Becoming an Empowered Patient

Pasqualina Coppola

• Publisher: Pasqualina Coppola
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781637302774
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

There is mounting evidence proving that once-believed incurable illnesses like lupus, Sjorgen's syndrome and the like can be managed and even reversed through alternative health modalities. However, the lack of awareness around these treatments and skepticism within the medical community keeps these options a secret from most people.

Becoming An Empowered Patient is an exploration of these lesser-known treatments through the lens of author Pasqualina Coppola's personal journey of healing. You'll learn the importance of the mind/body/spirit connection and get some insight into why these avenues aren't readily available through the mainstream healthcare system.

This book is a must-read if you are looking for alternative medical treatments for yourself or a loved one, are interested in ongoing research of regenerative medicine, or are looking to arm yourself with information while navigating the healthcare system on your own.

Part I

how we got here

chapter 1

History of Medical Care

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.”

—Hippocrates

Care for the human body has been around for as long as humans have inhabited earth. Evidence of this is found in prehistoric skulls where trepanning was conducted. Trepanning is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled into the human skull. Based on findings in cave paintings, anthropologists believe trepanning was used to address mental disorders and illnesses.11

While early medicine was rudimentary at best, we know that herbs, foods, and plants have been used to address physical ailments for as long as man has been on earth. The first “medicine men” were healers who treated patients with a combination of natural remedies, administered in a ceremonial way with the use of talismans or charms. Many people today dismiss that healing could take place simply with some natural herbs administered during ceremonial fanfare. Yet the placebo effect—the collective power of belief (by both physician and patient) that one can heal—still baffles modern day scientists who see evidence of it, and yet struggle to explain scientifically how and why it works.

Harvard Medical School published a great article on why the placebo effect can be a powerful healing modality. In short, when the brain, through neurobiological reactions, can convince the body that a treatment or procedure will work, one can feel better even without the actual treatment. All that is needed is the “ritual of treatment”—the taking of a sugar pill, meditating, eating healthy, even having exploratory surgery where no repairs are made—all can go a long way toward healing.12

Every early civilization seems to have made a unique contribution to the development of medical practices. While little is known about the ancient Egyptian treatments, their preservation of mummies has revealed that many of them suffered from some of the same diseases we suffer today, such as arthritis, gout, tooth decay, and gallstones.13 Hebrew literature from around the same time, was focused on personal hygiene and public health as a way to encourage wellness and control the spread of disease.14

India’s study of medicine, Ayurveda, is one of the oldest whole-body healing systems. Its foundation lies in the belief that disease is created by a personal imbalance and one needs to engage the body, mind, spirit, and environment to bring balance back. Ayurveda recognizes three basic bodily energies called “doshas.” Dominance in any one of these energies can make a person vulnerable to certain types of illness. Its fundamental premise is to maintain health by restoring balance. 15

Meanwhile, the Chinese developed and continue to practice a branch of medicine (Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM) based on more than 3,500 years of knowledge, which focuses on mind and body practices (such as meditation, tai chi, and qigong) along with herbal-based therapies.16 Chinese healers understood that the human body has energy pathways (meridians), and good health relies upon free, unobstructed flow of this vibrant energy. Acupuncture, a healing practice where thin needles are placed in specific points on the body, is a means by which these meridians can be manipulated to restore energy flow through the body.17

Both Ayurveda and TCM are still widely used in their respective countries and have extended throughout the world, encouraging holistic lifestyle and wellness therapies. While considered “alternative,” many current medical and hospital groups have recognized the value of these practices and have incorporated them as part of their overall treatment therapies.

Ancient Greece gave us physicians who offered biological approaches to illness. Hippocrates is probably the most well-known ancient Greek physician. He established the Hippocratic School of Medicine. To this day, an important step for new physicians starting their medical career is to take the Hippocratic Oath (“First, Do No Harm”). The works of different physicians who followed Hippocrates’ practices were compiled in the Hippocratic Corpus. Parts of this collection of medical observations were used as textbooks until the nineteenth century.18

According to the Corpus, Hippocratic medicine recommended a healthy diet and physical exercise as a remedy for most ailments. If this did not reduce sickness, plant-derived medications could be used.19 For example, the abstract from a tree containing what was called “salycasia” was a very effective pain reliever in Ancient Greece. This acid, found in certain trees (salicylic acid), is the key ingredient in modern-day aspirin.20

Galen was another well-known Greek physician. His work founded the basis for ancient Roman medicine and influenced the medical field for many years thereafter. Galen’s understanding of anatomy and medicine was based on the Hippocratic method, accepting the theory of humors.21 According to this theory, the body is made up for four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. The relative amounts of each humor in the body determined the state of a person’s health and temperament. Too much or too little of any one was said to cause illness. Restoring balance in the four humors was the path to regaining health.22

During the Middle Ages, byzantine physicians built upon the knowledge developed by the Greeks and Romans. They compiled and provided the standardization of medical knowledge by memorializing the information into a set of textbooks known as The Medical Compendium. Their records were valuable to practitioners as they included both diagnostic explanations and technical drawings. Another legacy of the Byzantines was the concept of hospitals for treating the public.23

The Islamic world also advanced the development of medical practice by building upon the Greco-Roman, Chinese, and Indian medical knowledge. The Canon of Medicine, developed by Avicenna, a Persian physician-philosopher, was a collection of ancient and current medical information and served as the standard medical text for the Islamic world and for many European universities from the Middle Ages through the seventeenth century. Muslims also made important surgical advances. They understood the use of cannabis and opium as anesthesia, as well as alcohol as an antiseptic, to aid in surgical procedures.24

Around the same time as the age of medicine in the Islamic world, the first medieval me...

Table of contents

• INTRODUCTION
• THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH
• PART I. HOW WE GOT HERE
• HISTORY OF MEDICAL CARE
• COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE—THEIR STRUGGLE FOR CREDIBILITY
• HEALTH MYTHS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMED CONSENT
• BACK PAIN
• PART II. ON THE ROAD TO BECOMING AN EMPOWERED PATIENT
• HEALTH ISSUES
• CASE STUDY OF AN UNINFORMED AND UNEMPOWERED PATIENT
• NUTRITION FOR HEALING
• FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE
• PART III. MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT AS MEDICINE
• NATURAL MEDICINE—HERBS, PLANTS, AND MINERALS
• PHYSICAL THERAPY LINK
• SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT: CONNECTING THE MIND WITH THE HEART AND SOUL
• THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT
• PART IV. REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
• AN INTRODUCTION TO REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
• LIGHT: THE GAME CHANGER
• MY JOURNEY INTO ENERGY MEDICINE
• PEMF: PULSED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD THERAPY
• ORTHOBIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS TO REGENERATION—PLATELET RICH PLASMA (PRP) AND STEM CELLS
• CONCLUSION
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• APPENDIX