Traditional Asian Medicine VS. Western Medicine

why do so many immigrant Asian parents hate Western medicine and how can you help them all in this video son I wanted you to be a doctor but for me I don't trust the doctor what we got to talk about this Reddit post he said advice on how to get my parents to trust Western medicine my parents are super stubborn and they refuse to go to hospitals unless it's extreme I'm scared about something will happen by the time they get checked out and it'll be too late my mom has been having stomach and back issues and my dad is diabetic but he never tells us anything about his health he talks about how his extended relatives refuse to see uh Western doctors until it was too late and now he's worried because he's struggling to get his parents to go wow all right we got to talk about this phenomenon uh so please hit that like button check out other episodes of the hop hop boys hopefully this video helps you we're going to go over why so many parents don't trust the doctors but they kind of want you to be a doctor but that's a different issue but also how you can get them to trust Western medicine um but also man let's just play this funny Ronnie Chen clip because this joke was hilarious it's such a weird stereotype to have associated with your ethnicity right that stereotype of like Asian parents wanting their kids to be doctors it's the money and the prestige because if you're a first generation immigrant your children becoming doctors it's the quickest way you can turn it around in one generation instant credibility instant respectability instant money and it's also weird because Asian parents are also the last group of people you can ever convince to see a doctor yo these [ __ ] people will never see a doctor they spend their whole lives obsessing over it nothing can make my mom see a doctor there's nothing my mom could have an arrow going right through her and she trying to pull it out like Rambo right and you're like yo mom go let's go see a doctor and my mom be like no they just want to take people's money and you're like then why do you want your kids to be doctors so badly because I want my kids to take other people's money obviously the fact that you don't understand that is the reason why you never became a doctor so this was a funny bit by Ronnie right but actually there are posts where people say I became a medical doctor and my own parents don't trust me with anything right so real quick I want to go through the reasons why a lot of Asian immigrant parents not all but a sizable amount don't really trust Western ment I've heard this before luckily my parents are not uh our parents are not those people they do trust Western doctors I would say it's below 50% for sure though it's probably man it's tough to put a quantitative measurement on it 15% right these are the reasons I came up with why your parents don't trust Western doctors just so you understand their thinking one they come from a culture that has an alternative traditional medical philosophy AKA TCM traditional Chinese medicine ginsing drinking this doing that you know the deal that those General things do you think Chinese are the most likely to be like this I I I think so I think so because TCM it comes like all that stuff comes from China so so I think Chinese people chines got a hard time letting go of the ancient stuff that they invented like just drink the soup you'll be okay is not quite that simple but uh number two Superstition has stuck with them and since nothing terrible has happen maybe it confirms their bias right they they stick with these superstitions they grew up with and because maybe nothing has really gone bad they just end up trusting it it makes sense this is human nature number three they think Western medicine is overpriced yes in America we don't have uh we don't have Universal healthc care so of course can cost a lot of money number four they have heard some horror stories of either doctors malpractice doctors doing the wrong thing doctors misdiagnosing doctors overcharging for surgeries or whatever it is getting an unnecessary surgery ambulance bills even these type of uh anecdotes that sometimes are very real situations exactly and then also number five another reason is that these doctors a lot of the western doctors up until recently they didn't come from the community they weren't Asian or they weren't that specific type of Asian maybe they were just unre relatable so that a lot of the Asian parents didn't trust them so just so we kind of know the overall reasons why a lot of Asian parents don't trust Western medicine we can move on from there on how to get your parents to trust West right right right they also could have been seeing a TCM doctor that also did mix in a tiny bit of Western medicine already so they feel like that's a good enough point for them sure sure sure so um here's my first thought uh obviously this poster did go on to say that they live in a heavily Asian area the type of parents that move to a super Asian encl Enclave for example like a Chinatown maybe a flushing sgv it depends I mean obviously it's family to family they could be the ones that they moved because you don't have to assimilate as much to that region that they're moving to so that's almost uh reflective of a mindset yeah I mean listen if a parent if if your Asian parents move to the middle of Pennsylvania or the middle of Washington or even just anywhere away from other Asians they probably will be more receptive to trusting a western doctor because they have to well their whole life and maybe the customers for their