Participants: Don Mackintosh, David DeRose
Series Code: HFAL
Program Code: HFAL000088
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00:48 Welcome to "Health for a Lifetime"
00:50 I'm your host Don Mackintosh 00:51 and today we're going to talk about MEDICATIONS 00:54 They make a lot of promises, 00:55 whether you're looking at them in the store or 00:57 they're being prescribed by your physician. 01:00 Are there pitfalls though along with these promises? 01:04 Joining us today is Dr. David DeRose 01:07 He is a specialist in internal medicine, 01:10 and he also has a specialty in PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. 01:13 That's an interesting combination, doctor, 01:15 and it kind of makes you maybe think you're going to 01:17 talk out of both sides of your mouth concerning this issue! 01:21 Are they positive? Are they negative? 01:22 I actually MAY to be honest with you 01:24 because we're in a unique situation 01:28 in this day and age, Don. 01:29 We've got some medications that really have helped people, 01:32 and yet at the same time, there are some real concerns with 01:35 medications and I'm afraid with all the POSITIVE PRESS, 01:39 and the excitement about new drugs coming out, 01:41 people are missing some of the very real pitfalls 01:45 when it comes to medications. 01:47 You say there are all kinds of new drugs coming out, 01:49 I mean, EVERY SINGLE DAY you see these big billboards, 01:53 you see this on television, 01:54 you see it in these newspapers and magazines... 01:57 I mean, you just can't get away from it. 01:59 Do you have a lot of patients that come to you and say, 02:01 "Doctor, I saw this and I'd like it" 02:04 You know, I think that's probably more common for 02:06 the doctor who is in a primary care practice. 02:09 At the Lifestyle Center of America, 02:11 I'm in more of a referral practice. 02:13 People come to me because they've run the gamut really 02:17 of using all the things that seem to be available 02:20 and now they're looking for some new solutions... 02:22 And they come to us really looking for lifestyle solutions. 02:25 Often they've gotten disillusioned with medications 02:27 or the way that their doctors have been using those drugs 02:30 ...they're NOT getting the results that the 02:32 commercials talked about. 02:33 So, what do YOU tell people at the Lifestyle Center of America 02:38 about medications? 02:39 Well my concern, Don, is threefold... 02:42 When we talk about medications, 02:45 and when we PUSH medications as a society, 02:48 Three big dangers... 02:50 The first one... is we feed into what I believe is a 02:52 misplaced focus. 02:54 The second one... is that they are real dangers to society... 02:58 because of over usage of medications... 03:01 And then third... some real dangers to 03:03 individuals who use these medications. 03:05 What do you mean by "misplaced focus" 03:07 Let me give you a very tangible example... In the year 2000, 03:13 in "The American Journal of Preventive Medicine" 03:15 researchers looked at probably the 2 most prestigious 03:18 medical journals in America; 03:20 "The New England Journal of Medicine" 03:22 and "The Journal of the American Medical Association" 03:25 ...What they did, is they took ALL of the articles 03:28 published in those 2 journals, in the year 1998, 03:31 they analyzed it and finally in the year 2000, 03:33 they published their findings. 03:34 But what they found is that it was getting high profile news, 03:38 not just for physicians but what is picked up by the media 03:41 is not things that look at prevention. 03:44 PREVENTION only accounted for about 9% of all the articles 03:48 in these prestigious journals. 03:50 Only 2% of the articles; only 1 in 50 03:54 had anything to do with the BASIS of HEALTH... 03:56 a healthy lifestyle! 03:58 The vast majority were dealing with scientific research, 04:01 and drug therapies and epidemiology looking at 04:05 why things happen to people... 04:07 ALL ARE IMPORTANT! Those things are important, 04:09 don't misunderstand me. 04:11 But the point is, our focus is misplaced. 04:13 And I'll be honest with you, 04:15 part of it is being driven by pharmaceutical manufacturers. 04:19 In July of 2000, this issue - "The Wall Street Journal" 04:25 FRONT PAGE, catch this headline... 04:28 "DRUG FIRMS STYMIED IN THE LAB BECOME MARKING MACHINES" 04:36 Just what you're talking about! 