The incidence of chronic illness began to increase dramatically with the onset of medical intervention
via such treatments as drugs, surgery, and radiation. All of these interfere with the body’s own healing
responses. Although medical intervention has saved the lives of many people who have been afflicted
with acute illnesses, such as a stroke or heart attack, it has had little impact on chronic diseases. These
diseases are likely to remain chronic unless the mainly symptom-oriented approach of treatment becomes
cause-oriented.
Symptoms Of Disease Are Like Sand In The Hand.
Symptoms of disease are highly changeable, if not unpredictable. The causes of disease remain
obscure to most medical practitioners and their patients. A stomach catarrh, or inflammation of the
mucous membrane, for example, may initially show up as an irritation and then become an ulcer. Next it
may be perceived as a hardening of tissue and, eventually, be diagnosed as cancer. The course and
intensification of pathological symptoms (signs of disease) may vary from person to person, and
relatively few people develop the cancer stage. However, the previous stages can be equally life
threatening. As a matter of fact, many more people die from acute digestive problems than from cancer
and coronary heart disease.
A stomach catarrh may be accompanied by various kinds of complaints, including stomach upset,
nausea, vomiting, gastritis, and cramping of the stomach. In truth, two people suffering from gastritis
never have exactly the same symptoms. One of them may be a very nervous person and his symptoms of
gastritis may include headaches and insomnia. The other may suffer an epileptic attack. As the stages of
the disease become more pronounced, some, but not all afflicted patients, develop anemia as a result of
ulceration and putrefaction of cell proteins. A number of people form hemorrhoids when stomach ulcers
begin to occur. Others suffer from stomach congestion, where the food is practically stuck and vomited
every second or third day.
Modern medicine views each set of symptoms as different types of disease, each of which requires a
separate approach or treatment by a specialist. This makes medical diagnosis and treatment so complex
that even doctors are confused as to what measures to take to help their patients. Each new variation of
disease produces different symptoms in different people, and the specialists are unable to identify the
common cause of the various complaints. Since doctors aren’t trained to search for the cause of the
complaints, they tend to treat the various symptoms as if they were separate diseases. To them, the initial
stomach pain seems to have no connection with the inflammation of the catarrh; the thickening of the
stomach lining is dissimilar to a stomach ulcer; an ulcer is certainly not a malignant tumor; and the tumor
just appears out of the blue.
A physician may be able to stop initial pain in the stomach with an antacid or a painkiller, and when
the catarrh occurs, he may prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs. As the growing ulcer becomes unbearable,
a surgeon may decide to cut it out. When the cancer appears, an oncologist may prescribe chemotherapy,
radiation, or surgical removal of the tumor and parts of the stomach. Yet none of these symptoms are
diseases in themselves; all of them are caused by something else, and without dealing with that something
else, the disease will continue to appear in other, seemingly unrelated forms and variations. Symptoms are
like sand in the hand. They are fleeting and inconsistent. Only those trained to connect symptoms with
their causes can reveal the true nature of disease. Clearly then, it is not in the best interest of the patient
merely to receive treatment for the symptoms of his chronic ailments. Addressing the underlying cause
is crucial for genuine healing to occur.