Tag: Holistic medicine

Preventing migraines – beyond medication

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment
Feverfew, Tanacetum Parthenium

This is not an “anti-drug” post – I fully accept that prescribed medication is the mainstay of migraine prevention. Certain beta-blockers, antidepressants and anticonvulsants are long established for reducing the frequency and severity of attacks, and the newer CGRP inhibitors have even better results. But none of these drugs work for everyone, and all of them can have unwanted side effects. I took propranolol for many years with some benefit, but then its effect seemed to wear off. I then decided to look more closely at what lifestyle factors triggered my attacks, and to explore some complementary therapies that seemed more “natural” and gave me more choice and control over managing my health. Many of the non-drug options for migraine prevention are supported by evidence from clinical trials as well as by anecdotal reports, but the orthodox medical approach tends to focus on drug treatments alone. My new book Migraine and Me: A Doctor’s Experience of Understanding and Coping with Migraine aims to give a more holistic overview. Here is a brief summary of some of the preventive methods it describes. They do not offer a cure for migraine but, whether used alongside drugs or instead of them, they can help. Most of them are relevant to other chronic medical conditions too.  

Being instructed to eat better food, get more sleep, take more exercise, stop smoking, drink less, and reduce stress can be irritating – but these deceptively simple “healthy living” guidelines can make a real difference. There are special considerations for migraineurs such as not going too long between meals, and identifying triggers in the diet and environment.

Dietary supplements which have been found effective include magnesium, B vitamins and Coenzyme Q. The herb feverfew, illustrated, is available in capsule form but the most natural way to take it is by chewing its leaves, as described in one of the case histories in my book.

Relaxation techniques can help by activating the parasympathetic “rest and digest” branch of the nervous system, as opposed to the sympathetic “fight or flight” branch which tends to be overactive in migraineurs. Relaxation is a component of many other therapies such as biofeedback and massage.

 Psychological therapies may be regarded with suspicion because they are thought to imply that migraine is “all in the mind” rather than being a neurological disease with a genetic basis. I am certainly wary of psychoanalytical theories that cite repressed anger or sexual conflicts as being the cause. But more practical approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can alleviate the mental distress and social difficulties that make it harder to cope with attacks and may well be exacerbating them.

Creative activity through art, music or writing is a way of processing emotions around migraine. If the results are made public, they can contribute to understanding of the condition. Some works by historical figures such as Richard Wagner and Vincent van Gogh are thought to have been inspired by the migraine experience.  

These and other approaches are covered in more detail in Migraine and Me: A Doctor’s Experience of Understanding and Coping with Migraine, available in both print and e-book versions from your local Amazon site and other online retailers. Please forward this post to anyone in your circle who may be interested.

Introducing the Bach flowers to medical doctors

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment

Later this week I’ll be giving a short talk about the Bach flower remedies to a group of senior doctors with connections to my old medical school in Oxford, UK. Many of them will probably never have heard of the remedies – even though Mount Vernon, the home of the Bach Foundation, is only a few miles away from Oxford city. Even fewer will have had personal experience of using them, or know how much they can help with the management of health problems whether mental or physical.     

I hope and expect that there will be a friendly informal atmosphere at this meeting, and that most people in the audience will be interested in the brief case histories and flower photos I plan to present. However, some orthodox clinicians are sceptical about the value of ‘natural therapies’ in general, and a few are quite hostile towards them, so I need to be prepared to answer criticisms such as the following:

Bach flowers are no more effective than placebo: several randomised controlled trials published in medical journals have reached this conclusion. The placebo effect, in which the beliefs and expectations of both patients and their clinicians work to bring about a self-healing response, is indeed a powerful force for good and if the Bach remedies can mobilise it effectively, so much the better. There is certainly a placebo element in this therapy, as in any other.

It is, however, difficult to believe that the excellent results achieved with the remedies are due to placebo alone – over 80% of clients treated by Bach practitioners respond well, and they include babies and animals. And the occurrence of ‘healing reactions’, in which a minority of clients experience an aggravation of symptoms before they get better, seems unlikely to be a placebo (or nocebo) effect.

The published trials have several limitations, for example they have usually given the same remedies to all participants although it is a key principle of this therapy that an individualised mixture should be chosen for each case.

The challenges of evaluating natural therapies and the ‘holistic approach’ are considered in more detail in my recent book Persons not Diseases (by the way the e-version on Smashwords is on promotion at just $1.50 USD this week, 2-8 March – here’s the link).

Their supposed mode of action is not scientifically credible: talk of ‘vibrational’ and ‘energy’ medicine does not go down well in orthodox circles, where mechanical and chemical approaches hold sway. It must be admitted that the mode of action of Bach flower remedies, like that of homeopathics, is not well understood. However, it is arrogant to assume that a therapy must be ineffective because current knowledge cannot explain why it should work. The phrase ‘the exact mechanism of action is unknown’ quite often appears in the product descriptions of widely-used pharmaceutic drugs!

The remedies give ‘false hope’ of cure, and patients may use them instead of effective medical treatments: It is true to say that Dr Edward Bach envisaged a world in which most diseases could be cured if patients themselves simply learned to recognise the emotional imbalance underlying them, and used the flower remedies to restore harmony to mind and spirit. Although subsequent advances in mind-body medicine would support Bach’s ideas, current claims for the remedies are more modest. They are not a panacea and, as made clear in training courses for Bach Foundation practitioners, they are intended for ‘complementary’ rather than ‘alternative’ use. They do not treat specific medical conditions, but are selected according to the personality and emotional state of each patient, with the aim of improving quality of life. They can safely be used alongside conventional treatments.

If any other points of interest arise from the meeting, I’ll write a follow-up post next week.

Persons not Diseases: the ebook

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 1 Comment

My new ebook Persons not Diseases was published on Smashwords yesterday. It’s a short practical guide to the ‘holistic healing approach’ written for patients, clinicians, and anyone else with an interest in natural healthcare.

It began as an update of my earlier book Focus on Healing and covers a similar range of topics, but soon took on a life of its own, with new case histories, and inclusion of some references to research in the field.

There is now plenty of evidence that changes in lifestyle and mindset, self-help practices such as meditation, and use of complementary therapies can assist with coping and recovery from almost any illness. Yet these simple natural approaches are often ignored or dismissed in orthodox medical settings. I am hoping that, if they are willing to look at this book, some of those sceptical clinicians whose hackles rise when they hear the word ‘holistic’ might change their views.

Some people still prefer to read from printed copies rather than electronic devices, and I plan to publish a print version of Persons not Diseases in the next few weeks. Meanwhile here again is the Smashwords link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/343192.