Speaking Out
2 of 2
My Opinions
Health Care
Awareness and Choice
February 2009
I certainly am glad ……. I have some self control
I was going to go on and on about how medical practice seems so often to be driven by the fear of litigation and not the love of health. That doctors can only “peer through the keyhole” at your health. That your concerns and your return to health requires a collaboration between you and your physician – one that normally exceeds 10 minutes in length. Or that if you do become hospitalized you may find that much of your care will be orchestrated by doctors recently transplanted from other countries --- primarily India --- who often have some difficulty with English.
That 85% of the national health care bill is spent managing CHRONIC medical conditions [1] and almost nothing to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Kind of like trying to fix all the damage from a leaking roof while ignoring the leak. That 16 years ago, as reported by the New England Journal of Medicine, 30% of the public was choosing to pay out-of-pocket for alternative versus conventional medicine. [2] I wonder what that number is now?
That if Aspirin were to seek FDA approval today it probably would not attain it. It is far too *generally* beneficial, impossible to design a specific double blind study for. That the drug industry controls the research, the FDA and the medical industry and seems content to keep developing drugs that allow us to cope better with chronic conditions – prevention is almost non-existent – very little measurable profit in that.
It takes about 10 years and millions of dollars to get a drug approved. Let me get this straight ………..the "discovery" that propelled this medication is often 10 years old, most of the research supporting the drug, was paid for by the same company who is developing it. And this "research" is often being evaluated by former employees of the drug industry – sometimes even the same company! It is very expensive and the list of side affects is often longer than the list of benefits. And yet like cattle at the slaughterhouse -- Drug Company marketing and advertising, prods us, to get "lined up". We ingest so much “medication” that trace amounts flushed down our toilets have made their way into our drinking supply and the sex life of fish is now being altered by the *drug toxicity* of our urine. [3] Boy I gotta get me ………….some drugs.
Whew ……..glad I didn’t go there.
I am living proof that years after hospital discharge --- with no money, no therapists, no doctors and no drugs, brain repair and enhancement can occur. From a wheelchair and an inability to balance one check, to a program, a website, film, television and video. By no means am I cured. Daily I still cope with a substantial list of issues. But I cope and I cope very well because I try to live a balanced life, with a balanced mind and body. I challenge myself constantly with new and novel things and underneath it all I try to be as aware as I can be of all the choices I am making --- constantly. Choices that affect my physical, mental and spiritual well being. Choices that drive the basic plasticity of life. A powerful and wonderful phenomenon that requires NOTHING -- but awareness.
So whenever you may find yourself dealing with a health professional, never forget that the bottom line – is not to manage a chronic health condition -- but to return you to health. And that much of your health is your responsibility, a direct consequence of the choices that you make today. So collaborate and integrate, be as knowledgeable as you can be, but never abdicate your health to someone else. Fundamentally your health -- is your personal responsibility -- be as aware as you can be and then make the best choices possible. And never forget -- it is your choice.
Chris Pratt
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[1] Bergner,P.; and Kail,K. “The US Health Care Costs Crisis: A Crisis of Chronic Disease.” American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, (Sep, 1992).
[2] Eisenburg,M.D.: et al, ”Unconventional Medicine in the United States: Prevalence, Costs and Patterns of Use.” New England Journal of Medicine 328 (Jan. 1993): 246-252.
[3] Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, Associated Press “AP: Drugs found in drinking water”, USA Today (03-10-2008) http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-10-drugs-tap-water_N.htm
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Chris is the founder of the BIA (Brain Injury Association) of Vermont, President of the BEAR (Brain Enhancement and Repair) Initiative, a C.N. (certified nutritionist), developer of the www.Brain-Sense.Org website and author of the free Brain-Sense program for the enhancement and repair of your brain.
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Speaking Out
