'Alternative' Medicine Is Mainstream
The evidence is mounting that diet and lifestyle
are the best cures for our worst afflictions.
In mid-February, the
Institute of Medicine
of the National Academy of Sciences and the Bravewell Collaborative are
convening a "Summit
on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public." This is a watershed
in the evolution of integrative medicine, a holistic approach to health care
that uses the best of conventional and alternative therapies such as
meditation, yoga, acupuncture and herbal remedies. Many of these therapies are
now scientifically documented to be not only medically effective but also cost
effective.
President-elect Barack
Obama and former Sen. Tom Daschle (the nominee for Secretary of Health and
Human Services) understand that if we want to make affordable health care
available to the 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance, then we
need to address the fundamental causes of health and illness, and provide
incentives for healthy ways of living rather than reimbursing only drugs and
surgery.
Heart disease, diabetes,
prostate cancer, breast cancer and obesity account for 75% of health-care
costs, and yet these are largely preventable and even reversible by changing
diet and lifestyle. As Mr. Obama states in his health plan, unveiled during his
campaign: "This nation is facing a true epidemic of chronic disease. An
increasing number of Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from diseases
such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and HIV/AIDS, all of which can
be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely."
The latest scientific
studies show that our bodies have a remarkable capacity to begin healing, and
much more quickly than we had once realized, if we address the lifestyle
factors that often cause these chronic diseases. These studies show that
integrative medicine can make a powerful difference in our health and
well-being, how quickly these changes may occur, and how dynamic these
mechanisms can be.
Many people tend to
think of breakthroughs in medicine as a new drug, laser or high-tech surgical
procedure. They often have a hard time believing that the simple choices that
we make in our lifestyle -- what we eat, how we respond to stress, whether or
not we smoke cigarettes, how much exercise we get, and the quality of our
relationships and social support -- can be as powerful as drugs and surgery.
But they often are. And in many instances, they're even more powerful.
These studies often used
high-tech, state-of-the-art measures to prove the power of simple, low-tech,
and low-cost interventions. Integrative medicine approaches such as plant-based
diets, yoga, meditation and psychosocial support may stop or even reverse the
progression of coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer,
obesity, hypercholesterolemia and other chronic conditions.
A recent study published
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that these
approaches may even change gene expression in hundreds of genes in only a few
months. Genes associated with cancer, heart disease and inflammation were
downregulated or "turned off" whereas protective genes were upregulated
or "turned on." A study published in The Lancet Oncology reported
that these changes increase telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres,
the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live. Even drugs have not
been shown to do this.
Our "health-care
system" is primarily a disease-care system. Last year, $2.1 trillion was
spent in the U.S.
on medical care, or 16.5% of the gross national product. Of these trillions, 95
cents of every dollar was spent to treat disease after it had already
occurred. At least 75% of these costs were spent on treating chronic diseases,
such as heart disease and diabetes, which are preventable or even reversible.
The choices are
especially clear in cardiology. In 2006, for example, according to data
provided by the American Heart Association, 1.3 million coronary angioplasty
procedures were performed at an average cost of $48,399 each, or more than $60
billion; and 448,000 coronary bypass operations were performed at a cost of
$99,743 each, or more than $44 billion. In other words, Americans spent more
than $100 billion in 2006 for these two procedures alone.
Despite these costs, a
randomized controlled trial published in April 2007 in The New England Journal
of Medicine found that angioplasties and stents do not prolong life or even
prevent heart attacks in stable patients (i.e., 95% of those who receive them).
Coronary bypass surgery prolongs life in less than 3% of patients who receive
it. So, Medicare and other insurers and individuals pay billions for surgical
procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery that are usually dangerous,
invasive, expensive and largely ineffective. Yet they pay very little -- if any
money at all -- for integrative medicine approaches that have been proven to
reverse and prevent most chronic diseases that account for at least 75% of
health-care costs. The INTERHEART study, published in September 2004 in The
Lancet, followed 30,000 men and women on six continents and found that changing
lifestyle could prevent at least 90% of all heart disease.
That bears repeating:
The disease that accounts for more premature deaths and costs Americans more
than any other illness is almost completely preventable simply by changing diet
and lifestyle. And the same lifestyle changes that can prevent or even reverse
heart disease also help prevent or reverse many other chronic diseases as well.
Chronic pain is one of the major sources of worker's compensation claims costs,
yet studies show that it is often susceptible to acupuncture and Qi Gong. Herbs
usually have far fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals.
Joy, pleasure and
freedom are sustainable, deprivation and austerity are not. When you eat a
healthier diet, quit smoking, exercise, meditate and have more love in your
life, then your brain receives more blood and oxygen, so you think more
clearly, have more energy, need less sleep. Your brain may grow so many new
neurons that it could get measurably bigger in only a few months. Your face
gets more blood flow, so your skin glows more and wrinkles less. Your heart
gets more blood flow, so you have more stamina and can even begin to reverse heart
disease. Your sexual organs receive more blood flow, so you may become more
potent -- similar to the way that circulation-increasing drugs like Viagra
work. For many people, these are choices worth making -- not just to live
longer, but also to live better.
It's time to move past
the debate of alternative medicine versus traditional medicine, and to focus on
what works, what doesn't, for whom, and under which circumstances. It will take
serious government funding to find out, but these findings may help reduce
costs and increase health.
Integrative medicine
approaches bring together those in red states and blue states, liberals and
conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, because these are human issues. They
are both medically effective and, important in our current economic climate,
cost effective. These approaches emphasize both personal responsibility and the
opportunity to make affordable, quality health care available to those who most
need it. Mr. Obama should make them an integral part of his health plan as soon
as possible.
Dr. Chopra, the
author of more than 50 books on the mind, body and spirit, is guest faculty at
Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ornish is clinical professor
of medicine at the University of
California, San
Francisco. Mr. Roy is professor emeritus of materials
science at Pennsylvania
State University.
Dr. Weil is director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative
Medicine.
