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polisci

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Hi, there how is everyone? I'm new here and thought I would introduce myself. I'm a political science major and intending on going to law school. I've been diagnosed with Crohn's for 5-6 years now, and I've had quite a journey. I've been in moderate remission for two years and I don't take any medication. My only problem now is gaining a little more weight. Arriving at this state of condition led quite a journey, which I will tell.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was 16. Accordingly, the specialist at the time had put me on medication. At the time, I felt fine even before medication, I didn't have any symptoms other than constipation. A few months after my original diagnosis and taking pills, which I thought I didn't need, my specialist wanted me to take heavier, stronger pills. My condition worsened, strangely right after taking his pills. Not happy with these results, my mother and I changed our specialist, who was the head of the department at that hospital. A little side note, now that I look back, why couldn't conventional medicine evaluate my life style before throwing pills down my throat? Why couldn't they tell me what to eat or what not to eat?

Fast forward a year and I'm still drinking milk daily and living a life style I shouldn't, simply because these "doctors" never educated me about another life style. At that time I stopped taking conventional medicine and started looking towards alternative medicine (which I should happen to say, is just as bad and full of baloney as conventional medicine)

After a year of living a poor life style, without knowing it, drinking and eating things I shouldn't, I end up in the emergency room due to pain, (I had been drinking lots of chocolate milk that day). In the hospital, I learned that I was lactose intolerant. They brought over a nutritionist and I received a little education from her on how I should be eating. The doctors used Prednisone to get rid of my inflammation, I thought everything was going to be fine as I felt better. My mistake, little did I know that the "doctors" are again looking for a way to get more money since prednisone gets rid of inflammation BUT creates bowel obstruction, again, why would they give people this? I found out a few months later.

3-4 months later, due to bowel obstruction, I required surgery, and was put on imuran. So, in a span of 1.5-2 years of being diagnosed with crohns, without having any symptoms, I went from symptom free to mild to severe crohn's. Being fooled by conventional medicine twice, this third time I calculated the outcome of what were to happen if I had taken surgery. Again, I found the contradiction. Crohn's disease is attracted by scar tissue, so having surgery would only cause CD to come back. Not only that, but after surgery you no longer have your small bowel (in my case). Without a small bowel one cannot absorb essential nutrients and would require more medication, or perhaps wear an external bag that carries your stool. Yes, another trap doctors use to make more profit. This time I didn't fall for it, and refused to have surgery.

I decided to give conventional medication one last try. I found a new specialist again, this time the head of the gastroentolog in Canada, he is one of the leading researchers. However, I thought that he was the leading businessman according to all the conversations he had on the phone while we were waiting for him to get ready for us. Another side note, this guy told us what stocks to buy for which drugs that are doing the best right now on the market. I laughed, and thought that my life was a near commodity, it was no more than a means of making profit for these guys who didn’t treat people like people but like profit making tools.

Anyways, my mother, who has her degree in chemistry and went to a prestigious tech school, did a lot of research and asked the doctor to prescribe me an antibiotic. Flagile and Cyprol were the last drugs I've ever taken. After taking antibiotics I felt alot better. I never did a follow up appointment, I felt I was getting better and this is all I needed to get out of the vicious cycle created by these docs. I slowly tapered my dosages, and changed my life style. I did alot of research on what to eat and what not eat. I learned not to eat raw food when I have flare ups, avoiding sugar at all times, and same with dairy. I started working out more, increasing my heart rate, getting my blood flowing, etc.. I gained ten pounds as a result.

Fast-forward again another two years to today. I'm completely pain-free, and off medication, I still have a little inflammation which goes away and comes back depending on how active I am, and how well my diet is. Lets face it, sometimes I desired a bigmac, or a little junk food. However, now as I am being more educated and learning about our sytem in my degree program I learn how I am profitting the same corporations that cause all these problems in the first place. In other words, I simply lost all appetite to junk food as I learned what their motives are and haven’t had any for the past 5 months. I no longer have any traces of junk food in my house. I am starting to experiment with Zinc and Fish oil, maybe that's all I need to get rid of that last inflammation. Right now I'm not that active, I haven't been active at all since I started university, so I'm going to take tennis lessons, and will make it a life routine to play tennis for two hours a day. After this I'm sure I will be crohn's free, and will gain weight. I’ve been active before and I have gained weight and was literally crohns free.

