Western medicine

While I was getting my hair cut today, I let slip to the barber that I was taking finasteride and minoxidil combo for hair growth. As a former medical student, I’ve obviously heard of these medications and have looked them up before requesting them from my doctor. Yet, the barber looked at me in a strange way and told me to stop taking it immediately because of the “chemicals” within it. He didn’t even know which medicine I was referring to or the mechanisms associated with them. This makes me very thankful for my medical education. Health is always relevant, and misinformation is rampant within our society. Healthcare information, which ostensibly looks very easy, is actually quite complicated, but the average person thinks they all have what it takes to give medical advice to another human being. They don’t. You do need the credentials, or at least have taken the classes. 

Yet, it is interesting how much of my life I’ve given over to Western medicine. I take medicine for my bipolar disorder, my sleep, and my hair. I also take some supplements that I’ve researched. I’m not a physician, but I completed 2 years of medical school in the US, and I have a doctorate in a related field. I understand how medicine works in the human body and, because of that, I’m in terrific health. My recent labs just came back today, and all values are within normal limits. Western medicine in the United States has its drawbacks, and I’ve gone into that in much detail in this blog, but if you know what you’re doing and you have the money, it is the best in the world.