 Though I was trained as a general practitioner, my chosen specialty is lifestyle medicine. Yes, most of the reasons people go to see their doctors is for diseases that could have been prevented, but lifestyle medicine is not just about preventing chronic diseases, but also about treating them. And not just treating the disease, it's treating the causes of disease. If people just did four simple things, not smoking, exercising half hour a day, eating a diet that emphasizes whole plant foods and not becoming obese, that may prevent most cases of diabetes and heart attacks, half of strokes, and a third of cancers. Even modest changes may be more effective in reducing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and all-cause mortality than almost any other medical intervention. The key differences between conventional medicine and lifestyle medicine is instead of just treating risk factors, we treat the underlying causes of disease, as described in this landmark editorial. See, typically doctors treat risk factors for disease, such as giving a lifetime's worth of medications to lower high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, high cholesterol. But think about it, high blood pressure is just a symptom of disease dysfunctional arteries. Yes, you can artificially lower blood pressure with drugs, but that's not treating the underlying cause, which often comes down to things like diet and exercise, the penicillin of lifestyle medicine. Disregarding the underlying cause and treating only risk factors is somewhat like mopping up the floor around an overflowing sink instead of just turning off the faucet, which is why medications usually have to be taken for a lifetime. If a floor is flooded as a result of a dripping tap, it is of little use to mop up around the floor unless the tap is turned off. The water from the tap represents the cost of disease, the flooded floor, the diseases filling up our hospital beds. Yet medical students learn far more about methods of floor mopping than about turning off taps, and doctors who are specialists in mops and brushes can earn infinitely more money than those dedicated to shutting off taps. And the drug companies are more than happy to sell rolls of paper towels so patients can buy a new roll every day for the rest of their lives. Power phrasing Ogden and Nash, modern medicine is making great progress, but just headed in the wrong direction. Preventive medicine is, frankly, bad for business. When the underlying lifestyle causes are addressed, patients often are able to stop taking medication or avoid surgery. We spend billions cracking people's chests open, but only rarely does it actually prolong anyone's life. In contrast, how about wiping out at least 90% of heart disease? Think about it. Heart disease accounts for more premature deaths than any other illness and is almost completely preventable simply by changing diet and lifestyle. And those same changes can prevent or reverse many other chronic diseases as well, the same dietary changes. So why don't more doctors do it? Well, one reason is doctors don't get paid to do it. For no one profits from lifestyle medicine, so it's not part of medical education or practice. Presently physicians lack training and financial incentives, so they continue to do what they know how to do, prescribe medication, and perform surgery. After Dean Ornish proved you could reverse our number one cause of death, heart disease. Open up heart disease without drugs, without surgery. Disease for the plant-based diet and other healthy lifestyle changes. He thought that his studies would have a meaningful effect on the practice of mainstream cardiology. After all, a cure for our number one killer? But he admits he was mistaken. Physician reimbursement, he realized, is a much more powerful, determined medical practice than research. Reimbursement more than research. Surgery over science, wealth versus health. Not a very flattering portrayal of the healing profession, but hey, if doctors won't do it without getting paid, let's get them paid. So Dr. Ornish went to Washington, arguing that, look, if we train and pay for doctors to learn how to help patients address the real cause of disease with lifestyle medicine, not just treat disease risk factors, we could save trillions. And that's just talking heart disease, diabetes, prostate, and breast cancer. The Take Back Your Health Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate to induce doctors to learn and practice lifestyle medicine, not only because it works better, but here's the critical factor. Physicians will be paid to do it. The bill died, just like the millions of Americans will continue to do with reversible chronic diseases.