Taking responsibility for your health

"My doctor has put me on a strict diet." "My doctor will not let me do anything since my heart attack." "My doctor is going to be mad at me when he finds out that I have been smoking."

If you hear yourself in these statements, it is possible that you are making your doctor responsible for your health. Through the years, there has been a growing dependence on doctors to cure whatever ails. Many studies over the last 30 years have indicated that as many as two-thirds of patient visits to doctors are from the "worried well." Major and minor tranquilizers and anti-depressants have been prescribed in abundance as the temporary answer for life's problems.

But you can positively influence your health by using the self-care measures outlined in this book. For example, chronic pulmonary patients in a rehabilitation program that emphasizes self-care through exercise, diet, stress management, and cooperation with physicians have made tremendous overall improvement in their health and well-being. The primary benefit they derive is the feeling that they are doing something to help themselves. Times are changing and seniors want to be actively involved in health issues. Taking responsibility is also part of a total program of well-being.

THE FAMILY DOCTOR OR SPECIALIST?

A woman laments, "The most frustrating thing for me during my husband's bypass surgery was the number of doctors that we had to deal with and the fact that they did not seem to care about us as human beings." For years, you could go to one doctor who would take care of you no matter what your medical needs might be. The family doctor was there when the major transitions of life were negotiated: births, operations, adolescence, menopause, death. The family doctor was not only there but extended a caring hand.

With the explosion of medical technology, medical science began to specialize by leaps and bounds. A few years ago this trend reached a peak when it was almost impossible for the average person to know where to turn for help. Revitalization in the practice of the family doctor has occurred, but many people remain confused and lost in the maze of specialists.

It is no wonder that many people who remember the treatment of their family doctor feel there is a lack of respect and genuine concern. Many doctors also feel frustrated for many of the same reasons. But, there is much you can do to help yourself in the midst of the changing medical scene.