Healing - neither myth nor miracle

Is being a satisfied patient bad for your health?

loblt — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:43:54 +0000

The familiar expression “the squeaky wheel gets the oil/grease” suggests making a fuss gets you a head start in the competition for services. But what does it say if the successful “squeaky wheel” on the trail for the best medical services ends up with worse outcomes? That’s what data indicates in a survey of 50,000 cases. If that makes you wish you could just creep by without squeaking at all, there are less materialistic options to seeking satisfaction than medical diagnosis and testing…

Here is an excerpt from The Paradox of Patient Satisfaction – the Less Satisfaction the Better! - my most recent Huffington Post UK blog.

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“Satisfaction guaranteed (or take your love back)” sang Harold Melvyn with gusto during my halycon days as a disco DJ.

I am not sure the crowds would have boogied with quite as much gusto if Harold and his Blue Notes had been crooning “Satisfaction guaranteed (at your own risk)”.

Yet that seems to be the message the health care industry has us dancing to, according to data just published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Those patients who are most satisfied with what their doctors provide are more likely “to be hospitalized, accumulate more health-care and drug expenditures, and have higher death rates than patients who are less satisfied with their care”, according to a UC Davis newsletter on the study…. (Read more.)

And here, for the record…of the record!…are Harold Melvyn and the Blue Notes singing “Satisfaction Guaranteed (or take your love back!)”

Tagged: health, health care, healthcare, medicine, mind body connection, Patient Satisfaction, Patients, Soul Music, spirituality, tag1

Is the increasing medicalisation of society inevitable? Or is there a better way?

loblt — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:45:38 +0000

With mission creep in medicalisation categorising normal human challenges as “sickness” do we need to call a halt? Can we even expect a reversal of today’s medicalisation trends based on a better model of understanding health as normal?

Here is an excerpt from The “Medicalisation of Normality” or the Normalisation of Health? Let’s Choose Wisely - my most recent Huffington Post UK blog.

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Thinkstock/IS Stock/Valueline - model for illustrative purposes only

Yesterday you were shy, bereaved, apathetic, eccentric.

Today you are mentally ill.

But don’t worry. Nothing has changed except some new labelling appearing in the upcoming edition of a manual of mental disorders to be published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Or should we worry? The volume in question is internationally “influential” and many psychologists and psychiatrists are unhappy about its proposed new listings of mental illness. Some gathered at a briefing here in London last week to say so…

In a world of decreasing “stuff” is medicine following suit?

loblt — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:14:20 +0000

How are we doing at reducing our “stuff” intake as a society? And how are we doing at reducing our “stuff” intake as medical consumers? Do promising stats for the former auger well for changes to the latter? Below is an excerpt from Are We Seeing a “Dematerialisation” of Medicine? - my most recent Huffington Post UK blog.

Thinkstock/Jason Reed/Photodisc

It seems that material consumption in the UK might have reached its apex early in the last decade and has decreased ever since, according to a survey by environment writer Chris Goodall.

He told the Guardian: “What the figures suggest is that 2001 may turn out to be the year that the UK’s consumption of ‘stuff’ – the total weight of everything we use, from food and fuel to flat-pack furniture – reached its peak and began to decline.”

Of course, much remains to be done to break free of environmental concerns at home and globally. But who would have guessed that “dematerialisation trends” – as Goodall calls the figures – have been heading in the right direction for the past ten years?

The onward march of dematerialisation hasn’t been only an environmental trend in the decade following “peak stuff” – which is the jazzy title of Goodall’s paper. It’s a factor I have observed in health care too…

What happens when love takes a stand?

loblt — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:10:24 +0000

In commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day 2012 which has the theme Speak Up, Speak Out I thought it would be worth sharing again this blog of those who did speak up and out.

The Holocaust. The lowest point of man’s inhumanity to man.

But amidst the horrific evil it spawned were occasional emissaries of extreme goodness.

My dad, who survived the ravages of the Nazi genocide, used to tell me: “There is nothing so bad that something good will not come from it”. This, he assured me, was a quote from the Talmud, a central text of mainstream Judaism, although I have so far failed to confirm that.

It is in that spirit I salute the non-Jewish civilians who stood against the mesmerising Nazism which convulsed Europe for nearly two decades in the last century.

Raoul Wallenberg memorial erected in London by the Wallenberg Appeal Committee - image by permission from wiki images

The Oscar-winning movie Schindler’s List has made Oskar Schindler arguably the best known of those who rescued Jews from almost certain death. Also highly renowned is Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved many thousands of Hungarians destined for the death camps*. Among them was my Aunty Hilda.

