Treatment for persistent physical symptoms is available
Keywords:Hindering, persistent symptoms include chronic fatigue, irritable bowel, and environmental intolerance, for example. New information about the symptoms and their mechanisms has improved symptom recognition and therefore also the treatment. An open symposium for healthcare professionals took place in Helsinki on June 17, and leading European experts provided new information on persistent physical symptoms. The symposium was organized by Gyllenberg Foundation and HUS.
Professor Tim olde Hartman from Radboud University, seen here holding a microphone cube, explained how persistent physical symptoms are treated in the Netherlands.
Persistent physical, or somatic, symptoms, refer to symptoms that last for months and years, but cannot be explained by any medical diseases or findings. The symptoms are common: they occur in 9–16 percent of adults, and they are also ordinary in children and adolescents.
Fragmented treatment postpones care and causes additional expenses
The symptoms affect the patients’ work and functional capacity as well as quality of life. In addition, the patients are often left without adequate explanation and care for their symptoms: as if the symptoms were not considered legitimate by medical standards.
“Some patients become marginalized and are left without social security benefits. This patient group is among those who use the most examination and care resources. Repeated examinations and treatments due to an assumed illness increase the symptoms and produce no health benefits. Poorly coordinated and fragmented care also causes examination cycles and additional expenses,” explains Head Physician Markku Sainio from HUS Rehabilitation Unit for Persistent Symptoms.
The European expert network on persistent somatic symptoms, Euronet-Soma, met in Helsinki from June 16 to 18. There was a consensus that the diversity and the causes of the patients’ symptoms are now understood better than before. More research effort is still needed. By training professionals, the new knowledge can already be used to for the benefit of the patients.
“Our shared message is that treatment is available, and everyone has the possibility to recover. New knowledge has already increased recognition of the symptoms in Finland. Now we focus on providing the patients with effective treatment. Even complete recoveries occur in a safe treatment relationship and with correct information. Also with long-term symptoms, the prognosis is usually good under monitoring,” says Markku Sainio.
Understanding the mechanisms of the symptoms originating in the central nervous system explains the natural course of the illness and enables improving healthcare protocols, earlier recognition, and developing even more effective treatment methods.
Treatment and rehabilitation aim to normalize the maladaptive automatic protection methods of the brain. In addition to medication, this is achieved through mind-body integration exercises as well as coaching using cognitive behavioral therapy and psychophysical physiotherapy.