The essay will focus on a Jewish culture analyzing a Jewish patient with colon cancer and then critically review the existing relationship between the medical condition, religion, and culture. Based on earlier studies on Jewish communities, in the olden days, there existed no aging process until the time of Abraham, and further, there was no illness until the time of Jacob. After a long time, death emerges to the community through a sneeze, and it was believed that the breath of life was returning to God who had breathed it through the man’s nostril during creation (Meiser et al., 2001). The belief of Jews on healing dates back to the days of theology and history, and the medical treatment concept was simply anathema.
Diseases were considered to be the plan of God; therefore, it followed that any action meant to fix the illness was believed to be meddling with the plans and work of God and will. According to the Jewish Holy Scripture, Exodus 15:26 it starts that, “I am the Lord, your Healer” which means that any illness, in this case, Colon cancer ought to be left to God, however, this argument was not widely accepted by most Jewish. In a more general view, the Jewish tend to accord significantly high status to a medical practitioner. In addition to this, most of the Jewish scholars and rabbis throughout the Middle Ages were all physicians such as Maimonides (True et al., 2005).
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The medical condition under analysis, in this case, is colon cancer focusing on a Jewish patient with a greater financial challenge. He is psychologically stable with the no any obvious physical problem. The colon cancer among Jewish community is currently the highest of any ethnic community globally. Evidently, religion and culture have been established to substantially influence the decision-making the process as far as the personal and medical issues are concerned. Thinking culturally is important since it affects treatment and medication for colon cancer. According to Meiser et al., (2001), despite the preventive medicine is at the centerpiece of the Jewish medicine, bodily discharge is considered highly defiling as seen in the Jewish sacred texts that are the foundation of Judaism. Today, Jewish communities have been promoted to seek medical care to delay or even prevent premature death. It is worth to note that the Jewish people’s focus on healthcare particularly since far as colon cancer is concerned is moderate where they only approve the adoption and implementation of the medication meant for health improvement and to reduce pain. It means that they draw a clear line at mind altering medication for instance Xanax.
Judaism strictly does not sanction medication and treatment that seem to have overly experimented or that which appear to be speculative. Therefore, there is the need to have a reasonable chance of benefits or success. On the other hand, Jewish is forbidden to undertake any activity that might endanger health (Robinson et al., 1986). The employment of drugs is only allowed with the aim of improving health because an individual ought not to suffer needlessly. The religious teaching strictly is against the use of any drug to offer high or even a mind-alternating experience of a person since this is believed to endanger the life of the user. However, based on the reform Jews, they believe that their Creator had blessed humanity with the capability and the understanding to enhance their partnership with God when it comes to making the world a better place. The use of people wisdom to treat various diseases is a core them among the Jewish thoughts and history. Additionally, offering healthcare to the Jews is not merely an obligation between a physician and doctor but for the entire society.
The most suitable therapeutic interventions for the client that promotes wellness, in this case, should include colon cancer screening, Colonoscopy every ten years and chemotherapy. However, when developing this response, it is critical to note that for the traditionally minded Jews, their medical perspective is simply a major part of the Halacha that is believed to guide the entire activities (Meiser et al., 2001). Focusing on their sacred text is critical, therefore; any intervention that might involve bodily discharge should be avoided at all cost. The intervention, in this case, will, therefore, be founded entirely on preventive medicine which is greatly over emphasized over any treatment. In this case, colon cancer is a genetic mutation referred to as ‘Jewish’ disease, and in line with this, the Jewish rabbis have advised the community not to allow themselves engaged in genetic testing.
The culture and religious strongly influence medication and treatment decision nut it is not very clear which factors affects the attitudes of the Jewish about colon cancer and screening (Meiser et al., 2001). Based on the Jewish guilt factor it is clear that God forbids His people getting colon cancer simply because they have not accessed colonoscopy. Evidently, such view of taking control off your life could significantly inform colon cancer screening and chemotherapy. Therefore, the drugs meant for the treatment of cancer for this patient should entirely involve administering it through the vein or mouth to kill the potential cancer cells in the body. It is a form of preventive medication which is allowed in the community.
References
Meiser, B., Eisenbruch, M., Barlow-Stewart, K., Tucker, K., Steel, Z., & Goldstein, D. (2001). Cultural aspects of cancer genetics: setting a research agenda. Journal of medical genetics , 38 (7), 425-429.
Robinson, E., Mohilever, J., Zidan, J., & Sapir, D. (1986). Colorectal cancer: incidence, delay in diagnosis and stage of disease. European Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology , 22 (2), 157-161.
True, G., Phipps, E. J., Braitman, L. E., Harralson, T., Harris, D., & Tester, W. (2005). Treatment preferences and advance care planning at end of life: the role of ethnicity and spiritual coping in cancer patients. Annals of Behavioral Medicine , 30 (2), 174-179.
