There is the underlying assumption that modernity translates into better health. A corollary of this logic is that we can live our lives pretty much as we want because we can always buy a repair. You know, the car won't start, the TV is broken, the telephone is dead - no problem. Just call in an expert, spend some money and all is well.
People carry this over to their thinking about health. Our ticker falters, joints creak or an unwanted growth pops up - no problem. Buy some modern medical care. If that doesn't work, it's a problem of money, better insurance, more hospital funding, more research for the "cure," more doctors, better equipment and more technology. Right?
Wrong.
Don't take my word for it. Listen to the perpetrators themselves. The following is taken right from the pages of the Journal of the American Medical Association (July 26, 2000): "Of 13 countries in a recent (health) comparison, the United States (the most modern and advanced in the world) ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom)..."
For example, the U.S. ranks:
*last for low birth weight *last for neonatal and infant
mortality overall *11th for post neonatal mortality *last for
years of potential life lost *11th for female life expectancy at
one year, and next to last for males *10th for age adjusted
The World Health Organization, using different indicators,
ranked the U.S. 15th among 25 industrialized nations. (If ranked
against "primitive" cultures eating and living as humans were
designed, the whole industrialized world would be at the bottom
of the heap.) Some might say these dismal results are because of
smoking, alcohol, cholesterol, animal fats and poor penetration
of medical care. Not so. Countries where these health risks are
greater have better overall health according to epidemiological
studies. It's also not due to lack of technology. The U.S. is,
for example, second only to Japan in the number of magnetic
resonance imaging units (MRIs) and computed tomography scanners
per unit of population. Neither can lack of medical personnel be
blamed since the U.S. has the greatest number of employees per
hospital bed in the world. So what is the problem? Here are some clues as revealed in the
same journal cited above: *12,000 deaths per year from
unnecessary < surgery *7,000 deaths per year from medication
errors in hospitals *20,000 deaths per year from other hospital
errors *80,000 deaths per year from nosocomial (originating in a
hospital) infections *106,000 deaths per year from adverse
effects of medications That totals 225,000 deaths per year, the third leading cause of
death, behind heart disease and cancer. Another study - we're
talking just hospital related deaths here - estimates 284,000
deaths per year. An analysis of outpatient care jumps these
figures by 199,000 deaths for a new total of 483,000 medically
related deaths per year. And this assumes doctors and hospitals
eagerly report all their mistakes. Think so? The poor health ranking in the U.S. is in large part not because
of lack of modern medical care, it is because of it! This does
not deny that each person's life choices do not impact health as
well. People cannot live with abandon and then expect anybody to
fix it regardless of their technology and skills. You can
imagine the frustration physicians must feel faced day-to-day
with patients wanting a quick fix for a lifetime of unhealthy
life choices. Be that as it may, it does not deny that modern
medicine in and of itself is a huge risk to those who surrender
to it. Why do we not hear more about this? It is just too difficult to
come to grips with the inevitable - and unbelievable -
conclusion: When all the deaths (not counting the hundreds of
thousands who are maimed or otherwise harmed but don't die)
reported and not reported are tallied, medical intervention is
arguably the leading cause of death in our country. Time to splash some cold water on the rely-on-modern-medicine
inebriation. And remember folks, the above are just cold
statistics. Take any one of these numbers and humanize it to the
real pain, suffering, financial devastation, grief and family
disruption, and each one is a heart rending story deserving of
anyone's deep concern and sympathy. It is a tragedy of a
magnitude unequalled by anything in human history. And it's
repeated every year. It makes 9-11, all the deaths in all U.S.
wars, deaths by auto, homicides and everything else pale in
comparison. (Not to minimize the tragedy of each of those
things.) The media should be shouting about medical risks from
atop their broadcast towers. But there is mostly silence, just
reports in obscure (to the public) medical and scientific
publications. In the meantime, trusting people keep flocking to
the slaughter. From just 1995 to 2002, pharmaceutical sales
jumped from $65 billion to over $200 billion. That's about one
prescription for each man, woman and child in the country every
month. This escalation in medical dependency is paralleled in
surgeries, lab tests, emergency room admissions, elective
procedures and outpatient visits. You can do something about it. Begin today to take control of
your own health destiny. The philosophical paradigm of
conventional, allopathic, symptom based, reductionistic, crisis
care, episodic, after-the-fact medicine is seriously flawed ...
and very deadly. Good and well meaning doctors are hamstrung by
wrong philosophical premises. They are crippled every bit as
much as those who once believed in a flat Earth. Trying to
achieve health with modern allopathic medicine is like trying to
fix computers with a hammer, just because that's the only tool
you were taught to use or believe in. Don't wait for the system to change. Old ideas die too hard. The
mega-medical industry is not going to be quick in either
admitting error or revamping itself. Your health is at stake.
Think prevention and natural holistic cure. Study, learn, grow,
be skeptical, change lifestyle, be self-reliant - be a thinking
person. That's your best road to health. About the author:
Dr. Wysong is author of The Creation-Evolution Controversy, now
in its eleventh printing, several books on nutrition, prevention
and health for people and animals and over 15 years of monthly
health newsletters. He may be contacted at Wysong@Wysong.net. A
free subscription to his monthly newsletter is available at
Wysong.net http://www.cerealwysong.com