Have you ever had this experience? You go to your doctor with several symptoms, hoping to leave with a better understanding of what is causing them only to walk out a new drug prescription. At the conclusion of your visit, you are even more confused and have no idea what is actually wrong with you. You desire clarity of your health condition. You didn’t want another drug to mask the symptoms and pretend that they aren’t there. You leave with frustration and reluctantly accept that this is just how healthcare works.
Why does this happen? Why does there seem to be such a huge disconnect between you and your doctor? Are the two of you on completely different pages in the story of your life and health? What is the solution for this problem? Is there a solution?
To understand this, it is necessary to understand how your doctor views your health. How he approaches health care and the treatment of disease determines the outcome you will receive. This is not just a discussion of philosophy but rather a determination of the health and vitality you will experience throughout your entire life.
We are all biased towards particular views that determine how we do our jobs. Your medical doctor is no different. The difference between health care and disease treatment is the difference between life and death.
Do We Need Disease To Make Us Healthy?
This week, I read an article by Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ). He proposed that we need “disease” to make us healthy. Similar to understanding the difference between light and darkness, understanding real health is vital to knowing when disease exists. But is disease necessary in a state of real health or is this simply a medically biased view of health?
His article implies that, in order to understand or have health, we also must have a little bit of disease. It is certainly true that, in order to have medical treatment, you must have at least a little bit of disease. However, health can exist without disease, rendering medical treatment unnecessary. Real health and wellness are achieved when we live a lifestyle that is as far away from disease as possible.
The Relationship Between Health and Disease
Regarding the relationship between health and disease, Mr. Smith states this: “Our big mistake in medicine is to think of health and disease as opposites. They are not. They are intertwined like the double helix or the Aesculapian snakes.” I would agree that health and disease are not opposites. However, a lot of problems are created when we view them as intertwined.
Health and disease are better viewed in their relationship to life and death. They are at opposite ends of the same continuum. When a person loses all of their life, they are dead. Conversely, when a person expresses 100% life, they are as far away from physical death as possible (barring catastrophic accidents).
In all of life – including health care – we must have a very clear focus. We will always produce more of what we tend to focus on most. If we focus our energy and treatments on disease, we will reinforce disease and produce more of it. The more disease we have, the closer we are to death. However, when we focus our energy on the care of our health, we will naturally produce more of it. The more health we have, we more life we express.
In order to have good health, we must understand what produces real health and what leads to life. If something leads to life, it will cause good health. If it leads to death, it will produce disease.
Related Article: 5 Foundations of A Healthy Lifestyle
What is Your Doctor’s Focus?
Have you noticed that all commercials for pharmaceutical drugs end with a description of the side effects that include many other diseases and death? It is very obvious that drugs lead to more disease and produce death. There certainly are times of extreme crisis when a drug saves a life by reversing a deadly symptom. However, there is never a time when a drug actually produces health and leads to life.
A medical doctor is highly trained to identify symptoms and diagnose disease. The treatment of disease is accomplished by attempting to reverse the symptoms with drugs, surgery or radiation. However, as discussed, drugs, surgery and radiation tend to produce more disease and lead to death.
Changing your focus from managing disease to caring for health moves you along the continuum from death towards more life. The treatment of disease with drugs, while sometimes necessary, cannot produce health and does not lead to life. It is looking in the wrong direction. You must change your focus. Caring for your health prevents disease from existing over time and naturally results in more life and vitality.
Change your focus today and you will change your life forever. You may need to change your doctor in order to accomplish this. Find a doctor who does not simply focus on treating and eliminating disease. Rather, find a doctor who focuses on caring for your health and producing life.
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
-Thomas Edison
Caring for Health and Producing Life
The vast majority of medical physicians tend to focus on disease treatment. While most chiropractic physicians and naturopathic physicians tend to focus for caring for health and producing life. We have seen why this distinction is important but what does caring for health look like? Anything that produces life will lead to more health; however, here are five essential areas of real health care.
The Healing Power Within
While medicine takes an outside approach, treating the outwardly visible symptoms, real health care focuses within. You are designed with the innate ability to heal from within. This innate healing is moderated and controlled by your nerve system. Your nerve system controls all functions and healing throughout your entire body. It is the focus of chiropractic care to optimize the functioning of your nerve system to support your innate healing ability.
Additional Resource: Innate Healing Power of Your Body: Medical Proof
The Mind of Healing
Real health care recognizes that health and disease starts in the mind. Where your mental focus goes, your energy will flow. If your mental focus is on your disease, lack of health or your inability to lose weight, then that is where your energy will flow and your will only produce more disease. Shifting your focus to a mindset of wellness shifts your energy to healing. This shift of focus removes limitations and opens your mind up to a new life of real health and healing.
Additional Resource: 4 Keys to Unlocking a Wellness Mindset
Termination of Toxic Interference
Toxicity can exist in many forms and it is a major underlying cause of disease. In addition to eliminating toxic thought patterns, real healing must foster the elimination of toxic chemicals as well. This is why drugs are unable to bring about real health. All drugs are toxic chemicals that damage the mind and body. Eliminating toxins from our diet and lifestyle is essential to realizing true health and wellness.
Additional Resource: Top 10 Toxins That Are Poisoning Your Kids
Diet and Exercise are Enough
Many drug commercials state something like this: “When diet and exercise aren’t enough… take our drug.” They attempt to convince you that diet and exercise cannot produce healing and their drug can. Then the commercial goes on to explain all of the ways that their drug will eventually kill you.
The fact is that a lifestyle of healthy diet and exercise have repeatedly been shown to reverse nearly all diseases – from diabetes and heart disease to cancer. When your diet and exercise do not seem to be enough, consider whether you have actually changed your lifestyle enough. If you are hoping to reduce your weight and reverse heart disease, Weight Watchers and a daily walk around the block probably aren’t enough. However, an anti-inflammatory diet and high intensity exercise will reverse these conditions and produce real health at the same time.
Additional Resource: Busting the Top 4 Exercise Myths
Set your mind on achieving wellness. Make real health care your goal. It won’t be long before disease and ill health are things of the past and more life and vitality are your normal daily expression!
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