My conclusion of my journey until today would have to be to not trust anyone, as everyone has ulterior motives. I'm a political science major and I am doing alot of research on business ethics and the problems of capitalism and "the new economy" which we are living in today. It has come to the point where if anyone brings anything to me, e.g. conventional medicine, or alternative medicine such as that “colon cleanser” ******** I see on the market, I can easily reveal the scam that lays underneath it.

I hope to change the system and all the evidence I need for how poor our system is, is myself, as I am living evidence. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like for people suffering from autism, cancer, multiple scorocsis, and other horrible conditions. They must have it really bad within our conventional "medical" system. How can we cure our problems when we are taking pills that only cause more side effects? How can people be honest with their professions when their profession doesn’t buy them what they want, but profit does. Capitalism is a sham, forcing everyone to be consumers whether or not they’re sick or healthy, whether it is our disposible lives or some product on the shelves. The only thing that angers me more than conventional medicine and our profit led system are the people who are aware of this and use the same arguments as I do, but not to better society or solve the problem with our system, but to increase their profits. Scum bags like Kevin Trudeau who outline the problem of capitalism and the medical industry but instead of doing something about it, they merely use it as a means of profiting their own scam.

If I could leave anyone here with advice, it would only be two main things: 1) the only cure for diseases is life style and diet 2) take everything with a grain of salt, be skeptical and if you find a motive, ie. someone trying to sell something, then it usually is a scam. Your health isn't worth the profit of others.

If anyone here is living naturally without medication and controlling their Crohn's through their life style and diet, please reply to this post, I am interested in knowing what works for you and what doesn't. As for those of you who have been permenently hurt by the capitalist medical trap and have already had surgery, I offer my condolences.
 
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Hi and welcome to the forum. I understand you've had a bit of a rough time of it and that is probably why your post is so cynical. However, unfortunately on some of your points I have to disagree. This forum is used, as you are probably aware by people from all over the world and therefore your views and even the research you seem to have done, will not apply to everyone on here. I live in the UK and as you are probably also aware, we don't pay for our medication because of the national health service. As this is the case, I find it extremely unlikely that doctors would be putting me on certain meds or advising me to have surgery for their own means. Doctors are simply here to try and do their best to get you better, apart from the small minority of course that should have maybe chosen a different profession.
Most meds have side effects, but you have to weigh up the pros and cons and usually those side effects don't have much of an impact at all. I certainly wouldn't go against the advice of my GI as I believe I wouldn't be where I am today without his expertise, but then thats just my opinion. I've had crohns for several years and was left undiagnosed for 6 - 7 years and have tried controlling my disease with change of diet, eliminating stress and a complete lifestyle change and it didn't work. Not until I was put on medication anyways. I am sorry you feel the way you do, you appear quite angry and negative, and that in itself is unhealthy, especially at such a young age. (no offence intended)
I hope you continue to manage your disease in the way that suits you, but remember, not all doctors are bad, try to have a little more faith, one day you may need one.

Ruth
 
ruthymg said:
Hi and welcome to the forum. I understand you've had a bit of a rough time of it and that is probably why your post is so cynical. However, unfortunately on some of your points I have to disagree. This forum is used, as you are probably aware by people from all over the world and therefore your views and even the research you seem to have done, will not apply to everyone on here. I live in the UK and as you are probably also aware, we don't pay for our medication because of the national health service. As this is the case, I find it extremely unlikely that doctors would be putting me on certain meds or advising me to have surgery for their own means. Doctors are simply here to try and do their best to get you better, apart from the small minority of course that should have maybe chosen a different profession.
Most meds have side effects, but you have to weigh up the pros and cons and usually those side effects don't have much of an impact at all. I certainly wouldn't go against the advice of my GI as I believe I wouldn't be where I am today without his expertise, but then thats just my opinion. I've had crohns for several years and was left undiagnosed for 6 - 7 years and have tried controlling my disease with change of diet, eliminating stress and a complete lifestyle change and it didn't work. Not until I was put on medication anyways. I am sorry you feel the way you do, you appear quite angry and negative, and that in itself is unhealthy, especially at such a young age. (no offence intended)
I hope you continue to manage your disease in the way that suits you, but remember, not all doctors are bad, try to have a little more faith, one day you may need one.

