Treating the Cause Rather than the Symptoms

I recently felt the urge to air out my dirty laundry by writing an email to an uncle. I wanted to know how he managed to live with his disease, since I’ve been exhibiting symptoms of the same disease.

I was expecting a detailed response that pointed to changes in diet, shifts in health care, and maybe even some hippie dippie advice. I hoped that his lifelong experience might be able to shed some light on the difficulties that I was certain to face.

Overall health

I often feel that modern medicine fails me when it comes time to search for answers, and I thought he might be able to provide some insight. But the reality of his response was much different from what I was expecting it to be.

He wrote: "How is your body, mind, and spirit?"

I paused when I read the words. A fact that’s so commonly overlooked by western medicine was suddenly staring me in the face. Health isn’t just about the body’s health. It’s also about your emotional, and spiritual health.

Rather than looking at my dilemmas a separate entity, it became clear that my overall health is connected to the disease.

Understanding myself

When it comes to Parkinson’s disease, I suspect that my dad faces similar dilemmas. Sure, Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease. And there isn’t currently a cure. But learning about how the disease progresses may help us slow or minimize that progression. Hampering the symptoms with pharmaceutical cocktails doesn’t always seem like the perfect response to me.

There’s no doubt in my mind that western medicine has its place in the world. Without it, we’d certainly be ushered into darker and more ominous times. But I much prefer the idea that we are collective beings, and must be treated as such. Therefore, a 15-minute appointment in a doctor’s office is not going to get to the root of why I am the way that I am.

And dad continues to ask why he is the way that he is, too. In conjunction with his neurologist, he periodically sees a holistic doctor who is treating him for a heavy metal overload.

Benefits of holistic medicine

Holistic medicine was developed in order to treat both the physical and mental aspects of disease. While changing our lifestyles is a much harder task than introducing a capsule into our regimens, it seems to be more promising. And I suspect that my dad agrees.

Like my uncle suggests, I’d rather begin to peer into myself to seek the root cause of an issue instead of looking at a limb or a symptom that’s not offering the whole perspective.

Additionally, I personally think that wellness is too often overlooked as a symptom. Being healthy isn’t just a matter of being disease-free. It’s also a matter of functioning well in all avenues of the life.

So, if your relationships, spiritual, and mental energy aren’t at their peak levels of wellness, it won’t be surprising to see illnesses forming.