As a physician, I have a wonderful job. My job is to take care of people and, if done well, I will minimize pain and suffering. But physicians can do more. If the medical community – especially primary care physicians – would shift our focus from treating chronic disease to helping patients understand what they need to do to prevent chronic disease we would have true health care system.
Modern medicine has forgotten a basic fact: Every human body has an inherent energy that automatically self-corrects and heals when illness occurs. Obviously there are limits to this internal process but the medical community seems to have forgotten that without it our profession would fail every time.
In medical school I was taught that the majority of chronic disease is inevitable and the best we can do is manage the disease, not cure it – thus the term chronic.
What I know now is that these diseases can be prevented and in some cases, reversed.
These most common preventable diseases include:
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
Hypertension
Type 2 Diabetes
Cancer
Obesity
Osteoarthritis
The Scientific Evidence is Clear
Several highly developed research studies have proven that a whole foods plant based diet, along with avoidance of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and the inclusion of regular exercise is the key to health. We as a country have spiraled into very bad habits that create the chronic diseases. If we could put healthy food in our bodies, quit consuming unhealthy food/products, maintain a healthy weight (Body Mass Index – BMI between 18-24.9) and exercise on a regular basis we would maximize health and prevent many chronic disease.
I’m not saying that all illness can be cured but the majority of the money spent in our “disease” care system could be saved if people positively improved their behaviors.
If you are interested in learning more, we invite you to call our office at 221-5858 to have your questions answered.
Also, here are some informative and helpful links if you’d like to look into it yourself!
Micheal Greger, MD, FACLM, https://nutritionfacts.org/
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Neal Barnard, https://www.pcrm.org/
T. Colin Campbell https://nutritionstudies.org/
Dr. Esselstyn, http://www.dresselstyn.com/site/