Silent Inflammation (of our small arteries) Blog No. 2

The way it should be....

Everybody talks prevention. No one really knows how to do as it involves behavior. It is not pills or MRI's; it is about how we choose and live. If 80% of what causes disease and economic distress is silent inflammation, then our clinics should be anti inflammatory....and behavioral.

How can we do this? I will suggest a model consist with our modern age; not the age of horse and buggies where we have to go to the doctor's office, wait in the waiting room, and have some primary care physician Rx some kind of pill.

I suggest small centers set up in malls, airport hubs, work places, and next to coffee kinds of operations that are designed for the consumer, not the doctor or clinic. Inside these small centers are the same kinds of personnel in some ways: nurses and techs, but the physician is accessible by internet. He or she can be reached at one of these centers via the internet, but also while the consumer is at home, work, or 35K feet in the air on an airline over Kansas. Most of primary care medicine with an ESTABLISHED relationship can be done this way, especially with home BP monitors and so forth.

But, these centers have services not unlike a popular coffee service in one sense. Once or twice a week the consumer can get his or her pulse wave results-walk in-which is giving feedback on how the person is doing on his or her wellness plan. Pulse wave measure arteriolar resistance in sophisticated ways like a blood pressure cuff, but it tells you quickly how your medications are doing, exercise, weight loss, and all the rest as a biofeedback system. The consumer begins to see positive changes quickly and reinforcingly.

Unfortunately, these pulse wave machines were designed for cardiologists, and they are not used much because cardiologists like to do angiograms as it pays much better. Pulse wave machines are more for prevention and should be at the "street level."

Other services will be at these centers: lab draws, ultrasound for body scans, and other small and portable machines for consumer use. These centers are supported by comprehensive web base services. All is geared to preventive feedback and behavioral change.

The idea is to give people frequent and accessible access to how their anti inflammatory program is doing. When was the last time you went to the doctor's office and had a sense of your anti inflammatory status? Again, we are talking roots here: strokes, heart attacks, cognitive decline, breast cancer, and so forth. This is 80% of the health care dollar and it can be prevented by useful and user friendly services that make a change.