By TJ Williams, DC, PhD
Cardiovascular disease is the number 1 killer in America. It is also preventable. We all have someone close to us dealing with cardiovascular disease. Whether it is high blood pressure, clogged arteries, or maybe they had a heart attack, we all know someone.
The answer to heart disease is simple: stop doing the things that are contributing to heart disease and start doing things that can reverse heart disease.
The current way conventional medical doctors are “treating” heart disease is misleading. Most people think that they go to the doctor, the doctor listens to them, the doctor evaluates them, then the doctor provides them with the necessary treatment to fix their issue.
While that’s what most people believe, that is not what is really happening. What is really happening is that people go to the doctor, the doctor listens to them, the doctor evaluates them, and then the doctor provides a treatment that suppresses the symptom. Suppressing the symptom does not solve the problem; it simply masks the problem.
Let’s put this into perspective with a real-world example. Imagine you had a choice of the type of doctor you visit to help you with your high blood pressure. One doctor will listen to your problems, evaluate you, and then provide you with a medication to lower your blood pressure. You must take this medication every day for the rest of your life and as soon as you stop taking it your blood pressure will be high again.
Now imagine going to a different doctor that listens to your problems, evaluates you, identifies what it is exactly that is causing your blood pressure to be elevated, and provides you with solutions that you can do to eliminate what is causing your blood pressure to go up. In other words, this different doctor is identifying and treating the root cause of your problems. And at the same time, this doctor will discuss with you all of the other things going on in your life that could be contributing to any other problems you might have, AND they identify the root cause of those conditions and they offer solutions to those problems as well.
Which would you choose? I cannot make the decision for you, but if you are someone who is tired of suppressing symptoms and is ready to take control of your health, consider a functional medicine doctor.
If you would like more information regarding any of the treatments, therapies, or services offered at The Institute of Natural Health, please contact us at (314) 293-8123 or visit us at the theinstituteofnaturalhealth.com. Dr. TJ Williams is the Clinic Director for the Institute of Natural Health and the host of the radio program Wellness 101, which provides common-sense, science-based strategies for a healthy life. Wellness 101 airs Sundays at 2:00pm on FM NewsTalk 97.1.