A new study published in the January, 2018 edition of the journal Health Affairs compared the mortality rate of children in 19 wealthy, Western countries.
Guess who finished last? If you guessed the country that spends the most money on health care then you guessed correctly.
The United States spends more money on health care than any other country on the face of the earth. In fact, we spend nearly 20% of our gross national product on health care—far greater when compared to any other Western country.
The authors of the article comment, “The United States has poorer child health outcomes than other wealthy nations despite greater per capita spending on health care for children. While child mortality progressively declined across all countries, mortality in the US has been higher than in peer nations since the 1980s. From 2001 to 2010 the risk of death in the US {when compared to other Western countries} was 76 percent greater for infants and 57 percent greater for children ages 1–19.”
Folks, if you want to measure the health of a country, one of the best indicators is the childhood mortality rate. Generally, the healthier the population is, the lower the childhood mortality rate. When you compare the U.S. childhood mortality rate to other Western countries, it is plain to see that our children are not doing well.
President Trump makes it clear that he does not like losing. Well, we are losing when it comes to health care. And, to make matters worse, we pay top dollar to finish last.
Some say our children need more vaccinations. Presently, U.S. children receive more vaccines than any other children on the planet. More vaccines are clearly not needed here. And, perhaps our children are over-vaccinated. I have written about this topic in previous blog posts and in my March 2017 newsletter, Dr. Brownstein’s Natural Way to Health. In this article I wrote about how too many vaccines may be negatively affecting our children’s’ health.
Where is the outrage about our high childhood mortality rate? Where are the headlines in the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times? Where are the Congressional investigations into why our children, when they are compared to other Western children, are finishing last on nearly every health indicator?
It is apparent that we need a different approach to health care as the way we have been doing things for the last 50 years have not worked. We cannot continue to spend increasing amounts of the GNP on a failed health care model.
How do we change things? I practiced conventional medicine many years ago. I decided that I could not continue to practice that way when I realized that I was not helping people. I was busy prescribing prescription medications that not only did not treat the underlying cause of my patients’ problems, they were fraught with adverse effects. I found a holistic approach, using items that actually support the body’s functions, more effective and safer when compared to what I was taught in medical school.
It is time for you, the public, to educate yourself about holistic ideas. I know you are as frustrated as I am with what is going on in our health care system. Only when we all decide that we have had enough of spending our hard-earned dollars on subpar care will things change. If your health care provider is not providing you with alternatives to expensive and toxic therapies then I say it is time to find one that does.
More information about safe and effective natural remedies can be found in my books, and in my newsletter.
DrB
Thank you for shedding light on this controversial topic.
Great comments, Gail. I’m a senior on a limited budget,and must use traditional insurance. I do read and research nurition and supplements quite a bit, and being an RN helps. My husband and I take an assortment of supplements and we see the positive effect they have on our heath. My sister and I have decided WE have to be in charge of OUR OWN healthcare!
I keep my cholesterol under control by eating avocados regularly, rather than taking medications. They are quite effective! I’ve even started cooking with avocado oil. A cardiologist actually told me to “spread the word” about how effective eating avocados are in controlling cholesterol. I only wish there were more alternative medical doctors around.
.
Thank you for your informative books and newsletters, Dr. B!!
Our species existence is questionable at this point as each generation is less able to thrive due to multiple man-made factors.
I am not sure what we can do against such powerful corruptions (corporations) whose influence penetrates deeply into all aspects of our lives.
Has anyone noticed that there has been an increased number of patients dying from pulmonary fibrosis that have a history of a recent flu shot? I have seen this now 5 times and yet I have never seen it mentioned in any publications or noted as a possible warning. My advice is to stay away from all the vaccinations until they are proven to be effective without side effects.
I also recently had a patient who had a severe neurological ongoing incident after taking Murilax to prep for a colonoscopy.
Wow–so much to say on so many topics presented here. First, I agree 100% with you Dr. B! This is how I see it: we are all disconnected–we spend too much time on FaceBook, checking our email, texting, watching TV, NOT talking/sharing/laughing with family and friends, We consume GMO/GE foods, breathe bad air, drink poisoned water. Many of us cannot afford to buy organic (we are seniors and so far have been able to make it work but with the rising cost of everything else except our income, I doubt it will last). Mother Earth is being poisoned by fracking, injection wells, heavy industry, pesticides, and on and on.
