Kill the monsters while they’re small

Many years ago I learned the phrase “Kill the monsters while they’re small.”  For over thirty years I have seen patients and with serious health challenges.  When a condition has been present for a long time, it is usually more severe and takes longer to correct.  Sometimes we cannot correct it, we can only manage it.  Oftentimes, had these patients been able to address their health challenges sooner they would be in much better health today.

There are warning signs and symptoms that your is health at risk that oftentimes are ignored.  Many years ago an older patient came to see me and told me that she got diabetes the previous Wednesday.  I asked her how she knew it was Wednesday.  She told me that was the day that her doctor declared her a diabetic.  Apparently that was the day that she met the criteria on her lab tests and she was put on medication and sent on her way.  Had she and her doctor intervened as they saw the gradual increase in her blood sugar levels, her weight gain, and her swings in energy levels she could have made lifestyle adjustments and used some targeted nutrients to prevent crossing over into the world of diabetes.

There is a gray area between healthy sugar metabolism and diabetes.  The gray areas are not named diseases so in our culture if you don’t have a named disease, you aren’t sick.  When things just start to become abnormal, it only takes a little effort to get the metabolism back to where it should be.  Disorders like diabetes are large and serious monsters and it is better to kill the monsters while they are small.

This is also true of structural problems like back pain.  Patients that I see on a regular basis for wellness or maintenance care tend to have far fewer serious episodes of pain.  Getting regular checkups and making small corrections saves time, money as well as pain.