Skip to content
+1 954-630-1616
Tri-MED Health Centers
Tri-MED Behavioral & Sleep Medicine: Psychiatry: Sherman, TX & Frisco, TX
Tri-MED Health CentersTri-MED Health Centers
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Approach
    • Our Team
    • Meet Dr. Aina​
  • Services
    • Insomnia
    • Ketamine Therapy
    • Neurofeedback
    • Nutritional Psychiatry
    • Functional Medicine
    • Integrative Drug Addiction
    • Integrative Treatment
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  • Telemedicine
  • F.A.Q.
  • Patient Forms
  • Blog
    • Recipes
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Approach
    • Our Team
    • Meet Dr. Aina​
  • Services
    • Insomnia
    • Ketamine Therapy
    • Neurofeedback
    • Nutritional Psychiatry
    • Functional Medicine
    • Integrative Drug Addiction
    • Integrative Treatment
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  • Telemedicine
  • F.A.Q.
  • Patient Forms
  • Blog
    • Recipes
  • Contact

Reversing the Chronic Disease Trend

Jan122021
Functional MedicineTeam Reversing the Chronic Disease Trend

Total healthcare costs in the United States, more than 86% is due to chronic conditions.

In 2015, health care spending reached $3.2 trillion, accounting for 17.8% of GDP. This exceeded the combined federal expenditures for national defense, homeland security, education, and welfare.

By 2023, if we don’t change how we confront this challenge, annual healthcare costs in the U.S. will rise to over $4 trillion, the equivalent—in a single year—of four Iraq wars, making the cost of care using the current model economically unsustainable.

If our health outcomes were commensurate with such costs, we might decide they were worth it. Unfortunately, the U.S. spends twice the median per-capita costs of other industrialized countries, as calculated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), despite having relatively poor outcomes for such a massive investment.

Our current healthcare model fails to confront both the causes of and solutions for chronic disease and must be replaced with a model of comprehensive care geared to effectively treating and reversing this escalating crisis. This transformation requires something different than is usually available in our very expensive healthcare system.

A Contributing Factor—Outdated Clinical Model

Despite notable advances in treating and preventing infectious disease and trauma, the acute-care model that dominated 20th-century medicine has not been effective in treating and preventing chronic disease.

The primary driver of chronic disease is the interaction among genes, activities of daily living (lifestyle), and the environment.

Adopting a new operating system for 21st century medicine requires that we:

  • Recognize and validate more appropriate and successful clinical modelsn
  • Re-shape the education and clinical practices of health professionals to help them achieve proficiency in the assessment, treatment, and prevention of chronic diseasen
  • Reimburse equitably for lifestyle medicine and expanded preventive strategies, acknowledging that the greatest health threats now arise from how we live, work, eat, play, and move

Yet the old model does not work because chronic disease is a food- and lifestyle driven, environment- and genetics- influenced phenomenon.

This problem can’t be solved by drugs and surgery, however helpful those tools may be in managing acute signs and symptoms. It can’t be solved be adding new or unconventional tools, such as botanical medicine and acupuncture, to a failing model.

It can’t be solved by pharmacogenomics (although advances in that discipline should help reduce deaths from inappropriately prescribed medication—estimated to be the fourth leading cause of hospital deaths) .

The costly riddle of chronic disease can only be solved by shifting our focus from suppression and management of symptoms to addressing their underlying causes.

Specifically, we must integrate what we know about how the human body works with individualized, patient-centered, science-based care that addresses the causes of complex, chronic disease, which are rooted in lifestyle choices, environmental exposures, and genetic influences.

This problem can’t be solved by drugs and surgery, however helpful those tools may be in managing acute signs and symptoms. It can’t be solved be adding new or unconventional tools, such as botanical medicine and acupuncture, to a failing model. It can’t be solved by pharmacogenomics (although advances in that discipline should help reduce deaths from inappropriately prescribed medication—estimated to be the fourth leading cause of hospital deaths) .

The costly riddle of chronic disease can only be solved by shifting our focus from suppression and management of symptoms to addressing their underlying causes. Specifically, we must integrate what we know about how the human body works with individualized, patient-centered, science-based care that addresses the causes of complex, chronic disease, which are rooted in lifestyle choices, environmental exposures, and genetic influences.

By David S. Jones, MD, and Sheila Quinn

Category: Functional MedicineBy Tri-MED Health & WellnessJanuary 12, 2021Leave a comment
Tags: Chronic DiseaseClinical ModelFunctional Medicine
Share this post
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn Pin itShare on Pinterest TweetShare on Twitter Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:Sweet Potato Curry with ChickpeasNextNext post:What is Functional Medicine?

Related Posts

How Does Major Depression Differ from the Everyday Blues
How Does Major Depression Differ from the Everyday Blues?
January 1, 2022
5 Ways to Overcome Isolation When Working at Home
5 Ways to Overcome Isolation When Working at Home
December 26, 2021
5 Science-Backed Supplements for Anxiety
5 Science-Backed Supplements for Anxiety
December 12, 2021
The 4 Components of Functional Medicine
The 4 Components of Functional Medicine
February 22, 2021
Elements of Functional Medicine
Elements of Functional Medicine
February 16, 2021
Terms of Service What is Functional Medicine
What is Functional Medicine?
February 6, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Post comment

Recent Posts
  • How Does Major Depression Differ from the Everyday Blues?
  • 5 Ways to Overcome Isolation When Working at Home
  • 5 Science-Backed Supplements for Anxiety
  • 5 Ways to Embrace Your Flaws and Rewrite Your Life
  • Chicken Spinach Salad with Pomegranate
Recent Comments
    Sherman, TX

    +1 903-328-6556

    Get Directions

    Frisco, TX

    +1 214-494-2131

    Get Directions

    Our Services
    • Insomnia
    • Ketamine Therapy
    • Neurofeedback
    • Nutritional Psychiatry
    • Functional Medicine
    • Integrative Drug Addiction
    • Integrative Treatment
    • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
    Main Menu
    • Home
    • About
      • Our Approach
      • Our Team
      • Meet Dr. Aina​
    • Services
      • Insomnia
      • Ketamine Therapy
      • Neurofeedback
      • Nutritional Psychiatry
      • Functional Medicine
      • Integrative Drug Addiction
      • Integrative Treatment
      • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
    • Telemedicine
    • F.A.Q.
    • Patient Forms
    • Blog
      • Recipes
    • Contact
    Newsletter

    © 2022 Tri-MED | Site by Yakadanda

    Menu
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    Facebook Twitter