One aspect of medicine that is not spoken of alot, unless one either has first hand knowledge yourself or through a loved one, is deseases that come under the Orphan illness catagory.
Often these illnesses present with a myriad of different often disabling symptoms, changes the life of the person as they previously knew it, and yet upon investigation, no definitive cause or specific desease can be found.
Very often, the person who is ill, is passed from doctor to doctor, all of them mystified, and many of them end up saying "its all in your head" which is soul destroying to the person who is sat there listening to this "expert opinion" desperate for someone to help them medically, afraid of the consequences if they are not helped, and desperate to be believed they are ill, not malingerers, hyperchonidrachs and/or time wasters.
Neurologically, there are many of these illnesses. And I know a fair few people who have these so called "orphan illnesses" and often it can take ten years or more, for them to even get close for a doctor to believe they do actually have a very physical problem, that in the end may very well kill them. There are at least 11 neurological illnesses which cannot be diagnosed until the patient , is on the autopsy table. How can one prove beyond a shadow of a doubt perhaps especially in the earlier stages of the desease that they are actually ill? And when there illness takes decline after decline and they are either not believed they are ill, or the medical community is not sure what is wrong with them, how can they then call a doctor to alleviate their suffering, if they don't know what they are treating. This kind of scenario when the person is dealing with a life changing, often life threatening illness and yet feels all but abandoned of any real help and/or support, adds a burden that at times can seem unbearable, and life feels both worthless and not worth having. As mankind has many different elements to it. You can't have physical illness without it not taking its toll on our mental/emotional/spiritual well-being. The same as emotional/mental stress or illness will often induce physical illness.
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