Word of the Day: Cure
I rent space in a wellness collective called Mountain Remedy. In addition to healing space there is a storefront apothecary filled with herbs and wonderful holistic health products. A few months ago a man inquired about one of the products by asking, “Is this intended to treat or intended to cure?”
He followed up with a diatribe against Western medicine. Part of his argument was that most Western medicine practitioners were only looking to cure symptoms and not to treat the whole person. He made an analogy that “curing is what we do to preserve dead flesh, like cured meats.”
I felt curious about his wordplay and decided to do some research on the meaning of the word cure. Let’s explore the truth of the word through etymology.
cure (noun) :
relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition
preserve (meat, fish, tobacco, or an animal skin) by various methods such as salting, drying, or smoking.
Cure comes from the Latin words cura meaning “care” and curare meaning “take care of.” In European languages, words for cure and heal are always used in reference to people. Our words for cure and heal show no ancient connections to words for physician, doctor, or disease. Originally words like cure would be used to mean taking care of a person. Modern usage shifts the meaning more towards curing disease.
While the method of curing meat is ancient, using the word cure to describe this process is much more modern. It shows up in this sense by 1743.
Related words like curate and curious also have a root meaning of care.
Going back to the analogy made by the man in the apothecary, his usage of the word cure seems accurate in definition. Cure does define an approach to healthcare that relates to relieving symptoms of a disease. It also defines a method of preserving meat.
Where his argument falls short in is in the assumption of a nefarious intention behind attempts to cure. Through etymology, we see that the root meaning of cure is care, or to take care of. Cure in it’s original sense meant to care for a person. Few people would argue that there is anything “wrong” with caring for another person.
I have certainly experienced frustration with the US healthcare system at times. That is part of what led me into the field of holistic healthcare. It’s also true that I have been very grateful for some of the care I have received in times of need.
It is helpful for patients and healthcare providers both to remember that the root of curing is care. To search for a cure is to seek ways to take care of others in need. This can be a heart felt intention and many practitioners do operate from this intention.
As healthcare shifts more towards whole person care, we begin to see the word used more in it’s original sense - applying to caring for the person and not just the disease or condition. Some forms of medicine never lost this original intention and some are coming back around to it. I am grateful to witness this.
As practitioners, we can’t promise that we will eradicate disease. We can remember that the true meaning of cure is to take care of people. With knowledge of this truth, we can recommit ourselves to the intention of care.
