Are doctors really up to date with research? Also are they unbiased or do they suffer from the foot in the door.

The other week I was chatting to three doctors at the hospice where I work about the latest research in to statins. They asked me why I was so against them. I replied that I'm not against statin drugs as long as doctors who prescribe them have read all the latest information including the research done by scientists not in the drug companies pocket. The doctors at the hospice admitted that they had not read any of the research for several years.

How can we as patients know if our doctor are up to date?

The good news is that commercial airline pilots have to keep up to date on all the aircraft they fly and have regular health checks unlike our doctors?

[Hidden]

That's good news,Saddness, for those who fly...for the rest of us we depend on our doctors to keep up to date, but when you find one that does please let me know. i have tried many times to talk to doctors about the necessity of good nutrition and have given up after seeing the eyes rise so many times. I hope this has changed, but when I worked in the NHS several years ago, during their training doctors received just one half day training on nutrition. Good nutrition is vital for our wellbeing, we know this now....there is something in nature for many ailments that afflict us, it's finding that one that suits us, we are all different and sometimes it is trial and error, but natural treatments are far less likely to do the harm that so many pharmaceutical products do. As for statins...don't get me started....the story is too horrendous to think about, we have known about the lack of benefits and harm they do for many years now and still they seem to be prescribed willy nilly. My own GP pushed and pushed for me to take them and it was only when i suffered awful side effects that I actually did my own research, a lot of it through this web site, I stopped taking them, moved area (nothing to do with my health) and will not even discuss with my new GP. For all the contrbutors to this site, thank you, keep it up, we have to get the message out that we are responsible for our own wellbeing and should not believe all that the professionals tell us, perhaps we have more time to read the research than they have!!!

[Nannyval in reply to Hidden]

Well said I'm the same as you  and it's so frustrating  

[MikePollard]

It sounds to me that rather than bang your head on a brick wall, this forum is some sort of release!

Mike

[stopgo]

A lot of posts are anti statin which is o.k if you want to take that gamble. !!

[suki65 in reply to stopgo]

Not anti statin sorry to tell you some people can't take them at all , or you risk ending up in a wheelchair at the age of 50 thank you . Listen to people who can't take them please 

[foodblog]

My GP is one of the more enlightened ones and gave me 3 months to see what I could do to reduce my cholesterol level. Three months later I returned having lost a stone and reduced my level to within the normal range. When I told her how I had achieved this she exclaimed 'so diet and exercise do work!' Indeed, in many cases they do. The challenge of course is to keep up the good work.

[Nannyval]

Thats a worry if they dont know it not very reassuring   But I'm not surprise