Convergence of Science and Spirituality and the Future of Medicine
Syed Jafri, MBBS, Associate professor of Medicine, Division of Oncology, UT Health McGovern School of Medicine
Introduction: Human thought has evolved over many centuries, in the process transforming our understanding of the external reality as well as our inner being. The school of Athens in ancient Greece, used reason and philosophy to understand the reality and developed logic as a way of arriving at correct inference by rational inquiry. The Islamic/Arab civilization made outstanding contributions to both empirical sciences and philosophy and was instrumental at initiating renaissance in Europe. The scientific revolution in the West in past 400 years has completely transformed human civilization affecting every aspect of human life. However, our understanding of the natural world still remains limited and many questions remain unanswered. Spirituality is the least understood aspect of our existence and holds the key to a much deeper understanding of the reality.
Knowledge about spiritual aspect of our existence comes primarily from revealed texts and religious traditions. As multi-dimensional beings, the body and the soul are bound to affect each other and also contribute to health and disease. However, at present in the field of Medicine we do not acknowledge existence of the soul nor its contribution towards health and disease. Acknowledging presence of soul in the medical literature can fundamentally alter definition of life and death and can also contribute to pivotal but difficult to study topics such as consciousness. Integrative medicine which is being adopted by many leading medical institutions provides a model in which body-soul interaction can be studied in the context of health and disease. Challenges: One of the main challenges for the medical science will be to empirically show existence of soul and study its effects on human health. How does one study something empirically which is not physical in nature? At the deepest level of our understanding human body is made up of sub-atomic particles which can behave both as particles and waves. Where this wave-particle duality of our existence blends with and crosses over to the meta-physical reality of soul is at the very forefront of human investigation.
Practical implication: A practical application of acknowledging body-soul interaction is the effect of stress on disease process. Psychological stress affects not only mental health but can also alter physical health. We have shown in a prospective case control study that patients with lung cancer are significantly more likely to report major stressful life event within past 5 years of the diagnosis as compared to age, gender and smoking matched controls. This points towards the role of psychological stress in addition of physical causes like smoking in the pathogenesis of complicated disease process like cancer.
Conclusion: Establishing existence of soul through empirical methods and its contribution to health and disease can fundamentally alter our perception of the reality and the future of Medicine.
Reference: 1.God and god of Science by Syed Hasan Raza Jafri. Islamic Publishing House (2018)
2. Syed H. Jafri , Faisal Ali et al. Major stressful life events and risk of developing lung cancer. Clinical Medicine Insights Oncology. Volume 13. (2019).
Knowledge about spiritual aspect of our existence comes primarily from revealed texts and religious traditions. As multi-dimensional beings, the body and the soul are bound to affect each other and also contribute to health and disease. However, at present in the field of Medicine we do not acknowledge existence of the soul nor its contribution towards health and disease. Acknowledging presence of soul in the medical literature can fundamentally alter definition of life and death and can also contribute to pivotal but difficult to study topics such as consciousness. Integrative medicine which is being adopted by many leading medical institutions provides a model in which body-soul interaction can be studied in the context of health and disease. Challenges: One of the main challenges for the medical science will be to empirically show existence of soul and study its effects on human health. How does one study something empirically which is not physical in nature? At the deepest level of our understanding human body is made up of sub-atomic particles which can behave both as particles and waves. Where this wave-particle duality of our existence blends with and crosses over to the meta-physical reality of soul is at the very forefront of human investigation.
Practical implication: A practical application of acknowledging body-soul interaction is the effect of stress on disease process. Psychological stress affects not only mental health but can also alter physical health. We have shown in a prospective case control study that patients with lung cancer are significantly more likely to report major stressful life event within past 5 years of the diagnosis as compared to age, gender and smoking matched controls. This points towards the role of psychological stress in addition of physical causes like smoking in the pathogenesis of complicated disease process like cancer.
Conclusion: Establishing existence of soul through empirical methods and its contribution to health and disease can fundamentally alter our perception of the reality and the future of Medicine.
Reference: 1.God and god of Science by Syed Hasan Raza Jafri. Islamic Publishing House (2018)
2. Syed H. Jafri , Faisal Ali et al. Major stressful life events and risk of developing lung cancer. Clinical Medicine Insights Oncology. Volume 13. (2019).