Modern medicine suffers from many different and severe cases of curanoia, fears of cures, based on failures to understand cure. It’s not cure phobia, a phobia is an irrational fear without blame. Curanoia is easily and often rationalized and curers are often blamed. Curanoias exist in many forms, in every layer of our systems of modern medicine.

Why Curanoia? Why fear of cures?

Modern medicine has no functional definition of cure, no theory of cure, and is simply unable to cure most diseases – unable even to recognize a cure when it occurs. Doctors are often not permitted to cure, restrained to a Standard of Care which makes no attempt to cure. Few diseases or medical conditions have a Standard of Cure.

A cure is a change in status. An illness or disease was present, and now it is not present. We often think of an illness as a thing, but no. An illness is more like the wind. Illness is something we can neither see nor touch – we might only see or touch its causes and consequences.

An elementary illness consists of a single present cause and the negative consequences of that cause. A cure is an action, not a medicine, that addresses, changes the cause such that the negative consequences fade and disappear, no longer occurring, the illness is cured. Sometimes, an illness passes, like the wind, when the cause fades away. A complex case of illness or disease has multiple causes and thus requires multiple cure actions, one to address each cause.

A cure is a change of cause, producing a change in consequences. However, we often fear change for for good reasons, changes can be dangerous. So we fear cures many.

In the theory of cure, there are two elementary types of cures. We fear them both.

An attribute cure is a one-time cur. It is the result of a change to an attribute. Broken tooth is cured by an extraction, or a filling – both potentially painful and risky. An infection might be cured by a dangerous medicine, or perhaps a surgery. A cancer might be cured by a surgery – with potential for pain and risk based on its severity. Some attribute cures are simple – trivial – so trivial we don’t consider them cures. A minor bruise or cut heals without conscious attention, sometimes without us noticing any illness. An ingrown toenail that we can easily clip ourselves, is hardly considered a cure. If it becomes infected and a medical surgery is required. However, our medical systems generally avoid the word cure, even though surgeries are considered cures. Most attribute cures are not recognized by our current medical systems because they are not brought about by approved medicines or medical treatments.

A causal cure is a result of a change to a life process or habit. Smoker’s cough is cured by stopping the habit of smoking. The changed process (in this case the absence of process) must be maintained to maintain the cure. A scorbutic status illness (an absence of Vitamin C, an attribute) is cured with Vitamin C supplements that change the attribute – although our medical systems refer to this as a treatment, avoiding the word cure. However, a patient who is scorbutic because of poverty, addiction, or an unhealthy diet cannot be cured with supplements. A causal cure, ongoing cure actions are required. But we rarely consider ongoing processes or actions to be a cure. We don’t think of curing alcoholism as a cure for malnutrition, even when it cures. And besides, cured is not medically defined for alcohol nor malnutrition. Like all cures, causal cures also have potential for negative consequences. The cure for smoker’s cough might result in unwanted weight gain. Changing our life processes and our habits is difficult – and we generally avoid such cures. Many doctors know that advising an obese patient to lose weight to cure a skin condition or gout is generally futile, even if the patient believes it will work. There are no placebo cures.

Modern medicine recognizes attribute cures for infectious diseases, where the infectious agent is killed or removed by an approved medical or surgical treatment. Cases of disease cured by non-approved medicines are anecdotal and generally dismissed as unimportant. In all other types of cures, modern medicine has no definition of and no test for cured. No causal cures can be recognized medically, the cure actions are not medicines nor approved treatments.

Why do we Fear Cures, Curing, and Cured?

Patients fear cures because a cure changes the patient. The illness cause is often seen as an essential part of the patient, their life and lifestyle. Changing the cause, addressing the cause, transforming the cause, often transforms not just the illness, but also the patient. Alternative practitioners often refer to transformation as a curative.

Patient curanoias can also emerge from being encouraged to learn to live with your disease. Some patients gradually identify themselves with their disease. Some refuse to acknowledge the disease (thereby avoiding cures) or refuse to acknowledge the cause (thereby avoiding curative actions). Smokers might acknowledge that their smoker’s cough is caused by smoking, but may also believe their overall health, of body, mind, and spirits will drop if they stop.

There are other important reasons why patients fear cures. Searching for cures is shamed, patient are advised:

• “don’t use Dr. Google as your doctor,”
• “don’t trust alternative cures (even in cases where there are clearly no non-alternative cures)“
• “trust your doctor,” “ask your doctor,” (never mind if you don’t actually have a doctor, or if the disease or the cure is outside of your doctor’s area of knowledge.)

Patients also fear cures, even fear claiming to be cured, and claiming to be cured by X, because most doctors dismiss most cures and most cure claims. Doctors treat diseases, but have little experience curing.

Doctors fear cures because curing is medically forbidden. Medical training teaches doctors to avoid the word cure. Medical internship shames doctors that use the word cure. Modern medicine gives lip service to cures, but doctors who dare to cure – and to publicize their cures can be ostracized, can lose their license to practice, or in rare cases imprisoned or run out of town. There are many historical examples where this has happened, the most recent being doctors who dared attempt or succeed in curing COVID. According to WorldMeters.info, over 670 million cases of COVID are recorded as RECOVERED. There is not a single case of COVID cured, much less COVID cured by X. Our medical systems have no techniques to judge a case of COVID cured, much less a case of CURED BY.

Modern medicine has no medical concept of present cause , of cure cause. The present cause of an illness is the cause, which when successfully addressed, results in a cure. But, without a medical theory of cure, there is no need for an understanding of present cause. Modern medicine studies proximate causes, distal causes, ultimate causes, future causes, past causes, but not cure causes. Why? Modern medicine sees cause and effect as past (cause) and effect (future). However, the cure cause of an illness is present, presently causing the signs and symptoms of illness.

Absence of a scientific or medical definition of cured creates inability to prove a cure and reluctance to claim cured for most diseases.

In addition, confusion around the concepts of remission and reemergence (vs cured and recurrence) increases medical curanoias. A second instance of cause is often describe as the “return of the disease” as opposed to “a new case of the disease.” When cure is defined and attained, the second case is due to a new occurrence of the cause. In most diseases however, there is no distinction between the two concepts, because cured is not defined. For some illnesses – the cause is always present and risk of a new illness is high. As a result, when a doctor claims a cure, a new case of the illness is often judged remission, as a cure failure, as if the cure claim was simply wrong. This focus on disease facilitates causal ignorance. It’s safest to avoid the word cure – to make no curative promises, and avoid potential for any lawsuits.

