Asking the Silly Question
. . . and improving medical care.
The “silly question” is the first intimation of some totally new development.
- Alfred North Whitehead
The “silly question” I want to ask – the same question I have been asking since college days in the 1970s - is this: the focus of medicine is always on disease, or what is wrong with people. I know we must identify and correct what is wrong when people need help. That is a central function of medical care. But beyond diagnosis and treatment, how do we move people away from disease – what is wrong - and move people toward health – what is right?
Whenever we look at diagnosis, this is the process of identifying what is wrong with anyone who goes to the doctor. Disease is simply a clear definition of what is wrong. Once we diagnose the disease, the next step is determining how to treat the disease, so it no longer troubles the patient. Whether we prescribe medicine, initiate surgery, or start any other treatment, the focus is the same: we must beat the disease – we must beat what is wrong.
How do we access what is right - our health? We can easily get a to-do list of known Risk Factors to avoid and thereby prevent disease. We are advised to get enough exercise, check periodically for cancer, follow a healthy diet, and to avoid stress. But this amounts to identifying measures to simply avoid what is wrong – disease. We’re back to that topic. Other than taking vitamins, exercise, and avoiding Risk Factors, we have no clear road map to health.
This undue focus on disease and its treatment has created today’s Healthcare Crisis. That is, because nearly everyone is so focused on combating disease like an enemy in war, few are looking toward peace: achieving health. A major reason for out-of-control healthcare costs is exactly this situation: we are so busy dedicating everything to combating disease that we completely fail to seek the goal of health – which, when achieved, will make disease obsolete.
Discovering the road map to true health as opposed to simply avoiding known risk factors is a journey worth taking. This journey will require a thorough examination of health and disease, and how we can better treat disease when it raises its ugly head. Equally important is the journey of discovery to find the path to create health and completely avoid disease.
This is why I want to take you on a journey with me. This journey is one of inquiry and discovery, of questions asked and answers found. We will cover a lot of ground, you and I, but do not think that it will be a journey to make you weary. Rather, this will be a journey full of the joy of discovery, of puzzle pieces found and joined, of a big picture arrived at slowly, one step at a time. And anyone who loves a good mystery, and its solution, will find lots to ponder. Stay with me as we ponder all this and much more.