HealthCare vs SickCare

The United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. We have some of the best trained clinicians. America has one of the highest costs of healthcare in the world. Per CMS, in 2022, the U.S. spent $4.5 trillion in healthcare. We have powerful pharmaceutical companies creating seemingly new miracle drugs every day. We are a leader in technology and innovation. Yet, Americans are more sick now than they've ever been and we fall behind other countries in life expectancy and health quality.

The McKinsey Health Institute Report 'The Global Risks Report 2022' from the World Economic Forum site, states that we are now spending more years in poor health than at any time in our history. We are living longer lives but not healthier ones.

The article 'U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health', compared the health of Americans to other high-income countries. This article on the NIH website has some very interesting data.

• Americans have had a shorter life expectancy than people in almost all of the peer countries
• The health disadvantage is pervasive—it affects all age groups up to age 75 and is observed for multiple diseases, biological and behavioral risk factors, and injuries
• For decades, the United States has had the highest obesity rate among high-income countries
• The U.S. death rate from ischemic heart disease is the second highest among the 17 peer countries.

Why?

Our system of care focuses on remediating acute symptom rather than the underlying chronic condition. Let me be clear that I do not believe the issue is with the clinician. Every provider that I've met is dedicated to help their patients. I also do not believe that non-profit health plans are to blame. Health Plans are administering policies that are set by higher authorities. Our system focuses and rewards measures around sustaining care rather than healing the person. The book 'Good Energy' by Casey Means, MD does a fantastic job at explaining some of the issues with our system. Our system focuses on SickCare, not HealthCare. We prescribe Metformin for diabetes. We prescribe second-generation antipsychotics or mood stabilizers for Serious Mental Illness. We often prescribe medication or perform surgery for obesity. The list goes on and on. Unfortunately, the list of side-effects from these interventions also go on and on. Our system is really good at treating the acute symptom. Our system is really good at SickCare.

Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and Metabolic Therapy

Could metabolic health be the root cause to much of the diseases that are so prevalent in our society, that we attribute these illnesses as a right of passage with age? Evidence is mounting that the consumption of processed foods with a very high carb content, may be a major factor in the decline of health in America as well as the rest of the world. This isn't shocking news. Just about everyone can agree that eating whole foods and a nutritious diet will improve health. But research is now showing the extent of a nutritious low-carb diet in the battle against chronic diseases. By entering a state of ketosis, our body's metabolic physiology is completely altered and the body's mitochondria may be able to provide the energy that our bodies need. For those with impaired glucose metabolism, the ketogenic diet may resolve many chronic diseases such as Serious Mental Illness. Christopher Palmer discusses this in his book, 'Brain Energy'. The root cause for Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, major depression, and other SMI may be a disruption of ATP to the brain. Countless testimonials from individuals such as Lauren Kennedy West and Hannah Warren show that this therapy can be a very effective treatment modality for SMI. What if we focused our care on the root cause of chronic diseases such as SMI? What if we focused on Healthcare?

What's different now?

The ketogenic diet was introduces in 1921 for epilepsy. This diet is over 100 years old so what's different now? For one thing, you're reading an article about health from a non-clinician. Someone unqualified to provide medical advice, but someone who spends time researching the work of qualified professionals. There is so much information about ketogenic therapy shared among social media outlets, that we are no longer constrained by single-focused narratives about health and diet. Narratives that may not be in the best interest of those suffering from chronic diseases. Narratives that are just plain wrong.