The insurance companies have hijacked the US government and nearly ALL politicians know it and allow it. There should be term limits–and politicians should only be able to serve one term. And no getting that politician salary for the rest of their lives nor the “special” insurance they have given themselves–they should be treated just like the rest of us.
As for alternative health care, we try to only do that–and again, it all comes down to money. I work for an alternative health care provider (in Central Ohio by the way) who takes no insurance–it’s cash, check or credit card–and we have a full client workload–most come because of today’s conditions/diseases–using natural methods, we can help. If the client needs a referral to an allopath, it is made, but that is very rare. However…alternative health care is expensive and we deal with very few struggling families because they cannot afford it–so they use the traditional insurance model. It’s sad!!
A solution: get out of your head, support natural companies, do more for yourself–grow a garden, can, use essential oils, study natural solutions, take supplements (there are many good ones, contrary to what we are told by mainstream media), go for a walk (nature creates miracles), practice kindness, love each other (have you seen anyone be successful by being hateful?), do random acts of kindness, eat healthy foods, celebrate life and each other–make this a better world–educate your families and friends, start a positive movement of whatever makes you feel good–there IS hope out there–more and more people are waking up and realizing what has been done to us. I’ve only said a little of how I feel–but my prayer is that someone, even if it is just one person, will feel positive and hopeful and will do some of these things to make their and our world better. Good luck and great health!
I read with interest comments about pets being fed better in the US than people- and then the comment that pets really are not fed better either due to unhealthy products and food and its production. I could not agree more-as a long practicing chemist and now college professor can testify that much expense and testing in the lab goes into animal feeds but it is true what goes in is what cones out we truly are what we eat and there is no way to be absolutely healthy without supplementation and detoxification-we are literally surrounded by a chemical soup- and most ready to eat soup is just that-chemicals!! Thank you Dr. B for sticking out your neck for the TRUTH!
Thanks, Dr. B! I think it is terrible that we have no interest in this situation by the press or Congress. Turn on your TV any morning and you will see multiple “health” segments, and not one ever acknowledges these facts or the many other failures of “conventional” medicine as it is taught and practiced today. Keep fighting!
Each generation of Celiac people are sicker. Pets and people need no gluten…grains so their intestines have absorb nutrients. Pets also get too many vaccines. People need more sunlight/Vit D which helps the immune system and stops autoimmune attacks. Grounding helps get rid of free radicals. Bare feet walking in the grass is good. Women maybe waiting until they are older to have kids. Estrogen dominance due to meat/dairy/soy/BPA/chemicals/fast/The Pill is also hurting people.
They just added more vaccines to the childhood schedule. Very sad! One day old Hept B and Vit K shot is not good and baby formula maybe 1/2 sugar and GMO corn/GMO soy. Parents say their baby is mellow………Why? Due to the vaccines? Giving the mom vaccines during pregnancy is not good also. The mom maybe eating gluten/GMO which may hurt their gut lining so less nutrients absorb for her and to give to the baby. Few are breast fed now…very sad. Breast feeding may help babies survive vaccines. Roundup/GMO/gluten/vaccines/heavy metals/Fluorine in baby water/BPA and more may hurt. I think more people are having trouble with morning sickness/pregnancy due to gluten etc. Some may not even get pregnant if they eat gluten. Drugs given to the mom and painkillers during labor/C section may hurt the baby. People need to learn how to eat well and not assume any thing in the grocery store is healthy and has vitamins.
Very well said, Deanne!!
Follow the money trail. Corporate America owns America. Our individual rights, which we continually have to fight for, have been sidelined in favor of the almighty dollar. The greed of few is hurting so many.
Couldn’t agree more with your take of the health outcomes in this country. Having practiced for 30+ years as an RN, have seen the results/tragedy’s first hand. Problem is, the Federal Government’s inundated and corrupted by Big Pharma. The only way to tackle this issue, to federally/legally prohibit ANY Pharma congressional lobbying, research funding and prohibit direct consumer advertising. Issue/challenge is, it’ll never happen because they’ve become their primary source of funding. Independent scientific research which is industry driven is not appropriate and/or unbiased.
Nancy,
Agree. A mess it is.
