Are You Caught in the Drug Trap?

[Guest guest]

http://www.mercola.com/2004/apr/21/drug_trap.htm

 

Are You Caught in the Drug Trap? Find Out How to be Set Free From a

Drug-Controlled Life

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

with Rachael Droege

 

 

 

Do you keep Tylenol in your desk drawer at work or Advil in your glove

compartment? Is your bathroom closet full of over-the-counter (OTC) cough

and cold remedies and various prescription medications? Do you take a pill

at the first sign of a headache, allergies or a bloated stomach?

 

 

 

If this sounds familiar to you, and I'm sure it does for many Americans,

then you are caught in the drug trap that is so pervasive in this country.

 

 

 

What is the drug trap? It is precisely what I described above--the utter

reliance on pills and medicated syrups to make our pain and symptoms go

away. The problem with this mindset--the mindset that if you have a

headache, heartburn or any other pain, you need to get a pill to fix it--is

that it ignores the fact that these symptoms are warning signs that

something is not right in your body, and of course, the drugs often bring

with them their own set of side effects.

 

 

 

Just How Pervasive is Drug Use in America?

 

Two-thirds of doctor visits resulted in a drug being prescribed.

 

This is one of the main reasons why spending for prescription drugs is the

fastest-growing category of health care expenditures.

 

It is also one of the major contributing factors why doctors are the third

leading cause of death in the United States, as they have an over reliance

on using drugs as Band-Aids, rather than seeking the cause of the problem.

 

Plus, each year Americans buy about 5 billion OTC drugs in the hopes of

treating routine medical problems.

 

Americans have become so accustomed to taking medications for any and every

ailment that it is quickly becoming a part of our culture, and, as described

in a quite interesting New York Times essay that is surely a sign of the

times, this is " a social change on the same order as the advent of

computers, but one that is taking place inside the human body. More people

shift to the pill-taking life every year, to the delight of pharmaceutical

manufacturers. Indeed, drug sales suggest how willing people are to pursue

better living through chemistry. "

 

Break Free From the Drug Trap

 

The first step to breaking free from the drug trap is to realize that your

symptoms are trying to tell you something. This concept is easily portrayed

by looking at fever. Fever is not an illness to be gotten ridden of by

popping a pill, but instead is one of the body's basic defense mechanisms as

it tries to fight off an infection. For this reason, anti-fever drugs may

actually prolong the flu (there are some instances when fevers should be

suppressed though).

 

Likewise, your headache or heatburn is not an illness in itself to be

" cured " by a pill. It is a sign that something you are doing, being exposed

to, eating, neglecting or so on is causing a problem in your body.

 

As I am fond of saying, pain is a wonderful guide that is given to us as

feedback so we can take action to correct the problem before it gives us

further, more serious, problems.

 

To mask pain with OTC or other drugs makes about as much sense as driving

down the road and having the oil light come up on your car's dashboard and

choosing to put some duct tape over the dashboard so the annoying red light

is removed.

 

The light is there for a reason, to warn you of the damage that is imminent

unless you take some immediate proactive action.

 

What Action Should I Take?

 

Once and for all, commit to adopting a diet that is truly healthy for you,

and to optimizing your emotional health. These two factors--the foods you

put into your body and your emotional well-being--have absolutely everything

to do with building your immune system so you can prevent disease and

premature aging and optimize your weight so you can avoid unnecessary

pharmaceuticals.

 

This is no " quick fix, " but rather is a lifestyle change that will be well

worth the effort. Here is a list of resources to get you started, and you

can find all the details of my full program that will set you free from the

" pill-taking " life and give you ultimate control of your health in my new

book:

 

Follow the Nutrition Plan to Optimize Your Health Physically

Use EFT to Improve Your Emotional Health

Get Plenty of High-Quality Sleep

Stick to a Regular Exercise Program

Get More Omega-3

Learn the Drug Companies' Role

 

 

Related Articles:

Seven Common Misconceptions About Tylenol and Other OTC Drugs

 

Fever in Children - A Blessing in Disguise

 

Dissatisfaction with Heartburn Drugs Common

 

Will Cholesterol Drugs go Over the Counter Soon?

 

Arthritis Drugs Have New Warnings, but Will the Doctors Listen???

 

Do You Use Aspirin or Tylenol Regularly? Beware as They Are Linked to Kidney

Failure