Healthcare - A Philosophy
You may be of the opinion that western medicine is the only true medicine, because it relies on the revered scientific method. And western doctors are therefore the best doctors. And yes, our understanding of some aspects of health in the west is marvelous. I think, however, the situation is more nuanced than that, and that no doctor is sheltered from fallibility.
I’ll start with the concept of hormesis, a health strategy well recognized for its amazing benefits. It is a process of stressing the body out in a specific way, that will ultimately propel the body towards greater resilience in that area. Exercise is a perfect example. Exercise causes oxidative damage. It’s hard and sometimes painful. But the end result is more energy capacity and a longer life. Sauna is another. It has been shown to reduce depression, improve sleep and even reduces all cause mortality. Cold exposure, fasting and longevity molecules like polyphenols and metformin are others. Polyphenols cause an internal stress that stimulates your bodies longevity and antioxidant genes.
Hormesis sounds an aweful lot like homeopathy. A so called “debunked” medical philosophy that basically calls for “a hair of the dog that bit you” approach, or more commonly “like cures like”. An example often used is, want to calm down? Drink a microdose of coffee. A search of “homeopathy” on google reveals articles like “homeopathy debunked”. But I already gave you examples of commonly accepted “like cures like” strategies. Want to build resilience to cold? Do cold therapy! Want to sleep better? Exercise! What to build more antioxidant defenses? Do activities that cause oxidative damage. (Being mindful of dose of course.)
Anywho, this isn’t an article about homeopathy. This is an article about the philisophy underlying ones approach to medicine. Examining our approach in the west seems particularly prudent since medicine here, more than being a science, is first and foremost a business.
When people taking a heart pill called Loniten, started growing unwanted hair on their arms, researchers didn’t ask why. Instead they looked for customers. And loniten, the heart pill, became rogaine, the spray for balding men. - Catherine Shanahan, Deep Nutrition
What happens if you go to a medical doctor and say: “Hey Doc, I’ve been feeling real anxious and depressed lately”? Hopefully he’ll ask you if you’ve been exercising, sleeping, and eating well. And maybe after that he’ll say “I have a pill for you!”. And he’ll give you Paxil or some sort. An SSRI that elevates the serotonin in your brain and you’ll feel real good at first. After all, ecstasy also elevates serotonin and it’s effect is in the name. But anyone who’s taken Paxil, or ecstasy, knows to be wary of the tolerance problem. Ecstasy, paxil, and opiods all give you what you want right away, but ultimately end making the problem worse than when you started.. Alternatively if you’re feeling anxious or depressed you could try stressing yourself out! Get into the sauna, and cold plunge and run real hard. All of these have extensive studies on their benefits for depression and anxiety.
Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-Intensity Training on Stress
Adapted cold shower as a potential treatment for depression
In other words:
Paxil (SSRI) = feeling bad THEN Paxil makes you feel better THEN Paxil makes you feel worse.
Exercise = feeling bad THEN exercise makes you feel worse THEN exercise makes you feel better!
It may just be that feeling bad will always require a life change; Requires some feeling worse to feel better.
Finding the root cause and making changes is hard. And I’ve heard, and held myself, the opinion that “ignorance is bliss” or “what you don’t know wont hurt you” But unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. The bill is there, and its accruing interest. And someone will have to pay it.
What I’m trying to say, is that the scientific method is great! Western medicine, a marvel. But the scientific method applied through poor philosophy, is still poor medicine. And all the lab rats in the world won’t fix that.
Some medicinal approaches treat patients health like brokers treat the stock market. It’s all about short term gains.
Depression meds make you feel real good immediately, but in the long term they do the opposite. Exercise sucks immediately, but in the long term it makes you feel real good.
It’s interesting to note the impactful psychological message of these two approaches. One tells you, you are defective, or broken, and you need something, a pill to regulate your broken biology. The other grabs life by the cahoonas and says, B*#$%, I can do this!
One of these philosophies has a long lasting positive impact on both your physical and mental wellbeing, and the other has a detrimental one.
I am still in awe of an experience I had with acid reflux. After I described my symptoms to my doctor, he said “that’s acid reflux” and suggested a prescription to an antacid. This antacid, I discovered afterwards, just so happens to be addictive. I also discovered this: Acid reflux, or heartburn, isn’t caused by too much acid. It’s caused by too little. Here’s how it happens. You eat some food and you have too little acid in your stomach, so your sphincter in your esophagus doesn’t get the message to close up as its messenger is stomach acid (HCl). While you move around, a little bit of food and acid gets jostled up there, and it’s painful. So an antacid, will initially help the pain, because it will neutralize the acid. But ultimately, it makes the initial cause of the whole mess worse! Annnd it’s addictive! What kind of backwards nonsense is this? I told my doctor this and he responded “that’s as may be, but we cannot deviate from the standard of care.” Of course I’m sure not every doctor would recommend this. And that would be a really hard experiment to do. But it’s one of many experiences that made me realize I need to be present and knowledgeable. And to be my own active health advocate.
Now I started to wonder why I keep suggesting the same things to all my friends, and myself, when the time comes up with one of infinitely varied health challenges. It’s always sauna, cold, healthy food, avoid various pollutions, etc. etc. and I realized it’s a matter of philosophy. (And partially knowledge. I’m not a PhD after all).
“If you're feeling crappy, if you don't have the energy you want, if your body hurts, if you can't focus, its your fault. You may not know why, but it's something you're doing, or the environment you're in, that's doing it to you. The environment around you controls your biology more than your thoughts do, and your thoughts matter greatly. And knowing that is extremely empowering." - Dave Asprey
The human body is a marvel of the universe. It can regulate itself. It can heal itself. It naturally sleeps well, wakes up refreshed and looks beautiful. If it’s not doing those things it means your body’s adversity capacity is at a pique. You can take an antacid for reflux, Paxil for depression, Lunesta for sleep, and Oxi for pain. Or you can give your body great building blocks to support its natural ability to maintain great health.
To take the sick care approach. You need to specialize, or trust those that specialize, in sickness. Doctors study for 8 years learning all the ways a body can go wrong. And that’s super useful sometimes. But how long do they spend thinking about how to support a body going right!?
Think instead what the world would be like if we flipped that time investment, and consider how to feel the absolute best we can? Then we don’t have to come up with a million names for when a body falls apart in a million ways, because it wont be falling apart!
And as an added bonus, you’ll be helping the environment and conscious businesses too. Who care about the health of their land, because they understand it’s foundational for the health of all biology.
I don’t want to make lofty claims here but,…it may just be the start to the path of world peace, Jesus coming back, Buddhist monks celebrating the world’s enlightenment, and 24 hours access to cute puppies that never age…
Or at least it’s way more fun to optimize health and feeling good on the front end. This approach truly does transform the world around you. Your food is healthier and the people who sell this quality food are happier because they believe in what they do. Maybe you start a garden and meet really cool people at the gym. And start planning friends weekend getaways at the natural hot springs and cold river or ocean dips. Eventually you will feel the reflection of the love and support of the environment you’ve created around you. And others will too.
Even avoidance of toxic things like pesticides becomes a love story between your mind and your body. I love my food and what it does for me, so I want my food to be as healthy as it can be. I avoid EMFs because I know it doesn’t support my optimal vitality. I don’t need to cover up a stress signal from my body, like headaches with aspirin, because I know it’s telling me something is wrong here. If I put my hand in the fire and get burned, I don’t solve the problem by thinking my hand is defective and will be fixed with oxy. Instead I hear what my body is saying to me, and focus on creating an environment that makes me, and every other living thing impacted by me, feel good, and take my hand out of the fire!
