Health care or Marketing II

In a previous blog I discussed the idea that our health care system is more about marketing than it is about health care.  What I gave you was an example of how our system currently works i.e. the news media creates an OMG story that suggests that there is an impending catastrophe. This is followed by news of a new drug or vaccine that was 'rushed' into production to save us all from the ravages of this new threat to life as we know it.

 It is the same sales pitch an insurance salesman might use to sell you life insurance, health insurance or flood insurance. In short what he/she or they will do is create a sense of urgency, an emotional need to address the plethora of horrible scenarios that will eventually befall you 'if' you don't have insurance.  There are salesmen out there who could sell you tickets to your own funeral but only if you aren't wise to them.  A salesman hates an informed consumer.  So lets get informed.

 It is important to know exactly how our health care system came to be so 'sales' oriented.  In the late 1800s there were virtually no regulations on the sale of goods in our nation. This included the sale of cocaine, opium and morphine.  You could get cocaine over the counter in various forms from 'snuff', toothache powder and Coca Cola, which was then made per serving, by a pharmacist. 'Coke ads a sparkle to your day'.  I should say so.  Opium came in the form of Laudinum and was also available over the counter as was morphine.
1885 saw the first efforts of legislation against the sale of these items. The pharmaceutical lobby, yes they existed then to, was extremely powerful for the same reason they are today, wealth...extreme wealth.

At the turn of the 20th century the pharmaceutical companies were billion dollar companies, yes billion with a B.  That's a lot of money today and was insane wealth then.  From 1885 to 1910 the pharm industry staved of legislative regulation until addiction to these items became epidemic and couldn't be ignored.  Cocaine addiction was so prolific that even fictitious characters of the time were depicted as cocaine addicts.  Sherlock Holmes being the most recognizable of the era. So how does this translate into today's health care for profit system?

 Once it was clear that the sales of cocaine and opium were going to be regulated as prescription only items the pharm industry took steps to address this eventuality.  Their first course of action was to create fraudulent diploma mills that were to be used to create an army of 'faux' doctors who could then prescribe their product line. It was so bad that two presidents of the American Medical Association were among these 'faux' doctors.

This action was merely a stop gap measure that was meant to buy time to take over the medical profession who was at that time in the middle an identity crisis and whose most significant advancements were rapid amputations and hand washing.  Hand washing was actually scorned by the medical leadership of the time as an unnecessary waist of time. Sad but true.

 The pharmaceutical industry took over five major medical colleges and renovated them and changed up the core curriculum to include drug therapy.  Once cocaine and opium were made totally illegal they had a range of new drugs based on variations of these drugs to market which in effect expanded their market and consequently their profits. The Pharm has been in control of the practice of medicine since.

The pharmaceutical industry could not have survived the changes had they not partnered up with the medical profession.  It is safe to say that medicine would have been a very different looking profession had the Pharm not been such a strong influence on its practice.  Since this first example of corporate influence into health care we've seen it expand to include the insurance industry which convoluted into HMOs and PPOs which have proven to be the bane of functional health care.  However, they have proven exceptionally profitable for those who operate them.

As a result of all this corporate influence, our system of health care ranks 37th in the world, costs twice as much as any other industrialized nation, and is more scientific about its marketing research than actual health related research.

  You have the power to make it change.  Do not buy an insurance policy that doesn't guarantee in writing that they will not drop you at their convenience or if you fall ill suddenly or get injured.  It is time 'we' make them work for us...make them accountable..if they can't make a profit doing what 'you' have paid them to do. then they are in the wrong business.  You have the power to change them.  Its your money they are taking to provide a service for you. You aren't paying them to bonus themselves and then shaft you, are you?  Your premiums pay their salaries.  If enough of their clients stop paying premiums...they just might get the message.

 Dr. B

Health care or Marketing

Is it me or do radio hosts, particularly those on nationally syndicated radio, always seem to have the same advice about health care? The script they seem to follow tends to be a prepackaged message that follows this basic format, "Reports out of Mexico, China and/or Canada suggest a new deadly virus has been discovered."  At this we are all supposed to collectively gasp in fear.  "Small children and the elderly seem to be most at risk with reports of numerous deaths among the elderly and one infant child"  Again we gasp in fear and dismay at news of this tragic and foreign catastrophe. "The CDC suggests that it is likely already here but no reports have been confirmed', dramatic pause, 'YET'"   Now the marketing pitch..."Luckily a vaccine has been prepared and is being distributed throughout the nation in response to this threat"  So now we all sigh in collective relief that we have been 'saved' before the danger has even arrived...so long as we get the vaccine, of a newly discovered virus that hasn't even been reported on our shores..and yet we have a stock pile of vaccine to counter this new threat?  How exactly did that happen?

