Traditonal Western Medicine often does not work for the same reason that the war in Iraq is not working. The United States is great at short wars and acute illness. Not so good at long wars or chronic disease.
That is why the US is 34th in health care and spends twice as much as any other country in the world on health care.
I will expalin what I think is the problem and then talk about the solution.
The United States is the most powerful, sucessful and dynamic force in destroying an enemy that the world has ever known. This is true for Acute Disease or Short Wars.
Several Examples of how we are really great at short term wars and acute disease.
1.We destroyed a bacteria with pennicillin.
a. We can kill urinary tract infections and strep throats
b. We can kill eye infections and fungal infections.
2. We are great at saving a heart attack patient with an angioplasty. Acute problem.
3. We can put together the most brocken leg or hip.
4.We destroyed Japan with a nuclear bomb and massive attacks. Quick solution.
5.We waged a relatively short war with Germany after an intense invasion of the beach in Normandy at no small loss of American Life.. In that case we bombed everything we could, killed everything in our way, destroyed everything that moved until unconditional surrender and then we left. We really are good at that.
6. We did the same thing in Korea and then stayed so there would be a peace. But we can’t leave. Oh, we did not leave Japan or Germany either.
We are not good at winning or waging long term wars with other countrys or our bodies.
Examples of Chronic Wars:
1. Remember Viet Nam
2. Remember Iraq
3. Remember Afganistan
4. Remember all the places we went and left in the past 20 years because we said
„Oops ...we better get out of here....we don’t know how to do this very well....just being big and strong won’t cut it“. So we rushed in, saw we did not have clue what we were doing and left fast.
Examples of Chronic Diseases or Problems:
Western Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Industry (often with good intensions) want to develop a molecules to fix an ongoing problem as if it were a acute problem. THIS DOES NOT USUALLY WORK.
EXAMPLES:
1. Fibromyalgia...nope...this does not come and go in a couple weeks. We can’t attack this with one of the big drug company’s attomic bombs. So lots of doctors decide if you can’t cure it with a drug quickly, then it is probably the patients’ fault. It must be in their mind and is made up or maybe does not even exist. Don’t you wish they had it for a week?
2. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...nope...same problem.If you hurt everywhere, then its gotta be in your mind. So you get an antidepressant and a pain killer.
3. What about Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Now doctors believe this one exists. They can see it with a tube they put up your rectum and see red. Boy that must be fun. Then they tell you to take medicine that often calms things down, but usually does not solve the problems. The patient often waits for it to come back.
4. GERD-that is were you belch up and your esophagus is always sore. How can that happen to so many people who are so young. Nature or God or whomever could not have made such a mistake. Anyway,you get a acid blocker to take forever. Problem is that this causes other problems. Not if you take if for a couple weeks or a month.
I could go on, but I hope you get the point.
Functional Medicine takes the time to ask questions such as:
Why is this happening?
What caused it?
What stresses may have contributed to it?
What are your genetics?
What can you do to help yourself?
What do you need to know to help yourself?
How can you help me help you?
What can be done to help now--decrease pain and suffereing?
What can be done to stop what is causing the problem without attacking it chronically with a bomb made for a short course of treatment.
And so on.
Over time many cultures developed methods of
returning people to health using herbs, massage, vitamins,
heat, poultices, and so on. Some things worked and others
didn’t. Eventually a body of knowledge was handed down that
began a framework start a movement to slowly return a body
to normal functioning.
We are supposed to feel good. Not bad.
By using available technology we work to help a patient feel better now and then get well for the long term.
Of course, I am a psychiatrist, and need to stay within my field of expertise. As a consequence I am blessed to work with certified Nutritionists with 30 years of experience to help me. In addition, I work with two nurse practitioners with 40 years of experience and a physician’s assistant.
If you need medicine for serious diabetes or hypertension you will be referred to your primary care doctor or specialist. But I want to support a healthy lifestyle for all my patients.
I am not longer satisfied just helping a person get their serotonin fixed with the latest antidepressant so they can make dinner or go back to work. I don’t want to just stabilize anxiety so you can go outside. Life has more to offer.
This is part of my treatment, in many cases, to help achieve reasonable stability.
If you don’t want that. Let me know and my job is much easier. I will work hard to help you get back to reasonable stability. But I urge you to take your mind and your body seriously.
Once you are somewhat stable the fine tuning begins.
My next questions to my patients are:
Are you a healthy weight so you can do the things you want to do and go the places you want to go.
Are you healthy.
Are you in pain emotionally or physically.
Do you have emotional and physical energy.
Do you wake up refreshed.
Do you have positive relationships.
Are you having fun.
Do you enjoy most days.
What do you look forward to.
How is your sex life.
Think on this:
You are a tube runing from your mouth to your rectum.
Like a river runing through a valley.
Throughout time tribes came up to a river and founded villages around the rivers.
They put things in the river and took things out. Your intestines do this for you, but you carry them around. They give so much of immune system and neurotransmitters. Make sure they work right and you will feel much better.
If the river became too polluted the village died off or became sickly. The people in the village would weep.
Fortunately we can heal a polluted or leaky intestine. Just as we try to clean up a polluted river or stream. It’s never too late.
So if you are a tube to start, then insert your body over your tube. This allows your body to move around and carry your river around. Now plop your head on top. Your brain, eyes, mouth, ears, nose etc. Now you can eat, smell, hear, and see.
So you just might not get eaten.
Really, everything below your head (brain) is designed to carry your brain around. So take care of it.
If you don’t take care of your body, then you wont be able to do the following with your brain:
a. you won’t be abel to take it where it wants to go. Maybe because of pain or fatigue.
b. you won’t be able to take it very far because of pain or fatigue.
c. you will depend on others to take it places for you
d. you won’t be able to enjoy it with others as much.
e. it won’t last as long because something will break down.
f. you wont be ablel to get it out of the way of stuff and it will get hurt.
g. when you aren’t doing anything your body will hurt and your brain won’t be able to pay attention to other enjoyable things as much.
h. your brain won’t think as well and will be more vulnerable to depression and anxiety and toxicity and mood changes.
i. your brain will get old fast and even if alive won’t know what the heck is going on around it
j. you will be pittiful and that is really sad.
k. you need your body to live so please take care of it for your brain’s sake.
So There...Dr k
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