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Why Our Healthcare System Isnt Healthy
Most people are well aware that an estimated 45 million Americans currently do not have healthcare, but is the crisis simply the lack of health insurance or even the cost of health insurance? Is there a bigger underlying problem at the root of our healthcare system? Although the U.S. claims to have the most advanced medicine in the world, government health statistics and peer-reviewed journals demonstrate that allopathic medicine often causes more harm than good. People in general have always felt they could trust doctors and the medical profession, but according to the Journal of the American Medical Association in July 2000, iatrogenic death, also known as death from physician error or death from medical treatment, was the third leading cause of death in America and rising, responsible for at least 250,000 deaths per year. Those statistics are considered conservative by many, as the reported numbers only include in-hospital deaths, not injury or disability, and do not include external iatrogenic deaths such as those resulting from nursing home and other private facility treatments, and adverse effects of prescriptions. One recent study estimated the total unnecessary deaths from iatrogenic causes at approximately 800,000 per year at a cost of $282 billion per year, which would make death from American medicine the leading cause of death in our country. Currently, at least 2 out of 3 Americans use medications, 32 million Americans are taking three or more medications daily, and commercials and advertisements for pharmaceutical drugs have saturated the marketplace. Although our population is aging, exorbitantly expensive drugs are being marketed and dispensed to younger and younger patients, including many children who years ago would never have been given or needed medication, for everything from ADHD to asthma to bipolar disease and diabetes. Clearly, the state of health in this country is not improving even though there are an increasing number of medications and treatments. Between 2003 and 2010, the number of prescriptions are expected to increase substantially by 47%. In recent years, numerous drugs previously deemed safe by the FDA have been recalled because of their toxicity, after the original drug approvals were actually funded by the invested pharmaceutical companies themselves. According to the media, thanks to advances in U.S. drugs and medical procedures, Americans are living longer statistically, but they are living longer sicker, with a lower quality of life, and often dependent on multiple expensive synthetic medications that do not cure or address the underlying causes, but only suppress symptoms, often with a plethora of dangerous side effects to the tune of billions of dollars for the drug industry. Considering that the U.S. is supposed to have the most advanced technology in the world and the best health care system, it is at odds that we spend the most on healthcare, yet are the most obese and most afflicted with illness outside of the AIDS epidemic in some third world countries. Unless you have an acute emergency that requires emergency room care, being admitted to a hospital environment may be more dangerous to your health than staying out. In 2003, epidemiologists reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that hospital-acquired infections have risen steadily in recent decades, with blood and tissue infections known as sepsis almost tripling from 1979 to 2000. Nearly two million patients in the U.S. get an infection while in the hospital each year, and of those patients over 90,000 die per year, up dramatically from just 13,300 in 1992. Statistics show that approximately 56% of the population has been unnecessarily treated, or mistreated, by the medical industry. Additionally, as a result of the overuse of pharmaceutical drugs and antibiotics in our bodies and environment, our immune systems have become significantly weakened, allowing antibiotic-resistant strains of disease-causing bacteria to proliferate, leaving us more susceptible to further disease. Not surprisingly, incidences of diseases have been growing at epidemic levels according to the CDC. Now diseases once thought conquered, such as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, malaria, and childhood ear infections are much harder to successfully treat than they were decades ago. Drugs do not cure. They only suppress the symptoms that your body needs to express, while they ignore the underlying root cause. Side effects of synthetic and chemical drugs, which even if they are partly derived from nature have been perverted to make them patentable and profitable, are not healthy or natural, and usually cause more harm than any perceived benefit of the medication. Where "physician errors" are concerned, these may not be entirely the fault of the doctors, as they are forced to operate within the constraints of their profession or risk losing their license, but doctors have become pawns and spokesmen for the drug companies, and the best interest of the patient has become secondary. In the name of profit, physicians are also under great pressure from hospitals to service patients as quickly as possible, like an assembly line, increasing the likelihood of error. In conclusion, increases in healthcare costs are not just the result of frivolous law suits, but are primarily the result of a profit-oriented industry that encourages practices that lead to unnecessary and harmful procedures being performed, lethal adverse drug reactions, infections, expensive legitimate lawsuits, in-hospital and physician errors, antibiotic resistance due to overprescribing of antibiotics and drugs, and the hundreds of thousands of subsequent unnecessary deaths and injuries. Many people do not realize that there are healthier natural options, and anything unnatural or invasive we are exposed to is likely to cause either immediate or cumulative damage over time. For more information on how to help your body heal itself naturally without chemicals, information on drug side effects, and harmful disease-causing chemicals in the foods you eat and your environment and how to avoid them, please visit the NatureGem web site at http://www.naturegem.com. Deb Bromley is a science and technology researcher and the President of NatureGem Nontoxic Living, an organization devoted to promoting awareness of toxins in our food and environment that can cause disease, and providing access to nutrition information, natural remedies, and alternative health resources. Please visit http://www.naturegem.com for more information.
