Conventional medicine has been battling heart disease for decades. But its major therapies, surgery and prescription drugs have been reactionary, not preventative. Heart disease, hypertension and stroke are cardiovascular diseases. It is most common in industrialized countries where modern lifestyles include the worst risk factors: smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity, high cholesterol, and inflammation.

 

Think for a moment about the solutions offered by conventional medicine for heart disease. Surgical solutions like heart by-pass surgery (which “fixes” the heart by “by-passing” it — a fundamentally Western approach) and arterial stents may be crucial for people with advanced heart disease. But they tend to “buy time” for the patient without getting at the underlying cause of the disease.

 

Similarly, statins (Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Lescol, Mevacor) may lower cholesterol, but lead the patient to rely on a drug rather than getting at what drove their cholesterol up in the first place. Importantly, these are not magic potions but powerful drugs — with powerful side effects.

 

It’s hard to believe antidepressant prescriptions have more than quadrupled in the past couple of decades, estimates over 1 in 10 people in America — now taking one. Advertisements for Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Cymbalta, Effexor, and others bombard us everywhere we turn.

 

Many forms of depression are natural, normal, and temporary. The reality is that life is full of adversity, and many events can cause us to feel depressed. In fact, pharmacological interventions may prohibit the body and mind from working through a needed struggle — much like a fever fighting off infection.

 

Contrary to what some of the marketing campaigns for antidepressants tell us, feeling good is not just about one single molecule in the brain. There are almost always several underpinnings to depression. From sunlight to snacking, our brain chemistry can be coaxed with our choices. There is so much you can do in your daily life to support more positive moods.