“Ask your doctor about X” is a common advertising trope, but don’t presume to ask your doctor “How many people did you cure last week? Month? Year?” The answer will likely be denial of cure.

Even though surgeries are commonly described as cures, most surgeons avoid the word cure. No one discusses cataract surgery as a cure for cataracts – although it clearly is so. Cleft lip and hernia cures, are often easily accomplished with surgery, but rarely described as cures. More than half of cancer cases are cured by trivial actions – and thus considered trivial, not even considered to be cancers, much less cures. Part of the problem with surgeries, perhaps, is that almost all surgeries require healing to complete the cure process, so the surgery was not the complete cure. In the theory of cure, only elementary illnesses can be cured by a single action, and most cases of disease are not elementary illnesses. Most diseases require multiple cure actions.

Healing is generally recognized as a cure, but medical and nonmedical actions that facilitate and promote healing are rarely, if ever, considered cures. Rehabilitation is considered to be a treatment or a sequence of treatments, even as it cures with the aid of healing.

No nutritional disease can be cured, simply because they cannot be cured by any approved medicine. Absence of medicine is not a nutritional disease. Cured is not medically defined for nutritional diseases, even when the cure is obvious. Addressing nutritional deficiencies is a treatment for scurvy. The word cure is avoided.

Most alternative medical practitioners also fear curing, or at least the word cure, perhaps in their efforts to appear professional. Professional doctors don’t cure, so an alternative practitioner who dares claim to cure cannot be professional.

The theory of cure defines elementary illnesses as those having a single present cure cause, and being cured by addressing that cause. Compound illnesses have multiple cure causes and require multiple cures. Each of those cures addresses a single element of the illness. A complex illness is present when one illness is causing another, and two cures are required. If the primary illness is not cured, curing the secondary illness might simply result in it being recreated by the primary illness. However, these illness concepts and their associated cures simply do not exist in modern medicine – so none of their cures can be recognized, much less proven. Even with the simplest compound or complex illnesses, doctors avoid the cure word. As a result, a case of depression with multiple causes cannot be seen as partially cured when any single cause is addressed, nor seen as completely cured when all present causes are addressed. Elementary cures of compound or complex illness cures are often perceived as failures because the cure is partial. Modern medicine has no concept of an illness element, nor of a partial cure.

There is another important reason why doctors fear cures – its because medical associations and organizations fear and dismiss most cures.

Medical Associations and Systems fear cures, curing, and cured. Most cancer doctors, surveys have shown, avoid the word cure entirely and advise their staff to do the same. The same is true of many other medical practitioners. If we presume to ask any hospital or medical clinic staff if your illness will be cured – the response might be a blank stare, or perhaps an apology. Their job is to care, not to cure.

Even though over 9o percent of cases of common cold, influenza, measles, and COVID are cured, medical associations proclaim, almost with pride “there is no cure for…“

Medical associations represent the community of doctors. Someone who cures diseases is a threat to the community, because most doctors dare not cure most diseases – and cannot cure most diseases using approved treatments. Even when a case of disease is cured, the cure is rarely recognized. No doctor, medical clinic or hospital keeps statistics on cures and cure failures. Medical associations have no definition of cured for most diseases. As a result, all cure claims, especially non-medical cures or so-called alternative medical cures can be easily dismissed. Proof of cure is simply not possible without a functional definition of cured.

Medical associations often create and maintain a Standard of Care (not cure) for a disease or medical condition, under the assumption that a cure is not possible. The standard of care can become a roadblock against cures, because a cure requires actions different from the standard. Doctors who dare to cure can be accused of ignoring their responsibility to their medical associations. This is nothing new. The history of the Hippocratic Oath reveals similar regulations, “the creation of the (Hippocratic) Oath may have marked the early stages of medical training… by requiring strict loyalty” (National Library of Medicine).

There is another important reason why medical associations fear cures – it’s because governmental organizations ignore cures and dismiss most cures claims.

The USA/FDA forbids cures. Neither the CDC nor the FDA has a useful definition of cure. In FDA language, the word cure refers to products not actions. Products that claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent diseases are forbidden unless specifically approved. Such products must be withdrawn, or they ill be confiscated – as if they present a danger to the public. In government, cures simply do not exist unless they are approved products. However, the approval process functions without a definition of cured. Technically, all curative treatments are illegal unless they have been approved by the FDA. However, the FDA has no definition of cured to guide approvals. Submissions by product manufacturers that claim to cure provide clinical studies – each with their own specific definition of cured.

There is a reason for this simplicity. The FDA control of medicines, of medicine approval was a response to medical hucksters, sellers of fake medicines, snake oil medicines, having no ability and no intention to cure. The FDA set up a system of approval that required scientific analysis. However, this was done without any definition of cure. The deficiency – of a definition of cure – still exists today. In addition, no-one in industry, education, or government is working to address it. What is missing – the absence of a definition of cure – is simply not noticed.

There is another important reason why the FDA fears cures – the FDA is largely funded and staffed by drug companies and their representatives – who fear cures. In some ways, it make sense. Who would know the most about drugs – but the drug company representatives. However, it also creates a powerful lever for big money drug companies to control which treatments are approved and which are not approved. Simple cures will not be approved – because are no patents available, so there is no profitable market for simple cures.

Drug Manufacturers fear the word cure, and avoid theoretical or scientific discussions of cure. The simple truth is that most drugs make no attempt to cure any case of disease and cannot cure any case of disease. Another pharma truth is, drugs that do not cure are more profitable than drugs or other actions that cure. People who are cured don’t need drugs. Most cures are trivial. Most cures do not require any drugs. Cures, real cures, are a threat to the drug industry. The word cure does not appear on the product label or information insert of most prescription drugs and most OTC (over the counter) drugs. Curanoia can be profitable.

