Dr. Weil, a leading expert on integrative medicine, discusses the myriad problems facing our “disease management system” (read “health care system”). If you think about it, our system of medicine is all about treating illnesses, and not about preventing them. In his book Why Our Health Matters Dr. Weil points out developments in our system of medicine that are toxic to overall American health.
The philosophy of medicine has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. Today, we go to the doctors office, and even if we are on time, we wait for 10, 20 minutes…an hour sometimes. When we finally see the doc it’s two minutes of questions a couple pokes and prods then maybe, if we’re lucky, some advice. Shocking studies show that the average person spends 8 minutes with a physician. The practice of medicine is not what it used to be.
There was a time that physicians primarily made house-calls to see patients–sometimes staying overnight. A patient history lasted 15 minutes and incorporated the whole family. Patient histories are 85% of successful diagnosis, why don’t doctors spend more time on them? Because of insurance industry reimbursements, that’s why…but that’s another story.
Back to Why Our Health Matters…This book had some surprising factoids such as the average doctor of internal medicine has an income of $245,000 whereas a radiologist can make as much as $911,000 per year! It’s no wonder health care costs are so high, all the money is going to specialists who order expensive tests and are paid exorbitant rates just to consult. Of course, insurance companies have benefited greatly from this set up, gaining profits from customer premiums and then passing much of the bill from specialists back to the patient. This whole system is a mess. But there are things we can do to fix it.
Among other things, Dr. Weil says:
- Without lifestyle strategies that promote health, chronic, degenerative disease will dramatically increase as baby boomers reach old age.
- Few of the many pharmaceutical drugs on the market are actually safe and effective.
- Safe and effective alternatives to drugs do exist: we should look to them first for managing the most common health problems.
- We must change the education and training of all health professionals if we are going to solve the health care crisis.
- Our long-term goal must be to shift our health care efforts from disease intervention to disease prevention and health promotion.
What can we do about the disease management system in America? Well, as individuals we can speak out against it. A great site called VoteSmart can help you instantly find your representatives. I suggest getting together with friends and neighbors to write letters or emails to the top representatives in your region or state. Change can be up to us. As for other solutions, I suggest you buy Dr. Weil’s book. It’s a quick, interesting read and it will paint a picture in your mind of what our health care system could look like.
Why Our Health Matters (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series)
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