A recent special report by the Seattle Times, "Suddenly Sick", includes a disturbing look at the forces at work that affect your health outcomes - and your costs - when you seek treatment from the US health system.
"You walk into your doctor's office for a physical exam and step on the scale. Last year, the doctor said you were overweight. Now he says you are obese — at the same weight.
A nurse takes your blood pressure. You have hypertension — with the same previously healthy reading you've had for years.
The doctor scans your wrist bone. You have a condition called "osteopenia" — with the same bone density that was fine last time you were measured.
You mention you are not enjoying sex as much as you used to. Diagnosis: a new kind of sexual dysfunction.
You leave the office with a head full of worry and a fistful of new prescriptions, joining more than 40 percent of Americans who take one or more prescribed drugs daily in the effort to stave off more serious trouble.
You are suddenly sick, simply because the definitions of disease have changed."
While not the first time this observation has been made, this report should deepen our misgivings about how much we've allowed our health 'paradigm' to shift into something that is costing us more than it's helping us. The degree to which this is organized and in-trenched is incredible.
You've suspected this was happening. Get this perspective on how far it's gone, and let's push back. There is a better, safer, more cost-effective way.
See the Seattle Times web site for the full report.
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