Monday, September 30, 2013

Billions could be saved with nutritional intervention!

Dietary supplement regimens may reduce the number of disease-associated medical events, representing the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars – and in some cases billions – of savings. On the back of my last post about the futility and waste involved in certain medical procedures and drug regimens, this report commissioned by the Centre for Responsible Nutrition Foundation suggests massive savings with switch from medical treatment of chronic disease, which currently accounts for 75 percent of the healthcare budget, to prevention which currently accounts for a miserable 3 percent!

The specific nutritional factors that were singled out for use in prevention strategies include calcium, magnesium and vitamin D for osteoporosis, lutein and zeaxanthin for age-related eye diseases along with a number of nutrients for prevention of coronary heart disease. These include omega-3s, B vitamins (folic acid, B6, B12), psyllium, phytosterols and finally chromium picolinate for diabetes-attributed CHD.

I could add a few more to that list and also suggest that the best nutritional prevention strategies start with both prospective parents before conception, but at least this study’s "game-changing" recommendations are headed in the right direction. Authors, Frost and Sullivan, do however suggest that “This will be a marathon and not a sprint”, pointing out that everyone in Washington wants to save money! That’s for sure - particularly given current healthcare costs and the fights over Obamacare, just wondering if they’ve factored the insidious, negative influence of Big Pharma into the race ... ?

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