If you are taking any medication for lifestyle diseases, ask yourself: why am I taking this medication for the rest of my life? Doctors often prescribe medications quickly because that is what they are taught in medical schools. Once you are on medication for a lifestyle disease, you become a lifelong patient. This means you need to visit the doctor every time you need a refill. In India, many patients also expect a prescription; if a doctor doesn’t prescribe medication, they feel cheated. Getting people off medications is not common practice, as it is not beneficial for doctors or pharmaceutical companies. Here are some observations:

1. Symptom focus:

Doctors focus on symptoms and aim to reduce them to normal levels. They often do not understand or explain the true cause of the problem. Usually, the blame is placed on the patient for eating too much and not exercising enough.

The same is also true of pharmaceutical companies whose focus in developing drugs is on reducing symptoms. For example if a drug can lower your blood sugar without increasing insulin resistance (which is the real cause of diabetes), it gets approved. Another example is the Blood Pressure medications which only lower the BP without reducing atherosclerosis (the real cause of high BP).

2. Prescription practices:

Doctors prescribe medication because that is what they learn at medical schools and what is expected under their medical license.

3. Lack of nutrition knowledge:

Doctors often do not discuss nutrition because it is not a subject taught in medical schools. Time constraints also play a role, as doctors need to see many patients.

4. Medical standards of care:

There are well defined standards of care that must be followed by all doctors to maintain a medical license. Not adhering to them can lead to lawsuits, especially in the US. Different specialties have their own governing bodies, such as the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for diabetes.

Sometimes same diseases can be treated by different specialist which create confusion as they are governed by different standards. Such is the case with members of American Institute of Clinical Endocrinologists who also treat diabetic patients.