Look at the graph above from a recent article in Medscape by Dr. George Lundberg. You can easily see that as sugar consumption increased by half, the obesity rate tripled, and the number of Americans with type 2 diabetes increased almost twenty-fold. Dr. Lundberg explains how patients are victimized by the American Medical Industrial Complex.
Dr. George Lundberg is one of the most influential and effective healthcare reformers I know. He is Editor-at-Large for Medscape, and Editor-in-Chief at Cancer Commons. He is President and Chair of the Board of Directors of The Lundberg Institute, and a clinical professor of pathology at Northwestern University. Dr. Lundberg served over 30 years as Editor-in-Chief of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), the 10 AMA specialty journals, AM News, Medscape, The Medscape Journal of Medicine, eMedicine from WebMD, and MedPage Today.”
Over the last week, I have been writing about the ways that large American industries view us as sources of revenue rather than fellow human beings. Predatory capitalism does not care about you or your family. Dr. Lundberg supports that view. “The proper daily practice of medicine consists of one patient, one physician, one moment, and one decision. Let it be a shared decision, informed by the best evidence and taking cost into consideration. That encounter represents an opportunity, a responsibility, and a conundrum.
Individual health is subsumed under the collective health of the public. As such, a patient's health is out of the control of both physician and patient; instead, patients are the beneficiaries or victims of the "marketplace." Humans are frail and easily taken advantage of by the brilliant and highly motivated strategic planning and execution of Big Agriculture, Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Marketing, and Big Money-Driven Medicine and generally failed by Big Government, Big Public Health, Big Education, Big Psychology, and Big Religion.” No wonder Americans don’t trust their institutions.
Dr. Lundberg points to diabetes as an example of capitalism gone crazy. Big food fattens us up and then Big Medicine makes billions addressing diabetes and other diseases Big Food causes. “Then it discovers (invents) long-term, very expensive, compelling treatments to slim us down, with no end in sight, and still without ever understanding the true nature of diabetes.”
He goes on to explain that 90% of patients with diabetes have type 2 diabetes which is related to excess weight. The complications of overweight and diabetes overlap and include artery disease, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, amputations, chronic kidney disease, blindness, glaucoma, cataracts, osteoarthritis, many cancers, fatty live, sleep apnea, and nerve damage. These diseases are a cash cow for big medical systems, specialists, and others in the food and health care industries.
The evidence has been right in front of us the entire time. For 40 years we have failed to recognize the elephant in the room and address it. The food industry combines sugar, fat, salt, and carbs to make addictive foods. For forty years we have gained more weight, and the American Medical-Industrial complex has gained more power and money.
Dr. Lundberg says it better than I can. “Talk about a sweet spot. The only successful long-term treatment of obesity (and with it, diabetes) is prevention. Don't emphasize losing weight. Focus on preventing excessive weight gain, right now, for the population, beginning with yourselves. Otherwise, we continue openly to perpetuate a terrific deal for the American Medical Industrial Complex, a travesty for everyone else. Time for some industrial grade penance and a course correction.
Meanwhile, here we are living out Big Pharma's dream of a big populace, produced by the agriculture and food industries, enjoyed by capitalism after failures of education, medicine, and public health: a seemingly endless supply of people living with big complications who are ready for big (expensive, new) medications to fix the world's big health problems.”
It all goes back to the root cause we have been discussing. Big Food made us fat and sick by making products that are irresistible. We are easily taken advantage of by slick advertising campaigns for these addictive foods. If you eat real, whole food. If you eat these addictive foods only once a week or so, you can stay slim and live a longer healthier life. You can even lose a pound or two a month. The government will not save us. These industries will not save us. We must save ourselves. There is no other way out. Every American who eats real, whole food helps to change our system in ways that work better for working families.
Dr. Lundberg is one of the most prominent medical leaders in the country. He doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk. He will be 90 this year and he is still making major contributions as you saw in his resume. He is one of the physicians that I most admire.
The Washington Post has a lengthy article today about reduced lifespans and poor health of Americans as compared to our peers in other comparable countries:
https://wapo.st/3ZF1zqt
I have to agree with your article completely and thank you so much