Digestive issues, whether taking the form of bloating, gas, skin issues, constipation, diarrhea, ulcers, cramping and/or inflammatory conditions, etc., are a threat to the well-being of the body and the longer they persist the more far reaching their detrimental effects will be. We don’t develop digestive ills due to a deficiency of pills and pills are rarely the solution to our digestive ills. Chasing Symptoms With Pills While Ignoring Causes alone pushing 85,000 different supplement products comprising an annual multi-billion-dollar market. In 2020, there were over five hundred supplement companies in the U.S. They are urged and motivated to do so by supplement companies who court their favor in similar ways as the drug companies court standard medical physicians. The emergence of the “Complimentary/Functional/Integrative Physicians” (all relatively meaningless titles) who were, in the past, critical of non-medical approaches, are now eager to push both prescription drugs and a plethora of “supplements” ( see article “The Facade of Functional and Alternative Medicine”). These are also easily purchased from Costco, Walmart, Amazon and other internet vendors in massive amounts. There are those who don’t take drugs but swallow other types of pills, capsules and tablets from “Alternative Practitioners.” Patients may feel more at ease with these pills since they are touted as being “natural”. Ironically these same drugs, when given to patients with digestive disorders, often are a significant contributing factor to gastrointestinal issues.īelow is a short video explaining the problems that can be caused by taking antacids. Despite the damning evidence of the common and serious side effects caused by the drugs including steroids, antibiotics, “Biologicals”, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, antacids, narcotics, laxatives, opiates, etc., drug prescribing continues to be the mainstay of medical practice.
Virtually all “treatments” through physicians are via the prescribing of pills. It is understandable why patients might believe their digestive issues can be solved by simply naming them and then swallowing an assortment of pills. If you have been led down the pill path, you’ve been deceived. They rarely, however, resolve simply by naming symptoms and swallowing pills of any type. Gastrointestinal issues can usually be resolved with a thorough investigation and hard work aimed at improving the patient’s overall health. Over the forty-five years I’ve been working with patients with chronic health issues, most have had digestive disturbances even if they were not the chief complaint. Digestive issues are the most common problems seen by family physicians.