04:38 Patients are saying, "Look-it, there's this new drug out" 04:41 And the thing that's happening is that as 04:44 pharmaceutical companies run into obstacles with coming out 04:47 with new medications, they start to PUSH 04:50 that which they've already GOT! 04:51 There's a need to keep selling those drugs, 04:54 and so people in America, I think, many of them, 04:57 say, "disease - problem - drug" 05:00 I mean, it's like a knee-jerk response. 05:02 You know, just like when I hit the patient's knee, 05:04 you know, the leg kicks out. Um hmm 05:06 Well, it's the same thing. 05:07 Problem? What comes to mind? DRUG 05:10 And I'm saying that's a misplaced focus. 05:12 We need to think lifestyle... 05:14 We need to think prevention FIRST! 05:16 Not that drugs don't have a place, 05:17 but they shouldn't be the FIRST-LINE strategies 05:20 when we're dealing with disease. 05:21 What can we do to AVOID it to begin with... 05:24 rather than having to say - 05:25 "What do we do now that we have it" 05:27 That's exactly the point! 05:28 Well, are there other problems besides this misplaced focus? 05:32 Well the second area I talked about, Don, was problems 05:35 when it comes to society... 05:36 societal problems in relationship to drug therapies. 05:40 A lot of people say, "What do you mean - problems for society 05:43 when it comes to drugs?" 05:45 What does this have to do with 05:46 you and me if we're not taking the pill? 05:49 One of the greatest concerns today is antibiotic resistance. 05:54 More and more germs are becoming resistant to 05:58 common antibiotics. 06:00 This is a HUGE public health concern today. 06:02 Let me just kind of walk you through, 06:05 and walk our viewers through this whole process 06:08 because a lot of people hear this "antibiotic resistance" 06:11 and we got to step back a little bit and get some perspective. 06:14 I know you well know, Don, 06:16 because of your training in nursing 06:18 that we all have normal flora; 06:20 normal germ populations... in our nose, and in our mouth, 06:24 in our intestine. 06:25 These normal germ populations actually do some useful things. 06:30 For example, the germs in our intestine produce vitamin K 06:34 The clotting factor... Yeah, clotting factors 06:38 use vitamin K to work... 06:39 And so the intestinal flora; 06:41 the intestinal normal germs that live there are useful. 06:45 They're essential for health. 06:46 The PROBLEM is these essential germs are also susceptible 06:53 to antibiotics. 06:54 So they get killed if you take them... That's right! 06:56 You take, for example, penicillin for strep throat. 06:59 Now I'll tell you, penicillin is 07:01 a wonderful drug for strep throat. 07:02 If you've got a strep throat, especially if you're a kid... 07:06 at high risk for rheumatic fever and kidney problems 07:09 as a result of infection, I, as a physician, 07:12 prescribe penicillin. 07:13 I mean, it's a good drug when it's used appropriately. 07:16 But here's the catch... 07:18 if I give you penicillin willy-nilly, multiple times, 07:22 any time you walk in... 07:23 and you say, "My throat is a little scratchy, 07:25 you know, I got a little congestion" 07:26 ...What happens is EACH time you get that dosage of 07:29 penicillin, whether it's for an APPROPRIATE condition, 07:32 or an inappropriate one, kills all the good flora as well 07:36 BUT, it doesn't really kill ALL of the good flora; 07:40 it kills the good flora that is sensitive to penicillin. 07:45 But the flora that normally resides in your body 07:48 that is NOT sensitive to penicillin SURVIVES and THRIVES. 07:54 Why this is important is the germs that are 07:56 in our body as useful as normal flora may be, 08:01 IF our immune system becomes out of balance, 08:04 if we have some type of injury to our bowel, 08:07 to our nose, whatever, that normal flora 08:10 can cause serious or life-threatening diseases. 08:13 And now it can't be treated because 08:15 penicillin has already been there. That's right! 08:16 That's the issue of resistance. 08:18 And so when we're prescribing more and more antibiotics, 08:20 as a society, this is posing real problems. 08:23 Don, a lot of people say, "Oh yeah, big deal, 08:25 I've taken antibiotics many times and it hasn't messed up 08:29 my normal flora" 08:31 Most people don't realize that in the world each year, 08:35 some 1 to 2 million children, under the age of 5 years, 08:39 DIE because of Strep pneumoniae. 08:42 This is a pneumonia caused by the common strep germ. 08:46 Used to be UNIVERSAL... you could wipe out this germ 08:49 with penicillin but now more and more resistance is developing. 08:53 And so deaths are occurring because of resistant organisms. 