(NaturalNews) Health care is expensive. Costs continue to mount despite recent efforts at health care "reform."
Sally C. Pipes, the president, CEO and Taube Fellow in Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, argues in
Forbes Magazine this week that the best way to lower costs is through expensive "medical innovation" (technology). Pipes claims that innovation alone will "minimize doctor visits, specialist referrals, round-the-clock care, trial-and-error surgeries" and other procedures in order "to deliver more value for less money in the long term."
It is true that less use of the
health care system in general will reduce
costs. But does that mean we'll actually be "healthy"? Innovation cannot make us healthier. The only way to achieve that is to live healthier lifestyles, and by doing so, we will all lower our own
health care costs and, in turn, the nation's.
First lady Michelle Obama's
anti-obesity campaign, encourages that Americans should be
eating better, and if we were, we'd be a lot healthier. Nutrition alone
can save America, as NaturalNews.com's Mike Adams has stated: "cutting out
the wrong foods, like those that are microwaved, fried or genetically modified and eating fresh fruits,
vegetables, nuts and a minimum of meat and animal products (including dairy foods), is a great start".
Preventative measures also contribute to overall wellness. Exercise and regular
physical activity not only raises serotonin levels in the brain, which leads to feeling better as well as physical
fitness and weight loss. One of best and most high-profile fitness campaigns going today is the NFL's
Play 60 initiative, which targets young children and teens (okay, adults too) and encourages them to engage in a physical activity for at least an hour a day.
As a long-time supplement user, I can attest that vitamins, herbs and
spices have improved my health. Herbs like
Ginger, have been found to
improve gastric function and reduce
risk of atherosclerosis; a combination of other
herbs and spices have been found to contain "more disease-fighting anti-oxidants that most
fruits and vegetables," according to
Fitness Magazine.
Even natural
sunlight, in moderation, has a host of health
benefits, as many researchers have discovered. Aside from being a great source of Vitamin D, which the
Mayo Clinic says aids in the absorption of Calcium, which in turn protects you from osteoporosis, hypertension and several autoimmune diseases. According to
Partners International Medical Aid, sunlight is also responsible for lowering cholesterol by as much as 30 percent.
But what about mammograms, C-T and
MRI scans, and all other means of medical testing? Don't they serve to lower the costs of
health care by keeping you healthier? As NaturalNews.com's
Paul Louis wrote in November 2009, "medical devices can be hazardous to your
health by overexposing you to higher health care costs as well as dangerous
radiation levels". And while the
government "has occupational limits for
radiation exposure," he says, "here are no government restrictions on the amount of radiation
exposure for medical testing." "Over-testing has been a worsening problem as well, which exposes patients to ever higher doses of radiation, thereby increasing their risk for cancer", Louis says.
And there is the
cost factor; MRIs, for example, cost a couple thousand dollars each, on average. How is increased use of such
technology supposed to make health care less expensive? Pipes says, "Reducing hospital stays is crucial to lowering health care costs." But accomplishing that goal using
natural health solutions is a cheaper, quicker alternative to perpetuating an already expensive, expansive health care system. Innovation, while important, should not take precedence over proven low-cost alternatives aimed at preventing illness in the first place.
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