Turning People into Patients

This quote from an article written by Dr. Gilbert Welch of the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy & Clinical Practice.

Medicalization is the process of turning more people into patients. It encourages more of us to be anxious about our health and undermines our confidence in our own bodies. It leads people to have too much treatment -- and some of them are harmed by it.

And it's big part of the reason why medical care costs so much.

I have to stand in support of this comment and Dr. Welch's complete article, as it is one of the reasons why I devote time to Natural Health News.

It is refreshing to see that not all doctors are suffering from the herd mentality created by PhRMA and Big Insurance.

I guess we'll see how the health insurance bill turns out if we can wait the many years it will take for implementing it. In this several years just how many will be harmed or lost?

Americans are treated, and overtreated, and overtreated...

I have reached the place where I almost can't read the news, and more specifically health news, because little seems to have changed over decades or reading, and working.

Take the problem of medical professionals not knowing when to stop, and not knowing when too much is too much.

Perhaps the real issue is controlling health care to the Nth degree via Big Insurance and Big PhRMA.

And then there is the mental-emotional-spiritual concern that seems far more left out of care that in the 1970s.

Overtreating

Investors Hungry for Hospitals, Doctors Difficult to Manage

US Health Care Continues to Rank Last

This is no surprise to me as this trend has been continuing for years.  We have moved from a common sense approach to health to one ruled by pharmaceuticals and insurance.  Your health care provider really has little say in your care, and you have even less.

Also consider that while the pharma cartel keeps trying to take over all your supplements, and the ignorati in government tell you that vitamins are worthless, it is proven again and again - vitamins and minerals help your health.  You can't get enough from food. 

D. Mail 22.6.10 "EASE ASTHMA WITH A SIMPLE SUPPLEMENT"
Magnesium supplements may help reduce asthma symptoms. Trial results show patients given oral supplements daily for six & a half months needed fewer asthma medications. Although previous studies found a link between low magnesium levels & more frequent & worse asthma attacks, there has been little research into taking supplements. In the US study men & women with mild to moderate asthma were given 340mg of magnesium citrate daily or a placebo. Those on magnesium had improved lung function & improved quality of life. It's thought that low magnesium increases histamine levels which is released by the body's immune system
& is responsible for asthma symptoms.-

D. Mail 22.6.10 "HOW VITAMIN PILLS COULD SAVE YOU FROM A HEART ATTACK" By Jerome Burne.
Researchers recently found that bad cholesterol has a twin called lipoprotein (a) which can raise heart attack risks. Lead research by Dr. Robert Clarke of Clinical Trial Service Unit at Oxford Uni. The good news is that that LP(a) responds to vitamins such as the B vitamin niacin. "Niacin is a fantastic all-round treatment for protecting hearts" says Dr. Sarah Jarvis of Royal College of GPs. "It brings down both LDL & Lp(a) & pushes up HLD." 2 grams of niacin a day are given, more than could be received from food. Some clinicians say Lp(a) also responds to other supplements such as vitamin C.

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U.S. ranks last in study on healthcare

• United States ranked last and had a healthcare per capita cost of $7,290 
• For any category, the highest the United States ranked was fourth.

NEW YORK, June 24 (UPI) -- Despite paying almost double for healthcare compared to any other country, the United States ranked last in a study of seven developed nations, a survey says. 

The non-profit group, the Commonwealth Fund, used data from the 2007 International Health Policy Survey, conducted by telephone in Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States; the 2008 International Health Policy Survey of Sicker Adults and the Commonwealth Fund 2009 International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Physicians. 

The United States ranked last for access to healthcare -- 54 percent of U.S. adults with chronic conditions reported not getting a recommended test, treatment or follow-up care because of cost. 

U.S. patients are most likely to report being given the wrong medication or the wrong dose of their medication -- a preventable medical error, the study found. 

In measuring efficiency, the U.S ranked last due to high administrative costs, lack of use of information technology, re-hospitalization rates of patients and duplicative medical testing. U.S. patients were three times as likely as those in Germany or the Netherlands to visit an emergency department for something a regular doctor could have treated. 

For any category, the highest the United States ranked was fourth. 

The Netherlands ranked first and has a per capita cost of healthcare of $3,837, the United States ranked last and had a healthcare per capita cost of $7,290.  © 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Related article : No Public Option, High Cost and Poor Results Continue in US Healthcare

and http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65M0SU20100623