DrB
Deanne Your comment was excellent as well as the others
Thank you Dr Brownstein
I seem to be noticing a trend here. Throwing money at things doesn’t result in higher quality or better outcomes. HALF (maybe more) of my property taxes here in New Hampshire (“Live Free or Die” state) go to pay for “public,” tax-funded education. Is the quality of education better than it was 100 years ago? I do not believe so. There are more bells and whistles, but I would not send my child to those schools for anything. My child never attended a day of “public” school in his life, yet I must fund that educational system for the rest of my life, against my will (pay or lose your property).
Now they want to do the same thing with “health care” – force me (through taxation – pay or go to prison) to fund a health care system I disagree with – to help pay for questionable health coverage for people who smoke and drink and do drugs and eat junk food and do whatever the “gods of medicine” tell them to do (vaccinate, medicate….) and watch t.v., play video games, get all caught up in sports or whatever other distraction they like instead of trying to learn something that would improve their minds and lives and whatever other poor choices they make. It is crazy. And the children pay for their parents’ lack of attention and their going with the flow. The parents pay too, but the children pay through no fault of their own. And then there are the parents who DO try to do something different have their children medically kidnapped for questioning the accepted system.
When are the people in this country going to wake up and put a stop to this? I don’t see it happening. There are too many amusements and entertainments and obligations. The rat race doesn’t stop. There is no time to pay attention.
I have followed you for years and I agree with 99.9% of your advice and information… however, I do not think President Trump should be blamed for ANY PART of the abomination that is the ACA… President Trump did NOT create it and I do believe he is doing his best to get rid of it… with no cooperation from Congress… be that as it may… As a former practicing RN, the problems I see are the following: TOO MANY VACCINES, ( !!! ) , Lack of nutrients in the food we are eating… soils are depleted and trace nutrients are not being added back into the soil, GMO and IRRADIATED foods , Removal of Iodine from the bread making process and the addition of Bromide in it’s place, Both parents being forced to go into the workplace instead of one adult at home every day taking care of the family and the family needs.. one important part of which is the preparation of safe and nutritious food . Too many fast foods being consumed People glued to their cell phones to the exclusion of all other activity… both mental and physical.. REAL nutrition not being taught early on and continuously to the children. I believe this nation cold turn this around if drastic changes would be made in each of these issues.. until then, I see nothing but further decline….. unfortunately. Oh,… and TOO MANY RX MEDICATIONS BEING PRESCRIBED AND TAKEN. !
C,
I placed no blame on President Trump. I just mentioned him and what I hope he accomplishes. Time will tell if President Trump is no different than any other politician with regards to health issues.
DrB
I am 81 years old. I was in HS and College in the 1950’s. As I have seen our children and adults get sicker and sicker over the years, I think back to my schooldays at how much healthier kids were back then, and how they grew into much healthier adults.
Lately I have been digging out charts about the rising rates of various illnesses. We all know about how much more autism there is every year. I was shocked, though, when I saw a chart showing that autism was very low until 1990, when it suddenly started shooting up at a relentless rate.
What happened in 1990? We know of two things (there may be more). A rapid rise of the use of Glyphosate and GMO foods, and, due to a new law passed by congress, a rapid rise in the number of vaccines given to babies and children.
The industries pushing these events are so powerful and wealthy that they have so far successfully prevented any kind of study on the safety of their products. The charts show what is happening. It is criminal that we cannot even do a study on what the cause might be.
Unfortunately, the strongly pro-vaccine people ignore the health situation of so many of our children.
I wonder if anyone has thought of how will we keep the army strong when so many boys are being severely damaged by vaccines.
I have also seen adults relating to how they were damaged by a vaccine or maybe 2-3.
Maybe they actually do some good. I just think the powers that be are so intrigued by a product they can mess up and be held completely free from any consequences. There are MORE vaccines in the pipeline.
I will do my best to avoid ANY vaccine today. I just don’t need any more heavy metals pumped into my body @ 78.
I wish there was a dr near me in west/central Ohio that practices as you do. Two out of four of my kids have thyroid disease (as do I). My oldest daughter also had thyroid cancer (with thyroidectomy, RAI and ongoing tests to check for reoccurrence). I can not find a doctor who practices similar to you under our insurance. I try but get disappointed. There needs to be more doctors who are as informed as you are.
I agree with the overall article, but in other blogs when it uses percentages you usually explain how its made to look worse. So at 76% and 56% more likely to die, what does that mean in real terms? Even though I am on your side, please be consistent if the math here makes it look worse than it really is, although last is still last and we need to improve.
