There are still times when religion fills the gap where medicine has failed
While we like to think medicine has an answer for everything, it frequently doesn’t. There are some situations that no amount of operations, scans, blood tests or drugs are going to help.
People with dementia, terminal illness, intractable pain or degenerative diseases: these are the cases that prey on doctors’ minds, the ones where you are powerless to help.
In these scenarios, where there are no medical answers, people have to find solace somewhere.
I’ve long been struck by how — despite all the advances in science — there are still times when religion fills the gap where medicine has failed.
While I cannot profess to be religious myself, I’ve seen so many patients for whom faith has been a lifeline in times of difficulty that I can fully appreciate what strength spirituality offers.
So, I was fascinated — if not surprised — to read about a study this week which revealed how religion has a profound effect on the brain.
The research showed that religious and spiritual experience activated the reward circuits in the brain in the same way that drugs, gambling, music and sex do.
There’s an argument that this is why religions endure for thousands of years and are found, in one form or another, in every culture — it provides a deep-rooted sense of satisfaction on a neurological level.
B ut, unlike sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, religion doesn’t just trigger the reward pathway in our brains and offer momentary joy — it offers peace and solace in times of desperate need.
One argument says there are beneficial effects to spirituality because its intrinsic goal is to find true meaning in life, as well as an inner peace which gives us strength to tackle the biggest challenges.
We would all do well to strive for such qualities, but this acceptance is especially important for very ill patients.
Research has shown that cancer and Aids patients who are more spiritual have fewer depressive symptoms than patients who are not religious.
A religious belief has also been shown to be beneficial in patients with depression and schizophrenia.
FESTIVE GLUTTONS – DETOX REALLY DOES NOT WORK!
This time next month, countless guilt-ridden people are going to be hastily undertaking ‘detoxes’ to atone for the excesses of December.
But, this week, we heard how ‘detox teas’ — often celebrity endorsed as being cleansing and good for weight loss — can have dangerous side-effects including diarrhoea, a lazy bowel and loss of important salts and nutrients. But besides the possible detrimental impact of using these sorts of products, the whole notion of ‘detoxing’ is utter rubbish.
Our bodies are perfectly able to process and remove by-products and toxins on their own (that is largely what the liver does).
It’s a myth that the flushing-out process can be speeded up by pills, potions, body wraps or faddy diets. It might be psychologically pleasing to think that we can make amends for over-indulgence but, unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
There is not a shred of evidence that detoxes have any long-term health benefits.
Much better to enjoy your December in moderation — and promise yourself that next year you’ll just take things a bit easier.
In one study, patients with schizophrenia who were encouraged to engage in religion were less likely to be hospitalised than those who were not.
Similarly, in patients with major depression, their symptoms improved faster when they underwent religious-based interventions than when they underwent secular-based ones.Religion provides hope when everything seems hopeless.
I remember as a junior doctor one of my patients, Mr Bernard. He’d been found by the milkman, who looked through the letterbox and saw him collapsed on the floor.
He’d been lying there for three days after having a brain haemorrhage.
There was nothing that could be done — the blood vessel that had burst was still bleeding into his brain and it was only a matter of time before he died.
But the most tragic thing was that Mr Bernard was totally alone. It was just myself and the nurses at his bedside.
From his previous notes, I learned that his wife had died five years previously. They’d been married for 66 years. His next of kin was written down as his next-door neighbour, and when I called them, they didn’t even know his surname and quickly made excuses to get off the phone.
It was then that I noticed in Mr Bernard’s notes that there was a section for religious beliefs, and someone had written ‘Catholic’. I’d never even noticed this box before, let alone thought of acting on it.
It was past midnight, Mr Bernard was deteriorating and I couldn’t bear the idea that he’d die alone.
At times like this you need people with friends in high places, so I called the switchboard and asked for the hospital’s on-call priest.
‘I was just wondering if you could help, give him the last rites or something. Be with him,’ I asked Father Stephen, after explaining the situation. ‘No problem, I’m on my way,’ he said.
Before I could say three Hail Marys, he was on the ward, holy water in one hand and a packet of Silk Cut in the other.
Father Stephen stayed by the bedside until, three hours later, Mr Bernard died. He was drifting in and out of consciousness so knew that Father Stephen was there.
Regardless of my own beliefs, I can understand how people take comfort from religion, especially when faced with the bleak reality of death and disease.
I’m reminded of the verse by the Victorian poet Arthur Hugh Clough: ‘And almost everyone when age/disease, or sorrows strike him/inclines to think there is a God/or something very like him.’
Morning after pill SHOULDN’T just be doled out
Apparently, it is ‘utterly stupid’ that women must speak to a pharmacist before getting the morning-after pill. That is according to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which this week called for it to be made even easier for women to obtain the tablet.
They claimed that because the consultation with the pharmacist is included in the cost of the medication, this results in a ‘sexist surcharge’.
Remember, though, that it is still free of charge if you get the pill from GPs or sexual health clinics, so the premium at pharmacies is for convenience. In effect, going to your local Boots is like going private.
However, when it comes to the morning-after pill, having a level-headed debate seems almost impossible. I think the problem is that this medication has become too politicised.
Because it involves pregnancy, it has been seized on by campaigners and dragged into the debate around female reproductive rights. The feminist agenda dictates that any attempt to limit or curtail the morning-after pill is seen as an attempt to control women’s bodies.
But I fear that we’ve lost sight of the fact that this is not a harmless drug. Like all medications, it can have serious side-effects and shouldn’t be handed out freely.
SUNLIGHT REDUCES RISK OF DEVELOPING MYOPIA
Here’s yet another reason to try to get youngsters off their phones and outside. It was revealed this week by scientists that children shouldn’t stay inside all day because exposure to sunlight drastically reduces the risk of developing myopia (or short-sightedness). The vitamin D that their skin makes when they are in the sun boosts their eye strength.
Yes, this is all very well. But there’s a far bigger reason to encourage your child to get out of the house. Too many overly cautious parents are condemning their offspring to a sterile life indoors.
Furthermore, what the pill is being used for — to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex — shouldn’t be taken lightly either.
While we become increasingly cautious around the prescription of some drugs, groups such as the BPAS would have us dish out morning-after pills like Smarties.
It’s astonishing that we are being expected to adopt such a laissez-faire attitude to one type of pharmaceutical simply because it’s involved in women’s contraception.
On one hand, schools can’t give out paracetamol if a child has a headache, while on the other, there are suggestions that a potent cocktail of hormones that make up the morning-after pill should be given out without any questions asked.
The truth is that, as the system stands, when a woman seeking this pill sees a pharmacist, doctor or nurse, that healthcare professional can check why it is needed.
Does the woman need advice around other types of contraception? Does she need an STD check? Is there abuse or exploitation going on?
Those important questions will not be asked if women can get the pill without being challenged.
Also, we don’t yet know the long-term effects of taking this medication multiple times, and if women are able to simply walk in and buy it without it ever being recorded, then we’ll never be able to monitor this and find out.
Ensuring that women who need the morning-after pill are seen by a healthcare professional isn’t some misogynistic conspiracy, it’s just good medical practice.