{"id":4533,"date":"2017-09-27T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/?p=4533"},"modified":"2017-09-28T02:21:52","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T02:21:52","slug":"the-annotated-cure-a-healthicine-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/the-annotated-cure-a-healthicine-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Miracle Cures vs. Real Cures"},"content":{"rendered":"

“We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure for all diseases<\/strong>.<\/em>” Thomas Browne<\/p>\n

Cures are miracles.\u00a0 Anyone who can cure, is eligible for sainthood. Such is the mystique of cures and curing. But, anyone who claims to cure any disease or medical condition is banished, treated more like the devil, or a ‘quack’ who is promoting ‘pseudo-science’. No self-respecting doctor would claim to cure. \u00a0Training for nurses and other medical workers often advises “never use the word ‘cure<\/em>“. Cures are considered impossible, or at least very unlikely, suspicious even when they occur.<\/p>\n

In truth, cures are commonplace. So common that many cures are invisible. Our health easily cures the common cold, the flu, and measles, given a bit of time, while modern medicine claims them to be incurable. Cuts and bruises, large and small, are healed by nature – no doctor can cure them. Many disabilities, perhaps they should have been named ‘inabilities’ are cured by a physical, mental, spiritual, or community jolt of reality. If you believe\u00a0you cannot be cured, you are disabled. \u00a0In some\u00a0cases, when you think you can, and try, your disability is converted to an inability, which is then cured. \u00a0These cures, like most cures do not come from medicines<\/a>, so they are ignored or dismissed as ‘anecdotes’ and placebo effects, by the students, practitioners, and scientists of medicine, and also by medicine marketers and insurance companies.<\/p>\n

Every cure is an anecdote. Every illness is a unique story with a cause, a course, and a conclusion.<\/p>\n

If cures were not so common, we would\u00a0all die at an early age. Yet cures remain a mystery. We believe cures are few and far between, impossible, even as we are surrounded by them.<\/p>\n

It’s time to open our eyes to a simple, clear understanding\u00a0of cure.<\/p>\n

Do not believe in miracle cures. \u00a0A miracle cure is a failure to understand. Belief in miracle cures and in placebo effects and placebo cures only facilitates failure to study, failure to learn, failure to understand. When the cure of the illness is not understood, it cannot be intentionally repeated.\u00a0Intentional cures begin with understanding, with study, not by ignoring, not with ignorance.<\/p>\n

There are currently many definitions\u00a0and meanings of the word ‘cure’. Dictionaries define, agree, and disagree silently about\u00a0cure, cures, cured, and incurable. Medical dictionaries and reference books often abstain from making any statements about cure<\/a> – while simultaneously claiming that many diseases, and all chronic diseases, are incurable. A cure brings an end to the illness. \u00a0A cure addresses the cause. A treatment addresses\u00a0the signs and symptoms of the illness – but the illness is not cured. A treatment cure is a symptom treatment. \u00a0This article is about cures, real cures.<\/p>\n

There are many different definitions of illness, disease, medical condition and disability – and little consistency in the use of terms by different authors and publications. In healthicine, an illness is a negative medical condition with a cause<\/strong>. An illness is cured, by addressing the cause. \u00a0Treating the symptoms, without addressing the cause, will not end the illness, although sometimes treating symptoms aids the health of the patient to bring about a cure.<\/p>\n

Curing Illness Elements<\/h1>\n

Cures can be\u00a0simple, or\u00a0compound, because illness can be simple or compound. Cure is simple when the illness is simple. Each illness element has a simple cause. The cure is to address the cause. \u00a0A person suffering from a dietary deficiency of Vitamin C, causing scurvy, is cured by changing to a diet that contains sufficient Vitamin C. \u00a0A person suffering from arsenic\u00a0toxicity, is cured when they\u00a0stop consuming foods that contain arsenic. Of course, in both cases, healing is required to complete the cure. These cures, like many cures, are so simple that they are ignored, dismissed, as if they are not a ‘real cures<\/em>‘, because real cures are impossible to understand. Nonsense.<\/p>\n

Simple cures are simple. \u00a0Every illness has a cause. \u00a0Every cure opposes the cause. The only cure is to oppose the cause.<\/p>\n

