Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

What is it about the therapy that is Frankenstein?

The principle of BIG ZAP followed by pronouncement that IT LIVES! We like this kind of drama. It makes it easy to claim credit for the outcome. Subtler approaches get a whole lot more "correlation does not prove causation" type feedback. But it sort of overlooks the fact that the body is the battlefield and if you have a scorched earth policy towards the disease, the remaining shelled out husk may not support life.

Lastly, I would like to agree that if possible, a light touch is always valued over a heavy one if the outcomes are the same.

In my experience, the outcomes are not the same: A lighter touch gets superior results because it does not leave one with a shelled out husk that cannot support life.

Without going on at length, the TLDR of what my mother did for my father was she focused on keeping him hydrated and adequately nourished. He lost a third of his body weight prior to finally being diagnosed with colon cancer. At a time during his treatment that most colon cancer patients are losing weight, he was gaining weight so rapidly that his doctor yelled at my mother to slow it down. My father had a longstanding heart condition and the doctor was concerned that the sudden weight gain would be too much strain for his heart.

I have followed some similar principles in recovering from my incurable health issues. My condition involves significant gut impairment, so much so that CF medical teams routinely include a dietician. Yet, the last time I checked, the state of the art was to encourage CF patients to feast on junk food because CF patients are encouraged to eat a high fat, high salt, high calorie diet. I never counted calories. I did work on getting enough fats and salt, but a higher priority for me was to eat nutritionally dense foods and high quality foods. I did a fair amount of research (or took advice from other people who had done so) and I got very picky about the kind of salt and fats I would eat, as well as the kind of food. This has yielded good results and allowed me to get off a long list of drugs and other treatments. I am gradually getting my life back when the norm for CF patients is steady deterioration until they finally die, often at very young ages.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: