December 2004

The trend toward wellness care

by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg

In the past decade, people have been warned repeatedly that medical care is fraught with dangers and risks. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) estimated that 6.7% of hospitalized patients have a serious adverse drug reaction with a fatality rate of 0.32%.

That would translate into more than 2,216,000 serious drug reactions in hospitalized patients, causing over 106,000 deaths annually, making it the fourth leading cause of death ‑‑ ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia, accidents, and automobile deaths.

Another report in a later issue of the JAMA says that these statistics do not include the number of ADRs that occur in ambulatory settings, or the estimated 350,000 ADRs that occur in U.S. nursing homes each year.

In 1995, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said the number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections was 20 million. In 2003, it referred to "tens of millions of unnecessary antibiotics."

The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually has been put at 7.5 million and the number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is estimated to be close to 9 million.

Looking elsewhere

It's no wonder, then, that people are trying to break away from the disease‑care model and find, instead, an approach to living that can enhance their quality of life. They're working to lose weight, increase their exercise, manage stress, and add other wellness components to their lifestyle.

Unfortunately, not all of them are succeeding in their attempts. Although everyone seems to be on a diet today, we ‑‑ as a society ‑‑ are dangerously overweight. Despite pumping an estimated $40 billion a year into the diet industry, 27% of all Americans are still clinically obese.

The incidence of diseases directly linked to nutrition, diet, and exercise ‑‑ such as diabetes and asthma ‑‑ is soaring. As of 2002, 12 million Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. Another 12 million had impaired glucose tolerance, which meant they were on their way to type 2 diabetes. More than 5.5 million U.S. kids under 15 suffer from asthma ‑‑ twice as many as in 1980.

Elizabeth Frazao, author of the book "America's Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences," published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, noted: "Dietary patterns in the United States are associated with increased risk of several chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, overweight, and osteoporosis... it is estimated that healthier diets might prevent $71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and the value of premature deaths associated with these conditions."

Mixed messages

We know we need to watch our diet and nutrition. Why aren't we all thin and healthy? In great part, it's because we're sandwiched in between the medical and drug professions on one side and the food industry on the other. Look at the foods being marketed today and you'll see items like:

*** Burger King's Double Whopper with Cheese ‑‑ with a whopping 980 calories, 61 grams of fat and 1,295 mgs of sodium

*** Totino's Single‑Serve Sausage Pizza ‑‑ 660 calories, 37 grams of fat, and 1,620 mgs of sodium

*** Cup O'Noodles Hearty Cream of Chicken Soup ‑‑ 400 calories, 18 grams of fat and 1,910 mgs of sodium.

*** Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, etc. ‑‑ 155 calories per can, nearly 40 grams (8 teaspoons) of sugar

The only way the people of the world are going to achieve true health is for the wellness revolution to rock the very foundations of the medical and food industries. According to economist and best‑selling author Paul Zane Pilzer ‑‑ who served as economic advisor for two presidents and commentator on National Public Radio and CNN ‑‑ these two massive industries are closely linked.

In his book, "The Wellness Revolution," he noted: "Although there was obviously no direct conspiracy between the $1 trillion food industry (which causes most of the problems) and the $1.5 trillion medical industry (that treats just enough of the symptoms to get the target consumers back to work and consumption), the economic effect was the same as if these two industries were conspiring against the American consumer in the most sinister fashion."

In other words, the food industry spends billions of dollars marketing unhealthy foods, which result in medical conditions and diseases. MDs then prescribe pills to mask the symptoms and send us back home to eat more unhealthy foods! They might as well include a pharmacy counter at every Wendy's, Burger King and McDonalds ‑‑ and let customers supersize their prescriptions as well as their burgers.

Since they can't succeed in their quest for wellness on their own, people are turning to non‑medical professions for help.

Alternative wellness providers

A research paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine noted that, in 1990, Americans made an estimated 425 million visits to providers of non‑medical care ‑‑ far more than the 388 million visits made to U.S. primary care physicians. "The frequency of use of unconventional therapy in the United States is far higher than previously reported," the researchers concluded.

Today, the trend is even more pronounced. According to a 2004 survey sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), an arm of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, more than a third (36%) of U.S. adults aged 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative health care such as chiropractic, acupuncture, herbs or botanical products, special diets, and megavitamin therapy.

"These new findings confirm the extent to which Americans have turned to CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) approaches with the hope that they would help treat and prevent disease and enhance quality of life," said NCCAM Director Stephen E. Straus, MD.

Mark Victor Hansen, co‑author of "The One Minute Millionaire" and "Chicken Soup for the Soul," says, "As far as I'm concerned, chiropractic is going to be the 'browser' system of the wellness revolution. People are going to want to have wellness instead of sickness. The model we've been raised on is get sick, go to your medical doctor, raise your hand and say 'give me some drugs.' Chiropractic says get adjusted, keep your spine in alignment and focus on good nutrition."

What this means for all of us is that, in the near future, we will be the wellness provider for millions more people. Next month, I'll explore in greater detail how we help them ‑‑ and how we benefit from the trend.

(Dr. Terry Rondberg is president of the World Chiropractic Alliance and publisher of The Chiropractic Journal He is also founder of Chiropractors for Wellness, a company promoting chiropractic's role as wellness provider and helping doctors achieve financial success through the private franchise model. For more information on Chiropractors for Wellness, call 800‑704‑4791 in the U.S. or 480‑303‑1778 outside the U.S.)