That was one of the gems that Dr. Steve shared in his off-grid medicine course. It's something taught to all students in medical school. And what is means is this: Common things happen commonly. The child in the waiting room is more likely to have an ear infection than appendicitis. The young adult is more likely to have type-2 diabetes than a gunshot.
We naturally gravitate toward the sensationalized rather the common. If we decide to learn something new, it has to be something cool, different, unique. Quick and easy would be really good, too. Macho survivalists want to learn how to DIY an appendectomy on themselves, sans anesthesia. But learning to satisfy the essentials of good nutrition to stay healthy in the first place? Leave that to the grannies. They want to be able to stitch up that GSW or finish off an amputation or place a tourniquet (and argue about which tourniquet is best). They want to be able to treat the rare injuries, the zebras, that likely aren't even once in a lifetime or once in a family's lifetime, but can't manage the common problems (the horses). They don't know which OTC meds are best for which conditions or when to suture and which wounds must be left open.
Spending money on stuff is easier than learning a new skill. The acquisition of that box of ammo, bottle of fish antibiotics, or solar rechargeable penlight provides an immediate reward of having accomplished something. And with online shopping, you receive that reward twice--once when you purchase, and again when it arrives.
Learning a new skill takes time. It's not glamorous or sensational. On top of that, the macho guys are even ridiculing your choices, which makes it harder. They're sure the hoof beats coming are zebras, and it's silly to waste time preparing for horses, mules, or donkeys. So you just have to put your head down and plow on.
Which brings us back to the problem with zebras. For a very long time the US, figuratively, has been a nation of horses treated by horse doctors, horse doctors that have been trained to treat only horses. Not zebras. Even though zebras bear some physical resemblance, there are significant differences. Because the zebras carry some vastly different diseases. And those diseases have symptoms and presentations that are quite similar to those for horses, but the treatments may be totally different. The horse doctors might have read about these zebra diseases, but they have never seen them. Most American doctors have never seen even one case of the following:
- diphtheria
- tetanus
- rabies
- scabies
- mumps
- German measles
- cholera
- yellow fever
- typhus
- tularemia
- plague
- anthrax
- botulism
- measles (though this is changing with increasing numbers of people who are not immunized)
When American doctors hear hoof beats, they think horses. Scabies gets diagnosed as psoriasis. Improperly diagnosed rabies patients are given steroids for pain and sent home. Is it influenza, or anthrax? The symptoms are very similar. What about plague or tularemia? Even with experience, these can be hard to differentiate. Without experience? You probably don't want to go there.
Unfortunately, many of those hoof beats in the distance are in fact coming from zebras. Most physicians in US have never seen the actual zebras making a comeback and crossing our borders. Measles is only the beginning. Lots of other communicable diseases are on their way. We currently have the problem of physicians unable to identify more exotic diseases now, while the technology is available to help them. What happens when our society collapses? They will not have their technology to help them diagnose anything.
Now, there are a few horse doctors who hear the hoof beats of zebras in the distance. Some of them teach off-grid medicine to preppers. Some write books or blogs. No one physician covers everything, so it's best to acquire at least two or three different sources--hard copies. Make sure you're prepared to deal with the ailments common to horses. That's what you'll see the most of. But it would also be wise to have the means of dealing with communicable diseases, parasites, and infectious diseases of third world countries, as well as bioweapons. Zebras can be heard in the distance.
Links to related posts:
Cholera
Rabies
Scabies
Tularemia
Typhus
Armageddon Medicine
Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd Edition
The Survival Medicine Handbook
For further reading:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900041016/utahn-dies-from-rabies-a-first-since-1944.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/psoriasis/psoriasis-vs-scabies
© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 04.23.24
Well said. Our grandparents knew how to deal with common medical issues. Now we make an appointment with our physicians for a case of the sniffles. Most are totally unprepared to deal with even minor injuries or common complaints. Preparedness is more than stockpiling bean and rice. Educating ourselves is vitally important as is accumulating a stash of common medical treatments and supplies. Thank you for all you do to point us in the right direction. Your blog is a wealth of information and I am pleased to have found you. And by the way - I believe there is already a sizable herd of zebras here already and we need to be aware of the problems it brings.
ReplyDeleteCase in point: a case of measles I was familiar with puzzled the Infectious Disease specialist, a younger fellow just out of his Residency. The patient successfully self-diagnosed, as confirmed by a blood titer an Internal Medicine PA ordered later. The patient was in her 60's and knew from experience what measles looked like - the ID did not.
ReplyDeleteOther infectious diseases not mentioned I have personally seen include presumptive Dengue Fever, Legionairre's, and Tuberculosis.
