Healthicine

How many cures do we know or know of? It’s an interesting question. When we search the labels in our medicine cabinet or our local pharmacy, we might be surprised to learn – there are few, if any ‘cures.’ How many cures do our medical systems recognize? Do the cures we know fit the medical definition of a cure? Do real cures actually occur? What do we know about what we know? On February 12, 2002, Donald Rumsfeld famously said:

“Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know,  there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” Donald Rumsfeld

We can apply this quote to many fields of study. Here, I use it to expand a study of the Theory of Cure, resulting in this quote:

“Reports that say a cure hasn’t happened are always interesting to me because as we know, there are known knowns: there are CURES we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns: that is to say we know there are some CURES we know we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the CURES we don’t know we don’t know.”

The concept quoted by Donald Rumsfeld about known-knowns had been analyzed, deconstructed, and expanded by many. Here, I explore it in relation to cures – that we might learn more about the cures we know and the cures we do not know.

The concepts of ‘knowns’ and ‘unknowns’ – is challenging. Rumsfeld says “there are things we know we know – known knowns.” But, what if some of us know, but some don’t? What if one doctor knows a cure, that is not recognized by others or by our medical systems? There are also many different we’s, who know and know they know, ranging from the royal we (me, myself, and I) to each of the many communities. Different individuals know different things. Each individual lives their life in many communities, which are constantly changing. Different communities of individuals also know different things. Each individual and each community can have different known-knowns, different known-unknowns, and different unknown-unknowns. In general, knowledge held by larger or more authoritative communities can carry more weight, even when incorrect. However, we need constant awareness that what we know, what we know we know – even what the most authoritative community knows it knows, might simply be wrong. As we study knowledge and as we study cures, we need to be constantly aware that what we know, and what we know we know, might be wrong. However, the knowledge that we might be wrong does not stop us from operating intelligently with regard to any subject.

A third issue with Rumsfeld’s quote is the missing set, the unknown-knowns: things we know but don’t know we know.  This fourth category, with some variations, has been added by almost everyone who has studied the quote. In the case of cures, I regard unknown-known cures as those that are generally recognized by individuals, even communities, but not documented, not studied by our official medical systems.

Before we map Rumsfeld’s quote to cures, we need to define a cure, to understand what is cured. The word cure is not, at present, scientifically or medically defined. We have no authoritative medical or scientific definition of a cure, cures, curing, nor cured in any current conventional or alternative medical system. Many medical dictionaries simply do not contain an entry for cure. Note: We don’t cure diseases, we cure cases. However, in modern conventional medicine, a testable definition of cured exists only for specific cases of infectious diseases.

Let’s begin with a focus on our medical establishment as the authoritative “we,” while using the healthicine definition of cure because no other comprehensive definition exists. In Healthicine, and in the Theory of Cure, cure is defined as follows:

curable illness: an illness that can be cured

cure: an action (not a drug, not a thing) that addresses the present cause of a case of illness, resulting in a cured state or status. A cure resolves an illness by addressing its present cause, rendering it cured. The illness, not the patient, is cured. There are two fundamental types of cures.

attribute cures: a change to an attribute of diet, body, mind, spirit, community, or environment that cause an illness to be cured. A one-time cure action. Our present medical systems only recognize attribute cures. A cure by medicine or surgery is an attribute transformational cure – a one-time cure. Healing is an attribute cure.

causal cures: a change to a life process of diet, body, mind, spirit, community or environment that must be maintained to maintain the cured status. At present, causal cures are not recognized as cures in any medical system, even though they are common and easily understood.

compound and complex cures: many illnesses have multiple causes and require multiple cures, and many require both an attribute and a causal cure, although this is seldom – if ever – recognized medically. Because compound illnesses have multiple causes and require multiple cures – none can be recognized. Our medical systems insist on simple cures even for complex diseases.

A case of scurvy, for example, might emerge gradually over time as the patient consumes less and less Vitamin C. Scurvy cannot be diagnosed until severe damage has occurred, often after the deficiency has been present for some time. Two cures are required. Supplemental Vitamin C addresses the status cause and promotes the natural transformative power of healing, an attribute cure. But, for the cure to remain, the patient must change their eating habits, their life processes, to consume sufficient Vitamin C for the rest of their lives – lest the disease reoccur. Note: the disease scurvy does not “go into remission” and then re-emerge. It was cured. If the cause occurs again, a new case of scurvy will occur.

Many illnesses, and most diseases, are compound – having multiple causes, and require multiple cures actions. This is true because simple illnesses are easily cured – and the cures are easily ignored. Some illnesses are complex, caused by other illnesses, which might be present or in the past. When an illness causes an illness, both must be cured.

We simplify our knowledge of cure by first analyzing simple cures, curing elementary illnesses, those having a single cause. Even simple illnesses have multiple paths to cure.

I do not mean to say that lemon juice and wine are the only remedies for the scurvy;
this disease, like many others, may be cured by medicines of
very different and opposite qualities to each other.
 – James Lind, A Treatise on Scurvy, 1771

Every illness cause has many potential cures. This was clear to James Lind when he discovered the cure for scorbutic status – and is true for every disease known to be curable today. We cannot say that we know “the cure for” any illness, because such a claim excludes the possibility of other cures.

