The Medical Mindset- Inefficient to Health and Wellness? YOU DECIDE!

    I am writing this concerning Michael Moore's documentary film "Sicko." I realize this comes a bit late, but having just seen the documentary, I would like to give you my thoughts and feelings.  I understand that the health insurance industry may be disappointed in the message this film leaves with the general public.I doubt, though, that the industry's disappointment is greater than the impression of disappointment left with the public about the health insurance industry.

   

    I am also sure that the health insurance industry is committed to providing Americans with access to the best quality health-care that is available, and they likely work to stay up with new advances in health information.  However, therein lies the problem.  For example, are you aware that of the millions people now populating our great nation some 50 million-plus, of us are now using dietary supplements?  That is up from 20 million in 1994 when Congress passed DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) a law to protect dietary supplements. Yet health insurers choose to follow the pharmaceutical model as the way to health and wellness.

   

    It seems that many people in the professional field of medicine would like to feel that it has taken a generation of poor nutrition and exercise to get obesity and related health issues and their subsequent costs to their current levels. What I see is that the system has learned to mask symptoms with drugs rather than cure the problem. It is this thought process that has misled public thinking and therefore has lead the public to taking inappropriate action where nutrition and exercise are concerned.  This medical mindset is inefficient to health and wellness. Consequently what the system has been both professing and pushing as answers to health and wellness hasn't been working, and thus we are now paying the toll.

   

    Moore's film puts great focus on the profit incentives where the health insurance business is concerned. Yet if the concern of the health insurance business is truly the health and wellness of Americans, with money being a secondary issue, why does the commitment to innovation that reflects the ever-changing health-care landscape and the needs of the consumer continue to ignore alternative and complementary medicine?  Why does the health insurance business continue to ignore a facet of health and wellness that half the country is utilizing?

   

    Insurers choose to stay focused on emerging medical trends and treatment options from the allopathic world and ignore other options. It is my understanding that to further the use of evidenced-based medicine, BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield) has called upon Congress to establish an independent, payer-funded institute that will study the comparative effectiveness of new and existing medical treatments and procedures.  When do insurance companies plan on incorporating dietary supplements and alternative medicine under the category of evidence-based medicine?

   

    It is my experience of  years of studying health and wellness that incorporating these mediums is not welcomed by the FDA or the pharmaceutical companies.  The FDA and the pharmaceutical companies go out of their way to keep dietary supplements out of a positive limelight and out of the public eye.  I know that some people don’t want to believe that such things happen but I happen to know this from personal experience.

   With slight modifications in the nutrients consumed I believe it is possible to be successful in "Knocking Out" such ailments as,Epstein-Barr virus, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a host of other so called "Incurable Diseases"-  I have had the experience of personal observation with many of  these ailments and diseases.  But I have to say that this is just the tip of the iceberg in what can be accomplished, and that I am just one of many, many people in this country aware of nutritional tools that are effective in providing the immune system with a path to wellness.

   

    There is yet again a push for national health insurance, and that is not a bad thing as long as it doesn’t further entrench a failed allopathic medical system to the exclusion of alternative medicine. One thing I’ve noticed about our society over the years is that those people who take drugs and use little or no dietary supplements,often times(not always!) pay little or no attention to either nutrition or exercise.  Those people using only dietary supplements, or using pharmaceutical drugs combined with dietary supplements, are more prone to pay attention to both dietary nutrition and exercise. Whether considering the coverage and delivery of health care, or when considering the truly relevant issue of improving our health and wellness, the focus needs to be on diversification because the old system standard has failed us.

   

    The FDA and the pharmaceutical industry both want to say that their vision of health and wellness have to do with curing people of ailments and disease.  The odd thing is that the way it comes across through television commercials is that if you have a problem then there is a pill you can take the rest of your life to keep the problem under control.  Now we are hearing that since the medical world can’t cure cancer, cancer is something that people can SOMETIMES learn to live with-again a lifetime of pill taking. Both those scenarios translate as money in the bank to the big pharmaceutical companies and to the health insurance providers.  Just one example would be to imagine spending $75,000 for a bypass operation versus $200 for two weeks of nutrients that clear the arteries out without surgery. Insurance companies should have the compassion to embrace that, wouldn't you think?

