Although I was born in 1959, my memories of childhood began in 1964. During these years, the “establishment” was constantly under fire. The war in Vietnam had begun nine years earlier. The “hippies” rebelled against traditional standards and values. A cultural revolution was underway attempting to change our thinking and our actions.
During this time,the major health care problems in the United States were heart disease, cancer and stroke. With all our technology and medical advancements over the last fifty plus years these three conditions have remained the top three health threats to our population. In addition to these, we have added: (1) diabetes, (2) anxiety/depression, (3) obesity, (4) autism, (5) gluten sensitivities/celiac disease and (6) peanut allergies
If the top three causes of death from the 1960’s continues to remain the top three causes of death today, can we claim our health care system and the technology used to develop pharmaceutical drugs have effectively battled these diseases? In addition to the top three causes of death, what has lead to the additional six diseases/conditions mentioned above?
For years, diseases have been addressed by attempting to develop drugs to reverse or improve the RESULT (not the CAUSE) of the problem. Example: High blood is the RESULT, not the cause of a vascular problem. Blood pressure is commonly treated with drugs. One of the goals is to relax smooth muscles in blood vessels in order to reduce blood pressure. The bigger question is, “What is causing the smooth muscle to have too much tone (be too tight) in the first place?” Rather than addressing the answer to this question, our health care solution has been to keep the patient medicated to CONTROL (not FIX) their blood pressure! This would be similar to placing duct tape on a plumbing leak and replacing the duct tape over and over again. The leak was never repaired. It was simply masked with duct tape the same way drugs mask the diseases. Diabetic patients on diabetic medications to stabilize high sugar levels remain on these and additional medications for the rest of their lives. There are no solutions attempting to uncover the underlying causes. Why are we unable to stabilize the body and allow it to function normally without the need for lifetime medication?
Over the last 50+ years we find ourselves with new health complications (mentioned above) without solutions. The health care field simply adds these new health maladies to the list and continues to develop new medications to UNSUCCESSFULLY correct these problems. Are our bodies designed so poorly that they can’t function without synthetic drugs to alter them?
What has changed over the last fifty years that might be contributing to the CAUSE OF BOTH OLD AND NEW HEALTH PROBLEMS?
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FOOD: We ingest more pesticides, herbicides and fungicides hormones, antibiotics and food dyes than ever before. We eat more processed foods void of nutrients and filled with chemicals that work against our bodies. One way they damage our GI tract is by creating imbalances in our intestinal healthy bacteria. This bacteria is needed to absorb the nutrients in food. It is also crucial to prevent food and digestive fluids from “leaking” out of the gut where is creates toxicity to the body.
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LIFESTYLE: We work and work and work and work. This may include employment, house chores, raising a family, laundry, food shopping, religious obligations, etc… There aren’t enough hours in the day. Personal time is sacrificed creating a recovery deficit. Sleep, exercise, recreation and personal time is all sacrificed to accomplish the work load. This results in increased levels of stress which continues to weaken our bodies and our body’s immune system providing the perfect opportunity for degeneration and disease to take over.
If we don’t alter our approach to health, more and more people will be placed on lifelong drugs while our health problems continue to worsen. Fifty plus years has proven this approach hasn’t worked. Americans continue to die from the same problems we’ve had since the 1960’s and are unhealthier today than ever before. If we don’t begin to take care of our own individual lives by incorporating the essentials in life, we will continue to deprive ourselves the quality of life we want and deserve.
Will it take a disease, surgical correction, death of a family member or friend, intense pain and suffering or inability to function to recognize a course change is needed for a long term solution. When reading this article, please don’t simply view it as an interesting story. I am offering a PLAN OF ACTION that EVERYONE should participate in. All it entails is focusing on FOOD and LIFESTYLE. These ideas WILL dramatically improve the quality of your life. This course of action will require significantly fewer drugs and will provide the essential ingredients for a healthier body to optimize its ability to function. I suggest this direction because, let’s face it, if you don’t care enough about taking steps to improve your own health, what doctor will?
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Do you currently take medications?
