Health is a personal experience, not numbers!

[Guest guest]

In olden days, if a patient visits a Vaidya, he used to diagnose most

complex diseases just by pulse and few other simple tests suggested

by ayurveda. On the other hand, todays doctors, despite modern

pathology labs, sophisticated imported machinery, x-rays, ultrasound

pictures, CT Scans, ECG, and angiography, are unable to reach a

definite conclusion about the disease and its treatment. The reason

for this sad state of health care system is that 70% of these (nearly

40,000) diagnostic labs have absence of qualified staff. Only 60 have

government accredition. While we have an elaborate procedures to

obtain accredition for starting a medical college, we do not have

well defined rules and standards for starting a pathology lab or

diagnostic unit.

 

Many labs do not have requisite technical staff and those who have,

to carry out tests, a MD visists only to sign the reports at the end

of working day. Old equipment, cheaper chemicals, inexperienced

staff, you can imagine how much realism will exist in pathology

reports.

 

The maximum unreliability is seen in blood sugar reports. Today,

nearly 35 million diabetic patients exist in India. Diabetes gives

maximum turnover to the labs, doctors and pharmaceuticals. One

expereience is worth mentioning. A patient changed to ayurveda after

following allopathy for 4-5 years. Just a day before she had blood

sugar tested 225 mg/dl. She was started on ayurvedic medicines, and

to have easy transition, allopathic medication was also continued.

During one month medication she had noted increase in health (hunger,

digestion, elimination, energy levels, need to visit bathroom during

night, pains in extremeties, itching etc) on all fronts. She was very

happy and to satisfy curiosity that sugar was really reduced, she

visited usual laboratory after a month. Since she was regular

customer, and on the remark that she seems improved by usual

technician, she gave a smile and told, "I have added ayurvedic

medication also now!".

 

That day evening she received a report of Fasting glucose 300 mg/dl.

 

"How this can happen?" she enquired. Her pulse, acupressure points

were all singing the health only, sugar points were not sore. "I feel

there may be something wrong, when I feel OK how sugar could have

increased? " she remarked. When this author had no answer, she gave a

broad smile and said, "don't worry doctor, I guessed something is

wrong with this report, and I went to another lab and had another

test, see the report." 173 mg/dl. She had taken both tests after

equal number of hours after dinner, and no change in food. Author has

kept both report with him, should another case like this arise. He

does not think it was a deliberate mistake on the laboratory part,

but this kind of things happen when health is defined by numbers!

Health is a personal experience, as much as bliss after meditation is.

 

Which laboratory to trust and which method to trust is a open

question for a patient. If you visit an ultrasound lab for assessing

urinary calculi or gall stone size you will get two different sizes,

perhaps depending on the sensitivity of the equipment, skill of the

testing person, and few other reasons, typical to modern medicine

practice.

 

When hospital has its own laboratory, perhaps this kind of

unreliability may reduce, but since many small hospitals have

mushroomed in metros, they have to depend on the private laboratories

only.

 

Now multinationals have also jumped in this lucrative field. This

field is growing at an annual rate of 50%. Thanks to our technology

blinded society. Many charity NGOs arrange mass scale testing

through these MNC labs and the real purpose of labs is to expand the

patient market. While a sick person goes for tests, only limited

market can exist, but when apparently healthy person goes for

testing, much bigger turnover comes as many employers wish their

employees should be certified healthy. And our policies are also

encouraging medical tourism! Kidneys, ovaries, surrogacy etc are

available at rates far cheaper than rest of the world. Unfortunately

the cost of health care to poor man has increased very much. Hence

several government and public sector companies are thinking of

switching over to medical insurance rather than contributory health

service.