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LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS
THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM: Over 45% of our nation's population had a chronic condition, and two thirds of people on Medicare have two or more conditions. The cost of these chronic diseases medically account for 75% of the $1 trillion spent on health care annually. Chronic diseases caused 7/10 premature deaths, most of which could be preventable. Why do some people succeed and why do others struggle to manage a long-term condition?
UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLES
Our unhealthy modern lifestyles local physical activity,stress, little rest, and eating habits that include high sugar, low fiber, fast foods, and processed foods all lead us to chronic illness.
THE COSTS
These are extraordinary times in healthcare. The costs of these chronic health conditions are enormous. These conditions include; diabetes, asthma, heart disease, depression, stroke, chronic colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, emphysema, arthritis, and of course obesity. Many of these chronic conditions have a group of symptoms that a patient may complain of.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms have to have a cause, and-- if we're going to help the patient gets better, we must find these causes. Treating only symptoms are unsuccessful in the long run in restoring real health. Only by finding the real causes and correcting them can we stop the underlying diseases.
A PROGRESSIVE DISEASE
Chronic illnesses are progressive. More and more drugs are usually added to try to help the patient. Despite this, they get worse, and often the new medicines create new side effects and new diseases that they have to deal with.
TOXINS AND DEFICIENCIES ARE THE CAUSE
The body is deficient and needs something it doesn't have, as vitamin C and vitamin D. It also has toxins that can be low-grade, pesticides, chemicals in the body, a medical load, or a chronic infection. The body is reacting to something that it should not have.
You will never get better unless you correct the deficiency. Remove the toxic load, and handle the allergic reaction. Too many medications given for your symptom, often added to the toxic load.
OTHER DISEASES MASK THE PROBLEM
There is often some overlap in the underlying causes of these chronic conditions. Many diseases, as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and Gulf War illnesses, all present with similar chronic signs and symptoms.
Systemic chronic infections of bacteria, viruses, fungi, all overwhelm the immune system. This suppressed immune system and endocrine dysfunction may be the link between chronic illnesses.
IT TAKES TIME AND MULTIPLE EXPOSURES
Chronic illnesses evolve over time they may require multiple toxic exposures of infections to cause their illnesses. Often the immune system can check chronic infections and hold them at bay. If these infections can avoid immune surveillance, and can penetrate and hide in tissues and organs of the body, they can cause many complex signs and symptoms, and result in widespread pain and immune dysfunction.
COFACTORS EXIST
Chronic infections occur as cofactors in illnesses as: HIV, AIDS, skin diseases and immune deficiency disorders, and autoimmune diseases. When Michael plasmas and other bacteria escaped from cellular compartments, they cause autoimmune symptoms.
Certain bacteria and viruses play an important role in diseases as AIDS and immune deficiency disorders. These bacteria and viruses may not be causing illness on their own, but serve as important factors in the disease process. They also increase the patient's morbidity, sickness and complications associated with the patient's disease.
Systemic chronic infections caused by bacteria (Myco plasma, chlamydia, borellia, brucellosis), and viruses Cytomegalic virus, ebola, epstein barr virus,) can virtually invade every human tissue and comprise your immune system. This gives an opportunity for infections by other bacteria viruses, and fungi and to multiply. They can then directly damage and destroy your nerve cells.
Over half of autoimmune diseases are associated with chlamydial and mycoplasmal infections. Treatment with antibiotics and anti-virals can suppress these chronic bacterial and viral infections. Chronic bacterial and viral infections are commonly associated with rheumatic disease, and many patients respond well with antibiotics. Recovery is slow often taking over a year. During that time there is no alternative or effective treatments other than alleviation of pain.
When mycoplasmals to leave their cells in synovial cells or nerve cells, they stimulate an autoimmune response. As they leave the invaded cells, they carry some of your whole cell membrane on their surface. This can trigger the immune system to respond to your antigen present on the foreign microorganism. Some of the microorganisms display surface antigens that attach to your whole cell surface antigens and stimulate an autoimmune response.