Ruth

Hi Ruth,
I'd like to note that this matter isn't something that is agreeable or disagreeable. It is fact. I live in Canada, and health care here is also publicy provided. It doesn't matter who is paying for it, whether it is the government or the market, what matters that someone is paying for it and that there is a demand for it and that on its own is enough of an incentive to generate income. In Canada doctors generate income through prescription. While you are right that not everyone is North American, however the drug industry is universal. While in the UK they do offer public services, profit is the only means of making a living, so you are still fundementally capitalist to the core. In fact anywhere that there is a drug industry there is a dependence on the market and profit.

Now as for your point about taking medical drugs, you have been on drugs, but are they the same drugs? or are drugs slowly increasing dosages or giving you stronger drugs. Have you had surgery? What you don't seem to understand, or at least show that you understand, is that with the medical industry perscriptions and surgery is progressive. You might not be in a bad situation right now, but if you rely on medication I am willing to bet that you eventually arrive at a dead end that will only result in surgery. Let me put it this way, your body gets conditioned to everything, this includes medication, its only a matter of time that medication no longer works, having to increase dosages or change prescriptions. Your body can only handle so much medication, sooner or later it will fail to respond to medication, resulting in surgery. This is how the medical system seems to work and treat most conditions.

You state that taking the life style path "didn't work", again a life style is not something works or not but it is something that everyone should have the best of regardless if theyre sick or not. Just because eating healthy and excerising may not quickly alliviate symptoms, and "doesn't work", it's not an excuse to not have a good life style. Also I cannot judge whether or not it "worked" for you because I do not know what procedures, methods, and all the minor details you persued. Perhaps you didn't give it enough time, perhaps there were other circumstances. I don't even know if I am living the right life style which is why I come here asking for what works for others, but compared to others im not on any medications and I am alot healther than they are. However, what I do know that the attitude of saying that life style changes "do not work" is cynical and narrow minded on its own. Another thing I am concerned with is that the western medical system is more concerned with quick results through treatment of drugs, like I said in my original post, the emphasis for the doctors was to pop pills down my throat, how come I had to find out about life style and other forms of treatment on my own? How come the western health system doesn't emphasize other forms of treatment, and only the use of drugs? Think about that.

You may call me cynical, I don't think I am being cynical, but rather critical, realistic and responsible. I refuse to throw my hands up in the air and let other people determine my life for me. I find it an excuse to be lazy and furthermore, to not take responsiblity for ones own health. Are you fully aware of the drugs you are taking? Unless you have the same level understanding as doctors themselves, you are taking drugs without knowing actually how they work and what they may cause.

Simply resorting to the excuse that "all drugs have side effects, it's about weighing your pros and cons" is again another cop out of life, and sounds exactly what doctors have told me in hope of limiting my choices, or brainwashing me. I'm sorry but that is not the only option in life, and if you resort to this you sound hopeless and fail to take your life in your own hands.

I know I'm sounding harsh, but I have nothing against you Ruth, It's the system that gives you this kind of mentality that I am against. While you are in the UK, you sound and defend the exact same points that many Americans and Canadians do.

I'd also like to make it clear that I'm not disregarding the medical profession as a whole, I still go to my doctor two to three times a year for check ups, or whenever I am sick. My family doctor is an old wise man who should have retired 20 years ago and is only working out of his love for his profession, not for money, and he is a strong advocator of my position and agrees that the medical profession is not like it once used to be, it has been manipulated by "the new economic system". However when it comes to treatment, when it comes to solving problems and new obstacles, drugs would be the last option that I would even consider using after I have exhausted all other possibilities.

Another tidbit I'd like to add, is how fallacious Crohn's treatment is. First they don't even know what the cause of Crohn's is and use drugs to battle symptoms. For all they know, by blindly attacking symptoms, without knowing what the cause is, they may cause further long term damage, which is what seems to be the case with everyone resorting to surgery now a days. In Australia, new research has found that Crohn's disease patients in fact have WEAK immune systems, where as in UK/USA/CANADA they believe that an attributing cause is due to an immune system that is too strong. Just these beliefs on their own determine a whole line of drugs, these are not just simple beliefs, but they are the core of treatment. Imagine what treatment would be like in Australia, it must be totally opposite to that UK, USA, Canada, and a study has yet to be done to prove which side is correct, I am curious to see which side has healthier results. Regardless, Western conventional medication refuses to CONSIDER newly Australian research, I wonder why?

Furthermore, the development of crohn's is not certain to be genetic, doctors believe that only a certain population are genetically prone to Crohn's, that is of jewish or slavic hertiage. In addition, crohn's is ALSO attributed by poor life style factors such as diets high in suguar and low in vegetables and fruits, and overall poor nutrition, living in urbanized countries, poor physical activity, and other life style related factors. I have several sources that prove this if you are interested. Wouldn't it be logical to treat diseases that result from life style deficiencies with treatments that involve proper life style? yet doctors avoid any treatment that is not medically drug related.

