If the advice is specific to you, and not just mindless repetition of unscientific bunk, that’s great.
The 8 glasses of water thing usually also comes with the “most people are dehydrated” myth and the claim that for every drink of coffee or tea, you have to add another glass of water. The eight glasses amount was based on total hydration needed, but most of that comes in the food we eat. It was never more than pop-“medicine”
I think there’s also a bit of “if I say 4, they’ll try, but probably drink 1 or 2. If I say 8, they may end up in the 3-4 range which is good enough”.
Any doctor who would do this is a patronizing, infantilizing asshole whom I would not trust to advise me on health issues.
Which is why the caregiver/patient relationship is important. But much of modern medicine isn’t incented to build that relationship.
My NP (I’ve only met my PCP once) has taken a fair amount of time to get to know me, so she knows how I’ll react to instruction/advice.
But a LOT of people don’t get that. They either get a different caregiver every time they go to their group health plan medi-center or they’re in an ER/quick care facility. For those folks, assuming that the patient is probably not the best at following medical advice accurately is generally the safe bet.
As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I knew who’d had to deal with The Medically Oblivious.
Keep on keepin’ on, Beck!
Yeah. It’s me allover.
I had a doctor who had me have a PSA test at age 85, which is not indicated and I told her so. My source was my previous family doctor who took
Covid as a a reason to retire. Confirmed by my
DIL who is a family physician. She did not take well to this and got her revenge by filling out a medical form for the driver licence bureau clicking the box that said I should take a driving test. That was a real PITA, not least because they require a licenced driver to accompany you in case you fail and they take the licence away on the spot. The examiner told me essentially that I drove as well as he did.
Anyway, she was an a**hole of a doctor and, 6 months, left the public service. Good riddance. Among other things, she never did give me a real physical.
I would think it would be unethical to lie to your patients about medical facts in order to trick them into complying. And last time I checked this, there was no evidence that most people should be guided by anything other than thirst for their hydration needs.
I can’t rely on thirst. I’m on a moderated amount of liquids. That and no more.
I’m in a constant state of thirst.
The average human has to have some guidance if they have medical conditions.
If not, thirst can be your best bet. I guess.
As one gets older and older, one may “lose homeostasis”. That means you don’t get thirsty when you need fluids and/or hungry when you need food. That’s why products like Ensure were made. Not hungry? Buy Ensure and drink as many cans a day as the numbers tell you to.
I’m turning into a Fennec Fox. (Except for the ears)
I can go an extraordinary long time without actually drinking fluids.
It’s amazing what the human body can do when asked or needed.
Do you at least get something to deal with dry mouth? Maybe just swish around some water even if you don’t drink it?
That’s the part about being thirsty that I can’t stand. It’s why any irritation in my mouth or throat makes me so thirsty.
I use my water allotment in crushed ice. Lasts a long time in my yeti cup. Helps to a degree.
Mornings are the worst. Once I get that cotton mouth corrected I’m ok for the day.
Is it really a lie? At most, it’s an exaggeration for effect. Granted that medicine and car maintenance are two VERY different fields, but nowadays, you really don’t need to change your oil every 3k miles. But all the stickers say that because then you (for a generic you) MIGHT change it every 5-6k miles - which is sufficient for modern cars with modern oil and if you happen to have an old car, you can’t say they didn’t tell you. And it’s easier than having your computer change the “due” mileage based on the vehicle.
For what it’s worth, I have no idea if that’s the real reason the common folk wisdom seems to be 8 glasses a day.
I had to read this several times to make full sense of it. At first, I thought your daughter in law ordered a driving test for you, but it was the OTHER physician who did it (correct?).
Yes, it was my DIL who was strongly opposed to giving an 85 yo a PSA test. And I argued with my (assigned) physician over this. When I asked her to fill in the form about my health for the motor vehicle bureau, she checked the box saying that I should be retested. I infer that she took my arguing with her as evidence of my mental debility, although I don’t know that as a fact. What I do know for a fact is that when I took the test, the examiner decided after a 2 minute conversation not to bother getting a rooftop sign saying something like “Driving test in progress”. All the other examiners had grabbed one of those signs on the way out and he had reached out for one and then clearly changed his mind. At the end, he remarked that I drove as well as he did.
Six months later, this assigned doctor quit the public service. Good riddance.