounted Heating Oil and Free Eye Operations to U.S. Poor

by Bernardo Delgado - Venezuelanalysis.com

...

Free Eye Operations

Chavez spent a large part of his Sunday talk show discussing new healthcare plans for Venezuela. Part of this discussion also involved the provision of free eye operations to people in all of the American continents, north and south. The operations Cuba would provide the bulk of the operations, with Venezuela providing the transportation.

Chavez said that of the six million operations that Cuba and Venezuela would want to organize over the next ten years, there would be slots for 150,000 U.S.-Americans per year. Each country will receive a quota. Chavez gave some examples, explaining that there would be 100,000 for Brazilians, 60,000 for Colombians, 12,000 for Panamanians, 30,000 for Ecuadorians, 20,000 for Bolivians, and 20,000 for inhabitants of the Caribbean. Chavez said that those interested in the eye operations should turn to the Venezuelan embassies in their respective countries.

The plan to provide free eye operations is part of the “Mission Miracle,” which is one of the many new social programs that Chavez government has instituted in the past two years in Venezuela. By the end of December, 150,000 Venezuelans will have received eye operations. These operations involved operations for cataracts, myopia, pigmentary retinosis, and many others.

Avoid Flu Shots, Take Vitamin D Instead

by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD
Read it Here

Here is also a youtube: