A 50-year old man with persistent shortness of breath finally goes to his family physician. He is tested, found to have early stage emphysema, and put on an inhaler for emergency use. As time passes he is also given several prescriptions for his heart and more for his lungs. He eventually becomes an advanced COPD patient with highly compromised lungs, a weakened heart, and much more time in his recliner than he ever wanted.
Primary care today, at least in America’s insurance-based healthcare system, is largely allopathic and protocol driven. What does this mean? That primary care and family physicians are taught in medical school to assess symptoms, choose appropriate drug protocols, and triage patients into specialty care. In most cases, the ‘protocol’ must align with approved medical guidelines and be what insurance will cover.
Let’s look again at the 50 year old who is now in his 80s, dependent on oxygen, and confined to a wheelchair.
What if, when his breathing issues first began, his primary care doctor had been trained to look for causes and to assess body resilience. What if she had tested and found the asbestos he was exposed to in the Navy decades before and the solvents he used for so many years in his business? She might also have found the DDT he was exposed to as a child and perhaps some residues from smoking even though he quit years earlier.
What if his primary care had created protocols to clear the toxins and strengthen his overall health? More damage to his lungs might have been prevented, his heart might have stayed stronger longer, and his awareness of how toxins affect the body might have led to lifestyle changes for himself and his family. In essence, today he might be a hearty 83 year old with few if any medications and a role model for his grandchildren to follow.
When medicine fails to heal, society must then deal with a sicker population, higher healthcare costs, lost productivity, stressed families, and generally unhealthy dependence on the those who produce that medicine. This seems to be where America is today - chronically ill and dependent on pharmaceutical solutions and government to keep insurance coverage flowing.
This healthcare has become America’s norm, accepted by society and even by mainstream medicine itself.
Medicine is powerful, it can save lives. But when allopathic medicine is the only option available, opportunities for creating wellness are missed. (We also explore in future posts how allopathic care often undermines the body’s innate healing capacities, making us more dependent on medicines later in life.)
When we think of our health in the long term, having good medical options in primary care is critical. The good news is that there are many approaches that go beyond treating symptoms, two of which we have written about here and here. These holistic and lifestyle-based modalities work well in primary care. They also support our vision of Living Well Locally.
More good news: lifestyle-based medicine is making its way into large healthcare systems and promises to make a difference for patients, physicians, and insurers. Please stay tuned for more in this series.