FAQ Episode 51: Do you need a doctor to be healthy?

Frequently Asked Questions about Natural Migraine Relief for Women

“Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself.” -Naval Ravikant

The advance of medical science over the last century has been an amazing journey. We have learned so much more about how the human body works. We have also learned that: 1) there’s even more we don’t know yet than we thought possible, and 2) some of what we thought we knew before just ain’t so. If it all wasn’t so wonderful, it would also be confusing and even potentially depressing.

Over time, a medical-industrial-complex has emerged to become the default custodian of the fruit of this progress-for both better and worse. One of the adverse consequences of this outcome is the message that “healthcare” resulting in “health” is what you get when you interact with the “healthcare system.” Well, not exactly. If you believe that to be true, you can easily forget your own key role in maintaining your wellbeing, i.e. your “health.” Earth to individual sovereign humanoids! Breaking news alert: you have been issued a body, it's yours for life, and you are each in charge of your own health. That’s the deal.

Modern Medicine: it really is amazing!

I’m not writing this post to denigrate what it is doctors and all medical providers can do for you. Not at all. I try not to be biased either way, but in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve spent 40 years being ‘one of them’, including 25 years of ER work. And I’ve seen modern medicine work near miracles. For example, just this last week I had one patient who after three days of feeling absolutely wretched needed an emergency appendectomy. Without a doubt it saved her life. Another had a recent total hip replacement which ended over three years of progressive pain and disability. The previous week the husband of another patient had been found down and unresponsive at home, and timely care by the EMTs, the ER staff and the cardiology cath lab revived him and managed his two 90+% blocked coronary arteries. But those examples really fall more under the heading of “disease care.” Disease care done really well…., but that’s not “health care.”

The benefits of having a primary care ‘home’

It is an unfortunate misdirection of medical/pharmaceutical and associated political lobby establishment messaging which tells us that “you need a doctor to be healthy.” On the other hand, I do believe that having an identified primary physician to connect with is an useful tool, especially if you have ongoing medical concerns. Even having a local ‘MediQuik’ where you are established is very practical for:

• that Friday morning when you wake up with a fever of 101 and are coughing up green phlegm. Also true for less severe problems that clear best when managed early.

• situations where a timely referral gets you “into the system” for a specialty consult or procedure.

• ongoing monitoring for a real or even suspected health problem. Having a friendly face that recognizes you and your story gives continuity and consistency to your medical care.

The source of our medical ills

Contrary to common wisdom, most of our health problems are typically months, and more often years in the making, and didn’t either require or benefit from a doctor’s interaction. We all have a unique genetic legacy-for better and worse, and yes, accidents do happen; but most of our adult afflictions are the accumulative debris left by thousands of small factors, decisions and chemical reactions; oxidized, crystallized and compounded over time. Most of the decisions involved were small, repetitive and made by each of us-consciously, or more likely-without much thought, because of the grooves of habit we’ve woven into daily life.

Problems like migraine headaches fit this paradigm. If you read this blog, you know my mantra: chronic health problems are almost always the cumulative expression of several root cause factors acting in synergy. Your best prospect for remission and recovery is to identify and manage well as many of the contributory factors as possible.

So, is health just the absence of disease?

Your body was designed to automatically repair itself. Even for those who live a destructive lifestyle, it can take decades for cumulative damage to bear its ill fruit. And for those who lead “pretty healthy” lifestyles, we don’t need six months at a Canyon Ranch type health spa to to get us on the right path, or to regain lost ground. But without exception, each of us have a pretty much daily to-do list of the small but essential action items that will either:

• augment the body’s natural capacity to repair, such as:

  -getting sufficient deep restorative sleep

  -moving the body through some form of regular exercise that challenges

  both cardio and endurance fitness, as well as, strength through

  resistance work. Ask yourself everyday: what am I going to do today

  that will move and challenge me?

  -choosing a diet that provides vegetable based fiber and high quality

  protein while avoiding refined sugars and excess seed based oils.

  -sufficient outdoor sun exposure

• or, result in counterproductive choices that promote damage and inflammation, some examples being:

  -not attending to the sleep, exercise and diet factors addressed above

  -smoking, or the use of tobacco in general and most recreational drugs.

  -more than a moderate use of alcohol.

  -avoiding industrial and environmental pollutants, especially those found

  in the commercial food chain for grains and animal proteins (eat

  organic when you can.)

  -proactive management of situational stress. It’s a cliche, but there’s truth

  to the adage that “stress isn’t what happens to you, its how you think

  about and respond to what happens that counts.”

  -spending too much time interacting virtually, while soaking up excess

  electromagnetic exposure. This leaves too little time for reflection,

  prayer or meditation, and interacting one-to-one with people or nature.

  Have you ever noticed that when you slow down, gain situational

  awareness, define your priorities and mindfully choose your actions

  that there is time enough for the things that really count?

The role of mindful living

Have you ever been through a moment of life drama or trauma that made you realize how much time we spend sleep-walking through our lives? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be positively mindful and ‘in the flow’ more of the time? For me, a day well spent is a collection of moments where premeditated choices ended in productive action and satisfaction in a job well done.

“Being in charge of your own healthcare” is not just about fixing what’s wrong, even more its a collection of proactive choices that complement the body’s ability to heal itself; despite genetics and other situational factors that have gotten in the way. You, and your medical advisors need to find and minimize those complicating factors.

Action considerations to ponder:

• decide to take full ownership of your health. Some circumstances are outside your control, but your response to choose wisely among options is always 100% yours.

• choose medical advisors who are competant and compassionate. One can hope that they also recognize that their role is to add medical expertise as a “team advisor,” rather than to assume they are the full conductor of your health care journey.

• make small, consistent, mindful choices about the nine simple positive or negative habits listed above. You don’t have to fix things all at once. Seemingly modest but repetitive positive choices become habit, then add up and cumulatively promote the day-to-day quality of life we all long to attain.

• commit yourself to ongoing self-education about your health concerns. Your reading of this blog post is a good indicator that you are already on that journey. Continue to seek. Many of the answers you need are out there.

• if you have a medical problem, keep in mind that it probably has more than one root cause that has not been fully identified or managed by the medical disease care industry. Look for the resources that can assist you to find and remedite them, using a full range of natural or drug based therapy options, as is appropriate for your case. If you have migraines, consider using the Natural Migraine Relief course to expand your knowledge base and range of options.