restaurant or the students that they're a professor to you know they're all Western so yeah one first off this poster this op he got to realize he is fighting an uphill battle right Point number two I do think that TCM man it probably was good at a time but just I feel like in 2024 obviously you got to look more at Western medicine and it's probably going to be I just feel like a majority of TCM is outdated okay yeah like I just think obviously there's some good stuff in there reflexology I think that um you know a lot of it is preventative I do think the soups are not bad for you there's no way the soups are bad for you but I just don't know if it's as good as like targeted proven scientific studied Western medicine yeah listen I mean I do think there's a his of Western doctors overprescribing pills overprescribing rellin maybe overprescribing anti-depressants whatever it is but overall my opinion is this like I think most of the benefits from traditional Chinese medicine come from the fact that the people who practice it live a healthier lifestyle I think if you're somebody who's like oh yeah I do TCM or I I trust TCM you're more likely probably doing less drugs you're probably less obese like you're just living a health you're walking more you're doing these things that I think some of the TCM definitely does make sense and it works but you can't use it to cure diseases it does not fight cancer sure the things that you did for those 50 years before help fight the cancer and help keep you away from that cancer um situation but yeah I mean it it doesn't there's a lot of science out there and it's not necessarily backing up TCM in the way that a lot of traditional people would want right I think jins sing is super healthy for you gacha clearly stimulates your lymphatic system and things like that for sure there is like things here and there for example to me I would compare maybe and like you guys let me know in the comment section below acupuncture or cupping a little bit like Chiropractic work you know how like there's always this debate even in the western world and Chiropractic work by the way like back cracking and net cracking comes from the Western world there's always debate about like there's no debate that people like it and it feels good but it does it fully do what its most like extreme practitioners claim probably not uh in terms of like Chiropractic like realigning your bones and stuff like that cuz you're mostly AC I've liked the acupuncture that I've received so far right right right I enjoy acupuncture I enjoy acupuncture I'm just saying like I don't know if it's gonna fix cancer yeah yeah yeah yeah okay very very few things do but um all right let's get into tips David for the kids uh who are having trouble getting their parents to trust traditional doctors we've gotten a lot of different ideas from the internet along with our own ideas David what how do you help your Asian parents who hate Western doctors go to the doctor Well Point number one this one's pretty obvious have a deep conversation with them listening to their concerns about why they mistrust Western medicine and why do you have to get p uh give uh them proper medical care so basically this is the typical like let's just sit down and have a family chat uh but for me I'm more interested in the more deeper uh methods find number two Andrew find a doctor from their community that speaks the same language as them that they would trust for example the same ethnicity and maybe even speaks the exact same dialect for example of Chinese that they speak because I think the relatability is huge and sometimes they view the kids like we you know there's a saying in cantones and or Jing which means like empty bamboo they are looking at you as their child even with a lack of relatability when it comes to the medical care yeah for sure yeah yeah and um I will say this you you got to take the relatability you still got to do your due diligence though because I have some stories in my uh that I know of that happened to other people where maybe they overly trusted a doctor just because they were Asian and it wasn't the right hospital and then you know like I said it's just you got to take a look at relatability but you still have to do your due diligence Point number three have a trusted friend or another family member for example like a aunt or Uncle speak to them you know I think you could even write a letter and translate it into their language if for example if your like uh mother tongue language skills are not up to par Point number four Andrew now we're getting into some Creative Solutions bribe your parents with money or gifts oh man this is an interesting one bribe them with money bribing your parents first of all that sentence alone sounds weird how does this work David for example basically you offer vacations whatever the thing is that they want a new iPhone a new I don't know different parents like different things a new high powered fishing rod you know if their dad likes fishing this would work on some parents I don't know if all parents would fall for it but someone's going to fall for it I guess what I'm saying is you got to get creative and you got to look outside of the box if you really want to get it done and in this sounds like crazy because you're like bribing your own parents which sounds weird like you said due to the power Dynamic but like not everything is going to work like a Disney mov no but I will say this at some point when you've made it on your own you have your own money you're a grown person your parents then sometimes I don't want to say become