The Single Most Important Concept Concerning Your Health
We’re departing from our typical format to talk about the one concept that can have a dramatic effect on your health. Listen in as Ed relays this vital information that will help you discern what is best for your own health.
Some Topics We Discussed:
What is the difference between absolute and relative risk? (1:23)
How does the CDC approach this topic when it comes to the flu vaccine? (7:18)
Key Takeaways From This Episode:
Be on the lookout for tricky marketing ploys from prescription drug companies. (3:53)
Put together a team of healthcare practitioners that you trust to help you navigate the risks and benefits of your healthcare decisions. (9:26)
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Brian Strickland 00:11 Hey everyone welcome back to the Holistic Navigator Podcast, where we believe in the body's ability to heal itself. I'm Brian Strickland, the producer of the show. And today we have a little bit of a different format for you. This is going to be a shorter episode. But I'd really wanted to talk about the difference between absolute and relative risk when it comes to medications in the healthcare system at large. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving us some feedback and rating and review. It really helps to spread the word about the podcast, and hopefully change some people's lives in the process. Alright, everyone, that's it for me. But here's your host, Ed Jones.
Ed Jones 01:23 Thank you so much, Brian. And yes, today will be an unusual, but in my opinion, probably one of the most important pieces of information that I have ever spoke or written about. And I know it does not sound like something that may be valid to you, which is the difference between absolute and relative risk. This sound like something from physics that you run from, but let me tell you something, if you, your loved ones, your friends, your family are interacting with the medical prescription world in any manner, this is life saving. This is critical to you knowing because this is the charade that is being played throughout this country that is causing prescription drugs and other drugs to be the third leading cause of death. And the thing is the people who are participating in this, don't even know that they are puppets. So please hang in there with me, at least for the first five minutes. And I promise you, you will never be the same after what I tell you. So I'm not going to get into any math or anything else. But the reason that you need to know this is because when you read any headlines, or you go to your health care practitioner, and they say I want you to take this drug, because it reduces a certain disease or a certain mechanism in the body by 50%. I want you to know what a charade that is. So here's the quick example. This is how studies are done and how they are promoted in the media. Let's say you and I owned a drug company. And we were going to test this new compound that was prescription for heart disease. And I'm going to use 100, because it's an easier number. But generally it would be bigger. We're going to take 100 people, and we are going to give half of those a placebo, placebo meaning basically a sugar pill, but they don't know that. The other will get the drug that we are experimenting with. Now when I tell you the facts of how these numbers play out, this is the very common scene. So at the end of the study, all right, we're going to look at these 100 people over a period of time. And when the 100 people were looked at, in the placebo study, there was 4% heart disease that occurred. But in the drug study 2% of the people had heart disease. Now, would you not think that that says there's a 2% reduction of disease because you took this drug? Well, of course, because that's the absolute risk. But guess what happens in the news media is not going to say that. It's going to say the new miracle drug, which will cost a ton of money most likely reduced heart disease by 50%. Wow, does that not sound like a better way to sell a product than to say it only gave 2% improvement? And the the absolute truth is that the medical professional are falling for this charade as easily as the public. They should and need to know the difference of how they're being manipulated with this absolute versus relative risk. Now, what I'm saying to you and I'm will give one more example here that is the exact numbers for the flu vaccine. When you are told or suggested to take a drug because of something and there is a statistic that you read about or you're told, you have to know that that is not the absolute risk. It's simply not. And how do you get to the bottom of this? It is not easy. Let me tell you, what I have learned over 40 years is you have to assemble a small little tribe, or club of your own that you trust as far as your health practitioners. One of those certainly can be the traditional method, but you need to have sources where you can kind of dig into the whole story. Would you go and if you needed to buy a new house, because you're moving to a town, would you go in and just look at one single factor of that house like square footage and color and say, Okay, I will purchase that? Of course not. You're going to look at all the aspects. Please do the same thing with drugs because it is almost like a David Blaine Magic Show, when we deal with the numbers and the suggestions. In fact, they asked a group of physicians at a medical conference, do you know the difference between absolute and relative risk, or they were asking them to explain it. And only about 5% of all of those health professionals even had a clue how this game of charades is being played even on them. So if they don't know, they're obviously falling for that percentage thing, too. So real quickly, I'm not gonna make this a long podcast. I want to give the example for those people out there who think I'm just blowing smoke, because there's so many different ways to scientifically look at this. It's math people. This is not like my opinion. So there's not even a controversy surrounding it. However, just on the flu front, and let me tell you about this real quick. The CDCs online journal called the morbidity and mortality weekly report, was presenting this supposed fact, that based on estimates of vaccine effectiveness, that was collected in November of 2016, that the flu vaccine was effective in preventing 48% of medical visits across all age groups due to the flu. Wow. So 48% of all people who took the flu shot, were cured and they didn't get sick, and they didn't have to go to the doctor. That's all BS. It's BS, and this was reported by the government. Now here's the real numbers, that when they looked at, then they boiled it down to absolute risk. In the case of the MMWR report I referenced on the flu vaccine, a true reduction in the flu vaccine in preventing influenza related medical visits, was actually 1%. Only 1%. So would you go out and be more likely to take that flu shot, if you think it's a 48% reduction or a 1%? At 1%, you're not going to do it. It's costly. It has a slight amount of pain associated and soreness. And there are people who get significant autoimmune diseases. It's a small percentage, but it can happen. I have a friend who did and he never was the same afterwards. So they're not side effect free. So I want you to know that the advice that the media, even medical journals, and your health practitioners are basing what they're saying on something that is illogical, truly illogical. And, in fact, it is outlandish and almost corrupt that I think people are doing this. But there's, you know, that's the system that we have. But let the consumer beware, again, put together a team for yourself and your loved ones that you trust because it's like, you're not going to learn to use a parachute. The minute the plane starts going down. If you think you're in a risky position, you're going to train you're going to learn you're going to be prepared before the engine quits running. So as far as your health, make sure you do the same thing. Even if you're doing well. Find the practitioners that do great body work here. coaches that can advise you about your foods and your supplements, perhaps, you know, different functional medicine, individuals that when you do have a crisis, and you occasionally might need a prescription, that they're doing it with wisdom, and with respect for your body, not treating you like a truck that you're just going to go in and throw some new parts into. Well, that was a quick one today for everyone. And thank you so much for listening to the Holistic Navigator. And if you have any questions, please send them my way because we are rolling and growing up and remember what Hippocrates said. If your doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm. Thank you and have a great healthy and safe day.