By Simon Yu, MD
About 25 years ago, during my early exploration of alternative, complementary medicine, occasionally, my front desk staff would ask me, rolling their eyes, what happened to the last patient I saw. She stormed out of the clinic crying, telling them that she will never come back again. She told my staff that I was rude and did not listen to her problems. She had severe chronic asthma, brain fog, low back pain and hip pain. After a thorough evaluation including acupuncture meridian assessment, I told her to see a biological dentist to remove her root canals, and to take parasite medications. She found my medical evaluation weird and my recommendations even weirder. How dare I tell her to take parasite medications and to get rid of dental root canals for her asthma and body pain when she did not have any GI symptoms or toothache.
These incidents are less frequent now. But, still I will have an occasional confrontational situation in reverse. A patient may fly in from the East or West coast and tell me that she has parasite problems that nobody can help her. She needs parasite medications for her bizarre, crawling sensations on her skin and in her gut. She thinks I am a parasite expert because I’ve written many articles on the subject.
She went to many infectious disease specialists and parasite specialists from highly regarded medical institutions and they told her that she does not have parasite problems based on a stool test, or they will put her on a wimpy dose of parasite medications just to get rid of her. They think she has delusions of parasitosis. She will pull out her smart phone and show me the pictures of parasites in the toilet, or pictures of blood samples taken with Dark field microscopy. Most of them may look like parasites but they are not parasites. They could be a string of mucous or a fungal formation from a hidden dental infection.
I tell my patients that I am not a parasite specialist but I treat for parasites based on my acupuncture meridian assessment. I tell my patients that I am sorry, but I cannot justify prescribing parasite medications when their first order of medical care is seeing a dentist to remove a badly infected asymptomatic tooth. Some of the patients get furious and angry if they do not get parasite medications. They are convinced that they have parasites and I failed to recognize their medical conditions just like every infectious disease specialist. They storm out of the clinic.
It is not my intention to annoy my patients, however if they do not get what they want, or their perceived medical care based on an Internet search, they can get hostile and angry. Recently, I saw a 72 year old, retired school teacher, from out of town, with main complaints of brain fog, unable to think, bloating and weight gain. She had seen many medical doctors without much success and was referred by a dentist.
I saw her about ten years ago and she probably stormed out at that time. This time, she has a DNA test done by her dentist after her tooth extraction and was told by her dentist that she has parasites according to the DNA test and needs to be treated for parasites.
I was annoyed that my patient was telling me how to treat her parasite problems based on her dentist’s dental DNA test. I told her that I cannot determine how to treat her for parasites based on a DNA test from the tooth extraction. There are so many variables from the test and there is no guideline on how to use a dental DNA report to treat parasites.
When I told her that, she started crying, and telling me I am the worst doctor, ignoring the DNA report on parasites. She told me I am the most difficult doctor she has seen in her life. I know we live in a New Age of Disruptive Technology for better or worse. But, I never heard of a dentist telling the patient to see a medical doctor to treat parasites based on a dental DNA report. It could be a new breakthrough in forensic science for a dental DNA and parasites connection. However, I did not know what to do with this data.
We were locked down, butting heads, and she was crying for two hours in the exam room. Eventually, she calmed down and she told me she can be a difficult patient. We mutually decided that I am a difficult doctor and she is a difficult patient, and we are difficult people. I did put her on a basic detox cleansing program and scheduled a follow up appointment in one month.
On the follow up visit, she asked me whether she needed to wear a helmet before seeing me. I told her that I was going to wear a helmet myself. I told her that I was hoping that we were wearing helmets on the same team and not against each other. When I told her that, she calmed down.
When I evaluated her with acupuncture meridian assessment, I was able to pick up signals for parasites at the liver, spleen and gallbladder meridians. The indication for the parasite medications (Ivermection, Pyrantel pamoate and Praziquantel) were quite different than the dental DNA test for parasites. If I followed and treated her based on the dental DNA test for parasites, she may not respond or may get sicker based on the faulty DNA test, like following fake news.
Her treatment for parasites may take a minimum of three to six months, and requires other nutritional support, a detox program and a monthly gallbladder/liver flush. This time, she was willing to try parasite medications based on acupuncture meridian assessment rather than based on the dental DNA report. We both agreed that I am a difficult doctor and she is a difficult patient. I managed to annoy her but I won her back ten years later, at least for a while.
Dr. Simon Yu, M.D. is a Board Certified Internist. He practices Internal Medicine with an emphasis on Alternative Medicine to use the best each has to offer. For more articles and information about alternative medicine as well as patient success stories, and Dr. Yu’s revolutionary health book Accidental Cure: Extraordinary Medicine for Extraordinary Patients, visit his web site at www.PreventionAndHealing.com or call Prevention and Healing, Inc., 314-432-7802. You can also attend a free monthly presentation and discussion by Dr. Yu on Alternative Medicine at his office on the second Tuesday each month at 6:30 pm. Call to verify the date. Seating is limited, arrive early.