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Health care has taken center stage in the news over the last several years for a number of reasons. When you finally cut through the questionable political agenda, fairness and effectiveness of the new policy changes we are all faced with an extremely sobering fact: Health care cost is skyrocketing at an unsustainable rate. No matter who is paying for it, the rate of increase for health care cost is harming the economic stability of our nation. While there is plenty of explanation for this unsustainable increase the one statistic that is most commonly overlooked and that politicians, media and healthcare professionals don’t seem to be educating us on is that 75 % of all the money spent on health care is spent on the treatment of chronic illnesses that are preventable (9). Research has proven that the lion’s share of these illnesses is rooted in lifestyle patterns and preventable. As noted earlier, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity are among the most costly and debilitating illnesses, but also happen to be among the most preventable. Science has confirmed that a person’s short term and long term health status are correlated highest to the lifestyle habits related to nutrition, physical activity and stress management. The CDC reports that 71 % of all cancers, 70 % of all strokes, 82 % of all heart disease and 91 % of all diabetes are preventable through lifestyle habits conducive to good health (10). In fact, the American Cancer Society reports that 60 % of all cancers can be eliminated simply by adding more fruits and vegetables to one’s diet (11). This is actually good news! The fact that these terrible diseases are preventable means we have full control of our wellness future!
While we are empowered with the knowledge that we can reverse the current health and wellness crisis there is much work to be done. If we are ever going to reverse the ugly trends we are seeing in our health status and the associated socio-economic degradation, the medical establishment and the culture as a whole must place the highest emphasis on primary prevention to slow the progression of these diseases and even avert the onset of each chronic illness altogether. For health care providers, focusing on lifestyle patterns that prevent the onset of most chronic conditions should be just high a priority as treating the recurring episodes and manifestations of each illness. The culture as a whole must realize the importance of shifting away from an environment of over consumption of unhealthy food and promotion of a sedentary lifestyle toward making changes like eating more fruits and vegetables, getting adequate cardiovascular exercise and managing chronic stress.