If you don't see the self interested corruption going on in our market based systems, then I don't know what to tell you. If you think I'm cynical you wouldn't want to hear what my business ethics professors have to say.
 
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I take 6mp. I was diagnosed at age 13 and now I am 17, almost 18. I have studied this disease more than a lot of doctors and I have learned how I can change things in everything I do to get better. I take 6mp but that is all. I have never had surgery although when I was uneducated about Crohn's when I was first diagnosed they were going to do surgery on my fistulas which they ended up not doing. If you arer going to do any type of excercise then I can only suggest Parkour for you. Go to www.parkour.net it is the best site to learn what you are supposed to do. Since you are young you can get a start on it and it helps. I did it during the summer with meditation and I never felt better. Now that it is cold I cannot really do it much so I am starting to feel worse now but I am starting to do body weight excercises. I gained 15 pounds over summer and now I have another 15 pounds to go to be totally healthy or at least my goal of healthy.

If you need any help with excercises than I can help you out.
 
Hi Jeff, interesting site however I don't think parkour is for me, it is facisinating but I would prefer more of a traditional sport, such as tennis or something. However, I am glad that you are taking your life in your own hands and doing a form of exercise, whether it be parkour or any other routine. A site I use for excercise that I feel everyone should have bookmarked is, www.exrx.net , a university runned kinesology site with animations describing routines. It is very educational and allows you to learn how muscles work, it also has tools and calculators for you to determine what your ideal weight should be according to your height and body type. It also has nutrition info, but that is for the general public more so than the crohn's population.

Thanks for your contribution Jeff, I encourage others to post more about their life style routines and practices. Anywhere from exercise, diet, life style (hygene, sleeping patterns, mind power ie meditation, and other forms). It would be good if we could build a vast database of resources for treating our crohns, seeing as conventional health in our societies most often do not.
 
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Thats a good site but the thing is that your body will not be as strong doing weight lifting as opposed to bodyweight excercises. When you do body weight excercises your muscles will break down more and then will build back stronger so you can have a leaner body but in the end you will have more dense a muscle than if you did weight lifting.

Weight lifting though is great to do when you are trying to gain weight but once you meat about 5 pounds from your weight you should do body weight excercises like those on www.bodyweightculture.com which will help you build a stronger muscle.

Thanks for the website it is now bookmarked.
 
I agree with u. I seemed to have got worst when they kept giving me all kinds of pills. I quit taking the pills and seem to be getting lots better. Like u said, we need watch what we eat.

JUNE
 
Welcome!

Hi just popped in to say welcome to the forum! :)

I was diagnosed ten years ago this month...
For the past 8 or so years I have been on a maintenance dose of Asacol..
which has been lowered every six months to a year when I see the G.I. doctor.

I have not had surgery and keep on a good diet, and exercise by walking.
I'm also a firm believer in the power of positive thinking.

Again welcome!
You will be a great asset to the forum.
Hugs~Nancy
 
I have just been given access to my university's medical department database containing the newest research on a variety of medical fields in addition to ethics of the medical field. Which is what I have been discussing through out my posts about how bad the system is. After I have read all the relevent articles I will post them on this forum so that everyone here can be educated on what's going on with doctors and what we hope to see in the near future. We are all members of the medical community, we all rely or had relied on medication and we are all a part of the crohn's disease problem. The more educated we are and aware of the problems that prevent us from reaching our goals, the better we can fight crohn's and put an end to it.

I will keep you guys posted and will attach medical journals, and ethics related journals regarding the medical field.

For anyone who doesn't believe that doctors and pharma industries are profit driven
For many years, the U.S. pharmaceutical drug industry has enjoyed the confidence of all aspects of society, including those most affected by it-the physicians who prescribe the use of specific drugs and patients who are the objects of their intended benefits. Many years ago, these companies were even called "ethical drug companies" by some to differentiate them from the over-the-counter, mass-market pill manufacturer.

In recent years, the rising cost of developing and testing new drugs has resulted in strategic emphasis on creating high-priced "blockbuster" drugs that have the potential for wide usage in treatment of a major disease. Socio-political trends toward smaller government and more widespread industry self-regulation have resulted in more reliance on corporate compliance efforts. Significant advertising directly to the patient about expensive new drugs that may have only limited demonstrated benefit over existing ones could tend to marginalize the impact of the patient's own busy physician. Income tax laws continue to favor employer assumption of the cost of medical care, limiting consumer pressure for lower prices.

