How Contemporary Living Became an Obstacle to Illness: The Sickness Industrial Complex…
Imagine a trillion-dollar healthcare system that is intricately linked with pharmaceutical companies, medical technology firms, insurance corporations, and even some regulatory agencies. It isn’t confined to huge corporations alone. Holistic businesses and influencers who promote the idea that people must take supplements indefinitely or who capitalize on people’s fears of chemicals and poisons are also part of the disease industrial complex.
“The medical practitioners remind me of a flock of sheep. When the leader starts to run in a certain direction, the whole flock follow without question, and the faster the leader runs, the more excited the rest become.” Dr. B. H. Cubbage, 1908
When compared to other countries, the United States has the highest rates of both obesity and chronic diseases. Six out of ten Americans adults are currently dealing with a chronic ailment, according to Statista, “such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.” I bet you have at least one personal acquaintance who deals with the challenges of living with a chronic illness.
Obesity contributes significantly to that illness load. More over 42% of American adults and 18% of American kids are obese, a number that has more than doubled since the 1980s. According to the STOP Obesity Alliance, growing healthcare expenses, worse health-related quality of life, and the recent drop in U.S. life expectancy can be attributed, in large part, to obesity and its associated problems.
Obesity is caused by a myriad of things, including food, inactivity, lack of sleep, hormonal imbalances and shortages, and so on. One of the major culprits, though, is the healthcare system, which uses the public’s misinformation about obesity to make money.
The outside pressure upon the physician is very great, tending to force him to active treatment, whether in his judgment necessary or not. Some error of diet, some improper habit of the patient, may only need correction, and the administration of drugs be unnecessary or hurtful.” — H. Brown, MD, Huntsville, Kentucky, 1892
In 1997, the FDA made a big change to the law that let a lot of pharmaceutical ads air on TV. This started a new era.The third study shows that direct-to-consumer ads for prescription drugs went from $1.3 billion (79,000 ads) in 1997 to an amazing $6 billion (4.6 million ads, including 663,000 TV spots) in 2016.[4]
So, we are surrounded by a never-ending stream of enticing promises. There is a happy song in every ad that says a small bottle or shot can save us. Asking our doctor can erase all flaws, pain, problems, and hints of death. The focus is on something that never stops and is always positive. What’s going to happen? Being sucked into a robotic narration that quickly goes over a long list of horrible conditions—including pancreatic inflammation, kidney problems, and serious digestive issues—while reducing them to small technical details. There have never been any ads that show people who risked their health because they believed in the promise. There are no shots of people lying on hospital gurneys, families in grief, or lives that have been broken. A never-ending stream of happy faces that were meant to make us forget about our worries.
If you have had medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN2) in the past, are allergic to it, or take it too quickly, you shouldn’t take it. You should let your provider know if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, are nursing, or are going to have surgery or a treatment. If you have any of these side effects: severe stomach pain, neck swelling, pancreas inflammation, gallbladder problems, or a severe allergic reaction, you should stop taking the medicine right away and see a doctor. People with diabetes, especially those who take medicine for their condition, might be able to lower their blood sugar levels by using wegovy. If you see changes in your vision or feel your heart beating while you’re not doing anything, you should call your doctor. Side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea can make you lose a lot of water, which can lead to kidney problems.
People in general and people who work in medicine have been taught to ignore certain things. People have told us that these kinds of disasters are just rare and affect certain groups of people more than others. However, the numbers stand for real people, like moms, dads, and friends, not just ideas. No matter what, we are taught to think that the nightmare will never come true, to ignore the small print, and to trust the song.
“Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.” — Stephen Leacock, Garden of Folly, 1924
The system that profits from our sickness doesn’t want to modify our lifestyle. Since the 1960s, chronic diseases have skyrocketed due to our lifestyles: we sit too much, eat processed food, stress, sleep poorly, and avoid meaningful human interaction. The “Sickness Industrial Complex,” which includes large agriculture, big food, big pharma, and its political, financial, and advertising partners, profits from treating lifestyle disease symptoms but not causes.
From 13.4% in the 1960s to over 40% now, the percentage of obese Americans has tripled. Despite decades of health gains, generations born after 1970 are dying more from heart disease and cancer. Although health care accounts for over 18% of GDP, we are sicker than we were as children. The problem is that we’ve surrendered our health care to a system that just manages illness, not prevents it.
