Change at the Speed of Snail

My pediatrician said to me on our first visit that it takes 20 years to change clinical practice.  That parents are changing the treatment of autistic and sensory children simply because they demand it.  And that if we waited for clinicians to do it, we'd be waiting too long because children grow up too fast.

In that same vein I just read this article on gluten sensitivity: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576200393522456636.html.

In two separate places the woman who runs the gluten intolerance group of north america says that patients have been told that it's in their head or they are crazy if they don't have celiac but still react to gluten.  Their symptoms simply written off as psychiatric.  It also says, "Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center says that research into gluten sensitivity today is roughly where celiac disease was 30 years ago."

What I don't understand is why it takes 20-30 years to change clinical practice.  I practiced in a hospital for 7 years, and I can tell you that physicians don't read their own journals.  When I approached a doctor about giving Lovenox in the arm instead of the abdomen where it's routinely given, after reading a study that said absorption was better in the arm, I was told, "do it the way we've always done it".

Or the doctor that ignored my female patient's report of pain in her jaw as chest pain because she wasn't experiencing pain in her arm or chest, even after I pointed out that her pain was classic angina in a woman.  Or the doctors that kept ordering hydrogen peroxide in open wounds long after it had been proven to burn and slow wound healing.  Or the doctors that prescribed heat lamps for skin grafts, also outdated practice.  There are more examples than I can recount. 

The same goes for labor, delivery, and birth.  Evidence based practice is practically nowhere to be found there.  Pitocin and epidural drugs don't cross the placenta do they?  IV fluids certainly can't, right?  Wrong.  Lactation consultants have known for years that IV fluids and drugs given in labor and delivery cross the placenta and affect baby's initial weight, latch, and suckling patterns.  Physicians still ignore these facts, despite research showing otherwise.

Also for breastfeeding...  Ever heard a physician say colostrum is not milk or breastmlk has no value after one year, or two years, or whatever?  I have.  Those statements are contrary to their own governing body's research and suggestions for clinical practice.  Yet physicians continue to practice the same tenets and knowledge they gained in medical school.

All of that is very scary, if you ask me.  You go to a physician for relief from your symptoms.  If your symptoms are out of the realm of his expertise, and he isn't willing to consider alternatives or research what else could possibly be wrong, or just *think outside the box*, it's all in your head?  Why do we accept this form of healthcare?  What happened to listening to patients?

Then there's this quote: 

"Indeed, Marios Hadjivassiliou, a neurologist in Sheffield, England, says he found deposits of antibodies to gluten in autopsies and brain scans of some patients with ataxia, a condition of impaired balance.

Could such findings help explain why some parents of autistic children say their symptoms have improved—sometimes dramatically—when gluten was eliminated from their diets? To date, no scientific studies have emerged to back up such reports."

How long have parents been saying that gluten free diets help their autistic kids?  10 years?  15 years?  And all we hear from the medical community is NO, that can't POSSIBLY be true.  Because there is no study to back you up.  Yet they don't read their own studies when they are done.  

Here's another quote: 

"The incidence of celiac disease is rising sharply—and not just due to greater awareness. Tests comparing old blood samples to recent ones show the rate has increased four-fold in the last 50 years, to at least 1 in 133 Americans. It's also being diagnosed in people as old as 70 who have eaten gluten safely all their lives."

It goes on to say:

"People aren't born with this. Something triggers it and with this dramatic rise in all ages, it must be something pervasive in the environment," says Joseph A. Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. One possible culprit: agricultural changes to wheat that have boosted its protein content."

I think this thing that is "pervasive in the environment" is a combination of the toxins in our food, GMO wheat, and the ever-expanding vaccine schedule.  I am at a loss trying to understand why physicians think adding more and more toxins to the body and just expecting it to keep up is not going to have consequences like gluten intolerance.  Allergies to what you eat?  Yes, nowadays it is possible.  And no, it's not in my head.  

Let's start studying the things that actually matter to our children and their health, and the health of the population, and stop funding studies on why a blueberry or broccoli is the next power food.  Advanced medicine certainly isn't if it's 20 years old.