08:57 It is NOT just some politicians and health experts, 09:02 in the ivory tower who are worried about this... 09:04 Antibiotic resistance is a BIG concern, 09:06 and we REALLY need to be concerned about it. 09:08 If you're eating animal products or, for instance, 09:11 meats where those livestock have been treated 09:14 with antibiotics, does this then affect you? 09:16 It IS a concern, I'll tell you - 09:18 because the animals that are being given antibiotics 09:22 what kind of germs were they going to have? 09:24 Resistant to... That's right, they're going to 09:26 have resistant germs. 09:27 And so whether you are very careful with cooking 09:30 your animal products... your meat... 09:32 Whether or not you had adequately pasteurized milk 09:36 ...Whatever these issues are, especially MEAT, 09:39 it's a classic one. 09:41 You take MEAT and you prepare it in the kitchen, 09:43 you handle the faucets in your kitchen, 09:47 and then you can get cross-contamination. 09:49 In other words, when you touch that knob again, 09:52 and then handle the lettuce, that you're NOT cooking 09:55 in the oven, you can get some of those same organisms 09:59 and they can affect you. 10:00 All this is extremely important, 10:02 and it's not just a problem with our food choices... 10:05 It's not just a problem with antibiotic-prescribing... 10:08 Let me just illustrate it this way... 10:10 It has to do with our attitudes as healthcare consumers. 10:16 A study was recently done looking at some 500 individuals; 10:20 about 1/2 of them were the parents of sick children. 10:23 The other half were adults with medical problems. 10:26 And here's what happens... 10:28 they walk into the doctor's office with viral infections. 10:33 ...30 to 50% of the time, 10:35 what are the patients, if the adult is affected, or the PARENT 10:39 on behalf of the child... What are they demanding? 10:42 They want a medication but viruses don't 10:44 need antibiotics, right? That's right! 10:45 Conventional antibiotics treat bacteria... 10:48 And yet, consumers have in their minds, 10:51 in certain situations, the researchers found this... 10:54 If the infection is more severe, 10:56 in the perception of the parent or the individual... 10:58 To get on a drug... Yeah, we need an antibiotic doctor! 11:01 And what kind of position is the doctor in when the patient says, 11:03 "I NEED an antibiotic" 11:05 He has to either take the time to educate, 11:07 and be a bad guy in their eyes or he just gives it to them 11:10 It's tough... it's VERY tough! 11:12 Now let me ask you this very practical point... 11:14 Let's say I have a child today that's sick or somebody, 11:16 how can I tell the difference, as a lay person, 11:19 between having a bacterial infection and a viral infection? 11:23 You what is the best thing to do when it comes to diagnosis... 11:26 is to see someone TRAINED in diagnosis. 11:29 That's the BEST thing! 11:31 So you see someone, and how do YOU tell when 11:33 they see you, whether or not it's viral or bacteria? 11:36 There are certain telltale signs. 11:38 The company that the symptoms keep. 11:40 For example, if someone has a sore throat alone, 11:43 we look back there; things are BRIGHT RED, 11:45 there is pus back there. 11:46 It has all the hallmarks of a bacterial infection... 11:50 Okay, so we're thinking strep throat or 11:52 some type of a bacterial infection. 11:55 On the other hand, if it started out with kind of 11:57 some sniffles and some earache and there is no exudate 12:02 ...no whitish goop on the back of the throat. 12:06 Well, these are kind of signs 12:08 that we're NOT dealing with a bacterial infection. 12:10 We often are doubly CAREFUL in a situation like that 12:14 especially dealing with a younger patient who may be 12:16 at high risk for rheumatic fever 12:18 and we may do a throat culture 12:20 or a rapid strep screen just to make sure. 12:23 So, are there any concerns... 12:26 we've talked about prescription drugs; 12:28 we've talked about those that go to see their physician 12:31 and antibiotics basically... 12:34 Are there nonprescription drugs that we 12:37 need to be worried about, that we can overdo with 12:39 that can cause problems? 12:41 Well you know, we talk about how society is affected by 12:45 medications and you're right, it's not just antibiotics 12:48 that you need a prescription for. 12:50 There are other drugs that really pose 12:51 some risk to society. 12:53 Let me mention one class... 12:54 and that is sleeping medications. 