This next image with four boxes illustrates the four domains of knowledge about cures.

I have tried to remain true to Rumsfeld’s quote, with a focus on cure. Similar diagrams have been created in a slightly different fashion by others, for other information domains, for example, Andrea Mantovani  and Anh T. Dang each map the first known to awareness, and the second to understanding. This does not exactly match Rumsfeld’s quote. For example, Rumsfeld said “known unknowns: that is to say we know there are some things we know we do not know,”

but these authors converted known unknowns to “things we are aware of but do not understand,” a different concept. These authors arrange the boxes such that moving from left to right and from top to bottom moves to “less knowledge.”  However, our natural reading process generally views growth of knowledge or power from left to right and from the bottom to top. As a result, I have intentionally placed the boxes such that moving from bottom to top or from left to right represents an increase in knowledge, an increase in knowing and knowing that we know.

With the above diagram, the concepts are still a bit fuzzy. It’s useful to explore some examples. Can you think of examples to fit in each box?

• this is the first post of a series about the concept of known-known cures. In the next post, I will begin to discuss the knowledge boxes in detail, with examples.

to your health, tracy
Author: A New Theory of Cure

Today, after several months of writing and editing, I published a new version of the Theory of Cure on Academia.edu and also on Researchgate.net, titled Theory of Cure – 2023 Update. I have opened discussion on Academia.edu, such that anyone registered can access and comment and discuss the material.

Over the past 6 years of studying the concepts and theory of cure , I became aware of the reality that modern medicine does not have a definition of cure, and most medical terms, like disease, medical condition, treatment, and more are ill suited to studies of cure.

The focus of the paper is on curing illness, as opposed to disease. The distinction between illness and disease is illustrated in this diagram:

As a result of these issues in definitions, this paper contains a vocabulary of cure words specific to studying an understanding of cure. Over the next few weeks, I will publish a number of blog posts exploring the concepts discussed in the paper.

I would love to see your thoughts on the updated theory of cure.

to your health, tracy
Founder: Healthicine
Author: A New Theory of Cure

Have you ever had an illness, and then it was cured? Has anyone ever cured your illness? Can you prove you are cured? Can you prove you’ve been cured?

I’ve had many colds – all cured. Officially, “there is no cure for the common cold.” I can’t prove I had a cold, nor that I’m cured – although both claims are obvious and trivial.

Several years ago, I had a hernia, cured by surgery – but my doctor never used the word “cure.” Am I really cured? Did she really cure me? How can I tell? Where’s the proof?

Our medical systems ignore “cured.” It’s not just the top ten disease causes of death that are incurable (heart disease, cancer, COVID-19, accident injuries, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia” (the only one on the list we consider curable), nephritis (kidney disease). Most diseases are considered incurable.

The common cold, influenza, measles, and COVID, all suffer from “there is no cure for…” syndrome- even though most cases of infectious illness are easily cured.

Officially, we recover from injuries, from the smallest mosquito bite to severe wounds or burns. The word cure is rarely used. But if we check dictionary references, healing is often defined as a cure.

Cure: Heal or make well – Blakeston’s New Gould Medical Dictionary, 1949.
Cure: 7. A means of healing. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, 1971
Heal: To restore to soundess or healthiness; cure, American Heritage Dictionary, 2000

Medical insurance companies pay for treatments, but not for cures, not for healing, nor for recovery. There are no cures on the list of payouts, even for curable diseases like pneumonia. Patients are billed, of course – for treatments. Insurance pays for treatments, whether they cure or not. Cured, when it occurs, is not documented. It’s not important in current systems of medicine.

Most doctors, when asked, will say they don’t cure. It makes little difference what type of doctor you ask. Both conventional and alternative medical practitioners from surgeons to oncologists, from general practitioners to rehabilitation psychiatrists, from osteopaths, and chiropractors to reiki practitioners and naturopaths – avoid the word cure.

On the one hand, cures are trivial. I was sick, now I’m cured. I took a medicine, or not, and I’m cured. Anyone can see that I’m cured – it’s obvious. On the other hand, many cures are seen as miracles. We look to priests, to saints, and to gods for our cures, and we give them credit as well – after a cure occurs for any reason.

On the other hand, we have no scientific or medical proof of cured for most diseases. Cured is scientifically defined for an infectious disease cured by killing the infectious agent or removing it with a surgery. But even those cases are not documented as cured. They are successful treatments.

Cured is not scientifically nor medically defined for most diseases. We have no test for the common cold cured. We have a test for pneumonia cured:

• 1. Diagnose the disease.
• 2. Administer the medicine.
• 3. Test for the infection.

If the infection is gone, it has been cured by the medicine. But, we don’t have a test for influenza cured. Why not? Medially, cured means cured by a medicine. Influenza is not cured by a medicine. So cured cannot be tested, therefore it cannot be proven.

Officially, we have no cures. None. We have no statistical counts of cured for any disease. Even cancers, measured by cure-rate, although considered statistically cured, not one case can be proven cured. Cured is not medically defined for any specific case of cancer.

