Return To Health (Pando Health Groups)

The beautiful thing about this life we get to live is that every day is a fresh start. We forget but that is the truth. We do not have to continue on our same course. We can re-invent ourselves whenever we wish. We can change. We can become what we want to be. New Year is when the mass collective looks this concept square in the eyes. What do we want to be different in our lives? How shall we be? Treat yourself this New Year and change a belief about yourself. Think big. Go for it. Make it a great NEW year!

I just watched a slide show on Medscape (medical website) : The Year in Medicine 2010: Slideshow that reviewed the 25 greatest medical highlights from 2010. I was really disappointed by the lack of true medical advancement we seemed to have made in the past year. I thought this was a golden age for medicine and new discoveries. It is interesting that I think medicine advanced a lot this year because of my personal experience with the new MS procedure-- the Liberation Procedure. The standard medical world does not even acknowledge this new procedure which gave me my body and life back. No mention in any standard medical journals. The Medscape survey included the new MS drug Fingolimod. They proclaimed this was a giant step forward because it is the first oral drug for MS (as opposed to injectable). It is not that it works better; it is just easier to take. Not very earth-shattering in my opinion. It is interesting and a little disturbing how far I have drifted in my perceptions of healt...

I strongly recommend reading the January 2011 issue of The Sun magazine. I have been reading this great, truly honest and open journal for years but this issue is their first that is devoted to health and healing. The lead article is an interview with Andrew Weil. There are many very real and true stories in this magazine as well as an excerpt from Norman Cousins book Anatomy of an Illness on the power of placebo. What I enjoyed the most was Weil's and Cousins' talk about the power of placebo. They both speak of placebo not as a sugar pill but as the power of relationship (doctor/patient) and belief to initiate and sustain the body's own innate healing system. This power is so great and so powerful but we mostly talk about it being something next to nothing. This is the magic of the art of medicine; the power of one to influence another for higher good. We in America speak negatively about placebo but it is so positive and so real. The power of our own consciousness to infl...

The words "curative intent" are seldom used by internal medicine docs as they are the managers of chronic illness and disease. I am an internal medicine doctor by training but have become interested in these words and the power behind them as I build my new practice. A friend introduced me to a different perspective as we discussed my frustrations with modern medicine. He spoke of "curative intent" and of patients getting radically better--getting cured. It really was a foreign concept to me when we first started talking about it but since it has become front and center in my mind and in my heart. Other than surgeons, I don't believe many docs focus on cure. Disease management and chronic care are much more the common goals in this day and age. While these are noble pursuits and important, these objectives may very well sell the patient short and NOT be in their best interest. The medical system is geared for chronic disease management: the reimbursement scheme...

My discussion group last night talked about the process of change. It is clear that for an individual to sustain behavior change(ie quitting smoking, losing weight, breaking a chronic habit), one's belief has to change. Force of will, fear, and external pressure are all known to be very poor change agents. It is only when a belief changes that people can change ingrained habits. How does one change a belief? To change a belief, either a new perception has to arise or the meaning one assigns to an old perception has to change. An example of the first would be when someone realizes that they are eating for a very different reason than hunger. The new perception is that they are eating to spite their spouse or parent who badgers them about over-eating. If they become aware of such a process, a change in behavior can result if they choose to stop the war. If they choose to love themselves more than they need to spite their irritator, the behavior can disappear into the nothingness from...

Something different happens when an office visit has no time limit. A space opens up and there is a new freedom to feel different. A peace evolves that cannot happen in a rushed setting. I suspect there is a slowing of brain waves and a dropping down to a plane that in some way promotes healing. Healing is so much more likely when the sympathetic nervous system is quieted and connection enhanced. Good things can still happen "on the fly" but their likelihood is decreased in proportion to the more activated and anxious a person is. It takes more than a few minutes to "settle down". Connection and presence and time combine wonderfully to prime one's focus for healing.

We all realize the current medical paradigm is broken but where to go? The following are some of my thoughts: OLD PARADIGM: One on one is only style of care(1 doctor:1 patient) MD's are only source of care Body is lone focus(not mind or spirit) The food source is a primary source of disease(the American diet) Disease is fought primarily in hospitals/clinics Behavior change is encouraged by displays of will with pharmacologic support Productivity is the ultimate goal in society and in healing Profit is main driver Pharmaceuticals are main therapeutic intervention Eastern healing and other complementary approaches(psychology, hypnosis,chiropractic care, herbal medicine,etc) are kept outside of standard medicine Specialty care rules NEW PARADIGM: Delivery of care is 1:10 to 3:50 for chronic conditions(delivered in group fashion harnessing the power of the group) and utizing other providers for support(nurses, complementary providers(ie eastern practitioners, nutritionists, exercise/mo...