scholarly journals The Life Mission Theory VI. A Theory for the Human Character: Healing with Holistic Medicine Through Recovery of Character and Purpose of Life

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 859-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Ventegodt ◽  
Maximilian Kromann ◽  
Niels Jørgen Andersen ◽  
Joav Merrick
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Native Americans ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Holistic Medicine ◽  
Ray Theory ◽  
Early Menopause ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Based Medicine

The human character can be understood as an extension of the life mission or purpose of life, and explained as the primary tool of a person to impact others and express the purpose of life. Repression of the human character makes it impossible for a person to realize his personal mission in life and, therefore, is one of the primary causes of self-repression resulting in poor quality of life, health, and ability. From Hippocrates to Hahnemann, repression of physical, mental, and spiritual character can be seen as the prime cause of disease, while recovery of character has been the primary intention of the treatment. In this paper, human character is explained as an intersubjective aspect of consciousness with the ability to influence the consciousness of another person directly. To understand consciousness, we reintroduce the seven-ray theory of consciousness explaining consciousness in accordance with a fractal ontology with a bifurcation number of seven (the numbers four to ten work almost as well). A case report on a female, aged 35 years, with severe hormonal disturbances, diagnosed with extremely early menopause, is presented and treated according to the theory of holistic existential healing (the holistic process theory of healing). After recovery of her character and purpose of life, her quality of life dramatically improved and hormonal status normalized. We believe that the recovery of human character and purpose of life was the central intention of Hippocrates and thus the original essence of western medicine. Interestingly, there are strong parallels to the peyote medicine of the Native Americans, the African Sangomas, the Australian Aboriginal healers, and the old Nordic medicine. The recovery of human character was also the intention of Hahnemann's homeopathy. We believe that we are at the core of consciousness-based medicine, as recovery of purpose of life and human character has been practiced as medicine in most human cultures throughout time. We believe that such recovery can help some (motivated) patients to survive, even with severe disease.

scholarly journals Poor Physical Capacity in Bronchiectasis Patients Is Correlated with Poor Quality of Life

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarkko Mäntylä ◽  
Tanja Törölä ◽  
Witold Mazur ◽  
Paula Bergman ◽  
Paula Kauppi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Disease Severity ◽  
Bacterial Colonization ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Physical Capacity ◽  
Bacterial Colonisation ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract BackgroundTo study the risk factors associated with quality of life (QoL) in a cohort of Finnish non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (BE) patients. We aimed to evaluate which of the clinical characteristics were risk factors for poor quality of life, how patients with frequent exacerbations differed from those with only few exacerbations and if QoL symptom domains were correlated with dyspnoea or severity of BE.MethodsA cross-sectional study and part of the EMBARC study including questionnaire data and medical record data. Study participants were recruited between August 2016 and March 2018 from three different pulmonary clinics in Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUH) catchment area, Finland. The study included 95 adult patients with (mean age was 69 (SD± 13) years).A Finnish translation of the disease-specific quality of life-bronchiectasis (QoL-B) questionnaire was applied, and scores in the lowest quarter (25%) of the scale were considered to indicate poor QoL. The bronchiectasis severity index (BSI) and FACED (including FEV1, age, pulmonary bacterial colonization, affected lobes and dyspnoea) score were used. The severity of dyspnoea was examined using the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnoea scale.ResultsAlmost all (82%) presented with chronic sputum production and exacerbations, with a median rate of 1.7 (SD ±1.6). Exacerbations (OR 1.7, p < 0.01), frequent exacerbations (OR 4.9, p < 0.01), high BSI score (OR 1.3, p < 0.01) and extensive disease (OR 3.7, p = 0.05) were predictive of poor QoL. Frequent exacerbations were associated with bronchial bacterial colonisation, low forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and radiological disease severity. Based on the BSI, 34.1% of our cohort had severe disease, whereas 11.6% were classified as severe according to the FACED score. The mMRC dyspnoea score (r = -0.57) and BSI (r = -0.60) were negatively correlated with physical domain in QoL-B questionnaire. ConclusionFrequent exacerbations, radiological disease severity and high BSI score were predictive of poor QoL. Reduced physical capacity was correlated with dyspnoea and severity of disease. Interventions to reduce bacterial colonisation and to maintain physical functioning should be used to minimize exacerbations and to improve quality of life in BE patients.Study registrationUniversity of Helsinki, faculty of medicine; 148/16.08.2017

scholarly journals The Square Curve Paradigm for Research in Alternative, Complementary, and Holistic Medicine: A Cost-Effective, Easy, and Scientifically Valid Design for Evidence-Based Medicine and Quality Improvement

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1117-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Ventegodt ◽  
Niels JØrgen Andersen ◽  
Joav Merrick
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Evidence Based Medicine ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Holistic Medicine ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Life Questionnaire ◽  
Quality Of Life Questionnaire ◽  
New Research ◽  
Based Medicine

