A New Paradigm In Health Care

Let’s face it, our current approach to “health” care isn’t working.   U.S. Healthcare ranks #37 overall compared to other industrialized nations.  The U.S. spends 15.3% of our Gross Domestic Product on Health Care (approx. 2 trillion dollars).  Obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases have reached epidemic proportions.  Something needs to change and that something is self-responsibility for our own health.

We need a new paradigm of medicine that focuses on underlying causes of disease, lifestyle focused treatments as well as patient education rather than treating symptoms alone which is the current approach often taken by modern medicine.

In conventional medicine the aim is to arrive quickly at a diagnosis.  This goal of obtaining a diagnosis is critical in an acute care setting.  Rapid diagnosis equates to rapid and proper treatment.  In an acute situation the presenting chief complaint and history of the current illness are the main focus.  The remainder of the patient’s story is not very important in an acute care setting.

In today’s “health” care model the problem that we face is when the acute-care model is used to address chronic long-term health issues.  The problem that arises with an acute treatment mindset for a chronic disorder is that the patient doesn’t have the opportunity to tell their story. Each complaint becomes its own issue that is dealt with in isolation from the others. 

Today’s astute clinician needs to become a medical investigator, looking at the whole person and gather clues from all aspects of a patient’s history and use a variety of testing in order to get to the root cause of an individual’s problem.  By uncovering the root cause of the problem we could have a more profound impact on an individual’s health.  A clinician needs to take a step back and take care of the patient and not the diagnosis or the label they have been given.

Our current “health” care model is flawed and broken.  I’ve seen it happen all too many times with the same outcome.  A typical patient presents to their doctor for an evaluation.  Their evaluation consists of a brief history, brief examination and ordering of blood work.  Their family history reveals a history of type II diabetes and high blood pressure.  Examination reveals elevated blood pressure and their blood work reveals altered blood sugar levels, high cholesterol and low HDL (good cholesterol).  This individual walks away with prescriptions for a blood pressure medication, a statin medication, and a blood sugar medication.  Basically a pill for every symptom they present with. Their doctor has “successfully” done their job.

Do you see a problem with this scenario? 

First of all this is not “health” care, this is crisis care.  Covering up symptoms and not getting to the root cause of the problem is not “health” care.  Now please do not misunderstand me.  I am not always against this approach.   For many this approach saves lives.  Medications are the “tools” in the medical toolbox to help the patient.  However is this the best approach for all patients?

My point is that most of the time when someone is put on a medication they will most likely be on it for life.  As if they had a shortage of a cholesterol drug or blood sugar medication in their body that is the cause of their problem.  Is a medication for every symptom true “health” care?  What does this approach do for an individual’s quality of life in the long-run?

Instead of a medication approach to artificially patch up a problem how about investigating further and providing appropriate lifestyle changes to help “fix” a problem.

Where is patient responsibility and education?  The word doctor is Latin for “to teach.”  Where has teaching gone in our “health” care system?

The previous recount of a “typical” visit to the doctor actually responds extremely favorably to lifestyle changes.  But this is where a person needs to take responsibility for their health.  Yes it will take more effort than simply popping a pill but once you start the changes will be extraordinary.

Instead of a pill for every symptom what if the patient was offered sound lifestyle advice.  Try eating 5-6 small meals per day (eating every 2-3 hours), selecting the most nutritious foods for each person’s unique situation, consuming more clean water instead of sugary beverages, including resistance and cardiovascular exercise, use of appropriate nutritional supplementation to kick start physiology and the list goes on. 

Unlike our vehicles we don’t come with an owner’s manual that tells us how our body works and how we should maintain it.  It is up to each one of us to learn, from a reliable source, what is good for us versus what is bad for us.  Yes, we all need to take responsibility for our own health.

Let me be clear, for some people addressing their chronic problems via lifestyle changes simply will not work.   For some it may be too late.  Lifestyle changes will help but their poor health may be too far progressed and they may need medications to help regulate them. 

For others, they may refuse to change the way they eat, or the way they move or the stress in their life.  Maybe it’s too much work for them.  This group will certainly need medications to help them hopefully live longer.  But, I can assure you that they may indeed live longer but their quality of life in the years to come will not be much better.  They will be caught in the vicious circle of going from specialist to specialist, test after test and taking an ever increasing number of medications each one to combat the side effects of another or to artificially regulate their deteriorating health.  All of this because the underlying cause of their problem is being “masked” and not being properly addressed.  How’s that for quality of life?

In the current treatment model each individual diagnosis becomes its own distinct entity.  The patient’s whole story is never fully understood.  The result is a focus on treating each symptom as a separate and distinct disease with its own separate and distinct treatment.

In the world of functional nutrition and natural healing the concern is with addressing the physiological and metabolic imbalances within the person and not treating the disease.   The goal is to gather as much information to determine what the underlying break down in a person’s physiology is in order to bring someone who is out of balance (diseased) back into balance (healthy).

The process of achieving this sense of balance is accomplished through a thorough history and appropriate testing to identify the areas of imbalance.  Then to re-establish balance, via the use of an expanded toolbox of therapies, such as proper diet, counseling, stress reduction, exercise, and  the appropriate use of nutritional supplementation.   This is true “health” care and gives the responsibility back to the rightful owner, the patient.

In my opinion the functional nutrition approach to “health” care is the future.  It’s about getting back to what true healing is all about, the individual taking responsibility for their health. 

Functional nutrition expands the chronic disease care model and treats the patient and not the disease.  It’s not one size fits all.  Not all individuals diagnosed as diabetic will have the same treatment.  For some their diabetic situation may be dietary induced for others it may be an adrenal problem.  Each person is unique and so should their treatments be unique. 

Functional nutrition gathers all the underlying problems and prioritizes them in order to addresses the root causes instead of chasing after individual symptoms with individual treatments.  With functional nutrition there are a multitude of potential treatment options available.

Each type of practitioner will need to play a unique role in this new “health” care system to truly get back to providing real “health” care.

I believe part of the solution will be an integrated approach to an individual’s health.  It’s time for people to start taking back responsibility for their own health and not remain reliant upon the next “magic” bullet to cure all of their problems.  It doesn’t work!

Dr. Michael Kirk is the owner of an integrated chiropractic and nutrition practice in Moorestown, NJ.  He can be contacted via his website:  www.PerformanceHealthandChiro.com.

Disclaimer:  The content of this article is for informational purposes only.  The information and recommendations outlined in this article are not intended as a substitute for personalized medical advice.  The medical information in this article is intended as general information only and should not be used in any way to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.  The goal of this article is to highlight nutritionally significant information, and offer suggestions for nutritional support and health maintenance. Please be advised that any suggested nutritional advice or dietary advice is not intended as a primary treatment and/or therapy for any disease or particular bodily symptom.