What is Preventative Medicine and Why You Need It

Chronic disease in America is one of the biggest health challenges we face today. As I think back to when I was in school, I don’t ever remember hearing much about food allergies. I remember one of my favorite snacks that we use to bring were peanut butter balls! This would be downright dangerous to bring this into a classroom now.

It is now being said that for the first time, parents may be outliving their children! [1]

The statistics are sobering:

Heart Disease costs us about $600 billion each year[2]
75% of men and 69% of women are either overweight or obese[3]
1 in 3 Women and 1 in 2 Men will get cancer!![4]
Food allergies now affect 1 in 13 children!! (Do you remember intense peanut allergies as a kid? So, what has changed???)[5]
29 million Americans have Diabetes and nearly 1 in 4 don’t know that they have it[6]
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women and over 616,000 die every year[7]
1 in 12 women and 1 in 20 men will develop an autoimmune disease[8]
Lyme Disease strikes over 300,000 people each year, many going unreported and misdiagnosed then becomes chronic[9]
400% increase of gluten sensitivity in the past 50 years[1]
Estimated 2.5 Million American’s with Chronic Fatigue but most of them have not been diagnosed[2]
Anxiety affects over 40 million American’s or 18% of the population ages 18 and older[3]
Over 50% of women have a hormone imbalance (and some statistics say it’s more like 80%)[4]
1 in 50 children have Autism (In 1975 it was 1 in 5,000!)[5]

All of these statistics can be very overwhelming but there is hope! When you start to look at some of the changes that have taken place over the years and understand what is the root cause of illness, many of these chronic issues can be slowed and even reversed!

So that brings me to the Traditional vs. Conventional approach to healing and medicine.

As we were looking for answers to help my son heal from his chronic disease, I didn’t have many options but to explore natural medicine. The more we worked with naturopathic doctors, the more it made sense and the more we all benefited from it. I am now on a mission to bring what I have learned, both through my education and experience to help families thrive in life.

So, what does natural, more functional approach to medicine look like?

A functional approach identifies a root cause
A functional approach views the body as a whole and integrated system.
A functional approach helps stimulate the whole body to heal instead of focusing simply on the symptoms.

Why do we need to go back to the foundation of Natural/Functional approach?

Our society is experiencing an increase in chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, auto-immune, and other chronic unexplained issues.
Most conventional doctors do not promote how to apply strategies of how to prevent chronic illness including nutritional deficiencies, nor do they always address the emotional and spiritual component.
The functional approach is patient-focused and time needs to be spent to really focus on learning that person’s unique needs.
God has given us what we need in nature to heal.

I am defiantly thankful for modern medicine especially in acute, crisis situations. A person cuts their finger and needs surgery. So thankful for modern medicine in this way! It’s in the area of chronic illness and preventative diseases that is lacking.

With that said, there is definitely a time and place for modern medication and drugs. “

Non-communicable diseases such as heart and respiratory disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes are now responsible for some two-thirds of premature deaths around the world.” These can cost over 47 TRILLION dollars by 2030![1]

Functional Medicine	Conventional Medicine
Focus is on health	Focus is on sick-care
Person-centered model	Expert, doctor-centered model
Individualized to each person	Everyone treated the same way
Lower cost especially when preventive	Expensive
Addresses root cause to help body heal	Suppresses symptoms with drugs
Preventative approach	Early detection of disease approach
Natural the way God made it	Synthetic and man-made
Innate-Intelligence	Man’s Intelligence
Prevention	Crisis

My desire is to help you live an optimal, vibrant life. Body. Mind. Spirit. Join me through this journey as we dig deep to get to the root of issues and live a preventable approach to disease. God has given us all that we need for life and godliness. 1 Peter 1:3

Be sure to check out my school THRIVE Intentional Wellness Academy and for a limited time I am offering some of my courses for FREE!

THRIVE Intentional Wellness Academy