Doctors like Seth Capehart, MD. No new medicine or sophisticated protocol works. Living like a person means exercising daily, eating real food, managing stress, getting enough sleep, and socializing. These are minor changes. We started there and strayed.
If you sit on your ASS all day, this is what happens to your body. Soreness and twitching ensue. Muscles are unable to remove sugar from the circulation when they are not contracted. Insulin becomes ineffective. Hyperglycemia develops. Pleased to meet you, pre-diabetes. A tense hip, a dormant glute, and a broken back are the results. Aching in the neck. Arm ache. Inflammation of the lower back. Does this ring a bell? The body tells itself, “We’re not doing anything important—let’s save energy,” and as a result, your metabolism slows down. Consequently, you will have persistent fatigue, fat gain, and muscle loss.
And now for the truly peculiar aspect. When you sit all day, your body interprets it as an indication that you’re not well. For the simple reason that in the wild, fit creatures don’t have twelve hours to do nothing. Only creatures near death do that. When this happens, your body goes into survival mode. A state of increased inflammation is achieved. There is a slowdown in recovery. Levels of stress chemicals remain high. This isn’t your strong suit. Even if your mind has forgotten, your body remembers.
We eat trash. For 99% of human history, we ate what was available. Meat. Fish. Vegetables. Fruits. Nuts. Seeds. Tubers. Real food. This guidance applies to legumes, lentils, tofu, tempeh, and other whole-food proteins that vegetarians and others have eaten for generations. The goal is real food, not fakes. About 60% of the average person’s calories come from new foods. Seed oils. Refined sugar. Artificial tastes. Preservatives. Emulsifiers. Factories make lab products, not crops. Made inexpensive, shelf-stable, and addicting. None of it makes sense to your body.
Consume ultra-processed meals and observe. Blood sugar rises. Insulin gorges you. Your body stores fat. Blood sugar drops. You’re hungry again after an hour. Desires strike. You consume more processed food. This cycle never ends. Your immune system views these artificial chemicals as invaders. Chronic inflammation takes hold. Joints hurt. Your head fogs. Fatigue sets in. Autoimmune problems arise. This is not good for your gut microbiome, which contains trillions of bacteria that digest food, control mood, and promote immunity. The good bacteria perish. The sugar-loving nasty bacteria take over. Leaky gut. IBS. Anxiety. Depression. All related to your plate.
The cruelest trick: these foods counteract your “I’m full” signals. Eat 2,000 calories of processed junk and still be hungry. Try eating 2,000 calories of steak and vegetables to see how far you get. You’ll be full all day. We eat food that makes us fat, ill, irritated, and hooked and think it’s normal.
No-release chronic stress. Our bodies developed to manage brief stress spurts. A predator appears. Heart rate rises. Flowing adrenaline. Cortisol rises. Fight or flee. Danger passes. Your nerves relax. You recover. Done.
However, modern life works differently. Waking up to email. Sit in traffic. Deadlines exist. Money worries you. Scroll through horrible news. You debate strangers online. Kids need things. Your employer requires. Everyone needs things. Your nervous system stays on fight-or-flight for 12–20 hours. There’s no physical release. Not running. You’re not fighting. You’re sitting in stress hormones.
Chronic stress does what? Still high cortisol. The body prioritizes survival. It stores midsection fat. Energy comes from muscular breakdown. You become sick more because it suppresses your immune system. It lowers testosterone and slows thyroid. Stress-regulating system fails. Small things become overwhelming. Your temper. Anxious. Can’t focus. Inability to relax down destroys sleep. You’re tired and wired. Inflammation soars. Most modern ailments are caused by chronic stress. Constant, low-grade panic is harming our bodies.
Wake Up…
Our worldview is largely mistaken. People have equated medical degrees, shiny buildings, and well-dressed medical personnel with real health. Once a problem arises, they look for a miracle cure for problems they often created, and that should have resolved themselves.
What the drug “does” is promoted, while all those other side effects are largely ignored. Point of fact, they are all what the drug does, and there really is no such thing as a “side” effect. The ones that companies like, they promote; the others, they largely ignore, to the benefit of their profits and control, not necessarily your well-being. Much of this is not science, but empiricism performed on the public. If it were science, they could tell you whether your digestive system would stop, whether you would get kidney stones, or whether you would experience a rare but fatal reaction. But they do not know. They simply point to experiments that showed problems, which they list as side effects, and which they promptly largely ignore before happily giving you the pill or injection to try, to experiment.
