I was a bit of a
Dallas Cowboy fan when I was a kid. My main team was the New Orleans Saints,
but I honestly enjoyed the Aikman, Smith and Irvin era in Dallas. The intrigue
with the Cowboys vanished when the "Big 3" dispersed and throughout
the years I started to notice how insufferable Cowboy fans were.
It's now 2016 and
the NFL Draft is in the books. I watch ESPN like most average Joes and I'm just
annoyed by all the hype and headlines the Cowboys receive because of a rookie
running back who is (undeniably) the missing piece to the Cowboys winning the
Super Bowl. It's in the books, the season is over, why watch the games, they
have "the best offensive line in the league", "Tony Romo is
moving around better than ever at camp". It's really amazing the amount
media coverage we see for a team that has just two playoff wins in the last 19
years.
But I digress...
OK now that I got
all of that out I can get to my real point. The way we think about healthcare
is very similar to how Cowboy fans think about their Cowboys. Let me explain.
We've believed the
hype with our healthcare system the way Cowboy Fans believe the hype about
their team.
If you do the
research, American medicine has a horrible track record. Over the years we have
built huge hospitals and medical districts that are top of the line and state
of the art (just like Jerry Jones' Billion Dollar playpen) and our healthcare
system is one of the worst among developed countries while also being the most
expensive.
Americans are some
the sickest people on Earth, despite spending the most on healthcare and
consuming 75% of the World's prescription medications. That should resonate
with everyone. We see the glitz and the glamour and are attracted to it because
it looks nice and sparkly, like twinkling giant stars, but the product and
results are horrendous or mediocre at best.
The media blitz in
Medicine is similar to the unending Cowboy promotion machine
The ads, media, and
airtime that our medical system uses seems to promote "major
advances" and "new medicines" that continue to sell a false hope
to the majority of the American people. Yes there are areas where allopathic
medicine and even the Cowboys get it right, but the overall track record is not
impressive.
You can't always
believe the media blitz. You should not be asking your doctor if
"XYZ" medication is right for you. Instead, try asking "What can
I do to make sure I never need that kind of medication?"
Blindly believing
the Cowboys or the Medical System can make the improvements they need without
major changes to their philosophy won't work.
Whether trying to
solve our health issues with more drugs and surgery or hearing about
"America's team", many people (including myself) are tired of the
false hope and misinformation that persists. We have to take an active role in
our own health.
I know they're
trying to make a difference...
To take a step
back, I'm sure the creators of these medical products have the people at heart
and they are just trying to make a difference, but the reason this system is
flawed is because the main agenda is not your health, but about treating
disease and generating profits.
All of these super
huge hospitals have to be filled with patients in order to stay running and the
newer and better the hospital, the more expensive it is to get treated.
AT&T Stadium (where the Cowboys play) is a huge and magnificent facility,
and yes I toured it the first opportunity I got, but there are a lot of seats
and they are not cheap. All of the hoopla that this team creates is simply to
fill that stadium to capacity despite the bad product.
America is great
because we have a choice.
Professional sports
are just fun and games and I like to poke fun at Cowboy fans but our health a
serious matter. Stop being sucked into a system that is advertising and selling
blind hope and mediocrity. We have no chance of becoming a healthy nation
without getting off the train of more and more prescriptions and taking a
passive role in our health.
We have one of the
worst medical systems in the world and it's because we continue fall into the
same traps. The choice we need to start making is to prevent disease instead of
just being treated for it. Health-care instead of sick-care. 80% of disease and
health issues are lifestyle related, which means they can be prevented.
If we can prevent
these health issues, why don't we?
Our approach is
wrong. Patients wait until they have a symptom before they take action. Waiting
for your first heart attack to start exercising is not an effective strategy.
Waiting until your back pain gets so bad that the bottles of ibuprofen no
longer keep it away is ignoring the signs that you need to make a change.
Many of the
countries with the top healthcare systems focus on and implement preventative
care such as proper nutrition, active exercising, chiropractic, acupuncture,
and health screenings.
Don't wait until
your health (or football team) is in such disarray that you're forced to
rebuild.
I'm a chiropractor
and I help people with pain on a daily basis, but my preferred patients are
people who are not in pain and are here to prevent the many issues that can
occur by waiting until disease forces them into my office.
I can guarantee
it's cheaper and less time consuming to be proactive in taking care of your
health. Let's live in reality, stop committing to a system that has not worked
and start looking and listening for healthcare options that makes sense and
does more good than harm. And oh yeah, WHO DAT! (Dr. Cordova Note: Ahem, that
should read Go Texans!)
