Generalized Medicine?

Do you ever wonder why medicine is so specialized? The assumption is that you are getting a higher level of care when you see a specialist. They “specialize” in my problem!

What do you suppose that these doctors are taught in Medical school that the rest of them aren’t? Is there a special book?

This may run counter to everything you know about medicine…If I had a health problem, something chronic and serious…I would want the doctor who could see the BIG picture of how all my parts and pieces work together…I would want a generalist.

You probably have heard the saying, “A specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less, until finally they know everything about nothing.”

Yup, for me, I would find a generalist. Why, you may ask? (Good question!)

While I am not a medical doctor, and practice medicine as a generalist (my bias revealed!), I had to study all the same conditions and diagnostic procedures that are the focus of medical school. In fact, at one point, I resolved to study the entire Merck Manual of Medicine (over 1600 pages long). It didn’t take me long to start skimming though…and then finally, I put the book down in disgust.

What I realized was the people we place in high regard and trust with our most valuable possession (that’s arguably our health), admittedly do not know what causes the vast majority of the conditions in this book (which is updated yearly to include all known diseases and conditions). They don’t know. They say so right in this book.

I am not satisfied until I know why something happens. I believe there is a reason for everything. This book, which is one of the most highly regarded texts in medicine, simply says “I don’t know” and then focuses the remaining waste of ink on the list of drugs that might suppress the symptoms of whatever problem they are discussing.

FROM WEBMD: (My comments in italics)

Essential Hypertension

In as many as 95% of reported high blood pressure cases in the United States, the underlying cause cannot be determined. This type of high blood pressure is called essential hypertension.

Secondary Hypertension

When a direct cause for high blood pressure can be identified, the condition is described as secondary hypertension. Among the known causes of secondary hypertension, kidney disease ranks highest.

Ok, so at least they know what causes 5% of the cases…

What Causes Chronic Kidney Disease?

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD). (Wait, I thought that kidney disease caused high blood pressure?? Let’s see what causes Diabetes)

Causes of Type 2 Diabetes

While not everyone with type 2 diabetes is overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity are two of the most common causes of this form of diabetes. (So lifestyle causes some of the 5% of total cases of high blood pressure)

Unless you have Type 1 Diabetes…

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas (called beta cells). Normally, the body's immune system fights off foreign invaders like viruses or bacteria. But for unknown reasons, in people with type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks various cells in the body.

So…we don’t know why people have hypertension, but in a small percentage it is caused by kidney disease, which is caused by hypertension or diabetes. We still don’t know what causes hypertension, but it causes kidney disease, or does kidney disease cause hypertension…anyway…some people are just obese and don’t exercise, and that causes hypertension…unless it is type 1 diabetes, which we can’t figure out. If only we had a pill to help people lose weight, exercise, and eat right…in any event, I have a pill that blocks high blood pressure, so who really cares!



HOW DOES A GENERALIST DIAGNOSE AND TREAT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE?

Here is the short list of REAL CAUSES of High Blood Pressure:



1. Low Testosterone (most often secondary to high insulin)
2. High Cortisol
3. Bacterial Infection

4. Viral Infection

5. Toxic exposure (lead, mercury)

6. Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency

7. Magnesium Deficiency

8. Antioxidant Vitamin Deficiency





These can all be tested by a lab…they can all be treated.

Don’t take my word for it, if you are a true skeptic, read this study:

Kawano Y, Matsuoka H, Takishita S, Omae T. Effects of magnesium supplementation in hypertensive patients:assessment by office, home, and ambulatory blood pressures. Hypertension. 1998;32:260-265.

“In the present study, supplementation with Magnesium for 8 weeks significantly lowered BP, with increases in serum Mg concentration…”

This is a study from the National Library of Medicine. This study was performed by scientific method. Controlled and blinded.

My one complaint…the one thing I would do differently as a researcher, would be to actually measure serum or red blood cell Magnesium levels first, see who was low as a baseline, and treat only those that tested low. That is functional medicine. Pharmaceutical medicine takes a group with a symptom (high blood pressure) and gives them magnesium to see if it controls the symptom. The study would have shown much better results if they actually treated only those low in magnesium.

Good example of the thought process of medicine, though. They aren’t so interested in cause, such as a simple test of magnesium levels, they are only interested in symptom suppression.

Do you see why a generalist might be a good thing? When confronted with a simple thing like high blood pressure, you really need to assess your immune system, nutrient status, hormones, and possibly even toxic exposures…IF you want to truly resolve your high blood pressure…or you can just take the high blood pressure pill for the rest of your life. Your choice.

Yours in Health,



Dr. Todd Stone