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How much longer will you need to take these drugs before the problem is FIXED?
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If you understand and agree with the content of this article, what steps are you going to take to change your current path?
All About Healthy Choices 
Really enjoyed reading this post. I feel that medication is often not the answer for modern disease. I think more doctors should look holistically, at diet and alternative herbal medicines. I am currently blogging about my experience so far with doctors and medications that have tried to cure my illness and I have recently started blogging about my journey as i follow an alternative treatment. I am hoping it will help a lot more than medication has….but we will see! Please have a read if you are interested. theantidoctor.wordpress.com xx
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Looking forward to viewing your site. There was a woman in England that did exactly what you say you are doing. She has written books about becoming healthy through following a natural approach. I will get you her name by next week. Love your comment. Thank you.
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Medication cures symptom not the underlying cause of the sickness. Only the individual person can find the things that will cure the problem. Fresh air, fresh water, reduced stress, exercise, proper sleep and a human diet.
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You summed up self reliance and living. Two of the best cures to health problems I know.
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🙂
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Reblogged this on Simple Living Over 50 and commented:
How much longer are we going to asking the same questions and still getting the same answers.
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Drugs make a dramatic difference to many conditions, even without curing them. For example, by controlling the symptoms of epilepsy, drugs help many people, including two sisters-in-law of mine, to live happy, productive lives. The individual cannot address the cause of such a ‘sickness’, which may be due to irreversible brain damage, if a cause is ever isolated. Bringing down a fever with drugs may be addressing symptoms, but for the good of the patient here and now.
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Excellent point and that is why I mentioned that there is definitely a place for pharmaceutical intervention. Most people use drugs IN PLACE of altering unhealthy habits. They base their health on blood chemistry. Good health is about complete balance in life with blood chemistry just one component. If drugs (in general) were used to return a patient to a stable state and then discontinued in favor of healthy living, more people would have fewer health maladies. People, however, have to be willing to take responsibility and make better choices in life.
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So true!! Thank you for posting this. If we put more time in for ourselves instead of trying to live up to the “Joneses” we might be a lot healthier and happier.
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Couldn’t agree more. Change without ridiculous compromises could be easier to accomplish than most realize. It seem they just don’t want to hear it.
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I’ve often had this conversation with people. If the pharmaceutical companies and researchers found cures instead of treating symptoms they’d be out of business. No money in curing disease.
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You’re absolutely correct. I have diplomatically tried to convey this point in many of my articles. Thank you for your contribution.
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Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food! There certainly is a place for medicine but I agree with the whole bandaid idea. I think for a majority of people not willing to change their lifestyle, this is the only option for them, but those willing to change or modify their eating, exercise and lifestyle habits, there may be better solutions.
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Stated beautifully. Until people are ready to respect the one body they must live in the only alternative is to alter its function artificially with drugs. There is definitely a place for pharmaceutical intervention. Most people over utilize for convenience. The detrimental affects will not be so convenient down the road. I wish people would be willing to understand this. Thank you for your constructive feedback.
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A very thought provoking article and one of your subjects I do take medication for and have done for a while…have changed my diet etc and it is now normal..never I would be normal..ha ha..but seriously because it is something you can’t see unless you checked, rechecked all the time and then you become obsessed and stressed. My father had same problem excercised,ate properly but seemed to been naturally high. I think it can sometimes be a fine line….But I agree that in some cases and probably many can be controlled by changing lifestyles etc. A good article 🙂
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I am not trying to suggestion medication is bad. I am suggesting we do what we can FIRST and then utilize ANY support (pharmaceutical, nutriceutical, homeopathic, etc…) to help supplement the body with any support necessary. We have a tendency to do what we like and then use drugs to mask underlying problems. I believe this costs many to lose the quality of their lives.
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Reblogged this on and commented:
I agree that the cause of diseases if not all, are food and lifestyle… Medications can help you? I do not think so. They keep you taking those pills and have you ask them why? Why don’t they fix the problem anyway?
