Symptoms Collection:
We all observe in our daily work of physician symptoms that are not known in semiology books. If we collect our numerous observations and treat them statistically, we should be able to validate new symptoms, new syndromes, and perhaps, new diseases. This is my purpose. You will be thanked in receiving the conclusions of this semiological study. Ideas? Send me a post!
Aetiology request:
As a physician, I'm glad to offer my colleagues, besides this symptoms collection operation, an etiologic request in order to increase our medical art and knowledge about diseases. I noticed once, that little causes may produce "big" bad effects: for example, cystitis at the tooth root may give rheumatisms, tendinitis and perhaps connectivitis, by cross immune reaction. Many of those correlations are unknown, and some of them begin to be known. For example, helicobacter pylori would induce dysimmune response involving vasospasm in extremities (Raynaud disease) . That's why I 'have got the idea to collect all the symptoms we meet during our daily practice, which we can relate to syndrome, diseases, but of which we cannot estimate the validity.
Notice: This study concerns only physicians. Indeed, medical studies are necessary to choose between usual symptoms that every MP knows, and that are not useful here, and seldom odd symptoms that ask the physician their meaning. Those symptoms could permit to enrich medical semiology after statistical proving filter. But patients can give their experiment in diseases with such correlations: infections before system disease.
The physicians observe during their work correlation between symptoms and diseases or causes, aetiology. But these symptoms don't match with those taught on the university seats. Most of them are individual's reaction that will not be useful for further diagnosis. Some of them may be useful to diagnosis, correlations between cause and effect.
But the physician alone cannot prove the interest of what he observed. That's why I propose to collect those symptoms to make a statistical study of their validity. Let's take an example: before allergic shock, the sick man can feel scalp itching, prurience. It may be time for epinephrine! This is a well-known symptom, but many others are in the shade.
Other example: recently, you probably heard of helicobacter pylori was involved in Raynaud's syndrome. (clamp in vessels of fingers when it's cold). We can see this syndrome in connectivitis, too. In a few month, perhaps we will see helicobacter is involved in connectivitis... Our observation may accelerate those correlations if we are able to collect them and evaluate them statistically! Thanks to the Internet, we can make such a study.
The best observation will be done on a sick man who doesn't present a lot of symptoms. Too many symptoms often equals DSM-IV context! : ) , useful elsewhere, but here, I don't want to have too many data to deal with!
In order to succeed, send me symptoms and correlations you observed at least twice (third would be better!). Be short, but not too much. Precise the circumstances, the chief past and present treatments, age, sex, profession, former deceases and drug reactions, surgery of the sick man... whatever may seem to you useful for such a study. Please mail to "web master!"
Definition of psychosomatic diseases:
The psychosomatic diseases are those which touch at the same time mind and body.
Body and mind are one. So it is natural that diseases interact between body and mind, mind and body. The relation between mind and body depends in fact upon the relation between nervous central system and the rest of the body... Or between emotional, intellectual fields and physical organs. Or yet, between subconscious unconscious mind and the body... There are many ways to approach this link!
In fact, there are different approaches of psychosomatic diseases, because each one may have a different dynamic process. For instance, headache can be caused by different psychosomatic way: aggressiveness against others turned back to self, loss of rhythm activity/rest (weekend headache), excess of concentration...
Causes of psychosomatic diseases:
Causes are numerous! Here are main ones. First, genetics, which commands a part of the richness of the links between temporal nervous system and vegetative nervous system, which conditions the effect of stress, of depression onto the body. Some people may never have psychosomatic diseases, even if they are stressed! Besides, stress is not the only cause of those diseases, but the way we manage stress. For example, if we deny a problem, it will go down in unconscious easier than if you look at the problem in front. It very important to get aware of denying problems, that which is, by definition impossible for the subject himself. Help of therapists or external sight needed!
Pr Laborit, a French neurobiologist, thinks that double bounded situations, in which we can do nothing to solve a problem, set a reaction of the nervous system so that inner corticoids increase, with a lot of ill effects, hypertension, immune deficiency, that may induce cancers, infections. We are not talking about AIDS, in which the immune deficiency is almost total. Ulcers of stomach can also be induced by corticoid increasing. As for mind and mood, corticoids can stimulate, (what they wished to do), or on the contrary, depress. Laborit showed that rats that agitate anyhow could survive, whereas inhibited ones died!
conclusion: do anything, but do something! Fortunately, doing sports, for instance, is a very good way to do "anything" besides the problems we have to solve!
After stress, another cause is depression. Depression may induce symptoms even if the subject doesn't seem depressed. We call that hidden depression.
But, there are yet other less important causes of psychosomatic disorders. We shall add informations about them.
Here is a list of psychosomatic disorders. It doesn't mean that each is exclusively psychosomatic, but inclusively: it may not at all be! Your family physician can diagnose it... And also, it's sometimes difficult to separate between system nervous, cardiovascular, ... because, many disorders touch more than one organ!
We often speak about psychosomatic way, but less of somatopsychic way, which is also important, as it complicates evolution of health troubles.
Back to contents line, back to the top.
Prevention of psychosomatic diseases:
Good stress management! (to be followed...) Good communication, at first, between mother and baby, and later child and parents, teachers... and everybody later... Indeed, education is very important! But we should teach stress management to every child.
Second, to see things as they are, which is a vast program! (Further development...)
Treatment of psychosomatic diseases:
Two levels in treatment: global and specific.
On the global side, we must manage the situations that induce somatization, for instance: stress. Good communication, self assurance, help you to prevent accumulation of disorders. When the illness is here, treat it in different ways: drugs can be necessary. Acupuncture can help you too, as it works on the two levels, mind and body, relaxing, harmonizing inner tensions. Plants, in the same way, can relax the mind and improve body working. In France, we use Homeopathy, too, in these indications. Another techniques: mesotherapy, can be also used. (further informations to come).
On the specific side, we have to manage each somatization in its particular dynamics. If you stress in case of auto-aggressiveness, you have to observe the situation which induces this stress, aggressiveness, and "auto"-aggressiveness. Different possibilities are moved up to canalize energy. Instead of being a looser in such a situation, you choose consciously to master the facts, looking them in front. Earlier communication can discharge stress immediately... You have to "dare who you are!"
Back to top, to psychosomatic diseases choice line, to prime page of the site.