Studies of the placebo effect suggest that the mind has a major impact on a person’s sense of health and well-being. We can be persuaded to feel bad, good, fearful, or optimistic based on a wide variety of environmental factors. As Debra pointed out in her article this month, “The Truth About Healing,” we were both influenced by watching the video series, The Truth about Cancer. Some of our responses were similar. We both, for example, had elevated blood pressure for days after viewing, and we are both addressing that in similar ways. One of the other ways I have been influenced is an increased focus of attention on the ways mass media encourages those of us living in media-intensive cultures to be fearful, not only of disease, but also of a wide variety of unavoidable circumstances.
There’s no doubt, for example, that cancer is one of the diseases that causes people to be fearful, and you are doubtless aware that treating cancer has become big business. Within a few days of our having watched “The Truth About Cancer, one of the local TV stations in Kalamazoo, Michigan, ran a multipart series on the need for women to have regular—annual—mammograms. Mammograms use radiation to detect cancerous tissue. What do we know about radioactive sites? We know to avoid them, because exposure to radioactivity is one of those things that causes cancer among other physically debilitating problems. Even so, radiology, is a commonly used medical tool, with X-rays being one of the most often used means to “see” inside human bodies. While mammograms and dental X-rays use low-levels of radiation, exposure adds up, and it isn’t easy to anticipate how much exposure is safe.
A perfectly safe alternative to mammograms, thermography, is available but not widely promoted or used. I suspect that most people have never heard of it. Thermography (like thermometer) measures heat. Because cancerous tissue produces more heat than other bodily tissues, breast thermograms indicate if cancerous tissue is present and where. Why isn’t thermography the standard for detecting breast cancer? The answer is, quite simply, follow the money. Medical care is big business, and a lot of money had been invested in mammogram technology before thermography was on the scene.
Equipment manufactures, hospitals, physicians and nurses who are trained, and a variety of other interests, are aligned with maintaining mammography as the standard for breast cancer detection. The same is true, of course, for virtually everything. If you want to know the truth about cancer and other medical problems and cures, start paying attention to TV advertising. Corporations (and politicians) buy TV advertising time because they have something to sell. They also “plant” stories with news providers so that the information will be conveyed as a story instead of as a “commercial message.” Was the recent TV story about mammograms provided or sponsored by those with a vested interest? Unfortunately, there’s no good way to tell.
As one who has benefited from homeopathy, I was unhappy to discover the degree of bias against homeopathic medicine. The same is true for acupuncture. Although acupuncture has a very long history, in the 1950s the American Medical Association attempted to attribute Chairman Mao and the communists for promoting acupuncture because the Chinese did not have access to Western medicine. As an example of how “sponsored” stories work, see Chairman Mao Invented Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Even so, holistic practitioners know when to recommend Western Medicine. A few years ago I developed cataracts. I asked my acupuncturists (Leah, mentioned in Debra’s article) what the Chinese would do for cataracts, as I would have rather had a few rounds of acupuncture than surgery on my eyes. Her response was, “We have surgery.” The same was true when I developed a hernia. She said, “You need the surgery.” Western medicine is not only necessary, it is the only thing that works in some cases. When I had the surgery for the hernia, I was given two drugs that have been in the news in recent years: Propofol and Fentanyl. I was definitely glad to have the drugs for the surgery. Afterwards, the surgeon gave me a prescription for an opioid-based pain killer for follow-up, with the advice, “Don’t fill it unless you really need it.” I didn’t fill it and relied instead on a homeopathic remedy and aspirin. Yes, homeopathic remedies really do work….
My theme is to find what works, not only for me, but also for you. We tend to associate the phrase, “First do no harm” with the Hippocratic Oath. Although the phrase isn’t actually in the oath, the underlying concept is present. One of the things we would all do well to remember is that physicians are “sold” ideas the same way the rest of us are. And most of them are—like you, me, and everyone else—doing the best they can based on what they know. The sooner we all know more, the better. Meanwhile, we do well to remember that the heavily promoted medical advice may not be best. I can remember, for example, being prescribed an antibiotic for a viral infection. The doctor said that the antibiotic would preclude an “opportune” bacterial infection. We now know, of course, that antibiotics were frequently prescribed because they increased profits for the drug company, the hospital, and the physician.
When it comes to health and medicine, I am currently “off the beaten path.” The last time I saw a physician for a check-up, I was not feeling especially well. All my online research suggested that the problem could well be my thyroid. When my blood tests came back, I asked the physician what the tests showed for my thyroid. She said that the reading was “fine.” I asked her what the number was, and she refused to tell me. I never went back. Instead, I went to the local health food store and got a thyroid supplement. After a few days on the supplement, I felt much better. Coincidental? Perhaps. Since then, however, I have relied on acupuncture, Naturopaths, and a holistic chiropractor unless I needed surgery.
The Naturopaths both have used a ZYTO machine for information about my bodily functions and have made recommendations based on the ZYTO reports. The holistic practitioners Debra and I have met, including those we have met through the International College of Holistic Medicine have all spotted problems I have had as a result of experiences back in high school (a long time ago at this point). As a freshman in high school, I contracted Hepatitis A from an infected water supply, and as a senior in high school, I suffered a severe contusion of a kidney while playing football.
Although from the perspective of most MDs those problems are too old to be considered, the holistic practitioners think that they continue to influence my health. My sense is they are right. I don’t know, of course, what is right for you. I suggest, however, that no one else really knows what’s right for you, either. You have to decide for yourself the path you choose to take based on what you know about truth in advertising.