Sir Nicholas Winton, is another who will always be remembered. As a British diplomat shortly before the Second World War, he foresaw the dangers ahead and arranged for hundreds of Jewish children and others at risk to be brought to Britain.

More recently stories have emerged of religious figures who also stood against the onslaught of the Holocaust.

Last week the Daily Telegraph reported the Reverends Hugh Grimes and Fred Collard “are to be added to the roll of honour of those who helped hundreds of Jews escape the clutches of the Nazis.” (Nazi persecution of Jews: saved by the C of E Schindlers, 12 August 2011.)

Between them they baptised 1800 Jewish people so they would have a better chance to cross the Austrian border and flee the Nazi threat.

The Other Schindlers, recently published by Agnes Grunwald-Spier, who was saved as a baby from being sent to Aushwitz, has a chapter devoted to “rescuers with religious motives”. Referring to those featured in the book, the Western Daily Press spoke in a review of “moving stories of non-Jews…who braved torture and death to save Jews from the Nazis”

One more story emerged a couple of years ago as I was clearing out some old files in my capacity as UK and Ireland District Manager for Christian Science Committees on Publication.

It was about a Christian Science couple who saved a young Jewish husband and wife in Poland by pretending they were a part of their family.

It was a simple act of extraordinary love by ordinary people in the shadow of the brutal suppression of the Warsaw ghetto. They were convinced it was not enough to just believe good has power. They had to do something about it.

There may well be many more files like that gathering dust in the archives of churches and mosques around the world – further tales of people whose convictions will have played an important part in standing against evil.

It has to be said, however, that some religious organisations did not always see the moral demand and live up to it.

But as The Other Schindlers clearly shows, it was individuals, putting their lives on the line in a display of unconditional, self-sacrificing love, who really demonstrated what true religion is all about.

* The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel has a moving section for commemorating acts by The Righteous Among the Nations, which open with the Mishnah “Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe” (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5). It attributes to Raoul Wallenberg the saving of tens of thousands of Jewish lives in Budapest during World War II and records how he put about 15,000 Jews into 32 safe houses.

AUDIO: Agnes Grunwald-Spiers talks about her book “The Other Schindlers”

Agnes Grunwald-Spier also appeared on BBC Radio 4 on January 21 of this year (2012) between as a guest of of Richard Cole on Saturday Live.

Tagged: Agnes Grunwald-Spier, Holocaust Memorial Day, Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg, righteous gentiles, Sir Nicholas Winton, tag1, The Other Schindlers

Is there another way when medical research results are reversed?

loblt — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:10 +0000

What are we to think if medical advice flip-flops? Is there anything available based on a “fixed principle”? When scientific research methodically shows inconsistency, is it time to explore other approaches to care and cure? Below is an excerpt from Is Aspirin Advice Increasingly Hard to Swallow? - my most recent Huffington Post UK blog.

Thinkstock/Comstock

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Many would argue it is a strength of the scientific approach that further investigation uncovers new insights contrary to previous positions and this information is openly shared. There is merit to that view. It is certainly a far greater problem when negative findings are withheld.

But…if well-meaning health advice has an inherent “use by” date after which it is no longer fit for purpose, is it any wonder the heart longs for something more consistent and dependable?

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day…let’s live the Second Commandment!

loblt — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:57:42 +0000

My colleague and friend Ken Girard re-published this blog on his site – recently renamed Thresholds - as “a valuable reminder of the work that needs to be done to eliminate all forms of prejudice”.

I second that emotion.

It is entitled PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - and it reads just as well today as it did on last Martin Luther King, Jr. Day…

I grew up in Grafton, Massachusetts in the 1950’s. At that time, Grafton was very rural. Small town center, dairy farms, wooden-structured schools, Boy and Girl Scouts, no supermarkets, woods, streams, fields, etc.—the whole nine yards. It was an idyllic place to grow up—very Norman Rockwellesque.

Back then, the town was overwhelmingly white. In fact, the only two African-Americans that I knew when I was a child were an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who lived across the street from us when we lived at 8 North Main Street. After school, Mrs. Smith would invite me over for cookies and milk—invitations which I readily accepted. Both of the Smiths were wonderful and I thought of them as additional grandparents. I had no awareness of the color of their skin. None.

The only prejudices that I can remember during my childhood had to do with religions and nationalities. My family were Catholics and of French Canadian stock. I can recall my mom and dad telling me that the Baptists, or the Congregationalists, or the members of any other religion, were not to be trusted. According to my parents, those folks were going to end up in hell. We could be “nice” to them, but that’s as far as it was supposed to go.

