Another question for chemists (or their spouses)

[Anonymous]

try pubmed, if you want an online medical source that might be more reliable than google.

[Anonymous]

Folks, Google is not a source, it's an aggregation of sources. Ridiculing OP for using Google to search for information is like ridiculing a student for using FirstSearch to find journal articles. I'm sure the OP is capable of accurately assessing the quality of the websites Google finds.

Look how many times that posters on DCUM have told horror stories of doctors not being able to diagnose their children, and it's only been through the efforts and advocacy of the parents that the problem was finally identified. I have many doctors in my family and have a lot of faith in the medical profession, but parents can be essential when the problems are rare or complicated or new.

OP, my heart breaks for you and your child, and I applaud your efforts to bring good questions and ideas to your child's neurologist. At the very least, your research will help you understand what the doctor has to tell you.

Please keep us informed. I find it alarming that this filter may have caused your child such harm and would like to know more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks, Google is not a source, it's an aggregation of sources. Ridiculing OP for using Google to search for information is like ridiculing a student for using FirstSearch to find journal articles. I'm sure the OP is capable of accurately assessing the quality of the websites Google finds.

Look how many times that posters on DCUM have told horror stories of doctors not being able to diagnose their children, and it's only been through the efforts and advocacy of the parents that the problem was finally identified. I have many doctors in my family and have a lot of faith in the medical profession, but parents can be essential when the problems are rare or complicated or new.

OP, my heart breaks for you and your child, and I applaud your efforts to bring good questions and ideas to your child's neurologist. At the very least, your research will help you understand what the doctor has to tell you.

Please keep us informed. I find it alarming that this filter may have caused your child such harm and would like to know more.

"googling" stuff only brings anxiety!!! "normal" people don't have the knowledge of basic medical terminology to understand reliable specific articles about the condition they're trying to get information about.
like for example the woman here a few days ago asking for information about hysterectomy. how come someone comes to a parenting forum asking such question? people don't even have the common sense to understand that medical and nursing diagnosis and procedures vary with each individual!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks, Google is not a source, it's an aggregation of sources. Ridiculing OP for using Google to search for information is like ridiculing a student for using FirstSearch to find journal articles. I'm sure the OP is capable of accurately assessing the quality of the websites Google finds.

Look how many times that posters on DCUM have told horror stories of doctors not being able to diagnose their children, and it's only been through the efforts and advocacy of the parents that the problem was finally identified. I have many doctors in my family and have a lot of faith in the medical profession, but parents can be essential when the problems are rare or complicated or new.

OP, my heart breaks for you and your child, and I applaud your efforts to bring good questions and ideas to your child's neurologist. At the very least, your research will help you understand what the doctor has to tell you.

Please keep us informed. I find it alarming that this filter may have caused your child such harm and would like to know more.

"googling" stuff only brings anxiety!!! "normal" people don't have the knowledge of basic medical terminology to understand reliable specific articles about the condition they're trying to get information about.
like for example the woman here a few days ago asking for information about hysterectomy. how come someone comes to a parenting forum asking such question? people don't even have the common sense to understand that medical and nursing diagnosis and procedures vary with each individual!!!!

I wasn't suggesting that OP or "normal" people would understand everything they read in a medical article. I said that I thought the OP could assess the quality of the websites she found. In other words, reasonably intelligent people are capable of separating the crackpot sites from the credible ones.

I think you paint your image of the "normal" person with too broad a brush. I would bet that most DCUM posters could understand a lot more medical information than my Aunt Bertha, for instance. And even parents who are not the most sophisticated initially can become quite well informed. My brother-in-law recently lost a child, and I was amazed in speaking with him and his wife how much they understood about her condition. Desperate parents are capable of a lot.

Also, I disagree that googling stuff just brings anxiety. This may be true for some. For others, it's a way to channel their anxiety into something positive and productive.

Give OP a break. She's not googling in lieu of seeking professional medical help. She's just looking for more information before the appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks, Google is not a source, it's an aggregation of sources. Ridiculing OP for using Google to search for information is like ridiculing a student for using FirstSearch to find journal articles. I'm sure the OP is capable of accurately assessing the quality of the websites Google finds.

