This country has a crisis of chronic preventable disease and chronic unresolved stress. Here one in two people are overweight or obese. There are almost a million people with Type II diabetes and two million estimated to be pre-diabetic There are eight million Australians are predicted to be diagnosed with bowel cancer, a preventable condition. There are more than 353,800 Australians living with dementia. This number is expected to increase to 400,000 in less than five years. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to be almost 900,000 by 2050. One million Australia have depression and another two million have a diagnosis of anxiety. Antibiotics are failing, some common bacteria has mutated and can now resist current medications. The top most prescribed 10 medications in 2014 were for high cholesterol, hypertension, pain and GERD (stomach acid reflux, heart burn , bloating).
The cost of medicine is increasing. “Expenditure on high cost drugs on the PBS is rising and, to date, it shows no sign of slowing. The growing incidence of diseases such as cancers and Alzheimer’s disease is likely to contribute to increased expenditure as new treatments become available.” (http://www.aph.gov.au)
Most people in Australia work more than 40 hours a week often skipping a decent meal and missing essential nutrients. One and half million Australians don’t get a decent nights sleep suffering from insomnia and other sleep disorders. We are subjected to repeated stressors at work and at home and we have little time to truly relax and switch off. We soothe ourselves with junk food, alcohol and recreational drugs.
Despite all the diets people still gain the weight they lost. We are nutritional deficient, we consume on average 30 tea spoons of sugar a day hidden in diet foods and health snacks, and take-away food. It is estimated as little as 2% of Australians Eat Enough Fruit And Veggies, and even if we did the vegetables and fruit found in our supermarkets lack the nutrients we need because the over-farmed soil lacks the required minerals. Many people don’t get sufficient exercise. We sit down on average 12 hours or more a day. Sitting down for this long is now said to be more deadly than smoking.
So what about you?
Are you getting sufficient sleep?
Do you feel fatigued and stressed?
Are you in pain?
Do you exercise enough?
Do you and your family know how to get the nutrients you need to stay healthy and prevent disease?
Do you know the side effects of your medications?
What are you long term health goals?
How long do you want to live?
Middlewood Integrative Medicine 