Your Body Is A Self-Healing Wonder: X-ray/MRI Study Misses the Point

by Heidi Stevenson

26 March 2010

Although not the conclusion that researchers reached, the most exciting finding of a recent study was just how brilliantly the human body heals itself. The study from Duke University has shown that a very large percentage of pelvic fractures are not seen on x-rays. Using an MRI, they found 35 fractures that had been missed in x-ray exams of 92 patients.

The standard method for diagnosing bone fractures is x-ray imaging. As this study shows, fractures can be missed. The lead researcher, Dr. Charles Spritzer, noted:

The diagnosis of traumatic fracture most often begins and ends with X-rays of the hip, pelvis, or both. In some cases though, the exclusion of a traumatic fracture is difficult.

The study did not suggest that patients whose pelvic fractures were missed generally suffered for it. If 35 fractures in 92 patients are routinely missed, then it seems likely that most of them must be healing—and that the healing must be happening without any benefit of medical treatment.

Shouldn't that be the focus of this study? Isn't it far more interesting that people are probably healing without medical treatment, and without suffering from the adverse effects of medical treatment?

Dr. Spritzer further stated:

Accurate diagnosis of hip and pelvic fractures in the emergency department can speed patients to surgical management, if needed, and reduce the rate of hospital admissions among patients who do not have fractures.

How many more people would end up in surgery, with all its attendant risks, as a result of MRIs diagnosing fractures that would otherwise have healed without intervention?

On the opposite side of the coin, the study has shown that reliance on x-rays to diagnose pelvic fractures has also resulted in a significant number of false positives. Eleven patients, who were diagnosed by x-ray with fractures, were found to have no fractures when examined by x-ray. One must wonder how much unnecessary treatment, or incorrect treatment, resulted.

The results of this study were expected, according to Dr. Tony Nicholson of the Royal College of Radiologists. He does not believe that routine MRIs for potential pelvic fractures are appropriate or feasible. However, history shows that, when there's any indication of possible benefit from the use of technology, it will be used.

It's sad, though, that no consideration was given to what has become of most patients whose fractures were not diagnosed. Surely, if so many are routinely missed, then the majority of them must heal without modern medical treatment. Is it possible that a lot of people would be better off if their fractures continue to be missed?

Sadly, it's unlikely that studies will be done to examine the question. The thrust of studies is usually to demonstrate that a treatment or procedure works, so those who don't benefit tend to be lost in the stats.

It's even sadder that the most important medical truth of all is being ignored. The body is an incredible self-healing and repairing device. More often than not, if left alone, healing takes place.

It's a tragedy that modern medicine has chosen to insinuate itself into every aspect of life, medicalizing everything it can find. Phases of life, like menopause, have become diseases to be treated with chemicals. Temper tantrums in children are being redefined as mental disorders to be treated with chemicals. Childbirth has been distorted, so that in America nearly a third of all deliveries are done by caesarian, with all the attendant risks of major surgery and the drugs that go along with it. Wholesale use of vaccines, rather than allowing the body to go through a natural process to fight disease, has resulted in immense harm, including 1 in 100 children developing autism.

These invasions rarely save lives, often deteriorate the quality of life, and only too often lead to early death. Certainly, modern medicine saves lives—but it also takes lives and reduces the quality of many many more.

During the recent debate over medical treatment in the United States, the statistic that 45,000 people die each year for lack of medical insurance is certainly tragic. However, the fact that over 200,000 people die each year because of medical treatment isn't mentioned. Clearly, there is immense harm that comes from modern medicine's treatments.

That is the direct result of failing to recognize and respect the natural wonder of the human body's innate healing ability.

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