Is Reversing Disease Possible?

On a daily basis we get misinformed about the nature of disease. Each day the commercials tell us that your symptoms are your real problem, and that if you experience a symptom you should just stop it, by taking a drug. That's just a public relations campaign message you are hearing. The misinformation contained in these messages is just for the purpose of selling more drugs. Taking such advice does not allow for you to ever correct or reverse disease, including symptoms labeled as a "disorder." Instead, it limits you to only "managing" your symptoms, regardless of how your symptoms got there.

 

Can you see the problem with taking that kind of advice? Do you already believe that there is no way to reverse disease or make lifestyle corrections to prevent the disease process? If that is what you believe, then you should know that the presence of a disease process is what brings you to your your current, less than optimal, level of health—symptoms or not. Do you believe that reversing disease is out of the question? Is there really no way to reverse disease and the disease process? Pushing that belief on the public sells drugs that only mask symptoms. It will leave you on a downward spiral –toward a further health decline– leading to more disease and more drugs to cover more symptoms. Their message is clear: there's nothing else you can do.

A classic example is a person who takes medicine to lower cholesterol, when the reason for the elevated cholesterol is never investigated. Another example is the person who takes antacids, while the causes of indigestion never get addressed. Each of them hides their symptoms with the medications, but the problem is still there. Furthermore, since the causes of disease were never addressed correctly in the first place, the real issue was never solved. Even though the warning signals were turned off (symptom relief), they each have an active underlying disease process that was never properly addressed. In time, they will suffer further health decline, until new, different symptoms appear. Then, in this model of disease-management, new drugs are taken to manage the new symptoms. The kicker is that the new symptoms will likely be tied directly to the first disease process that was never addressed properly. If this doesn't bother you, you can stop reading now, because nothing else here will be of interest to you.

However, if something in you resonates with the feeling that the above mentioned scenario is a huge problem, then you and I are in agreement. Nothing you can do? I don't think so! The most dis-empowering thing you can believe is that there is nothing you can do to better your well-being.

There is something you can do, but it is not as simple as you think. The problem is that you've never heard of the "multiple-cause-approach" to reversing disease. Why? Because the multiple-cause-approach is not good for big pharma, and is not mainstream yet; not by a long shot! Unfortunately, ingrained in mainstream medical belief (and likely your beliefs) is the notion that there is really just a single cause for any single problem. If you believe this idea, then you fit well into the target market for all those drug commercials, telling you that your problem is your symptom, and to take their drugs, based on your symptom. The "one-cause, one-cure" idea is a false belief system, and will only get in the way of you making a more comprehensive decision regarding your own level of health, or the health of your loved ones.

The idea that there is only one cause, and one magic cure for cancer, indigestion, insomnia, depression, panic attacks, scoliosis, heart disease, obesity, ADD, bladder control, thyroid problems, fibromyalgia, chronic back pain from large breasts, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, inability to lose fat, etc. is another of the dangerous medical myths. If you are taking a drug to block your symptoms regarding any of these, or countless other diseases, you are covering your symptoms without ever addressing the causes of the disease process.

The Future of Medicine: What if there are multiple factors that can be revealed for any particular health challenge? If that is the case, and it usually is, then the marketing push to stop a symptom with one drug (or one surgical procedure) is just a misdirecting force that can affect your decisions. Why would the drug manufacturers never guide you to address the causes that brought the symptom on, in the fist place? Here's why: the concept that some day you would not need their medications anymore– because you got well– would be a less profitable business model.

The "multiple cause" approach that I use can be called "functional medicine." We look for more than one functional factor that can simultaneously be contributing directly to the problems you or your loved one are facing. That means we're looking for more than one cause, for your current condition. We address the function of your body instead of just stopping symptoms. Imagine (hypothetically of course) that your child has a progressive disease, but you only want to address a relatively minor and temporary current symptom. What kind of decision is that? Don't fall into that trap! This is your chance to go beyond the limits of conventional medicine. Don't you want a chance to reverse disease itself? You are still reading this, so you must be interested in the answers, instead of just stopping minor symptoms.

There are several basic categories of causes that can be addressed for any particular health, wellness, or lifestyle issue. If your condition is worsening, or if other treatments have already failed, it is because there are multiple, simultaneous factors that have not been correctly addressed. Addressing only one of a group of simultaneous factors will always eventually lead to failure. That's not acceptable for me. How about you?

When you come to my office, you, or your loved one will be checked for multiple simultaneous factors that could be the causes of your problems. This functional medicine approach does not use any conventional medicines, but may require the use of certain specialized dietary supplements, (not "vitamins") which, when indicated, are required as building blocks for your health. In other words, if any one of your multiple body systems or organs is not optimally functioning, we will find out three things: 1. where it is not optimal, 2. what multiple factors are causing it to be that way, and 3. what functional medicine will help your body make the correction it needs. The natural functional medicine we use is targeted to exactly which areas of your body are revealed as contributing to your condition. They contain the exact building blocks for your body, to correct and reverse disease (or your current condition). Regaining wellness is a rebuilding process—that's why we call them building blocks.

When you use the exact functional medicine you need, your body can start the rebuilding process, the opposite of the disease process. That's why these functional medicine supplements are important, and why you need to take them as directed. When they are indicated, you can't just leave them out of your recommended program. This is functional medicine. It is far superior to symptom management.

If you would rather limit yourself to the rigid notion that your condition has only one cause, and there is only one cure, you are better-off going to a conventional doctor. However, if you "get it" - if you understand this new idea in medicine, and can see that it goes far beyond what medicine (as it is still practiced today) has to offer, then congratulations. Call to get started.