There are four basic types of drugs, only one of them can cure:

symptomicines – medicines that address the signs and symptoms of diseases like the common cold, but make no attempt to cure.

forever medicines – like insulin for diabetics drugs for depression, and statins for high cholesterol, intended to be taken regularly until the patient dies because they cannot cure.

preventatives – like vaccines, which can be marketed to anyone and everyone who fears diseases that cannot be cured. Note: preventatives that can cure, like foods containing Vitamin C, are not recognized as cures and cannot be marketed as drugs.

anti-infectious – antibiotics, antifungals, and anti-parasites, that cure by killing an invading parasite.

The problem with drugs that cure is easily understood. They are bought once, and if they work, there is no more need. The product works itself out of future sales. The market for medical cures is limited by the fact that they cure. The market for symptomicines, forever medicines, and preventatives, on the other hand, is huge.

Because drug companies fear cures – clinical researchers also ignore and dismiss most cures. Most clinical studies are funded by drug companies.

Clinical Researchers generally avoid the word cure. Most clinical studies do not contain any definition of cured for the disease being treated. These studies are looking for products that provide improvements in the condition of the patient, as opposed to cures. Products that improve the condition of a patient have potential to become forever medicines.

As a result of the absence of a definition of cure in the study plan, if a cure occurs, it cannot be officially documented. Cures are simply out of scope in most clinical studies.

Cure Rate, often measured in clinical studies – is a concept based on curanoias, based on the belief that “cured” should not be claimed, cannot be proven, and should not be documented, in individual cases of disease. Cure rate statistics count cases presumed (but not proven) to be cured. In cases, when cure rates are calculated, cured cannot be proven because no independent test of cured exists.

Clinical studies of preventatives must discount cures. If an illness is easily cured, there is little need for a preventative. The cost and risks associated with the preventative might outweigh the costs and risks of the disease and its cure. Better to simply avoid the question: ignore cures, dismiss cures, fear cures.

Clinical studies of forever medicines, like statins or diabetes medicines, must ignore cures. What if high cholesterol or diabetes can be cured? Every cure shrinks the market for forever medicines. Cures must be ignored, feared, dismissed.

Clinical studies of cures for infectious diseases can accept some cures – those caused by the medicine. However, cures of these diseases that are caused by “not the medicine” must be ignored. There is a perfect historical example of treatments for warts, where the first studies found cures on both the placebo and treatment arms of the study. An embarrassing result. What to do? The study was simply replicated without the test for cured. No cures were found, and the results were secure.

The Media, and Publishers fear cures, curing, and cured. This is easily seen when cure claims are made public. Large media organizations have huge income from pharma advertisers. Discussing cures, opposed by pharma companies, is a serious risk. Drug companies, the FDA, medical associations, doctors and patients all agree. There are no cures for most diseases. There are no cures for chronic diseases. There are no cures for mental disorders. There are no cures for most diseases caused by viruses. So news stories about cures, curing, or cured must be ignored, or dismissed, or opposed. Or, they can be relegated to anecdotal cure status, which translates to must be ignored.

At the same time, the media promotes faith in pharma by publishing frequent reports of potential cures for, of moving closer to a cure of, and other new research suggesting that cures are just over the horizon (which in actuality is constantly receeding.)

Doctors who write medical books are often required to publish cure disclaimers that range from mild advice of “consult with your physician” to wholesale statements like “the material in this book is not intended to prevent, treat, or cure any disease.” I suspect that, in part, this is because publishers do not want to be sued for damages caused by a cure that didn’t work. I currently have a book about cures in Amazon’s publishing platform that is BLOCKED from publication. The book does not recommend a cure, rather it is analysis of curing covid from the perspective of the theory of cure. Publishing information about cures can be forbidden without serious analysis, without any definition of cure..

Summary and Conclusion:

In summary, all of the players in our medical systems, from patients to the most prestigious medical organizations, to and the highest level of government, no-one has a theory of cure. There is no general understanding of cure for the simplest illnesses, much less a definition that covers all types of diseases. This ignorance of cure leads to ignoring cures and over time, to fear of studying cures, curing, and cured logically and scientifically: curanoia.

An illness might be simple. A simple illness has a single cause and is cured when that cause is successfully addressed. However, our current medical establishment has no concept of a simple illness, much less any concept of a simple, compound, or complex cure. Because complex and compound cures are not understood, there is also no concept of a partial cure. All cures, in current non-theory, must be perfect and complete to be valid. So few cures are valid.

What little discussion of cure exists – mostly in fundraiser organizations, not medical organizations, is about single cures for complex diseases, sometime in the distant future. We simply do not understand. It is not possible, by definition, to cure a complex illness with a simple, one-time cure, a complex cure is required, one that addresses multiple connected causes, often in a specific sequence depending on the case.

As long as our medical doctors and organizations fear cures, we will find few, if any cures. It is worth noting that the most prestigious award in medicine, the Nobel Prize, has only once – in its 130 plus year history, given the Noble Prize for a cure. And that was over 70 years ago. Even the Nobel Prize committee appears to have a fear of using the word cure. Since the 1940s, no cure has been recognized by the Nobel Prize Committee.

To your health, tracy
Author: A New Theory of Cure

Is a headache a symptom? or is it an illness, or a disease? Do we cure symptoms? Illnesses? Or only diseases?

Does aspirin cure headaches?

“A headache for example might be the result of a cold, a migraine, high blood pressure, meningitis or a brain tumour, each requiring a different treatment rather than a “cure for headache“. – Craig Thornbur – Theories of Medicine

What does the Theory of Cure say?

In the theory of cure, we cure by addressing “curable cases of illnesses.” A cure is an action, not a thing, that addresses a cause of illness. An aspirin cannot cure – but the action of taking one might cure.

An illness is the intersection of a cause and its negative consequences, the signs and symptoms of the cause. If we successfully address the cause with an action – the negative consequences will disappear. The illness will be cured. If the illness also caused damage – that damage is another illness, requiring another cure. However, a simple headache is just a symptom, not an indication of other damage.

When we only address the negative consequences, the cause is still present. In many cases, the cause will recreate the negative symptoms. The illness was not cured, or perhaps it was only temporarily cured. In today’s medical theory, temporary cures do not exist. In the new theory of cure, temporary cures are common, sometimes effective tools on the path to a permanent cure.

In the theory of cure, an illness is cured when:

• the cause has been successfully addressed,
• when signs and symptoms have disappeared or dropped below the level of an illness, and
• no more medicines are needed for that illness.