Also, and I hate to hijack a your blog, but I’d really like to hear what you think about the current flu season. It sounds like the worst in many years and of course they are pushing the flu shot. I grew up knowing the flu could be deadly in rare cases, but didn’t think about it much, now when you read something on it, you’d think people are dropping like flies and we all need to bubble rap ourselves in. I’ve got some other health concerns, so I tend to fret over these things even though I know its probably exaggerated. Thanks!
Darin,
There is no absolute/relative risk difference here. The numbers reflect how hour children compare to the other Western countries.
DrB
As for the flu, I will have something about that shortly. For past flu articles, just type “flu” in my blog search window.
There are many laws and behaviors that desperately need to be changed in our Country in order to again …. teach our children in school how to cook, nutrition, finance…. The list goes on. Big pharma has been allowed to take over our Government with their poison vaccines and other drugs by padding the pockets of the vary people we vote into office to protect this from happening (Monsanto). It more than sickens me, it discusses me of how little concern for the peoples health & welfare are to our law-makers. I pray there’s a special place waiting in Hell for them all.
Each on of us can help make a difference by growing as much of our own food as we can, support our local organic farmers, teach our children and those around us how to properly care for themselves. And yes …. express the love in our hearts for all things fair and good in order to push out the hate & harm. Thank you Dr. Brownstein for all your research and for sharing your knowledge. Let’s all be students and teachers.
Dr. Brownstein,
These statistics don’t surprise me. The media is intent on its own campaigns and is not interested in the real facts. Thank you for presenting these facts. I will inform those I know.
I have read your books, Dr. B, and I recommend them, you and your blog to anyone who will listen to me. Unfortunately, I believe that the movers and shakers of the $$$ in this world decided shortly after WWII, that the only way to eventually overcome the US was to wage another kind of war and to wage it upon the children and grandchildren of the victors while at the same time making themselves fabulously rich! I fear they have been very successful, and that no matter what we do at this point, once my generation is gone (I am 65), our children and grandchildren will be unable to defend themselves against far stronger, more numerous and healthier aggressors.
I myself, was lucky enough to have been able to convince my daughter and son-in-law NOT to vaccinate their child, but so many new parents are woefully unaware of the dangers. I pray that my granddaughter will grow up strong and healthy and may, one day, help to lead whatever is left of America, back to health and prosperity.
God Bless you for your courage in speaking out on these issues! I wish there were more doctors like you!
C. Glicker
Unfortunately, we do not feed our pets better. Many have the same diseases that people have because they are fed dry kibble, which is overly processed. If we fed ourselves and our pets whole foods we would all be better off.
This is so sad. I work for a chiropractor and it is amazing to me how many people allow their benefits (what companies who want to save $) determine what they do for their health. If plan doesn’t pay for it they struggle to come/stay healthy naturally. It is so obvious to me. Insurance plans are reimbursing natural doctors less and less because they can’t make big Pharma money on us. I am not sure how we can turn the tide except to keep sharing info like this and keep talking to folks about natural medicine.Yes! We feet our pets better cheryl! Dr. Wallach has shown we have eliminated many diseases in animals due to their improved diets. The humans refuse to help themselves. Thank you Dr. B for this info.
My neighbor has a large commercial bakery in Canada and he can not make bread using our contents. Our bread contains bromine which speeds up the rising and makes the bread softer. Bromine, a poison, replaces it’s healthy cousin iodine. Perhaps some of our problems are due to diet. My wife and I both in our late seventies can only remember a few obese kids like 1% when we were in school; now you see a significant number of fat kids.
Unfortunately, we can’t clone you, Dr. B.! And, unfortunately, the insurance companies won’t pay for alternative methods and treatments. They will pay a fortune for a conventional doctor to give out bad advice and bad medications. We can’t change that, and Trump probably can’t either, if he tried. Sad, but true! Thank you for all you do! I know there are people out there who aren’t even your patients who follow your advice.
Don’t talk about it Do It….
Start by teaching nutrition and gardening with the microbiome in Kindergarten.
Simple Japan has gardens and nutritionists in school.
Teach kids how to cook.. basic skills.
I have called educators, actually called to volunteer to teach nutrition and no takers.
This is insane. We feed our pets better.