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Archive for April, 2008
Drs. Bruce and Molly in the News - Spring Fever
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on April 29th, 2008
Do you know why men tend to be more romantic in the springtime? Check out the article on “Spring Fever” in the April 2008 edition of Canyon Ranch Connection. where I discuss this and other interesting tidbits about this time of the year.
Are We to Blame for Our Illnesses?
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on April 27th, 2008
I love reading the New York Times‘ Health blog by Tara Parker-Pope. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, check it out. She does a wonderful job of turning interesting medical news into a discussion, and I have added posts to several of her topics.
The latest one had to do with how exercise decreases the recurrence rate of cancer. She got quite a backlash of comments from people saying that the article blamed the victim. She then commented on the backlash, and I add my two cents to that discussion. I will put the link at the bottom of this post if you want to read the whole discussion.
Here is my response as #17 in the comments:
As a holistic physician, I find this to be a great discussion, as it brings up so many issues outside of the one related to how exercise helps cancer. This miscommunication of intentions often suggests a lack of trust both toward the physician and toward the patient.
By the time someone reacts to a simple, seemingly innocent statement of “exercise helps prevent cancer,” that person has been inundated with well-meaning and some not-so-well-meaning people telling them how they had caused their own pain. When you are hurting, that kind of blame doesn’t do an ounce of good for anyone involved,and it can feel like being kicked when you’re down even if the person who made the comment didn’t intend it to have that strong of an impact. I would contend that it even slows down healing.
I am sensitive to this issue for several reasons. When I was younger, a family member got very ill. Instead of treating the family with kindness for the difficulties we were now living with, my parents in particular were blamed for the problem. I felt firsthand the abusiveness of the medical system when it doesn’t treat those who are hurting with kindness, gentleness, and sensitivity.
When I broke my neck several years ago and my arms became paralyzed for a while, I had someone tell me that if I would just get a good attitude about it, I wouldn’t feel the pain. Well, I’ve been a pretty joyful person my entire life, and yet this was an appropriate time to grieve, so that comment felt like a punishment and a judgement from someone who had no idea who I was as a person.
During this injury, I stopped going to my doctor when he said that I should have been over the pain by now, because I could see in his eyes that he had lost his ability to deal with the discomfort of not being able to “fix me.” I understood his discomfort and didn’t blame him for it, but I knew that he could no longer help me to heal.
I did get better, and I think it’s important to say that the people who helped me the most during that difficult time simply held me and gave me the space to cry it out. The grief didn’t last long, and I did find my way back to health.
I think that some of this tendency to judge the patient comes from a feeling that if we blame the victim, we can somehow keep that illness far away from us personally. The nurse in #9 above who said that she has willed herself not to get cancer is likely very afraid of this illness and is trying to establish some control over that fear. I have great compassion both for that nurse and for the person she inflicted that comment on.
The way I talk about this is that every illness has components of mind, body, emotions and spirit to it.
Cancer is a perfect example of how multiple factors can make you more or less susceptible to an illness. Everyone has their areas of vulnerability - for some it is a tendency toward cancer, for others, it may be toward depression, for some it might be more back pain, for others it may show up as a rift in their relationship with their spouse, and the list could go on and on. Imbalances will find the easiest form of expression depending on our bodies and our psyches, and we all have our weak points.
I want to emphasize that EVERYONE has their weak areas, related to our bodies, minds and emotions, our genetic tendencies, our family history, the toxins we’ve been exposed to, our unique abilities to clear those toxins, our sleep habits, our diet and exercise, and yes, even our soul’s path. We all generally do the best we can with the knowledge and energies we have available to us at the time.
If exercise has been shown to decrease the risk and recurrence rate of cancer, then certainly, it ought to be a part of the discussion for how to be as healthy as possible. It’s all in how the subject is discussed, what the relationship has been between the patient and the physician, and a general assumption of good intentions on both their parts that turns that comment into one that empowers the person and sets them on a course of healthy living.
Thanks again for bringing up such a great topic, Tara. Your blog is excellent.
Dr. Molly Roberts
Co-Director, LightHearted Medicine
www.LightHeartedMedicine.com
Board of Trustees, American Holistic Medical Association
www.HolisticMedicine.org
— Posted by Molly Roberts, MD, MS
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/the-well-podcast-cancer-and-exercise/
Drs. Bruce and Molly Roberts Recommend…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on April 23rd, 2008
We are happy to announce a new section here on our LightHearted Medicine blog, called Drs. Bruce and Molly Roberts Recommend…
As time goes on, we will make suggestions about books, videos, CDs, events and products that we feel are especially worth your attention. Many will be related to Holistic Medicine topics, and others will simply be ones that we thought you would like. Enjoy!
Blood Pressure and CoQ10
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on April 5th, 2008
A question from Erlene Payne:
