Cause or effect? Symptom or problem? Prevention or concealment? Are we in the business of health care or sick care?
When there’s a fire do you treat the smoke or the fire? I would hope you’d treat the fire. Common sense right. But why then when it comes to our health do we treat the smoke rather than the fire, the symptom versus the cause. We’re effectively removing the batteries to our smoke detectors and declaring the fire out.
With the greatest focus of modern day medical practice placed on minimising sickness and providing symptomatic relief as opposed to promoting health and wellness it’s no wonder people are sicker than ever. Society’s need for instant gratification has promoted a pill for a cure and disease a given at one point or another over one’s lifespan. But why? Could it be that as a society we’re afraid to open the flood gates? If we truly dove deeper to fix the cause of every problem would that disrupt our fast-paced and over- indulgent lifestyles? Change is always painful, but necessary. The lack of change represented in the current epidemic of obesity and chronic illness is cause for concern. Ask yourself?
Are cholesterol lowering drugs and blood pressure medications helping your heart, or are they just lowering the markers we measure that tell us our cardiovascular system is in jeopardy?
Are the acid blockers and antacids fixing your digestive system, or are they just reducing the pain in your stomach?
Are pain medications for arthritis, joint pain, or fibromyalgia fixing the problem, or are they only disrupting the pain signals your body is sending?
Are hormone replacement drugs balancing out the imbalance by adding hormones, or addressing what’s causing the imbalance so you don’t need to take the hormones?
Definitely some food for thought. If you’re on some of these medications and you find yourself second guessing here, make it your first priority to ensure that your doctor or healthcare professional is working alongside you to promote your health instead of treating your sickness.
Furthermore, if you’re a healthcare professional reading this, ask yourself if you’re doing all you can to promote health instead of offloading the new wonder drug at the drop of a hat to your very impressionable and somewhat naive clientele.
