How medical advice differs in other countries. (Lighthearted but perplexing)

[KnopkaPixie]

The other day I was behind a woman in the queue at a pharmacy here in France. She had oral thrush. The pharmacist took quite a while talking to her about her treatment and the various medications she'd been given by the doctor then went into the general advice section of the lecture. The most important thing was not to eat, "Trop salé." (Too salty.)

I thought, "Pardon?" Surely it's the other way around, nothing too sugary and yeasty? It bothered me so I googled and sure enough at least in the English results - sugary and yeasty were to be avoided.

This happens all the time. I've heard an awful lot of strange medical advice in France over the years and the folk remedies of my Russian ex boyfriend for various illnesses were quite bizarre too. Putting your head over the boiling potato water to cure a cold because the vitamin c evaporated into the steam was a good one.

Have you ever been given strange medical advice abroad?

This thread is kind of inspired by the post about the Germans opening their windows all the time for "Luften"

On the other hand, if you're not a Brit, what are our bizarre medical beliefs/practices?

It's a bastard for travel insurance if you don't know what the 'virus' is. I saw the doctor earlier this year and they put 'respiratory virus' on my notes. Travel insurance doesn't recognise that so I have an undiagnosed condition. I was ill while we were away with a similar issues (this time diagnosed as bronchitis) so I need to see whether it'll be covered or they'll try and claim they are linked

Drinking orange juice keeps you awake. Especially keeps children awake. (French wisdom.)

So don't let your children have a tangerine tonight.

I’d rather have respiratory virus on my notes than chronic bronchitis, which is effectively COPD so will put you in a different risk profile for insurance purposes.

1. advise from a paed/ neonatologist : Dark Guinness beer actually boosts breast milk supply due to high iron content - I tried it when trying to bf DD and I was shocked it worked.

2. greek coffee powder and lemon juice combined as a thick paste is equivalent to imodium - again shocked that it worked.

Will try to remember more of those 😆

The UK’s stinginess with antibiotics is probably a good thing, to stop the buildup of resistance. In Taiwan, on the other hand, no visit to a doctor for any reason seems to end without the doling out of two or three kinds of briars spectrum antibiotics and a couple of vitamin boosters. (Indeed when I was younger, I never went to the doctor at all by if there was anything wrong with me I just went to the local pharmacy and bought tetracycline over the counter, as you could in those days) You get the impression that the doctor isn’t sure what’s wrong but if it’s an infection, by golly he’s going to zap it. This is probably unfair to the Taiwan healthcare system which is in general vastly superior to the NHS but they do love to handout antibiotics.

Chronic bronchitis? I was diagnosed with acute bronchitis, not chronic.

I wonder if this is why in Portugal we say you shouldn’t eat oranges at nighttime (although we go the extra mile and say it kills you)

In France they do not treat tonsillitis!! Yay that was a bloody amazing summer holiday with a 18 imonth old who developed rampant tonsillitis on route to our campsite!!. We had 3 days of hell with temp etc before we asked for medical help!!
OMG we arrived at the hospital to be checked over and they said yes it's tonsillitis and we don't treat it good luck and have a nice holiday. Our son couldn't even keep milk down!! The best bit we got billed 30€ for the privilege of their care !!!

Instant coffee powder pressed on or diluted with water and spread on?

Little bit of water and spread it on.

In Britain it’s a fight to have it treated. We finally paid to have my son’s removed, as his AS levels were ruined and his A levels approached.

Same, nearly every one speak to lately seems to be taking HRT, not had anyone being pushy either but I am quite surprised by the amount of friends who are taking it.

Maybe the initial bedrest helped the acute injury to heal and then the movement helped get the flexibility back?

I was so unwell with tonsillitis once that my dad drove me to OOH. Came on really suddenly with such a high temp I didn't feel safe to drive
The doctor said "what makes you think it's bacterial?"
Opened my mouth, he went "oh.. um. Yes" and practically threw antibiotics at me
I've never had viral tonsillitis

Oh I agree. The NHS sites are for simpletons. They are properly dumbed down. I never bother with them, they're so patronising.

DS went to a German Kita (nursery) and I was horrified at first to discover they were all given tea with their afternoon snacks. Of course I was imagining builder’s tea, and what they were actually getting was glorified hot squash

(German fruit teas are actually very nice, much fuller-bodied than English fruit teas, and I stock up when we are over there).

They used to hand out non-optional Guinness on the postnatal ward back in the UK in the 70s to boost your iron levels. DM hated it and used to palm it off on DF when the midwives weren’t looking.

Which country is this?

There was (dunno if still in print) a great book about this called Medicine and Culture by Lynn Payer. From memory what's taught in medical school and illnesses treated in different countries can vary enormously.

Something like 20 percent of the population is functionally illiterate so they have to be kept simple.

Ibuprofen. It's a brand name for it.

It's the Davina effect. We tend to medicalise the menopause in the UK.

What a fascinating thread. I have always found France to over medicate and for people to go to the doctor's at the drop of a hat. GPs there in my experience could be quite blunt too.

I prefer the UK in this respect.

On a serious note if shes suffering from chronic cold sore outbreaks she could get Aciclovir 400mg tablets on prescriptuon as a prophylaxis. Works very well and much better than suffering the sores.

My granny was prescribed a bottle of stout a day by her doctor. She had to buy it of course. Circe 1930s.