Save billions with supplements

I’ve known for years that it’s way cheaper to keep people well rather than treat them when they get sick. Unfortunately, mainstream medicine will never admit that fact (let alone act on it). Because if people get sick, doctors, hospitals, and especially the drug companies all make more money.

But the situation isn’t so bleak in other countries. A recent study commissioned by the Australian Self Medication Industry (ASMI), concluded that health outcomes improve and consumers pay less when complementary medicines are used.

In fact, the researchers found that simple—and inexpensive—nutritional supplementation can lead to some truly staggering cost savings.

For instance, the researchers found that risk of an osteoporosis-attributed fracture is reduced by 19.7 percent given the use of calcium and vitamin D. This translates to the potential to eliminate over 36,000 fractures in 2015 alone.

Also, keep in mind: this is a study from Down Under, where the population is considerably smaller than ours. So that number could easily quintuple here in the U.S. if everyone at risk for osteoporosis took optimal doses of calcium and vitamin D every day.

But that wasn’t the only impressive finding the Australian researchers walked away with. Take a look at this: According to the study, $1 billion—yes, billion—could be saved in the next five years if all women over age 50 who were diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia started taking calcium and vitamin D. Taking the population difference into consideration once again, this means we could potentially save tens of billions of dollars here in the U.S. All with the help of two simple supplements you can find in any health food store or supermarket pharmacy.

And then there’s the study’s findings on another one of my favorite supplements—fish oil.

The Australian researchers estimate that hospitalizations due to a cardiovascular disease-related event could be reduced by 4.9 percent if all Australians over age 55 with cardiovascular disease took omega-3 fatty acids. That amounts to 6,894 fewer incidents over the next five years. And remember, the population of Australia is just 23 million. The U.S. population is well over 300 million. Do a little math, and you’ll see why I’m so adamant about using the tools Nature has given us to prevent serious health events from happening in the first place.

For a country obsessed with the skyrocketing costs associated with healthcare, you’d think our nation’s health experts would be all for cheap, easy solutions that could drastically slash healthcare spending. I mean, looking at the tremendous results from this Australian study, it’s obvious just how much potential nutritional supplements have.

Just imagine the potential health and economic benefits we could see if every American over the age of 55 took vitamin D and fish oil every day.

So if our government health authorities won’t tell you to do it, I will. I recommend at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D every day, as well as 3,000 mg of fish oil (EPA and DHA) every day.

Source:

“Targeted Use of Complementary Medicines: Potential Health Care Outcomes & Cost Savings in Australia.” Australian Self Medication Industry, 10/15/14 (http://www.asmi.com.au/documents/mediareleases/FINAL%20Infographic%20FrostSullivan%209%20Oct%202014.pdf)


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