More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles
You Don't Know What You Don't Know
“Are you absolutely sure?” “This must be a mistake! I will get a second opinion.” “This isn't happening to me.”
These are some of the many things I've heard patients say when they have been diagnosed with a terminal disease. After getting second opinions they have to accept the diagnosis and they normally become very angry. Some will plead, “Please try your best to help me. I will pay whatever it costs.” When they come to terms with their new reality they will look back and feel a sense of guilt guilt for not having done something different that could have prevented their disease.
“If I could start over and pay closer attention to my health, I wouldn't be faced with this disease. If I could just have a second chance I would” It pains me to tell them it might be too late to save them.
Have you ever had a near-death experience? Is it possible for a person to live their entire life without this kind of experience? Probably not.
The phrase “holistic health” has grown in popularity, but most people do not seem to understand what it really means to be healthy. Could you, without any doubt, tell me that you are completely healthy today?
Thousands of years ago the idea of being healthy meant the absence of any diseases. The main challenge for humans then was simply to stay alive. Then, in 1948, the World Health Organization defined what they called “the third health condition” or “sub-health” to describe a condition where a person is free of disease but not totally healthy.
You know when you have the flu, but you can't feel when your vitamin D level is severely low, yet if your body lacks vitamin D for a prolonged period of time, it may lead to some very serious health issues (e.g. cancer).
Even when a person feels unhealthy, it can be very difficult for them to pinpoint the source of their issue. Take left shoulder pain, for example. Most people will chalk it up to something like a pulled muscle or a pinched nerve, but this can also be a sign of a gallbladder problem.
As the famous saying goes, “You don't know, what you don't know”. The body is amazingly complex, but the truth is out there for you to discover. You have nothing to lose and the chance for saving yourself.