Is cured vs Has Been Cured

Sometimes a case of illness “is cured” without conscious actions. Sometimes an illness “has been cured.” The phrase “has been cured” indicates that the cure was a consequence of intentional actions – by ourselves, family, friends, or others – perhaps professional medical assistance. Healing is unconscious, unintentional curing. Curing is a conscious action to cure. “Is cured” is a statement that the cause is no longer present, no longer causing illness. “Has been cured” refers to intentional curative actions to address the cause.

The common cold is cured when
– the infection is gone,
– when the signs and symptoms have disappeared, and
– when no more medicines are needed.

However, we can only say that a case of the common cold “has been cured by…x” when we believe that the action x is responsible for the cured status. At present, our medical systems claim “there is no cure for the common cold” because they do not believe any action can be responsible for a cold cured. Most cases of the common cold are easily cured, without medicines. The same is true of most illnesses.

Most cases of headache are easily cured, without medicines.

In many cases, the signs and symptoms of a headache are the only present cause of the illness. The other causes are stresses in the past, not accessible to present cure actions. Some cases of headache are best viewed as simply symptoms of distress, without a cure cause. When our health, healing, or time, addresses the stress – the headache is gone. Cured. In these cases, an aspirin cares for the pain as the headache passes.

Some cases of headache have a present cause, causing signs and symptoms of the illness. Addressing the signs and symptoms, without addressing the cause, does not cure.

Healing is curing. Curing intentionally, is not healing. Curing and healing address the present cause of the illness. Caring only addresses signs and symptoms, but not cause, as illustrated in this image.

The overlapping areas indicate situations where a single healing, caring, or curing accomplishes multiple goals . Sometimes, caring addresses cause – with or without intention. The distinctions between healing and curing are not always clear. Sometimes, a single action might be healing, curative, and caring.

Let’s look at a few examples.

Dehydration Headache

The presence of dehydration can cause a headache. If we take an aspirin to deal with the pain, but do not address the dehydration, then once the aspirin wears off – the headache will reoccur. In this case, the headache is the symptom, dehydration is the cause. The illness is only cured when the cause is addressed. In this case, the aspirin is only a temporary cure.

Dehydration can be caused by excessive consumption of alcohol in the past “the morning after the night before.” A hangover is often cured by healing and our natural life processes. We wake up in the morning, drink some water, juice, coffee, or tea, and gradually, the dehydration fades away. We might take an aspirin to diminish or stop the pain – but we don’t expect it to cure the headache, nor to cure the dehydration. We take the aspirin – and see that the headache is cured. But we understand that taking the aspirin was not the cure. If it helped us to get moving, helped us to re-hydrate. Perhaps it was a part of the cure, an action of caring for the sufferer, alleviating the suffering as the natural cure progresses.

Like the common cold, many people want to find a miracle cure for a hangover – even though most hangovers are easily cured by healthy actions, and few by medicines, and none by miracles.

The dehydration that causes a headache often causes other negative signs and symptoms. We ignore the dry mouth, the muscle aches, the nausea, because the headache is the most severe. If we cure the dehydration illness – all of the signs and symptoms will disappear. But an aspirin can’t do that.

“Diseases which arise from repletion are cured by depletion; and those that arise from depletion are cured by repletion; and in general, diseases are cured by their contraries.” (Hippocrates)

The only dehydration cure is re-hydration.

Injury Headache

A whack on the side of the head can cause a headache. In this case, the “whack on the side of the head” is in the past. We cannot go into the past to address it. The head is aching because it is injured. It may take time for the injury to heal – and depending on the damage, it might never heal completely.

In this case, taking an aspirin is a palliative treatment, a symptomicine, caring – not curing. We don’t expect it to cure. It makes us feel better. We understand that the aspirin will wear off and we will decide to take it again, or not, as the symptoms fade.

Stroke Headache

Having a stroke can cause a headache. The stroke that causes a headache might be mild, almost invisible, moderate, or severe and deadly. Taking an aspirin for the headache not only cannot cure – it might cause the patient to avoid medical attention for some time. The aspirin might allow the condition to grow worse by making the person feel better.

Can stroke be cured? The short answer is yes, stroke can be cured — but it occurs in two stages. First, doctors administer specific treatment to restore normal blood flow in the brain and stop further damage. Then, the patient participates in rehabilitation to cure the secondary effects that result from the stroke.
Flint Rehab: Can Stroke Be Cured?

In this case, the stroke is the illness to be cured. A headache is a sign or symptom. An aspirin might appear to cause a temporary cure, but it does not address the cause of the pain, the damage of the stroke.

Unknown Cause

What if we don’t know the cause of the headache, and we take an aspirin, and it goes away?

When we view the headache as the “cause of our discomfort” and the aspirin addresses that cause, then taking an aspirin is a cure. If there is only one headache – and now it’s gone, that’s sufficient. Some might argue that the cause of the headache was not addressed by the aspirin, but such debate is moot. The headache is gone. Maybe it was just a temporary status, a temporary pain, cured by the aspirin.

Chronic Headache

When a headache is chronic, or repeating, we can view the series of headaches as a higher level illness with a higher level chronic or repeating cause.

The cure of a chronic or repeating illness is to address the chronic nature of the cause.

If, for example, someone gets a hangover headache every Sunday morning, we might guess the cause – excessive drinking on Saturday night. If we successfully address that cause, by eliminating the Saturday night excesses, the chronic or repeating headaches will be cured. This cure does not fail when -next year – the patient drinks too much and gets a headache. A single case is not a chronic or repeating headache. The chronic headache was cured.

The cure for chronic or repeating headaches does not cure any specific case of headache. It also does not stop the patient from occasionally overindulging and getting a new, non-chronic headache.

Cure-ious Quotes

The theory of cure gives us a wider perspective, a way to look at quotes about cure in different ways, from a broader perspective, helping us to develop a more comprehensive view of cure.

The Theory of Cure website has a random “cure quote generator” that presents a random cure quote from a growing library of over 2700 quotes about cure from hundreds of different authors. Cure-ious quotes is a set of posts that explore those quotes from the perspective of the theory of cure.

To your health, tracy
Author: A New Theory of Cure

We can compare a flat tire to an illness, and its repair to a cure. Why should we make this comparison?