In this paper we present a new research paradigm for alternative, complementary, and holistic medicine — a low-cost, effective, and scientifically valid design for evidence-based medicine. Our aim is to find the simplest, cheapest, and most practical way to collect data of sufficient quality and validity to determine: (1) which kinds of treatment give a clinically relevant improvement to quality of life, health, and/or functionality; (2) which groups of patients can be aided by alternative, complementary, or holistic medicine; and (3) which therapists have the competence to achieve the clinically relevant improvements. Our solution to the problem is that a positive change in quality of life must be immediate to be taken as caused by an intervention. We define “immediate” as within 1 month of the intervention. If we can demonstrate a positive result with a group of chronic patients (20 or more patients who have had their disease or state of suffering for 1 year or more), who can be significantly helped within 1 month, and the situation is still improved 1 year after, we find it scientifically evidenced that this cure or intervention has helped the patients. We call this characteristic curve a “square curve”. If a global, generic, quality-of-life questionnaire like QOL5 or, even better, a QOL-Health-Ability questionnaire (a quality-of-life questionnaire combined with a self-evaluated health and ability to function questionnaire) is administered to the patients before and after the intervention, it is possible to document the effect of an intervention to a cost of only a few thousand Euros/USD. A general acceptance of this new research design will solve the problem that there is not enough money in alternative, complementary, and holistic medicine to pay the normal cost of a biomedical Cochrane study. As financial problems must not hinder the vital research in nonbiomedical medicine, we ask the scientific community to accept this new research standard.

scholarly journals Clinical Holistic Medicine: Applied Consciousness-Based Medicine

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 96-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Ventegodt ◽  
Joav Merrick
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Family Physician ◽  
Holistic Medicine ◽  
Doctor Who ◽  
The Family ◽  
Biomedical Treatment ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
The Village

Consciousness-based medicine is our term for a form of medical treatment that works by direct appeal to the consciousness of the patient, in contrast to modern biomedical treatment where drugs are used to affect body chemistry. With this concept, maybe we are (in a sense) turning back to the “old medicine”, where the family physician was the all-concerned “old country doctor” who knew the child, the siblings, the parents, the family, and the village. In a series of papers on clinical holistic medicine, we would like to present the classic art of healing, where the physician works mostly with his hands, then show how the modern biomedical physician performs with biochemistry, and finally introduce consciousness-based medicine. Some of our questions will be: If you improve your quality of life, will you also improve your health? Will learning more about yourself bring more purpose in your life? Will finding someone to live with in a loving and mutually respectful relationship improve your health? Scientists and thinkers like Antonovsky, Frankl, Maslow, and Jung have pointed to love as a unique way to coherence in life, and thus to biological order and a better health. Several scientific studies have also suggested that patients who focus on improving their quality of life usually will not follow the general statistics for survival, since somehow other factors are at play, which sometimes you will find referred to as “exceptional”.

scholarly journals Clinical Holistic Medicine: When Biomedicine is Inadequate

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 333-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Søren Ventegodt ◽  
Mohammed Morad ◽  
Eytan Hyam ◽  
Joav Merrick
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
Holistic Medicine ◽  
Holistic Healing ◽  
Number Needed To Treat

The modern physician is using pharmaceuticals as his prime tool. Unfortunately, this tool is much less efficient than you might expect from the biochemical theory. The belief in drugs as the solution to the health problems of mankind, overlooking important existing knowledge on quality of life, personal development, and holistic healing seems to be one good reason why approximately every second citizen of our modern society is chronically ill. The biomedical paradigm and the drugs are certainly useful, because in many situations we could not do without the drugs (like antibiotics), but curing infections or diseases in young age is not without consequences, as the way we perceive health and medicine is influenced by such experiences. When we get a more severe disease in midlife, we also believe drugs will make us healthy again. But at this age, the drugs do not work efficiently anymore, because we have turned older and lost much of the biological coherence that made us heal easily when we were younger. Now we need to assume responsibility, take learning, and improve our quality of life. We need a more holistic medicine that can help us back to life by allowing us to access our hidden resources. The modern physician cannot rely solely on drugs, but must also have holistic tools in his medical toolbox. This is the only way we can improve the general health of our populations. Whenever NNT (Number Needed to Treat) is 2 or higher, the likelihood of the drug to cure the patient is less than 50%, which is not satisfying to any physician. In this case, he must ethically try something more in order to cure his patients, which is the crossroads where both traditional manual medicine and the tools of a scientific holistic medicine are helpful.

