Prayer or pot for pain impacted by regions, religions and science

marijuana

Response to helping people with pain depends on the culture and its teachings about pain, supply of medications and economics, as people can't use what they don't have and can't pay for.  Those who suffer severe or chronic pain are treated differently in different regions of the country as well as the entire world for a variety of reasons, including religion and therefore impacts whether people will use pot or prayer for pain.

Politics is not the only area of conflict, as religion also creates issues in response to social concerns.  For some religious groups, such as the Christian Scientists, God is the principal healer, so adherents turn less to modern medicine and more to prayer as the method for treating pain.

Lifestyle and cultural issues impact how pain is perceived by others.  In addition some people just don't "feel your pain."because they have an entirely different threshold for physical perception or social or religious views that require them to minimize its impact when they discuss it with others.

Statistics reveal an increased use in prescription drugs, and much of this has to do with pain control.  There are varied uses for pain medication, for the extreme kind as well as for chronic pain.  For doctors it's an ongoing dilemma, especially for those in chronic pain with little hope of living for any reasonable period of time.  The concerns about addiction still remain, along with physician's own perception of physical pain based upon his or her physical characteristics and religious views.

It is chronic pain often at issue.  That's because of the questions regarding addiction as well as the culture message that says, "You've been sick long enough.  Now get over it."  That's especially true when practitioners and medical supplies are in short supply.  Folks like to talk about dear Aunt Hattie, 75 years old, and still working hard at washing windows in spite of two herniated disc and a cancer diagnosis.  This is the view that seems to say to folks, "I'm better because me and my family deal with pain better."

A glaring example of lack of quality medical care affected by culture was the description of how Kuwaiti doctors respond to the problem of pain.  Kuwaiti doctors, according to the  The Kuwait Times, will often think, or actually say, about medical mistakes or lack of care, “just live with it.” Many medical practitioners relate the same thing when dealing with chronic pain patients..  This is particularly true when there are no easy answers.

Medical personnel are also in short supply relative to population needs in many places in the world.  This gives rise to reliance on alternatives or even no help at all, an orientation that Kuwait has taken to its populations in need.  But it is also true of how medical treatment is provided in many poor areas of the world.

 A study, entitled "Measuring the Health of Nations: Updating an Earlier Analysis,"set up and carried out by a team of researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found that the United States is last among the developed nations for quality of medical care and France is tops. To obtain these results the research examined individuals younger than age 75 who had died but whose deaths might have been prevented by effective, quality and timely medical care.  Although France has been rated high in comparison with other healthcare programs, Businessweek says the French system isn’t quite as sterling as Moore maintains but that it indeed is “pretty good.”

The fact is also that France can also play the machismo game of "grin and bear it" given the tough approach taken towards minority groups to save money.  Not dealing with pain issues is also another way to save money.

More and more states in the United States are allowing the use of medical marijuana for pain control, especially for those groups having neurogenic pain related to diabetes or pain or nausea from cancer.  On the other hand, groups point to the power of prayer in some studies that suggest that those prayed for heal more readily.  But the scientific studies are inconsistent for both methods of pain control, even though both have provided relief for many people, according to anecdotal reports..

So will prayer or pot take precedence in the control of pain in the coming years?  Given the fact that many religious groups stand in the political doorway,the options for marijuana are limited to those states where it is legal for medical purposes.  At the same time these state laws conflict with federal legislation outlawing marijuana for any uses at all.  The Deep South has deep six-ed the notion so far, and most folks have opted for prayer.

Given the cost considerations, the growing numbers of elderly and others with chronic pain, the choice might end up being a serious debate on the national stage about whether or not prayer or pot should be used for pain or whether both may be the best solution at a time of soaring healthcare costs.