 In the last ten years we've had the SARS, Avian and Swine flu pandemics.  Pandemics that somehow never materialized on our shores...or anywhere else for that matter.  All we got was a news story with images of people in China, Mexico or wherever else this virus originated, wearing masks and scurrying about their daily lives in a mild panic.  Isn't it curious that a virus can be newly discovered and yet we have a stock pile of vaccine specifically formulated against that 'one' deadly new strain before it is ever reported on our shores? Curious, very curious. 

 Over the past century our health care system has been more of a study in marketing than it has been an actual health care system.  How many new syndromes pop up every year?  How many new drugs happen to be available to treat this new syndrome?  Watch television tonight and count the number of pharmaceutical commercials you see, count the repeats as well.  Often they repeat back to back especially on prime time. 
 Give it one hour and count the amount of drug ads you see.  Health care isn't health care is marketing.

Chiropractic and Hippocrates.

In 1895 the study of Chiropractic was born.  Chiropractic is a combination of two Greek words 'Kiro' and Praktik which when translated means 'Done by Hand', to honor Hippocrates the father of all doctors.  Hippocrates had 2500 years earlier discovered the link between the body and the brain and called it the nervous system.  Through observation and crude manipulations performed on this subjects he discovered that by removing what he called 'Lesions' from the spinal column illnesses cleared up much more quickly. Those who came to him feeling well felt better and stayed well and were sick much less often than his subjects that came only when something was wrong.  Hippocrates is quoted: "Look well to the Spine for the Cause of Disease"

 Since Hippocrates many cultures have employed 'bone setters' as healers. Galen was a Roman Physician who had studied Hippocrates works and took the studies of the spine and the nervous system further still.  He was dubbed 'Prince of Physicians' by a Roman Senator who had been injured in battle, leaving his arm numb and useless.  By the time Galen attended to him his arm had been curled up next to his body for several months.  Galen upon examining him and using the diagram created by Hippocrates adjusted the thoracic and cervical vertebrae that innervated the arm.  With a loud 'crack' the Senators neck was adjusted by Galen and in minutes the arm uncurled and the senator was able to use it.

History is replete with such stories. Captain Cook who discovered the Sandwich Islands, known today as the Hawaiian islands was stricken with arthritis and was using a cane when he first landed on the Island of Hawaii. The king noticed and called his 'bone setters'.  They consisted of a group of large Polynesian women. As he later noted he was 'set upon' by these women and his body wracked an all manner of noise and cracking emanated from his body.  After 30 minutes of this he stood and was pain free and able to walk without his cane.  He smiled and asked for more.

 Since 1895 Chiropractic has been seeing to the 'wellness' of our patients by reducing what Hippocrates called 'lesions'.  Chiropractors call them 'Subluxations' or partial dislocations of the Spinal segments which causes nervous system interference.  It is this simple concept that has enabled Chiropractic to gain ground and become the largest non-medical health care system on the planet.  Use chiropractic as a tool to keep yourself well by visiting your chiropractor regularly.  Prevention, prevention, prevention. 

 Dr. B

Wellness means paying attention to your body.

Your body will let you know what it needs if you simply pay attention to it.  When you are hungry that is an indication that you are low on fuel and its time to fill up again.  Thirst is a signal that you need to take in some water...not soda or vodka or some other 'thing' that has water in it. And for heavens sake do not use 'diet soda' as a substitute for water...please.  The chemistry in diet soda becomes formaldehyde or embalming fluid. YUK!!

When your body is sleepy it does not mean that you need a double shot of espresso in your 'mint, mocha chip latte'. It means that you need to go to bed.  It would help if you had a regular bed time and got a good 8 hours of sleep daily.  Daily means daily...not catching up on the weekends. 

 The consequences of neglecting your bodies attempts at self regulation are serious.  Fail to eat and your body will consume itself and eventually collapse. Forget to drink water and you will first get a nasty headache...and if you continue to not drink water...you will collapse.  If you do not sleep enough..or use artificial stimulants to stay awake..your body will eventually fatigue and collapse. These are a few examples of how you need to pay attention to your bodies function.  It is your responsibility to prevent total body collapse by simply paying attention to what your body is telling you.  Pay attention.

What is wellness?

Wellness is defined as a state of physical and mental well being.  This definition is rather vague considering that each of us may have a different idea of what constitutes physical and mental well being.  For instance Steven Hawking, a wheel chair bound physicist, may have a very different idea of what constitutes 'wellness' than Brett Favre, a semi-retired NFL quarterback, does.  The point being the we 'each' may have a very different opinion of what wellness means for us. Health care should be approached as an individual care plan to include prevention of disease and not just the treatment of disease. 

 What constitutes 'wellness' for you?