Healthy Living

Over the last few months I've been paying more attention to the numerous drug commercials on television. On any given day, viewer programs are saturated with commercials for "remedies" that "treat" a variety of ailments, from arthritis to cholesterol-lowering drugs to heart medications. Between television ads, news media and health officials, we've been conditioned to "pop a pill for the quick fix." Instead of treating the source, we take a doctor's prescription and "cover up" the problem. Don't get me wrong - I'm certainly not suggesting that you flush away all those expensive medications. Drug company profits are soaring, in some cases, as much as $9 or more per pill (which gives them more power to pay more lobbyists to continue raking in those profits). Many doctors, under pressure from the insurance companies to keep costs low, run us through their office likened to some factory assembly-line. In some cases, physicians are having to see twice as many patients today just to earn what they did ten years ago. Today's society views insurance companies and HMO's as a "necessary evil." It seems there must be a balance between the medical and "natural healing" professions. In order to make an informed decision, readers need access from which to extrapolate information. In an effort to help readers find that balance, we've included, Change Your Health with the Change of Season, a natural health-related article, which can be found on page 4 of this issue. We've also added access to natural health related sources on the website in the Cool Links section. We'll continue to include similar articles in upcoming issues. In the meantime - healthy living! Until next issue . . . take care.