Look how many times that posters on DCUM have told horror stories of doctors not being able to diagnose their children, and it's only been through the efforts and advocacy of the parents that the problem was finally identified. I have many doctors in my family and have a lot of faith in the medical profession, but parents can be essential when the problems are rare or complicated or new.

OP, my heart breaks for you and your child, and I applaud your efforts to bring good questions and ideas to your child's neurologist. At the very least, your research will help you understand what the doctor has to tell you.

Please keep us informed. I find it alarming that this filter may have caused your child such harm and would like to know more.

"googling" stuff only brings anxiety!!! "normal" people don't have the knowledge of basic medical terminology to understand reliable specific articles about the condition they're trying to get information about.
like for example the woman here a few days ago asking for information about hysterectomy. how come someone comes to a parenting forum asking such question? people don't even have the common sense to understand that medical and nursing diagnosis and procedures vary with each individual!!!!

I wasn't suggesting that OP or "normal" people would understand everything they read in a medical article. I said that I thought the OP could assess the quality of the websites she found. In other words, reasonably intelligent people are capable of separating the crackpot sites from the credible ones.

I think you paint your image of the "normal" person with too broad a brush. I would bet that most DCUM posters could understand a lot more medical information than my Aunt Bertha, for instance. And even parents who are not the most sophisticated initially can become quite well informed. My brother-in-law recently lost a child, and I was amazed in speaking with him and his wife how much they understood about her condition. Desperate parents are capable of a lot.

Also, I disagree that googling stuff just brings anxiety. This may be true for some. For others, it's a way to channel their anxiety into something positive and productive.

Give OP a break. She's not googling in lieu of seeking professional medical help. She's just looking for more information before the appointment.

This website is not only to discuss OP's particular situation. Our responsibility here is towards all the public that access what 's posted here.
I can tell that you don't have experience in the medical field. If you had you'd know what google does to public opinion and how it changes client's/patient's behavior.
People come to the doctor's office now a days screaming and crying because they read on google how serious the child's symptoms are... a stiff neck after a night spent in a wrong position is confused with meningitis very often! some people come to the office so proud and rude thinking they know it all just because google said (who knows where google took them) and thinking that the doctor doesn't understand anything about the condition because the doctor didn't go to google today and all the science and research around the patients condition changed from the time the doctor finish his/her last seminar and the time the person checked google.
We cannot bank on common sense. DCUMers behavior is living proof of it. We can't assume people know it all.

[Anonymous]

As a matter of fact, I do have medical experience, and I understand and appreciate your concern about the internet's effect on patients' behavior. It is truly problematic. (Although it really began when drug companies were allowed to start advertising on television, IMO.)

Nonetheless, that horse has left the stable. The internet is not going anywhere, and it can be as much a tool for good as for bad. I remember years ago when working in a peds thoracic ICU hearing nurses ask the parents of new patients what surgery their child was going to have, and the parents saying "heart surgery." They couldn't identify the procedure or describe anything about it. Their knowledge was just that basic. I have to think that these days, these parents would have googled "hypoplastic left heart" and learned what it was, the series of procedures needed to correct it, etc. At least they would have known SOMETHING.

Just as patients need to be discerning about the quality (and their use) of the information they find, medical professionals must be discerning about their patients. I think doctors should be able to tell when their patients are smart and understanding with legitimate questions and ideas, and when they're not. (Helps when there is an ongoing relationship between doctor and patient.) I know it's annoying and time consuming for doctors to deal with, but parents will always know THEIR child in a way the doctor can't. The relationship should not automatically be adversarial, as you seem to suggest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a matter of fact, I do have medical experience, and I understand and appreciate your concern about the internet's effect on patients' behavior. It is truly problematic. (Although it really began when drug companies were allowed to start advertising on television, IMO.)

Nonetheless, that horse has left the stable. The internet is not going anywhere, and it can be as much a tool for good as for bad. I remember years ago when working in a peds thoracic ICU hearing nurses ask the parents of new patients what surgery their child was going to have, and the parents saying "heart surgery." They couldn't identify the procedure or describe anything about it. Their knowledge was just that basic. I have to think that these days, these parents would have googled "hypoplastic left heart" and learned what it was, the series of procedures needed to correct it, etc. At least they would have known SOMETHING.

