Keep away from doctors who do not listen to you, said Dr P V Venkatraman, member of the special committee for drug standardisation. He was speaking at the two-day healthcare event organised by the Dignity Foundation on ‘Enabling senior citizens to understand the latest developments in the treatment and prevention of diseases’.
Speaking to the participants gathered for the workshop, the doctor said that no matter how experienced the doctor was, it was important that he or she took time to listen to the patient and clear the hisor her doubts. “Do not go to a doctor based on his grey hairs. Go to doctors who listen to your ailments and explain the medicines and the treatment given to you,” he said.
Replying to a question on diagnosis, the doctor pointed out that in homeopathy, it took two hours of consultation time with a patient if the doctor had to complete the entire procedure of a diagnosis and 45 minutes, in the case of allopathy. But doctors failed to complete these procedures or enquire enough, due to insufficient time.
Speaking about the efficacy of medicines, he pointed out that the success of a treatment depended not only on the medicines involved but also other factors like the age, health and even the social economic conditions.
“If I prescribe activities or procedures that a person is unable to take up due to various reasons, the treatment will be affected. Hence it is important for the doctor to consult the patient on the treatment,” he said.
Speaking about the treatment in homeopathy, he said that while homeopathy could cater to all diseases, no doctor — neither allopathy nor homeopathy — could ensure that a disease would not recur.
The first day of the conference looked at a range of alternative systems of medicines including naturopathy, homeopathy, ayurvedic, yoga, and Tibetan medicine.