COVID-19: What Are We Missing?
When I sit with a patient who has complex symptoms, especially if they’ve worked with other skilled practitioners with no obvious success, I ask myself: “What piece of the puzzle is still hiding?” “What am I unable to see clearly?” Answers often lie in exploring the illness from a completely different or old-world perspective, such as the more interconnected concept of yin and yang that contrasts with traditional Western linear approaches. We can apply the same concept of balance to this pandemic too, with eye-opening results that I hope we can all take comfort in.
I am a bit in awe of how fast things can change. There have been many examples of this lesson in the last month, but the most impactful one for me is that “nothing is certain”. I thought I had already learned this lesson, but watching the dramatic changes to society and our community over the last few weeks has made me realize that I am still learning this lesson. Learning how to let go of the need for things to be certain and to be in control. Remembering that all I truly control is my inner state of being and reaction to the outside world. Inside all this uncertainty is a glimmer of hope for healing, that glimmer comes from solitude.
In this unprecedented time of self isolation and suffering it is the opportunity to seize the moment. The monastery has come to us.
When the going gets tough, the tough get cooking. And maybe from pantry ingredients that you are not used to having to rely on for meals.
What is Lyme Disease? This question seems simple enough, and perhaps for the people who successfully recover on their own or with an antibiotic, the answer is simple. But for the 5% to 20% of individuals who develop persistent, debilitating symptoms for months to years after the initial infection, the definition is anything but simple. Depending on the circle you run in, the illness is called Chronic Immune Dysfunction (CID), Multi-Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome (MSIDS), Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Chronic Lyme Disease, Persistent Lyme Disease, or it plain just doesn’t exist.
A few years ago, on completing an intense months-long pharmacology course, I was shocked to learn that keeping a baby’s fever down with ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) will NOT prevent febrile seizures. While parents are now more widely aware of this myth, patients and practitioners still seem generally unaware of the possibility that blocking a low-grade fever could be harmful.
You cannot turn on the radio or open social media these days without seeing something about the global spread of infections and viruses. Whether it is the COVID-19, seasonal influenza or the rapid spread of Lyme disease year on year, one thing is for certain: our immune systems have never been more critical to our good health. And more under siege.
Adapted from 