Practice of Medicine'

"Why It's Called the 'Practice of Medicine'

When I was growing up, people drank milk to heal their ulcers, my mother fed me a healthy breakfast of scrambled eggs, and teachers asked me to memorize the nine planets, starting with Mercury and ending with Pluto. All this was based on what we knew as science -- and the facts were the facts. Or were they? As time went on, scientists learned that ulcers were often caused by helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria and that dairy could aggravate digestive disorders. Eggs lost favor because they were a source of cholesterol, and now Pluto is not considered an official planet after all. Today, coming full circle, eggs are back on the menu, considered healthy once again.

So-called "facts" change quickly, as science is replaced by newer science. Though we are encouraged to believe that medicine is an exact science, truth be told all medical knowledge -- for that matter, all scientific knowledge -- is only the experts' best "educated guess" based on what they know today and the scientific data they currently have. As we learn more, new questions arise -- and we discover unanticipated new answers, too. Given how much information is directed at us in the area of medical knowledge and practice, how can a health-conscious consumer make the smartest choices?"