Obviously, we don't. But, a much bigger problem is that we doctors don't ask enough questions.
Rather than complain about what I perceive as a dangerous shortage of doctor-asked questions, I will offer one.
How is it that a patient with a condition or conditions that led to concurrent prescriptions for lithium (mania), Wellbutrin (depression) and Buspar (anxiety); could be under the care of a psychiatrist, a family practice doctor, a doctor of oriental medicine, a doctor of chiropractic, a massage therapist, and a deep-tissue therapist; and yet arrive in my office completely unaware of the possibility that insufficient magnesium, insufficient vitamin D, and food intolerances, individually or in combination, might be causative factors of the conditions for which she is medicated?
Questions are good, a first step, and sometimes lead to answers. Even when they don't, they stir the pot. The pots of healthcare, and more generally, culture, need stirring so their contents don't stick and burn on the bottom.
PS - Both magnesium and vitamin D insufficiencies are documented as common in the US population. In my 30 years of practice, I have yet to treat a patient that did not have at least one food intolerance or food allergy. All three problems are common, and potent in their ability to be causative factors in numerous specific diseases, and causative in the loss of health and vitality.
Ventura Chiropractor
