A monumental health care crisis is taking place throughout the world, but it isn’t what you might suspect. It isn’t a lack of public healthcare, insurance coverage or prescription drugs. The real healthcare crisis is the failure to emphasize the prevention of disease over the treatment of disease. Until we change our focus, we will forever be chasing diseases rather than maintaining health.
Unfortunately, as a whole, the world is getting sicker with each passing year. Many conditions and diseases including autism, cancer, heart disease, asthma, diabetes, fibromyalgia, autoimmune diseases and iatrogenic disease (drug or healthcare provider induced) are on the rise.
This is all despite the fact that the use of prescription drugs is rising at an unprecedented rate. In fact, the United States represents only 5% of the world’s population yet we consume nearly 75% of all prescription drugs manufactured. If this traditional, western approach to healthcare were the answer, wouldn’t the USA rank head and shoulders above the rest of the world in overall health? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States ranks 40th in overall health, below some third world countries.
As a result of this frightening trend, there is a shift taking place in this country, a patient-led revolution; people are seeking alternative healthcare. They believe that traditional healthcare should be held to a higher standard. Profits and politics should no longer stand in the way of good health. Americans are looking for a different kind of healthcare, one that puts their entire well-being first.
A New Perspective
In part, the healthcare crisis exists today because many doctors and patients believe that certain diseases are inevitable. Why is this? Are we defective? Are we at the mercy of genetics, old age, or bad luck? Did a germ or virus randomly pick us as their next victim?
