The Silver Lining of Obamacare
The good news that the recently-passed Obama administration health care plan offers is that, over the long run, it will force many Americans to come to become aware that there is a better alternative to most medical procedures and treatment options, and that is, quite simply, prevention of disease.
Though there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about some of the finer points of health, most of us know what we should be doing to stay well. The problem is, we don't do it.
About one-fourth of us still smoke. We don't eat our vegetables and fruit as we know we should. We eat a lot of junk we know we shouldn't. We whine about not having time or the interest in healthful exercise. Thanks to Obamacare, all these nonproductive behaviors have to go! This is a good thing, whether we like it or not.
Obamacare brings Darwinism to the consciousness of the public -- It will truly bring about "Survival of the Fittest." Many waiting for operations, transplants, or even exams and drugs won't make it. It's a hard truth, but true nonetheless. We need to change our personal habits if we want to avoid calamity.
Unhappy With The Cost of Healthcare? Investigate Self-Care!
A lot of Americans have the sense that government-run healthcare is going to be even more of a nightmare than our present system. For much of the generation that is already retired, it is probably too late to make major changes in their need for healthcare, but for the Boomer Generation and those younger still, there is hope.
For those of us who have lived with the suspicion that Social Security won't be there for us when we turn sixty-five, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the new healthcare legislation is not going to be there for us either -- at least, not in any practical sense. Rationing and higher prices are sure to be the reality in a few years. Face it, when has any federal program come into play costing less than was budgeted?
It is becoming clear to any American with two ounces of real-world business savvy that any entitlements promised us -- in particular Social Security, which we've been paying into for decades -- will be caught up in a trainwreck of escalating promises colliding with the hard reality of diminishing tax collections.
Something's got to give!
The recent headline announcing that Social Security is predicted to begin running in the red this year, rather than 2017, should prove the point that it is unwise to entrust politicians and bureaucrats with our health care system. Ah well, it's too late for that!
The good news, for those whose health is not too far gone, is that there has always been an alternative to intrusive, expensive, and often risky medical procedures. For lack of any better term, let's call it self-care.
You can go down the list of medical conditions and find inexpensive or even free alternatives to the drug and surgical palliatives that modern medicine specializes in:
* Diabetes can be reversed or prevented by a program of dietary changes, coupled with 5-7% body weight loss, and moderate regular exercise, such as walking. This is plainly written up in the National Institutes of Health(NIH)Web site. In fact, the site even goes so far to say that these lifestyle changes are effective 58% (70% for those 60 or older) of the time, compared to the 31% success rate for drug-based preventative measures(with their attendant side-effects and expense).
* Hypertension has also been proven to be another condition where a change in diet and the addition of a regular exercise program can produce the same or better results than the standard drug treatments offered by most doctors. Again, this one is free.
* Joint replacement surgery may be made unnecessary by a combination of weight loss and a course of relatively inexpensive nutrients that help rebuild the knee cartilage.
* Cancer is something that we can reduce our risk for by means of an improved health regimen, but there are medical doctors that are currently having great success at making all symptoms go into remission. Dare we call this a cure? Does it matter what we call it, except to the FDA?
* The hectic demands of jobs, family -- and the many toxic environmental factors and unhealthy dietary practices encouraged by prepared food advertisers -- are a challenge to our health. No one can control these stresses on our health but us. Pharmaceutical drugs and surgeries have been likened to techniques for disconnecting the fire alarm without first putting out the fire that set it off (i.e., they don't solve the problem, they only turn off the symptom).
In so many instances, we are the ones going around "setting fires" that we then expect our doctors to put out. Obamacare's inevitable failure to deliver affordable "fire suppression" will force more of our population to finally confront the reality that it might be wise to stop smoking(the Number One preventable cause of illness and death), quit eating and drinking fattening foods (the Number Two preventable cause of disability, illness, and death), and get into the habit of regular aerobic exercise.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article a few years ago that deserves our attention, while we're reconsidering our new paradigm of medical care: the mistakes that doctors and hospitals make are the third leading cause of death in America! Two-hundred-and-twenty-five-thousand deaths in 1999! Why would anyone want to enter a hospital or a doctor's clinic unless there was no other option?
For all the money that has been spent on cancer research, cancer survival rates have barely budged.
There are better ways to deal with changing the circumstances that make cancer and other major systemic diseases inevitable, but we ourselves must implement them once we learn what they are.
We have all been taught to look to our medical advisors for answers to our health crises -- and generally to ignore our health until it becomes a problem. Ultimately, though, we must take control of our risk factors -- which are largely known: Eliminating exposure to cigarette smoke and environmental toxins, keeping our weight under control, getting enough sleep and exercise, eating a nutritious diet composed mostly of whole, plant-based foods, and maintaining a upbeat, positive attitude both mentally and emotionally. Simple stuff, really -- and inexpensive.
The new reality of entrusting our overpriced, risky health care system to federal bureaucrats will doubtless make more citizens decide to spend more time preparing healthy meals and exercising in the fresh air and spend less time waiting to speak to a doctor.
Why pay for health care -- or stand in line waiting desperately for health care -- when we can learn preventative health measures to maintain our health for free?
Obamacare, if it is allowed to become law, will inadvertently force many of us to realize that prevention of disease is what we should have been focusing on all along.
The good news that the recently-passed Obama administration health care plan offers is that, over the long run, it will force many Americans to come to become aware that there is a better alternative to most medical procedures and treatment options, and that is, quite simply, prevention of disease.
