Medical
     Egos
         Dictating
             Idealistic
                 Cures
                     Ignoring
                         Nature's
                             Elegance

This is the trouble with "modern" medicine. It presumes to know better than Nature. Nature as an amazing universal system of infinite diversity and complexity has been in existence since the beginning of time. Modern medicine has been around approximately 200 years. What kind of ego would dare to state that in such a short time we have learned everything there is to know? Actually, medicine takes it one step further. The medical community actually believes that it is smarter than Nature. When was the last time you saw a prescription for salve of sleep, lotion of love, or tincture of time? Natural remedies like good nutrition, reasonable exercise, a positive attitude, and restful sleep have allowed our species to survive and thrive through the ages. It is when we move away from these natural remedies that our individual health and the health of humanity suffers. If medicines are supposed to be good for you, why do they come with a list of side effects that are as long as your arm?

More die of the remedy than of the malady - French saying

Just one hundred years ago, physicians made house calls and treated ailments like chilblains and "the Ague". Bottles of pills were sold for "heat fog" (they were a combination of salt and sugar). In fact, the entire discipline of surgery was originally practiced by barbers! Minor issues like colds and fevers were simply treated at home. Today's doctors scoff at these treatments as 'old wives tales', but if they weren't generally helpful, they wouldn't be so commonly known and used. Doctors back then were only sought in cases of extreme disease and emergency. Certainly much of this had to do with availability and cost, but there's more to it.

What does not kill me, makes me stronger. - Friedrich Nietzsche

When we allow our own immune systems to function properly, and heal us from our ills and ails, we become stronger in the process. In fact, creating micro-tears in muscles and micro-fractures in bones allow them to heal stronger than they were originally. In order to do this, however, we have to look past the minor discomforts of daily life. Often, the aches and pains we routinely experience are gentle warnings to help guide our behaviours. When animals limp, for example, the pain they feel is a reminder to keep their weight off the leg until it has had time to heal.

Most diseases are the result of medication which has been prescribed to relieve and take away a beneficent and warning symptom on the part of Nature. - Elbert Hubbard

Unfortunately, today, modern medicine has taken us to the opposite end of the spectrum. People expect immediate gratification. Whether physical, psychological, or emotional, there is a pill for every possible health concern. Recently, there have even been advertisements for drugs. People would never have considered that they even had a problem until they saw the advertisement for its 'cure'.

I firmly believe that if the whole materia medica, as now used could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be better for mankind - and all the worse for the fishes. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

It is sad to think that in this age of modern marvels and technological advancements we (in North America) are more medicated and less healthy than we have ever been. The development of Penicillin and equipment sterilization practices have certainly saved countless lives, but how many robustly healthy people do you know? Instead, people today continue to take more pills, and feel less well.

Hopefully, the pendulum will begin to swing back the other way. As more and more people become disenchanted with modern medicine, they are starting to have interesting realizations. First, you have lived in your body longer than anyone else, so it just might be that you know what is right for you. A bit of common sense will tell you, "If it makes you sick, don't do it!" Second, if you're taking all sorts of pills and they are not helping you, you might want to ask why you're taking them. Third, pain is not necessarily your enemy. Your body may be trying to tell you something. And lastly, it is far wiser to empower yourself through education than to blindly follow 'drug pushers' (legal or otherwise).

We chat together: he gives me his prescriptions; I never follow them, and so I get well. - Molière