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Hopefully, as more people become aware of the reality, they will begin taking responsibility and change their lives for the better. I really appreciate you passing the message on.
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Thank you so much. I am a fitness enthusiast so I though that it is worth sharing…
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Reblogged this on Booksbyjameswnelson and commented:
Right, why have to take a drug for the rest of your life? The pharmaceutical world creates many drugs to improve the “result” (not the cause) of the problem. The cartoon kind of nails it.
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Thank you for your response. I appreciate you passing the message along.
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good article…..
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Thank you for the positive response.
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anytime…Its always educational to learn, and I learn so much on here from so many of the WP community….hope alls well with you…
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I have mixed feelings about this post, so I will submit several short comments. That will simplify the logistics, if anybody wants to lob a bouquet at one and a squishy tomato at another. Here is #1 of 4.
Yes, perverse choices of food and lifestyle are major factors in causing major diseases. (Many of those choices are only partly voluntary, on an individual basis.) Yes, reliance on pills and scalpels after disease has set in is less effective (and more costly) than prevention. The cartoon predicament of the old lady with a cycle of pills is all too common. Indeed, the even worse predicament of the old lady who swallowed a fly has been known to happen.
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Some progress has been made in 5 decades, tho it has been uneven and there has also been some regression. Consider food. Complex carbohydrates, fresh fruits/veggies, and lean protein — are all more widely available. I am old enough to remember when organic food was available only in niche stores, only at huge price premiums, and usually half rotten. When the healthiest readily available snack bars were things like solid milk chocolate or Almond Joy. And so on.
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I should hope that 5 decades has provided some semblance of progress, but the focus of progress is based on business, not health. I’m not convinced the availability of organic food is a measure of progress. I view it much more as a cyclical pattern. We started with organic foods and are now completing a cycle back from where we came. Progress, in my opinion, is starting from a new plane; discovering new levels of growth and development leading the way toward true advancement in health.
You have possibly crossed the line when you speak ill of chocolate (one of my favorite poor choices of nutrient deficient foods high in processed sugar if we exclude dark chocolate {70% cocoa or higher!} Chocolate has also created philosophical debates that transcended time up to the present day. Hershey (the manufacturer of BOTH almond joy and mounds) (or was it Yogi Berra) quoted, “sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.” Progress has determined the nut and its source of essential fatty acids the better choice regardless how you feel!!
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10K apologies for dissing chocolate more than I intended! Found a really good 88% cocoa bar some years ago and have been eating 5 or 10 grams on many days ever since.
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Apology accepted. Sometimes we get so emotionally involved in our subject we tend to displace our anger on chocolate. It has happened to me as well. 5-10 grams of 88% cocoa is a meaningful heartfelt apology and a wonderful source of antioxidants. Enjoy every morsel (or square.)
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It is not helpful to cite the continued top-3 mortality status of cancer, heart attacks, and stroke. An across-the-board reduction in mortality from all major causes would leave the ranking unchanged.
Long-term tracking of mortality from any single cause is problematic. Diagnostic criteria change. Earlier detection followed by the same old ineffective treatment can lead to a spurious improvement in 5-yr survival rate. And so on.
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It is my opinion that the “big three” will remain on top until any meaningful progress is made on a personal level with lifestyle modifications. Point being, the pharmaceutical company will never be able to change the ranking regardless of how many new drugs are developed. Cancer, cardiovascular disease (including strokes) are NOT the result of a pharmaceutical deficiency.
Statistically, your argument regarding an across the board reduction in mortality from all major causes would leave the ranking unchanged is accurate. However, what are we doing to address all health issues on a proportional basis to keep the statistics status quo?
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Longevity is the best overall mortality measure known to me. It has been getting better, not worse. It is also deeply flawed as a measure of health. How many of those final years are spent in misery, kept barely alive by treatments that just prolong suffering? Anybody who has contemplated a palliative care checklist knows the inadequacy of any quick and simple answer for one beloved person, let alone a society.
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You bring up a very important point. 5 years is a landmark in determining the “successful” treatment for cancer. One must ask is mere existence the definition we choose to personify “success?” I understand that some simply desire longevity and certainly have that right. For many, quality of life becomes the most important parameter which guides the decision making process.
