Have any of you tried going to another country for medical treatment?
I'm very interested in this. Is there are way to find doctors or specialists outside of the US?
I'm interested in what people have experienced.
It's not necessarily for Lyme in particular. I'm just interested in what people may have done to seek help in countries that may have better or less expensive treatments for health conditions than the US.
I guess it's called "Medical Tourism".
I notice some places do "full body scanning". Have any of you done this? Is it worth it?
How about advanced treatment centers or alternative treatment centers? Which are good or bad?
Any comments would be appreciated - positive or negative...
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
Sure--to Germany for the Bionic, to the Far East for stem cell therapy, to Mexico for some clinic there (not sure of the details). I would imagine we'll be seeing more and more of this. I corresponded with a clinic in the Republic of Georgia the other day about "phage therapy". Phages are organisms which are somehow programmed to go after a certain kind of big or virus and destroy it. It and only it! It somehow blows up its DNA or something. Still years away from a Lyme and coinfections phage, though.
Posted by pryorka (Member # 13649) on :
From what I've read about phage therapy it's viruses that infect specific bacteria or parasites. The phage is specific to a certain species of bacteria and sometimes even specific by strain so it won't have the person or gut flora.
Georgia is the only place that does it from what I've heard. Supposedly it works just as good as antibiotics and sometimes better, plus it's safer.
Posted by stuman455 (Member # 17823) on :
Ive took meds from India does that count. Im still alive. LOL
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
I read about the phage therapy... sounds promising.
It seems like it would be a good thing to find a "medical tourism" consultant...
This person would know which country specializes in which particular forms of medicine & where they are specialists.
For example... Germany seems to excel at homeopathy, Mexico seems to have some good clinics for cancer treatment from what I've heard, China seems good at finding transplant body parts (sorry - it's kind of a sick joke on my part if you know what I mean... couldn't help it)... are there any other places?
I don't want to stereotype but some places seem to develop specific types of medical treatment. I'm sure it would be good to go to China for acupuncture or traditional Chinese herbalism- if that's what you were interested in...
I heard that either Harvard or Yale is partners with a hospital in India. I heard it's state of the art, yet, the treatments or surgeries are much less expensive if you go there.
I found a website of a chain of hospitals that specialize in doing body scans & they they have a team of experts give you their opinion of what you need for your medical condition.