What is a cure?

What is a cure?

No, really, think about it. Take a few seconds and define the term for yourself.

Now take another second and think about an ailment that can be cured. What did you come up with?

I have been struggling with this for awhile. One of the first things I learned about epilepsy is that it can’t be cured, at least not yet. Every time I read an article, it says (usually in big bold letters) “There is no cure for epilepsy.” So I have been trying to define the word cure.

We are so inundated with the ailments that can’t be cured that we tend to forget the ones that can. I can name a number of illnesses that can’t be cured. There is no cure for cancer. There is no cure for diabetes. There is no cure for the common cold. The list goes on.

There are methods of treatment; there are ways to get these ailments under control. With epilepsy there are meds, and surgery, and dietary options. With cancer, there’s chemo. With diabetes, there are insulin options. With the cold, there are meds that make it not as awful, but you usually just have to ride it out. There are a lot of ways of helping with all sorts of illnesses. In fact, we even have ways of preventing a lot of illnesses with vaccines. But yet, these options are not usually considered a cure.

I think that a lot of times, we forget how far we have come in medicine. Since there are still lots of things out there that can’t be cured, we focus on the problems we have rather than the fact that we’ve made tremendous progress. 100 years ago, people could die from polio, smallpox, tetanus, tuberculosis, and even chicken pox. That’s not an issue anymore.

According to Google, a cure is defined as “relieving the symptoms of” an ailment. This just leads me back to my original question. If many methods of treatment do work to relieve symptoms, then why aren’t they considered a cure? If my seizure meds actually started working, why is there no cure for epilepsy? If mine were cured and other people still suffer, is that why it’s a treatment and not a cure?

We need to remember to be cautious of the things we have thrown in our face. Questioning things helps us see the silver lining. There are many people who just hear the term “there is no cure” and give up. Even if there isn’t a “cure,” there are a lot of ways we can deal with stuff and make it more tolerable. We need to learn to focus on the stuff we’ve already cured and tell ourselves “we’re next!” because we’re so conditioned to focus on what hasn’t happened yet that we forget how far we’ve come.

Next time you’re stuck in bed with a cold, just think, someday…