One pill, two pills, four pills… polypharmacy.
John did not mind. He liked being attended to by different medical specialist. He thought that bad kidneys needed to be looked after by a nephrologist, bad heart by a cardiologist, and a bad skin by a dermatologist. He thought he was lucky to have such great care and in no time he would be cured of all his ailments.
Not so fast
Have you noticed that despite the proliferation of medical specialists we have more not fewer chronic diseases? Have you pondered why despite the discovery of many wonderful drugs, practically no one gets cured? Have you noticed that health declines in proportion to the number of prescription meds taken? Have you ever been told that for some unknown reason your body does not “respond well” to medication, developed “rare condition”, or somehow inherited “bad genes” from perfectly healthy parents?
- Health care or sick care, which one do you have?
- 15 barriers to good health
- 10 truths about good health?
One, two, four may not be adding up that well.
Do you know John, the guy with high blood pressure?
John came to me with four separate conditions, or at least that is what he thought. He was told by a skin doctor he had a bad case of psoriasis, by a cardiologist that he has to be careful with his heart, by his dentist that he had bad gums, and by his ENT doctor that he has hearing loss. All he wanted from me was some natural lotion that would make his ugly elbow patches disappear.
I could have just done that: write a prescription for a professional strength topical and forget about the rest, like a good skin specialist would do. Instead, I ruined his totally unquestionable four-disease paradigm by insisting that he only had one problem: misinformation.
To his surprise, instead of an extra-strength lotion, I send him off with a prescription for non-polysaccharide diet together with the explanation that he did not have a case of “bad skin genes”, “rare gum condition”, or that his body did not “respond poorly” to heart medication. The only thing he really had was a bad case of health care.
.
Psoriasis and heart disease have a common cause
Doctors and patients treat psoriasis and heart disease as two different problems. But that’s not completely true. Although they affect two different systems and manifest in two different ways, they stem from one problem: chronic inflammation. Psoriasis as well as arterial hardening are inflammatory diseases, which is why they go together. People with severe psoriasis are 58% more at risk for a cardiac event and 43% more for a stroke. John never thought they may be related.
Now you may have an “aha” moment. Maybe instead of taking two different pills for the skin and the heart you can take a smart shortcut and get yourself just one potent anti-inflammatory. It should work, shouldn’t it?
This idea may look genius, but there is the problem. Anti-inflammatories can’t reverse diseases. They only allow them to progress at a slower rate… and as long as you take them. In practice it means you are as stuck just as you were with the other protocol, minus one pill. The inconvenient truth is that only lifestyle changes are capable of permanently reversing chronic inflammation together with inflammation-dependent diseases. John wasn’t told any of that.
Gum disease and heart disease can be reversed in one shot
Did you know that gum disease increases the risk for heart attack by 50%?
The mouth does not exist in isolation, neither does its flora. The mouth, and the gut are parts of the same digestive system. Thus, health changes in one usually reflects health changes in the other. Red spongy gums aren’t just unsightly. They reveal a pro-inflammatory state of the digestive system. Have you thought that recurrent gum disease may be less of a job for a dentist and more of a job for a nutritionist? John never considered that.
You probably already know that cutting down on dietary carbohydrates can be beneficial to both the mouth and the heart. That’s especially true for diabetics or overweight, as these conditions carry an increased risk for gum and heart disease. If you had an option, would you rather clean up the diet or keep returning to the cardiologist and dentist for yet another pill or yet another scrape? John believed that low-carb is only for weight loss, did not think it had anything to do with gum or heart health.
Hearing loss is linked to heart disease
Did you know that hearing loss and heart disease go hand in hand? It’s mostly because cardiovascular disease leads to poor blood flow. No part of the body can function without proper blood flow and no organ can function if the flow gets restricted. Touch, vision, sense of smell, taste, and hearing acuity depends on blood flow. Poor blood flow means poor senses and that’s why hearing aids and heart pills go together.
High blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides reduce the ability to hear low-frequency sounds such as deep voices, thunderstorm rumble, washing machine or lawn mower noise.[i] John had no clue. He thought his hearing problem is due to age.
Better care for Johns out there
John liked his doctors. They were very knowledgeable and very polite. They did not hesitate to prescribe the newest medicine, and provide him with the best treatment options. One, two, four…
John was satisfied. Four medical specialists meant he was under good care.
Too bad. It never occurred to him that he could have been “cured” with less expense, less hassle, and fewer side effects. Unfortunately, he was never told that all his conditions stemmed from just one problem: dietary and lifestyle errors.
To all the Johns out there… finally take the step in the right direction. Eat well, eat simply, eat healthy. Indulge in 69 Pleasures. They may give you an incredibly nutritional “aha” moment, besides providing you with yummy recipes. For a 180° directional change, look up Five UthingTM Ingredients. Let them be your lifestyle guides. Get better. Get well. No more heart disease.
Seriously.
[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28703883
