Finding Balance in Modern Medicine
Modern medicine is caught in a paradox. Some patients receive excessive treatments that add little value, while others miss out on preventive or personalized care that could transform their health. The challenge lies in finding equilibrium — care that is sufficient, effective, and evidence based without being excessive.
Overtreatment: When More Medicine Is Not Better
Unnecessary interventions can create more harm than healing.
Procedures and surgeries: Many knee arthroscopies and spinal fusions for chronic pain show limited long term benefit. Coronary stents in stable heart disease do not outperform lifestyle and nutritional therapy for event prevention.
Overuse of medication: Antibiotics are often prescribed for viral infections, fueling antibiotic resistance without improving recovery. Proton pump inhibitors are taken for years despite risks of nutrient depletion, gut imbalance, and kidney injury.
Undertreatment: The Hidden Health Crisis
While some receive too much medicine, others receive too little of the right kind.
Neglect of preventive and lifestyle medicine: Insulin resistance, inflammation, and mitochondrial health are rarely screened early. Most patients never receive comprehensive metabolic or hormonal testing.
Limited access to advanced therapies: Regenerative treatments such as stem cell or exosome therapy remain inaccessible to many due to insurance limits. Precision cancer and longevity care are often confined to elite medical institutions.
Dismissal of patient experience: Chronic fatigue, thyroid dysfunction, and perimenopausal symptoms are often minimized or misdiagnosed. Many women's health concerns remain under investigated despite clear biological patterns.
How to Find the Right Level of Care
1. Demand individualized medicine: Seek physicians who practice integrative, functional, or precision health rather than symptom management alone.
2. Question unnecessary interventions: Ask whether a lifestyle change, targeted supplement, or non-invasive option could replace a prescription or procedure.
3. Advocate for advanced testing: Comprehensive metabolic, inflammatory, and hormonal panels reveal what standard labs overlook.
4. Focus on long term vitality: True healthcare measures success not by absence of disease but by sustained energy, resilience, and performance.
The Takeaway
The best medicine is not about doing more or less — it is about doing what works for the individual. Balanced care honors both science and self, ensuring that every intervention serves a clear purpose and supports lasting well being.