   

    If health insurance companies are truly sincere about pursuing efforts to provide Americans with the health-care services and information they need to lead full, healthy lives then might I suggest that they embrace the potential of dietary supplements.  They might consider taking the step of investing in research with the people in this great country who have been pushing the envelope where resisting suppression from the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies is concerned.  The tendency now of health insurers is to stay focused on emerging medical trends and treatment options from the allopathic world and ignore other options. It is my understanding that to further the use of evidenced-based medicine, BCBS has called upon Congress to establish an independent, payer-funded institute that will study the comparative effectiveness of new and existing medical treatments and procedures.  When are insurance companies going to embrace the dietary supplements of alternative medicine as evidenced-based medicine?
   

  As it now stands people have to hunt and peck for answers to health, ailments and disease through the use of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in the form of dietary supplements because the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies have worked to keep that information fragmented.  For example, they can say that a drug can cure, but if I say a group of dietary supplements can cure they can take legal action against me.  A person would have to be incoherent to not realize that this inequality isn’t based on the fact that drug companies have millions, even billions, of dollars to lose by allowing such information to be made public.  Having said that I do believe that there is some integrity in the health insurance system.  I also believe, however, that the health insurance system needs to realize that the current medical model has severe shortcomings, and that diversification will benefit the American people.

         The good thing about the movie “Sicko” is that it raises a lot of valuable questions about our failed medical system; the bad thing about it is that it proposes universal health coverage for a failed system, without recognizing that it IS a failed system!  While I don’t condone universal health coverage I certainly am a proponent of the health insurance companies taking steps to improve the system.  The first simple step is to reimburse their members that choose to utilize alternative medicine.  Secondly, I have always felt that drugs and dietary supplements, if put on an equally respected basis, could effectively work together.  However, until unbiased research is done dietary supplements have little chance of attaining that status.  If health insurance companies were to take the lead in promoting and financing research into proven methods of alternative medicine then dietary supplements could come to the forefront.  The beneficiaries of the information about health and wellness that would surface from such activity would be "We The People"
In closing, I would like to thank those who inspire me on this journey to wellness, Adelle Davis,author of many books on health and wellness,implementing vitamins and minerals. Louise Hay,who not only taught me the mental/emotional connection in health and wellness, but also the word, "Disease" (To quote her, "Dis~ Ease") And last but not least,the one who inspired me THE most, Dr.Francis J.Trapani, the man who literally PUT me on the road to wellness, to you, Dr."T"- I am forever grateful.

J.A.Michaels~ Follow me on twitter~ @spiritdance33

Stand Up For Healths Sake! ...Your OWN!

"Stand Up For Health's Sake- YOUR OWN!