An aging population and potential changes in the current lack of financial statement recognition of postretirement health benefits has led to the realization that managing the constant increases in healthcare costs represents one of the greatest challenges now facing all of American businesses. As part of its review of post-retirement accounting, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is considering putting retiree healthcare on the balance sheet. Standard & Poor's estimates that the underfunding of post-retirement benefits other than pensions amounts to nearly double the pension shortfall. Management accountants and financial managers need to give increased attention to minimizing this considerable cost.

Perhaps the major cause of criticism of the pharmaceutical industry is the high-and increasing-cost of drugs. In the U.S., attempts to import drugs or generic equivalents have been thwarted by the industry. Pharma contributions to organizations that help lower-income fami lies pay for their drugs help keep prices high for others and highest for those least able to pay because they don't have an insurance company to negotiate a lower price. The pharma "high price" strategy has led to U.S. consumers paying the highest prices for drugs in the world.

A most disturbing trend affecting drug development noted by a December 20,2005, New York Times story is the increasing level of fraud in scientific research. Research sponsored by drug companies is the backbone of marketing as well as necessary for gaining FDA approval to put a new drug on the market. Members of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association (PhRMA) spent $38.8 billion for research and development in 2004.

Although The Times reported that much of the uncovered research fraud has been in studies performed in other countries, Merck & Co. has been severely chastised for its admitted failure to include adverse outcomes in the Vioxx study it used to market the drug. In the first Vioxx trial, plaintiff lawyers accused Merck of trading its mission of healing and treating sickness for relentless marketing and pursuit of profits.

Merck was unsuccessful in its bid to convince the Texas jury that it didn't rush a lucrative drug to market and slip shoddy science past the Food and Drug Administration to inflate profits. The jury awarded $229 million in punitive damages (out of the $253 million total) and stated it wanted to punish perceived unethical behavior. The fact that Merck had fought hard for the drug's approval and later withdrew it from the market was apparently sufficient to incriminate it.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) wrote a description of Merck's marketing of Vioxx, "The Lessons of Vioxx-Drug Safety and Sales," for the June 23, 2005, New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The prestigious NEJM was also where the results of the Vioxx VIGOR study were published in 2000. This trial had favorable results-fewer gastrointestinal complications than naproxenbut also had unexpected unfavorable findings-significantly more side effects in the form of heart attacks and strokes. Before the drug was withdrawn from the market in September 2004, other studies reported that more than 100 million Vioxx prescriptions had been filled in the United States, many for persons who had a low risk of gastrointestinal problems. This was a tribute to the effectiveness of Merck's marketing but not necessarily cost effective to businesses that paid the bill.

Waxman notes that the pharmaceutical industry spends more than $5.5 billion to promote drugs to doctors each year-more than what all U.S. medical schools spend to educate medical students-and that major drug companies employ about 90,000 sales representatives, one for every 4.7 doctors in the U.S. He refers to the educational objectives served by these efforts and quotes the website of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Research Association: "Many physicians learn about new drugs-indeed, about ongoing research in their areas of specialization-largely through information provided by the companies that market new products." Waxman concludes that if the primary goal is sales and not education and if the information provided to physicians is slanted or misleading, the health consequences for patients can be serious.

In his article, Waxman also reports on the May 5,2005, public hearings of the Government Reform Committee of the U.S. House. The hearings found evidence of "a broad disparity between the evidence-based perspective provided by scientific journals and expert committees, on the one hand, and the sales pitch used by the company's field staff, on the other....Merck instructed its sales representatives, for example, to provide only certain approved study results to doctors....By contrast, those studies that raised safety questions about drugs were considered background studies.. ..Distributing the results of a background study was 'a clear violation of Company Policy."'

The May 2005 Congressional hearings also found that "Merck trained its representatives to identify speakers for educational events who were Opinion leaders' who could provide 'favorable' views of the company's products to other doctors.... Underlining the promotional nature of these events, Merck instructed its sales representatives to track whether the physicians who attended them subsequently prescribed more Merck drugs." Also, "in addition to providing selective evidence and biased presentations, Merck counseled its representatives to use an array of subliminal selling techniques to affect prescribing-potentially undermining the ability of physicians to choose drugs strictly on the basis of the risks, benefits, and costs for a particular patient."

