Although largely ignored by the news and medical media, the last few years may as well have written the obituary for the yearly medical checkup. These evaluations were geared to seeing if you have “IT” yet. IT being some scary and expensive way to evaluate and treat illness.
The message that yearly physicals should RIP has been resisted by many physician organizations who are finding that a big part of their revenue stream is disappearing. But it is what the research is showing. For example:
1. Screening Mammography: An excellent study in the NEJM found that this test does not decrease mortality from breast cancer. Rather it simply results in dramatic overdiagnosis,1 which results in woman undergoing severe medical trauma, at great toxicity and expense.
2. PSA Testing: The test’s developer has called PSA screening a “public health disaster.”2 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) “recommends against prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer.” It gives this test a grade of “D.”3 Looking at the actual statistics is sobering.
It is estimated that for every 1,000 men offered PSA testing, 240 will have a positive result and 100 will have a positive biopsy. But 20.7 to 50.4 percent of these men will actually have indolent disease that never grows or metastasizes. Eighty will opt for definitive treatment with surgery or radiotherapy. Following treatment, 50 of these men will experience long-term erectile dysfunction and 15, long-term urinary incontinence. While 1.3 deaths from prostate cancer will be prevented, five will still die from the disease despite having undergone treatment. Even this one death may well be negated by deaths from treatment, which are not tallied.
3. Thyroid Nodule Screening:4
The list goes on and on…
What screening has withstood the benefits of scientific testing and time?
1. Blood pressure and diabetes screening
2. Glaucoma screening
3. For better or for worse, getting a colonoscopy every 10 years after age 50, and
4. Perhaps Pap Testing at intervals no less than two years apart in women 21-29, and every three years in women 30.5
Almost nobody comes away from their yearly physicals actually feeling better, except perhaps some relief knowing they didn’t have cancer. But a phoenix is rising from the ashes of the yearly checkup. People are starting to realize that they can feel better. That the American myth of “aging isn’t for sissies” is simply that. A false myth.
The new reality, which holistic physicians have known for decades, is that our job is not only to help people recover from illness without being failed or even killed by the medical profession. It is to help people create optimal vitality. Most of us know the pieces of the puzzle, but haven’t really organized it into a quick and highly effective form.
The good news? It’s easy! Here’s how.
Getting a Yearly Tune-up
What if you could easily do this tune-up in a 30- to 60-minute office visit? What if you could learn what you need to know to do this in less than an hour? For free. What if you received free patient referrals in the process?
You can! But more on this below.
There are 10 key assessment areas to optimize vitality:
TUNE-UP DOCs: A 10-point Program
There is a quick and simple questionnaire that you can use, where the people you treat can check off what symptoms they have. It will quickly assess each of the categories below. By simply scanning what areas are checked off on the questionnaire, you will know within a few minutes what needs to be addressed.
There is also a treatment checklist, so you can simply check off the optimization program you want to use in each category. This can be done in just a few minutes. Without (illegibly) writing the same things over and over and over. It’s really that simple! To get these free tune-up tools, email me at FatigueDoc@gmail.com. You can then modify both the questionnaire and treatments to your practice if you would like. Areas to assess:
1. Sleep
A. Insomnia
B. Sleep apnea
C. Restless legs
2. Hormones
A. Thyroid
B. Adrenal
C. Estrogen/progesterone/testosterone/libido
D. Bladder/prostate
3. Microbial imbalance capital
A. Sinus
B. Candida
4. Energy
5. Overall nutritional support
6. Digestion
7. Mood
8. Cognitive function
9. Discomfort
10. Heart function
It’s really easy as can be. You may already know many of the component areas. But this will organize them, and I bet you’ll learn a lot from them as well!
Meanwhile, one more really important point.
Enjoy Pleasure and Life
Culturally, we’ve gotten into the horrible habit of vilifying life’s pleasures, and passing this along to our patients. This is a sad and toxic carryover from our Puritan heritage. Which taught us that anything that feels good is bad for us. Can you see how bizarre and unhealthy this is? Whether looking at it from an evolutionary perspective or from having been created by a loving God, this concept is simply… insane!
Did you know that the following are all healthy and good for you?
1. Wine/Alcohol: People who have two drinks a day actually live longer than teetotalers.
2. Chocolate: This is one of my favorite health foods. Chocolate lovers had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, and a 35 percent lower risk of developing diabetes. In another study, they had a one third lower risk of cardiovascular disease.6
3. Coffee & Tea: People who drink a few cups of coffee a day reduce their risk of early death by 12 to 13 percent compared to folks who didn’t drink coffee. Coffee is also linked to fewer deaths from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes and infections.7 I would keep it to 1 to 2 cups a day, and switch to decaf if having more. Meanwhile, tea lowers heart attack and Alzheimer’s risk and even lowers cholesterol. Both are plant-based and chock-full of healthy phenolics and antioxidants.
4. Avoid Sunshine: It is estimated that the current advice to avoid sunshine, our main source of vitamin D, had contributed to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, from many types of cancer to diabetes and autoimmune disease. The proper advice? Avoid sunburn, not sunshine!8
5. Salt Restriction: Going from a low salt to an impossible to maintain level salt restriction lowers blood pressure less than 3 mm, while aggravating adrenal fatigue, and increasing risk of death from cardiovascular disease.9 Increase potassium and magnesium instead for those with high blood pressure. Meanwhile, eating eggs has been proven not to raise cholesterol.
Another Helpful Tool
Douglas Labs is offering a free set of videos covering each of the above topics. In total, these will take less than 50 minutes to watch. They can be found at www.douglaslabs.com/tune-up-teitelbaum.
Once you’ve watched the videos, email me at FatigueDoc@Gmail.com and let me know. I can then add your name to the free Tune-Up Docs patient referral list for people seeking tune-ups!
More and more, consumers are realiz-ing that they want to die very young, but very late in life, while feeling great and enjoying life. Are you ready to help them do so? Welcome to the Tune-Up Docs program!
References:
1 www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1600249.
2 www.medscape.com/viewarticle/828854_print.
3 www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/ Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/prostate-cancer-screening.
4 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28492904.
5 www.karger.com/Article/FullText/346137.
6 www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/esoc-io082811.php.
7 Freedman, ND, et al. Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality. New England Journal of Medicine. 2012 May 17;366(20):1891-904.
8 www.vitality101.com/nutrition-overview/vitamins-and-minerals#vd.
9 http://medind.nic.in/iae/t11/i3/iaet11i3p193.pdf.
Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, is one of the most frequently quoted integrative medical authorities in the world. He is the author of the best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic!, Pain Free, 1,2,3!, the Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction, Real Cause Real Cure, The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution, Diabetes Is Optional and the popular free Smart Phone app Cures A-Z. He is the lead author of 4 studies on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and a study on effective treatment of autism using NAET. Dr. Teitelbaum appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and FoxNewsHealth. Learn more at www.vitality101.com.