your kids but you become caring for them in a different way where now you have to almost figure out ways how to put the food on the on the airplane and put it in their mouth you know what I'm saying like there there is some of that when they get older I knew a family that wanted their son and the girlfriend to man this is crazy to say but get an abortion but they were just trying to convince them to do it but until they offered to actually pay for it that's when they actually went through with it right uh Point number five suggest ways to combine eastern and western medicine with the guidance of a medical professional basically this is selling them on the 8020 so for example Andrew maybe right now they're receiving 80% t uh TCM 20% Western medicine just let them know that it's still the same combo but now obviously you don't have to tell them that you are actually shifting it to 80% West medicine 20% TCM right right what about it's not about convincing them that the thing that they love and believe in and there is still some legitimacy to it but just not to the level that your parents believe it's not like you're trying to like go against their beliefs are trying to mix it are you talking about possibly tricking them like some I've heard that some TCM pills or whatever they are actually made up of the actual medicine the American Medicine in there that then helps the person and that but that patient thinks that it's just purely TCM yeah I'm not a big fan if you guys do the research on the TCM industry like maybe right now they're re uh reinvesting 5% of their profits in R&D a real medical company should be reinvesting like 55% right um so for example still give them the herbal soups at home in fact find somebody from the community to cook them even better versions of the herbal soup to reward them for going to the west Western doctor like don't try to change their whole worldview just work within it uh Point number six Andrew offer to go with your parent just schedule it just take them there just be there with them instead just kind of force them to go you're like hey Mom I got to take you to this thing just come with me I already got it set up don't worry about it don't ask them don't go back and forth sometimes people don't want to be convinced what to do you just got to show them what to do yeah you just got to put life on autopilot for him and point number seven sometimes you just got to lie sometimes you got to tell them that you already gave the money to the Western doctor and you're going to get it back if they go or just whatever it takes for them to see the Western doctor just do it hey Mom hey Mom I already paid for it I paid for the the treatment so you have to do it or I wasted money you want me to waste money what do you think is worse than than that nothing is worse than wasting Mone by the way when I'm talking about Western doctor I'm just talking about a doctor of Western medicine for sure find them a doctor of Western medicine that's Asian by the way Asians make up like 40% of the doctors in America so it shouldn't be that hard to find right right right right right um ultimately man I I'll just tell you this I think this applies for anything like some people they're like oh my dad's like straining his eyes watching TV I need to get him a new TV but he's like attached to the old one sometimes he just needs to come home one day there's a new TV sitting there and you just say that you you sold the old one but you didn't sell the old one you just gave it away right yeah like you know what I mean like sometimes you just got to do it it ain't about explaining every little thing and getting into these like ideological arguments with your parents yes strategically leave out information to your parents it's okay listen man if you're the younger generation and you truly know what's better and you trust your systems and you trust your decision-making at some point your parents are outdated and they probably come from the small town and they've been a little bit close-minded not in the bad way you know the good people but if they need help sometimes you can't ask people if they need help you got to just give it to them yeah sometimes you got to replace the old microwave with a new air fryer and then you said here's $40 I sold the old microwave so yeah you got him something new and you gave him $40 I mean ultimately it's like for me when I read what this guy wrote from uh the original poster I would say lifetimes it is what it is you know life and um sometimes you just got to get it done and for example I got uh our parents like a YouTube premium account and then sometimes I send them videos that I don't even think are for me but I want it to track on their algorithm so they can start seeing like a feed that I think is going to be relevant to them you know what I mean so you just got to be thinking about it a little bit different and I think that this is where you know using the internet Community or if you are in some sort of uh Community Center or Church community asking for help to assist you especially when it's something as serious as your parents like not wanting to see a western doctor you got to really rack your brain and like what do I have at my disposal to get the mission done because just arguing with them sometimes is just not going to get it done all right everybody let us know uh in the comments down below if you have any other ideas on how to help your parents in a uh I guess accept Western medicine better uh yeah let us know what you thought about our feedback and all our ideas and until next time we out peace peace