I've got sympathy for both sides. I'm sure there's too much "woo" in the CLD camp, but I'm also sure that too many on the "no such thing as CLD" camp brush it off as "everyone over 30 has aches and pains and malaise" or "it's psychosomatic, especially in women". It sure seems like there's too much certainty in the "no such thing as CLD"/"it's unscientific to treat CLD with antibiotics" camp. Very few people actually want to go through the hassle of visiting doctors, complaining, etc., just to get attention. Especially US doctors... :-/
When professional prestige is on the line, opinions too often harden. And they too often have strong opinions outside their area of expertise. I still recall one of Joe's doctors arguing with me when Joe was having one of his medical crises. (Roughly) "Just look at him - at 85 he's lucky to be alive!" We ended up arguing over actuarial tables - life expectancy at 85 is about 6 years, while he kept talking as if he would naturally keel over any minute because life expectancy at birth was around 53 when he was born... :-/
Here's hoping a clearer answer to the question of how to treat people with CLD symptoms appears sooner rather than later. There are too many people suffering at least in part because it's not taken seriously.
Cheers,
Scott.
When professional prestige is on the line, opinions too often harden. And they too often have strong opinions outside their area of expertise. I still recall one of Joe's doctors arguing with me when Joe was having one of his medical crises. (Roughly) "Just look at him - at 85 he's lucky to be alive!" We ended up arguing over actuarial tables - life expectancy at 85 is about 6 years, while he kept talking as if he would naturally keel over any minute because life expectancy at birth was around 53 when he was born... :-/
Here's hoping a clearer answer to the question of how to treat people with CLD symptoms appears sooner rather than later. There are too many people suffering at least in part because it's not taken seriously.
Cheers,
Scott.