What is self-directed health? Part I
I’m going to make a bold proposal, one you may find farfetched, even irresponsible.
I propose that much of human health can be managed without a doctor or hospital, but by individuals, on their own.
Sure, you could remove a wart using the cider vinegar recipe your grandmother gave you⎯big deal. But I’m referring to something much more substantial. And I don’t mean removing your own appendix, or self-splinting a leg fracture in your garage.
What I mean is that many health conditions can be safely, effectively, and inexpensively managed by an individual without a doctor’s guidance, without a doctor’s diagnosis, and without need for prescription medication.
It’s already happening. And it’s already happening on an incredible scale, not just by the eccentric doctor-phobe bearing acupuncture needles along meridian lines. It is a philosophy already embraced by tens of millions of people, although they may have done so unknowingly.
I call this phenomenon self-directed health: health practices and disease treatment that are self-managed.
You might already recognize a rudimentary form of self-directed health in its predecessor, “wellness,” the healthy-eating, exercise-break, check-your-blood-pressure and know-your-cholesterol practices followed at workplaces to reduce healthcare costs. But the concept is evolving rapidly from this humble start. And it’s going to grow much bigger.
To view evidence of self-directed health at work on a large scale, look no farther than nutritional supplements, the wildly popular $21 billion confirmation that people desire self-managed health solutions. Though we may dispute the wisdom and effectiveness of some of it, there is no doubt that options in nutritional supplements have exploded over the past two decades⎯and the public has embraced them enthusiastically. Lax regulation imposed by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act has allowed the definition of “nutritional supplement” to be stretched to the limit and includes obviously non-nutritional (though still potentially interesting) products like the hormones pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and melatonin to be sold on the same shelf as vitamin C, “nutritional supplements” that fill the growing public appetite for self-directed health.
Though still in its infancy, direct-to-consumer access to medical imaging is yet another facet of the phenomenon of self-directed health. Today, it is possible to diagnose your own coronary disease (CT heart scan), measure bone density for osteoporosis (DEXA, ultrasound, or bone densitometry), or quantify the severity of carotid atherosclerosis (ultrasound) with tests available to the consumer⎯directly, without a doctor’s involvement. A number of market forces in healthcare (including increasing exposure to large insurance deductibles) are converging to make direct-to-consumer medical imaging an appealing option.
Direct-to-consumer laboratory testing, a silent but substantial phenomenon, has emerged only in the last few years, largely in response to physician reluctance to order tests requested by individuals eager to explore health. Cost awareness to the price of lab testing is growing as more people are being exposed to health costs through larger insurance deductibles. The competitive pricing that develops naturally in a direct-to-consumer retail service yields substantial cost savings. (50% is not uncommon.) A mind-boggling array of self-directed tests is now available, from advanced markers for heart disease, to genetic cancer markers, to hormonal assessments.
Undoctored Health is going to chart these explorations in self-directed health. I invite you to follow along.
I propose that much of human health can be managed without a doctor or hospital, but by individuals, on their own.
Sure, you could remove a wart using the cider vinegar recipe your grandmother gave you⎯big deal. But I’m referring to something much more substantial. And I don’t mean removing your own appendix, or self-splinting a leg fracture in your garage.
What I mean is that many health conditions can be safely, effectively, and inexpensively managed by an individual without a doctor’s guidance, without a doctor’s diagnosis, and without need for prescription medication.
It’s already happening. And it’s already happening on an incredible scale, not just by the eccentric doctor-phobe bearing acupuncture needles along meridian lines. It is a philosophy already embraced by tens of millions of people, although they may have done so unknowingly.
I call this phenomenon self-directed health: health practices and disease treatment that are self-managed.
You might already recognize a rudimentary form of self-directed health in its predecessor, “wellness,” the healthy-eating, exercise-break, check-your-blood-pressure and know-your-cholesterol practices followed at workplaces to reduce healthcare costs. But the concept is evolving rapidly from this humble start. And it’s going to grow much bigger.
To view evidence of self-directed health at work on a large scale, look no farther than nutritional supplements, the wildly popular $21 billion confirmation that people desire self-managed health solutions. Though we may dispute the wisdom and effectiveness of some of it, there is no doubt that options in nutritional supplements have exploded over the past two decades⎯and the public has embraced them enthusiastically. Lax regulation imposed by the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act has allowed the definition of “nutritional supplement” to be stretched to the limit and includes obviously non-nutritional (though still potentially interesting) products like the hormones pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and melatonin to be sold on the same shelf as vitamin C, “nutritional supplements” that fill the growing public appetite for self-directed health.
Though still in its infancy, direct-to-consumer access to medical imaging is yet another facet of the phenomenon of self-directed health. Today, it is possible to diagnose your own coronary disease (CT heart scan), measure bone density for osteoporosis (DEXA, ultrasound, or bone densitometry), or quantify the severity of carotid atherosclerosis (ultrasound) with tests available to the consumer⎯directly, without a doctor’s involvement. A number of market forces in healthcare (including increasing exposure to large insurance deductibles) are converging to make direct-to-consumer medical imaging an appealing option.
Direct-to-consumer laboratory testing, a silent but substantial phenomenon, has emerged only in the last few years, largely in response to physician reluctance to order tests requested by individuals eager to explore health. Cost awareness to the price of lab testing is growing as more people are being exposed to health costs through larger insurance deductibles. The competitive pricing that develops naturally in a direct-to-consumer retail service yields substantial cost savings. (50% is not uncommon.) A mind-boggling array of self-directed tests is now available, from advanced markers for heart disease, to genetic cancer markers, to hormonal assessments.
Undoctored Health is going to chart these explorations in self-directed health. I invite you to follow along.
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What is self-directed health?
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