It’s silly, but that’s our reality of cure today. It’s not just silly, it’s a serious problem.

Suppose, for example, someone finds a cure for cancer, for diabetes, for heart disease, for nephritis, for Alzheimer’s, or arthritis. What happens next? Instead of acclaim, or perhaps just recognition, we have only challenges.

Is it a true cure? Can we tell? How can we tell? We can’t. Cured is not defined for these diseases. We can’t recognize a cured illness nor a cured patient, even when they are cured. We can’t recognize the cure, much less the cause of the cure. All cure claims are ignored – at best. Nobody cares if we cure pneumonia with a medicine, the common cold with Vitamin C, influenza with an antiviral medicine. There are no statistics for cured – and no interest. Often, it’s worse. Claims of cured and claims of cures are simply dismissed, shamed, in extreme cases, the doctor or the curer is punished – sometimes for failure to use a treatment in the standard of care for that disease, a treatment that is known to not cure.

Maybe you’ve noticed.

We have hundreds of doctors, writing thousands of books about cures. A search for “diabetes cure” on Amazon lists over 4000 results, although many of them offer treatments, not cures. But, many do claim to cure diabetes – and offer case studies as proof. All cases are simply ignored. Diabetes cured is not defined. No one can prove a patient is cured. No one can prove a patient is not cured. Arthritis cure? Over 1000 books – according to Amazon. Yet modern medicine claims there is no cure. There is no debate.

Who is the best doctor at curing diabetes? Who is the authority in healing hypertension? There is no cure. We have no discussion, much less debate. Which technique cures the most cases of arthritis? There is no cure. We have no idea. We research drugs – their effects on signs and symptoms of disease, but not cures. We ignore cures.

Do cures exist?

We claim that many diseases are incurable. But. Incurable cannot be proven. Only curable can be proven, by a cure. But as long as we fail to believe in cures – no cures can exist.

We don’t study cure. We have no medical definition of cure for most diseases. As a result, we can’t see and acknowledge cured illnesses or cured patients, much less see the cause of a cure.

A New Theory of Cure

Modern medicine is a practice of treating diseases with no theory of cure. Modern medicine recognizes no prior theory of cure, no “old theory of cure” exists.

In the new theory of cure, the definition of cured is simple:

An illness is cured when its present cause has been successfully addressed.

An infection is cured when the infectious cause has been successfully addressed perhaps by health, perhaps by a medicine, perhaps by an accident. A poison victim is cured when the body eliminates the poison – with or without an antidote. An injury is cured when the wound is successfully healed. A chronic case of smoker’s cough is cured when the patient stops smoking and healing finishes the job. Cures are not mysterious. Most cures don’t require a doctor.

Have you ever been cured?

Everyone has been ill. Most injuries and most illnesses are minor, trivial, easily cured. Everyone has been cured many times. We hardly notice most illnesses cures.

Most cures are trivial – because most illnesses are trivial. We don’t look for a doctor to remove a sliver or stitch a paper cut. Cures are often obvious. We shouldn’t ask a doctor how to cure our smoker’s cough, or our obesity – although a psychologist might help. Medicines too, might help, but most medicines make no attempt to cure.

We don’t study simple cures. Without a basic understanding of cure, we can’t study complex or difficult cures scientifically. We have no medical concept of a partial cure, or an imperfect cure, much less a repeating cure or a periodic cure. We have no scientific concept of a cure. No one is working to study or learn how to make our healing progress more efficiently and effectively. We don’t study cures at all, as a result,

We can’t improve cures and curing. There is no incentive for doctors to “cure better” because we don’t track, much less measure cures and curing.

It’s time to cure – it’s time to begin studying the theory of cure. Only then, can we integrate the theory and practice of curing.

to your health, tracy
Author: A New Theory of Cure

It’s easy believe most infectious illnesses are complex, dangerous, potentially deadly and that cures are rare; that prevention is better than cure. But, no.

“Most illnesses* are elementary, trivial, having a single cause, at least in the first stages. therefore, most cures are simple, so simple that they are generally ignored.”
– A New Theory of Cure.

Can this be true? The book A New Theory of Cure explores cure from several perspectives. What is the most common infectious illness? The common cold. Colds can lead to pneumonia, which can be deadly, and everyone knows “there is no cure for the common cold.” However: I’ve had many colds. All cured.

Most colds, like most infections are trivial, cured without a medical treatment
– it has always been so.

Continue reading →

We might easily be led to believe that cures are rare, even impossible. After all, “there is no cure for the common cold.” However, after studying the concepts of cure for several years, I made an interesting discovery:

“Most illnesses are elementary, having a single cause, at least in the first stages, and thus most cures are simple, so simple that they are generally ignored.”
– A New Theory of Cure.

Can this be true? The book A New Theory of Cure explores cure from several angles. What are the most common illnesses? Probably minor injuries. This post looks at injury illnesses – and the trivial nature of most cures. The next post looks at infectious illnesses – and we can easily see that most infectious illnesses too are easily cured.

“Most injuries* are trivial, cured without access to a doctor – it has always been so.”
– A New Theory of Cure

Continue reading →