Table 1.

Examples of How Changing the Narrative Might Effect Practice: Therapeutic Options Derived From Various Narratives; Note: The Evidence Base on Agent Narrative Based Practices Is Small Due to a Lack of Interest

Disease	Patient Narrative	Agent Narrative
Cardiovascular disease	Take drugs, avoid saturated fat and salt; surgery to prevent stenosis	Reconsider lifestyle choices [18], individualized nutrition program [52–54], stress-reduction, meditation and mindfulness, exercise [55, 56], consider psychosocial aspects and personal relationships [57, 58]
Rheumatoid arthritis	Control inflammation, use disease modifying agents	Check on nutritional antigens, consider fasting and an individually adapted vegetarian diet [59–61]; consider checking omega-3 to omega-6 ratio and supplementing, if low to reduce inflammatory propensity [62, 63]
Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder	Give dopamine agonists like ritalin	Check out social environment, nutritional and lifestyle patterns like overstimulation (caffeine, TV, media); [64] consider mindfulness practice; [65] check on omega-3 to omega-6 balance and consider supplementing (to improve neuroplasticity and learning) [66]
Mild Cognitive Impairment	Watchful waiting, consider cholinesterase inhibitors, if deterioration is obvious	Prevent medicalisation [30], consider changing dietary pattern towards more ketogenic intake avoiding sugars and simple carbohydrates [37, 38, 53], seek out cognitive stimulation [67], exercise [33], going into the sun and/or supplementing vitamin D [44, 45, 68], enhance social participation, contacts and volunteer work in the community, accept aging as a natural process [30, 46]