Relative truth vs Absolute truth

When you have been trained in a particular medical specialty, you see the world through certain lenses and diagnostic paradigms.

A gastroenterologist, sees the world through the lens of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and tries to link up a patient’s symptoms to diseases known in that person’s specialty. (Acid Reflux, Heartburn, Indigestion, Nausea, Abdominal Pain, Bloating, Gallbladder Disorder, etc)

Similarly, a Psychologist tries to link up a patient’s symptoms to Mental Disorders. (Depression, Anxiety, Psychoses, Dementia, Bipolar, etc.)

The same approach is true for a Neurologist or Infectious Disease or a Rheumatologist, for illnesses of the joints, which include autoimmune diseases. (Rheumatoid arthritis, Multiple sclerosis, Lupus, Polymyalgia Rheumatica, etc.)

It is not that the thinking of these doctors and subspecialists is necessarily wrong, as Lyme Disease affects different organ systems of the body and can cause GI, Mental and autoimmune disfunctions, but it may be that their worldview only includes part of the whole picture.

There is relative truth, and then there is absolute truth. When the three blind men are feeling the elephant, they each describe a different part. One describes the elephant as having a long, movable nose, another tough skin with thick legs and big nails, and the third might just describe a thin, coarse tail. Each has described a certain relative truth, and none is incorrect, but none of them have seen the big picture: It’s an elephant!

Lyme disease is known as the great imitator, and it can mimic a broad range of other diseases!