Imagine you are suddenly struggling with a host of minor symptoms related to headaches or sinus pain. It’s there constantly bothering you, painful enough to warrant a trip to the doctor’s office. He listens to your complaint, asks if you have a history of allergy to any antibiotics and writes you a prescription. You are in and out in under ten minutes. One complaint per visit. It’s a health care system standard rule really. On the odd occasion, your doctor might sit and listen to two minor issues. He is a medical doctor. Or perhaps she is a medical doctor and their training is essentially almost entirely around diagnosis and prescription. The right prescription solves the problem. It is not always his or her concern what the underlying cause of the issue is. This is true whether you are a patient of the Canadian (Taxpayer funded social health care model) or the American system that is somewhat less universal or accessible. So the cause of many issues, ailments and complaints is often not so important as long as the symptom goes away eventually. In the centre of this system, while working through it you often do not feel like empowered patients. In fact quite the opposite is true.

Now imagine that this headache or sinus pain become chronic and returns pretty much every few weeks. You are stuck in this cycle of painful symptoms, doctor’s appointments, prescribed antibiotics and then temporary relief. Diagnose Yourself: How to find a permanent cure for what ails you says: what if you consider a common sense approach to the symptoms and apply a bit of detective work to unravel what is causing the issue first? What if you take control of your health care and do the detective work to reveal why a symptom is happening? Could you become a more empowered patient? Could you take charge of your health and potentially resolve some of your health issues without needing the doctor as often?

Diagnose Yourself: How to Find a Permanent Cure For What Ails You (with or without the help of your doctor) is the first non fiction book by the author. It is a book peppered with case studies that make sense. It starts with the example of a father and daughter struggling for years with vicious sinus pain. They have little relief ever and yet they live in a house with two other members of their family who never ever have sinus pain. Why them? Why not the others? What is unique about the environment the father and daughter share that is not happening for the other two family members? Reid Jenner suggests that you can help uncover many of your symptoms by working through his system of questions and work sheets. The process itself can be more empowering than the doctor and patient relationship that still sits at the heart of the health care system. The goal at heart of this book is to create a system of empowered patients less reliant on traditional health care models.

It’s the kind of premise that makes you think this seems incredibly simple, almost too simple to be true. But what if it works? What if you tried it and it worked? You might be surprised. Traditional medicine really is not that interested in uncovering the source of the issue, or symptom. Traditional medicine sometimes tackles the symptoms and leaves the cause undetermined. That can be unfulfilling over the longterm for the patient. Jenner advocates giving patients more tools to problem solve some of their own health care issues.

Diagnose Yourself is a smart approach that doesn’t hurt to try. The book is structured in three parts: case studies, health care history and a template so that patients can help work through some of the causes of their maladies. It’s a fast read and could easily be kept as a reference guide for many issues and health care concerns. Jenner is an acclaimed naturopathic problem-solving specialist with over twenty years’ experience designing, teaching, and facilitating root-cause analysis techniques in the health sector. He has a track record of solving many patient problems with this approach which focuses also largely on environmental factors. Jenner has helped many patients use their health history to find the quickest, simplest, and least invasive permanent solution to each problem. In his experience, many problems can be solved in less than 60 minutes.

I often talk about empowerment and advocacy over on my main blog http://www.thriftymommastips.com and in my own family I have had more than my fair share of interactions with the health care system. Sometimes relationships with doctors works well to help build a treatment plan for a child, or other member of the family. Occasionally the doctor patient relationship leaves you feeling powerless. Reid Jenner offers a means to take back some of the control. Even if you only remember 3 or 4 of the takeaways here, the book is worth your time. Every tool in your health care toolkit is relevant and useful in helping you become your own best advocate. (or your child’s best advocate.)

Diagnose Yourself is available on Kindle and paperback.

Diagnose Yourself by Reid Jenner, published in September 2014, can be purchased here:Diagnose Yourself: How to find a permanent cure for what ails you It is available for about $6.50 US via Kindle and it is also available for about $11.50 US paperback. That is extremely affordable and worthwhile. I think the price, coupled with content makes this one a $$$$$ out of $$$$$ because it will save you money and aggravation with the health care system in the long run.

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