Modern Medicine - The Leading Killer In The United States

Did you know that thousands of people die every month due to properly prescribed medications?

I read an article published in the year 2000 by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), that talked about how medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States. Unfortunately, since the time that that article was written, medical errors has risen to be the number one leading cause of death in the US. It has been reported that there are 106,000 deaths in hospitals from properly prescribed medications. Combine that with the 88,000 deaths in hospitals due to infections, and the more than 100,000 deaths due to malnutrition, and the more than 100,000 deaths due to hospital bedsores, and the 199,000 outpatients that die, and the more than 30,000 surgery related deaths each year, and the numbers start to stack up pretty fast. Heart disease and cancer do not even take as many lives as the hospitals do. And, almost 10 million people each year face unnecessary hospitalization.

How safe is the hospital?

In the past century, modern medicine has made great advancements. There has been incredible advancements in the instruments and knowledge available to medical doctors. There is more knowledge related to the human body, DNA (with the human genome project), cells (with microscope advancements), and nutrition (with knowledge such as fatty acids, the B vitamin recently, and now the new class of nutrients known as glyconutrients). However, even with all of this, people still get sick, and still end up going to the hospital. So, besides costing lots of money, what is wrong with going to the hospital?

Think about it; when you are sick, where do you go? To the hospital, of course. Who else is at the hospital? Right, other sick people. A hospital waiting room is potentially full of diseases that you can pick up and catch. When you sit in the waiting room chair, you are picking up the germs of everyone who sat in that chair prior to you. You are breathing in the airborne germs, of everyone around you, that could potentially infect you. Books and magazines in the waiting area can also carry germs.

Just because the examining room is white... doesn't mean that it is much better.

In the emergency room, most treatment rooms are enclosed in curtains. Do you brush against those curtains? Do you touch them to walk in or out? How well, or better yet, how often do you think those curtains are cleaned? Does your doctor wear a neck tie? Does he flip it over his shoulder when he examines his patients, or does it dangle onto the patient, picking up their germs and distributing other peoples germs? How about the examining beds and tables? Most places only change the linens or change the paper covering the examining table. Do the sides and surfaces get wiped down, at the very least, with disinfectant? Not likely.

Hospitals these days are so overcrowded with patients that many emergency rooms are being forced to see patients in waiting areas and patients are being parked in corridors. Add to that nursing and other staff shortages and you can see how easily cleanliness and hygiene can fall to the wayside a bit as immediate patient care is more imminent. Many hospital staff are opting to move patients through as quickly as possible and cleaning crews are giving examining and treatment rooms a lick and a promise because they simply have neither the manpower nor the time to do anything more than give floors and some surfaces a quick swipe.

So how do you protect yourself?

Go to the hospital when you absolutely need to go - for emergencies. For less serious illnesses, opt for an after hours clinic or check with your own doctor. Sometimes, though, you just have to go to the emergency room. Try, if you can, to go during times when there is less traffic. Typically, Mondays and Fridays are busier than other week days. Evenings tend to be busier than mornings and the weekends can be rather busy. When you do have to go, carry some hand sanitizer with you and if you use the restroom, wash your hands well. Use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the bathroom door. Be proactive and prudent and you will have less of a chance of coming back with more illnesses than you had when you walked into the hospital.

Spencer Hunt is a wellness consultant who has never seen any product work as well as glyconutrients. www.ifoundhealth.com.

Article Source: http://www.wellnessarticlelibrary.com

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