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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Practical information and help for the chronically ill, January 21, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Failures of American Medicine: Why Americans Have Become Chronically Ill, and What Can Be Done About It (Paperback)
This book would appear to be required reading for anyone who has a chronic medical condition (including psychiatric conditions), who is unsatisfied with how that condition is being managed, and who is willing to make the effort to self-educate and take control of his or her own health again (with continued appropriate medical consultation). Jensen provides compelling evidence to support his suggestions that (to name a few): American medicine is the best in the world for emergencies (like a heart attack), but it falls short for chronic conditions (including psychiatric conditions) that affect the majority of patients. Funding for research is skewed toward investigating proprietary drugs that will make a profit, but not toward investigating the often powerful effects of vitamins or other substances that cannot provide high profits. Physicians are too conservative with respect to new treatments, and often more oriented by business considerations than scientific ones. At the same time there are a number of standard treatments that have great potential for harm. Pharmaceutical drugs can be very helpful, but should not be taken lightly, because they are the leading cause of drug-related deaths! His book is filled with useful lists about medications and vitamins (e.g., potential problems from high intake of vitamins, potentially lethal or merely annoying side effects of prescription and over-the-counter drugs). He provides an introduction, three chapters on medications, natural drugs and vitamins, three chapters on chronic physical illness, and five chapters on chronic psychiatric problems. Jensen leaves little doubt about what he thinks about key issues of American healthcare. Although not everyone will agree with some of the wide-ranging solutions he proposes (e.g., on pages 17-18 he suggests significant changes in the educational system), he provides clear rationales throughout his book. He cites the scientific evidence at length, and is well prepared to summarize that evidence, given his advanced degree in molecular biology.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything they didn't teach M.D.'s in medical school, October 1, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Failures of American Medicine: Why Americans Have Become Chronically Ill, and What Can Be Done About It (Paperback)
This book is packed with hard-nosed scientific information that is a must-read for all doctors, both conventional and naturopathic. The benefits and drawbacks of both pharmaceutical and "natural" drug therapies are discussed in detail. The main topics include: chronic diet-related diseases, cancer, allergies/asthma, and anxiety/depression. With 540 references from reputable scientific journals, Jensen has blazed a trail into uncharted territory when it comes to pointing out the myriad of weaknesses in American medicine. Perhaps even more importantly, he goes into detail as to why or why not certain drugs should be taken, which can greatly help the average American patient choose between therapies. This book may be hard to read if the reader does not have a degree in science, but his common-sense approach helps a lot.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An important subject but this book falls short, January 6, 2007
This review is from: The Failures of American Medicine: Why Americans Have Become Chronically Ill, and What Can Be Done About It (Paperback)
The subtitle of Richard Jensen's book, "Why Americans Have Become Chronically Ill, And What Can Be Done About It" is actually barely touched by the author. This is a most important topic that gets very little discussion in the book. Instead, what we are given is a biased opinion based on Jensen's personal medical history and very little research. Jensen is clear right up front that he is not a medical doctor, Ph.D., or a naturopath. Later on in the text, we discover he has an "advanced degree" in molecular biology and it is obvious that he relies heavily on his specialty with lots of lists of pharmaceuticals and their side effects. Early in the book, Jensen offers his solution to the funding of some form of universal health care (although his health care plan is never quite laid out clearly) by making major changes to our education system. While we can certainly use education reform in this country, it will be just as onerous an undertaking, if not more so, than universal health care. Using one to solve the other is overly simplistic. Mr. Jensen clearly does not understand how homeopathy works and bases his rather strong opinion on one personal experience. First, he is incorrect in his explanation of how homeopathic remedies are diluted. Ten minutes of research on this could have produced accurate information. Second, Jensen obviously had a bad experience with a naturopath in San Diego who prescribed a homeopathic remedy incorrectly. Based on this one experience he warns readers to avoid the use of homeopathy (and naturopaths, for that matter!) This kind of misinformed counsel is no better than that of medical doctors Mr. Jensen refers to as "severely limited in intellectual and practical flexibility." Jenson offers a prescription for nutritional supplements although he is not qualified to recommend them. Some might disagree with his choices and doses - for example, there is now some strong evidence that most Americans are currently deficient in Vitamin D and Jensen recommends minimal Vitamin D supplementation. There is no one right list of supplements for all individuals. People who would like to consider nutritional supplementation should not take this lightly but should seek counsel from a qualified medical practitioner, including but not limited to, the many fine naturopaths who practice legally throughout the U.S. Other good resources are integrative medical doctors, nutritionists, and many chiropractors. There is some good information in the book about how HMO's and health insurance providers work against consumers and doctors, and some well-deserved attacks against the FDA, the NIH, and the pharmaceutical industry. There are also important discussions about the lack of trials done on nutritional supplements and the question of profit motive over the public good. In summary, Jensen's book raises some important questions but unfortunately leaves us with few answers. The book is unsophisticated and woefully lacking in its discussion of this most important topic - the failures of American medicine. It is also crudely crafted and requires a good editing job. Other than for the work of Dr. Andrew Weil, there is still a dearth of books on how our current form of medical system has failed us and what can be done about it.
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