Blog -After this Pandemic - Fighting poor world Health
Even after we’ve all received the Covid-19 vaccine, the world will still be sick.
The World Health Organization estimates there are approximately 170 million people worldwide with diabetes. 95 % of those have type 2 Diabetes, fueled by obesity, particularly due to excess abdominal fat. The number of diabetics is expected to rise to 300 million worldwide by 2025.
Nationally, 1 in 7 children aged 2 -19 are obese, and this is costing Americans $14 billion in health care expenses, according to research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which also points out the rise in childhood food insecurity as a result of the pandemic and associated economic woes. Ironically, we will still face these dual paradoxical challenges of childhood obesity and child food insecurity.
There is no doubt the coronavirus pandemic is the worst public health crisis that we have ever faced. The good news is that there are solutions to this, in terms of vaccines and rapid home testing and they are right around the corner. Not to throw a wet blanket on this wonderful news, but even after we defeat this deadly virus, the world will be in terrible health. And so much of this crisis is a result of our lifestyles - eating convenient, artificial, processed and unhealthy foods.
Even once we‘ve gotten beyond the pandemic, and we will, we will be faced with excessively high death rates from cardiovascular disease, neurovascular disease and cancer. Not to mention the vexing deadly problems of addiction, gun violence and mental illness, not to mention world poverty. The causes of these conditions are complex and are closely intertwined with lifestyle, diet, and human activity. Classic medical models of prescribing medicines, performing surgery, admitting patients to the hospital or providing expensive outpatient doctor visits, are not sufficient to help folks face these post-pandemic medical challenges. We cannot muster the vast resources of big pharma to come up with a vaccine in record time (as we did with Covid-19) to prevent heart attacks, stroke or prevent suicides. There is no “operation warp speed” to deal with the opioid addiction problem, for example.
Take a deep breath, and find your center, however, for there is good news! Once we get past the devastation of Covid, pick up the pieces and try to get back to life in the “new” normal, there is a bridge to wellness, connecting traditional western medicine and the individual patients struggling with the diseases of modern civilization. That bridge is the Health Coach (see www.monacowellness.org).
Health Coaching, a profession to which I have evolved after 30 years of traditional hospital based medicine, is the missing link in the health care system. The Health Coach combines education, prevention, empathy and compassion, providing these with a system which has concentrated too much on profits and politics and not enough on health and quality of life. The health coach promotes health instead of just combatting sickness. To say Coaches “do” these things is inaccurate, actually. Patients discover the keys to their health on their own, because no one knows their bodies like they do, and the body itself has a brilliant system of healing itself and promoting its own health. The Coach simply guides the patient/client toward harnessing their own intrinsic mind, body and spiritual talents, unleashing their rejuvenating powers.
So, by all means folks, get the vaccine as soon as it is available to you. Trust it. It is safe and effective, and if enough of us get the vaccine, we will beat the Covid virus. Then we can find the time, resources and strength to fight these other epidemics facing us and threatening our lives. The health coaching movement will help us as a society, serving a profound medical need. And as a health coach, we at MONACO Wellness (www.monacowellness.org) can help you achieve your health goals, wherever you are in the world. Call or write today!
John E. Monaco, MD
Health Coach
MONACO Wellness
Tampa, FL
(813) 252-6378