Reply to comment

Hey guys,

I wanted to thank you again for coming to our discussion on Tuesday; I thought it was very interesting and enlightening, especially in the case of acupuncture. I wanted to ask you guys what you thought of the article “Spinal Irritation and Fibromyalgia: A surgeon general and the Three Graces.” I must concede that upon first read, it does seem somewhat unrelated, but when further reading is performed, one notices that many of the ideas in the paper relate to our class discussion, namely perception of pain. The bio-socio-cultural aspect of pain is particularly on display here, as the shifting perceptions of pain coincide with the shifting perceptions of body type, as the suggestion is made that body image and unhappiness could be linked with spinal irritation. For me, it is interesting that the shifting body types of the Three Graces depicted in artwork is used as a basis of a hypothesis for the role of social construct in “spinal irritation.” One then must wonder, if a longitudinal study were conducted in a way that cross-cut the shifting of beauty paradigms, would there be fluctuations in “spinal irritation” rates as well? That brings me to another point. Would assisted suicide because of pain be more acceptable in countries in which suicide is more acceptable already?

On another note, I agree that the goal of medicine should not be to eliminate pain completely, but I think the goal should be to eliminate suffering as much as possible, which I believe to be an entirely different animal. I should also say that not all kinds of suffering can be eliminated medically, such as heartache, loneliness, etc. I am merely saying that if someone is in pain or impaired in someway that makes a normal life much too difficult, medicine and should seek to aid them. I think we can all agree on this, as it is not too controversial; however, what if that person cannot be treated to an extent that will allow them to continue on without being crippled by pain, etc.? In this case, in response to Alex, then I do not believe the central goal of medicine should be abandoned. If the patient undergoes psychiatric evaluation and is judged to be mentally competent, I feel that the patient should have the right end their life. If physician assisted suicide is the only option that will eliminate the suffering (note: not pain), then it should fall under the scope of acceptable courses of action. I say this, but it would most likely be considered on a case by case basis.