Medical cures are, frankly, full of baggage. It is illegal, for example, to market a cure in the USA unless it has been approved by the FDA. The FDA, however, has no guidelines for approval – nor for refusing to approve any cure. The FDA does not even have a complete definition of a cure for most diseases, nor for many cases of curable diseases. Neither does any current or historical, conventional or alternative, medical theory or practice. Perhaps this is the reason many, perhaps most doctors avoid the word cure, are uncomfortable talking about cures with their patients, and advise their staff to avoid the word.

The concepts of the new theory of cure (there is no old theory of cure) are general enough to be applied to any intentional system and to any component or process of an intentional system. Living things are intentional systems. Humans create use, and take advantage of intentional systems ranging from short term creation and use of a stick tool to complex interconnected economic systems of countries. Any physical or process component of an intentional system might be faulty or broken, judged sick and in need of a cure.

The theory of cure applies to intentional systems, not to things. We cannot cure a rock. It dead. It’s not a system, much less an intentional system. We cannot cure the solar system, nor the system of air movement that creates a tornado or hurricane either. We call these systems because of their complexity, but they have no life intentions.

A tire is part of a transportation system, has many components, and is connected to many other components. It might function poorly or fail for many reasons. In each case we can view the problem as an illness to be cured.

By studying flat tire illnesses, their causes and cures, we can better understand many illnesses and their cures, without encountering the contradictions and the baggage of our current medical systems. Let’s begin.

Most illnesses are trivial, easily cured. We get a cold, a cut or bruise, minor indigestion, or the flu – and our body cures it with little conscious attention. We might scratch it, patch it for a while, rest to recover, or exercise to loosen up a stiffness. It is cured. We forget about most of our illness. They are cured so easily we rarely call them a cures. We think all cures are hard, impossible, miracles.

As we study flat tire illnesses, we will learn that most flat tires are also trivial, easily cured. We might even design, or buy “self-healing” tires. Some flat tires cures are more difficult, requiring assistance from our communities, and some require the work of a professional, a tire doctor. Some are only cured by replacement, or transplantation. Some are not worth curing, or incurable. The same is true of our illnesses.

1. Jen’s Tire is Flat: An Illness

Last Tuesday, Jen noticed her front bike tire was flat. A quick examination revealed a thumbtack. Jen, a serious biker, has seen flat tires before.

The Cure – Jen took out a patch kit. Removed the tire and tube, found the hole, roughed it up with the sandpaper, brushed it clean, applied the glue and held the patch to the tire for a few minutes while the glue cured. She put the tube and tire back on the wheel and pumped it up with a hand pump. It held. After a short ride, , no problems. A few days later, Jen had completely forgotten the flat tire and its cure. It was gone. Not important. It was no miracle cure, just a fact of life and bikes.

Discussion:

1. Most flat tires, like most illnesses, are trivial, easily cured. Many illnesses are cured by our own actions, often aided by unconscious processes or actions. Unconscious growth is a powerful curative. Jen diagnosed and cured her flat tire illness without a second thought.
2. There were many possible cure alternatives. There are manufacturing standards for tire patch kits – or Jen, being resourceful might have made one from an old inner tube and some adhesive from a hardware store. Jen might have decided to use a glue patch, or a non-glue patch, faster but not as effective. Maybe it was time to buy a new tube – a more expensive, time consuming cure – but perhaps more reliable and effective in the long term. Every case of illness has many potential cures.
3. The cure is to address the present cause or causes. In this case – the causes were simple, elementary – a tack that caused a hole in the tire. This is similar to a small skin puncture or wound from a thorn or a nail. Remove the tack or thorn, if it is still present, and promote healing. A bodily cure takes longer because it is accomplished by healing, but the process is the same. We clean it off, maybe apply some approved antiseptic, or perhaps vinegar or moonshine, protect it with a bandage while it heals, cures. The injury is the present cause of our problem, the cause of the illness – when the injury is addressed, healed, the illness is cured.
4. We might use the phrase “has been cured” when the cure was a result of conscious actions. Many illnesses “are cured” entirely from unconscious actions or processes. Jen didn’t have a self-healing bike tire – so the tire puncture required conscious actions. Even a self-healing tire might require some assistance from an air pump.

2. Jen’s Granddaughter’s Cure: A Sickness

A few weeks later, Jen’s granddaughter, Joey (short for Josephine) had a similar flat tire, but she kept riding the bike, unaware, unconscious of any problem. Jen saw the bike swaying wildly and took a closer look. The tire was deadly flat.

The Cure: Jen took the time to show Joey the problem, the flat tire illness, and how to cure it. First, she asked Joey to find the nail, the cause of the flat tire – which Jen had already seen. She gave Joey a pen to mark the spot and then asked if Joey could pull it out with a set of pliers. Done. Then they took the bike into the garage and Jen explained how to remove the wheel and the tire, and watched as Joey did it herself. Jen explained how track the hole to the tube, and how to find it exactly by rubbing some spit on it. Joey roughed up the tire, picked a patch, and spread some glue, as Jen advised – not to thick, but covering an area wider than the patch. Joey applied the patch – getting some glue on her fingers – not a problem. Tire repair glue is not crazy-glue. She held the tire and patch together it for a few seconds and left it to cure for a few minutes.

Joey already knew how to pump it up. Jen explained the need to check the patch before putting it all back together. It held. Let the air out, and put the wheel back together. Joey was off again, wiser for her tire’s illness. She had hardly noticed the flat tire, and now she understood the symptoms, the signs, and the cure.

Discussion:

1. Many diagnoses and cures come from individual actions. Some come from our communities. It’s hard to understand everything by ourselves – our communities bring intelligences together.
2. In the theory of cure, an illness is what the individual suffers from and wants cured. A sickness, on the other hand, is an illness judgment by someone else and a disease is an illness judgement by a professional. Joey didn’t even know her tire was flat, much less how it was cured. No mechanic was consulted. Grandparents often cure ignorance – as well as illnesses – with knowledge and vision gained from life experiences.
3. Most illnesses are so trivial we don’t go to a doctor. Many cures come from personal and community actions – without assistance from a professional or medical community.

