I am a big fan of Dr. Andrew Weil. I have heard him speak live a few times. I enjoy some of the stuff Dr. Deepak Chopra talks about as well. I do like the concept of alternative or integrative medicine and try to read as much about it as my free time allows. That does not mean I like it all. I was recently reading a health magazine and saw an ad offering courses to the lay people on how they can be natural health practitioners. In this blog, however, I do not want to debate the validity of alternative medicine. I want to discuss the article authored by DEEPAK CHOPRA , DEAN ORNISH , RUSTUM ROY and ANDREW WEIL in the WSJ. This open letter to the public and the President-elect tries to show how lifestyle and exercise are the best cures for America's health problems. Duh! They throw some references in there and quote some studies but to me it proves something that I hadn't realized reading their stuff all these years. When I read these gentlemen's books I personalized what they were saying because I wanted to improve my own health. I am a well-off physician and have the motivation and means to buy the right food and go to the gym. What I realize now is that these authors HAVE NO IDEA about the general public or the patients that I see in my practice. They have always been "speaking" to the well-off. My medical partner and I had both read this article and even though we both are fans of the authors who wrote it, we could not see the point to the whole thing. How does one preach "joy, pleasure and freedom" to a diabetic who won't take his meds? How do I get my patient off her blood pressure meds and get her some Yoga and exercise as she raises five kids in a cramped apartment in a poor neighborhood? To be fair, I don't have the answers either but these authors sure seemed to think they do. I just want them to follow me for a day and tell me what I should be doing differently.
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