Regardless of where you stand on the “health care debate” it is easy to see, our system isn’t working for many, many people.  I loved this article from January’s Body and Soul magazine that discusses what the support of integrative medicine could do for the health of our society and how empowering it can be to take charge of our own health.

“Changing our attitude about who’s responsible for our health is a critical step. When we assume that a doctor, pill, or procedure will just fix us, we become passive recipients of health care.”

When we look at such staggering statistics like “95 percent of U.S. health-care funds goes toward treating illness. 5 percent goes to prevention,” or “$76 billion: cost of health care associated with physical inactivity in the year 2000″ it is impossible to deny a change must be made in the way we take care of ourselves.

The article opens with discussion on our current focus on disease rather than health.  Traditional western medicine is saving lives every day, but this has created a system that is dedicated to diagnosing an illness and prescribing a treatment rather than focusing on how to avoid the emergency situation in the first place.

“[Cardiologist Mimi Guarneri, M.D.] emphasizes that screening tests, while important for catching disease early, are often falsely marketed. “Prevention isn’t having a mammogram,” she says. “Prevention is eating an anti-inflammatory diet rich in greens and whole grains and exercising.”"

Changing a system that is set up to reward medical doctors for treating sick patients rather than keeping them from becoming sick in the first place is going to prove to be a tall order.  But it has become clear, treating an illness is not helping people stay healthy, and it is certainly not saving any money.  Billions of dollars are being spent treating heart disease, type II diabetes, cancer…the list goes on and on.

Integrative Medicine pioneer, Andrew Weil recently spoke to the the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.  What he said resonates with many who are hoping for a deep and systemic change in the way we talk about and look at what true health care is.

“The time has come for a new paradigm of preventive medicine and a society-wide effort to educate our citizens about health and self-care…We do not have a ‘health-care’ system at all but rather a “deeply dysfunctional” disease-management system.”

Regardless of how the current bill makes it’s way through the government and on to the people it is critical to begin a change in our beliefs about what it means to be healthy.  A combination of thoughtful preventative care and an attitude of responsibility for our own health and well-being will go a long way towards preventing chronic illness and keeping us in our best health.