Dr. Khaled Jad Allah

For a long time, the call for the philosophical medical hypothesis based on the need to focus on the patient rather than the disease has been present. Unfortunately, traditional medicine still tends to focus on the disease, suppressing and extinguishing symptoms.

A human being is comprised of a body, mind, heart, and soul. To achieve healing for the patient, the physician must care for all elements of the patient. Modern medicine has affirmed that the comprehensive approach to treating humans is indispensable.

Our ancestors, medical giants, and scholars laid the foundation for medicine centuries ago. They practiced it and wrote about it, as seen in Ibn Sina’s book “The Canon of Medicine,” a primary reference studied in European medical schools for around 500 years.

However, in the past decades, there has been a separation of these elements. Physicians began relying solely on treating the body, focusing on the disease and its symptoms, completely neglecting the patient and failing to address their psychological, emotional, or spiritual needs.

Here, the role of the wise healer, as physicians were formerly called, comes to light once again.

In my journey with the patient, I discovered that a patient goes to the doctor complaining of infertility, takes the suggested treatment, or undergoes surgery without receiving a medical explanation of the nature of the disease or a diagnosis of the problem. Success rates are often inflated in the patient’s mind, leading to unrealistic expectations. When the scientifically expected results do not materialize early in the treatment process, causing a strong emotional shock for the couple, they tend to halt the treatment, even if it is available, and the patient completely distances themselves from the path of recovery.

When I began dealing with the patient in this manner, initially fearful of the medical reality confronting the disease, I was surprised to find that patients felt respect and sincerity from the doctor. When I informed a patient that the success rate of extracting sperm from the testes was not higher than 1%, I was astonished when he responded, “Why not me? Don’t deprive me of this dream.”

As a result of this realization, I learned that the problem lay within us as doctors, not in the patient. The patient is capable of respecting their illness and their doctor if the doctor respects the patient, their mind, and understands their psychological and emotional needs. There is no need for fear.

I started giving patients advice after explaining the problem. To my surprise, when I told a patient to quit smoking, for example, they agreed to undergo surgery rather than just take medication, as long as they stopped smoking. After explaining the nature of the disease and the negative impact of smoking on their reproductive or sexual function, using direct explanations and some specially prepared pamphlets to help them understand the nature of certain diseases and incorrect behaviors, I was amazed to find that around 80% of patients actually quit smoking on the first attempt. This percentage increased to about 90% during subsequent visits to the center after blaming them strongly for neglecting their health and telling them they had to choose between what they desired and continuing to smoke.

Patient care is the lifeline to escape from the previous failure in treating these challenging cases because what we eat today reflects on what the testicle produces after three months. Therefore, we cannot separate between the disease and the patient; both are important, and we must care for both simultaneously.