Robert* was just 55-years-old, too young it would seem to have suffered a serious heart attack. He told me how he was diagnosed with extremely high blood pressure and high cholesterol pressure a year ago. Robert opted to avoid the nasty medicines and chose lifestyle changes. Now, I was about to operate on his ailing heart.
The problem was that years ago, the only advice Robert got given to treat his blood pressure was to have a good diet and do some exercise. He missed out on medications that are lifesaving. He went for the attractive pill-free route when the less attractive but more efficacious medications may have stopped him meeting me for open heart surgery.
In an effort to stem growing epidemics of everything from diabetes to cancer, as well living our "best lives", lifestyle medicine is booming. Everyone from your outspoken cardiologists and Instagram influencers are reaching for diet, exercise and some form of spiritual treatment, shunning medications. Some even advocate this approach in the face of cancer or heart disease which pose a genuine threat to survival.
We’re now in a time where actual medicines are seen as untrustworthy and not natural enough to defile our bodies with. Lifestyle approaches though, seem to be increasingly regarded as superior, and tap into a person’s autonomy over their bodies rather than following the prescription of a physician.What I see with growing frequency is lifestyle medicine being recommended by fringe physicians or online pseudo-experts. This information given is not always high quality.
The trend to value diet, exercise and lifestyle change as superior to medicine only risks providing useless information. It also devalues the safety and proven track record that comes with modern medicines that ultimately save lives. With more people shunning lifesaving medicines such as
The most commonly used drugs are in vogue because they are still in patent and can earn companies $$$ not because they are effective. Statins are a disaster. A lot of useful drugs fall by the wayside because they aren't earners anymore.
Why not both? They're not binary.
Another fear campaign - lifestyle changes are always good! Pills treat the symptoms not the cause duh!!! I wish people read some MedicalMedium for some medical wisdom...
This applies to mental illness as well. An illness is an illness and illnesses require treatment.
I had high cholesterol & low b12 iron testosterone and reduced thyroid function. I got better with diet. I am not offering medical advice, but stop always pushing the public gotta pay thru the nose tactic, present all the facts without the vested interest, newspaper
So it’s win win🤷♂️