Does Infliximab Short Infusion have a Beneficial Impact on the Quality of Life in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases? A Single Centre Prospective Evaluation

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariabeatrice Principi ◽  
Giuseppe Losurdo ◽  
Rosa Federica La Fortezza ◽  
Pasquale Lopolito ◽  
Rosa Lovero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ◽  
Adverse Reactions ◽  
Severe Disease ◽  
Sexual Life ◽  
Necrosis Factor Alpha ◽  
Short Infusion ◽  
Bowel Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Bowel

Background & Aims: Infliximab (IFX) is an anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha agent used in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) therapy. Usually, it is administered over a 2-hour intravenous infusion. However, shortening the infusion duration to 1 hour has proved to be feasible and safe. In the present study we evaluated whether shortening the IFX infusion could affect the patients' quality of life (QoL) compared to the standard protocol.Methods: Subjects affected by IBD receiving IFX were prospectively recruited. The main criterion to shorten the infusion was the absence of IFX-related adverse reactions during the previous three 2-h infusions. For each patient, demographic, clinical and anthropometric data were collected. A questionnaire investigating their overall/job/social/sexual QoL was administered. Ordinal regression was performed with odds ratios (OR) for significant independent variables.Results: Eighty-one patients were included (46 with ulcerative colitis - UC, 35 with Crohn's disease - CD). Sixteen received the 2-h infusion due to previous adverse reactions, and the remaining 65 underwent the 1-h schedule. Shortening the infusion to 1 hour determined a better QoL (OR=0.626). However, the QoL was negatively influenced by age (OR=1.023), female sex (OR=2.04) and severe disease activity (OR=7.242). One-hour IFX infusion induced a better outcome on work (OR=0.588) and social (OR=0.643) QoL. Long-standing disease was correlated with a slightly better sexual QoL (OR=0.93). Conversely, older age (OR=1.046), severe clinical score (OR=15.579), use of other immunomodulators (OR=3.693) and perianal CD (OR=3.265) were related to an unsatisfactory sexual life. The total number of infusions (OR=0.891), proctitis (OR=0.062) or pancolitis (OR=0.1) minimized the perception of infusion-related side effects.Conclusion: The 1-h short infusion improves overall, social and job QoL, so that, when indicated, it should be recommended.

KUALITAS HIDUP PASIEN STROKE DI POLIKLINIK RAWAT JALAN RUMAH SAKIT SWASTA YOGYAKARTA

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-237
Author(s):  
Hana Larasati ◽  
Theresia Titin Marlina
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Hemorrhagic Stroke ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Sampling System ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Psychological Dimension

Background: stroke is a disorder of nervous system function that occurs suddenly and is caused by brain bleeding disorders that can affect the quality of life physical dimensions, social dimensions, psychological dimensions, environmental dimensions. Based on the result of Lumbu study (2015) the number of samples were 71 people collected data using the (WHOQOL-BREF). There were 56 people (78,9%) had the poor quality of life of post stroke. The mean of post-stroke quality of life domain was physical domain (45,27%), psychological domain (49,87%), social relations domain (48,15%) and environmental domain (50.01%). Objective: the purpose of the study was know the quality of life of the stroke patients in Outpatient Polyclinic of Private Hospital in Yogyakarta. Methods: used descriptive quantitative by using questionnaire test of purposive sampling system based on patients who have been affected of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke before, number 30 respondents. Result: quality of life of stroke patient of medium physical dimension (67%), psychological dimension (71%), social dimension (67%), dimension good environment (63%). Conclusion: the quality of life of stroke patients of physical dimension, psychological dimension, and moderate social dimension, while the quality of life of stroke patients were good environmental dimension.   Keywords: Hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic stroke, quality of life

scholarly journals Hyperhidrosis: prevalence and impact on quality of life

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 292-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Nishida Hasimoto ◽  
Daniele Cristina Cataneo ◽  
Tarcísio Albertin dos Reis ◽  
Antonio José Maria Cataneo
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Excessive Sweating ◽  
Medical Evaluation ◽  
Primary Hyperhidrosis ◽  
Systematic Cluster ◽  
The City ◽  
Impaired Quality

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the prevalence of primary hyperhidrosis in the city of Botucatu, Brazil, and to evaluate how this disorder affects the quality of life in those suffering from it. Methods: A population survey was conducted in order to identify cases of hyperhidrosis among residents in the urban area of the city, selected by systematic cluster sampling. In accordance with the census maps of the city, the sample size should be at least 4,033 participants. Ten interviewers applied a questionnaire that evaluated the presence of excessive sweating and invited the subjects who reported hyperhidrosis to be evaluated by a physician in order to confirm the diagnosis. Results: A total of 4,133 residents, in 1,351 households, were surveyed. Excessive sweating was reported by 85 residents (prevalence = 2.07%), of whom 51 (60%) were female. Of those 85 respondents, 51 (60%) agreed to undergo medical evaluation to confirm the diagnosis and only 23 (45%) were diagnosed with primary hyperhidrosis (prevalence = 0.93%). Of the 23 subjects diagnosed with primary hyperhidrosis, 11 (48%) reported poor or very poor quality of life. Conclusions: Although the prevalence of self-reported excessive sweating was greater than 2%, the actual prevalence of primary hyperhidrosis in our sample was 0.93% and nearly 50% of the respondents with primary hyperhidrosis reported impaired quality of life.

scholarly journals Depression—A Major Contributor to Poor Quality of Life in Patients With Advanced Cancer

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 889-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjersti S. Grotmol ◽  
Hanne C. Lie ◽  
Marianne J. Hjermstad ◽  
Nina Aass ◽  
David Currow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Major Contributor
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