And then there was supposed to be a certain pecking order of nationalities. Of course, French was at the top, followed by the English (I guess we French still had a lot of bad feelings left over from the Hundred Years War and the Napoleonic Wars!), which then proceeded to work its way in descending order through all of the remaining European nationalities that we were aware of. As I said—overwhelmingly white.

When I compared notes with my childhood chums, their parents were telling them similar things, albeit from whatever religious and ethnic traditions they were coming from.

And it wasn’t until I went to high school, that I became aware of the prejudice about African-Americans—primarily through locker-room talk. I regret to say that I fell into it, and forgot about Mr. and Mrs. Smith. We had moved away from that part of town by then and the need for peer-acceptance was big. Not an excuse. Just what happened.

But whether it was about nationalities, religions, races, or genders, it was always about one group trying to assert their supposed and baseless superiority over another group. It was always about pride. That was the gateway. That was the open door that attempted to fill the void of insecurities. And I suspect, that’s at the root of all prejudice—adolescent or otherwise.

Then I went off to college in Boston—the big city. And there I encountered all kinds of people, from all kinds of backgrounds.

Well, I started rebelling against all of the prejudice about nationalities and religions and races. It was the ‘60’s and I joined whole-heartedly in the national foment. It was a difficult time for our country. Everything was up for grabs. All values were being questioned and much was being thrown out with the proverbial bath water by my generation—for better or worse.

One of the good things of that time for me, however, was that I began to question and uproot the lies of prejudice that I had learned. And make no mistake, that’s exactly how prejudice happens. It’s a learned, ignorant, and malicious way of thinking and behaving toward others. One that’s utterly destructive to all concerned—including the person holding it.

We’ve seen the results of the blind, flaming whirlwinds of prejudice all too often in our country.

Hopefully, we’re all thinking about the effects of unchecked bigotry and hatred on this national holiday as we take the time to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To remember all that he, and so many others who stood for truth, equality, and freedom, did for our country and the world.

Yes, for the world. Racism is a plague that knows no borders. A plague that needs to be and must be healed for progress and all of its attendant blessings to flow to all of humanity. To every nook-and-cranny of the globe.

And for me, and so many others like me, the surest way to heal that plague—that disease—is by living the Second Great Commandment that Jesus voiced and demonstrated over two millennia ago. A commandment which can be found as a corner-stone in so many of the world’s religions. A commandment that transcends all political, social, economic, and religious views. A commandment that is at the core of all human progress.

And what is that commandment? “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Isn’t it time that we all—regardless of our faith-traditions or lack thereof—endeavor to live that idea?

Ultimately, I don’t see another lasting way.

Thanks, Ken!

Here is a fabulous Christian Science Monitor article on 8 peaceful protests that bolstered civil rights which Martin Luther King Jr. was instrumental in. And another on how it was envisioned as a Day of Service in 1994 – a day of personal action in Dr. King’s memory.

Tagged: Boston, Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr, MLK, overcoming, overcoming hatred, prejudice, tag1, the Second Commandment

A message to the media in times of change

loblt — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:33:15 +0000

In times of uncertainty and change this is a nice message to the media and to all of us from my Merseyside colleague Irene Hall. It has been published in the Liverpool Daily Post today, in its last week as a daily print newspaper.

Thinkstock/Hemera Technologies/Photos.com

BIG changes are afoot this year – maybe in your life, and certainly in the life of this newspaper. We don’t always know where change will take us, and it can seem the way ahead is dark. But divine Love will be with us, each step of the way.

A much-loved hymn (often sung in Christian Science church services) by Anna Waring begins:

“In heavenly Love abiding, No change my heart shall fear;
“And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here.
“The storm may roar without me, My heart may low be laid;
“But God is round about me, And can I be dismayed.”

The Bible assures us that prophecies may fail, but not Love. “Love never fails”.

So, we don’t need to fear change. Love will always be there.

My own local newspaper The Kingston Informer gave up the ghost last year, both as a paper and online, so I know how disorienting such change can feel. But the good news is that the Daily Post is continuing online. And they are retaining Irene as one of four writers who will contribute a Thought for the Week on a monthly basis.

Thanks Daily Post and keep sharing these good thought, Irene!