On December 9,2005, The Wall Street Journal reported that the NEJM had announced that "data about three Vioxx patients who suffered heart attacks were excised from a crucial study sponsored by Merck [and thus not published in the NEJM] that made the painkiller look safer than it should have." Only days later, The Wall Street Journal ran a story titled, "At Medical Journals, Writers Paid by Industry Play Big Role." This story quotes the vice chancellor of clinical research at Duke University Medical Center, who said, "Scientific research is not public relations," and "if you're a firm hired by a company trying to sell a product, it's an entirely different thing than having an open mind for scientific inquiry."

In addition to assuring the reliability and transparency of the scientific research used to determine the efficacy and safety of new drugs, what may be needed is a more economics-oriented yet consumerfriendly approach to drug marketing. Questions that should be answered include: Does a new drug perform significantly better than what is already out there, not just better than a placebo? Is the protocol that the drug industry pays researchers to follow designed to make appropriate safety comparisons and is not "gamed" to put a new drug in the best light? Do patients receive adequate information about adverse side effects? Should an independent body take control of FDA registration trials and require economic justification before approval?

Although the ethics of Merck, a company long considered one of the best corporate citizens in the U.S., are now caught in the headlights of public disapproval, perhaps the practices of the industry as a whole require greater scrutiny. This subject deserves additional commentary.

By the way this is not a problem that only occurs in the USA, I have journals like these that talk about the same problems occurring in the UK and in Canada.
 
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I am med free, and i've been diagnosed (god knows how long i've had the disease before diagnosis) for about 2-3 years now. the only pill i take that has to do with medicine which i dont really think counts is Pentasa, a maintenance drug with virtually no short/long term side affects, along with Fish oil, and vitamin b12 tablets. i drink a LOT of water everyday (and i mean like 15 glasses!) and exercise, sleep well (9 hours of sleep a night EVERY night except an occasional saturday night ;p). I also have a lot of eggs, pears, avocado, and yogurt, and sometimes have a shotglass of XanGo (mangosteen juice). I'm virtually symptom free at the moment and have been since i started this insanely strict diet. Hey it works so its worth it!!!!!!!!!
 
polisci- welcome to the forum! sorry to hear that your road has been so frustrating. i have had crohn's for 18 yrs. i was also diagnosed when i was 16, i am now 35. it has been a long haul- especially given the lack of medical options when i was diagnosed in 1988. i have avoided meds as much as possible-as i agree, the natural mode of healing is far perferable! the disease is insidious though and is degenerative- so it often gets worse after many flares (even if they inititally appear to be mild ones), so in urgent situations it is sometimes necessary to rely on the mainstream medical systems and medications.
i have been so passionate about health and wellness due to fighting this disease (and at times the medical system) that i started my own health and wellness website- www.WikiHealth.com. you sound really knowledgeable about Crohn's and diet and nutrition's impact on it. i would love if you had time to contribute an article on it. all the articles on IBD are really popular, so i know the community would love getting more information on natural modes of taking care of CD.

good luck with law school and best of health!
 
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Furthermore, the development of crohn's is not certain to be genetic, doctors believe that only a certain population are genetically prone to Crohn's, that is of jewish or slavic hertiage. In addition, crohn's is ALSO attributed by poor life style factors such as diets high in suguar and low in vegetables and fruits, and overall poor nutrition, living in urbanized countries, poor physical activity, and other life style related factors. I have several sources that prove this if you are interested. Wouldn't it be logical to treat diseases that result from life style deficiencies with treatments that involve proper life style? yet doctors avoid any treatment that is not medically drug related.

