We, in the west, are currently fighting lots of wars right now. Yes, there are the headline ones, like Iraq and Afghanistan, but what about the other ones...
The War on Obesity
The War on Breast Cancer
The War on Terror
The War on Skin Cancer
The War on Aids
The War on Climate Change
The War on Illiteracy
and even my own War on Stupidity (which we're losing badly, it appears).
The list could run on for pages. It seems that whenever a politician, bureaucrat or some interest group pushing a barrow wants to grab a headline, they declare "War" on something.
These wars have all the ingredients of a good war... casualties... headlines... emotion. The War on Breast Cancer is even having an event here in Sydney where women are encouraged to come to a football game, and before the game, they want everyone to stand in the middle of the field. I haven't quite figured out why, but I'm sure it will make for a good photo opportunity and grab a filler slot on the evening news.
But are we fighting the right war?
Take a look at this piece from Dr Joseph Mercola, promoting his new book.
Sobering, but somehow "The War on Medical Screw Ups" just doesn't have the right ring to it.
NOTE: I'm not necessarily endorsing or recommending the book to you... while many of Mercola's ideas are 'interesting', and while I subscribe to his newsletter, sometimes he can be a little over-the-top in his views. He is, though, an important warrior in an even more important war and much of what he says is solid... so make up you're own mind.
7 comments:
Great.... because of course, all of this is preventable, doctors are not humans with human error, placed in a system where there is only so much time allowed, where systems allow things to slip through, and god knows doctors aren't afraid of being sued for doing their best, but still having errors slip though.
And what ever happened to people taking some responisibility for their own actions - perhaps treatment for "lifestyle" factors could simply have been avoided by person not indulging in such lifestyles.
Yes, the statistics are sobering, and distressing, but is there any kind of solution put forward, or is it just "we have to stop this madness", cause frankly, thats great, and most people within the system do what they can, but really, where would we be as a population without "conventional" medicine?
i'd love to hear any real solutions
As long as we keep waging a war on obesity (for kids or adults), we are ADDING to the problem, not solving it!
We need to make peace with our bodies with self-care and self-appreciation INDEPENDENT OF WEIGHT!
Please see my full article on this subject here: http://www.kellybliss.com/lifestyle_coaching/real_problem.php
Be well,
Kelly Bliss
"WAR" seems to be the great rallying cry for the general population - who unfortunately have allowed their brains to waste away in lieu of the sheep mentality.
When people learn to think for themselves and conduct themselves with complete honesty, not attempting to manipulate and defraud those around them, then we will have reached the solution.
It bring to mind the song...
"Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war...."
I consider myself primarily a Christian, but where the hell did "Love you neighbor" get all mixed up with "Killing and War"?
Well, I guess that is the answer, as long as the two are taught together, we're in hell.
War is Hell.
this is why i watch CNNNN. they keep it simple and just wage a war on everything. no exceptions.
Anonymous... you miss the point. No-one is placing the blame at the feet of over-worked, time-stretched doctors and nurses. Rather, the problem is laid squarely on the fact that most of the above, and most medical administrators, receive most of their ongoing training from the pharmaceutical or medical equipment industries. They just don't have the time for anything else.
And on the patient side, most people receive conditioning from food companies pushing highly processed foods, and from the drug companies that create a paradigm of "don't wroory... if you get sick, our pill will make it better".
And Kelly... yes, we're a society obsessed with "thin", even though the majority of us are anything but. However, once again, the blame lies squarely at the feet of the food companies, especially in the Excited States.
For example, in the USA, your soft drinks are sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is cheaper than cane sugar. Unlike regular sugar, HFCS doesn't satisfy your appetite... you drink a can of soda and you're still hungry. In most of the rest of the world, where HFCS is not allowed, the sugar, while still not so good for you, at least curbs your appetite. In addition, HFCS is absorbed faster by your body, causing a quicker (and greater) insulin spike... And insulin's job, as we know, is to lay down fat.
Finally, we're obsessed with the fat in our food, so we have candy that gets labelled "99% Fat Free", as though that somehow makes it good for you. Blaming the fat we eat for the obesity epedemic is like blaming tow trucks for car accidents.
Koda... yeah... war... what is it good for... absolutely nothing.
Caw. Yup... The Chaser says it all really.
So, anonymous, the solution is a simple one... each of us needs to take responsibility for our own lives. Each of us needs to stop believing what the marketing departments of food and drug companies tell us is good for us. In short... and this was the point of Mercola's clip... each of us needs to stop having blind faith in the system, and start using our brains to question the hitherto unquestionable.
Ok, ok, i totally overreacted, i'm sorry, and i do agree people do need to take responsibilty for themeslves - i guess i missed that bit of it and just started feel defensive...
any time you want to over-react, you're welcome to do it here.
Post a Comment