Column #11

Oregonians are proud of their values and beliefs in education, wellness, and the environment yet they are popping Methadone, Oxycodone, and Hydrocodone like candy. Fully 25% of Oregon’s four million residents take prescription opioids.

It’s estimated that 20% of Oregonians are in pain. Their addiction to pain medication has gained so much traction that in 2010 deaths from prescription opiods were about five per 100,000.

The Mayo Clinic reports that nearly 70% of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, over 50% on two, and 20% on five or more. Antibiotics, antidepressants, and painkilling opioids are the most prescribed.

Adding to pills to pop are supplements. The Council for Responsible Nutrition reports that 68% of American adults take dietary supplements, with over 50% being regular users.

This reliance on pills for cures is unprecedented. The knee jerk reaction to discomfort, injury, and ailments is to go to doctors for operations and prescriptions, to drug stores for over-the-counter remedies, to health food stores for supplements, or to the street for illegal drugs.

The marketing forces behind these various “cures” are powerful. The profits are staggering. Drug companies flood the market with hundreds of minor variations of old drugs in order to exploit patent and other intellectual property protections for profits. Many of these “new” drugs do not make significant advances for patient health while some introduce new risks. The supplement industry also thrives by introducing new “super” supplements.

Many believe pill popping is the simplest, quickest, most fashionable, and least expensive cure-all. But they ignore the associated risks, costs, and poor results. They fail to realize that pills, operations, and supplements rarely cure most afflictions and the cost is horrendous in money and lives.

About 400,000 Americans (130 out of 100,000) die each year due to preventable medical errors. This ranks third behind heart disease and cancer. This includes over 128,000 people who are killed by drugs prescribed to them.

Going to a doctor to treat injuries, contagious diseases, and poisonings is a good idea. But chronic diseases are rarely cured by drugs, operations, and supplements because they target specific issues. Standard medical treatments for metabolic approaches (biochemical processes) fail because they do not address multiple modalities (functions).

Chronic diseases are body failures that are usually caused by harmful foods people eat. Bodies usually fail in multiple and overlapping ways that are not easily detected. Synapses stop working, brain function becomes erratic, fungi put out mycotoxins, the immune system backfires, etc.

No drug, supplement, or operation can cure those associated problems at once. And risks soar when treatments are doubled up to address multiple modalities. Unhealthy food causes chronic disease. However, foods that are low glycemic, nutrient dense and diverse, with perfectly balanced essential fats provide harmonious metabolical approaches that address multiple modalities. Eating those foods is the epitome of letting “food be thy medicine.”

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

Top Findings from the 2013 Oregon Values & Beliefs Surveys

Prescription Opioid Overdose & Misuse in Oregon

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Take Prescription Drugs, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center Find

New Prescription Drugs: A Major Health Risk With Few Offsetting Advantages

The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction

New Survey Reveals High Percentage of U.S. Population Take Dietary Supplements—and with High Confidence