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I was recently around a conversation where there was almost a "competition" of how many meds each person had to take. "Oh ya, look how many I have to take!"
Not only does the number of medications never cease to shock me when I encounter these sitatuions, but the fact that this conversation (like others) NEVER TALKED ABOUT LIFESTYLE PRACTICES. It never went down a path of even "well if I changed this habit, or if I did 'x' differently the doctor said I wouldn't need this pill" .... 😳
HOW DID WE GET TO THIS PLACE AS HUMANS!?
***First, before we move on: a disclaimer***
I'm in no way saying "don't take medications". As frustrated as I get with both the medical and naturopathic communities, I would not say that. Humans are living longer than ever before. I do however STRONGLY believe that we are NOT living BETTER. I am shocked at our mindset in modern days where we just throw our arms up and say "it is what it is" (I'm really not a fan of that saying!). I believe a large part of this stems from the stubborness of both medical and naturopathic communities. If they would put their egos aside and work TOGETHER, I believe we'd have a significant shift in people's quality of life. And the "it is what it is" mindset would change to...
"If I change lifestyle habits 'x', 'y' and/or 'z' I can take LESS medications..."
"If I can do this lifestyle practice more consistently the doctor said I won't need this pill..."
"If I can learn how to incorporate healthier lifestyle practices, I won't have to worry about the side effects of 'this pill' or 'that pill'..."
My opinion:
In general, medical doctors are NOT good at helping people better understand HOW to incorporate lifestyle changes into their everyday. In general, they are good at recognizing a symptom and helping to control it, manage pain and/or "diffuse it" with medications.
In general, naturopathic doctors are NOT always good at working alongside the medical profession. They are good at sorting out the ROOT cause to an issue so that people can learn HOW it may have come about and HOW to allow the physiology to work it's magic.
In general, my profession (health & wellness coaches, personal trainers etc) are the UNDER-UTILIZED front line professionals who ARE GOOD at helping people create positive helathy lifestyle practices. We are NOT allowed (or good at) diagnosing, but we CAN (and DO) help guide people to healthier lifestyle practices and HOW to implement them INTO their daily lives.
In general, the rehabilitation professionals (physios, athletic therapists, massage therapists etc) are GOOD at diagnosing an injury, it's mechanisms, helping you promote effective healing and helping you reduce the risk of experiencing the injury down the road. This allows a person to reduce the need for medications to manage pain, discomfort etc
It's not hard to see that if these professions worked TOGETHER, we'd be living in a different world.
(Sadly, nearly 24 years into my career...
the egos of the medical and naturopathic professions are still no better.)
****************
Rant over, back to the conversation I was around...
Keeping in mind there's no trophy for "most medications in your day" I'm blown away by the lack of understanding that there CAN BE LESS medications needed in many cases. In some cases the lack of individual desire to do so! It doesn't take much to quickly discover studies upon studies of how healthy lifestyle interventions (that MOST people are aware of on foundational levels) can reduce your NEED and DEPENDANCE of medications.
I'll state the "to each their own" line here. If you truly enjoy taking a multitude of medications, no one has the right to tell you otherwise. Good for you. My issue, personally and professionally however is when that person COMPLAINS but does NOTHING to CREATE CHANGE. Granted the problem is way more complex from a societal standpoint, if we want to create healthier lifestyles for ourselves, we just need to START by taking ACTION for OURSELVES.
My first go-to in these types of mindsets and conversations (only if I'm asked to chime in - otherwise I just let people go and talk away) is to ask; "What foundational healthy lifestyle practices do you do regularly?" A few examples:
...How well and long do you sleep?
...How is your social wellbeing? Do you spend more time alone, staring into a screen and withdrawn from others?
...What do you do for physical activity / movement regularly?
...Do you have healthy nutrition practices in place? (such as eating more whole foods than processed foods, eating regularly, minimizing or avoiding binge eating, drinking enough water... )
...Do you manage your pain/discomfort in any way OTHER than medications?
...Do you have a hobby / hobbies?
