Stop Playing "Whack-a-Symptom"

The object of the carnival game Whack-a-Mole is to use a rubber mallet to hit as many critters as possible when they pop up in random succession.  Trouble is, as you hit one mole, three more pop up and disappear before you can nail them all.  Whack-a-Mole is a perfect metaphor for how patients get medicated today.  Unfortunately in this game you end up on many different drugs for a bunch of different problems, with no actual improvement in your health.

According to Generation Rx, in 2004 the number of prescription drugs used by the average American annually was twelve.  Data from FamiliesUSA.com show the average number of prescriptions taken per senior citizen grew from 19.6 in 1992 to 28.5 in 2000, an increase of 45 percent.  Yet despite taking all these drugs, the US embarrassingly ranks 37th among the world's industrial countries when it comes to overall health.

In chiropractic, health is not defined by how many symptoms you can temporarily 'whack away' with drugs, but how well your body can heal and function under its own power.

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