Just as patients need to be discerning about the quality (and their use) of the information they find, medical professionals must be discerning about their patients. I think doctors should be able to tell when their patients are smart and understanding with legitimate questions and ideas, and when they're not. (Helps when there is an ongoing relationship between doctor and patient.) I know it's annoying and time consuming for doctors to deal with, but parents will always know THEIR child in a way the doctor can't. The relationship should not automatically be adversarial, as you seem to suggest.

it's part of human behavior... i'm not suggesting anything. this is pure reality. parents enter the office thinking they know the child. doctor starts the appt thinking he/she has all the answers. instead of working cooperatively doc and parents are in different sides of the field. soooooo wrong!

[Anonymous]

I am the OP and I am working with my pediatrician, who referred me to the pediatric neurologist, suggested I get the water tested, and also said I should call poison control for any further insight they may have. I love my pediatrician because he treats me like an intelligent adult, not a 'customer.'

The water filter works through adsorption -- i.e., chemicals like fluoride ADHERE to the aluminum in the filter. I am not shooting in the dark like an idiot here. I posted the question FOR CHEMISTS to answer, because I imagine chemists have an education in chemistry and therefore can explain to me how that works, and how it might be working in my child's body when calcium is thrown into the mix, which I give to my child.

I love google. There is so much valuable info on it, including info from the CDC, NIH, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and I am working with my pediatrician, who referred me to the pediatric neurologist, suggested I get the water tested, and also said I should call poison control for any further insight they may have. I love my pediatrician because he treats me like an intelligent adult, not a 'customer.'

The water filter works through adsorption -- i.e., chemicals like fluoride ADHERE to the aluminum in the filter. I am not shooting in the dark like an idiot here. I posted the question FOR CHEMISTS to answer, because I imagine chemists have an education in chemistry and therefore can explain to me how that works, and how it might be working in my child's body when calcium is thrown into the mix, which I give to my child.

I love google. There is so much valuable info on it, including info from the CDC, NIH, etc.

if you're so well informed why don't you ask in a chemistry forum instead of shooting in the dark here in a OUT OF TOPIC section of a parenting website?

[Anonymous]

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Chemistry-including-Biochemistry-1355/2009/2/calcium-fluoride.htm

HTH!

[Anonymous]

op--would you mind telling us what brand filter this is that you are concerned about? thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and I am working with my pediatrician, who referred me to the pediatric neurologist, suggested I get the water tested, and also said I should call poison control for any further insight they may have. I love my pediatrician because he treats me like an intelligent adult, not a 'customer.'

The water filter works through adsorption -- i.e., chemicals like fluoride ADHERE to the aluminum in the filter. I am not shooting in the dark like an idiot here. I posted the question FOR CHEMISTS to answer, because I imagine chemists have an education in chemistry and therefore can explain to me how that works, and how it might be working in my child's body when calcium is thrown into the mix, which I give to my child.

I love google. There is so much valuable info on it, including info from the CDC, NIH, etc.

if you're so well informed why don't you ask in a chemistry forum instead of shooting in the dark here in a OUT OF TOPIC section of a parenting website?

Because I have a lot more faith in and respect for the level of intelligence and education of DCUM users than you do. Lots of educated, intelligent, articulate folks on this board whom I trust because I use this site. The ignorant flamers can't be stopped from responding, but neither can the folks I am aiming for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://en.allexperts.com/q/Chemistry-including-Biochemistry-1355/2009/2/calcium-fluoride.htm

HTH!

Thank you very much. (I had already stumbled across this site in my google travels before posting my question here.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:op--would you mind telling us what brand filter this is that you are concerned about? thanks.

I'd like to wait until I get more info because I could be totally wrong. It's an expensive thing that I had to send away for, tho, not something you can buy at a store around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op--would you mind telling us what brand filter this is that you are concerned about? thanks.

I'd like to wait until I get more info because I could be totally wrong. It's an expensive thing that I had to send away for, tho, not something you can buy at a store around here.

Have you looked to see if there are complaints or lawsuits against the company involving claims similar to what you believe may have happened?