America Or Uk?

[ilovemarkb]

who is the more advanced with treatments (anything to do with health)

[Sqad]

LOL....I am keeping out of this......

[237SJ]

America but it depends if you have the money to pay for it or not.

[ilovemarkb]

well to be honest this was my opinion too! We are always hearing about fund raising to send patients abroad for life saving treatment........However, we were reassured during a uni lecture that the UK are far ahead of America x

[bravejordy]

Judging by the amount of people in the UK who fly out to the USA for treatment I'd be inclined to say America. However, digressing slightly, I have an American friend (in New Jersey) whom I regularly correspond with. He had heart surgery a few years ago and told me the surgeon was British. As a result he cannot praise British doctors highly enough.

[ilovemarkb]

thats interesting !

[jim360]

It may simply be the case that for some specialist treatments the world's leading experts are often in the US rather than the UK. More generally I would expect treatment standards to be similar.

[ilovemarkb]

come on sqad with your vast knowledge you must have some inclination

[gness]

I lived in Canada and can really only compare the UK with Canada though we did have to use American hospitals on occasion.
Canada...and America are streets ahead in so many ways.

[woofgang]

Difficult. I think that its hard to compare because of the different methods of access and expectations. Is the NHS at the cutting edge of medicine? Not always. My late husband was considered for treatment privately that was not yet available on the NHS at the time and is now hedged around with triage and caveats. Sadly the treatment would not have been appropriate for him, but it wasn't even considered on the NHS.
Aricept and the other Alzheimers drugs are an excellent example of an intervention that was (might still be) more easily accessed in the US by reason of funding.
Being at the leading edge isn't always a good thing. In the US it was standard practice to give EPO (erythropoetin) to boost production or red blood cells as an adjunct to radiotherapy for cancer, particularly breast cancer. Its now being discovered that EPO can stimulate cancer cell regrowth. The Uk is benefitting (sadly) from that US discovery.
From what i hear from my US friends, if you are insured, there are more options offered in the US.
Speaking as a a retired NHS employee and someone who has had recent experience of both NHS and private treatment for my DH, I am not giving up my private health insurance!

[woofgang]

I think so too gness.

[woofgang]

would love to know what your lecturer based the assertion on? certainly not the state of NHS hospitals?

[ilovemarkb]

thanks woofgang some interesting reading! thanks!! sqad's dfinatly not getting involved with this one !!

[boxtops]

Agree - ask your lecturer for a reference on that statement!

[ilovemarkb]

ha ha Im a wimp!! wont be doing that!! we were also told (not at uni) but on an access course by a midwife /lecturer that amoxicillin doesnt work !!

[woofgang]

wow 10/10 for sweeping statement!!
Did the lecturer just say something like "of course the Uk leads the world in medical treatment" or was it more detailed than that?

[ilovemarkb]

better not go into the finer details lol. She / he may be an avid answerbank user!!

[woofgang]

pity....I see your point but its still a pity.....

[Old_Geezer]

I'd hope breakthroughs for treatments can happen anywhere in the world. However where the most money is, should have the greatest chance of advancement, so America will tend to be first with many things.