I have for several years now eaten well, plenty of fruit, veg, salad, fish, white meat only, low fibre, milk and dairy in moderation etc. These foods were recommended by my nutritionist (who my GI put me in touch with) along with plenty of other foods which I won't mention as the list would go on forever, after illiminating the foods which seemed to harm me more. I have to say though, that I have never been a sugar or junk food fan, the only addition to the diet I eat now would have been plenty of milk and occasionally spicy foods. My GI also suggested I look into alternative remedies as he agreed there are some remedies which help with crohns.
I live in a remote area in the countryside, don't smoke, walk regularly, exercise 4 times a week and sleep for at least 8 hours a night. This way of life has been the same for years. When I said that I had tried a change of lifestyle and it didn't work, I was merely pointing out that without meds, I was still getting worse even though I ate and lived healthily. In recent years, although I was on a very small dose of Imuran (which I agree did nothing to make my crohns better and I stopped taking myself when I became pregnant as it can cause difformities in unborn babies and eventually permanently due to the bone marrow damage it can cause) the only other drugs I have been on are 1 anti wind tablet and Pentasa which is extremely mild and more for long term remission treatment. Out of the last 5 years, 3 and a half of those were remission years. Unfortunately, 18months ago that remission period ended. This was because I had problems with anal fistulas and abcesses both of which are not caused or made worse by any of the meds I was taking. As a result of these fistulas and abcesses, I had surgery in June last year. This was entirely my choice as the damage that had so far been done to my small bowel and rectum was extremely bad. I do not believe that had I have not had surgery, I would be on the mend now, feeling much better with symptoms decreasing. I was actually offered a liquid free diet first by my GI but I knew that woudn't work fully as the damage was too far gone.
I don't profess to know everything about crohns, but in my mind this step was neither, irresponsible, lazy, narrow minded, cynical or all the other judgements you made, it was simply the right decision for me and so was the decision on the medication I would/would not take.
It is true, you know nothing of my history, or of any other health issues I may have had, which by the way, were not caused or exaserbated by drugs either and that is why I find it difficult to apply any of your research, beliefs, facts to my case. I take my disease very seriously and am willing to try anything that will make my symptoms more bearable. I don't sit around on my backside wallowing in self pity and I don't brush off advice from well meaning individuals.
I note you mentioned your doctor agrees with your views and is still working out of the love of his profession, this would apply to plenty of other doctors too.
Although I have now thought and looked into trying alternative remedies, when I was diagnosed, I wasn't in a position to choose whether I would like to think about what treatment I would like to persue, I was in agony, losing weight rapidly and unable to work or even look after my child properly. Right at that moment in time, I just wanted someone to help me and take the pain away and I would have tried anything if I thought it was going to help. I sincerely hope for your sake that you continue to manage your crohns, although, as time goes by your disease will probably still progress, but hey at least you'll have done what we are all trying to do, and thats controlling our illnesses in the best way that we can!!

Ruth
 
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I am sure that you will have a great time here and you will also make plenty of new friends ... jump right in and have some fun !!
 
Hello Policsci,

Thanks for taking your time and writing out such detailed and well thought out posts. I must say though, that on initial inspection, you're coming across like a know-it-all young kid who learned a thing or two in his university classes and suddenly has the world all figured out. It's ok, we've all been there. :) You're clearly always viewing the world through a certain perspective and analysing the supposed social structures (evil capitalism devalues our human value!) which lie beneath. And that's great! Being analytical and being able to take certain situtations/institutions/structures and put them into a broader/scope context is a great way of better understanding our world and realizing why things are the way they are. You're clearly a thoughtful young guy.

But you know what? Sometimes you can overdo it. Your post is more of a social commentary criticizing our entire economic structure than anything else. So instead of devolving into a thread discussing Keynsian economics or Marxist theory, let's keep the scope of the discssion a little more narrow. Well, that's just my humble advice, anyways.

Doctors in Canada aren't really making big kickbacks when they prescribe us medications. The medical establishment isn't really trying to keep us all sick in order to continue treating us and selling us treatments/medications. Although the principles of capitalism would seem to imply that the medical industry would serve itself best if it 'created' disease and illness, real life isn't that black and white. There is still plenty of money to be made in treating existing health problems... don't think there are shady back-room scenarios going on with evil white men smoking cigars plotting how they can keep us all sick in order to increase corporate profits.

I will largely agree with you regarding your concerns over standard treatment from Crohn's, though. In my heart, I feel like I *know* that Crohn's can be largely managed with lifestyle changes. There's a reason Crohn's is much more prevalent in developed countries, with our mass-marketed corprorate 'food'. All of us living in Western nations, in general, eat such a lower quality of food that is so highly processed compared to other nations. Not to mention our fast-paced lifestyle, lack of quality human relationships, broken families, high-stress jobs, etc... And I am frustrated that doctors can provide me with literally ZERO information regarding lifestyle changes that will assist in managing my symptoms. I've asked two gastroenterologists what I can do to help manage my symptoms (diet, and otherwise), and I got NO answer. It is unfortunate that there is seemingly no research out there into dietary/lifestyle treatments for this illness.

