Why the IMW?

Why adding Functional Medical thought to Traditional?

Oct 04, 2023

After practicing "mostly" traditional medical care for the first 15 years of my professional career, I started adding or should I say I began evolving into new territory. I did NOT abandon the older traditional thought. But I did start questioning just how effective traditional healthcare was for optimal health and wellness.

Why?

Let's discuss what was my first eye opener.

Traditional dietary recommendations.

Low Fat Diets
Avoid Saturated Fat
Avoid Cholesterol
Red Meat is bad for you
Eggs are bad for you
Eat more plants and more fiber
Don't eat too much salt
Eat 3 meals a day plus a few snacks each day
Eat vegetable and seed oils because they lower your cholesterol
High Cholesterol causes heart disease
Calories In Calories Out are what matters the most

All of the above are Traditional dogma about diet and health.

I should next ask, "How is that really working for y'all?"

If we look at the metabolic health of our country I'd say these traditional recommendations are pretty p-ss poor for your health. I read recently that 80% of adults in this country are in poor metabolic health, and this % is still increasing.

Did the Traditionalists ever think, hmmm, maybe it's the diet recommendations??

I realized this about dietary health 15-20 years ago and started swaying away and giving people other options to consider. I always gave options, not ultimatums and definitely never pressure, coercion or mandates.

But as every year passed, I became more and more confident that the Traditional dietary recommendations have mostly failed us and that we needed a change, a different way to think of how nutrition helps us achieve optimal health. I am not alone in this thinking and you can find many other healthcare professionals and laypeople who believe similar. Many of the people have done research studies to prove the Traditional diet recommendations have failed and other dietary regimens are needed. You can do an internet search for these people and their beliefs. I'd say do it soon as you never know anymore how much free speech is allowed, especially if it goes contrary to the present narrative. If you do this search I'd avoid Google, Bing and Yahoo and look into alternate search engines. If anyone has any other search engines they recommend please add them in the comments section. Definitely avoid Wikipedia.

Let me go one step further, at least in hoping to get all of you thinking critically and independently. The present narrative is not just failing us with diet and nutrition.

I just came across this article in an edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Estimated Lifetime Gained with Cancer Screening Tests

Estimated Lifetime Gained With Cancer Screening Tests: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials | Cancer Screening, Prevention, Control | JAMA Internal Medicine | JAMA Network

This was published August 28, 2023.

You can read the Abstract summary for yourself. It is pretty short.

It looked at common traditional medical screening tests and whether it saved lives or extended life.

"Conclusions and Relevance The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that current evidence does not substantiate the claim that common cancer screening tests save lives by extending lifetime, except possibly for colorectal cancer screening with sigmoidoscopy."

For colorectal cancer screening with sigmoidoscopy, the average lifetime gain was 110 days, or just under 4 months.

For other cancer screening tests such as CAT scans for lung cancer, mammography for breast cancer, PSA blood tests for Prostate cancer, and fecal occult blood testing for colon cancer, the current evidence did not show that they saved lives or extended lifetime.

So what does this mean?

Should we stop doing all health and wellness screenings?

The answer is a big NO.

We should absolutely continue screenings.

But we need to have an open and honest discussion of what true health and wellness screenings work, without the pressure from politics, industry or $$.

Each individual has their own inherent risks and should be treated as an individual when deciding upon health and wellness screenings and follow up recommendations. This one size fits all guideline system that traditional healthcare is following does not appear to be working. These public health guidelines pressuring healthcare professionals and individual patients into traditional testing and care guidelines is not working, but is costing the healthcare system billions, and all of us many days of missed time with family and work.

So back to why I started writing this post.

Why did I add Functional Medicine to Traditional Medicine at the Institute for Medical Wellness (IMW)?

I see the combination of the best of both systems as the best evolution of individualized healthcare. Let us take the best of both systems and improve your health. Let's stop the narrow minded thinking and open up our minds that there are methods of true health and wellness other than what you see/hear/read in the controlled media.

At the IMW, we use everything at our disposal. We also use critical thinking for each individual. We work to help you understand your own personal risks and benefits, how different lifestyles affect your health and wellness, and discuss many different treatment options, both traditional and functional. We try to help you understand how to live the healthiest balance so you can slow your aging process, and best of all, you get to decide your direction.

So hopefully this gives you a better understanding of the IMW and why and how we are trying to help you on your health and wellness journey. If you are interested in moving in this direction, you know how to get in touch.

Common Sense Health and Wellness

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