Health and Wellness

Perhaps we should not find good in the Europeans. After all, they have death camp hospitals where doctors decide who lives and dies. At least, this is how the more excitable GOP politicians seem to think other democratic countries work. Quite why any government could survive ten minutes if its doctors were systematically killing people off is not explained. It is simply assumed all socialist systems are dangerous to the health of those who live there. That these myths survive is proof, if you needed it, that ideas can have a powerful and long-lasting effect on people. Put another way, if you believe in something strongly enough and make it a part of your life, your belief often comes true.

In medicine, an early problem facing researchers when designing clinical trials was the so-called placebo effect. It has long been recognized that people who believe strongly enough in the cure will often be cured. So we need to start off with a definition. A placebo is a chemically inert substance or liquid that can have no effect on the human body. In a clinical trial, people are randomly assigned to one of two groups. One gets the real drug. The other gets the placebo. But there is no way anyone can know which is which. So a doctor in a white coat gives you encouragement, a smile and the “medicine”. The volunteers then describe how they feel.

Consistently, about one-third of participants report feeling better after taking the placebo. No matter what the researchers have done to eliminate the placebo effect, all they have succeeded in doing is produce a mountain of evidence that people who expect a treatment to work feel better. So, if you run a practice, a clinic or hospital, you can make a third of your patients feel better if you manage their expectations well. Physicians dress and act the part, listening carefully, carefully examining, ordering tests where appropriate, and then prescribing something that will “do the trick”. Even if this something is chemically inert, it will be an effective treatment in at least one-third of cases.

In this, it makes no different what the source of the pain. It can be a severe headache or a broken bone. The strength of the patient’s belief is the key to relieving the pain. There always has been a role for ritual and suggestion. The shamans have exploited this over the centuries. Modern medicine continues the same traditions, albeit in a different form. This is not to say the result of clinical trials are to be doubted when they show a drug effective. Many drugs like Ultram are effective no matter what the patients believe, i.e. though you may not tell a patient exactly what drug you are giving and what the expected outcome is, people routinely experience less pain. But the converse is equally true.

Many people who have pain can control it without having to use a drug like Ultram. All it requires is a belief strong enough to make the pain bearable. It is this placebo power that is exploited in the European approach to pain management and a good reason to feel grateful we live in America (or not, depending on what you believe).

In fact pain is just an extension of touch. Feeling a level of pressure more than acceptable or uncomfortable in the body, the mind is alerted and motivated to take action if the discomfort turns into pain. This is a necessary bodily process designed to avoid injury in a dangerous environment. This is impossible to switch off the pain and the body continues to feel some pain unless some remedy is applied and decreases the sensability. This is reality and there’s no sense in trying to deceive ourselves, instead we are to organize our lives to live a satisfying life if the pain is chronic.

However the marketers who aim to sell various drugs produced by the pharmaceutical industry trying to make us think it’s possible to solve any health malfunction with a pill or cream. Except that has always been a lie or brainstorming. Some drugs may be very effective for a time, but all medications slowly lose their effectiveness with the body adapting to the chemicals. If you increase the dosage there’s a risk of dependence. In fact, we have millions of people addicted to prescription drugs which is bad in the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, which may be experienced even with the safest pain relievers such as Ultram. But can we easily quit up using the medications we are used to?

The Europeans have been working to change mindsets, and this was not so long ago as they elaborated an approach more effective and smart that the solutions given by the pills. People must become more self-sufficient looking for vital powers in their body resources and modern treatment ways available in 21st century. Such a pain management starts with a thorough re-evaluation of the medical treatment to date.. If anything has been missed, they are now done. If anything may have been done wrongly, attempts are made to correct any adverse consequences. The idea is to ensure everything that can be done to treat the underlying cause of the pain has been done. Then specialists have to teach people how to improve the quality of live in alternative ways, forgetting the daily use of drugs.

So what about the pain itself? Grouped together in dedicated units specialist physicians and highly trained therapists evaluate each patient and devise a personal regime for maximizing the quality of life. Visiting the homes and workplaces to suggest how living spaces can be designed to reduce problems is the work of occupational therapists, as well as looking to see if jobs can be redefined to reduce the causes of pain. Introducing exercises and activity programs to rebuild strength and improve mobility is the job of the physical therapists. In the end, for staying positive when life seems difficult the cognitive behavioral therapists teach practical strategies. Scientific evidence shows such professional teams give very effective treatment. A patient, as the center of attention is educated and the comfort of human cooperation and communication work as antidepressants. Perhaps drugs like Ultram shouldn’t become a past, since there can be a flare-up of pain and, this is a good short-term remedy. Although, after the acute pain has gone , the patient should go on his individual program of treatment, moreover the approach is usually a pleasant form of treatment. Life should go on without pills and this becomes easy when one knows the lifestyle guidances.