Unhelpful Ideas

By Louis L. Constan, MD

The Norway Lemming (Lemmus lemmus), is a small rodent prone to population surges. When its population peaks, they frantically migrate seeking new sources of food; which can lead them to run off of cliffs in large numbers—to their deaths. This has led to the expression “following the crowd over the cliff.”

Such behavior certainly occurs in another species we are familiar with: Homo sapiens, also known as patients. They don’t exactly run over cliffs, but they are prone to beliefs and behaviors that can and do lead to huge spikes in their morbidity and mortality. We must recognize when we need to challenge such beliefs and behaviors. Here are some common ones that can lead to “lemming-scale” increases in morbidity and mortality.

I’m going to do my own research on that. We’ve heard this line over the COVID vaccine. But it also pops up when we prescribe a new medication and the patient won’t fill it until checking various websites to make their own judgment as to whether the benefits outweigh the risks. Try this: Type in the name of your new prescription into your browser, followed by “side effects.” You’ll be inundated with sites listing a frightening litany of reasons not to take that drug.

Does it make sense for a patient who cannot define the word “statistics,” or “virus,” or “vaccine,” much less the relationships between all these, to make life-or-death decisions based on what he regards as “research?”

I don’t like the taste of… This line is often used when a patient is admonished to change his dietary habits. He “likes” the taste of sugared pop, salty and fatty foods; therefore, cannot stop ingesting foods that put him at risk of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Patients in this case fail to understand that the senses of taste and smell are often relative senses. They vary with time and exposure. What tastes and smells one way today may well change tomorrow. The trick is to make the change and benefit from the new reality; trusting that he will learn to love more healthful foods.

I like the flavor of tobacco (or alcohol). This misconception reflects an immense misunderstanding of the nature of addiction. Tobacco and alcohol “taste” good because humans are conditioned to anticipate the addictive and endorphicenhancing effects of such substances. Because I like something that is harmful is no more a good criteria for ingesting it…than not ingesting something that is healthful.

I don’t have the willpower to stop “x” behavior. Patients, here, misunderstand the very nature of being a human with behaviors. Sure, changing a bad habit can be difficult…but is it any more difficult than any of the myriad difficult things we do all our lives: Going to school, going to work, keeping up a home, balancing a budget? We summon up the will to do many activities because we must do so in order to survive. In a very real sense, changing bad health behaviors is essential because we must do so in order to be a success in life.

Vaccines are dangerous. This is such a ridiculous statement that we may struggle to respond to it. Vaccines, as we know, have saved countless millions of lives. Smallpox alone killed 300,000,000 people in the 1900’s. Imagine where civilization would be without the smallpox vaccine. Ann Landers, the advice columnist, offered a simple retort to ridiculous statements such as the above. She suggested that you just throw up your hands and exclaim: “Now where in the world did you get that idea?” Put the onus on the believer of the lie to justify it. It is important to not expect them to see the light right then and there.

There are doubtless a variety of additional misunderstandings, misconceptions and outright lies out there which prevent our patients from doing what they critically need to do. The power of these falsehoods continued on page 7 continued from page 6 often rests in the fact that they pop up so very often. They’re accepted because “everybody believes that,” or “everybody else is doing that.” Well, we don’t believe or accept that, because we know better. And we must say so to our patients, challenging such faulty logic whenever and wherever we witness it. The lemmings run off that cliff because they’re watching and mimicking what the other lemmings are doing; rather than watching what they themselves need to do in order to survive and thrive.

Refuse to stand by and allow your patients to make the same mistakes. If nothing else, make copies of this article to give to misinformed patients…and keep them from going off that cliff.

If you find it difficult to communicate with your doctor; if you find it hard to get personal attention from an 'impersonal healthcare industry'; if you don't understand all those insurance-company rules; if you don't know how to change your bad health habits; if you think you may be on unnecessary medications; if you are perplexed by those annoying health-product advertisements; and if you'd like to know which are your greatest health risks - you'll appreciate this Family Doctor's advice, gleaned from 44 years of practice.

Each chapter is illustrated with real-life examples from his and other doctors' practices. Each chapter ends with 'bonus' essays written by the author and published in newspapers and magazines giving the doctor's viewpoint. This will give you a unique perspective and allow you to 'get into the mind' of a doctor. Sweet!

Available on Kindle (different cover but same book) and paperback.

Available on Amazon by clicking HERE 1

CALENDAR OF MEETINGS AND EVENTS FOR 2023*

REGISTER NOW!

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw Board Meeting – 5:30 p.m.

Annual SCMS and SCMS Foundation Membership Meetings Social (cash bar) at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner, meetings and program at 7 p.m.