12:57 If you go into the homes of, 13:00 now of course, researchers actually don't go into 13:02 people's homes and look in their medicine cabinets, 13:04 but they interview people... 13:05 And they find that the average American, as we get up in years, 13:09 we start buying, purchasing, more sleeping aides, 13:12 whether they are prescription or over-the-counter. 13:15 And what happens is, Don, in our medicine cabinets 13:18 in America, there are DRUGS 13:20 that present a RISK to our CHILDREN. 13:24 Kids can get in there, grandkids can get in there... 13:27 They want to be like grandma and grandpa; 13:29 they want to be like mom and dad... 13:30 They want to take some pills, 13:32 OR... what happens if the kid is discouraged? 13:34 They take some of mom or dad's pills, 13:37 and it seems like a quick and easy way 13:40 to get out of their problems! 13:41 We don't THINK about these things. 13:43 But we don't keep our medications USUALLY in 13:46 locked cabinets, and the child proof caps... 13:48 Yeah, they may work for a 1 or 2-year-old, 13:51 but what about a teenager? 13:53 So what do we do then to get past this problem 13:57 that you described so eloquently to us? 13:59 Really Don, what we're trying to do in the program today is 14:02 educate people... 14:03 And one of the first steps in education is to 14:06 move away from this mindset that you have a problem 14:10 ...you've got to have a pill. 14:12 And, now as we're talking about this, 14:14 I can see some gears grinding 14:19 in people's minds and they're saying... 14:20 "Okay, no more medications, I got to be careful 14:24 about medications, so I got to start taking 14:26 herbs and supplements. " 14:28 Well, that's not the solution either! 14:31 Because there are problems with herbs and supplements too! 14:35 These are not the panaceas of today. 14:38 The American consumer, who is getting concerned 14:41 about drugs and some of these issues we're talking about, 14:43 thinks that they could just willy-nilly walk into the 14:45 health food store and walk away with a 14:47 shopping cart full of supplements, 14:49 and this is not innocuous either. 14:51 Some of these supplements have toxic potential as well. 14:54 So, give us some counsel on that. 14:57 How do you know what to get and what NOT to get? 15:01 Basically, what I recommend people do is do research. 15:05 Do research? How do we do research? 15:08 You know, #1 is talk with your health care provider. 15:11 A lot of people say, "I don't want to see a doctor, 15:13 I'm healthy, I don't need to see a doctor just for a virus" 15:17 But if you're not reading widely in things that are not 15:20 influenced by manufacturers, you are being led astray, really 15:25 Most consumers read are things that are heavily 15:28 influenced by industry. 15:30 Whether they walk into the health food store 15:31 and pick up that nice, colorful, free magazine, 15:34 well who do you think put that free magazine there? 15:37 I mean, it's someone trying to sell a bunch of supplements. 15:39 If someone is talking with you about counting the 15:42 benefits of these great supplements... 15:45 Let me give you an example, NIACIN, NIACIN... 15:50 You take large amounts of niacin and it can do some 15:53 wonderful things for your blood fats. 15:55 But it can also just make you feel terrible. Yeah! 16:00 I think my dad used to take some of that and he got all RED 16:03 But worse than that, it can cause liver irritation. 16:06 It can worsen diabetic control. 16:09 People... that's not what they READ when they 16:12 read the little promo in the health food store. 16:14 But they can go get it anytime they want. 16:15 They can get it anytime they want and the perception is... 16:18 Well, it's a SUPPLEMENT, you see... 16:19 Not prescription, over-the-counter; 16:21 therefore it's SAFE, but it's still the same mindset. 16:24 What I'm trying to tell people, Don, 16:26 and what we tell people at the Lifestyle Center of America, 16:29 is that we could decrease our problems DRAMATICALLY 16:32 if we get serious about lifestyle! 16:34 SURE, it's harder to eat right than it is to take a pill... 16:38 SURE, it's more trouble to exercise than it is to 16:42 POP a prescription drug, 16:44 but these are really the things that pay the greatest dividends 16:48 when it comes to reducing the burden of suffering 16:51 when it comes to illness in our country. 