Final thoughts from Dr. Alrieza Panahpour
“I must thank all my mentors and teachers in life who allowed me to sit on their shoulders to be able to see further, and who shared with me their knowledge and understanding.
Changing a few dental fillings, extracting an infected tooth, helping a patient to align her bite is no biggie, but the huge challenges for me is when a patient is fighting for his/her life, battling cancer, diabetes, Lyme disease or other systemic diseases.
We all need to ask questions, be open to answers on all levels, and be skeptical. There will be those in alternative medicine who can be just as nefarious as those in traditional medicine. They may all be passionate and sincere. However, we live in a day and age where the internet can make us all experts on some level. No longer can we rely just on our doctors to tell us what to do, but we need to search and research throughout the internet in reliable locations to gain information.
Only through becoming educated and informed, can we all learn how to make informed decisions about our healthcare and that of our loved ones. With all the vast amount of data available, we need to weigh the risk versus the benefit of the various interventions and options. We need to learn from the published research, as well as from patients currently experiencing treatment for similar conditions.
Often it is not about a final answer, but about ceaseless questioning. When I can assist a patient and provide them with options, share my experience, and attempt to help them, this gives purpose to my life.
For me, this is the challenge for the future of healthcare, and that is why I am here. “