"Insanity: Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results"
-Albert Einstein
If you haven't heard, the U.S. has released "New Heart Guidelines" in an effort to help with the epidemics of heart disease and obesity that have destroyed our nations health. If you're like me, your first impression might be "Hooray! We will begin to explore new avenues and alternatives to managing these problems, because clearly, what we have been doing isn't working." Well, don't get too excited, the new guidelines are the essence of what Albert Einstein described as insanity. It is almost unbelievable. I say "almost" because, there is a part of us all deep down inside that knows in our gut precisely who or what is driving these new guidelines.
If Its Not Working, Just Do It More, That Will Fix It!
Consider this: Currently drug companies make a mere $30 billion per year from the blockbuster drugs known as Statins. These have been one of the primary approaches towards managing heart disease. Have they worked? Well, I could cite numerous scientific studies that show they have no effect whatsoever on helping to reduce the risk of heart disease, but drug companies can cite just as many, if not more studies showing just the opposite. So where do we go from here?
Well, lets use some common sense for just a moment. Has the incidence of heart disease, obesity and all the complications associated with these problems been reduced? Not at all. In fact, epidemiological evidence suggests just the opposite. People are getting fatter, sicker, and dying more as a result of these problems. Soooooo, what is one simple conclusion that we can draw here? If nothing else, it is the fact that what we have been doing isn't working! Plain and simple! These new heart guidelines however have a different take on all this. Their take is that we aren't using statins enough! We need more drugs, yeah thats it! According to these new guidelines, we need to be increasing the usage of statin drugs. How much more? Hmmm, lets see, how about doubling the usage of statins, yeah, that sounds good.
More Drugs Anyone?
Among other things that these new guidelines suggest, they propose that according to the new criteria, 31% of adults are good candidates for statins, compared with 15.5% now. Really?!! Your new guidelines are proposing that we take MORE Statins? Well of course they are. Can you imagine just what these new guidelines mean for the drug companies? If they are making $30 billion per year from statins based on a 15% candidate pool for their drugs, just imagine what they stand to profit from doubling the number of candidates for Statins?
Drugs, Guidelines and The Cheerios Bee
I saw these latest guidelines on the news this morning as I was at the gym and I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach. I saw it roughly around the same time as I saw a Cheerios commercial with that stupid bee dressed up like a rapper dancing around touting that Cheerios are "heart healthy". Well, lets face it folks, believing these new guidelines is about as dumb as believing the Cheerios bee. Are we as a nation ready and willing to collectively say "enough is enough"? I know, I know that we all want to take a magic pill that will make all our problems go away. I know we want to be able to find some way to passively get what we want, health, wealth, better relationships, but the hard, cold truth is that some things (good things) always require some level of effort.
Start at the Beginning and Start with the Truth
So what can we do? I know problems of this magnitude can seem somewhat overwhelming. Well, first things first. Don't believe all the hype about Cholesterol. Science has debunked all the cholesterol myths. This isn't anything new. Research has conclusively shown that cholesterol isn't the boogey man that drug companies want and need us to believe it is. So why do we still chase after the Cholesterol fairy tale? Like I said before, it is precisely because drug companies need to perpetuate these myths. They have $30 billion a year at stake, soon to be much, much more. Can you imagine what would happen to these drugs companies if the public at large no longer bought into the cholesterol causes heart disease lie. Could you imagine what type of a hit these drug companies would take if people collectively said politely, yet resolutely "no thank you" to their doctors when they try to prescribe them statins? They would lose a lot of money!
If I haven't made it abundantly clear just yet, drug companies kind of like their money. In fact, they don't mind killing a few people to get that money either (and by a few I really mean hundreds of thousands). So if it isn't cholesterol then what is it?
Inflammation is the Real Culprit
The real cause behind heart disease has been known for quite sometime. Its nothing new or sexy. It's not some sort of hard to pronounce medical jargon term that sounds mysterious. Just plain old, boring inflammation. Inflammation is the primary catalyst that begins the cascade of events that causes atherosclerosis (or plaque) within the arteries. How do you manage inflammation? Well, to grossly oversimplify it, you manage it through diet and lifestyle. There is just one major problem with this however. You can't patent diet and lifestyle like you can a blockbuster drug so there's no money in diet and lifestyle for drug companies.
Stopping the "Ask Your Doctor" Feedback Loop
I will end this article with something for you to think about. Its kind of a "chicken or the egg" type thought. Are we are a pill popping, magic fix culture because that is inherently who we are and drug companies are merely satisfying an existing demand? Or is the existing demand artificially created through clever marketing from the drug companies? Well, regardless of which came first, we need to unplug and stop the "ask your doctor about ____" feedback loop. It has to begin somewhere and if all this article does is inspire just one person to take action and take responsibility for their health instead of relying on the drug companies (who care nothing about you, if that wasn't already obvious), then I count this article a huge success! I don't mean to sound like a crazy zealot but I literally had to speak my piece about this.
To all my patients and those who read this, I wish you the best in health and in your lives! May you be blessed with the wisdom and discipline to take charge of your health and the health of your loved ones in spite of what the latest and greatest "guidelines" suggest you should do.
-Dr. Chad Woolner
