Helios Natural Healthcare

Without the good health of its citizens, how strong can a nation really be? If the US people are unable to structure a plan for providing health care coverage to the population, I think we may soon find out. With approximately 47 million US citizens not covered by any form of health insurance, and many more who are under-insured, low-cost preventative care is not accessible by a significant number of us [1]. Instead, many seek care only during crisis in one of our expensive and overcrowded emergency departments. Contrary to the beliefs of some, it is not predominantly the poor who are falling under this statistic. Rather, it is many from the working classes. How did a country with our history of innovation get here, and why are we so bad at managing our health care economy? Does anyone really think it’s acceptable that more than 17% of our gross domestic product is spent on health care [1]? Especially when what we get in return is an infant mortality rate that is higher than that for most other developed countries, and a gap between the U.S. infant mortality rate and rates for countries with the lowest infant mortality that appears to be widening [2]. I think most people would, without hesitation, answer “no” to all of these questions. So why are we having such difficulty agreeing on a plan for health care reform?

I think that there is confusion around the meaning of comprehensive health care reform. Many in the media and government (no finger pointing here) have equated the idea of reform to socialized medicine, and worry that it will both be expensive and take away our freedom to choose private health insurance plans. Over and over again, it has been reiterated by President Obama that this will not be the case. The President admits that health care is complicated, and so, instead of drafting specific proposals, he has set forth general principles and has called on Congress to draft appropriate legislation [1]. These guiding principles are as follows:

• reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government;
• protect families from bankruptcy or debt that is due to health care costs;
• guarantee choice of doctors and health plans;
• invest in prevention and wellness;
• improve patient safety and quality of care;
• assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans;
• maintain coverage when people change or lose their jobs;
• end barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions.

John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, has offered some thoughtful plans for solving our health care dilemma too, which he wrote about in a Wall Street Journal Op Ed. He states in the title that these ideas are an alternative to “ObamaCare,” but I think many of his proposals are well-aligned with the President’s guidelines, and should be seriously considered. They are [3]:

• “Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems.”
• “Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.”
• “Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.”
• “Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.”
• “Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor’s visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?”

Regardless of anyone’s particular stance or perspective on the issue, I think we can all agree that the status quo for health care in this country is not working. American citizens may not be entitled to health care, but it is likely that we would be better off as a nation if a humanitarian approach to this problem was taken. “The stakes are high,” says Jessie Gruman, PhD, President of the Center for Advancement of Health in Washington, DC. “Essentially this debate is about whether having a bad diagnosis like cancer bankrupts your family, whether people have to choose between feeding their kids and getting health care, whether being sick and losing your job means you also lose your health care. This is what’s on the table. That’s why it’s vital [1].” For those who haven’t yet been affected by health care issues in life, it’s easy to be apathetic at this point. Keep in mind, however, that if too many of our citizens fall, eventually we all do. Let’s get started with the basics for everyone before we’re all feeling the pain.

Health Care Fact Sheet (.pdf)
What You Can Do to Reform Health Care (.pdf)

References:
1. Zablocki, E; Pathways to Healing; Townsend Letter, July 2009, pp. 23-25
2. MacDorman, M and Mathews, TJ; Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States; CDC National Center for Health Statistics Brief; Number 9; October, 2008; http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db09.htm
3. Mackey, J; The Whole Foods Alternative to Obama Care; The Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal; August 12, 2009; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

Overuse injuries occur when connective tissues, such as muscles, tendons and ligaments, are damaged as a result of repetitive motion over the course of time. These injuries occur in occupational, recreational, and ordinary daily activities. With normal use, tissues adapt to the stresses placed on them, and are able to return to their normal form when given time to rest and repair. When increased demand is placed upon them, however, and/or sufficient rest is not allowed, these tissues begin to fatigue. For these cases in which injury results, the rate of tissue damage simply exceeds the rate of adaptation and healing.

Overuse injuries have traditionally been treated as inflammatory conditions, even though they rarely show the signs generally present with inflammation, including swelling, heat, and redness of the surrounding tissues. Rather, the prevailing symptoms are pain, painful weakness, and decreased range of motion. One study that looked at surgeries for tendon pain found little evidence of inflammation, but obvious signs of frank tissue damage, including thin, frayed, and fragile tendon fibrils that were separated from one another. Current therapies for overuse syndromes recognize that these conditions have a non-inflammatory basis, and, for this reason, concentrate on supporting repair and overall physical condition of these tissues.

Focused nutritional support has been shown to hasten the tissue repair process, expedite healing time, and prevent further injury. The following are recommendations for addressing connective tissue overuse injury.

Dietary

• Ensure adequate hydration: Dehydration places additional stress on tissues, especially the collagen containing connective tissues, which are comprised of 60 to 80% water. Tension that is provided by water pressure in these structures enables them to be strong, somewhat flexible, and to function at full capacity. As a rule of thumb, the number of ounces of water taken in per day should be equal to 1/2 of your body weight. For example, a 120 pound person should drink about 60 ounces of water per day. Clear juices, teas and other beverages count towards this volume, as long as they are free of caffeine and alcohol.

• Fish: 2-4 servings per week. Fish is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help to boost the immune system, increase pain tolerance, and prevent overproduction of inflammatory chemicals. Avoid completely, or limit to one 8 oz. serving per month, large fish that tend to live longer and are known to contain high levels of mercury. These include canned white tuna, swordfish, shark, bass and brown trout. Fish with the highest concentrations of omega-3’s are salmon, mackerel, and anchovy. Remove the skin, and bake or broil the fish for best health benefit.

• Flax seeds: 5-7 servings per week. A vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids, flax seeds can be found in a variety of breads, cereals, crackers and other grain products.

Supplementation

• Daily Multivitamin that contains 100% RDA of most ingredients, particularly the antioxidants (A, C, E, and Selenium), those that support overall bone and muscle health (calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D), and vitamin B6 for promotion of collagen repair. Make sure to choose a natural vitamin with high bioavailability of the nutrients, such as those available at Whole Foods Market or Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy.

• Fish or Flax Oil. Dose: 1 gel capsule or 1 tsp of oil, 2-3 times per day, as an alternative to adding these as foods to your diet. Both are available as straight oil that can be taken by the teaspoon, or in a gel capsule form. Cod liver oil is another good source of omega-3’s and is available in several flavors for increased palatability. Flax oil is available for use in salad dressings or as a dip for bread, but is not suitable for cooking. Be aware that most healthy fats, such as those present in fish and flax oil, turn rancid quickly, within about 6 weeks of pressing. To prevent spoilage, purchase only refrigerated flax oil stored in black containers, keep your flax oil in the refrigerator with the lid on tight, and minimize exposure to heat, light, and air. Allergic reactions to flaxseed have occasionally been reported, but are considered very uncommon. At the time of writing, there were no well-known drug interactions with flaxseed oil.

References
1. Oregon Department of Human Services. Expectant Mother’s Guide to Eating Fish in Oregon. 2006.
2. Khan, K., et al., Time to abandon the “tendinitis” myth. BMJ, 2002. 324(7338): p. 626-627.
3. Laker, S. and W. Sullivan, Overuse Injury. eMedicine, WebMD, 2006.
4. Mindell, E. and V. Hopkins, Prescription Alternatives. Second ed. 1999, Los Angeles: Keats Publishing.
5. Oregon DHS Environmental Toxicology Program, Fish Advisories: Consumption Guidelines. 2006.
6. Souza, T., Differential Diagnosis and Management for the Chiropractor. Third ed. 2005, Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.