HEALTHCARE FROM THE 1980’s AND BEYOND
Who could forget the 1980’s? Ronald Regan. Big hair. Interest rates of 18% (good for savers, terrible for borrowers). Great music (see below). It also happened to be the decade where American health and healthcare went completely off the rails, where junk food went totally mainstream (HERE), and where ridiculous amounts of ridiculous misinformation ruled the day. Unfortunately, that “ridiculous misinformation” in many ways led directly to our national ill health; particularly our population-wide epidemics of OBESITY, DIABETES, CANCER, ARTHRITIS, CHRONIC PAIN, AUTOIMMUNITY, and any number of CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEGENERATIVE DISEASES. What sort of misinformation am I talking about? Try these on for size.
- Dietary fat is what makes you fat — eat all the carbs and sugar you want and you’ll be just fine (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE).
- Calories are calories are calories; there’s no difference (HERE and HERE).
- Red meat and eggs cause high cholesterol (HERE). In other words, high cholesterol is caused by dietary consumption of CHOLESTEROL.
- Consuming salt causes high blood pressure and strokes (HERE).
- The ultimate health food is SOY.
- Dietary fat is what causes heart disease and strokes (HERE and HERE).
- The most healthy way of eating is based on consumption of mass quantities of grain (HERE).
- Butter will kill you — eat “heart healthy” vegetable oils instead (HERE).
- Orange and grape juice (and mass quantities of carbs) are part of a healthy breakfast (HERE and HERE).
- The more VACCINES we all get, the more healthy we’ll all be.
- The same goes for MOST MEDICATIONS; the more the merrier.
- The “Annual Examination” (for both males and females) is important because there is abundant amounts of solid science backing it (HERE).
- Medicine is safe (HERE) — particularly for our children (HERE).
- ANTIBIOTICS are a wonderful cure-all for whatever ails you.
- You can never be too clean, inside or out (HERE).
- Bad genes and not bad habits are mostly responsible for your ill health (HERE).
- Running is the best form of exercise (HERE).
- Preventative Care and “early detection” are one and the same (HERE).
- Given enough time, “SCIENCE” has all the answers.
If you can remember the 1980’s, you undoubtedly remember many, if not most of these bullet points. Truth be known, this list could have stretched into a book if I wanted to spend that much time. What have I learned since the 1980’s? Frankly, that ALMOST EVERYTHING I WAS TAUGHT CONCERNING HEALTH (I was a Nutrition / Exercise Physiology major at Kansas State University) was either totally wrong or not completely true. I’ve also learned that today’s music is for the most part, not very fun. Fun? Before we move on, let me treat you to a few “fun” songs from my era.
NATURAL HEALTHCARE SINCE THE 1980’s
Now that we got our ADRENAL / SYMPATHETIC “bounce” this morning, we can move forward. Even though the AMA ‘officially’ monopolized the practice of medicine back in 1910 (HERE), it was the 1980’s that introduced us to ‘Corporate Medicine’. It’s really interesting because in my neck of the woods, the two big regional hospitals and all their satellite clinics also happen to employ virtually all the doctors in this region and act as the area’s biggest health insurance companies as well. Can anyone say ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST‘?
In the 1980’s, DRUG ADVERTISEMENTS & COMMERCIALS were allowed so that medications could be directly marketed to consumers. In similar fashion to what we are seeing goes on behind the scenes of modern politics, Big Pharma began an all out blitz to influence both physicians and congress (HERE and HERE). The result was that drug companies were allowed to do their own research under the supposedly ‘watchful’ eyes of the FDA — an organization that has become as corrupt and money-hungry as any in government. Because of this mess, today’s doctors are treating a completely different type of patient than they were 35 years ago (HERE).
A brief conversation with the doctor of your choice, whatever their political bent might be, will reveal just HOW UNSUSTAINABLE our current trajectory of healthcare really is — something being borne out by the recent explosion in the cost of health insurance under the oxymoronically-named Affordable Care Act. But here’s what’s really interesting concerning the flip-side of health care — the ‘natural’ side. Although there are certainly some cool new technologies (HERE, HERE, or HERE), most of what I do in my clinic that was vilified as unsafe and unscientific back in the 1980’s, is today being borne out in the scientific literature. Take CHRONIC BACK PAIN for instance, The brand new issue of Practical Pain Management (a journal for pain doctors) has an article called Low Back Pain and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine: A Trend in Pain Management. While they rather ignore the fact that it’s chiropractors who do the vast majority of the manipulative therapy in the United States, the article was full of great stuff (cherry-picked as usual).
“Low back pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal conditions in the United States. It is primarily responsible for more than 20 million ambulatory care visits, and costs $100 billion annually. Low back pain is also the most common reason adults seek complementary and alternative medicine. As much as 95% of LBP is described as mechanical in nature, meaning that the underlying cause is an anatomic or functional abnormality. Therefore, it stands to reason that manual medicine is a useful tool in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of the various mechanical spinal disorders. As treatment of low back pain moves away from invasive techniques and opioid medications, the use of OMT to augment patient care appears to be a viable option as it correlates with decreased medication use, improved symptoms, and fewer days of missed work, while also appealing to patient preferences.”
The authors went on to quote any number of studies on the benefit of manipulative therapy for musculoskeltal pain. But today’s post is not meant to be just a “CHIROPRACTIC” thing. Since the 1980’s, we are seeing really amazing evidence for eating healthy diets, exercising, and addressing GUT HEALTH ISSUES; including FMT (all of which and more can be found HERE). Unfortunately, we’ve seen over and over that the medical community frequently fails to follow their own standards of care (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE) — particularly when large amounts of green paper are involved — dramatically jeopardizing their results with their patients as compared to decades gone by (HERE).
Because the majority of the medical community continues to stray farther and farther from their mission as healers (HERE, HERE and HERE), increasing numbers of people are looking elsewhere for solutions (HERE) — particularly once they find out that as often as not, their doctors have no idea whatsoever what’s really wrong with them (HERE). Consumers are looking to address underlying causes of illness and INFLAMMATION without dangerous drugs, including THE BIG FIVE. It’s all based on a simple premise — people want to actually be better, not just feel better; stoned for a while, taking ADDICTIVE DRUGS that don’t work very well anyway; especially after they’ve been on them for any length of time.
What makes me different and what does a visit to my clinic look like? Although similar in some ways, in many ways a visit to Schierling Chiropractic, LLC is RADICALLY DIFFERENT than what people think of when they think of going to a chiropractor. If I accept you as a patient, I’m so confident I will be able to help you that I rarely schedule return visits. I let OUR CLINIC’S AMAZING RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. As far as “rehab” or other recommendations, most of it can be done in the comfort of your own home (HERE’S ONE EXAMPLE).
If you come see me, I will not only do all I can to help you break out of the cycle of chronic pain and inflammation you are stuck in, I will help you help yourself. Sometimes all you need is a boost — a helping hand — a jump start if you will. That’s what I’m here for. So; if you are wondering whether I can help you get your life back on track, don’t hesitate to CONTACT ME. If I think I can help, I’ll tell you. And if not, I’ll tell you that as well.
