I've been struggling with this same thought recently too, namely because my partner who I love so dearly is struggling with diagnoses that most physicians are just not too informed on yet, let alone the underpaid, overworked public hospital system we're dealing with.
It took us years and years and years, tons of shot gun approaches by doctors with treatments, diagnoses, and medications that treat the symptoms but not the underlying cause til we finally figured out what could possibly be wrong with her!
And that was only after she started working in the health field herself and had physicians and specialists that care about her take into consideration everything about her and run expensive tests.
All this to say, I've been researching others' experiences with what my partner is inflicted with and those who are doing better or have some understanding had to figure a lot of it out on their own with countless medical research and studies they pore over - a lot of these success stories are from physicians inflicted with these diseases themselves!
But, how am i supposed to understand the studies, and papers, and drug mechanism of action sheets?
Do I start at ground 0 and start learning biology? What are some good resources?
And how do I know where to go from there?
All this is really troubling me and i feel so powerless.
I started to reply to one of your other comments before coming to the background one. I was basically going to recommend going the university education route. I have a degree in biochem/molbio, and the topics you are interested was basically the third year of my degree. Not to discourage you (you can do anything if you want to bad enough), but they are pretty complex topics and without the foundational knowledge you are going to be saying "wait, it did what?!" a lot. I know this, because I did have all the foundational knowledge and was frequently saying that.
If you have no background in biology or chemistry, I would email the authors of papers you are interested in. Most of those researchers are starved for attention and would love to break it down for you. Try making friends with one or two of the locals so they can explain more papers to you. Eventually osmosis will do its thing.
hmm thats understandable, ive found im met with that resistance with a LOT of questions i have about a lot of fields that you need an education to understand, yet somehow i manage(d), and will have to for now.
in the immediate time being, do you have any alternative, actionable advice? topics/subjects/key people i can consider or look into that you covered your 3rd year?
not saying i disagree with your comment Nor that i dont want to go the education route, trust me i would love that time and leisure, but right now my brain cant be put at ease until i understand certain things
I'd probably start with basic chemistry and organic chemistry, and cell biology, and probably physiology would help. Once you feel like you have a solid understanding of those, biochemistry, immunology and pharma will be accessible.
I'd start with YouTube and MOOCs. Unfortunately, I don't watch too many videos about this stuff, so I don't have any specific recommendations.
Also, keep in mind this field is rapidly moving forward. Crispr was discovered after I graduated, which wasn't that long ago. Try and stick to newer materials where possible.
It took us years and years and years, tons of shot gun approaches by doctors with treatments, diagnoses, and medications that treat the symptoms but not the underlying cause til we finally figured out what could possibly be wrong with her!
And that was only after she started working in the health field herself and had physicians and specialists that care about her take into consideration everything about her and run expensive tests.
All this to say, I've been researching others' experiences with what my partner is inflicted with and those who are doing better or have some understanding had to figure a lot of it out on their own with countless medical research and studies they pore over - a lot of these success stories are from physicians inflicted with these diseases themselves!
But, how am i supposed to understand the studies, and papers, and drug mechanism of action sheets?
Do I start at ground 0 and start learning biology? What are some good resources?
And how do I know where to go from there?
All this is really troubling me and i feel so powerless.