LONG-TERM ILLNESSES CAUSE CHRONIC PAIN
No one wants to have a chronic illness, but most of us will develop one or more during our lives. Ongoing conditions, injuries, and long-term illnesses are the most common causes for chronic pain. Other causes that result in severe chronic pain include: damage to the nervous and vascular systems: cancer, degenerative diseases, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.
Chronic pain is experienced by cancer patients because of tumor that infiltrates and compresses organs or bones, and by radiation and chemotherapy treatments that cause tissue swelling.
Chronic pain can also be caused by ongoing conditions as ear infections, carpal tunnel syndrome, migraine headaches, and peripheral neuropathy.
Initial acute injuries as sprains and muscle strains and overused injuries result in: backaches, Achilles tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and heel pain and can become chronic.
Neurogenic pain can be caused by damage to the central nervous system or spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system. Damage to the central nervous system can cause “central pain syndrome”. Patients who have had spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, or strokes, or multiple sclerosis patients have steady, burning, aching, or cutting pain with brief bursts of sharp pain. This may be seen years after damage to the central nervous system has occurred..
Chronic pain can also be psychogenic. Emotional and mental disorders can increase or prolonged pain. Headaches muscle pain, stomach and back pain, are typical examples.
COMMENTARY
A healthy life exists when you have soundness of body and mind. To live with a chronic illness, you must work to overcome the physical and emotional problems caused by the disease. Your goal must be to achieve the greatest possible physical capabilities and the greatest pleasure from your life.
When you have an acute problem, it is easily diagnosed, lasts a short time, and responds to the doctor's specific treatment. You can expect a cure and a return to be coming healthy with a great degree of certainty.
Chronic illnesses are different. They began slowly and proceed slowly. They have multiple causes that vary over time including: heredity, lifestyle factors, exposure to environmental factors, and physiological factors. It may be difficult to predict the long-term effects.
Chronic illnesses lead to a loss of physical strength. Fatigue is often the culprit, preventing normal activities. This speeds the physical deconditioning, and often creates a sense of helplessness and anxiety.
If you believe nothing can be done, you guarantee that nothing will be done. This perpetuates and reinforces your helplessness. While our medical system can certainly handle acute conditions like the flu or earaches, they find managing chronic disease is more of a challenge. You must take control of your illness, rather than let the illness take control of you. I n short, self-management is your most effective tool.
You must decide what you want to do, and how you are going to do it. Learn new sets of skills, and practice them until they have been mastered. You must have confidence in successfully doing something you want to do. It's not just learning the skills, but incorporating them into your daily life. At first, things will be clumsy and slow, and you will return to your old ways. You must continue to try to master new and often sometimes difficult tasks. This takes practice and you must constantly evaluate the results you get.
THOUGHTS WILL BOUNCE THROUGH YOUR HEAD
Many questions will float in your head. How can I face a life of pain? Can I make the changes my doctor wants? Will I be a burden and dependent on my family? Will I be incapacitated? How is this going to impact my family? Will I ever do the things that I enjoy? Will I have enough money to handle all this? Will I be left alone and isolated? How could this happen to me? Is this my entire fault? Where is my God? Can I live through this?
What you think determines what happens to you and how you will handle your health conditions. Think of your illness as a path that goes up and down, like the stock market. You must incorporate many strategies, and negotiate the obstacles you confront. Your goal is to deal with the illness, continue your normal life, and obtain skills to deal with your emotions.
You must learn to manage your limitations and find meaning in them. You'll find a new sense of self that's acceptable to you in spite of your illness, and you must develop a philosophy of life. See the illness as only one aspect of your life. Unify this illness with your healthy identity. Rely on people and things that have always been your source of strength to help you make constructive changes. Your goal must be to achieve the highest level of wellness that's possible, while you're living this life threatening illness.
Strike a balance of responsibility, and make your doctor a partner in your care. You must see the choices you’re your care, and look to your doctor for information and advice on which treatments would work best for you.
Life is tough, but you must be tougher!
Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated.
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