Bob’s Flat Tire: A Disease

Bob learned to ride a bike as a child, but never really spent much time at it. Now, as an adult, he decided to buy a new bike and explore the parks near his home. One day, when he was nearing home, he noticed his rear tire was making a strange noise and dragging. Flat tire. Knowing nothing about bike tires – he took it to the bike doctor at the store. There were lots of people there, buying bikes and bike parts. Bob was asked to leave the bike for repair. He walked a short way home.

The Cure: The mechanic examined the tire, removed a nail, and made a phone call to Bob.

Bob: “Hello?”

Mechanic: “Hey, this is Judy, at the bike store. Your bike tire has a hole from a nail. I’ve removed the nail. I can recommend two alternatives.“

Bob (wondering what’s to come): “Yes?”

Judy: “We can patch the tube, and it will hold up quite well. But patches are not perfect cures. Sometimes they work loose, or stiffen up and cause other problems. Alternatively, I can replace the entire tube and it will be as good as new.“

Bob: “What’s the cost?“

Judy: “Patching is $22. The tube is a bit more expensive, but not a lot. Installed, it’s $25.30 with tax.“

Bob: “That’s hardly any difference. Go ahead with the new tube. Thanks.“

And the tire is cured – good as new, just as Judy promised.

Discussion:

1. Sometimes even a simple illness prompts the attention of a professional. This is more likely to occur for problems we haven’t yet experienced or don’t understand.
2. Most flat tire illnesses – even those at the bike shop – are trivial, easily cured.
3. The bike shop, however, is in the business of selling things. A flat tire has many alternative cures – and some of them are more profitable. By replacing the tube, Judy can make money on the repair and on the tube as well. Replacing a tube is faster than patching a tire, less error prone, and less likely to lead to side effects or remission in the short term or the long term. The sale is easily justified. In Jen or Joey’s case, replacing the tube would have necessitated a trip to the store, some extra expenses, and a longer wait, but for Bob – it’s the best cure.

Summary: Illness, Sickness, Disease

We’ve seen three similar illnesses from three perspectives – an illness (cured by Jen), a sickness (cured by Jen, a grandparent) and a disease (cured by Judy, a professional, a bike doctor). This diagram illustrates the three perspectives – and the agreement reached by different participants.

This diagram helps us to understand that an illness is not a “thing” it is something we observe and judge, which can also be judged cured. In the first case, no agreement was required. In the second, the child came to an agreement with Jen. In the third, the rider and the bike mechanic came to an agreement. If it was a car tire, and Bob had insurance – an additional agreement would be require to reimburse the expenses. Most of our illnesses are minor, not requiring community involvement, never seen by a doctor.

Although the past cause – the nail, and the initial signs and symptoms of these three illnesses were identical – the tire was flat -the perspectives, the specific situations, and the cures varied. In the case involving the bike mechanic, a new cure appeared. In many cases of illness, there can be disagreement about the actual illness and the best cure. Joey, for example, did not consider her bike to have any problems until it was pointed out by Jen.

There were also three different cures for the illnesses. Jen’s tire was cured with a simple patch. Joey’s tire required external advice and assistance. Bob’s tire was cured by a professional, with a new tube. Of course, all three needed to be reinflated as well. These curative actions addressed different causes of illness and different cure expectations.

Theory of Cure

In each case, the cure was to address the present cause and causes. Once an illness, or a flat tire occurs – prevention is of no use, a cure is needed. None of the riders could go back in time and avoid the nail. A flat tire might function badly for a short time, but failure to cure can result in more damage. The cure improved the healthiness of the tire, improving the bike’s functionality.

As we explore 101 flat tire cures, we will see many more types of flat tires – and encounter many types of cures.

to your health, tracy

Author: A New Theory of Cure

Now it was back. My right eye was quite itchy. The problem waxed and waned, over a few weeks, never going completely away.

The left eye was starting to show some itchiness as well. Being in Canada, I decided to go first to my optometrist, with whom I had developed a trusting relationship, to see what he said. When I go there, he was a she. Or, perhaps more accurately, he was on holidays and I saw someone else. I was pre-examined and then sat down in the room where, normally, my eyes would be tested for glasses.

The optometrist entered and asked a few questions. Looked at some pictures and at my eyes. Frankly, I don’t remember much. But, I remember what she said. I remember her cure.

“Your eyes are really dry. We could prescribe some eye drops…”

I replied that I’m not fond of medicines and less fond of putting them in my eyes.

So, she offered another recommendation, with a bit of explanation;

“The problem is probably that your tear ducts are not flowing smoothly. As a result, your eyes are dry and irritated – the right eye a bit more than the left. You can try this and see if it helps.”

1. Wet a facecloth with hot water, or heat a wet facecloth in the microwave.
2. Press the hot facecloth onto your closed eyes for about two minutes.
3. Do this twice a day for two weeks.

Like much doctorly advice, she finished with “Try, and see if it works for you.”

Interesting. No drugs. No surgery. No glasses. Just a simple exercise. I’ll do it. And I did.

As soon as I got home, I tried it. Not much difference. Again the next morning. My eyes felt a bit better. Again at mid-day. The itching was fading. Again in the evening.

The next morning, as I heated up the facecloth, there was almost no irritation. This was working.

The next day, less irritation, but still a bit. Day by day, better.

After a week, I also noticed that my eyelids were open wider than before, less wrinkled somehow.

I knew I should follow the prescription to the end. “Two weeks,” she said. By the time two weeks had passed, the itching was completely gone. My eyes felt like new? Was it cured? Was I cured?

I waited three days without any itching. The fourth day, a small scratchiness in my right eye. Left eye – no problems. I did the facecloth again, and the problem was gone.

Over the next few weeks, I did several tests. It seems I need the hot facecloth exercise every two or three days to keep my eyes happy. I’ve been good for over two months now. Sometimes, I can go for four or five days. If I’m going to be driving a long way, or doing other things that stress my eyes – I make a point of doing the exercise.

I Did my Own Research

I found this picture on Wikipedia. It shows the eye ducts and mentions that they are larger in males than in women. I wonder if women have more problems with dry eyes than men – or do the larger ducts tend to fold or collapse more often?

A University of Utah post says that women suffer from more dry eyes than men, but does not mention plugged ducts, nor the cure recommended to me. The word cure is not mentioned – only treatments that don’t cure.