Illness is simple. Illnesses can be complex. Every ’cause’ might also\u00a0have a cause. Which is the key cause? Which cause is the root cause? There are no root causes.<\/em> \u00a0A key cause is any cause\u00a0that leads to a cure when addressed, when the cause is opposed. A simple illness, a simple illness element, has a single cause, a single chain of causes.\u00a0 The longer the chain, the more complex is the simple illness.<\/p>\n

A compound illness is an illness with multiple causes, with multiple chains of causes.\u00a0 A compound illness consists of two or more simple illnesses.<\/p>\n

We simplify cures, first, by simplifying each illness to elemental illnesses. \u00a0By breaking compound illnesses apart, to understand the simple illnesses inside. Then we address the single causes of the elemental illnesses, one at a time.\u00a0 It seems too simple. \u00a0It is simple, because we made the effort to simplify it. It’s simple in theory. \u00a0We need to change the practice of medicine to match the simple theory of cause.<\/p>\n

Many cases of diseases are made up of complex and compound illness elements. \u00a0When we treat these diseases, it’s too easy\u00a0to resort to treating symptoms, ignoring causes.\u00a0 This approach is often seen as ‘successful’ by the patient, the doctor, medical science, and medical insurance providers, even as it fails to cure. This leads, predictably, to more complexities, often making the individual illness elements more difficult to cure. Over time, the approach of treating symptoms leads to a lack of faith in cure, even as we are surrounded by cures.<\/p>\n

This is the state of medicine\u00a0today:<\/p>\n

Physicians of the utmost fame, were called at once; but when they came<\/strong><\/em>
\nThey answered as they took their fees, ‘There is no cure for this disease.’ <\/strong>\u00a0Hilaire Belloc<\/em><\/p>\n

We will find cures, only when we look for cures, only when we pay for cures. Today, if you cure your disease, your medical insurance will not pay. Medical insurance pays for treatments, not for cures.\u00a0 They recognize that most cures do not come from medicines.<\/p>\n

There are no incurable illnesses. Modern medicine, makes the same mistake as the Oxford Dictionary, defining ‘incurable<\/em>‘ as ‘incapable of being cured by medicine or medical skill<\/em>‘, forgetting that most illnesses are not cured by medicine, nor medical skill, but by health.<\/a> It is not possible to prove that an illness cannot be cured, without calling\u00a0it a disability. A disability is not an illness. It is sometimes possible to prove that a disability was an illness, by curing which converts it to an illness.<\/p>\n

“Life is an incurable disease.<\/em><\/strong>“<\/em> Abraham Cowley.
\n– Illness, on the other hand, is curable, by definition<\/p>\n

There is a simple, clear, complete definition of cure, from a healthicine perspective. We need a useful, medical, scientific definition of cure, understood by all parties in the medical realm.<\/p>\n

The intent of this post is to cure illness. <\/em><\/p>\n

“<\/em>The cure for this ill is not to sit still, <\/strong>
\nOr frowst with a book by the fire;<\/strong>
\nBut to take a large hoe and a shovel also,<\/strong>
\nAnd dig till you gently perspire.<\/strong>” Rudyard Kipling<\/em><\/p>\n

Definitions of Cure
\n==================<\/h1>\n

Note: This post is part of work in progress. The current, up to date healthicine definition of ‘cure’ can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cure:<\/strong> n. A cure is the end of an illness. \u00a0( Reference: 1)<\/p>\n

Cure:<\/strong> v. To bring about the end of an illness by addressing the cause, by opposing the cause.<\/p>\n

Illness:<\/strong> n. An illness is a negative condition, consisting of a cause, which might\u00a0be in the body, the mind, the spirit, or the community of the patient, and the consequences, signs and symptoms, which affect the body, the mind, the spirits and the communities of the patient.<\/p>\n

Cures:<\/strong> There are four distinct types of cures: curing, healing, transformation, and prevention.<\/p>\n

