| Good point. I'm not sure how many do, but it does happen. I'd love to see data regarding this (e.g. how widespread is it?). Most doctors are essentially statisticians doing something like this: 1) Formulate a list of patient symptoms, ensuring credibility (e.g. are you lying/hiding/unaware-of something?). 2) Match those up with whatever diagnosis is statistically most likely. 3) Take "medicine X" and see what happens. 4) Cured? If not, go to step 2, repeat. Step 2 can be subjective, especially if there are several likely causes. This can lead to different doctors giving different diagnosis. The more times a doctor has seen the same problem, the more likely he/she will be correct the first time. Specialists come in handy here, gathering lots of experience regarding only specific conditions. For rare diseases, hard to diagnose, or those which aren't fully understood, repeating steps #2 - #4 is going to be more likely. This is where you'll find the greatest differences of "opinion". Step #1 can be repeated too if conditions change, of course. -------------------- Regarding dietitians/nutritionists, I'm not sure how they work. I'd imagine most of their disagreements come from studies contradicting one another. Results of studies can be questioned as well. There is some overlap with the statistical nature of doctors, though. Pinpointing food allergies/intolerances requires eliminating foods, one-at-a-time, from your diet and seeing what happens. I'm sure there are blood tests which can be done too. -------------------- In general though, it's not wise to discredit professionals just because they may disagree on certain things in their field. Unless the field is fully understood (I'm not aware of one which is!), you'll see that. Perhaps I should rephrase my advice: What's the best advice to take? That from "multiple" doctors, dietitians, or nutritionists. Not some yahoos on the internet. A second or third opinion reduces the likelihood of errors, while limiting received advice only from those educated and qualified to give it. |
I'd say that the field is quite poorly understood. Here's an article (long!) that kind of sums it up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t....
What's the best advice to take? That from "multiple" doctors, dietitians, or nutritionists. Not some yahoos on the internet.
A second or third opinion reduces the likelihood of errors, while limiting received advice only from those educated and qualified to give it.
I found out that even after that, I'm tempted to try and do some of my own research, and then apply the advice to myself and see how well it works ...