That is not to say that there aren’t times when this type of “damage-control” healthcare is appropriate and necessary. During an acute, critical health crisis or for end-stage disease the tremendous advances in conventional medicine shine and thank goodness they exist!

However, this type of thinking and treatment does not match up well when the goal is to help improve one’s quality of life and avoid future disease recurrences. This is only possible by discovering and correcting the underlying causes of one’s health challenges.

In fact, when these “emergency-care” type treatment approaches are inappropriately utilized they often backfire, sabotaging one’s quality of life instead of improving it. In essence, it is like putting on a temporary band-aid which covers up the ‘surface” problem but does not correct the “underlying” cause. To make matters worse, oftentimes these types of “solutions” create additional pain and disability as a consequence of surgically removed body parts, side-effects from medication, and more.

Click image to enlarge and view “A Tale of Two Models Regarding One’s Approach to Health”

Without addressing that which precipitated the disease it permits it to persist, oftentimes resulting in a perpetual loop of progressive impairment and often an early demise, as is the case with the most common conditions that cut our lives short – heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

After experiencing and being diagnosed with one of these chronic, degenerative conditions, we are frequently informed that it was the result of “bad” genes, “bad” luck, or from “age,” and that someday—but not today—we’ll know more about how to avoid, and even reverse, these common, devasting diseases.

To feel and function your best – whether to prevent disease (stay well) or reverse disease (get well) – a different approach is often required, one which centers around fostering health and healing from within by adopting a way of thinking and living more aligned with your body’s innate, intelligent design.

Your path to a long and vital life requires your active participation, one that seeks and addresses the underlying causes of disease and infirmity. Ultimately, your better decisions around diet, exercise, sleep, toxic exposure, and stress, inevitably result in your experience of greater resilience, stronger immunity, less disease … and, ultimately, a longer healthspan and better quality of life.

And, although Big Pharma, Big Business, and Big Marketing frequently lead one to believe that there isn’t much one can do to significantly reduce their disease risk – let alone slow, stop, and even reverse their trajectories – the truth is that wholesome strategies do exist that often help avoid and recover from these chronic illnesses.

For decades now integrative physicians – who utilize the combined wisdom of conventional, functional, and natural medicine – have been digging beneath the surface manifestation of disease, revealing the underlying causes, which then ultimately point to the solutions to correct them and help people thrive.

However, integrative physicians are still few and far between, and their services may not be affordable as our current disease-care system is not designed to reimburse this type of health-care (vs. disease-care).

Although doctor-supervised healthcare is helpful after one’s health has declined into a state of considerable degeneration, even then there is much one can do for themselves by themselves to promote healing, build resilience, and help protect their well-being.

Given this fact, coupled with the unavailability of affordable integrative healthcare, I designed a series of self-implemented, doctor-guided Intelligent SelfCare™ programs to help prevent disease, as well as to support one’s recovery.

Learn more about Intelligent SelfCare™Programs here.

Find an Integrative Physician here.