The Not a Dry Eye Syndrome Foundation is dedicated to promoting awareness of Dry Eye Syndrome. but clearly states on their front page “does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.” Instead, they say “Our mission is simple, to raise awareness of the disease and to give people hope.” Although they want to raise awareness of the disease – the don’t recognize any cure. One post says “Finding a cure is something many Dry Eye patients wish for,” but no cures are found, and if found, no cures can be recognized. Dry eyes cured, apparently is not medically defined. They discuss the hot towel treatment, which they name Warm Compresses, but it give several warnings, advising “not too long and not too hot. Overuse of compresses… can cause irritation“.

Obviously, dry eye syndrome, like an illness from the common cold to cancer, might be mild, moderate, or severe. It might have one or many causes – requiring one or many cures. Once case study diagnosis listed 8 different problems.

Massage

I wondered about massage? Would it help if I massage my eyelids before, during, or after the hot towel? NotADryEye.org offered this advice, “Some doctors recommend lid massage after applying warm compresses to stimulate meibum secretion,” followed by a list of potential risks. Should I be happy to massage? or afraid? No useful guidelines are offered.

Is this a cure?

We often think of a cure as perfect, final, and permanent. However, this simplistic view, a set of cure myths and misunderstandings.

“What cannot be cured must be endured.” –
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd

In the new theory of cure, there are two basic types of cures. Sometimes, the cure is a type that must be endured, a causal cure.

An attribute cure is a change to the cause of illness, resulting in a permanent cure. If the cause appears again, a new illness will occur. Most surgeries are attribute cures. The wound is stitched and heals, the hernia is repaired, or the tooth cavity is filled. These cures are generally permanent, until another wound, another hernia, or another cavity appears. The cure for an infection is similar. An antibiotic provides a cure – until another infection occurs.

Attribute cures are one-time actions, one-time cures. Almost like magic.

A causal cure is a process that must be maintained to maintain the cured status. A causal cure is a preventative cure, an action that cures and prevents future occurrences. We can’t cure scurvy with any amount of Vitamin C, only the scorbutic state. Scurvy is caused by an unhealthy eating process. Curing scurvy requires an ongoing process to maintain a healthy level of Vitamin C. The same is true of any nutritional disease. However, modern medicine, for all its power, cannot recognize causal cures, has no technique to distinguish treatments from cures.

Causal cures are ongoing actions. The cause of illness is an ongoing process, or absence of process, so the cure requires a matching process.

At first, the facecloth seemed like an attribute cure. Two weeks of heating my eyelids, and I was cured. But no, I’m not twenty any more. My eyelids are 50 years older than that youngster. I can clear the ducts with heat, but they will clog up again in a few days. I need a causal cure. I need the process of applying a hot facecloth every few days to maintain the cured state, to prevent my eyes from itching anew.

I have a causal cure. It’s not in remission, it’s cured. If I stop, in a week, or two years, a new case of illness will likely occur. As long as I maintain the new process, my itchy eyes are cured. There is little difference between this cure and eating healthy foods to maintain a cure of scurvy, malnutrition, or to avoid poisoning. Before the illness, no conscious action is needed. Once the illness occurs, it can be cured. Once cured, in many cases, the cure action must be maintained to maintain the cure. If a one-time action works, it was an attribute cure, not a causal cure – a temporary blockage, not an ongoing blockage.

However, modern medicine, for all its power, has no concept of an ongoing cure and cannot recognize my cured status, nor my curative actions as a cure. If I write a book about curing dry eyes, the publisher would require I insert the standard medical disclaimer “this book does not provide medical advice – consult your physician….” that we see today in ALL books written about cures – even those by the most authoritative doctors.

There is no cure for Itchy Eyes

It’s not hard to find remedies for itchy eyes. There are many different medicines, eye drops, that provide relief. There are no cures. Part of the reason there are so many cures, is simply that there are so many causes. Itchy eyes is a symptom, not a disease. To cure, we must find and address the cause. There are many cause for itchy eyes.

• if the cause is temporary, like smoke or dust, tearing, or rinsing the eye will relieve the problem. But this is not called a cure. It’s too simple. It didn’t require a medicine, so it’s not a medical cure.
• when the cause is an allergy, avoiding the allergen, if possible, provides relief. It’s a cure, but not medically recognized as a cure. The allergy is still there. Uncured – even if the patient has no signs or symptoms for the rest of a long life. This is simply cure-misunderstanding, or perhaps cure denial.
• or, when the cause is an allergy, then allergy medicines can help (medically, a treatment for signs and symptoms, but not cure).

Amazon lists 54 products for “itchy watery eye relief.” Not one claim to cure. An Amazon search for “itchy watery eye cure” produces only 15 products. One even has “cure” in the name (Origin Cure), but none make any claim to cure. Cure claims are illegal without official approval. No approval process is possible for itchy eye cures or dry eye cures. Dry eyes cured is not medically defined.

One product offers the cure MY eye doctor recommended: Microwave Activated Warm Eye Compress for Dry Eyes, Blepharitis & Stye Eye Treatment. However, the word cure does not appear — except in the phrase “have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition,” which might have been added by Amazon. Does not (dare claim to) cure. Is not intended to cure. Similar products are provided by many companies. Not one dares use the word cure.

A google search for cure for itchy eyes even produces lists of remedies, and treatments that avoid the word cure:

• 10 Itchy Eyes Home Remedies
• Home Treatments for Itchy Eyes
• 5 Remedies for Dry Eyelids – Beat the Itch with These Tips

Official Medical Sites, offer expert advice and recommendations, but the word cure is avoided.

• Johns Hopkins Medicine “Why Are My Eyes Itchy? Answers From an Expert” – but no cures.
• The Mayo Clinic advises treatments, for dry eyes, adding “You’ll likely need to take these measures indefinitely to control the symptoms of dry eyes.” The word cure is not used.

The Dry Eye Truths

Most illnesses are trivial, easily cured, so easily that we simply move on, ignoring the fact that we had an illness, ignoring the cure. Who can remember how many colds they had last year? How many days it took to cure them? Very few cases of the common cold require medical attention. The same is true of many illnesses.

Most cases of dry or itchy eyes are trivial, easily cured, so easily that we simply move on, ignoring the fact that we had an illness, ignoring the cure.

