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Reactional Mode 4
A Brief Description for Defining Health and Disease
By Dr. Margret Holland, B.Sc., N.D.
Welcome to the continuing discussion on Reactional Modes of disease and the impact your particular reactional mode may have on selection of treatment protocols for your complaint.
As was mentioned earlier there are a total of 4 reactional modes with RM 1 being the least severe and RM 4 being the most advanced.
In RM 4 the patient has progressed to a state of anergy. This means that they lack the reserves to respond to stimuli. They tend to be very weak and need a lot of rest. They will complain of a loss of appetite. They may even be experiencing mental/emotional complaints of depression or a loss of the “zest for life” that they once had.
The keynote for this state is poor or lack of response to treatment. They may have infections which never totally clear up or that reoccur with increasing frequency. Long standing conditions that do not respond favourably to treatment may be an indicator of this state. There may be a rapid deterioration of a disease that was previously stable. They may also exhibit more complications with their condition. Where patients in other modes may suffer from a very specific complaint, the RM 4 patient will have a number of overlying complaints that have evolved from their original disease state.
These patients require a lot of supportive protocols in order to help their bodies build up the reserves they need to overcome their condition. At all times an eye must be kept on providing healing and support to an overly weakened body.
Patients in RM 1 & 2 will be best served with treatments that specifically eradicate the offending stimulus. With RM 3 & 4 treatment must focus more on building up the patient’s vitality. Consideration must also be given to patients who may be transitioning from one mode into another as their condition improves or deteriorates. Protocols must also address this movement of the disease state. Of course these techniques of assessing disease are overly-simplified as I have presented them, but the general theory is sound. This is where the art of medicine must be employed.
This concludes the discussion on the four reactional modes and hopefully gives you a better understanding on what naturopathic doctors look for when taking a health history and making a treatment selection. No two patients are exactly alike and as a result treatment protocols must differ to best need individual needs.
Dr. Holland can be reached at (250) 752-2732 or #3-702 Memorial Avenue, PO Box 564, Qualicum Beach, BC. V9K 1T1.