 
In my line of thinking,  there are several big problems with the health care system. The problems start with the fact that there is more than one train of thought about what is best for the body when problems arise. For example, allopathic medicine uses drugs to suppress symptoms. Alternative medicine uses dietary supplements to deal with ailments and disease. There is very little respect in the allopathic world for alternative medicine. The two worlds don't get along because the allopathic world feels, or wants to think, that the alternative world has nothing to offer. The problem may involve more than just lack of respect. From where I stand, the pharmaceutical companies and the FDA feel that alternative medicine threatens the sale of drugs. If that were not the case they wouldn't, among other indiscretions, spend so much time doing and honoring research that debunks dietary supplements as ineffective and worthless where helping the body with ailments or disease is concerned."
Lately we are hearing a lot about vitamin and mineral research studies showing that these supplements do nothing to help the health of the body. Most studies involve a single nutrient. The problem with this is that no single nutrient works alone in the body, rather nutrients work with each other. For example, vitamin C and calcium are responsible for cell wall integrity. Together they strengthen the cell wall thus denying viruses and bacteria access to the cell. However, if either nutrient is deficient cell wall integrity is compromised. Taking that a step further let's say a study is concerned with the impact of pantothenic acid on weak adrenal glands. If the body is deficient in B-6 and vitamin C, which is usually the case with adrenal exhaustion, the pantothenic acid isn't going to have much effect. However, using these three nutrients in combination in this case will bring exhausted adrenal glands back to normal.
The point is that when supplement research projects don't look at, or take into consideration, all the nutrient interactions, needs and deficiencies specific to those areas of the body affected by the particular ailment or disease in question, the results of the study will be skewed. That gives alternative medicine a bad name and that name is 'It doesn't work'. I can and would prove that name to be wrong, and I look forward to the opportunity to do just that.
I would like to think that I live in a "free" society where health is a birthright that every citizen is allowed to pursue "HEALTH" through natural, time honored forms of healing, through the drugs adopted by allopathic medicine, or by combining dietary supplements and drugs if they so desire. However, that perfect world is not yet a reality in this great country. I speak of this from personal experience. I have observed the actions of the FDA where cancer cures that have utilized dietary supplements are concerned. These actions include the businesses manufacturing such supplements being forced out of business by the FDA. Mind you, this happened not because they were not following good manufacturing practices, but because people using their products were curing themselves of cancer, including cancers that were considered inoperable and incurable. I am not alone here, many people in this country have stories to tell that mirror my experience. When a government institution initiates action against companies that manufacture dietary supplements that threaten the bottom line of the pharmaceutical companies I am left with no choice but to know that the institution that is supposed to protect my health freedom is actually my adversary.
Yet another part of the problem in the health care picture is that health care, from procedures to drugs to insurance, costs too much. People without insurance are often left with the reality of having to go to emergency rooms when problems arise. Those trips are much more costly than a visit to a doctor. Also, as a result of insurance companies being involved in the stock market and thus having investors needs to meet, these companies end up dictating to doctors about what they can and cannot do where patients needs are concerned. Insurance companies being able to determine who gets health care and what kind and how much care they get bodes only to the reality that money is more important to these companies than their concerns about the health of an individual.
Then there is the mind/matter connection to health. While those in the metaphysical world have long known of the link between mind and matter, the new sciences of quantum physics  are now revolutionizing our understanding of the specific link between mind and matter. To quote Dr. Bruce Lipton, "The old vision was that genes turn them "On and Off" . But current data reveals that there is no such thing as an on/off function for a gene because genes are blueprints (plans) to make proteins, which are the building blocks that give shape to the structure. The significance of this shift in belief is vast in that the original view led to the notion that we are victims of our biology. Whereas the ‘new’ sciences show that we are actually masters of our biology."
The following information is from Dr. Lipton's website: "The old vision was formulated by Francis Crick, who together with James Watson deciphered the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. Based on experiments that were taken out of context but supported what he and Watson were thinking, Crick became completely enamored with the belief that DNA controls life. Crick came up with what is referred to in literature as the ‘central dogma’, the belief that DNA rules.
The crucial thing here is that this was only a hypothesis. There was never any scientific validation for it yet we all bought it because a belief already existed that this would be the answer to what controls life so when the data looked like it would fit it was simply assumed that this was right. (Lipton, who taught Cell Biology at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine was one of thousands of lecturers who taught the theory.)" Detailed information on this subject can be found at http://www.brucelipton.com/
The science that allows us to embrace these mind/matter revelations is not being promoted by the general media. Such information flies in the face of allopathic medicine and its use of drugs because it makes the mind/matter connection a matter of personal responsibility, which will inevitably change how we both view and treat ailments and disease. However, until we embrace the mind/matter connection as the true cause of ailments and disease, and until we accept and embrace both allopathic and alternative medicine as equal players in the wellness process, thereby enabling us to be able to utilize both drugs and dietary supplements as valid tools in the cause of wellness, any health care plan we come up with will be compromised.
