Blog Profile: Wellness Revolution

Dr. Dennis Da Ponte is the editor to an insightful blog posted on the Harrisonburg summits. The summit was a platform for exchange of ideas. Interestingly it was set up by the mayor of Harrisonburg Kai Degner. The blog touches a range of of issues related to the overall wellbeing of the citizens of the community. This posting was engaging and an eye opener since Dr. Dennis calls for a change or a ‘revolution’ in the current US healthcare system. He refers to one of our founding fathers: “It was our beloved native Virginian, Thomas Jefferson who once said,

Every generation needs a new revolution.” Indeed, a revolution in our Health Care paradigm may just be the calling of our generation. Bugle horns have been sounding off all across America that something just isn’t right.

As a Doctor himself it is apparent that he is radical from his peers who just refuse to comment on the sad state of healthcare and just pass their days practicing in their chambers and prescribing pills. Although the blog is detailed and informative it is a one time post and maintains a low profile with insignificant technorati ranking.

Regardless, the blog is higly relevant to my topic of the emerging Wellness Revolution. Since I plan on talking about the new technologies and healthcare solutions to our current healthcare problems, the blog addresses what is actually wrong with our current system. It justifies why a revolution must take place and this makes my blog highly relevant and meaningful. Although the author does not describe the Wellness Revolution or its nature he does a good job of addressing the current problems. He describes the grim state of health in our society:

63% of Americans are now overweight, 1 in 8 women will fight breast cancer in their life, and The American Heart Association suggests 80,000,000 Americans are living with some form of cardiovascular disease. To make it even worse, the World Health Organization has ranked our Health Care System 37th in the world, behind Costa Rica and Columbia, and it is the most expensive of all countries, almost doubling second place.

He admits that the current system is not working and a revolution is in order.

Furthermore he does a great job of pointing out where the problem lies. We have relied too much on medicine and our doctors for our own health and Dr. Da Ponte is apparent in his comment,

For too long, patients have seen healthcare as a passive process in which their health was completely in the hands of their doctor, and his/her ability to prescribe the right medications. In general, having the mindset of just managing symptoms, Doctors would effectively deal with whatever complaint that walked into their office, and pay less attention to the general well-being of the patient.

Our healthcare system is missing the holistic approach to healthcare that is treating the patient as a whole instead of just masking the symptoms with medicine. If we only treat the surface of the problem instead of the whole body then there is bound to me more health problems and frequent visits to the doctor. One of the main topics of my blog will be whether this is what the doctors and the medical community actually want. Afterall, more visits translate into more income through drug prescriptions and visits both for the doctors and the pharmaceutical firms.

Dr. Da Pointe’s voice echoes and reverberates the sentiments of a revolutionary. His blog appeals to other like minded people who believe there is a better way to treat people and patients don’t have to suffer from the greed of large pharmaceutical corporations who refuse to treat patients with holistic and natural methods. The shifting of our mindset to the holistic approach of healing and wellness is already apparent in our population in small numbers. These people represent the ‘seed’ of the Wellness Revolution that will eclipse many other industries as the numbers keep on growing.