Not more than 30 years ago, when we visited a doctor and
said that we had this ache or this pain or were constantly
tired for no obvious reason, we were told to snap out of it
and get on with life. It was all in our heads. Psychology
was not well known by the public then and many ailments
seemed to be figments of the imagination. Most people didn't
know how depression actually worked on the brain and what
the results were.
Now, researchers have found that psychosomatic illnesses are
real and not manifestations of unbalanced minds. They may be
a result of short circuits in the brain and the latest news
is that brain and body function work so closely together
that we cannot say that an illness is a result of a brain
malfunction, as opposed to a brain malfunction being the
result of a body deficiency. Brain nutrients are definitely
coming into the mainstream with Ginkgo, Galantamine,
Arginine, St. John's Wort and many other brain helpers.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome comes to mind. It was an illness that
many people (especially women) have experienced over only
the last 15 years or so. For a while I was wearing a wrist
brace because the tendons from my elbow to my hand were so
sore that I couldn't hold my arm in the air and couldn't
pick anything up...due to overuse and poor ergonomics. The
point is, though, that after millions of people quit jobs,
took workers' compensation and had operations on their
carpal tunnels, very few cases are coming to light any more.
Did the people imagine they had serious pain?
Was it a fad disease or were we (or the medical profession)
too quick to coin a new syndrome? To me, rather than calling
people whiners and malingerers, I believe that with proper
education and usage of effective furniture, the condition
slowly diminished to the point where savvy computer users
knew what to do when their wrists and arms started to hurt
cause trouble. However, it has been lumped into the "mental"
group of passe diseases.
Along with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, over the last 20 years or
so, we've learned more about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,
Fybromyalgia, and Lupus which have become household words
because of the thousands of people suffering from these
conditions. Many doctors still believe that they are mental
conditions rather than physical ones because many different
symptoms occur in the people affected. Not so common to the
ear is RSI (repetitive stress injury) and MCS (multiple
chemical sensitivity.)
These illnesses are now in the forefront of medicine and
education is improving but doctors know very little about
the latter. MCS has reared its ugly head only in the last
few years, and it seems that CFS and Fybromialgia may be
related. The new branch of Environmental Medicine is finding
out that many of us, over the years, are developing these
multiple chemical sensitivities. Our world is full of toxins
in the water, air and ground.
Our food is bombarded from seeding to harvesting with dozens
of chemicals and we're not even aware of them. We think that
the food we eat is going to be digested and turned into
energy and nutrition for our bodies to be able to work and
play. It seems like we're getting to the end of our physical
and mental rope (as these chemicals all lodge in fatty
tissue of which the brain has lots) and are unable to combat
the assault on our physical wellbeing.
Dr. Josef Krop was sued about 10 years ago in Ontario by the
College of Physicians and Surgeons for practicing a form
of medicine that doesn't exist, namely Environmental
Medicine. It is now on the cutting edge of modern day
medicine and is not a figment of the imagination. Dr.
Krop was recently almost completely exonerated. Many
medical professionals are now searching and turning to
this avenue to explain many of the unexplained symptoms
and problems coming up in their clinics every day.
What it boils down to is that when thousands of people from
different areas and walks of life complain of a similar
situation that makes them ill and depressed, it's time to
look at it in a different way and find out if there might be
other causes.
Alternative therapies are there to help find the root cause
of these types of conditions and to bring the body back into
balance. I just picked up an alternative health magazine the
other day and was wowed by the variety of treatments
available to us as questers for good health. Color Therapy,
cleanses, Reflexology, Nuad Bo-Rarn (an ancient Thai
massage,) Biofeedback, Infra-Red Sauna Therapy, Body
Detoxification, Light Therapy, Pyramids, Yoga, Feng Shui,
Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Accupressure, meditation, food as
medicine...and the list goes on and on.are all valid
programs that will benefit the body if a person believes in
the treatment.
Part of the healing system of the body is belief. If we take
a medication from the doctor that we don't think will work,
we might as well not take it at all. Drugs work very quickly
as compared to herbal remedies and many alternative
treatments, but in the end, the condition will come back as
the drugs are palliative, and rarely curative.
Let's get with the program and start believing in ourselves,
our bodies, our minds, and our futures and start healing
ourselves. Before the cancer gets to us, let's become
healthy in mind and body and believe that we can be well and
happy and live to be 120!
Copyright © 1999-2004 Monika Dery, All Rights Reserved