The first step in changing the direction we have gone since allopathic medicine came on the scene in the early part of the 20th century is to allow alternative medicine the freedom that allopathic medicine enjoys. In 1994 there were 20 million Americans using dietary supplements. Today half the population, approximately 150 million people, are using dietary supplements. If supplements didn't work the trend toward supplements and alternative medicine wouldn't be growing, but they do and it is. Actually the practice of alternative medicine has risen dramatically in recent years. It is only the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies that want to suppress these health options, especially now that so many people are using supplements. For example, it is okay for a drug company to state what a drug does, but the FDA doesn't allow dietary supplements to state on the label what they do, though between word of mouth and the internet this information is getting out into the world. So, if a person has done their homework, or finds a good naturopathic physician, they are doing so because they know that using dietary supplements can be effective in treating many types of problems.
Most disturbing is the ongoing assault by the FDA to get dietary supplements classified as drugs, which would effectively remove them from store shelves thereby forcing all of us to go to the doctor to get a prescription in order to be able to purchase them. That is not health freedom. The attack on dietary supplements by the FDA began in earnest in 1994. That attempt ended with the DSHEA (Dietary Health and Education supplement Act) law that made supplements legal. In 2007 the FDA again began moving to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs. The document is called Docket No. 2006D-0480...Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. This information can be found at the following website: http://www.fda.gov/CBER/gdlns/altmed.pdf
My health is my responsibility. The choices I make in dealing with my health are my responsibility. With every bite of food I put in my mouth, with every word I speak and thought that I think I am making choices about the health of my body. If I have made poor choices where my food, words and thoughts are concerned, the ailment or disease outcome created by those poor choices is my responsibility. I want the ability to make choices about how to heal the physical manifestation of my indiscretions based on all the options, and I want all the options to be available. Dietary supplements contain nutrients, just like food. They are not drugs, nor should they be. For the thoughts of We The People concerning Docket No. 2006D-0480 go to http://www.nationalhealthfreedom.org/nhfa/AlertFDA051507.htm
That the FDA is willing to take the steps outlined in Docket No. 2006D-0480 is very disturbing. When one considers that many physical, mental and emotional conditions respond to dietary supplements, which are far cheaper than the drugs used to treat such conditions, one must ask why a government agency would not want their citizens to benefit from cheaper, yet efficient health care. Drugs have their place, but so do supplements. In this day and age why would we not want to lower the cost of health care without giving up efficient, effective treatments? Why? Because the health of the individual IS NOT paramount. What IS paramount is the financial health of insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Denying citizens the use of dietary supplements will raise the cost of health care. Is that the direction we really want to go?
Many of us using dietary supplements do not want to use drugs. Some of us feel that the side effects are more invasive than the condition being treated. Others of us use both drugs and supplements, and wish to continue to be able to do so. What do the 150 million of us using dietary supplements do if the FDA manages to get this law passed, a law that feels like a betrayal that leans heavily toward communism? We will go to a doctor and get prescriptions for vitamins and minerals that will cost us a dollar a pill for diluted amounts of whatever vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, etc. that we want, provided that is, that the FDA will allow them to be manufactured. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that would do to the cost of health care.
I sincerely believe that the Obama-Biden administration would reverse this trend by the FDA of defying health options that lie outside the realm of the pharmaceutical drug companies. . I am tired of the "System" not  having the courage to, among other things, right the injustice in our health care system. Nor have they had the wisdom to call the government agency which oversees that system to full accountability.  President Obama says he is ready to institute change? (REALLY!)  I truly hope that his administration will choose to deal forcefully with this situation because it is this allopathic/pharmaceutical/alternative conflict that threatens to keep health care in this country costly, ineffective, inefficient and not in the best interest of the health of the consumer. If this situation is not righted we will not have health freedom, instead we will have companies continuing to make money off peoples misery.
If the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies have their way we, as a society, will not embrace the truth of illness and disease. Yet on a deep, in some cases subconscious level, we all know that 'physician heal thyself' is the truth of the matter. No matter the path we take drug or supplement wise to assist either our healing process or the maintenance of our daily wellness, it is an experience of personal responsibility. In either case the bottom line is that we want the ability to make the choice, based on the ALL  of options, as to how we get there.

There is one issue where health care is concerned that lends itself to far more than discussions about drugs, supplements, wellness, ailments or disease. Because a government agency is attempting to manipulate our ability to pursue all health options in lieu of creating monopolies for the drug companies, that agency threatens our freedom. I am not anti-drug. I am, however, totally opposed to the suppression and control of forms of healing that are not drug related by an agency that is supposed to have my best interests at heart. I am also opposed to a national health care plan that follows their lead by subscribing to the notion that drugs are the only answer to physical, mental and emotional problems, ailments and disease. Finally, I do not believe that we can limit health freedom and at the same time expect to have a national health care plan that is not financially compromised by such a limitation."Stand Up For "Health's Sake~ YOUR OWN!"  Follow me on twitter ~ @spiritdance33