How many docs have ever seen Scarlet Fever?
We have a reverse dilemma these days: we now have the means to treat the various diseases, but we don't know how to recognize them, whereas even 50 years ago the opposite was true.
Indeed on those "zebras." The MSM is blaming the resurgence of things like measles on the "antivaxers." The antivaxers have always been among us. What haven't been among us, at least in their present numbers, are unvaccinated illegal aliens. Yeah; the unvaccinated American citizens are getting sick now, but who are the vectors bringing those diseases in? ...Don't expect any valid answers from the likes of CNN...
ReplyDeleteLets talk about Pertussis! My baby DID have his "shots". It was when he just turned 1 year old. He would be fine all day, put him to bed but early in the am, he would start with a coughing fit so much so that after his coughing fit you could see that he was real tired. I took him to the doctors two time, the doctors would say, croup, go home. Then my husband took him one time, the doctor asked, what do you want me to do? Admit him??? When I took my son in another time, a doctor x-rayed his neck area thinking something was caught in his throat area. Then, finally I took him again after I noticed his lips turning a blueish color. Of course when I took him in, he didn't look sick. The doctor even had another doctor come in to look at my son...they finally admitted him under observation. My son had wires connecting to him so they could see his heart beat and oxygen saturation, also was placed into a special crib where there was forced oxygen going in. That morning he started coughing and coughing. A doctor passing by the room stopped to watch the O2 sat(oxygen saturation) drop. Then he asked about vaccines. Another doctor that came by was an infectious disease doctor and he was talking about pertussis. The next thing my son was tested for was pertussis which he didn't like, the doctor inserted a wire swab up his nose. After that, he was moved to an isolation room. He was sent home a couple days later with antibiotics. I know this was a long story, but as you say in your article, Dr's didn't even think of pertussis, and anyway, my son had his "shots". What I have done since is look for & collect old medical books that would have info on the many "old" infections. Yes, this might be chasing the Zebra but at least I have it in writing. Also, sometimes you have to be persistent with medical staff and keep going back.
ReplyDeleteI think Reasonable Rascal and Anndee have, in a roundabout way, hit on another of the problems that we will face in that many doctors, and especially young doctors, are totally dependent on what they learn from books and technology. They broad experience and perhaps also an ability to listen. It is completely unfathomable to me that board-certified physicians, acting within their specialties, could not recognize measles or pertussis. The sixty-year-old measles patient had to diagnose herself.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the problem that some physicians aren't too open to listening, either, as Anndee experienced. Something that might help (I say "might" because I really know nothing about cell phones) is taking a video. (If a phone has power can it still take a video even if there is no cell service?) If Anndee had a video of her baby, then maybe that would have gotten the doctor's attention. Several weeks after having a miscarriage, I started bleeding heavily. My OB/GYN was out of town, and a few others on call refused to see me--if I had stopped bleeding after the miscarriage (and I had), I couldn't possibly be passing massive clots, so it was all in my head. I finally got one old doctor to listen to me and take me in, and he got me in for an emergency D&C right away.
Most doctors apparently expect us all to be textbook cases and can't handle those who aren't textbook cases. But that also makes it hard for those of us trying to learn. Case in point: My nearly 8 year old daughter, in the middle of summer, wasn't feeling well and had a horrible cough. One that sounded like a seal, which is a classic symptom of croup. I had never seen croup before, but I did know that the seal-like cough suggested croup. But she was almost eight, and it was summer. It didn't fit. My husband took her in, and it was indeed croup.
Anndee, do you have any titles of these old books that you'd recommend watching for?
I think the best one, that everyone should have is the Merck Manual. By the way, you can get one for veterinarians to take care of any of your animals.
ReplyDeleteThe Merck Manual is now on line for anyone. What's neat is you can actually listen to some problems like asthma or even pertussis. But try and get a book dated in the mid 1900's. There are tons of books out there, just to name a couple, "Communicable Diseases" by Gage & Landon, I have a 1940 copy. "Clinical Symptomatology" by Pick, Hecht & Koessler @ 1911 and the last one that kind of started it all, after the Merck Manual that is, was "Disease of Infancy and Childhood" by Smith @1890. You might also need a MEDICAL Dictionary to figure out what is being talked about.
I only paid a dollar or two, not much. You might be able to print them from on line pdf's like from Gutenberg.org or archive.org
Jennifer, by the way, my son was born in 1993 and had the pertussis a yr. latter. Way before I ever got cell phones, but what you say would be relevant now especially when they see the doctor and do NOT look sick!