For the Health of It - The Love of Pharma

Like most Americans, you probably start your day with coffee, a quick email or social media check — and a handful of pills. Let's take a step back and evaluate just how we got here.

Americans are bombarded every day with upwards of 5,000 ads. In 2021 more than 285 billion U.S. dollars were spent on advertisements making the U.S. the largest advertising market in the world, with, on average, 80 pharmaceutical ads airing every hour. The U.S. is one of the only countries where pharmaceutical companies can advertise drugs directly to consumers. So if it seems like every other billboard and commercial in the U.S. is for prescription medication, you're right.

$4 billion is spent annually on pharmaceutical ads to consumers, and those ads produce results. But they can't buy them without a doctor's approval, so why would they target consumers with these ads? Well, friends, because marketing to doctors they found to be inefficient. However, they found that by marketing to consumers, we would request their products from our doctors for them. Let's face it, like any other company, drug manufacturers are in the game to make a profit, and their marketing to consumers is working. In 2020 prescription medication purchases in the U.S. exceeded half a trillion dollars.

"Many Americans and their physicians have come to think that every symptom, every hint of disease requires a drug," says Vinay Prasad, M.D., an assistant professor of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. "The question is, where did people get that idea? They didn't invent it," he says. "They were spoon-fed that notion by the culture we're steeped in."

"Something like a third of consumers who've seen a drug ad has talked to their doctor about it," says Julie Donohue, a professor of public health at the University of Pittsburgh. "About two-thirds of those have asked for a prescription, and the majority of people who ask for a prescription have that request honored."

The Scale of the Problem

More than half of Americans report that they regularly take medications. On average, though, many take up to 4 different prescriptions. Many consumers also take daily over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and dietary supplements. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), the percentage of Americans taking more than five prescription medications has nearly tripled in the past 20 years. And a third of people 55 and older took more than ten medications.

This marketing trend has created a culture of sick care. In that culture, we treat the symptoms and not the person. This is encouraged by the marketing of drug companies and a rushed, overtaxed healthcare system. The pharmaceutical industry is grooming us to believe that writing a prescription is the best approach for physicians to address their patient's concerns.

What About Oversight?

You may wonder how this is "ok" or if anyone is monitoring this. Well, let's look to Washington to see if we can find some answers. According to data from the Senate Office of Public Records, annual lobbying on pharmaceuticals and health products has increased since 2013. In 2021 the pharmaceutical industry was the top lobbying group in Washington, spending far more than any other industry — a staggering $356.6 million. And interestingly, one of their top priorities in 2019 was opposing a bill that would reduce drug costs for consumers. One last little detail we should consider is that nearly 60% of those lobbyists are former government employees who are well-compensated and aware of how to accomplish things on Capitol Hill.

"There's a big push in our country to practice medicine as if we are fixing machines with a broken part," says Victoria Sweet, author of Slow Medicine: The Way to Heal. "Take the pill, fix the symptom, move on," she says. "Slow medicine" means "taking time to get to the bottom of what's making people sick — including medications in some cases — but just giving the body a chance to heal."

Do you feel our current medical model makes you feel rushed through as a number or a machine? I certainly do!

So, How Do We Fix This?

We start with ourselves. We must begin to understand that everything is connected. Our bodies (muscles, nerves, blood, bone, skin, digestion), minds, what we eat and think, relationships, spirituality, and our connection to nature. Each is a thread, knitted together to create a perfect woven system. However, if one gets snagged, it damages the integrity of the whole thing.

In our fast-paced world, we often seek out quick-fix solutions for our snags, not realizing that these "solutions" may contribute to more problems.

Let's look at a typical example: say you're unaware of a buildup of toxins in your body from eating processed foods. This buildup is causing chronic inflammation, which has developed into a chronic illness that has lasted for years. Your condition may make getting out of bed, leaving the house, or even going to work difficult. And this long cascade of events has destroyed your relationships, leaving you unable to pay your bills, isolated, and feeling depressed.

The quick fix for this would be a prescription of an anti-depressant for the end symptom. However, this would overlook the root cause and miss the solution altogether. Looking deeper, we see we need to start much further up the chain to repair this snag in the system.

The Holistic Health Coaching Difference

For the chronically sick, tired, or depressed, we must learn to look beyond symptoms and get to the root cause. A Holistic Health Coach may help change that outcome by diving deep into the whole issue. They can assess your situation, beginning with simple facts like your daily diet. When shown the bigger picture, we, as patients, take back the authority over ourselves and become excited to make changes that lead to long-lasting health.

We now understand that symptoms are a result of a snag in our system. Holistic Health Coaches strive to know you by connecting with you, not your symptoms. In getting to know patients, some find they need to include more nutrient-dense foods or avoid certain foods and see results by simply changing how they eat. Others may uncover that they have unresolved trauma that needs addressing before they can begin to heal. They may need to find belonging, relationships, or self-expression to learn to release.

Lastly, some may discover that they require a consultation with another professional, medication, or even surgery to heal fully — and that's ok too!

A consultation with a Holistic Health Coach is a great and simple step that can help you plot a course for healing to bring you back into balance. If you want to learn more about how to start to get to the root cause of your symptoms and break away from the current paradigm, let's set up some time to chat!