hmmm...

Wow, I received my first truly unhelpful comment yesterday. Well... mostly unhelpful. It does an excelent job of illustrating a point I’ve been talking about for the last year or so.

It was actually quite sad to see the total lack of willingness to research beyond the word of a single authority. Like many major illnesses before it (HIV, Aids, ALS, Cancer, &c) Lyme is a difficult quagmire to understand at the best of times, especially when both sides of the argument selectively choose which scientific studies to believe. The authorities quoted believe research from forty plus years ago and deny recent studies or studies from Europe, or in the case of BC, create statistics with no reference to any scientific study. Other’s, like that comment mentioned, are more interested in acquiring money from those who feel the desire to improve their health. Yet, I have found that there are some in the middle who really do wish to help people, who provide sound evidence, and who have success in their treatment process.

I’m not interested in presenting the arguments in full at the moment, they are available elsewhere and I have outlined them in more detail in earlier posts.

My aim is more that I want to encourage people to participate in their own well being. I no longer trust physicians fully, even my current ones. They are human and are therefore capable of error. I make them provide the research they are basing their treatment on. Either they can provide the medical journal or they can cite it and I can read it for myself through the university library. Sometimes I accept and sometimes I request alternate treatment. I’m not suggesting that everyone go that far with their health, but a use of common sense is necessary. Trusting any authority without question is a fallacy worth avoiding in all aspects of one’s life.

My advice to yesterday’s commenter is to read (and think) before you type. What do the authorities you quote base their findings on? What evidence do they present? Is it up to date? Do their conclusions follow from the axioms and premises? Does it fit what we know of the rest of the world? Most importantly, when it comes to medical practices, is the result desirable or does it cause unnecessary suffering?

It would also be useful to see first if what you wish to say fits with the general feel of the blog. Blogs are very different from forums in that they are usually run by individuals about something on which they feel strongly; therefore one should be more cautious when expressing a difference of opinion.

Now, we get to my personal feelings on this topic. On the whole, I found it hurtful, ignorant, and not in keeping with the spirit of this blog. I’m reiterating my right to moderate comments that I find harmful (see the “read me” in the side bar). I had hoped not to have a need to instigate comment moderation, but I think that has changed. Am I limiting freedom of expression? No. Everyone, in this part of the world in any rate, is free to start their own blog and moderate any comments that they might acquire. I will, however, leave this one comment as an example of what I do not wish to see here.