The body is an ecosystem. We cannot continue to perceive organs as entities that are separate from one another. The brain is related to the gut, the liver, the kidneys, and more. A symptom is only guidance toward healing. While the medical system has done a good job of categorizing diseases, we can agree that the reductionist view of these categorizations is not sustainable. 

Observing patterns

If a specific type of cancer is common in people with a particular disease, this information should guide us to understand that maybe the imbalance causing them is the same. The same applies for mental illnesses or mental states. If depression is diagnosed, it can reflect several nutritional imbalances (excess or deficiency), leading to difficulties in coping with the environment (also made of energy), and the list goes on. When this deficiency is not addressed (mainly due to the lack of understanding of mental illness) and treated with a drug, the patient may experience other imbalances or worse versions of the initial imbalances. Other problems can then emerge with different symptoms. It’s a never-ending cycle. 

The issue with unholistic thinking

We aren’t just parts of our environment; our bodies are ecosystems unto themselves with constant billions, if not trillions, of interactions every second. Thinking that we can just put illnesses in categories is wrong. Comorbidities guide us toward the real issue.

Here is an example of one supplement helping with several problems. A magnesium deficiency can lead to muscle cramps, anxiety, sleep disturbances, constipation, and other issues. Now imagine a patient with anxiety and constipation. In the current healthcare system, the symptoms will be treated with two different drugs (this is for example purposes only):

• An SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) for anxiety

• Lax-A-Day (to name one example) for constipation

If these therapies don’t work, the general practitioner can refer the patient to a psychiatrist (for the anxiety issue) and a gastroenterologist (for persistent constipation). This division of a problem related to a simple deficiency leads to a failing healthcare system and a mistreated patient. 

We must stop looking at guidelines and instead start looking at patients. They are the biggest guidelines, not the books.

This example only reflects a very simplistic example of a very complex problem. Magnesium deficiency is one possible factor of the symptoms. It would take several books to explain the whole human body ecosystem. However, the goal of this example is to describe the issue. 

The issue is not a lack of access or a lack of professionals. The problem is the healthcare system’s compartmentalization of human bodies, the labeling of diseases, and the need for a holistic view of humans and more understanding regarding the connections between symptoms, the environment, food, social interactions, and more. 

Comorbidities and symptoms are guides and should not be addressed separately. This reflects a misunderstanding of human biology. It has led to failures in the healthcare system. 

Diabetes may reflect high blood sugar. But why is the person’s blood sugar high in the first place? Is it only due to high sugar consumption, or is a deficiency in that person’s body making it harder to assimilate sugar? 

We’ve been asking the wrong questions for too long. It’s time for a change. Change requires a change of beliefs, open-mindedness to other options, and a commitment to putting patient safety first. We have lost touch with how our bodies guide us, and we need to regain that trust because it only leads to healing. 

Dr. Stephanie El-Chakieh, Pharm.D., M.Sc.