Does only medicine play a role in treating a disease?
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Dr. Dean Ornish answered:Medicine today tends to focus primarily on the physical and mechanistic: drugs and surgery, genes and germs, microbes and molecules. I am not aware of any other factor in medicine - not diet, not smoking; not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery - that has a greater impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness, and premature death from all causes.
Cholesterol, for example, is clearly related to the incidence of illness and premature death from heart disease and stroke. Those with the highest blood cholesterol levels may have a risk of heart attack several times greater than those with the lowest levels, and lowering cholesterol levels will reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, cholesterol levels are not related to such diseases as complications during pregnancy and childbirth, the incidence of illness and premature death from infectious diseases, arthritis, ulcers, and so on, whereas loneliness and isolation may significantly increase the risk of all these. Something else is going on.
Medicine today tends to focus primarily on the physical and mechanistic: drugs and surgery, genes and germs, microbes and molecules. I am not aware of any other factor in medicine - not diet, not smoking; not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not... More -
Dr. Indie Jones answered:Treating disease and maintaining overall good health is a very complex process. Traditonal western medicine tends to focus on pills for quick fixes but can add to the actual morbidity or sense of well being with the cummulative side effects that comes with taking multiple medications. The body is not just a machine that can be upgraded or tuned up. There is a very strong psychosocial aspect to health. For example, chronic pain is difficult to manage in patients who suffer from anxiety and depression. We have natural endorphins that our body makes when we exercise and gives us a free and safe natural high! Getting an appropriate amount of rest, exercise, and professional counseling will go a long way when coupled with an anti-depressant medication as opposed to just "taking a pill".Treating disease and maintaining overall good health is a very complex process. Traditonal western medicine tends to focus on pills for quick fixes but can add to the actual morbidity or sense of well being with the cummulative side effects that... More -
Dr. Cindy Haines answered:The best medicine is preventive medicine. We tend to practice medicine backwards in this country, focusing too much on treating disease rather than preventing it in the first place. More on this in my book, The New Prescription: How to Get the Best Health Care in a Broken System.The best medicine is preventive medicine. We tend to practice medicine backwards in this country, focusing too much on treating disease rather than preventing it in the first place. More on this in my book, The New Prescription: How to Get the Best... More