============<\/h1>\n

Types of Cures<\/h1>\n

1.\u00a0Curing<\/strong>: bringing\u00a0about the end of\u00a0an active illness in the body, the mind, the spirits, or the community, by addressing the cause, by opposing the cause. An illness is the intersection of a cause and negative consequences, signs and symptoms of illness. It is cured when the cause has been successfully addressed.\u00a0Corollary: The cause of an active illness has been successfully addressed when the illness is cured.<\/p>\n

A partial cure<\/em>\u00a0occurs\u00a0when the cause of an illness is partially addressed, or when a single cause of a compound illness, with multiple causes, is addressed.<\/p>\n

A temporary cure<\/em>\u00a0occurs when the cause of an illness is temporarily addressed. Temporary cures lead to chronic illness when the\u00a0cycle is repeating.<\/p>\n

While an illness is not cured, it creates\u00a0injuries.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

2. Healing<\/strong> is an ongoing curative process that is present before, during, and after the illness. (Reference 2, 3, 4). Injuries are healed. An injury might come from an illness, or from an external event.\u00a0Healing is seldom perfect, and imperfect healing can lead to blockage, which can only be cured by a\u00a0transformation, or an incurable disability.<\/p>\n

3. Transformation<\/strong>: Removing, and thus curing, physical (body), mental (mind), spiritual (spirits), and communal (community) blockage or disability. (Reference 4) Surgical\u00a0cures are transformations. Often, less severe transformations, physical changes to body, or changes to mental, spiritual or community states are sufficient. Removal of blockage often necessitates healing.\u00a0Not all blockages can be cured – a blockage that cannot be cured is a disability.<\/p>\n

4. Preventative<\/strong> cures address causes\u00a0before illness\u00a0can arise. Preventative cures address risk, and entail risks. We must always balance the risk of illness with the risk of prevention. Most cases of illness are minor, not serious.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The definition presented here\u00a0is a healthicine definition of cure. It is designed to present a comprehensive, cohesive definition of cure for all types of illnesses. It is\u00a0based on the concept that a cure is the end of an illness. Treatments for signs and symptoms of illness, that do not address cause, are symptomicines<\/a>\u00a0or symptomicine treatments, not cures. Symptomicine treatments often lead to new illnesses, often mistakenly called side-effects. They are not effects of the illness, not effects of a cure, they are effects of a treatment that fails to cure, often effects of a treatment that makes no attempt to cure.<\/p>\n

There are many definitions of ‘cure’ to be found in standard dictionaries. Dictionaries must document all usage, including historical usage, not just medical or scientific usage. However, current dictionaries make no distinction between cures and symptom treatments.\u00a0There is currently no ‘useful’ medical view of cure, that is recognized and accepted by the many practices of medicine\u00a0to be found in any medical reference.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Many medical dictionaries and medical reference texts do not define cure at all, and actively avoid use of the word cure.<\/p>\n

Types of Illness<\/h1>\n

To understand cure, we need to understand the concepts of illness. An illness is not a disease. Every illness is a specific, single case. Every illness is a story, an anecdote. Every cure is an anecdote.<\/p>\n

Illness is Invisible<\/strong><\/p>\n

Illness is invisible. Every illness has a cause. An illness is the intersection of a cause and the consequences. \u00a0We might see or know the cause. \u00a0We might see or feel the consequences, the signs and symptoms. We can’t actually see the illness. Neither cause nor consequences alone are the illness. Illness only exists when cause and consequences are linked.<\/p>\n

Illness is a Judgement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Illness is a judgement, a negative judgement. Sometimes, perhaps often, the illness is clearly understood and defined, and the patient, the doctor, and the community agree that an illness is present, even which cause\u00a0is active. \u00a0Sometimes, it is not so clear. Sometimes the patient believes there is an illness, but the doctor does not. Sometimes, the doctor believes there is an illness, but the patient does not. This can be natural, even healthy, because of the natural integration and gradation\u00a0between healthiness and illness. \u00a0Illness can sometimes appear due to a negative judgement – by the patient or an external person. Sometimes it can disappear due to a contrary, positive judgement. This too can be\u00a0natural and healthy.<\/p>\n

