First, Do No Harm

The purpose of the medical establishment, put plainly, is to help people. Our medical system often does the opposite.

It's a well-documented phenomenon. Read The Boston Globe's, "When doctors strike, fewer patients die" by Ryan Hoskins Globe Correspondent,February 9, 2016, 1:36 p.m. https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2016/02/09/hoskins/QhjVuBHqnrjrT0wSeWRJII/story.html to see what I mean.

Here's a quote from the article: " ...a 2008 analysis led by Solveig Cunningham of Emory University attempted to bring together existing research on physician strikes to see whether patterns existed on patient impact. Five strikes — lasting from nine days to five weeks in places as varied as Los Angeles, Jerusalem (twice), Spain, and Croatia — yielded sufficient data to study. Researchers found that mortality in all cases either stayed the same or substantially declined when physicians walked out. In the case of the first Israeli strike of 1973, patient deaths dropped by 50 percent."

Uhm ...concerning?

Why do we go to the doctor so much? Doctors typically instill fear, and fear is harmful.

Another study found the opposite is true of nurses, " ...Interestingly, studies of nurses going on strike show a negative effect on patient health. A 2012 study by MIT’s Jonathan Gruber examined nursing walkouts in New York State from 1984 to 2004. He found that patients admitted on days of labor actions had death rates 18.3 percent above the normal. It’s a reassuring indicator that nurses — more involved in bedside care and less involved in treatment plans — actually improve patient outcomes when staffed appropriately."

So what does this mean in our daily lives? What helped people in these studies is not the pharmaceutical the doctor prescribed, it was the presence of a caring person that made the difference in the health outcome.

How do we extrapolate this finding to our daily lives? Ask yourself, are you caring toward yourself? If you're facing a health issue, ask yourself in what way are you betraying yourself? Have you agreed to something you wish you hadn't? Are you with the wrong person for the wrong reason? Are you staying in a soul-deadening job because you're afraid of what will happen if you leave?

Ask yourself these questions. You have the answers within.