Last week, I
discussed How
Integrative HealthCare May Save Medicine. Specifically, I reviewed how diet, lifestyle,
and supplements can modulate disease risk, yet they still seem to get the back
seat to conventional methods. This is unfortunate considering our current medical
approach is not producing a healthy America. In fact, our healthcare system ranks
last overall among many other industrialized nation, according to a recent
analysis published by the Common Wealth Funds. In regards to health care
spending, supply, utilization, prices, and health outcomes. The report states:
In 2013, the
U.S. spent far more on health care than these other countries. Higher spending
appeared to be largely driven by greater use of medical technology and higher
health care prices, rather than more frequent doctor visits or hospital
admissions. In contrast, U.S. spending on social services made up a relatively
small share of the economy relative to other countries. Despite spending more
on health care, Americans had poor health outcomes, including shorter life
expectancy and greater prevalence of chronic conditions.”
The analysis reported health care spending at 17.1 percent of the U.S. GDP,
making our country devote at least 50 percent more of its economy to health
care than other countries.1
True
prevention is not about utilizing more screenings and diagnostics to find the
diseases earlier. This ignores the lifestyle processes that caused the
imbalances to begin with.2 It is well-known that many chronic
diseases are preventable through lifestyle. Harvard T.H. Chan of Public Health
reports:
Chronic diseases –including heart
disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer– account for some of the most common
health problems in the United States, according to statistics from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet many of these chronic diseases
are preventable, as they’re linked to poor diet and lifestyle choices including
tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, and inadequate physical activity.3
The Best Technology to Remedy Results Can’t
Effect Cause: A Short Look at Diet
In a recent
editorial in JAMA, Dr. Lustig commented on the decline in our lifespan and
quality of life in relationship to diet:
Obesity and poor-quality diet
predispose to all of the major chronic diseases, but these risks have been
mitigated over the past few decades by an increasingly powerful and expensive
array of treatments. To delay disease progression, millions of individuals in
the United States depend on medications to lower levels of cholesterol, blood
pressure, and blood glucose; surgical procedures to open or bypass blocked
arteries; and dialysis.
The data from the latest CDC report
suggest that a tipping point has been reached beyond which technological
advances may no longer compensate. Indeed, higher-resolution data show that
this trend has probably been under way for years.4
Many studies
have shown how diet impacts many chronic disease outcomes.5-6 One
study even reported on the reversal of diabetes type 2 in a small study of 11
individuals:
Normalisation of both beta cell
function and hepatic insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes was achieved by
dietary energy restriction alone. This was associated with decreased pancreatic
and liver triacylglycerol stores. The abnormalities underlying type 2 diabetes
are reversible by reducing dietary energy intake.5
In an
upcoming two-part article series on the Natural Path, I review specifically
how diet and lifestyle can modulate health outcomes in more detail.
Food for Your Bones
In a recent study,
reported in Health Day, the Mediterranean Diet was linked to lower hip fracture
risk in women. This is important because many women fear osteoporosis and many chronic
diseases impact bone strength. Health Day reports:6
Eating a Mediterranean diet may at
least slightly lower an older woman’s risk for hip fracture, a new study
suggests. Women who most closely followed a Mediterranean diet — one high in
fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains — had a 20 percent lower
risk for hip fractures compared to women who didn’t follow this regimen, the
researchers found.
The Importance of Social Connections
and Access
Beyond diet
and lifestyle,
social connection and one’s environment has been found to impact disease
processes. Unfortunately, this is often ignored, yet social isolation and
depression have been shown to be independent risk factors for death from cardiac disease.7-8
One recent
study in JAMA reports:
In an impressive analysis based on
mortality data and deidentified tax records with more than 1.4 billion
person-year observations and nearly 7 million deaths among individuals living
in the United States during the 15 years between 1999 and 2014, Chetty et al
confirm the long-observed association between higher income and longer life
expectancy, as well as the recent increase in the gap in life expectancy between
the richest and poorest 5% of the US population.1
Looking specifically at the lowest income quartile, Chetty et al also found
little association between life expectancy and various measures of access to
medical care, physical environments, employment conditions, or levels of income
inequality.
On the other hand, the authors found
significant geographic variations in life expectancy among those in the lowest
income quartile, including significant disadvantages conferred by the
prevalence of unhealthy behaviors, such as tobacco use and obesity, and
community characteristics, such as government expenditure levels and the
proportions of college graduates and immigrants. In this low-income group, life
expectancy variation by community ranged from a high of about a 4-year gain to
a low of a more than 2-year loss in life expectancy during the 15-year period.
Community is powerfully associated with life expectancy.9
Interesting,
the authors also state, “in the aggregate, medical care is not a strong
determinant of the health of populations.”9
Summary:
As Benjamin
Franklin is quoted for saying, “An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Therefore, it is time to
look at how our choices and lifestyle can impact our health by preventing the disease
process to begin with. This could save our nation from the downward health spiral it is
headed using the same ineffective approach. It is time for a truly integrative healthcare system. It can start with our own choices.
A Free Summit to Learn More
Join me on
May 16th-May 23rd for the Natural
Cancer Prevention Summit which includes 30+ experts that review all the
ways we can empower our health and BreakFree
from the viewpoint that we are victims of our body. In the summit, I discuss
essential oils, which I just blogged about here as well.
References
1. The Common
Wealth Fund. U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective: Spending, Use of
Services, Prices, and Health in 13 Countries. 2015. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective/
2. Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC Prevention Checklist. May 8, 2005. http://www.cdc.gov/prevention/
3. Harvard
T.H. Chan of Public Health. Disease Prevention. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/disease-prevention/
4. Ludwig D.
Lifestyle Weighed Down by Diet. JAMA.
April 04, 2016. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.3829
5. Glycemic
index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk–a meta-analysis of observational
studies. American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition. 2008. http://m.ajcn.nutrition.org/content/87/3/627.full
6. Lim EL, Hollingsworth KG, Aribisala BS, Chen
MJ, Mathers JC, Taylor R. Reversal of type 2 diabetes: normalisation of beta
cell function in association with decreased pancreas and liver triacylglycerol.
Diabetologia. 2011;54(10):2506-2514. doi:10.1007/s00125-011-2204-7.
7. Mediterranean
Diet May Help Lower Hip Fracture Risk in Older Women. Health Day. March 28,
2016. http://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/food-and-nutrition-news-316/briefs-emb-3-28-11amet-med-diet-hip-fracture-jama-im-release-batch-2596-709336.html
8. Friedmann
E, Thomas SA, Liu F, Morton PG, Chapa D, Gottlieb SS. Relationship of
depression, anxiety, and social isolation to chronic heart failure outpatient
mortality. Am Heart J. 2006
Nov;152(5):940.e1-8.
9. McGinnis
J. Income, Life Expectancy, and Community Health: Underscoring the Opportunity.
JAMA. Published online April 10, 2016. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.4729.