A personal mission to regain my own health after a unfavourable diagnosis has lead to an in-depth exploration of my body, the food that I consume to fuel it, what went horribly awry and the most important question: Is there something that I can do to fix it. During the last 2 years, I have filled my time with the consumption of information - as much as I can possibly absorb and retain - pertaining to my own body, and invariably that of others. I have spent countless hours in medical libraries reading medical texts, journals and studies/experiments in an effort to understand the role that I play in my own health.
In Western society, people have lost the concept of 'individual responsibility'. Most often that phrase is associated with philosophical concepts, but here I use it in the context of health, where most people have adopted a quick-fix mentality to their own body. "Do you want the blue pill or the red pill?" they hear and, as if by magic, their pain vanishes. Western medicine practises narrowly focused curative methods - treat the symptom, not the underlying cause. A patient has heartburn, so the Doctor will perhaps suggest an over-the-counter antacid, rather than risk offending the patient by asking "What are you doing to cause the heartburn? What are you eating?", in turn transferring responsibility from the Doctor to cure the pain, to the patient to prevent the ailment in the first place.
Let's be honest though, most people don't want to hear that they are the cause of their own illness'; they prefer to think of their actions as entirely separate from the notion of disease and illness. They prefer to blame genetics, environment or even the food itself rather than admit that they have a choice in whether they are healthy or unhealthy. Frankly, they like their greasy trans-fat hamburgers and fries, and the sugar filled soda to wash it down... they have no intention of stopping that lifestyle, and do not want to hear that they are the cause of their diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease and obesity.
Currently, the curative method that Western medicine employs has not changed to reflect that knowledge of causal connection. Patients who admit to maintaining a lifestyle that is detrimental to their health are continually offered pills as a quick-fix, and so leave the Doctor's office with yet another bottle - that makes 10 now. This culture of pills as cure is the top of a spiral staircase downward until death, with varying ailments along the way. For example, studies have shown that continued use of prescription antibiotics damages the bodies own immune system - the natural, inherent defence mechanism - to the point where antibiotics are then found to be necessary in these patients because the body simply can't fight its own internal war. This cultural proliferation of pills as a 'treat the symptom, not the cause' methodology in Western medicine ultimately leads to a over-taxation of the liver - the primary organ that processes the medicine once ingested. In the best case scenario, the Doctor may prescribe liver medication (more pills) or in the absolute worst case, suggest a liver transplant.
Western medicine has finally made the logical connection between the food that we consume on a regular basis and illness, but only to a limited extent. So far, it refuses to make the same leap of faith that it did in forming the conclusion that certain high-fat, high-sugar and high-processed food was at the root of obesity and the diseases that follow, to the farther logical step - All food that we consume has an effect on our body and health. This next conclusion seems entirely logical in lieu of the previous deduction regarding obesity, and yet the medical community refuses to advance their thinking to encompass a broader scope - food can be the cure or cause for many diseases and illnesses, even Cancer.
Logical questions:
1. If unhealthy food has been recognized and accepted as detrimental to the body and the cause of multiple diseases by Western medicine, why is healthy food not recognized as beneficial and curative to the body?
2. If prescriptions are in fact masking the illness, making it livable (such as in the case of diabetes and heart disease), why not change the methodology away from prescriptions to treat the symptom, and focus on treating the underlying cause instead
My personal philosophy does not include being anti-Western medicine though it may seem that way at first, quite the opposite. Western medicine has afforded us many wonderful technologies, skills and cures for deadly diseases, saving countless lives and improving the health and well-being of so many, and should by no means be discounted as effective. I purport instead that the methodology underpinning Western medicine be altered to reflect the new disease that is plaguing Western society today, that is lack of individual responsibility - Placing the responsibility of health back into the hands of the individual.
Sadly, in many cases, it may in fact not be our own fault that we have succumbed to illness - living near a contaminated lake or a power plant, or a farm that sprays gallons of toxic pesticides into the air is
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