The other day I got to thinking: what would doctors do without their prescription pads? What did they used to do? With the news about pharmaceutical mislabeling, disturbing side effects, and drugs being produced contaminated laboratories,  I couldn’t help but wonder what we would do without these so-called magic bullets?

I’m not the first to notice that modern medicine has become a bit lazy. Instead of taking a good hard look at why someone may have developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, etc. we focus on what drug will make it go away — or at least make it go away on the tests and measurements we’ve created.

Many physicians and healthcare practitioners agree that diet, exercise, and stress reduction are the three big components to healing and health, but most conventional doctors aren’t taught how to implement these interventions in practice. Instead, they’re rewarded for using a drug or scheduling a procedure. It’s not the fault of our doctors or even our insurance companies. We’re all to blame.

Think about how things could change if we walked into our doctor’s offices asking for a natural approach to health? Maybe demanding it? I have no doubt the system would change and embrace healing rather than simply managing disease. Imagine it! We have centuries of healing practices rooted in the innate wisdom of nature and the human body to draw on. I think it’s important for us all to stop and take a moment to think about what we would do without modern health interventions.

From Chinese medicine and Ayurveda to Native American healing practices and plain old common sense, we have many more tools at our finger-tips than you may realize. Here are possible approaches to treating four common disorders in their early stages without modern medicine:
• High blood pressure (diet, exercise, stress reduction)
• Type 2 diabetes (diet, exercise, stress reduction, detox)
• High cholesterol (diet, exercise, stress reduction)
• Osteoporosis (diet, exercise, stress reduction, vitamin D and other key nutrients)

I’m sure you noticed some common themes in the suggested treatment for all four disorders. Many of my patients can agree with the fact that diet, exercise, and stress reduction are three major pillars to health and longevity, but they want specifics. In the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging on tools for a new modern medicine to offer ideas about how to use age-old healing methods and new natural health techniques in our modern lives. These blogs will attempt to answer the question we should all be asking: what if modern medicine didn’t exist?

We created the Osteo Blast blog as our forum to express opinions and educate the public about natural means of supporting and improving bone health and overall wellness. As part of this forum, we sometimes discuss medical issues and medications, and their effects on bone health in general. However, we cannot advise readers about specific medical issues in this forum. If you wish to obtain advice from Susan E. Brown, PhD, about your specific bone health and nutritional concerns, please visit our Consultations page. Other specific medical questions should be referred to your healthcare provider.