16:53 We're talking with Dr. David DeRose 16:55 from the Lifestyle Center of America 16:56 And he's got a burden about medication 16:59 and I hope that you have one too... 17:00 and I hope that you have SUCH a burden 17:02 that you'll join us when we come back. 17:06 Have you found yourself wishing 17:07 that you could shed a few pounds? 17:09 Have you been on a diet for most of your life, 17:11 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off? 17:14 If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, 17:17 then we have a solution for you that works! 17:20 Dr. Hans Diehl and Dr. Aileen Ludington 17:23 have written a marvelous booklet called... 17:25 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 17:27 and we'd like to send it to you FREE of charge. 17:30 Here's a medically sound approach successfully used 17:32 by thousands who were able to eat more and lose weight 17:36 permanently without feeling guilty or hungry 17:39 through lifestyle medicine. 17:40 Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN 17:44 and in this booklet, they present a sensible approach 17:47 to eating, nutrition and lifestyle changes 17:49 that can help you prevent heart disease, diabetes, 17:52 and EVEN cancer! 17:53 Call or write today for your free copy of... 17:55 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 17:57 and you could be on your way to a healthier, happier YOU! 18:00 It's ABSOLUTELY free of charge, so call or write today. 18:06 We've been talking with Dr. David DeRose from the 18:09 Lifestyle Center of America 18:10 He has a burden that we're using FAR too much 18:14 medication just willy-nilly. 18:16 We're not really thinking it through... 18:17 It's causing problems and we're developing antibiotic resistance 18:21 and many other problems depending on the medication 18:24 that we choose to take. 18:26 We need to have more EDUCATION, 18:28 and we need to be talking with our healthcare providers. 18:31 Dr. DeRose, I have a question for you, however... 18:35 What is it that we take MOST every day? 18:37 What is it that we put into our bodies most of the time? 18:39 ...It's FOOD! Is FOOD a medication? 18:41 Well I don't think most people 18:43 would technically consider it a medication. 18:46 Depending on who is cooking... maybe, right? 18:47 Yeah, there you go. 18:49 But clearly, food has PROFOUND effects. 18:51 Let's take the example of diabetes... 18:53 We deal a lot with diabetes at the Lifestyle Center of America 18:57 and when we're dealing with diabetes, 18:59 people often come to us on medications that are doing 19:03 one of several things... 19:05 They're either taking SHOTS like insulin, 19:08 that are raising the levels of insulin in their body; 19:11 they're taking PILLS to stimulate their pancreas 19:14 to produce more insulin, or they're taking drugs 19:18 that help the tissues respond to insulin better. 19:21 Now, regardless of what the patient is doing, 19:25 MOST of those EFFECTS can be reproduced by lifestyle. 19:29 Let me explain... Most people who come to our center 19:33 ...like most people with diabetes in our country today, 19:36 have type 2 diabetes... 19:37 Approximately 90% of people with diabetes have the 19:40 adult-onset form of the disease, 19:43 and it's caused by insulin-resistance. 19:45 They don't need more insulin, 19:47 but it's commonly treated by boosting the pancreas' 19:51 output of insulin or giving insulin shots. 19:53 That's NOT the optimal strategy! 19:55 Because it will burn out the pancreas 19:57 and doesn't solve the problem. 19:58 Well the pills may be contributing to the 20:01 demise of the pancreas, you're right... 20:03 And higher insulin levels are being associated with 20:06 diseases like heart disease and cancer. 20:09 When you're raising insulin levels, 20:10 you're tending to increase your weight. 20:12 Now let's bring this into perspective... 20:14 How about the pills that lower insulin resistance? 20:16 These would be drugs like Glucophage, 20:18 generic name is Metformin, or Avandia, Actos... 20:23 These drugs lower insulin resistance. 20:25 Do they work? YES, they work. 20:27 But, you know, there are ways without using drugs 20:30 to lower insulin resistance. Exercise! 20:33 Exercise, a beautiful one, but what about diet? 20:35 High fiber foods. High fiber foods, this is the 20:38 interesting one. 20:39 It's probably more the FAT than the high fiber 20:43 that lowers insulin resistance. 20:45 The high fiber helps to regulate blood sugar, 20:48 but it's not through lowering insulin resistance EXCEPT 20:51 when you're eating more fiber, what do you tend to decrease? 20:54 You tend to decrease the fat! 20:56 ...When you're eating more fruits, grains and vegetables. 