Tagged: hope for the future, Liverpool Daily Post, newspaper closures, newspaper lay-offs, tag1, Thought for the Day

Dementia and drug-free solutions

loblt — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:56:04 +0000

What are our options if faced with a diagnosis of dementia? Might therapies without drugs prove helpful? A scientific research project and an individual’s spiritual journey point to that possibility in Do Drug-Free Options Offer Fresh Hope? - my most recent Huffington Post UK blog.

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Thinkstock /Stockbyte/model for illustrative purposes only

A “drug-free therapy” helps slow the expected decline of people diagnosed with dementia, a study has found.

The therapy enabled sufferers to maintain “cognitive function” and the ability to carry out normal activities like gardening and preparing a meal, according to researchers from the German University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Those not receiving the therapy deteriorated in both respects.

While urging further investment “to find treatments that could stop the condition”, Dr Marie Janson, of Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “It’s believed that cognitive stimulation can be an effective method of helping people cope with the symptoms of mild to moderate dementia, and this research is a useful reminder that there are non-drug treatments for the condition.”

It is always heartening to hear of anything that can help alleviate the experience of those facing such a harrowing diagnosis and prognosis.

But every “reminder that there are non-drug treatments” for any condition is also “useful” as a thought-provoking signal of the need to keep health care options open in an age when concerned scientists are increasingly noting the downside of the drugs industry…

(Read more.)

Tagged: Alzheimer's, Dementia, drug-free, Drugs, hope, Pharmaceuticals, prayer, spirituality, tag1

The “healthy lives” of Christian Scientists – a doctor’s view

loblt — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:00:40 +0000

Sunset on the Thames - Tony Lobl

A very interesting blog has just been posted by a US primary care internist on a blogsite called Why is American Health Care So Expensive? The article is called: “Christian Science, faith healing and mind-body medicine with mention of the work of Elisabeth Fischer Targ MD”.

The blogger is a clinician who writes from the perspective of wanting to share her insider’s concerns about “various aspects of the practice of medicine that make no sense”. In this article she details some of those concerns in contrast to two of her patients “who were at the end of their lives, had been very healthy up until recently and had received close to no medical care for nearly nine decades.”One of those patients was “a devout Christian Scientist”. (The other was a Seventh Day Adventist.)

She writes: “I have had other Christian Science patients in the past, of great age, and am very curious about what draws them to it and how they weave it into their very healthy lives.”

That is a thought-provoking, eye-witness verification of the practical effectiveness of this spiritual approach to health care.

The writer also states: “What I end up with, after looking at the lives of healthy very old Christian Scientists, is a respect for their particular path. Much of what we, as physicians, hand out for diseases will someday be found to be at least as bad as blood letting, which does in fact work pretty well for both acute congestive heart failure and hemochromatosis. In a couple of decades we will cringe as we think of the patients who we treated with chemotherapy drugs for cancer who died of side effects with no significant beneficial effects on their tumors.”

This goes to the heart of the matter – that there are no easy, one-size-fits-all answers when it comes to individual health care decisions, but the freedom to choose is itself crucial.

However, the fact that anyone reaches a ripe old age on the back of decades of drug-free, surgery-free health care is surely food for thought – as the blog indicates.

While the posting has some factual errors, the most significant of these is ably addressed in a comment from a reader. But these are overshadowed by the article’s honesty, compassion and open-mindedness.

So, thank you, “Janice”!

Tagged: clinician's view of Christian Science, health in sunset years, healthy seniors, internist view of Christian Science, medical view of Christian Science, tag1, Why is American Health Care So Expensive?

Struggling to keep those resolutions? Some ideas…

loblt — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:09:03 +0000

Resolving to make changes for the better is a good idea any time of the year…but each New Year helpfully reminds us of that fact! My latest Huffington Post UK blog has been published as “Keeping on Track With Those “New Year” Resolutions – 6 Ways to Build a Healthy Resolve”.

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Thinkstock/Comstock

Resolve is a key quality in character reform. But taking it out of the airing cupboard one day a year isn’t necessarily a great recipe for success. In order to turn around an unwanted character trait it can help to develop our resolve through a more consistent spiritual practice.

Here are six things that can help that happen.

1. Watching for will-power. That is, watching out for it. Why? Well, think of those lemmings! Will-power says “If I want it, I can get it”. Spirituality takes a step back to examine whether the desired goal is a healthy one to be harbouring in the first place. Is it just for one’s own benefit or will it be of value to others too? Maintaining resolve is a whole lot easier when it is applied to something we intuitively feel will also serve a greater good.

2. Listening for “a still, small voice”. That is how the Bible beautifully articulates the idea of perceiving and embracing a broader, wiser perspective that is always whispering within…