Posted by Eddie Sylvano on September 18, 2002, at 16:22:27
In reply to Re: No appetite after using ADs » Eddie Sylvano, posted by Geezer on September 18, 2002, at 13:06:19
>Sadly, there is no true EMPERICAL SCIENCE being applied to Psychiatry (as it relates to effective treatment) at this time. There is some work being done re: genetic markers, intracellular ADs, etc. but I won't hold my breath until that leads to better treatment. In the meantime pdocs will continue to "roll the dice" and hope something works (has not happened for me in more than 30 years).
--------------You're exactly right about that, Geezer (I feel kind of bad calling you that :)
I imagine there's a wide spectrum of quality in pdocs (or any docs). Most people just get stuck with whatever one or two that their HMO supports, which really sucks.
Even a good doctor can't keep up on *all* the research, though some do better than others. As the information base continues to grow, it's only going to get harder, too. Beyond the more simple maladies, it wades into hubris to think that a single person, meeting with you on an increasingly limited basis, will be able to deduce the nature of a problem as complex as the workings (or failings, in our case) of the brain, especially given the limited nature of our current understanding. Most current medications are just serendipitous discoveries, or refinements of a previous accidental discovery. The only hope I see for empirical underpinnings is the use of computers (pattern analysis algorithms) on large sets of well gathered information. It's how we have recently come to understand weather systems, and the interwoven systems of the body and brain are problems of similar magnitude. Still, no one seems interested in that idea.
poster:Eddie Sylvano
thread:120243
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020914/msgs/120292.html