Though there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about some of the finer points of health, most of us know what we should be doing to stay well. The problem is, we don't do it.
About one-fourth of us still smoke. We don't eat our vegetables and fruit as we know we should. We eat a lot of junk we know we shouldn't. We whine about not having time or the interest in healthful exercise. Thanks to Obamacare, all these nonproductive behaviors have to go! This is a good thing, whether we like it or not.
Obamacare brings Darwinism to the consciousness of the public -- It will truly bring about "Survival of the Fittest." Many waiting for operations, transplants, or even exams and drugs won't make it. It's a hard truth, but true nonetheless. We need to change our personal habits if we want to avoid calamity.
Unhappy With The Cost of Healthcare? Investigate Self-Care!
A lot of Americans have the sense that government-run healthcare is going to be even more of a nightmare than our present system. For much of the generation that is already retired, it is probably too late to make major changes in their need for healthcare, but for the Boomer Generation and those younger still, there is hope.
For those of us who have lived with the suspicion that Social Security won't be there for us when we turn sixty-five, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the new healthcare legislation is not going to be there for us either -- at least, not in any practical sense. Rationing and higher prices are sure to be the reality in a few years. Face it, when has any federal program come into play costing less than was budgeted?
It is becoming clear to any American with two ounces of real-world business savvy that any entitlements promised us -- in particular Social Security, which we've been paying into for decades -- will be caught up in a trainwreck of escalating promises colliding with the hard reality of diminishing tax collections.
Something's got to give!
The recent headline announcing that Social Security is predicted to begin running in the red this year, rather than 2017, should prove the point that it is unwise to entrust politicians and bureaucrats with our health care system. Ah well, it's too late for that!
The good news, for those whose health is not too far gone, is that there has always been an alternative to intrusive, expensive, and often risky medical procedures. For lack of any better term, let's call it self-care.
You can go down the list of medical conditions and find inexpensive or even free alternatives to the drug and surgical palliatives that modern medicine specializes in:
* Diabetes can be reversed or prevented by a program of dietary changes, coupled with 5-7% body weight loss, and moderate regular exercise, such as walking. This is plainly written up in the National Institutes of Health(NIH)Web site. In fact, the site even goes so far to say that these lifestyle changes are effective 58% (70% for those 60 or older) of the time, compared to the 31% success rate for drug-based preventative measures(with their attendant side-effects and expense).
* Hypertension has also been proven to be another condition where a change in diet and the addition of a regular exercise program can produce the same or better results than the standard drug treatments offered by most doctors. Again, this one is free.
* Joint replacement surgery may be made unnecessary by a combination of weight loss and a course of relatively inexpensive nutrients that help rebuild the knee cartilage.
* Cancer is something that we can reduce our risk for by means of an improved health regimen, but there are medical doctors that are currently having great success at making all symptoms go into remission. Dare we call this a cure? Does it matter what we call it, except to the FDA?
* The hectic demands of jobs, family -- and the many toxic environmental factors and unhealthy dietary practices encouraged by prepared food advertisers -- are a challenge to our health. No one can control these stresses on our health but us. Pharmaceutical drugs and surgeries have been likened to techniques for disconnecting the fire alarm without first putting out the fire that set it off (i.e., they don't solve the problem, they only turn off the symptom).
In so many instances, we are the ones going around "setting fires" that we then expect our doctors to put out. Obamacare's inevitable failure to deliver affordable "fire suppression" will force more of our population to finally confront the reality that it might be wise to stop smoking(the Number One preventable cause of illness and death), quit eating and drinking fattening foods (the Number Two preventable cause of disability, illness, and death), and get into the habit of regular aerobic exercise.
The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article a few years ago that deserves our attention, while we're reconsidering our new paradigm of medical care: the mistakes that doctors and hospitals make are the third leading cause of death in America! Two-hundred-and-twenty-five-thousand deaths in 1999! Why would anyone want to enter a hospital or a doctor's clinic unless there was no other option?
For all the money that has been spent on cancer research, cancer survival rates have barely budged.
There are better ways to deal with changing the circumstances that make cancer and other major systemic diseases inevitable, but we ourselves must implement them once we learn what they are.
We have all been taught to look to our medical advisors for answers to our health crises -- and generally to ignore our health until it becomes a problem. Ultimately, though, we must take control of our risk factors -- which are largely known: Eliminating exposure to cigarette smoke and environmental toxins, keeping our weight under control, getting enough sleep and exercise, eating a nutritious diet composed mostly of whole, plant-based foods, and maintaining a upbeat, positive attitude both mentally and emotionally. Simple stuff, really -- and inexpensive.
The new reality of entrusting our overpriced, risky health care system to federal bureaucrats will doubtless make more citizens decide to spend more time preparing healthy meals and exercising in the fresh air and spend less time waiting to speak to a doctor.
Why pay for health care -- or stand in line waiting desperately for health care -- when we can learn preventative health measures to maintain our health for free?
Obamacare, if it is allowed to become law, will inadvertently force many of us to realize that prevention of disease is what we should have been focusing on all along.
Paul H. Kemp is an entrepreneur, a writer, and an amateur athlete.
For more information on the latest research on preventive medical advances, healthy weight loss, and much more, visit his Web site at [http://www.healthyplanetdiet.com/]
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Paul_H_Kemp/171081
For more information on the latest research on preventive medical advances, healthy weight loss, and much more, visit his Web site at [http://www.healthyplanetdiet.com/]
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