Be A Team Player

By Author: Steven Johnson
Total Articles: 490
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Some people are natural loners. They sit on top of mountains or in caves and, were it not for the internet, no one would know they were alive. It's great to be self-reliant, to know you can always get thing done without depending on others. But, for the rest of us, it's better to be a team player. If one has a weakness, there's someone to offer their strength. That way, we all get along and get things done.

Today's world is a cooperative and interactive place. To get goods to the shops, we need delivery drivers. For the trucks, we need designers and people on the line to make them. For the metal, we need people to dig up the ore and refine it. And so on. Everything fits together and has its place in the big picture. So no matter how good one drug may be, it too sits in its own big picture. Ignoring the scientists do do the research and development, there has to be a system for deciding what treatments are safe and effective, and then when each different treatment should be used. That all comes down to big government to keep us safe, and then the leading doctors to set practice standards, and the hospitals to set the prices ...
... to ensure they may their profit while treating us, and the nurses who monitor our response to each treatment and whether we are making good progress towards a cure. Or if you're at home, you get to do you own decision-making based on what you've heard and read. You nurse yourself, deciding whether the treatment is working as you expect and changing treatment strategies if you think something else might be better.

In every case, it all comes down to a simple fact. One-trick ponies are only good for that trick. Every time you take the same drug, your body is adapting to it. You build up tolerance for that drug. It starts to become less effective. So the only choice you have is either to increase the dosage until that also loses its effect (but by then you may be addicted), or you change to a different drug, or you give up drugs and try something else.

A carpenter has many tools available. If he or she only used a hammer, this would limit productivity. It's the same with treatments for whatever illness you have. Doctors have an entire toolbox of different drugs and therapies. Common sense says you should make the best choice of strategies for whatever illness you have. So, when you are in pain, it may be quick and easy to reach for Tramadol. There's no better way of making the pain go away. But why was your first response not to ask for the cause of the pain? Diagnosis is the first step. Then you treat the underlying problem and the pain is reduced or goes away. Tramadol interrupts the pain messages from the damaged part of your body. It does not cure the damaged part of your body. So before you reach for the painkiller, ask what other treatments play on the same team.