Suppression of Symptoms Worsens Disease

by Heidi Stevenson

Nearly all allopathic drugs and treatments simply suppress symptoms. They do not cure. Therein lies the problem.

The focus of concern on symptoms is misguided. Certainly, they're what we notice, what troubles us. However, symptoms are the body's attempts to heal itself. Consider fever. It isn't the disease, but only a symptom. It exists because it's an excellent way to destroy the real cause—an infection. Most bacteria and viruses are unable to survive in too hot an environment.

So, when a fever is lowered with drugs, one of the body's most significant means of healing itself is removed. The result is worsening of the disease. Suppression of a fever makes you sicker.

Most pharmaceutical drugs focus on one piece of the puzzle. They force a change that works against the body, rather than with it. Take, for example, steroids, which are used quite casually for a range of problems, such as by inhalation or orally for asthma or injected into the spine to temporarily ease back pain. This class of drugs mimics hormones produced by the adrenal glands.

Pharmaceutical drugs certainly have their place. When a fever is so high that it becomes dangerous, then of course it should be reduced by almost any means necessary. But until this point is reached, it's better to let nature take its course. When inflammation is so severe that it's life-threatening, then the judicial application of steroids can save life.

When injured, the immune system produces inflammation. This engorges tissues around the injury site, heats them, and brings the needed cellular and molecular help required to heal. In balance, inflammation is a critical part of the immune system, the body's means of defending itself against a host of invasive substances and injuries.

In asthma, the body produces an inappropriate inflammatory state. Steroids counter it, which is how they help limit asthma attacks. But it comes at a very serious cost. The immune system is depressed, putting the sufferer at greater risk of infections. It also unbalances the endocrine system, which can have a huge array of implications on metabolism. Serious side effects known to be caused by steroids, such as prednisone, include:

• Diabetes
• Cushing's syndrome
• Heart failure
• Fractures
• Hallucinations
• Seizures
• Psychiatric disturbances
• Liver damage

This is far from an exhaustive list. All of these are the result of using steroids to suppress symptoms. Knock-on effects throughout the body can result. For this reason, homeopathy considers symptom suppression to be a serious mistake in most instances.

Some of the problem with suppression appears to be in not allowing the body to develop its immune system. Homeopaths are often able to trace chronic disease back to vaccinations. It's well documented that asthma occurs in only about one percent of children who have never been vaccinated. Of those who have received vaccines, up to 25% may develop asthma. The focus in this article is on symptom suppression, so further discussion of vaccinations will be left to another dialog.

The body is well designed to resolve most illnesses without help. It tries to remove toxins and waste byproducts through normal channels of elimination, such as the bowels or bladder. If these are blocked or overwhelmed, then other body systems must be used. As a rule, the least harmful method is tried first. So, if the liver is overburdened, then acne may develop. Of course, no one wants acne, but the message that should be taken from this is that the real solution to acne is to resolve the problem that is preventing the liver from adequately processing wastes. Taking pharmaceutical drugs may temporarily resolve the acne problem, but the underlying issue will still exist, leaving the body with no option but to find another outlet. By opting for the quick fix of pharmaceutical drugs, the price to pay may be chronic disease.

Symptoms are not the enemy. They are the body's attempts at healing. When we interfere with that process, the result is usually furtherance of disease.

Homeopathy focuses on finding the underlying cause of disease and removing it. It does not offer quick fixes by simply covering the problem. When symptoms have been removed with homeopathic treatment, the patient is left stronger and healthier than ever.