I cured my itchy eyes. The cure proved the cause. No doctor can diagnose the cause of itchy eyes perfectly, without the proof of a cure. “Try this.” – and if it works, that was the cause – and if it works, that was the cure.

My ophthalmologist cured, or helped cure my itchy eyes with her advice. But the cure is not medically recognized. I was not diagnosed. I was not treated. No cure for itchy eyes has been approved. If she dares to claim a cure, she might lose her license.

I can claim to be cured – nobody cares. My story is just a story, an anecdote. Anecdotal cures are not scientific, not worthy. Note: Every case of a cure, every true case of a cure is a story, an anecdote.

to your health, tracy

Author: A New Theory of Cure

It’s not as obvious, but we can’t cure alcoholism, anorexia, arthritis, back pain, Crohn’s, cancer, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, gout, hypertension, heart disease, immune system disorders, even obesity, and many more. Cured is not even defined for any of these diseases. The list goes on and on. Were they always incurable? What happens when a case is cured?

There are several patterns in the above list. All are non-infectious diseases. We have no medical nor scientific definition nor test for any non-infectious disease cured. When a non-infectious disease is cured, we can’t tell. We might know a cure is present, both doctor and patient might claim a cure – but proof is not possible. We say maybe it’s remission. We never say cure.

There are more patterns…

All are chronic diseases. Cured is not defined for any chronic disease. We have them until we die, even if they go into remission for decades. We might lose weight, be once diagnosed, we can’t cure obesity.

Some diseases on the list are also mental disorders. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) referring to diseases, prefers the term disorder. At the same time, they diligently ensure though every mental disorder aligns with a disease code in the World Health Organization’s list of disease codes. Otherwise, statistics would be compromised. The APA doesn’t claim mental disorders are incurable. Instead, they work to “improve understanding, reduce stigma, and advance the treatment and eventual cures for these conditions.” (DSM-5 2013). Eventual cures? The APA does not have a definition of cured for any mental disorder. As a result, we have no medical nor scientific ability to validate or disprove a cure of autism, ADHD, depression, bipolar, or any other mental disorder, when it occurs.

Some are also nutritional diseases. A google search for “cure for anorexia” offers: to treat eating disorders, to help us get rid of anorexia, and recover completely. But the word cure is not used. The Mayo Clinic in three long web-pages describes anorexia, diagnosis and treatment, offering doctors and departments – but the word cure does not appear. Their pages for OBESITY refer to a not-cure once, “But weight-loss surgery isn’t a miracle obesity cure,” but never to cure. A cure, apparently, is a miracle. There is, according to Malachy McCourt, “no recovery from alcoholism, it is an incurable disease. And it also is a disease that tells you, you don’t have a disease.” Amazon offers several books claiming cures for alcoholism, including “The Medically Proven Way To Eliminate Alcohol Addiction” – but none are recognized officially. The prestigious Mayo clinic webpages on alcoholism use the word cure only once, another not-cure “although it won’t cure.”  (Mayo Clinic 2019) Patients might be cured, might be diagnosed as NED (No Evidence of Disease), but we can’t prove the cured state, much less the cause of the cure.

The more we look, the worse it gets. The common cold, influenza, and measles, AIDS – and COVID, are infectious diseases caused by a virus. We have no cures for any disease caused by a virus. Even though most people who get the common cold, measles, even COVID recover. We don’t use the word cure. Can AIDS be cured? There is no definition of and no test for AIDS cured.

Part of the problem is medical chauvinism.

1. If it wasn’t cured by a medicine or a surgery, it’s not a medical cure.
2. If it’s not a medical cure, it doesn’t count.
3. If it doesn’t count, it’s not counted.
4. There are no statistics of cured for any disease outside of research studies.

It’s interesting to search for a medical definition of cure. Medical dictionaries use the word cure a lot, in many ways, without presenting a definition for cure. There is no agreed medical definition of cure for most diseases.

We might wish to believe that when a cure is found in a clinical study, big pharma swoops in and takes it to market. Or we might fear that, when big pharma discovers a cure, they hide it away – because cures are not profitable. The truth although not obvious, is much simpler. When a cure occurs in a clinical study that does not have a defined test for cured – the cure can only be ignored. When a cure occurs on the placebo arm, it is doubly ignored.

We can easily demonstrate that most clinical studies do not define, and therefore cannot test for cured. Clinicaltrials.gov today offers “382,731 research studies in all 50 states and in 220 countries.” A search for trials with the word cure, lists only 6,427, less than 2%. As we look closer, it only gets worse. Many of those few references to cure are acronyms like Culturally Relevant Exercise for Diabetes (CURE-D), patented devices (that don’ t cure) like CURE-EX device or non-curative treatments like “Thermal Cures in the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.”  

Our failure to recognize cured has extended beyond conventional medicine to all so-called alternative medical practices. No chiropractic, osteopathic, or naturopathic treatment can possibly cure any disease, because cured is not defined for any disease treatment used by these doctors. Conventional medicine can’t cure the same diseases. What happens when a chiropractic treatment cures frozen shoulder or back pain? Nothing. What happens when a conventional medical physical therapists cures them? The same nothing. This failed logic extends to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, osteopathy, homeopathy, and naturopathy. What happens when any of these practices cure a disease? Nothing. Cured is not defined for alternative medical practices. In most cases, no proof of cured is possible. Occasionally, it is possible to prove a cure of an infectious disease. These cures are easily ignored – those diseases can be cured by approved conventional  medicines.

Our current theories, definitions, and understandings of cure are a failure. We can’t cure most diseases. We can’t even tell if they have been cured. Current statistics for the COVID show, worldwide, at least 170 million patients RECOVERED. Not one cured. The count is updated every day. Cured? Never.

It’s time for a change. It’s time for A New Theory of Cure. One that covers every curable medical condition, every curable disease or disorder. But where do we start?

The book A New Theory of Cure defines a framework of a general, comprehensive definition of cured for any curable illness, disease, or medical condition, whether the cause be in diet, body, mind, spirits, community, environments – or somewhere else instead.

Let’s begin a study of cure. Let’s develop the theory of cure.

To your health, tracy
Founder: Healthicine

ps. Is there an old theory of cure? If you can find one, I’d love to know about it.