Illness Element<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An illness element, or elemental illness<\/em> is the intersection of a single cause and negative consequences, the signs and symptoms of illness, from that cause. Illness elements are cured by addressing the elementary cause. We can identify a chain of causes, by asking both “what is the cause of this cause”, and “what is the consequence of this cause”. Often, it is also important to ask “How is the patient benefiting from this cause?” – this question is best answered by the patient in most cases.\u00a0The complexity of an illness depends on how many causes are in the chain, and how their be linked to healthiness as well as illness.<\/p>\n

If the chain of causes is truly linked, then addressing any single cause\u00a0in the chain will produce a cure.\u00a0 Most cures can only cure a single illness element.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A compound illness<\/em> consists of a group of elementary illnesses with similar or overlapping signs and symptoms. A compound illness, by definition, has multiple independent causes, more than one causal chain. It is compound with respect to cause and also with respect to being cured.\u00a0Any case of a disease\u00a0that has multiple independent causes is\u00a0a compound illness.<\/p>\n

Compound illnesses are cured one illness element at a time, by addressing each of the illness elements, each of the causal chains. Curing an illness element that is part of a compound illness is a partial cure, a complete cure of the illness element. Curing an entire compound illness requires curing each illness element. Cure sequencing might be an important factor to consider, because illnesses caused by illness might not be cured out of sequence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A chronic illness<\/em> is an illness with chronic causes. A simple chronic illness has a single chronic cause, or a single chain of chronic causes. It can only be cured by addressing the chronic nature of the cause. \u00a0Every chronic illness is also a compound illness, because in its simplest form, it consists of a series of elemental illnesses, and the chronic illness as well. It requires two actions to cure, one to address the cause, and another to address its chronic nature.<\/p>\n

Any illness can be chronic.\u00a0 The requirement for a chronic illness is a chronic cause – if the cause is chronic, the illness will be chronic. Injury illnesses can be chronic, if the activities causing the illness are chronic.\u00a0 Blockages illnesses are chronic by nature, existing until the blockage is transformed.<\/p>\n

Remission is often only a remission of symptoms, brought about by symptomicine treatments.\u00a0 Remissions can also occur in chronic illnesses, when a single causal instance is cured, or when the chronic cause is diminished or the period between causes is long enough for some recovery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A chronic compound illness is a compound illness with chronic causes. It can only be totally cured by addressing each of the chronic causes and their chronic nature. Many chronic diseases are compound chronic illness.<\/p>\n

Chronic illnesses can emerge when we fail, or give up our\u00a0attempts to cure, when we only use medicines that treat symptoms – symptomicines<\/a>. \u00a0In addition, medicines that treat symptoms often have side effects. Symptomicines designed to treat chronic illnesses are ‘chronic’ in nature, intended to be taken over extended periods of time. These side effects become new iatrogenic chronic illnesses, caused by chronic medication.<\/p>\n

Progression of Illness<\/h1>\n

This diagram presents the transitions from illness, to injury, to blockage, to disability.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Illness can lead to injury, and injury can cause illness. \u00a0Injury can lead to blockage – and a blockage can cause injury. \u00a0A blockage that is incurable is a disability. When\u00a0a disability is cured, we see that it as a blockage in the past.<\/p>\n

A cure is the END of an illness. When a cure is accomplished, medicines that were used to treat symptoms of the illness are\u00a0no longer needed. One goal cures is to remove our dependence on medicines.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A cure of an active illness, an illness with an active cause, comes about when the cause is addressed, and thus the activity of the illness is stopped.<\/li>\n
  2. Healing damage caused by injury or illness is a curative process that comes to an end when healing is completed. \u00a0When healing is completed, the medicines used to treat symptoms\u00a0 of the illness are no longer needed.<\/li>\n
  3. Transformation cures blockage illnesses. Transformation often creates injury and thus requires healing to complete the process.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This diagram completes the transitions from illness to injury to blockage and disability, by adding the techniques to cure each condition.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Illnesses are cured by addressing the cause. Injuries are cured by healing.\u00a0 Blockages are cured by transformation.<\/p>\n

