Month: July 2017

Taking tablets

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

“Healthy living” – good diet, regular exercise, enough sleep, stress reduction, positive outlook – and natural therapies can achieve a lot, but in many cases of medical illness they are not enough on their own. I am thankful to have found effective drugs to control my own episodes of high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia. At the same time I can well understand why around 50% of people with chronic disease fail to take some or all of the medication prescribed for them.

There are many reasons for non-compliance (or non-adherence). Side-effects: the experience of unpleasant symptoms in the present, or concern about possible permanent damage in the future. Reluctance to accept a need for ongoing treatment: especially if the benefits cannot be felt immediately, if healthcare professionals have not explained them clearly, or if there is genuine uncertainty about the pros and cons of longterm medication. A desire to avoid artificial chemicals. The financial cost of the drugs.

All these are valid points and there is no doubt that some prescriptions are unnecessary or harmful. But assuming that taking the drugs is indeed the right thing to do, here are some personal observations about how the physical form of the tablets (or pills or capsules) might affect compliance. These aspects may not be considered by the prescribing doctors, though I expect nurses and pharmacists appreciate them more.

Size: while this is partly determined by the chemical makeup of the drug, big tablets are hard to swallow, and small ones can get lost.

Colour and shape: many generic drugs are presented as small round white pills which are hard to tell apart, and this can lead to mistakes in dosage. Coloured tablets of different shapes are much easier to identify. Incidentally, there are some interesting studies showing that the colour of a tablet affects patients’ reports of its effects.

Strength: having to break tablets into halves or quarters is tedious and often inaccurate. Tablet-cutters can help, but it is better if low-dose versions are available.

Frequency of dosage: again this is partly dependent on the properties of the drug, but if it is possible to get a controlled-release preparation to be taken once daily this is preferable to divided dosing.

Such practicalities were not mentioned in my pharmacology course at medical school, as far as I recall. Perhaps they seemed too simple and obvious to be considered in an academic context. I certainly paid them little attention when I practiced as a doctor, not always being aware what the tablets I was prescribing would look like when dispensed. I now realise that size, colour, strength and frequency of dosage can be quite important to patients, especially those who have problems with eyesight or memory. Here in New Zealand it is impossible to get some of the low-strength and controlled release preparations that are available in the UK and elsewhere, and make patients’ lives easier.

 

Bach flowers: medicine or magic

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

After taking a few years out from my Bach flower remedy practice due to illness in the family I am now available to see clients again, so it seems timely to revisit the topic on this blog.

The remedies are intended to restore emotional balance. Common presenting problems include anxiety, grief, relationship difficulties, lack of direction in life, and the hardships of physical disease. I am continually impressed with how well the system works: 80 of my first 100 clients reported an improvement, and this figure is in line with the experience of other practitioners. But it is not always easy to reconcile my background in orthodox medicine with my interest in holistic therapies like the Bach flowers. I have to acknowledge there is no accepted scientific explanation for their mode of action, and that when tested in the artificial context of clinical trials they usually perform no better than placebo.

Leaving aside the question of whether the remedies have direct effects, a consultation with a Bach practitioner can be therapeutic because it empowers the client – as the jargon goes – “to take responsibility for their own healing”.  The interview does not follow a set structure, and it is up to the client to decide what they want to talk about and how much detail to reveal. The practitioner listens, and asks questions for clarification, but does not probe for extra information or offer unsolicited advice. The selection of remedies is a cooperative process, with the practitioner making suggestions but the client helping to choose what flowers they need, and sometimes seeing their problems in a new light as a result. The combination of up to six flowers is tailored to the unique individual’s state of mind rather than a symptom or diagnosis.

This is very different from the assessment process used in orthodox medicine and psychiatry. Traditionally, in the orthodox system, the doctor is in charge while the patient takes a passive role. The consultation follows a standard format, with a series of questions followed by examination and investigations, aimed towards establishing a diagnosis. The drugs, surgery or radiation prescribed will usually have evidence-based benefit for the disease concerned, but inevitably carry some risk of side effects. The orthodox approach often works very well, especially for acute conditions and those that are clearly defined, and is sometimes life-saving (as was clearly brought home to me in 2015 when my husband required heart surgery, described in my short memoir Across a Sea of Troubles).

The orthodox approach with its armamentarium of marvellous medical and surgical technology, and the holistic approach which draws on the universal principles of healing and self-help, are truly complementary to each other and can be used together – I think of them as representing the “yin” and “yang” of healthcare. Unfortunately there is considerable antipathy and misunderstanding between practitioners of the two schools and the concept of integrative medicine, which combines the best of both, has not been widely accepted.

While Bach flowers can be used on their own for minor mental or physical imbalances, they are not sufficient as a sole treatment for anything more serious. I often advise clients to seek a medical assessment if they have not done so already because physical diseases, for example over- or under-activity of the thyroid gland which is common especially in women, can present with psychological symptoms.

Clients are attracted to therapies like the Bach flowers because they are natural and safe, treat them as a “whole person” rather than just a case of a particular disease, and provide them with a sense of choice and control.  More information about Bach flowers can be found on this page.