Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Rabbits in Hats


Hello again friends. I have been taking a break from frequent posts so I can try and get myself out more. I am still in the throws of that universal existential dilemma - Hope verses Doubt. Hope v's Doubt (with it's variant Hope/Denial v's Doubt) is particularly apt in ME.


Today I find two articles that exemplify this split: Click here for a study that finds 'cynical distrust' is highly correlated with inflammatory blood markers and can lead to increased risk of heart attack. Ah ha, I think...it's not just us who are being scrutinised by the mind/body school of health. Ah ha..., perhaps practising having a trustful, open mind will decrease inflammatory markers in most illness?


This cautious reasoning lasts until I read this comprehensive article from The Times about the state of knowledge on ME today.


Quote- (On CFS), Dr Klimas says that even its name belittles the extent to which it debilitates patients' lives. "If it were called chronic neuroinflammatory disease, then people would understand it," she says. "Until today nobody's been willing to change the name, but now there's proof that inflammation occurs in the brain and there's evidence that patients with this illness experience a level of disability that's equal to that of patients with late-stage Aids, patients undergoing chemotherapy, or patients with multiple sclerosis."


Yikes. Yet I know, as I was that severely affected aged 18-22 and in relapses since. And yet, I really want to believe that (in the absence of IL6 blockers or anti-viral drugs) some kind of mind/body jiggery-pokery could help me. If it could even help with outlook and management and make me more content? Call me car-azy, but I'm looking for rabbits in hats.
-C

3 comments:

yanling said...

Hi Ciara,

i'm yanling from Singapore.

i happen to chance upon your blog and thus dropping by to say 'hello' to you.

Catherine Hale said...

I admire the way you explore and articulate these existential dilemnas! Once again you're hitting the ME nail on the head so precisely. I've had the same thoughts exactly a million times yet after several tortuous experiences of mind/body jiggery pokery in the past that left me reeling with self-doubt I've well and truly closed my mind to it and resolve to just pursue happiness as hard as I can. But a lingering part of me is still intrigued by the possibility that some kind of radical change of mind-set like Reverse Therapy could reset the brain-body messages back to normality. I think you're really brave to pursue it.

Ciara said...

Many thanks sofamum,

I appreciate your comment. We'll see how things go. If the whole mind/body wizardry helps, I'll be so happy, I won't care about having 'wrong' beliefs in the past. The jury is still pondering...

Thanks again,

-C