TRENTO. “If the fever rises and is not adequately combated there is a risk of convulsions, especially in children. And if a person has an ulcer or gastritis he can have a hemorrhage, perhaps a woman with an intense menstrual cycle, he can have losses for a month: doing therapy outside the clinical context is extremely dangerous “. These are the words of Marco Ioppi, president of the Order of Doctors, who intervenes after so many are running on social networks fake news and indications on how to deal with a Covid infection independently. Posts also circulating in Trentino Alto Adige, as on the page “Sei di Egna se”. “There DIY therapy is not only counterproductive but dangerous: nothing could be more wrong and that damages the health system because then a person is forced to go to hospitals. Each patient has his own medical record and his own history, only a professional can administer the treatments in science and conscience “.
The “indications” suggest to replace tachipirina with aspirin, to take vitamins C and D but a cure approach, from cancer to Covid, it requires diversified diagnoses and specific therapeutic solutions. “Unfortunately – highlights Ioppi – there are conspiracy theories according to which there are cures that are hidden from patients due to the economic interests of power groups or the description of do-it-yourself remedies that would be more effective than traditional ones. This is an example that uses ambiguity and confuses people because it lists some drugs that can actually be prescribed. But it is really time to stop thinking that a doctor is the servant of a certain type of system and by now it becomes increasingly frustrating to have to defend operators who have been involved for almost two years and who save people’s lives by mission. Fever must be treated and drug mixes, even if commonly used, can have serious consequences if taken without logic and without a medical consultation: it cannot be trivialized in this way and the treatment must be calibrated by an expert “.
In cyclical phases, the “home care“.” Those series in Italy exist and are those that are based on scientific evidence and not on pseudoscientific evidence. Vitamin C is useful for our well-being but there is no need for supplementation in the absence of a deficiency and it is not the panacea for all ills regarding the coronavirus. L’hydroxychloroquine it is not useful in severe forms and does not prevent infection, above all there is no scientific evidence and therefore it is not recommended for a reason. These indications that are found on the net – adds the president of the Order – they can lead to potentially dangerous behavior that puts people’s lives at risk. An operator takes into account the diagnosis, timing and monitoring; Do-it-yourself therapies are harmful and it is sad to see some professionals who somehow get caught up in these conspiracy theories. Vitamin D, for example, is useful to have it at normal levels but only on the advice of a doctor, but there are many proposals that circulate without bases and that can harm the person “.
The risks of resorting to pseudoscience and pseudomedicine in relation to Covid, but also for other diseases, are enormous. “A professional – says Ioppi – evaluates the situation and the risks as a whole, then acts with science and conscience for the good of the patient: a therapy is basically tailor-made. Furthermore, we find ourselves having to deal with conspiracy theories and paranoia that distract forces and energies: proposals contrary to current knowledge and available data. These actions create a very serious sense of distrust towards medicine and the authorities responsible for public health. There are probable crimes at the basis of these behaviors but even more worrying is the danger of what is promoted and advertised so lightly “.
Operators committed with enormous efforts in the fight against Covid, without forgetting that some professionals have paid for their sense of duty and responsibility with their lives. “The challenge of therapies is frustrating, but above all it also affects the health system’s stability. It distracts from the possibility of intervening effectively and the result is then the referral to hospitals. Everyone is free to accept or not the therapeutic proposals but the right to health must remain a priority over certain self-determination behaviors which then affect the care of others: if for a DIY Covid therapy you end up in hospital, then maybe other patients who actually have needs, like oncologists, run the risk of not receiving the due attention “, concludes Ioppi.