I’m not hiding anything.
Occasionally I deal with patients and families who seem to think I have some miracle cure for a condition that I’m not telling them about.
I promise, I don’t work that way. Besides the obvious ethical issues, why would I? What could I possibly gain from doing that?
Dr. Allan M. Block
The trouble is that people are blanketed by news headlines, some reputable and some not, about a research study suggesting a new direction in treatment, or that a new drug in development has promise. Often these stories are forwarded to them by well-meaning relatives and friends, or just show up in their social media feed.
While some of these findings may actually lead somewhere, the vast majority don’t. In my career I’ve seen statins touted as potential treatments for MS and Alzheimer’s disease, and vilified as causes of dementia and peripheral neuropathy, all disproved or (to date) still up in the air.
But nonmedical people don’t understand that. It made the news, so it must mean something. I have no problem trying to explain this to them, but it’s never easy.
It’s even harder to explain to the ones who’ve already purchased a costly over-the-counter placebo for such a condition that they wasted their money.
Far from it.
New discoveries are made, but a lot of times it’s a very slow journey to find the solution. One discovery may not lead to THE answer, but hopefully will get you closer to it.
That generally doesn’t happen overnight. The mathematical problem of Goldbach’s Conjecture has been around since 1742 and still hasn’t been definitively answered.
Medicine isn’t math, either. The people and families dealing with these conditions want answers. I don’t blame them. So do I. Believe me, there would be nothing that would bring me more joy as a doctor than to be able to give someone with a serious diagnosis the comfort that comes with saying it’s also curable.
I never have, and never would, withhold such a thing from a patient. Ever. I just wish some of them would believe me when I say that.
Dr. Block has a solo neurology practice in Scottsdale, Ariz.