    Cures come from Health<\/h1>\n

    Who cures? Cures are\u00a0always accomplished by the health of the patient, although a cure might\u00a0be aided by others.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. A cure addresses an active illness, an illness with an active cause. Active causes can come from\u00a0external life forms (parasites), or the patient’s life activities. \u00a0Medicines can sometimes address a parasitic illnesses, but no medicine can change the activities of the patient. \u00a0Only the patient can cure an illness that is not caused by a parasite. Many parasitic illnesses are cured naturally, by the health of the patient, often before they are consciously noticed as illnesses. Even chronic parasitic illnesses might be cured by health, without conscious awareness of the patient or medical staff, if the chronic nature of the cause is addressed.<\/li>\n
    2. Healing is accomplished by the healthy body, mind, spirit and community of the patient. No external person or doctor can ‘heal’ the damage of an injury. Healing can be aided by healthiness, by proper diet, physical, mental, spiritual, and community exercise and rest. Healing is part of growth, which is always active, even when no illness is active. The immune system is a healing system and also a powerful curing system.<\/li>\n
    3. Transformation can come about when the patient becomes aware of the blockage that is the disability and changes themselves. In some cases, a change can come about without awareness of the blockage. Transformation can also be induced with the help of an external person by physical, mental, spiritual, or community manipulation to identify, remove, and cure the blockage.\u00a0Disabilities and blockages that persist over time can be chronic causes causing chronic diseases. If a blockage cannot be cured, it is not an illness, it is a disability. A disability can be converted to a ‘was a blockage’ by curing it. \u00a0A blockage can be converted to a permanent disability by giving up.<\/li>\n
    4. Preventative cures contain risk. \u00a0It is often said that “prevention is the best medicine<\/em>“, even “prevention is the best cure<\/em>“. \u00a0However, this is not always true. There are two types of preventatives. \u00a0It is possible to prevent illness by improving healthiness – the best medicine, the best cure. But it is also possible to prevent illness by never taking any risks, by decreasing healthiness. Crossing the street can lead to injury and illness. But choosing to never cross the street is not the best medicine, it diminishes healthiness. \u00a0Crossing at the crosswalk, after looking out for traffic, is a healthy preventative.<\/li>\n
    5. Placebo cures – can a placebo cure? \u00a0Actually, yes, although the exploration of that concept is an entire discussion in itself. \u00a0We typically think of a placebo as a symptomicine, addressing symptoms, but not attempting to cure. However, the prescription of a placebo can sometimes cause a transformation in the body, the mind, the spirits, the activities, or the community of the patient, leading to a cure. So called ‘placebo effects’ are simply cases where we do not understand what happened.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      References:<\/h1>\n
        \n
      1. Webster’s: Cure: 3.<\/strong> “a complete or permanent solution or remedy.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n
      2. Oxford: Cure: 7<\/strong>. “A means of healing”<\/em>.<\/li>\n
      3. Stedman’s Medical Dictionary:<\/strong>\u00a01. “To heal, to make well<\/em>“<\/li>\n
      4. \u00a0Oxford: Cure II 4.<\/strong> “To treat surgically or medically, with the purpose of healing<\/em>“<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \u00a0References that do not\u00a0define CURE<\/em>:<\/h1>\n

        Webster\u2019s New World Medical Dictionary, Third Edition<\/a><\/p>\n

        The Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary, Ninth Edition, 2015<\/a>
        \n        The Bantam Medical Dictionary, Sixth Edition, 2009<\/a>
        \n        Barron\u2019s Dictionary of Medical Terms, Sixth Edition, 2013<\/a>
        \n        Medical Terminology for Dummies, Second Edition<\/a><\/p>\n

        Merck\u2019s Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy<\/a>
        \n        Harrison\u2019s Guide to Internal Medicine<\/a>
        \n        Lange\u2019s Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment<\/a>
        \n        The DSM 5, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders<\/a><\/p>\n

        This post is an updated version of the post Miracle Cures vs Causal Cures, published on May 23, 2017, updated on September 27, 2017.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        “We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure for all diseases.” Thomas Browne Cures are miracles.\u00a0 Anyone who can cure, is eligible for sainthood. Such is the mystique of cures and curing. But, anyone who claims … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4533"}],"version-history":[{"count":99,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4646,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4533\/revisions\/4646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthicine.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}