Flaws In The Traditional Medical Model
Any time you attempt to do in-depth research in the realm of health and medicine, you quickly realize how difficult it is to find relevant, useful and complete information. This site’s creator spent years researching Mitochondria and it took years to come to the understanding that Mitochondrial issues, in one shape or form, will affect everyone. Mitochondrial health has an overarching impact on quality of health and disease prevention in ways, it seems, the medical community is hesitant to share with the general public. On the page, “Mitochondria: The Future of Medicine,” you will learn why Mitochondrial health is so important to every human being.
The intent of this site is to share knowledge and information that can help educate people on how they can take an active roll in optimizing their health starting at the cellular level. The extensive yet poorly organized information on Mitochondrial health is difficult for an individual to find and digest without years of searching and piecing together an extremely complex puzzle. Unfortunately, due to their heavily compartmentalized areas of practice, the vast majority of the medical community is not properly equipped to understand these complexities. “Experts” in any particular field would seem to be a good thing. In areas such as orthopedics and surgery, it likely is. However, medical research is starting to reveal a much deeper understanding of Mitochondria and their enormous role in overall optimal health. Mitochondrial and/or Metabolic Dysfunctions are now being linked as a common factor in practically every disease process; from Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, to Diabetes and Heart Disease, to MS and Cancer, and the list continues to grow. The overlapping nature of dysfunctions that stem from poorly functioning Mitochondria indicate that specialists, even working together with other disciplines, run a risk similar to that described in the “Blind Men and the Elephant.” (See the parable adaptation, “Blind Men and the Elephant,” poem by John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)). Although each blind man evaluates the same animal, his understanding of the elephant is based only on the individual part he is able to analyze. Upon comparing notes, they each disagree as to the nature of the creature; failing to “see” the elephant in its entirety.
Through years of personal research, this site’s creator found that, within the medical community across the world, most of the puzzle pieces regarding optimal health, true prevention and combating disease are already known. However, relatively few physicians seem to see the full picture. Just like working on a puzzle, the insight of seeing the full picture would allow medical practitioners greater ability to piece together the individual needs of their patients. Not to say they aren’t diligently doing good work, but they are lost in their areas of focus, unable to see the interconnectedness of the whole being.
As an exaggerated example of this, say you are treating an issue with a toe, but unbeknown to all involved, the problem truly originates in the hip. How successful will treatments be if they only focus on the symptoms in the toe? Similarly, in failing to get the results desired with the toe, stronger and more invasive efforts are introduced, perhaps even to the point of ridding the body of the troublesome toe all together. However, the toe was merely exhibiting the symptom, and even cutting it off will not have resolved the real issue. This is the risk of addressing symptoms without fully understanding the true nature or source of those symptoms.
Especially in the United States, it is too common for symptoms of a disorder to become diagnoses in and of themselves. We have fancy names such as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (or POTS), but it is merely a name that helps to characterize certain observations. A highly regarded “Sub-Specialty Cardiologist” asked his previously diagnosed patient on the first visit, “What is POTS?” Perplexed, the patient attempted to respond saying that upon standing her heart rate continued to rise as her blood pressure dropped and generally resulted in syncope. But her response was only met by the Specialist’s continued insistence, “but what does that mean?” As the discussion progressed, the patient’s concern grew and she began wondering just how much of an expert this guy really was if he didn’t even know what POTS was. It turned out the Specialist was attempting to make a point. “POTS” as he put it, “tells me nothing useful. It merely, though succinctly, describes your symptoms. And it surely doesn’t tell me WHY you are having those symptoms. It is a diagnosis of symptomatology only.” Ahh! Someone who actually gets it!
It is no secret that the symptom-driven state of the medical community is driven by the pharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, this can lead to medical evaluations ending at the point a symptom is identified for which it is determined that “there’s a pill for that.” Challenge yourself to consider the fact that symptoms are the body’s way of indicating something is wrong. Thus, the symptom itself is not the issue, rather the alarm that there is a bigger issue at hand. In fact, as was finally determined with fevers, the rush to address and reduce a fever was actually shutting off the body’s own response to fighting the true culprit. How many times does shutting off one symptom trigger a domino effect of one or more other symptoms as the body struggles to compensate for the short circuit created in it’s armament? Sometimes addressing the symptom can be a matter of immediate life or death. But the goal should be, if at all possible, short-term intervention with an eye toward restoring the body’s capacity to function optimally on its own. However, this point has a huge caveat. The patient must be willing to do what is necessary to create that optimal environment and to encourage proper function. If not, pharmaceutical management of symptoms really does become that person’s “best medicine.”
Though the source of this comment eludes, the premise stands strongly, “doctors don’t cure anything.” The role of doctors is to provide the most ideal circumstances for the body to heal itself. Take a broken bone: the doctor sets the bone, stabilizes it… and then sends you home to heal. Despite the efforts of the physician, the body still has to do it’s part. In order for that to occur, we must continually acknowledge that part of the “treatment” is to ensure we are giving the body what is needed for it to do its part.
We should not have an issue with doctors in general. To the contrary, well educated, humble doctors with heartfelt intent are vital to the evolution of our understanding of the human body and how best to effectuate the healing process. But doctors must accept that medical school is only the beginning, an introduction as it were. It is up to them to go the extra mile and open their hearts, eyes and minds to the great wonders that still await their personal discovery.
As a final note, there is no magic pill or “easy” answer to being healthy, especially if you are currently fighting disease. It is our most sincere desire that this site provides realistic and useful information for you to evaluate, research and have meaningful discussions with your health care providers. In order to make the best, most informed decisions on how to address your individual health needs YOU must be your best advocate, obtain as much information as possible, determine for yourself what your particular benefits and/or risks may be, and press forward with a TOTAL APPROACH to giving your body the best fighting chance to make positive improvements toward optimal health.