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I will lob a bouquet at #4 of MC’s comment. MC brings up an excellent point…..I have seen people I love growing old and living until they are well into their 80’s, but their quality of life had diminished due to diseases and so forth. Medication and treatments are what keeps them “alive.”
Dr. J, do you know of any studies that have been done regarding people’s health as they age? Our longevity may be increasing, but how healthy really are our elderly folks?
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The parameters to prove our aging population is living an improved quality of life are too subjective. We are definitely “existing” longer, but are we truly “living?” I agree with you and MC that quality of life and longevity are not synonymous terms. Philosophically we would have to debate the terms “Existence” and “Living.”
Statistics demonstrate we experience more disease and degeneration today, yet “exist” for more chronological years than the past. This also explains the increased cost in healthcare. End of life medical treatments are very expensive. Since we are able to prolong existence, we prolong family pain as well as financial costs. Are we truly doing what is in our patient’s best interest?
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Thank you for your thoughtful response. I enjoy your blog very much and the health questions you pose and address. Have a super week 🙂
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Our Australian Indigenous have been on earth for over 40,000 years. There were no pharmaceutical companies to cure diseases back then. They had the land and the medicines of the land to cure almost anything. They continue to have this knowledge and ability to cure even the most difficult cancer’s and yet, we have no funding or interest in those cultures. It will always be an issue to debate. Great post.
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One has to question why success in overcoming disease for so many years receives so little reverence. Time tested evidence needs to be shown greater respect. We could learn so much if our egos didn’t impede the process. As I’ve stated before disease is not the result of a pharmaceutical deficiency. The first problem to overcome is convincing our population that this statement is accurate.
Thank you for your very interesting comment. I was not aware of this history.
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Yes you are right, it is very difficult to convince our population. Hopefully our generation will continue to learn and make a difference in the future.
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Big pharma doesn’t want that statement proven accurate!
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I will be the first to claim the pharmaceutical industry has developed important life sustaining medications over the years. It is the abuse of power that commonly develops over time that tends to corrupt well intentioned industries resulting in serious consumer harm. The consumer, however, must also realize and accept that they too are part of the problem. Drug industries provide products…they do not FORCE people to buy them, swallow them or inject them. If the consumer chose to be more responsible with their own health, pharmaceutical industries would have to modify their business model.
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Found this post really interesting and agree with a certain amount of what you’re saying. Stress is a big factor in health; if people looked after their bodies better—not just diet-wise, but stress level-wise, they would have fewer health issues.
The reason people put duct tape on a plumbing leak over and over is because they
a) can’t afford, b) don’t take the time or, c) don’t know how, to fix it.
It isn’t always willful neglect. For example, if you’re addicted to crack, you’re not going to spend a lot of money on organic veggies. If you’re functionally illiterate like my cousin, you can’t read labels and are not going to understand vitamins & minerals. You just go with whatever is being recommended to you at the moment by whoever.
I also agree with Mellow, that people are living longer even though the Big Three are still the Big Three. I had breast cancer when I was 27. If i hadn’t had medical intervention I wouldn’t be alive today, almost 35 years later. I may someday die of cancer, but these have been precious years. My mom developed Type II diabetes and would have died within a few months if medical science hadn’t discovered insulin and made it available.
For me the fact that people are still dying of the Big three only proves that people do die. As long as this earth stands, people will die. Medical science cannot cure that. People don’t have to die of suicide, though, as so many are today. (Back to stress as a big factor in health.)
Older folks enjoy good health longer. Yes, some do end up in nursing homes. We put our mom in a home when she was 95 and she didn’t have the greatest quality of life for those last few years. There is a time to “pull the plug” and let go but let’s not conclude that all old folks are languishing in nursing homes for years.
