Thread: Brownsville contends with third world health problems

Brownsville contends with third world health problems

August 17, 2008 - 10:38PM
By Laura Tillman/The Brownsville Herald
When Dr. Khadim Hussain left his home in Lahore, Pakistan, to practice medicine in the United States, he never expected that the health problems of the developing world would regularly occur among his patients.



But in Brownsville, unregulated diabetes, hypertension, malnutrition, malaria, tuberculosis, and skin infections make daily appearances in the emergency room at the Valley Baptist Medical Center, where Hussain serves as medical director.



"We see people die here of manageable illnesses," he said. "The pathology here is third world pathology."



According to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization, more than a quarter of Hispanics living in the United States do not have a regular health care provider. Among men, that number is 36 percent; among undocumented immigrants it's 43 percent.



In Brownsville, where more than 92 percent of the population is Hispanic, Hussain says this lack of preventative care exacerbates what would be minor medical conditions, creating tragic consequences.



"I've worked in many parts of the country and this is the only place I've seen a glucose level of 2700," he said. A normal level is 70 to 110.



According to the report, most of those without a regular health care provider say they don't need one because they're seldom sick.



"I try to stay away from the doctor's office," said Roberto Ruiz, a mechanic in Los Fresnos.



Ruiz, 52, said that he sees a specialist for back problems, but isn't concerned about heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Death, he says, is a part of life.



"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen."



Along the border, Hussain says the accessibility to prescription drugs encourages people to self-medicate.



"They give themselves the wrong thing, and then they're in more trouble than they were to begin with," he said.



Emergency room traffic has steadily increased, in part because payment isn't requested up front.



"More than 40 percent of the Valley is uninsured," said Dr. Brian Smith of the Texas Department of State Health Services. "Emergency room visits are 10 times as expensive."



At Valley Baptist's Diabetes Control Center, Dr. Teo Ong says most patients are referred by a primary care physician, making it unlikely that those without such a resource would be directed to specialized help.



"It's not just diabetes that becomes a problem," Ong said. "When you are weakened by advanced diabetes, a simple cough can cause your body to deteriorate rapidly."



Pilar Gonzalez and her husband Alfredo say that they've avoided their fathers' history of diabetes by following the advice of a primary care physician.



The couple moved to Brownsville from Matamoros 14 years ago, and say the Pew statistics are no surprise.



"It's the culture (in Mexico)," Alfredo said. "You only go to the doctor when you have a problem."



Overall, Hussain says that conditions have improved since he joined the hospital's staff almost a decade ago.



"There is more awareness (of these issues) than there was then," he said. "It's getting better."



http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/h ... blems.html

It's the culture (in Mexico)," Alfredo said. "You only go to the doctor when you have a problem."



He failed to mention that in Mexico one only goes to the doctor if one has the money up front to see one.

Even if one expects to give birth in a hospital, they must pay for it in advance.

I've heard some absolute horror stories from some of our friends, Mexican nationals, who have immigrated legally, about what happens to those in Mexico who cannot afford to pay.......people being taken out of hospitals and clinics, and left to die on the sidewalk, laying in a car, or bed of a truck, of heart attacks as medical personnel steps around, or walks right past them. Babies being delivered by C section at home with kitchen knives. People in so much agony from abscessed teeth that they have ripped out their own hair by the handfuls out of sheer delirium brought about by the pain. People with diabetes removing their own grangrened toes.

Yeah, Mexico has a whole lot to be proud of in how it treats it's own citizens

It's really a wonder that there hasn't been an all out revolt over there by now although these same friends believe that this is why the Mexican government is REALLY concerned about the amount of weapons entering that country. Not because they are concerned about the cartels, but afraid of their own citizens.