20:58 Because you're full... Yeah, you're more satisfied. 21:00 When we DECREASE our fat, especially SATURATED fat, 21:02 ANIMAL FAT... what happens is insulin sensitivity increases, 21:07 insulin works better. 21:09 And so we can often get people off medications, 21:11 get them off their insulin... 21:13 And THINK about it, Don, if you were in that situation, 21:16 taking a shot every day, or taking pills, 21:19 wouldn't you RATHER change your diet? 21:22 Oh, most definitely... and so this is what you're saying... 21:26 You're saying that instead of just taking a pill, 21:29 or asking a doctor for some kind of medication, 21:31 we need to be addressing the underlying cause and things 21:34 that we actually can do in the normal day-to-day activities 21:38 Yeah, what I try to educate people to say is... 21:40 instead of going to your DOCTOR feeling like, 21:42 because you just saw the commercial for the allergy pill, 21:46 and because you have allergies, you need to call your doctor, 21:49 or walk-in and say, "I need this new pill for allergies" 21:52 Instead of saying that, you've got to ask yourself 21:54 the question... "What kind of LIFESTYLE things can I do" 21:58 You know what the thing about the lifestyle therapies are? 22:00 What is it? 22:01 They have side-effects... 22:03 but they generally are good side effects. 22:05 You see, exercise doesn't only help your diabetes, 22:09 it helps to decrease your risk of heart disease 22:11 and cancer. GOOD side effects! 22:12 Yeah, it helps to improve your mental performance. 22:14 Okay you convinced me, doctor; 22:16 I'm going to go home, I going to take my 22:17 medication cabinet - I'm not even going to empty it, 22:19 I'm going to pull the whole thing off the WALL... 22:21 I'M GOING TO THROW IT OUT! 22:22 Is that good advice? 22:24 I almost just cut right in on you there, Don, 22:27 because that's NOT the message I'm trying to give people. 22:30 It is actually DANGEROUS to abruptly stop 22:33 certain medications. 22:35 A classic example are the beta blockers... 22:37 Drugs that are used for heart disease prevention, 22:40 for high blood pressure. 22:41 Abruptly stopping beta blockers 22:44 could actually trigger a heart attack. 22:46 I don't advice people to just flush... 22:47 ...To just throw things away. 22:49 Yeah, don't flush the medicines down the toilet! 22:50 That's not the solution. 22:52 The SOLUTION is to say... 22:54 "Look-it, maybe I've been moving in a mode of saying, 22:57 "DOCTOR, what's the new drug?" 22:58 "What drug can I take?" 23:00 Or maybe your doctor seems to be in that mode. 23:02 And I'll tell you, it's usually not the doctor's fault... 23:04 Because I've been in the position, Don, of patients 23:07 walking out of my office and you know what they're doing? 23:10 they're complaining, especially new patients... 23:12 Not at the Lifestyle Center of America so much, 23:14 but when I was in more of a conventional practice setting, 23:16 people would walk out of my office, 23:18 and they'd complain to the nurse because I didn't give them a 23:21 PRESCRIPTION! 23:23 I gave them some lifestyle therapy... 23:25 That wasn't why they came to SEE me 23:27 They wanted a pill! 23:29 And so I try to tell people, 23:31 "Yeah, you may be on these medications, 23:33 why don't you talk with your doctor?" 23:34 "Why don't you read up; why don't you get information 23:37 as to how to DECREASE your medication" 23:40 And when people are frustrated, 23:41 they say, "Well, my doctor doesn't do that... 23:44 I can't find somebody like that" 23:46 There are lifestyle centers throughout this country 23:49 that are specializing in lifestyle medicine... 23:51 In Oklahoma, we're there at the Lifestyle Center of America 23:54 and that's what our focus is! 23:56 Have you seen a lot of patients come there that have been on - 23:59 Yeah, give me a scenario... 24:00 Does someone come there with 24:02 20, 30, 40 medications... What happens with them? 24:05 Oh this is common, that people come on 24:07 multiple medications, but MOST of them have 24:09 gotten to the point where they've gotten frustrated. 24:11 That's why they come to a lifestyle center. 24:13 And they say... "You know, I see the doctor for one thing, 24:16 and he puts me on this drug, 24:17 and that drug causes side-effects, 24:19 so I get another pill to take, 24:20 and now I'm having this problem 24:22 and I keep just keep adding pills and pills. " 24:24 And they say they're frustrated with that because 24:26 the main problem isn't being addressed. 