Meet the Editor of DS!

November, 2002 Article: Doctor Secrets! is the creation of real life Accident & Emergency doctor, Dr. S. R. Salazar (MBBS) UWI: "The purpose of this web site is to make vital health information we would love to share with you (if we had more time), freely available, simple to read, and very easy to remember and apply."

Why create "Doctor Secrets!"?

"Before I became a doctor, I suffered quite badly with a condition called asthma. So I went to see my family doctor. He gave me a standard prescription for it - but it didn't SEEM to work!... my attacks kept coming; I would wheeze, and fight for air sometimes for hours. And I never knew when next it would strike me.

When I entered medical school I learnt what asthma really was, how my medication worked, the concept of triggers, and from this how best to control my attacks. That know-how changed my LIFE! No more violent attacks. And using the same medicines that "didn't work" before! Simply because I then understood how best to use them. But my doctor knew these things long before that - but he wasn't very good at educating me, his patient.

Today, as a practicing physician I come across people each day who are very ill. What hurts is knowing that if they knew what I know about health they could have avoided getting to the desperate point of illness where they are now. You just need some basic knowledge, and small changes to your lifestyle.

I also sympathize with the time constraints on doctors; it is impossible for us to explain in full to each person what you should know about your condition. In other words, there's vital facts that we doctors know shared among ourselves, but not shared with you, that you should have! - i.e. 'Doctor Secrets'.

This web site is to 'spill the beans', inviting all, anytime, everywhere, to come for answers and the vital 'secrets' we doctors would love to tell each of you... if we just had more time".

What do you most want viewers to get from Doctor Secrets!?

"I'd love everyone to question what's wrong with themselves and take a lead role in their own care. After all, no-one is ever going to care more about YOU than YOU.

Accepting a diagnosis, a pill, and walking away is for kids. If you are ill you should have a clear idea what the problem is, what can make it better or worse, why you're given the medications you have been, what the consequences of not taking them will be, and how to monitor yourself for improvement.

My hope is that the pages on this web site will prepare you to have intelligent conversations with your doctor and a general understanding of what's wrong. You should ask questions and know how to apply medical science to your health life.

Not knowing is NEVER an EXCUSE. Gravity doesn't care if you know about it or not - it's going to break your legs if you jump off a cliff. Diseases are no different. They don't care whether you believe in them or not. You need to arm yourself with knowledge to defend yourself.

If I achieve this then I'd feel that my time has been well spent, and better yet, if you do what you've learned, your life will be that much more vibrant without disease nuisances you could have avoided if you'd paid attention to your health".

Dr. S. R. Salazar, 2002
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
University of the West Indies, Barbados
UK General Practitioner #6072845
Accident & Emergency Department
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
St. Michael, BARBADOS.

Thank You for Using our Site Doctor Secrets!

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