In Part 1 Hypnotherapist and Trainer Simon Pimenta explored the Medical Model of health. In Part 2 he explores the flaws of the Medical Model and how this may be relevant to people with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Fibromyalgia.
You can read Part 1 here
Challenging The Medical Model: The Bergen Incident
An incident in Bergen, Norway gives an interesting perspective on understanding health and disease. In Bergen in 2004 there was a high incidence of people being diagnosed with post viral fatigue and CFS, which was linked to a waterborne outbreak of giardiasis. I taught over 40 clients from Bergen, teaching them concepts to do with the mind/body connection. Many asked the same question: “Both my partner/wife/husband and I drank the same water. I ended up with fatigue, they didn’t. How come?”
The Terrain Theory
To answer this question, it is useful to consider the views of one of Pasteur’s contemporaries. Claude Bernard argued that the state of the terrain (the soil in which disease develops) is crucial in the development of disease, rather than just the germ. Claude Bernard got the terrain theory from Antoine Bechamp, who called it the cellular theory. There was disagreement between Bernard and Pasteur on this, but on his deathbed, Pasteur recanted the germ theory, saying, “Bernard was correct. I was wrong. The microbe (germ) is nothing. The terrain (milieu) is everything.”
The germ theory postulates that external germs that invade the body cause disease. Bechamp believed that microbes naturally exist in the body and that when the body is in a state of dis-ease, the germs are able to take hold in the body. Bernard was making the point that we are exposed to germs all the time, but that the state of the recipient is the crucial factor. For example, Doctors treat sick people day in, day out and are exposed to germs. However, they don’t get sick all the time.
So back to the question posed by clients: “Both my partner/wife/husband etc and I drank the same water. I ended up with chronic fatigue, but they didn’t. How come?”
Roller Coaster Rides
Deepak Chopra MD illustrates the debate in the following way. He asks us to imagine two people taking a roller coaster ride.
One of them loves roller coaster rides: so their body produces hormones, including endorphins, which boosts the immune system. They may also generate some stress hormones, but there are a number of reasons why they don’t have a harmful effect- a topic for another blog.
The other person hates roller coaster rides. They feel anxious, and this activates the fight or flight mechanism. This switches on the Sympathetic Nervous System, and produces powerful hormones, including adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, cortisol and DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). When the fight or flight mechanism is activated, the immune system is suppressed. According to research, we are 3 times more likely to catch a cold when stressed.
So if you then gave both these people some of Bergen’s polluted water, what is the more probable outcome? Is it more likely that the person who has endorphins boosting their immune system will fight off the giardiasis, whereas the other person has a higher probability of becoming unwell as a result?
One client who posed this question realised that she was more prone to emotional stress, whereas her boyfriend was much more easy-going, and she believed that this explained why she became unwell, whereas he didn’t.
However, before anyone starts thinking that this offers an explanation for everyone, this is not the case. As stated in Part 1, everyone is different. It is not being suggested that everyone with this condition has it because they are more prone to emotional stress.
Factors increasing susceptibility
Other clients who contracted the condition recognised that the following may have been contributory factors making them more susceptible to the organism resulting in giardiasis:
1. Fitness
One client believed that she was probably more susceptible to becoming ill after drinking the polluted water, because she had broken her leg, and she wasn’t as fit as normal. When she was fit, she rarely got ill in the past, but thought her immune system might not have been as robust during this period.
2. Stress at work
3. An operation
4. An inoculation
5. A bout of food poisoning
6. A pre-existing infection
The link between stress and immune function is well established. Of course, this list comprises a few factors; there are others.
It is not always immediately obvious what may have contributed to some people becoming ill after drinking the polluted water. However, there is a question that is more important than ‘What is the cause?’ which is ‘What can I do to regain my health?’
In Part 3 I will explore the Holistic Model, and how embracing this model may help us answer this important question. You can read Part 3 here
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SIMON PIMENTA is a hypnotherapist, coach and trainer working with people to boost resilience and performance, and minimise stress. After working in a demanding job as the Director of a Housing Trust, he went off sick and remained unable to work for the next 8 years. He discovered a pioneering approach to resolving health issues and quickly got back his health, and now trains others using these same techniques, to help them become happier, healthier and achieve their goals.