Probable Cause: Fibromyalgia and DSS

I would like to address the probable causes of (and natural remedies for) a cluster of serious modern health problems researcher Muhammad Yunus, M.D., of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, calls Dysregulation Spectrum Syndrome (DSS). These problems include:

•    Fibromyalgia
•    Chronic fatigue syndrome
•    Irritable bowel
•    Irritable bladder
•    Multiple chemical sensitivity
•    Primary dysmenorrhea
•    Migraines and other headaches
•    Restless leg syndrome
•    Temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ)
•    Myofascial pain syndrome

Dr. Yunus views these “diseases” as part of a larger health breakdown because they usually overlap one another, meaning if a person has one of these problems, they typically have some of the others. I think this is a valid way of viewing these chronic diseases, but I would take it one step further. I’ve never met a chronically ill person who had been labeled with a single disease name. In medicine, these diseases are viewed as separate problems, but I think they are really part of an overall condition of ill health.

Because modern medicine hasn’t determined a specific cause of many of these chronic health problems, it usually offers only symptomatic treatment. However, natural healing is based on the idea that the body heals itself when given the right tools (nutrition) and conditions (lifestyle), so our job is not to treat symptoms (i.e., the disease labels a person has been given), but rather to identify the root causes of their ill health and guide them to a healthier diet and lifestyle.

I love the 4th of July because we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the constitutional principles that make the United States of America the greatest nation in history.  Therefore, I will use principles from our founding documents as a metaphor to discuss resolving these and other chronic health problems.

A Metaphor for Chronic Disease

Think of the various symptoms associated with these disease names as crimes being perpetrated against the body. The criminals in this case are whatever is causing the diseases to develop. Treating the diseases by offering symptomatic relief is like helping the victims of the crime but allowing the criminals to run free.

Modern medical researchers say they don’t know the cause of many of these ailments. This makes them similar to an unsolved crime. What do we do when we have an unsolved crime? We gather clues and look for suspects.  Based on the experience of various natural healers, we have a pretty good list of suspects. So, even if we don’t know the exact causes of a particular chronic health problem, we can start investigating the likely suspects and “arrest” them in our lives based on probable cause.

The phrase “probable cause” comes from the Bill of Rights, which says that a person can’t be arrested without a warrant issued under probable cause. What this means is that someone must present evidence to a judge that a person has committed a crime. This evidence gives the judge probable cause to issue the warrant for that person’s arrest.

This doesn’t mean the person is guilty; it only gives the government the right to further pursue the matter.  The suspect has to be indicted (by a grand jury in the case of a felony charge) and put on trial to determine his or her guilt or innocence.

Arresting Your Potential Suspects

Well, we can do a similar thing with our health problems. We may not know the exact causes, but we can identify some probable causes. Arresting them amounts to taking action to eliminate them from our life. If we arrest these probable causes of disease by making diet or lifestyle changes for a reasonable period of time (say two to four weeks), we can see if the level of “crime” in the body (expressed in the form of disease symptoms) diminishes.

If it does, then we’ve rounded up one of the “criminals” that was robbing our good health. We can pronounce that diet or lifestyle factor “guilty” and put that health criminal “behind bars” for good by making permanent changes to our diet and lifestyle.

Many modern maladies are not the result of a single health criminal. They are more likely caused by a “gang” of health villains working together. So, arresting one of the suspects may reduce the level of crime (i.e., result in an improvement in symptoms), but won’t completely restore a person to good health. To get a complete “cure,” you will probably need to put all of the gang members behind bars.

With these concepts in mind, let’s look at the Ten Most Wanted probable causes of fibromyalgia, the other diseases associated with DSS, and most other chronic health problems. I’ve divided these probable causes into two groups—primary suspects and secondary accomplices. Primary suspects are diet and lifestyle factors that contribute to these diseases. Secondary accomplices are underlying imbalances in the body created by these factors, which must be corrected so a person can heal.

The Ten “Most Wanted” Health Criminals

If you are suffering from any of the problems associated with DSS or any other chronic illness, look through the following list and decide which of these gang members is most likely committing crimes against your health. Arrest that villain, using the tools suggested.  After “arresting” a suspect, if you notice any improvement in your health, then you should pronounce that health robber “guilty” and make permanent changes to eliminate it. The more of these Ten Most Wanted you eliminate, the lower the level of disease symptom “crimes” you’ll have in your body.

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