Posted by Geo (206.173.24.221) on September 08, 2000 at 01:00:39:
In Reply to: Unconcerned and uncaring doctors posted by Monica Hall on September 07, 2000 at 15:47:41:
that doctors are as concerned and uncaring as much as they are uneducated or uniformed or inexperienced about/with CH. CH is horrible, yet it is not so remote that it requires a special person to get it, so I think that many physicians are at once perplexed by new patients with this problem, but intimidated by it also, since they can only do as much as thier experience and knowledge will allow them to.
There is also the limitation of the policies of general practice, the medical establishment as a whole. A physician may genuinely be concerned about a patient with this condition, yet, because the consensus regarding CH is one which does not allow itself to define CH as specific or distinct neurological condition which requires specialised treatment, perhaps because it is such an abiguous ailment-Thus doctors can only relate to it by means of general reference.The true statistical data on CH is limited to those who have it-There is no medical encyclopedia(that I know of)that will inform any doctor of the fact that these headaches are called 'suicide headaches', which would make this condition a much bigger problem requiring more specific and specialised attention.
Noone really knows the true scope of this disease or just how devestating it can be.
Moreover there's the unfortunate fact that it is not likely that any effective treatment will be developed soley for the sake of the sufferer. Historically, medicine has always adopted a treat-for-profit attitude towards the treatment of illness, utilising routinely any approach that is at once available, and expensive.
This is not the fault of the physician, but that of the pool of resource he/she must draw from merely in order to do what he/she has sworn as such-
NO HARM. Much like police, whose duty is to 'serve and protect', they have little power over the laws or policies they enforce, uphold, or abide by, and no power to change them.
All the more reason why we need to scream and shout, and let it all out.