• SCMS Annual Meeting: o Election of Officers and Directors for 2023-24

• SCMS Foundation Annual Meeting: o Annual Report o Election of Officers and Trustees for 2023-24 o Essay Contest Awards (High School Juniors/Seniors)Why I Want To Be a Physician in Saginaw County

• Presentation of Health Angel Award

• Update on CMU College of MedicineDean George E. Kikano, MD

• Update on CMU Medical Education PartnersSamuel Shaheen, MD

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Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - CMU College of Medicine, 1632 Stone Street, Saginaw Board Meeting – 5:30 p.m.

There is no Membership Meeting in June

There are no Board or Membership Meetings in July or August

12th Annual SCMS Foundation Golf Outing – date TBD

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw Board Meeting – 5:30 p.m.

Membership Meeting Joint with the Saginaw County Dental Society and Saginaw Valley Osteopathic Society –Social (cash bar) at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner, meeting and program at 7 p.m.

Speakers – Monica Lamble DDS and Nishtha Sareen MD

Topic – "The Link Between Oral, Cardiac and Systemic Health" Online reservations are required

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 - Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw Board Meeting – 5:30 p.m.

Membership Meeting – Social (cash bar) at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner, meeting and program at 7 p.m.

Speakers – TBD

Topic – TBD

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Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - CMU College of Medicine, 1632 Stone Street, Saginaw Board Meeting – 5:30 p.m.

There is no Membership Meeting in November

There is no Board or Membership Meeting in December

Mission: To prevent suicide through education, connection to resources, and support for those impacted by suicide.

Walk for Hope – Save the Date!

Mark your calendar now to join us for our 21st Annual Walk for Hope…Depression and Suicide Awareness Event on Sunday, August 6th at Saginaw Valley State University. There will be over 25 resource/activity booths, raffles, live music and guest speakers. The 5K walk/run or one mile walk will be untimed on paved walks throughout the SVSU campus. Support this event by:

• Starting or joining a team in memory of someone who has died by suicide or in honor of someone who struggles with their mental health

• Walking individually

• Financial support

• Volunteering recognizing signs, providing a skilled intervention and developing a safety plan to keep individuals safe from suicide.

• Sharing your message along with photos on social media to help bring awareness to this event For more information, to start a team or donate, click HERE.

• 4 Yellow Ribbon Trainings - Yellow Ribbon’s Core Concept is to provide programs that empower youth/young people, their parents and adults who work with youth (teachers, counselors, first responders and faith leaders) in learning how to confront the issues of suicide and suicide prevention, and to be engaged in suicide prevention effectively at their own comfort level. Having a community with basically trained gatekeepers that can help people in need reach advanced trained gatekeepers/professional help is key to empowering entire communities.

• 2 safeTALK Trainings - Suicide Alertness Trainings prepare anyone, regardless of their experience or training, to become suicide alert. In this half day training, you will learn how to prevent suicide by recognizing signs, engaging someone, and connecting them to an intervention resource for support.

If you are interested in scheduling or attending a training, please email info@srrn.net or call (989) 781-5260 for information.

NVSS Vital Statistics Rapid Release Report No. 24 | September 2022

Suicide is a major contributor to premature death in the United States, especially among people aged 10–34, for whom it is the second leading cause of death. In the United States, suicide increased 35% from 1999 to 2018 before declining by 5% through 2020. Despite the overall recent decline, rates continued to increase among females aged 10–24 and among males aged 10–44 and 75 and over.

Suicides By Month

SRRN Monthly Recap

In March 2023, the Network trained 1,417 individuals!

• 8 Awareness Trainings - Awareness and educational trainings are tailored to your group and time allotted. These presentations are best suited for the workplace, first responders, civic groups, place of worship, middle or high schools, or anyone willing to learn these life-saving tools. Participants will learn how to recognize when there is a concern for suicide, how to respond in a safe and lifesaving way, and then connect the person to additional support.

• 2 ASIST Trainings - Two-day interactive workshop. In this training, you will learn how to prevent suicide by

Provisional suicide counts in 2021 totaled 47,646, 4% higher than in 2020 (45,979). By month, the provisional number of suicides was lower in 2021 than in 2020 for January, February, and July, and higher for all other months. The largest percentage difference in monthly numbers occurred in October, where the number in 2021 (4,211) was 11% higher than in 2020 (3,781). August had the highest number of suicides in 2021 (4,328), while February had the fewest (3,552).

Suicides By Age

The age-adjusted suicide rate was 3% higher in 2021 than in 2020 for males (22.7 compared with 22.0). The 2% increase in the age-adjusted suicide rate for females (5.6 in 2021 compared with 5.5 in 2020) was not statistically significant. Suicide rates increased for males aged 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, and 65–74. For females, all age-specific rates were statistically unchanged between 2020 and 2021.

To read the report, CLICK HERE.