Changing the mindset in medicine

Mathew describes the overwhelm clinicians feel when seeing patients with many complex conditions who have brough both physical and social problems to a long awaited but short consultation.1When medical guidelines are viewed in totality, it is clear we can’t see the wood for the trees, have forgotten the person behind the disease, and are failing to tackle the root causes of their symptoms.Basic science now describes a common underlying pathology to long term conditions: immune dysregulation resulting in chronic systemic inflammation.2 The key drivers include environmental and lifestyle factors influencing gene expression and our microbiome.Our current medical model is, however, based on a reductionist and deterministic view of health that stems from the era of gene discoveries. This has led to a belief that diseases exist in isolation and we are powerless without medicine and drugs. This is not the case. If we step back from the relentless assessment, quantification,…
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