As I sit in the private dining area of the Tellus museum, listening to Dr. Bob Braille (a chiropractor who thinks much like I do), about the failure of medicine… I consider this one truth and it makes me sad that we are so ridiculous.
The truth? That the medical model tells you that in every diagnostic situation, that the POSITION of the medical model is that it was not the patient’s fault. In other words, they have a general assumption that your condition is not a direct result of your choices. This is the model of health that governs our nation. Now, don’t get me wrong, some doctors may individually decide that you should change something, improve something, etc. But the model… the insurance driven diagnoses, the pharmaceutical recommendations… are based on a backbone of mis-information that says the patient is the victim. I do believe that there are certain outcomes that simply happen, because it is a fallen world.
But the fall of the world was originally based on man’s choice…. and it doesn’t make much sense to put the rest of it on anything other than choice.
This is a mess. An absolute mess. It lets poor decision making run rampant, and every day it does. We don’t wake up with a passion for well. We wake up with a hope of no ill.
My example: I have really bad shoulders, they don’t work well. I have sometimes let myself say that they are a poor design. Guess what… I am wrong. The shoulder is magnificent, the mobility of a shoulder joint allows an incredible amount of function. So then why are mine such a mess… because I have made poor choices.
I was always the guy who went after contact while playing hockey. In other words, I played physically, always throwing my shoulders into my opponents, not looking to avoid them. I separated my left shoulder for the first time when I was 12 years old. The second was at 13, then 15, then my right one two times in one year at 16… it continues. So is the shoulder a poor design, or is the choice to pursue a collegiate career in hockey a poor choice.
In 1999, after playing four years of hockey at The University of Buffalo, I was at Life University playing for a club team, and in my second year with them (they allowed two years following the 4 NCAA years), I was in my second National Championship Game (the prior year we beat the Hoosiers for a championship). I was hit hard into the boards, and completely destroyed my right shoulder joint. I put myself into the situation, and I didn’t work to avoid the contact. Decision. Now I have largely given up on them… further poor decision.
So if your heart is the equivalent of my shoulders. What do you do? Who is to blame? Your parents? In the moment that a doctor tells you, “You have a genetically weak heart. Your vascular health is poor due to the congenital disposition passed down by your parents, and there is nothing you can do about it, so you need to take X, Y and Z for the rest of your life if you want to survive.” What do you believe? Most of you, in that moment, will believe your doctor.
Yet it is a pure lie. One that has been perpetrated on the doctor, and now due to his poor belief system, it is perpetrated on you. IF you think that maybe you are a unique situation. “There cannot be many people like me, I am probably a unique situation, and I must really need this. I know Dr. Eric makes sense, but he doesn’t know my situation.” Guess what, you are not unique. You are part of that population we always talk about, the 75% of the population running towards death due to preventable disease.
This is an important question – what should you do? Take the drugs or not take the drugs? Well, in most cases we would see that the drug couldn’t prevent anything. Statin drugs don’t prevent heart attacks, and diuretics are in the same class of non-prevention. But my goal in my education isn’t that you simply don’t take drugs. That isn’t the point. The point is that you actually DO SOMETHING else. Health requires work, not simply a decision not to medicate.
In 2007 $4.5Trillion were spent on healthcare worldwide. The 330 million people of the US spent $2.2 Trillion on that total. Out of 7 billion people, we spent that much. WOW! The total cost per person in other industrialized nations, averaged $2,900 per year, where our country averaged $7,200. That is the total expense per person, meaning including both public funds as well as private funds.
It is a pretty amazing number, especially when we consider our failures in overall health. We are not some incredibly healthy nation, in any measure, but especially in measures that really matter, such as life expectancy. We die one year earlier than all of our other industrialized nation counter parts. But more important, is the rate of our death compared to other specific people groups, such as Okinawans who when living under their traditional model, average just over 90 years of life.
Consider that 6.7 deaths occur per every 1000 live births in the first 12 months. Other industrialized nations average 3.9 per 1000. Yes, nearly double the number of children die within their first year of life in our country. So, do you think it is wise to live under the direction of a pediatrician, or obstetrician? They are the ones giving you birthing and early rearing advice, yet it seems their advice is failing.
The model is broken. The model that says you are well because you are symptom free, and when you are ill it is because you have poor genes, is never going to work. It is a broken model, and the only one to fix it is you. I value the adjustment more than anything.
If you or someone you know is not receiving the correct number of adjustments, do something about it. Don’t focus on how you feel, focus on getting it all correct.
In late January, we will host a 40-Day Total Food Makeover, I recommend you begin making the necessary commitment in your heart right now. Your Monday nights need to be spent with us.
Be healthy, Be blessed and Be wise – Dr. E