Fixing healthcare

Achieving real wellness

Friends, I alluded to some of my chronic health challenges last time; same for Mrs. Surak. Some of those health challenges are how we met initially, so I am very glad for that. I also love learning new things, and wellness has been the journey of a lifetime.

Like far too many others, I am not satisfied with how I was treated by the establishment health community. The general public has suffered since the 1910 publication of the Flexner Report. With the help of John Rockefeller, the public has been steered towards the use of drugs and surgery to treat all illnesses.

Seventeen years ago, I was told my multiple doctors that my problems could be eased by taking a specific drug. The drug did not cure the underlying illness; no drug could, because the disease was not pharmacological. However, the drug suppressed the symptoms of my illness, thus delaying my true recovery. Moreover, the drug in question is insidiously addictive - very difficult to stop, as hard as I have tried.

My journey/education has taken me to the very foundations and history of science, philosophy, and religion. I have become aware of the interdependent nature of physical health, emotional health, mental health, and spiritual health.

Importantly, I have learned the truth that one must be one’s own advocate. It is incredibly depressing to see the wide range of family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances who have surrendered their lives, or their loved one’s lives, to a person with letters after his or her name (only MD will do), who wears a white lab coat. These family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances range from far left “progressive” to allegedly individualist MAGA supporters. Their response to any suggestion is a new mantra: “If da doctor says so!”

Thanks to “da doctors”, one of my parents is dead of cancer, the other dead after a paralyzing stroke and suffering for two and a half years, other people with permanent heart damage, other people with neurological diseases, chronic diseases, you name it. (I am not speaking solely of side effects of the COVID jab.)

This idolatry of MDs is unearned. The best-intentioned of them still have hundreds or thousands of patients and do not have time to research your situation in detail. Your best option is to do the research yourself, and work with a doctor who is a research partner with you.

Here are some distinctions to be aware of.

• Alternative medicine is anything outside official, establishment medicine.

• Complementary medicine is the use of alternative medicine alongside official, establishment medicine.

• Functional medicine focuses on gut health as a foundation for overall wellness.

• Holistic medicine works in the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions simultaneously.

• Integrative medicine joins the insights of Western medicine (which is so good at trauma-emergency-acute medicine) together with South Asian and East Asian perspectives.

• Natural medicine emphasizes the use of non-invasive treatment (not requiring drugs or surgery).

I have made use of, or practiced, meditation, prayer, red light therapy, qigong, taiji, and yoga. My preferred diet is omnivorous (plants and animals), anti-inflammatory, low-glycemic, and pro-metabolic. I use supplements as well.

I am currently working with both a chiropractor (he is not doing any spinal manipulations, don’t worry!) and a naturopath. I have learned a lot from both, and am making progress with both. Here are the foundational principles of naturopathic medicine:

• The Healing Power of Nature

• Identify and Treat the Causes

• First Do No Harm

• Doctor as Teacher

• Treat the Whole Person

• Prevention

This is what healthcare should be! You can find your own practitioners here (the IFM website includes some international listings too):

• Institute for Functional Medicine

• American Association of Naturopathic Physicians

The main problem now is the limited scope of practice for healthcare professionals. Currently, most states only allow MDs (medical doctors) and DOs (osteopathic doctors) to prescribe imaging and blood tests. If you are being treated by a DC (chiropractic doctor), ND (naturopathic doctor), NP (nurse practitioner), or PA (physician assistant), you are out of luck for diagnostic testing and imaging.

This is one area I hope Secretary Kennedy can deliver for us before he leaves office in 2 years and 5 months: to allow DCs, NDs, NPs, and PAs to prescribe tests and imaging. It would be nice too if insurance would pay for their services, rather than having to pay out of pocket, but that might upset the pharmaceutical industry too much.

Do not be afraid to take responsibility for your own life! If your doctor reacts negatively to this, maybe it is time to find a new doctor…

As my Amazon review observes, Heal Your Body Cure Your Mind is the single best book on holistic health. Start there and start to heal!