I don’t believe for a minute that drug companies want you sick so they can sell you pills. There are too many diseases to cure, too many projects that need funding for research. If some drug company could actually come up with a cure for, say cancer, they would become fabulously wealthy and could go on to find a treatment for MS, or ALSD or…
In history 1800s death was an accepted fact. Many children died; plagues ravaged the various populations. If a mother had ten children, chances are only 4 to 6 of them would live to adulthood. (I’ve done my genealogical research.) In our society we just can’t swallow the idea that people do die, so we tend to look for someone or something to blame it on. Drug companies/ medical professionals do make good scapegoats.
That said, I still see the truth of the cartoon above. We are are a very over-pilled society. It would be wonderful if more people would take responsibility for their own health. Almost any doctor would agree.
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Thank you for your very well written comment. Coming from the healthcare field, I believe a majority of the healthcare professionals are good well intentioned people. There is certainly a place for all types of treatments (ex. western medicine, eastern medicine, ayurvedic medicine, homeopathic medicine, etc…) My concern is that the U.S. only recognizes (to a large extent) western medicine. In addition, it bothers me when oncologists provide treatment to patients they are unwilling to subject themselves or their families to (86% of the time according to the oncologists interviewed in Ty Bollinger’s “Quest For The Cure Continues.”) I do not believe in either end of the extreme spectrum. I don’t believe all medicine is bad or good. I believe in most cases it is appropriate for acute situations to stabilize a condition. There are some conditions that require life long medication. Our culture over prescribes and turns to drug therapy before offering conservative treatments. The side effects of many medications require additional prescriptions to offset adverse reactions.
I do not believe that drug companies are intending to hurt people. I do believe their primary purpose is business driven. Changing an inactive ingredient to create a new patent for an allergy medication that offers no better effects is a business decision. Lobbying congress to mandate ADULT vaccinations from 19-death is a business decision. These two situations do not extend the quality or lifespan of people. Whether people damage their health from a lack of understanding or intentional poor decision making, medication is a possible solution. What we are not offered are the other options that are also available. This is my point of contention. Provide education to the patients so they can choose the method they feel is best for them. When a person is offered only one option, the institution discredits all other choices unfairly. Why is the medical community only offering pharmaceutical remedies?
I very much appreciate the time you spent writing your comment. We need more people like yourself to share views so more people can learn from differing opinions. People can think differently, yet, remain respectful. This is the only way gradual change will occur. In my opinion, various views and protocols will be blended in the future as a result of dialogue such as ours and achieve a better delivery system. Thank you so much for your contribution.
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I especially like the point at the end about blended protocols. The world is complicated.
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What I’m reading here is hope that less meds will be needed as lifestyles improve. I believe!
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I believe that most medications are aimed at the symptom control and not at cause. There are of course, exceptions such as Enbrel that improved my RA by suppressing immune system. I however dreaded it’s side effects and stopped taking it after 2 months. Currently I’m not on any diabetes meds; am taking some arthritis meds PRN & some OTC for maintenance. I don’t like taking meds at all. To answer your question, IMO some health problems are chronic and can’t be fixed.
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I agree with you, some chronic problems can’t be fixed. My concern is that traditional allopathic care often is not focused on finding cures or preventing health conditions from progressing to chronic states. It is often focused on maintaining chronic states of sub-par health. I believe this is more likely the result of our medical educational institutions. When a student is taught that prescriptive medications are their only tool to combat disease and sub-par health, they will never find the underlying root cause. There are certainly some conditions that require ongoing medication, but we limit our results if we only believe that western medicine is the only science with legitimate answers. We must place our egos aside to investigate all possible solutions if we are going to look our patients in their eyes and promise we are doing all we can to help them.
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Big pharma is all about big business and big profits period. Now, if that is to be achieved by pushing their products (pills) in any way possible eg funding research for new ailments to produce new pills, lobbying stakeholders, offering all the bonuses to doctors and medical reps etc etc; then so be it. We beat about the bush too much. What are we personally doing not to become another HB statistic or improve on our physical mental lot?
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…and they say “I hold no punches” when I write or speak… 😀
I like your directness and your honest emotions. If more people were willing to think AND act on these emotions, we would live in a healthier world.
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