Short-term relief, long-term harm

For all of life's discontents, according to the pharmaceutical industry, there is a drug and you should take it. Then for the side effects of that drug, then there's another drug, and so on. So we're all taking more drugs, and more expensive drugs.

~ Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine

While drugs can have enormous utility in disease care, those working in prevention and wellness focus on behavioural change.

A thorough assessment of the person in our care takes hours, not minutes.

When something is beyond our scope of practice, we refer to someone better equipped to handle it.

In a health coaching relationship, one must develop rapport (trust and empathy) with those we are called upon to help.

Our job is not to numb symptoms but to figure out the underlying cause of any physical or emotional discomfort and inspire behavioural change to fix it.

If temporary numbing of symptoms or eradicating infection is necessary, the care of a trusted medical doctor is encouraged.

Creating patients for life

New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.

~ Lao Tzu

A couple of weeks ago, my nephew returned from a trip to South America with “food poisoning” symptoms.

When traveling to foreign countries, we may be exposed to germs the immune system has not learned to eradicate. Antimicrobial medication may save a life and prevent long-term harm if an infection develops.

Based on the symptoms my nephew described, I recommended a temporary dietary protocol and that he see a doctor ASAP.

Because he prefers not to take medication, he implemented the diet and experienced relief.

A couple of days ago, he reached out feeling unwell again. He wanted to verify that a prescription for a targeted antimicrobial might help. I was surprised he had not yet seen the doctor.

He went into a walk-in clinic and quickly walked out with a prescription for a proton pump inhibitor - an acid blocker.

My nephew takes pride in giving all he has at work. To function, he needed immediate relief.

I was confused. I did not have enough information. I thought my nephew's symptoms were in the lower abdomen. But this medication was for upper digestive discomfort. He did not seem to know much about why this drug.

When I worked in a trading room, where stress levels were sky-high, a few people ended up on these medications, developing severe complications over time.

These acid-blocking, proton pump inhibitor medications can create dependence and have many adverse side effects. The short-term benefit of numbing symptoms can cause long-term harm.

Stress is the main cause of family doctor visits

True self-discovery begins where your comfort zone ends.

~ Adam Braun

When inquiring further, I learned that the stress of notifying his boss that he had accepted a new job renewed his symptoms.

It is well-established that up to 90% of family doctor visits are stress related. I suspect the anticipation of returning from vacation to a job he no longer enjoyed contributed to his “food poisoning” symptoms.

I messed up. I did not ask enough questions when initially approached to help.

More concerning, however, was how quickly a young person was prescribed a medication with the potential to cause long-term and, at times, short-term harm. A list of treatment pros and cons, should have been provided.

Possible adverse health effects of proton pump inhibitors:

• Cancerous growths in the stomach

• Inability to absorb nutrients

• Deficiencies of vitamin B12, zinc, iron, magnesium, and calcium

• Infection

• Kidney disease

• Impaired bone maintenance

• Dementia

• Liver disease

Imagine all the other drugs required to manage these side effects. What a great business model for an industry that profits from sickness.

I share this story because helping prevent just one person from having to rely on multiple drugs to function, has a snowball effect.

My nephew will be fine. He recognized his symptoms were a sign of how much one can hurt when they truly care about the impact of their decisions on other people.

Sometimes we need short-term pain relief. But, pain is a cry for change. Heed the call.