The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is now national policy with Trump establishing the MAHA Commission and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as the Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
Americans are universally concerned about their health, but well-financed and entrenched interests are thwarting MAHA. Big Pharma spends $400 million a year on lobbying and contributes $90 million each election cycle. Big food spends $130 million a year on lobbying and contributes $42.5 million each election cycle.
Funding and lobbying by Big Pharma and Big Food support the Medical Establishment’s unwillingness to embrace new medical approaches. This inertia plagues American healthcare.
American food is harming us. Many colleagues echo my own overseas experience where the food tastes better and we lose weight, even when eating heartily.
Medical professionals are increasingly using “Healthspan” instead of “Lifespan” to define health. Why live into your 90s if you lose your mobility and brain function.
Care based on holistic thinking and patient-centric approaches are core elements of “Healthspan”.
MAHA is mobilizing people and policies to improve our diet and lifestyle, such as more exercise. It promotes alternative approaches to healing and wellness.
Historically, the Medical Establishment has embraced dubious methods that proved ineffective. First, they “cast out” demons. Then they “bled out” humors and poisons. Patients, including pregnant women, were deprived fresh air and sunlight until Florence Nightingale prevailed over military bureaucrats during the Crimean War.
Cutting on patients and drugging them are the current standards of care. Certain circumstances warrant these actions, but a growing mountain of evidence is showing there is a better way to treat many conditions.
Light is the key to extending our “Healthspan.”
Just as Nightingale advocated, light heals. Our cellular mechanisms are similar to plants. We turn color when exposed to sunlight. We need the vitamin D that sunlight provides.
The sub-atomic process that turns nutrients, including light, into energy for our cells is identical for plants and animals.
Late Twentieth Century scientists discovered that taking the red and near-infrared part of the light spectrum, and increasing its intensity, restores cellular function. This process, known as Photobiomodulation (PBM), is increasingly accepted for health and wellness.
The first institutional use of PBM was to prevent the side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. Chemotherapy causes sores in the mouth and throat. In the worst cases, these sores turn into Oral Mucositis, making the patient unable to swallow. Feeding tubes and suspension of cancer treatment follows, sending the patient into a fatal tailspin.
PBM prevents the side-effects of chemotherapy. It is so safe and effective that it is now the standard of care in most cancer centers. St Jude uses a popsicle shaped device for delivering PBM into their young patients’ mouths.
PBM is not only safe and effective, it’s cost-effective. Using PBM to prevent chemotherapy side-effects reduces the overall cost of cancer treatment by 70 percent per patient.
PBM reduces inflammation by unblocking the sub-atomic processes within the cell. This unblocking effectively manages pain. This is so effective that in 2022, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommended PBM as the preferred alternative to Opioids as part of their revised Opioid Prescription Guidelines.
CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for
Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022 | MMWR
51 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. Annually, over 100,000 die of drug use. Over 2 million struggle with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). PBM solves these issues.
By restoring cell function, PBM accelerates the body’s ability to heal wounds and generate new skin tissue. Patients suffering from burns, wounds, and skin ulcers heal months faster, leaving no scarring.
As Americans age and become diabetic, foot ulcers occur and, when treated using traditional techniques, usually lead to amputation. PBM prevents amputation and restores functionality.
Areas of PBM Study - PBM Foundation
The greatest expansion of PBM clinical evidence is treating neurological conditions.
375,000 veterans have chronic conditions arising from battlefield blast injuries. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is linked to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and to a higher susceptibility for having Parkinson’s. Veterans’ hospitals in Boston, Salt Lake City, and Denver conducted extensive clinical studies using PBM to successfully treat these conditions.
In 2019, their dramatic results led the VA’s Center for Compassionate Care Innovation (CCCI) to recommend PBM to treat Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Over 100 million patients have used PBM in clinical settings. Millions more use PBM, or “red light” devices, in their homes. There have been no documented side-effects. The American military integrates PBM into warfighter conditioning. Around the world, major athletic teams use PBM for conditioning, performance improvement, and recovery. In 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved PBM use in competition.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been clearing PBM devices for decades. Devices are inexpensive, simple to use, and only take minutes per dose.
Photobiomodulation
(PBM) Devices - Premarket Notification [510(k)] Submissions | FDA
So why isn’t Photobiomodulation therapy
a common medical option?
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