Medicalization of healthcare

Wouldn’t it be better if????

We all want to be healthy.

How do I know this?

Well, if you are a reader of Common Sense Health and Wellness, then you either want to be healthy or want a good laugh. Either way I am so glad you are here.

My definition of good health can be summed up as aging while remaining independent and vibrant without needing pharmaceuticals for treatment of a medical diagnosis, whether real, drummed up or imagined. Aging while keeping in balance your metabolism, nutrition, sleep, immune and hormonal systems.

My definition of someone who needs some help is:

Aging while needing pharmaceuticals to make a marker of a diagnosis look better.

I say it this way because many prescription medications make markers of a disease process appear better but do little if anything to reverse the cause or trigger of the process, so the potential damage from the disease process continues even while you are on the medication. We call that a “band aid” that covers up a problem without stopping the bleeding or problems that can still arise.

Example- Hyperlipidemia, aka High Cholesterol.

Now most of you know I have a different viewpoint on cholesterol where I don’t think it is actually a true medical diagnosis.

I do believe it is a marker of many different processes occurring in your body based on your diet and lifestyle.

But back to the main point.

Traditional medical care tests your cholesterol levels, tries to scare you when they are elevated, and prescribes you medication to lower your cholesterol even though it rarely, less than 1% of the time prevents heart disease. Yes it is actually less than 1% of the time. Please don’t believe the ads you hear and see in the media. They are trying to sell you something that you most likely do not need.

Cholesterol levels are just markers of your diet and lifestyle and perhaps your genetics. I believe Cholesterol is probably the most misunderstood and mishandled lab marker in healthcare.

I’d be retired on my own private island in the Caribbean if I had a nickel for every time someone told me they were worried about their cholesterol. Don’t worry though as my island would not cater to any politicians or celebrities. It’s not that type of island. No one has ever asked the FBI look into that imaginary island. Anywho, I like my job so I am not looking to retire any time soon.

The truth- Cholesterol has been medicalized to make you a chronic consumer of healthcare services.

Did you know higher LDL cholesterol in people over 60 years of age has been associated with longer life?

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/6/e010401

Wouldn’t it be better if you truly understood all the things that cholesterol does for your health? See below some of the things cholesterol does for you.

I think we need a campaign to make cholesterol great again, not that anyone but a small minority of people ever thought it was great before. But it is an interesting slogan…

Ha Ha!!

The slogan can work sometimes……….

Other areas that have been medicalized to produce chronic consumers of healthcare services include, in my opinion only-

DEXA scans for Osteoporosis - used to sell you prescription treatments that rarely help.

Colonoscopies - every polyp found makes you a frequent flyer in the colonoscopy lab, but who actually tells you how to PREVENT the polyps??

Blood pressure monitors - can be helpful at times, but can also freak people out, increase their stress, and the accuracy of many monitors are questionable.

Cardiac Stress Tests - expensive tests that can be helpful but in the super-majority just move you towards getting a cardiac catheterization if needed. Otherwise you end up on the frequent flyer every few years a stress test treadmill.

Am I against the above tests?

No

Do I think those tests are overused?

Yes

Do I think people are over-medicated as a result of the above tests?

Yep

Do I think the pharmaceutical treatments for the above tests fix the actual root causes of the medical issue?

Nope

So what do we end up with?

Medicalization of your health

Let’s take an example.

A 65 year old Female, let’s call her Betty, on no medications goes to a Traditional doc and has the following tests/procedures, you know, for her Medicare annual examination.

Annual labs

Cardiac stress test

DEXA scan

Blood pressure monitor for home use

Due to the results of the above testing she gets diagnosed with the following:

High Cholesterol

Occasional PVC’s - extra benign heart beats

Osteopenia bordering on Osteoporosis

High Blood Pressure

Traditional treatment then becomes-

Cholesterol medication usually Crestor (rosuvastatin) to lower cholesterol that is not harmful and not the root cause of heart disease.

Metoprolol, a beta blocker medication to prevent the benign PVC’s.

Twice yearly IV infusions of a medicine to make the DEXA scan result look better while trying to protect against Osteoporosis. Unfortunately those treatments have about as much success as the cholesterol medications.

If your house has termites do you keep replacing the damaged wood or do you first get rid of the termites?

A blood pressure medication is prescribed which lowers the blood pressure but has not touched the actual cause of the high blood pressure, so it ends up being required for life. It also barely budges the risk for heart disease, stroke or kidney disease in most people.

So before starting with this new doc and getting her annual Medicare exam, Betty was on no medications. Now Betty is on 3 prescription medications and one twice yearly IV infusion, all supposedly to prevent further illness.

The problem as I see it is that all these diagnoses do not necessarily need medications, especially if they are NOT treating or reversing the root cause of the issues. All of these medications also have side effects. But by being labeled with these diagnoses Big Pharma is certainly making lots of $$, and Betty is now scheduling frequent follow up visits to primary care and now to specialists as well.

Betty has now lost control of her healthcare as she now feels dependent upon our SickCare system that wants to label everyone with something they can sell their services to.

This scenario does NOT have to be what happens.

Wouldn’t it be better if we looked for the root causes and trigger of these issues, if they are actually real issues at all?

Wouldn’t it be better if we understood the difference between markers of a process and an actual process?

Wouldn’t it be better if we reversed these processes at their root cause without medications so you could truly be healthier.

If you are tired of the Traditional healthscare system and want something a bit different, perhaps you should look at some alternatives for evaluating and treating if necessary most of the health processes of aging.

I think it would be better.

This is exactly what I have been building at the Institute for Medical Wellness since 2008.

So think about whether you have been unknowingly medicalized by our healthscare system.

Then think about whether you can get healthier, truly healthier if you tried a different method of health and wellness engagement.

The choice is yours.

But do NOT change anything until you meet with your healthcare professional.

In other words:

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

without a better understanding of the process first.