Chronic health problems are increasing.

More than half of people aged over 65 in the UK have more than one chronic health condition, and that’s increasing by the day.

What’s going wrong?...

I would describe the traditional approach to chronic health problems as “sick care” rather than “healthcare”.

For accidents / traumas, etc it’s typically fantastic.  For example, if I break my leg, I know I will be in great hands at the hospital.

But for chronic health problems, it can be a different story...

Here, people are going to the doctor with a problem, and the doctor is looking for a quick way to resolve that problem (through meds or surgery in 99% of the cases).  

But that is NOT healthcare.  

It is, instead, masking (or trying to mask) their sickness, but not addressing WHY they have these issues in the first place.

Patients look to doctors as a person of authority.  Someone they can completely trust.

Yet all too often we hear people being told that things such as “diet or supplements won’t make a difference” to their health.  

I’m sure even a doctor can’t TRULY believe that.

I should add that I am not tarnishing all doctors/physicians with the same brush.  Many are extremely open minded and forward thinking but unfortunately do not appear to be in the majority when it comes to natural health.  

Medication 

Medication is very often necessary for someone’s symptoms.

But it’s not the ONLY thing that’s needed for long term health. 

There could also be doubts raised around whether a lot of the commonly used medication is even effective…

I’ll put a disclaimer that none of this is medical advice, but the research around statins, for example, appears to show they are only beneficial in very few cases (normally an elderly male who has already had a heart attack) yet they seem to be given out regularly.

It’s actually thought that statins benefit just 1 in 50 of the people who take them!  

Surely anyone can appreciate that providing diet and lifestyle advise instead would be much more appropriate for the majority of people at risk of a heart attack than pumping them full of drugs?!

So what can be done?

Functional medicine I believe is the future, and something which should run alongside the conventional approach.

Whereas a conventional doctor will use mainly medication to deal with problems, a functional approach is more about building health and addressing the root cause.

It appreciates that if someone is experiencing symptoms, then something is causing that, and whilst medication may be needed, we should still work on underlying issues.

That might be gut bacteria problems, nutrient deficiencies, inflammation, stress, infections, and more.

The world is getting sicker and sicker.  

A change is needed.  

At the Autoimmune Institute, we hope we can play a small part in helping you to feel better.

Its why we exist.

We certainly aren’t an alternative to doctors.  But we do believe that for many people, what we offer, can have significant health benefits.

Check out our range of ultra-high quality effective supplements here and search by area of health interested by clicking here (or getting in touch!).

I hope that helps.