Mind you, I know that medication has its place. I am currently using prednisone due to a bad flare-up. But I find it hard to believe that there aren't lifestyle choices that I can make and adhere to (proper diet, exercise, sleeping patterns, low stress) that will yield me more progress than any medication. I agree with you that in this sphere of treatment, 'natural healing', Western medicine is falling short.

Anyways, I think I've written enough, but thanks for joining this forum and I hope to hear more about your experiences and successes. I always enjoy reading stories of people successfully managing their symptoms (unfortunately, it seems very hard to find these stories) without medication or surgery.

Lastly, I will probably go to ten doctors before I let them cut me open. If any doctor recommends surgery, that will be ASBOLUTELY the last option on my list. However, if it does end up being required at some point in my life, I can and will accept it.
 
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ruthymg said:
Here here Robert lol


Ruth


Hi Ruth,

After re-reading my post I just wanted to do some editing to remove some typos and elaborate just a little bit more. The OP (PoliSci) is clearly a thoughtful guy, but a little too gung-ho about his perspective of the world and the social infrastructure and related behind-the-scenes machinations of said social infrastucture affecting our lives.

Yes, we all know our economic and social systems have problems. But this isn't the place for it. And capitalism isn't causing Crohn's and it isn't preventing us from better treating it (or possibly curing it), either. Are there conflicts of interest in the medical system with big business promoting their therapies/treatments/drugs/equipment to medical practitioners? Of course. Do I really care about that when I'm having a flare-up? No. Are these ehtical issues affecting my recovery or the treatment I'm receiving from my health care professionals? I'm skeptical.

I think you and I are on the same page, here.
 
I totally agree Robert. I was also a little taken aback at how judgemental Polisci was, thats why I was a little defensive. I think its a shame that someone so young, with so little life experience is so cynical. I am only in my 30's but I appreciate that there are people who know more than I do about certain things. I have no views really on capitalism as I don't know anything about it but I do have other experiences which would probably come in more useful than capitalism on this forum. Thanks for you contribution


Ruth
 
ruthymg said:
I totally agree Robert. I was also a little taken aback at how judgemental Polisci was, thats why I was a little defensive. I think its a shame that someone so young, with so little life experience is so cynical. I am only in my 30's but I appreciate that there are people who know more than I do about certain things. I have no views really on capitalism as I don't know anything about it but I do have other experiences which would probably come in more useful than capitalism on this forum. Thanks for you contribution


Ruth


Methinks the 'young lad' doth protest too much!

Seriously, though, I think PoliSci will change his tune (somewhat) once he finishes school and enters the workplace. I'm not expecting a 180-degree turn, mind you, I appreciate his criticism, but he's reaching a bit too much when he claims the reasons for his poor experiences with the medical establishment are due to 'capitalism woes'.

If you have a bad medical experience, for whatever reason, it's not (entirely) because of the economic system of where you live. I've had good and bad experiences with the medical establishment, and I live in the same province and utlilize the same system as the OP. I guess I'm just blinded and manipulated by the capitalist system which has manufactured my consent. Oh well.
 
Polisci etal,

I've just read this entire thread and I have come to the conclusion that you have ulterior motives beyond just sharing your frustrations about your Crohns. You make a statement about what happened to you and immediately declare it the defacto standard for all of us. That simply is not true. For each one of your arguments about how the system is trying to screw you, I can come up with success stories demonstarting how the drug companies and the medical establishment has helped someone else. Please don't try to apply your standards and beliefs to everyone.

I have had Crohns for 15 years. I am now 59 and have been pain and symptom free for the last 4 years. But I wasn't always that way. I quit 2 jobs because I could not deal with constant pain. But it wasn't my employers' fault that I was sick, nor was it the fault of the medical community. It was just a fact.

Yes I have had surgery for removal of a section of my small bowel. And yes it is true that Crohns (and probably many other inflamatory ailments) may be stimulated to reemerge by the presence of scar tissue. It is also true that IBD will reemerge on its own. Further, many modern drugs have been develoiped to mitigate this. I take 6MP. It did not exist 14 years ago. I am grateful that continuing research has resulted in this drug becoming available. Are the drug companies profiting from these drugs? Of course they are, as is Chevron, Nike, the Toronto Blue Jays, Macys, Safeway, Citibank, Levis... you see my point? We are in a world-wide consumer-driven economy. Why blame only the drug companies and the medical community?

I think you really need to stop the blaming and get on with your life, as many of us have. I am glad you are feeling better and I hope your remission continues unabated.

Ron
California USA
 

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