In one study published in the journal, doctors who reviewed the charts of elderly patients were able to discontinue nearly half of their medications without any detriment to the patients.
via How to Steer Toward the Path of Least Treatment – NYTimes.com.
I never tell clients to stop taking their medications. But I do tell them that they should let their prescribing doctor know that they are working with lifestyle and nutritional changes that will enable them to decrease and often eliminate their medications. And I have consistently seen people improve how they feel and look, as well as objective health measures, by taking this approach.
Health is improved when the root causes are identified and addressed. It is rarely improved by simply suppressing symptoms, as often happens with medications. Instead, over the long-term (or even the short term) other symptoms appear, and health continues to deteriorate.
Please don’t misunderstand me. Medication and medical intervention can be life-saving, and often is. But we have grown way too dependent on pharmaceutical and surgical fixes. This may be partly the fault of doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and the industries that surround them, but it is fundamentally up to each of us to be our own best advocate. No one has a greater investment in your health than you.
p.s. Overdoing supplements rarely if ever causes the harm that can be caused by medication or surgery, but it is often expensive, unhelpful, and unnecessary. For more on this, read my post here.
Fran Sussman Holistic Services 