I was rewatching an old video on YouTube and the guy was able to walk again after 10 months of practicing yoga and losing 140 lbs. If no one on earth can exactly predict when someone will die or if they’ll be able to walk again, how and why do doctors come up with these predictions?
https://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448
In: Mathematics
I work in Opthalmology – This is why we always are guarded about questions like “When will I get my vision back?” One of my colleagues, no matter how severe or minor, will usually say something to the effect “let’s take it one visit at a time. Be patient.”
He has some of the best bedside manner in a particularly stressful role (people care about their eyes as you may imagine.)
However, we can give estimates for a prognosis based off of YEARS of study, experience, and empirical data.
As a funny side note, one of my Retina colleagues, when he has a good report with a patient who is blind for whatever reason (old retinal detachment, central retinal artery occlusion, etc.) will have patients ask if there is anything “new” in the field to give them their vision back and he will say, “Well there’s apparently this Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth apparently…” and most of our elderly patients get a kick out of that.
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