I think my key take-away would have been: the closer you are to the problem the better your solution can be.
I would venture to guess current therapies were developed by health professions and engineers at arms length to intended patients (via books and maybe some user-testing in constrained environments).
This solution was inspired and developed by a father who is involved with the health problem every day for long periods of time in real world situations. That provided a much better view of the problem space.
I am not sure if self diagnosing is a great idea or what I would identify as a key take-away. But accepting solutions blindly could be.
Indeed...it's really difficult (in time measures) for doctors or physicians to reach a level of familiarity with the patient on par with the relationship the patient has with his/her family, friends, etc. This inability to do so often leads to oversights.
True story.
My ex-gf started experiencing cardiac arrests in college, which is rare for individuals of her age. Of course, her parents took her to some of the top physicians in the U.S. as well as in London and they all claimed she needed a very risky surgery for her heart. The arrests were scarring her heart tissue and any new arrest could permanently damage the organ further.
The doctors knew that she would experience these arrests when she became extremely emotional or stressed out, yet couldn't pinpoint exactly what the problem was. They simply thought she had an unnaturally fast heartbeat, which led to the arrests. As her bf, I had taken her on amazing dates and watched horror movies with her, so I knew that I had put her through various emotional stages (complete with crazy fast hearbeats) without her ever experiencing an arrest.
Luckily at the time, I was studying Endocrinology in college, so I proposed that there might be particular hormones in her system that weren't being flushed out of her body...which is very dangerous because the hormones can continually innervate vital organs; in my gf's case, her heart.
Sure enough they found that her body wasn't producing the correct enzymes to degrade the hormones and so she began a regimen of artificial hormones. I am proud to say that in the 4 years since she has been on the treatment, she has been perfectly normal! And all without any damn surgery.
I'm not a medical professional, but I knew my gf in and out. I think that the medical world would greatly benefit if there was some sort of greater collaboration between patient and doctor. Doctors are so busy that they don't have time to really understand the patient outside of the ailment at hand. At the same time, I understand how busy doctors are and how detached they must remain in order to maintain objectivity and professionalism.
I'm going thru something similar right now with a loved one and my experience is the same. Patient-Doctor (or in our case Patient Party-Doctor) rapport is the most important thing to a better outcome. Doctors are far more willing to listen and work with you when you can establish 1) you have objective goals in mind and 2) you've done your homework.
I would venture to guess current therapies were developed by health professions and engineers at arms length to intended patients (via books and maybe some user-testing in constrained environments).
This solution was inspired and developed by a father who is involved with the health problem every day for long periods of time in real world situations. That provided a much better view of the problem space.
I am not sure if self diagnosing is a great idea or what I would identify as a key take-away. But accepting solutions blindly could be.