This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Not bad given recent Globe articles. Timely.

http://tinyurl.com/64c4vtg

Isn't the question actually, "Who knows best: the doctor or the other doctor?"

We aren't getting CCSVI venoplasties without a doctor involved. Who knows best, the neurologist or the interventional radiologist?

My money's on the interventional radiologists....

This is a topic that has been discussed on here a few times.

It underlines a modern twist in medicine that has, to date, been misunderstood and sometimes ignored. Namely the ability for the internet to communicate new medical advances in a way that has never happened before. Patients are privy to developments in treatment and new theories at the same time (and sometimes earlier) then their specialists.

In many cases (certianly in Emma's) we were walking in to talk to her Doctor about CCSVI and it was something he was completely unaware of, so we educated him as much as possible.

Does this make the patient the expert? Well yes and no. The patient is providing the medical specialist with information that they are asking for a medical opinion on. The role of doctor and patient hasn't changed, but pteients are now more educated than ever before due to the prevelance of information.

No longer can medical professionals fob patients off, they are often armed with overwhelimng volumes of research to back up their requests for treatment, information and opinion.