...How do you mange your stress day to day?
In my experience, especially over the past 6-7 years MOST of these are answered with a "I'm not really doing anything" response. In which case, I typically would start the suggestions / options conversation THERE.
The Unfortunate Reality: Part A
As I've experienced so often over my career, this case is no different, particularly because I am close to these people in the conversation. The reality is that there is PLENTY that each individual can do and experiment with to help manage their situations and most definitely REDUCE the number of medications they are on. But you have to WANT to and YOU have to TAKE CONTROL of YOUR own health and wellbeing.
The "reality slap" is the fact that IF they legitimately TRIED (i.e. effort, consistency, patience) they not only would create change in the physical sense / medication need sense, but they would CREATE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR OWN PHYSIOLOGY. THAT IS A POWERFUL TOOL so many of us lack due to lack of ACTION!!! The person will then learn if something works or doesn't work for him/herself. From there they can chat with their health professional to help all parties sort out the best course of action that will lead to improved health and wellbeing.
The Unfortunate Reality: Part B
We (society) have shared all the wisdom of how to lead a healthier lifestyle for over half a century now. From the most foundational principles of health, to the complex and specific, to the complete and udder bullshit; It's all out there and readily available more so than ever (especially over the past nearly two decades with the smartphone/information overload world). I would argue we are NOT succeeding and we HAVE to wake up to that reality. The topic of this post is just one example among many.
STOP taking IN information, and START using the information you have. (Most of the time it's just regurgitated information anyway).
STOP searching for the "magic pill" or "magic bullet". Human health and our physiology is an amazingly complex miracle of nature. ONE thing is never going to be the answer. It's a combination of things, OVER TIME, in a way that works for YOU. You can even see that in the pharmaceuticals some people pride themselves on taking!! ONE pill does 'x', but has side effects 'x-y-z'. So you have to take this other pill to counteract that. OH! But don't forget side effects 'a-b-c' of THAT pill...
STOP waiting and START doing. There's no magic. Doctor's are people, not magicians. They can only do so much for you. YOU need to take CONTROL of YOUR HEALTH by taking ACTION to HELP YOURSELF in more ways than just going to the doctor.
START self-experimenting. LEARN what works and what doesn't work for YOU and your health. If you feel good about your health, what you're doing and who you are - DON'T change anything! You don't need to! Be happy! If you're NOT happy with those things; TRY something new. Something small. For a while (at least 4-6 weeks) and see what the outcome is. Adjust accordingly. You don't need a degree or a lab coat to do it or figure it out.
Think of your health like GOLF - A lower score is the target. What I mean by that is...
-Aim to see the doctor less vs more. Go when you NEED, definitely. But the more YOU do for yourself, the less you need to see the doctor. When you do, it'll be for something very specific or important at that time and/or for a check up rather than a bunch of on-going things.
-Aim to have your doctor do LESS WORK for you. The MORE you take control of your health, the LESS your doctor has to do to try to help. This means, the things you do need their help with, they can FOCUS MORE on with you since they don't have a bunch of things to try to help you control.
-Aim to take the LEAST amount of medications. Â Take them when you NEED to, without question. But AIM for that "lower score" on your "scorecard" and do what you can to keep that number low!
-Aim to do the LEAST amount of "work" for the MOST gain. We used to do this with our athletes when I was training them; What's the least amount we can do in training to progress / improve performance but keep them healthy and energized. Regular, everyday health practices are the same. They DO NOT need to be anything extravagent or elaborate!
We (Canadians) complain about our health care system. It's broken, I totally agree. Yet WE are NOT helping it whatsoever.
The MORE WE do for OUR OWN health, the LESS we will burden that system.
The MORE we continue down the path we are on (not taking our health into our own hands, to the extent we CAN) our system will continue to be overrun and broken.
You WANT a HEALTH FACT we NEED to pay more attention to!?!?!? ....
Total health spending in Canada was expected to reach $344 billion in 2023, or $8,740 per Canadian.
WE as individuals 100% have the power to drastically
REDUCE that cost!!!
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