Article entry 2023-07-07 21:00:00
Edit article 2023-07-07 20:29:25
The Kingdom of Invisible Disease/Megan O’Rourke/Translated by Jin Young-in/Booky/19,000 won
When many people read books and dramas related to disease, they expect content that ‘gets rid of or defeats the disease’. This is because people’s expectations have also risen as modern medicine has developed. However, the reality is that there are still overflowing diseases for which diagnosis and treatment are not as clear as cutting with a knife.
The new book, ‘The Kingdom of Invisible Disease’, is the struggle of the author who suffered from autoimmune disease for 20 years. At the time when his condition worsened, autoimmune diseases were hardly studied, so he had to go to hospital without being diagnosed.
Megan O’Rourke/translated by Jin Young-in/bookie/19,000 won
It was right after graduating from college that the author had to continue to suffer from stabbing pain. I went to all the places that were good for unbearable pain, including general internal medicine, university hospitals, and alternative medicine. All possible tests, such as blood tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests, were also conducted. But his diagnoses, such as hives, mononucleosis, and Hashimoto’s disease, continued to come and go.
Pain was tangible to him, but since there was no clear diagnosis like cancer, it was difficult to fully understand the people around him. While repeating improvement and deterioration over a long period of time, the doctor’s diagnosis slanted toward ‘disease of the mind’. That’s how he piled up debt for treatment without much income.
After a long time, what he eventually accepted was an ‘autoimmune disease’. In the case of autoimmune diseases, the immune system overreacts, mistaking normal cells as enemies and attacks them. is a disease that In 2012, when his condition worsened, autoimmune diseases were rarely studied and were commonly viewed as manifestations of latent mental illness. Currently, it is estimated that there are between 24 and 50 million people with autoimmune diseases in the United States alone.
It’s a change in just a few decades. It’s not just autoimmune diseases. Some cancers, multiple sclerosis, and tuberculosis have been referred to as hysteria or “consumption,” or the result of emotional suppression in the past. Today, the importance of the microbiome (the microorganisms that exist in a particular environment and their genetic information) and gut health is emphasized for granted, but not too long ago, these claims were treated as absurd.
The author also criticizes the American medical system. Doctors only know their field of specialization, rely on clear test results, and alternative medicine is not covered by insurance. He said, “It treats acute diseases well, but it is poor at treating complex chronic diseases.”
Unfortunately, the benefits of the remarkable development of medicine do not go back equally to everyone. As everyone has experienced in the past three years with the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), until diagnosis and treatment are detailed, patients must live with the uncertainty of the ‘unknown disease’ without data or answers. As the author did, many patients are still suffering from the invisible realm of disease.
2023-07-07 12:00:00
#Chronic #diseases #neglected #medical #community #struggle #loneliness
