Healing vs Cure
The subject of healing versus cure is relevant for all of us but might stand out more strongly in the case of a serious chronic disease.
Having supported hundreds of people through their journey with cancer, it became very evident to me early on that it was important to address the subject of healing versus cure.
An obvious example might be someone who has been smoking cigarettes for most of their life and then ends up with lung cancer. If the tumors in the lungs are gone after several rounds of chemotherapy and this person continues to smoke, it could be said that “the patient has been cured of cancer”. However, if we look at healing as wholeness of body, emotion, mind and soul, then healing has not yet taken place.
On the other hand, if this same person stopped smoking after dealing with the emotions and the mindset behind the reason for smoking and found peace and forgiveness in their heart and soul, we could call this healing, even if cancer would still be present in the lungs.
Another example of healing vs cure is when someone with cancer who has been struggling with resentment most of their life reaches a point of deep forgiveness of self and others the last couple of weeks before leaving the body. This body might be full of cancer and therefore there is no physical cure present, but the human being who is living in that body has reached the pinnacle of their existence at death’s door with complete resolve, ready to move on to the next part of their soul’s journey.
Let’s scale it down with an example of thyroid disease. The adrenal gland can be compared to the “engine” of the body and the thyroid gland to the “blinking light on the dashboard”. We cannot simply cut the cord to the blinking light and expect the engine to recover.
Unless, we were born with a congenital thyroid disease, either caused by a congenital issue in the hypothalamus in the brain, the pituitary gland or the thyroid gland itself, it would be hard pressed to come across someone with thyroid disease who had not first placed high amounts of chronic stress on themselves and therefore their body, which would have impacted the adrenal glands negatively which then would have impacted the thyroid gland negatively.
As Naturopathic Physicians we know that the first step to helping someone with their thyroid issue is to assist them in finding ways to cut down on stressful activities as well as assist them in managing the stress that is left. We also teach our patients how to avoid food and substances that provoke more stress in the mind-body system, including the immune system.
Caffeine is one example of how to increase stress in the system. Caffeine pushes the adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline which increases the production of cortisol, as well as alters the balance of the neurotransmitters in the brain creating a state of unrest. This cascade of events influences the nervous system as well, and we end up with the autonomic nervous system tipping toward sympathetic (fight, flight or freeze) predominance, bringing us further away from a more parasympathetic mode (rest, digest and repair/heal).
Bringing this into the context of healing vs cure in hypothyroidism, we can see how simply placing someone on a strong medication forcing the thyroid gland and the brain to produce more thyroid hormones without ensuring a more balanced diet and lifestyle with less stress is not going to cut it. “Better values on the lab test” might be considered a cure but healing within the mind-body of that individual has not necessarily taken place.
Of course, there is free choice when it comes to how we each approach a health issue. Also, there could be very good reasons for why a single mother with three young kids cannot manage to reduce stress within the near future, whether she has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease or with hypothyroidism.
It is important to understand that we are always doing our best at any given moment, whether it appears to be so or not. When we better understand ourselves and our minds, and when we better understand how the life we have chosen to live influences us, we can make better choices leading to better outcomes. Until this happens, we could reduce stress greatly if we would love and accept ourselves exactly as we are, trusting that we will make changes when we are ready and not a second before.
Happy Healing!
Dr. Susanne Macsay | Naturopath