To Solve a Problem, Stop the Problem

Highlight of the day: We all went to hang out at a friends apartment near campus before dinner, and I got to play with Alejandro's dog Borris!

Borris is such a good puppy! He's less
than three months old.

     Today was our last and final day at Clínica San Pedro. Dra. Magda and I were talking about our daily diets and exercise which sparked an interesting conversation. Preventative medicine is very prevalent in Mexico. Many patients are not very wealthy, so they cannot afford for an illness to have many complications. Missing work is difficult, and the process to be compensated for medical leave is very tedious. Therefore, the easiest solution is to attempt to prevent common diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

     It has appeared that some of the most common illnesses in Mexicans are common problems in the United States as well. While I do not have much experience with diabetics in the United States, I have seen that many Mexicans are very willing to change their lifestyle after their diagnosis to improve their outcome. If the doctors say to limit sugar intake, the patient does it. If a doctor says not to eat foods with salt, the patient follows the recommendation. While not every patient does exactly as the doctor says, many patients take the doctors' word as gold.

     The willingness of patients to change their daily habits makes a huge difference in the long-term health of each patient. We saw many patients that lost 10-20 kilograms after they were diagnosed with diabetes because they began to take better care of themselves. With the doctors' support each month, it seems very possible for complications to be avoided as best as possible. Dra. Magda kept reminding me that Mexico is a poor country, so many people simply cannot afford to become extremely ill. It is a better option to stop the complications before they even begin by making smaller lifestyle changes.

     Personally, I think preventative medicine is the future of medicine. There is no reason to wait to treat an advanced disease if smaller, less aggressive treatments or changes can make a difference. Dra. Magda told one patient to put the juice from an apple on bruises to reduce their appearance. Another patient was told to put a drop of olive oil in her ear each day to help with an infection. While in serious cases, natural treatments like these will not work, in cases where they can, natural medicine is cheaper and less harmful to the body.

     My time at the family practice has made me think a lot about medicine in general. I'm looking forward to going to El Hospital Niño Poblano later this week! I'm sure Savannah and I will get to see much, much more.