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Alternative Medicine Phenylpropanolamine (PPH) Lawyer: Decongestant Causes Stroke Phenylpropanolamine, or PPH, used to be an active ingredient in many over the counter nasal decongestants and weight control drug products. The FDA pulled phenylpropanolamine off the market in May of 2000 when a Yale University School of Medicine study found that patients using PPH were at a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke, or bleeding of the brain. By then it had been in popular use for many years, but because strokes are such serious and unpredictable afflictions and safer alternative drugs readily available, the FDA alerted customers to the danger and issued a recall on phenylpropanolamine. Over The Counter Pain Medication: How To Choose The Right Drugs With the recent front-page news about the possible hazards of pain medications, you may be taking a look at your over-the-counter (or OTC) pain medications with a wary eye. 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Tomorrow Well Have Rabbit Feet; Cloning I am not sure where I'm at with this subject of cloning, it sounds a bit cheesy to me; you know the old saying: something smells in Denmark. It kind of reads like this in my mind, confused mind, or maybe not so confused, maybe the world is wrong and I am right, any how it goes like this: let's kill an infant, why not, we do a million of them abortions a year that way, anyhow; now that we've legalized this, let's use some of it for fish bate. "No, no?no!" says the laboratory man (or woman), "?you've got it all wrong!" I knew that was coming. They always say that, and ten years down the road they modify. I mean, today it's absolutely right, tomorrow they say: "Well, we just did not know back then?!" In reality, we knew a million or so people knew because most likely, they were screaming it, but others were screaming louder, and no one heard. Healthcare Providers -- Its Time for Your Physical I think this is a good time for a checkup, or physical as it is termed in the healthcare industry. I mean this is a good time to check the health of your site or setting. As healthcare providers, we are dedicated to curing our patients of their ills and keeping them healthy. My question is, "Do you have the same attitude about the place you work?" Is your site meeting its highest goals? If not, then it is time for a change. Who Else Wants General Information on Arthritis? Today there are about 70 million Americans with arthritis?that's one person out of every four who suffer both pain and the expense of this crippling disease. In one year alone, arthritis will be responsible for over half a billion dollars in lost wages. The economic consequences of arthritis are important to review because each year, arthritis takes a devastating financial toll on our society. An Addition For Practitioners - How to Help Your Patients and Your Practice Please feel free to comment, so I may modify this appropriately, or help Do you refer to other modalities or tests? Stop Taking Blood Pressure Medications with Your Doctors Approval I have been swallowing three varieties of blood pressure pills for 10 years. In another month, I expect to be off of them entirely. And that's with my doctor's approval. Lunesta Personality Changes Lunesta is a newly released sleeping pill. Marketed as a revolutionary sleep aid, Lunesta is the only medication approved by the FDA for long term treatment of insomnia symptoms. Although Lunesta is a quality medicine that has already helped many people cure their insomnia symptoms and get a better night's sleep, there is something you should know before your buy Lunesta. Orphan Drugs: Hope Where There Is Little or No Hope NEW YORK, N.Y., February 18, 2004 On a visit to his doctor, Gary Jacob received distressing news not about himself, but a friend of the doctor's. Bextra and Vioxx -- Tips for Arthritis Relief Without Them The recent withdrawal of Vioxx and Bextra from the marketplace, due to concerns over unwanted side effects, has many arthritis sufferers concerned. These drugs, which belong to a powerful class of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, are quite effective at fighting the pain and inflammation of arthritis. Unfortunately, they have been linked to increased risk of strokes and heart attacks. Their manufacturers have voluntarily withdrawn them from the market. Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a severe and deadly allergic reaction to certain drugs, some proscription and some over the counter, which causes the severe burning of skin and mucosal membranes from the inside out. 15% of people who develop Stevens Johnson Syndrome will die as a direct result. Many drugs which have been known to cause SJS do not have warning labels notifying users about the very real danger of Stevens Johnson Syndrome. If you or a loved one has SJS, a Stevens Johnson Syndrome lawyer can help you receive financial compensation. Viagra Users - Overcome NAION Fear NAION is the latest side effect linked to Viagra and other ED drugs. It is a condition which results from a painless swelling of the optic nerve that causes rapid reduction in vision. Those who suffer from NAION wake up with vision loss and it may worsen in one or two weeks. The main risk factors include hypertension, diabetes or fever and a different appearance of the optic nerve which an ophthalmologist can recognize. Why Drug Companies are Naughty and 5 Remedies to Cure the Symptoms With the hum of the election campaign and the debate of "big business," versus human interest, I decided to do a bit of muckraking into the art and science of the recent removal of Merck's Vioxx. My motivation of course; to look for clues as to the role drug companies play in our health and wellness (or lack thereof). How to Tell If Online Consultations Are Right For You As computers, Internet and technology have become increasingly more available and accepted, so have the applications for using them. Online consultations are something that is becoming more widely used by both medical professionals and those seeking medical advice. But how do you know if online medical consultations are right for you? There are some things to consider before you decide to try out online consultations. The Importance Of Using Electric Wheelchairs To Improve Mobility No person likes to feel housebound and dependent on others. While people who have been injured or suffering from a debilitating disease may not have full functionality of their motor skills, it is still possible for them to be semi-independent and mobile. High Cholesterol Prescription Medications Can Kill You The World Health Organization declares that heart disease is the number one killer worldwide. High cholesterol is a major contributor of heart disease. In America alone there are nearly 105 million people with high cholesterol. Propulsid Litigation Lawyer Says: Unnecessary Drug Killed 80 People Propulsid was a popular nighttime heartburn drug before it was pulled in the market in March of 2000. It was linked to dozens of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) document associated the drug with 341 reports of heart rhythm abnormalities and 80 reported deaths. The FDA also acknowledges that only a small fraction of problems with a drug are ever reported. Fifteen Ways to Fight Heel Pain There are many different causes of heel pain, but the most common cause is plantar fasciitis (plan * tar fash* ee * I * tis). If you experience a sharp pain in your heel when you first step down in the morning, it is most likely due to plantar fasciitis. This problem is a result of excess stress through a long ligament type structure (the plantar fascia) in the bottom of the foot. The excess stress causes tearing and results in inflammation and pain. The classic symptoms are pain in the heel at the first step in the morning, or upon rising after long periods of rest. Many will complain of a sharp pain in the heel when they step out of their car or after finishing their lunch break. Other individuals only experience heel pain at the end of the day or during certain types of activity like running, soccer or tennis. The pain may extend into the arch and feel achy at the end of the day.
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