The American public is currently enduring one of the most stress filled periods on record. The financial crisis, the health care crisis, the Afghan Crisis, etc…It seems that the media is just putting the words crisis onto the end of anything for added effect. “The Ketchup crisis… how a woman at a mall couldn’t get the ketchup open… story at 11.”

As a wellness expert and health care provider, I take hones to the health care crisis. I have a direct stake in health care. The United States and its health care system have been under scrutiny for quite some time. The insurers blame the doctors, the doctors blame the insurers and the insurers blame the economy while they increase premiums by 20 percent. I do not wish to become embroiled in a health care payment discussion. I do know that as it currently is constructed, the system is a broken one and more importantly our nation continues to sink into a sicker and sicker state.

I can help lead people toward the realization that ultimately healing comes from within. It truthfully does not matter if this a private pay or public pay program. If the general health, lifestyle and well being of the country does not improve, we may be unable to thrive in future generations.

The United States has great emergency medicine. Trauma centers and emergency rooms do perform fairly well. My hometown of NYC has some of the world’s top rated facilities. Unfortunately, we are treating more heart disease and cancer than any other country in the world. We are playing catch up and unable to get ahead.

If you want advice on medicine, than go visit a medical doctor that specializes in traditional allopathy or medicine. If you think you may need surgery, want surgery or your traditional physician feels that you need surgery, than visit a surgeon. If you are from the school of; “It will go a way on its own, or I just stay away from doctor, I don’t like to go to the doctor,” than do nothing. If you want to learn a new paradigm that has stood the test of time, visit a wellness based Chiropractic office.

The current health paradigm is to teat sickness and disease. How is that working? The US is statistically failing in most health care statistics. There are third world countries that out score us. If it were working well, I would say great, but we are not doing so well and it is high time for a change of the paradigm. This does not mean that medicine and surgery needs to be thrown out. It means that the living that culminates in a chronic disease state needs to be changed now. The physician of today may not be prepared to lead their patients toward this realization just yet, as he/she was not taught this in Medical School. The Chiropractor of today did study it. They studied it yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I thought I may be able to move away from the “why we need to take less medication” vibe for a minute; but they               pulled me back in.

The AP reported:  “Anti-psychotic drug use up in U.K., U.S. kids Study says long-term risks not fully probed”:By Lindsey Tanner |Associated Press May 5, 2008

(full story link http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-psych-drugsmay05,0,2426378.story)

In the U.K. study, anti-psychotics were prescribed for 595 children at a rate of less than four per 10,000 children in 1992. By 2005, 2,917 children were prescribed the drugs at a rate of seven per 10,000 — a near-doubling, said lead author Fariz Rani, a researcher at the University of London’s pharmacy school.

The study is being released Monday in the May edition of the journal Pediatrics.

By contrast, an earlier U.S. study found that nearly 45 American children out of 10,000 used the drugs in 2001 versus more than 23 per 10,000 in 1996.

There are big differences that could help explain the vastly higher U.S. rate.

A recent report in The Lancet suggested that the U.K.’s universal health care system limits prescribing practices there. The report also said direct-to-consumer ads are more common in the United States. These ads raise consumer awareness and demand for medication.

While drug company ties with doctors are common in both the U.S. and U.K., Vanderbilt University researcher Wayne Ray said U.K. physicians generally are more conservative about prescribing psychiatric drugs. Ray co-authored the U.S. study, which was published in 2004.

Attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity in children are real problems. These children need attention and sometimes that attention may mean medical intervention. I ask that we look at each child individually. Look at the long term benefits and risks associated with medications. Ask this simple question: Do I want to test this drug on my child? Then ask what else can I do and do that!!

How Do I Know if I Need a Chiropractor? Read the rest of this entry »