Statistics show that in 2020 50% of those 65 or older had a chronic condition. 80% of that same age group were on at least 1 prescription drug and 50% were on 4 or more drugs. Statistics also show that if you are on 3 or more drugs there is a good chance they are interacting.
I am not against pharmaceuticals. Some of my patients would not be here without them. However, pharmaceuticals treat symptoms, not causes. This is great for big pharma, the medical device industry, and the medical industrial complex in general. Given those stats, we should all be buying stock in pharmaceutical companies. Your MD is well trained to treat you once you are sick. In the US, we have a great Disease Management health system. There is no better place to be than the US if you need a heart transplant, emergency surgery, etc. According to Statistica Research department June 2022, “of the top 11 industrialized nations, the US ranks last in health care outcomes despite spending the most on healthcare. The overall ranking was based on 5 performance categories, including access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity, and health care outcomes. For the category health care outcomes, which takes into account health outcomes most likely to be responsive to health care, the US was ranked last, while Australia took first place. Outcomes such as infant mortality or preventable mortality were included. This statistic presents the health care outcomes rankings of the United States health care system compared to ten other high-income countries in 2021.”
We spend over $12,000.00 per person per year in our country.
I have worked with cancer patients for more than 20 years. Cancer is one of the worst chronic diseases. Cancer is a multifactorial disease. Not one thing causes cancer. Many things have to come into play in order for cancer to grow. Naturopathic oncology treats the whole person, identifies contributing factors, helps them through treatment, and then helps with recovery and survivorship. What we do in phase 1 of Naturopathic cancer care is figure out why the garden grew the weeds called cancer cells in the first place. Taking care of the garden is my analogy for our health. Preventing chronic disease is key to aging well. This requires that we all take charge of our own health. Being proactive vs reactive. Don’t wait until you have diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer, etc. Treat on the front end to prevent these destroyers of your quality of life. It is possible to live to 100 with good quality of life if we work to take care of the vehicle through which you experience your life… your body and mind. You need your mobility and your mind to be alive and living, not just alive. Is taking care of the vehicle through which, you experience your life a lot of work? Absolutely, but what is the alternative? My job is to teach my patients how to take care of themselves. I spend a minimum of 2 hours with each new patient going through each system of the body, head-to-toe. I ask questions that have never been asked before. Your MD does the best they can in your 7–10-minute visit. I spend the time with you to connect the dots because all your symptoms are connected. Unfortunately, when we start taking drugs that inhibit, antagonize, or block normal function, they create other problems that ultimately require another drug to mitigate. Some drugs are absolutely necessary, most are not.
If you are interested in aging well, enjoying your retirement, and seeing what those grandkids grow up to be, Give us a call.
Dr. Cynthia Bye
360-836-0123