24:28 Pills often work for a time but when we're using them 24:32 chronically... if we don't address the underlying factor... 24:36 If we've got high blood pressure, 24:37 if we've got a weight problem, 24:38 we're not exercising, we're not eating right, 24:40 that blood pressure medication may control our blood pressure 24:43 for a while, but you know what tends to happen 24:45 several years down the road? What's that? 24:47 That blood pressure medicine is not sufficient, 24:50 and you'll need a second drug or a STRONGER drug, 24:53 or a combination drug. 24:54 It's the same with diabetes. 24:56 And it's the same story, when people walk in my office, 24:58 they say, "You know, when I first had this problem, 25:01 I watched my diet a little bit, things were okay, 25:04 then I was on this one pill, then I was on 2 pills, 25:07 then, in the case of diabetes, I was on insulin" 25:10 You see, and it's just this relentless progression 25:13 to more and more drugs; 25:15 at the same time, they're not changing their lifestyle. 25:16 They're not addressing the root causes of the problem. 25:19 So you sit down with them there at the 25:20 Lifestyle Center of America and what you do is say, 25:22 "What are you taking?" 25:24 "How did you start taking this?" 25:25 And you start to help them just untangle it all. 25:27 Exactly, and we don't just throw away all their medications 25:31 But as they start responding to lifestyle, 25:33 we often HAVE to decrease the medications. 25:36 We get someone on a good lifestyle exercise program, 25:39 and diet program, it's DANGEROUS to keep 25:41 them on all their high blood pressure medicines. 25:43 So, I mean, someone listening today, 25:44 let's say they just listened to this program 25:46 and then they said, "Okay, I'm going to start 25:48 exercising and doing these other things. " 25:50 They need to be checking with their physician as well. 25:52 I mean, that's almost like a medication! 25:54 They need to be keeping in touch, you're exactly right, 25:56 with the person who prescribed those drugs 25:58 because if they get really excited about changing 26:00 their lifestyle, you're exactly right, 26:02 their need for medications will often decrease dramatically 26:06 If they're not in touch with their physician, 26:08 they're asking for trouble. 26:10 A lot of people will go to these emergent care centers; 26:12 they'll go to these immediate care places... 26:15 they're traveling across the country, 26:17 maybe they're a business person, 26:18 maybe they're on vacation... 26:20 Is there any danger with going to THESE places 26:23 in terms of medication? 26:24 Well, the message I try to give people is 26:26 when it comes to diagnosis, "see an expert" 26:29 ...whether you're on vacation and you've got to go into 26:32 one of these in-and-out doctors' offices... 26:35 Listen, if you need a diagnosis, you see a physician. 26:39 Don't try to diagnose yourself 26:41 because that's asking for trouble. 26:43 I see patients, they come in all the time and they're taking 26:45 something because they've got 26:47 indigestion and it could be a HEART PROBLEM! 26:49 So, that's foolish to diagnose yourself. 26:52 But once a diagnosis made, then you're in a position 26:55 to evaluate and talk with the doctor. 26:57 What if I don't take this antibiotic for my earache? 27:01 And the doctor may say, "Well, it may go away by itself" 27:04 Is there a RISK to NOT taking the drug? 27:06 Ask that question, it's a telling question 27:09 when you ask that question to a physician. 27:11 And, I guess one of my concerns, just in closing off the segment, 27:16 and I'm going to see if you agree with me... 27:17 And that is, sometimes even though you get the diagnosis 27:20 and I agree with that... you need to get the diagnosis 27:22 from a professional... your primary care physician 27:25 or the person that sees you most of the time, 27:27 doesn't know what that person gave you, 27:29 they're not in communication, they don't have your records, 27:31 and that can be dangerous too, can't it? 27:33 No... you're right. 27:35 We've been talking with Dr. David DeRose 27:37 We've been talking about medication. 27:39 It's important to know what you're taking, 27:41 and why you're taking it, 27:42 and more importantly that that even is 27:44 to try and figure out WHY or HOW you can 27:47 get away from taking it. 27:48 We're NOT saying throw away your medications, 27:50 but consult with someone who can truly help you. 27:53 We're glad that you've joined us today. |
Revised 2014-12-17