Debunking Conventional Wisdom

There is so much misinformation out there in the world - much of it masquerading as "wisdom" or, even worse, "conventional wisdom". Much of the misinformation and misleading conventional wisdom I come across has to do with women's health, especially menopausal health.

The misinformation, and conflicting information, makes me frustrated and angry, which is why I call my blog "The Burning Woman" - because I am on fire in midlife, hotly pursuing truth, reason, and authentic wisdom, all the while fighting off hot flashes.

I've been on the planet long enough, and experienced enough bullsh*t, to know crap when I smell it, and to sense truth when I am in its presence. Truth, especially truth about our bodies and health, just feels right; you just instinctively sense the truth when you come across it.

But, we're really in a battle for truth, and facing opposition from decades of conventional Western medical wisdom, "Big Pharma" (the drug industry), and even "agri-business" (which controls the nature and quality of our food supply). Going up against these entities feels like you're confronting the "Flat Earth" society. Conventional wisdom used to dictate that the world was flat - those who suspected, argued, and even proved differently got a really rough ride.

I read somewhere that going against conventional wisdom results in a pattern that consists first of ridicule, then vicious attack, and finally acceptance/agreement. When challenged, the responses so far from conventional Western medicine and Big Pharma fall right into the ridicule and attack postures.

I get so angry and discouraged reading one personal account after another of doctors who poo-poo the concerns and ignore the symptoms of their midlife female patients - even refusing to order certain tests or to prescribe anything that doesn't come from the labs of Big Pharma. Why is it that so many doctors seem to close their minds and refuse to entertain/learn anything new after med school graduation (unless it's embracing whatever the drug reps are peddling)? Why do so many doctors react so poorly and defensively in the face of an informed patient who wants to be a full partner in her health care? Why is that such a threat?

It drives me nuts to hear about doctors who refuse to order thyroid tests or, if they will order a thyroid test, will only order TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) to be tested, which doesn't tell the whole story. You need to get TSH tested AND also get T3 and T4 tested - then you get a complete picture. I wonder how many GPs don't order T3 and T4 tests simply because they don't know how to correctly interpret the results, especially all 3 in relation to each other.

I remember quite a few years back, my ancient GP at the time admitted he didn't know how to interpret the new way Pap test results were being reported! I changed doctors...but do you know they strip a lot out of your file before they send it to your new doctor? They are free to remove anything they want, so the new doctor can't really tell what was going with you and your previous doc.

Some other conventional wisdom I want to help debunk is around Kegel exercises for minor female stress incontinence (those little leaks from sneezing, coughing, laughing or, bouncing up and down on a trampoline etc). Last week a major women's magazine was trumpeting Kegels as the answer to this problem. But I had recently read a post on VibrantNation.com that explained why Kegels can actually make the problem worse.

The Vibrant Nation article made so much sense as it explained which muscles do what "down there" (the "pelvic floor"), and how squats and lunges are actually the correct exercises for lengthing and toning the muscles that prevent little urine stress leaks, NOT Kegels. Too many Kegels will exacerbate the leak problem. Again, I "felt" the truth of what I was reading, that lunges/squats, not Kegels, are the right way to go.

Here's a link for more info on that issue - http://mamasweat.blogspot.com/2010/05/pelvic-floor-party-kegels-are-not.html

This instinctive recognition, or "knowing" of the truth is what author Malcolm Gladwell writes about in his book "Blink". We often have the capacity to spot the truth, if we would just listen to our guts more, and less to the conventional (often outdated) wisdom that is shoved down our throats.

Everyone seems to believe you need antibiotics to treat a bladder infection (90% of which are caused by e-coli bacteria that cling to the walls of the bladder). But a natural substance called "D Mannose" is a powder you can get at the health food store, mix in water and drink to cure a bladder infection. It works because e-coli love D Mannose and will release their grip on your bladder walls to feed on the D Mannose and then you can just pee it all out. No negative side effects, no prescription medication, no destruction of the healthy bacteria in your system.

And while I'm at it, I will rant against agave syrup, or agave nectar...whatever you want to call it. It's being hailed as a safe, natural sweetener with a low Glycemic Index (making it "safe" for people with blood sugar problems, like diabetics). I was using it and then came across information that it is terrible stuff - far, far worse than the High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) we've all been warned about. Fructose can only be metabolized through the liver, and apparently it is very hard on the liver. HFCS is about 60% fructose and even Dr. Mehmet Oz strongly warns against it. But, one day on the Dr. Oz TV show, I saw him featuring a dietician's tips and recipes which included agave syrup/nectar...and agave is 90% fructose, so almost twice as bad as HFCS! You can't accept anything at face value it seems - even Dr. Oz can get it wrong. And don't get me started on the medical idiocy they spout on that TV show "The Doctors"...mostly plastic surgery-focused total crapola, and very poorly explained.

I wish that there was a debunking website where one could go to check out and challenge all kinds of "conventional wisdom" - kind of like the Snopes.com website where you can check on the truth of "urban myths/urban legends" that seem to circulate. Until there is, I will continue blogging about anything I can help to debunk.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)