Any type of clinician can be guilty of it….
The conversation with a GP at my surgery went like this:
Me: Do I still need antibiotics prophylactically for dental work because of a bicuspid aortic valve?
GP: [Smiling] The aortic valve is supposed to be bicuspid.
Me: [Stunned] No it isn’t.
GP: Yes, it is.
Me: No. It isn’t. That’s why the condition is called a ‘bicuspid aortic valve’ and not just the ‘aortic valve’.
GP: [patiently] No, there is only one heart valve with three cusps, and that’s the ‘tricuspid valve’. The clue is in the name, [sarcastically].
Me: No, it isn’t.
GP: [Sighing] Look. Let me show you…
The GP typed some words rapidly into the Google search engine on his computer and brought up an intricate diagram of a dissected heart. The GP leaned forward and squinted.
There was a pause.
GP: Oh, yeah, [he said] you’re right….
I still remember this interchange, not because of the fact the GP didn’t seem to know basic anatomy, but because of his air of superiority. His attitude to me was as if he was talking to a child that he needed to instruct, and the fact that I was well into middle-age at the time, and he knew I was a Medical Herbalist made me feel belittled.
The reason I say this now is that recently I caught myself doing the exact same type of thing.
I was teaching a class of students, and we had a discussion on what types of physical therapies we could advise our patients to try if we felt they needed them. I was expecting suggestions like massage or yoga, but one student said ‘Kinesiology’ and I inwardly snorted with derision then asked the student, ‘and how do you think that works?’
Almost immediately I noticed the air of superiority in my attitude that indicated Kinesiology was a woo-woo practice and we should steer well clear. Medicinal herbs, after all, contain identifiable constituents that have a physiological impact on cell membranes with measurable outcomes, and many have been the subject of studies which back up their efficacy. But muscle testing? Come on…
There are many medical doctors and health journalists who think that herbal medicine is ‘quackery’. And it annoys me. Because what do they know? But here I was holding the same opinion about muscle testing. I have not tried it, I do not know much about it, and I cannot see how it works, therefore I have dismissed it as quackery.
This is exactly the kind of superior air one can get from the medical profession about medicinal herbs, and one that I have recoiled from. So, although I still do not see how it works, and I have not got the time to go into the mechanics and results kinesiologists say they have, I could at least treat other complementary therapies with the same respect as I wish mine to be accorded. Otherwise, I am assuming the same state of arrogance I have encountered from areas of the NHS.
Any kinesiologists here, or clients of kinesiologists, feel free to put me right in the comments…
