You may be a ‘pre-patient’ and not even know it!

Watch out — ‘pre-disease syndrome’ may be waiting to snare you!

There’s an epidemic going around.

And it’s highly contagious.

Well, actually, it’s highly pre-contagious.

Watch out! You can get it just by stepping into a doctor’s office.

I’m talking about the epidemic of pre-diseases, or “pre-disease syndrome.”

You are probably on the verge of one (or more) of these ‘preevies’ at any moment. And, surprise, surprise…it could mean you “need” another drug — one you may never get off.

Some just sound ridiculous. Do you need a treatment for pre-anxiety? Don’t wait to treat that pre-acne or pre-menopause.

Then there are the scary ones. Perhaps your doctor is looking at your pre-hypertension. Certainly anything called pre-cancer will get your attention. As would pre-diabetes or pre-dementia.

But are we actually preventing these diseases or just being herded like cattle into Big Pharma’s stockyard and force-fed side-effect laden drugs in the name of profit?

Right around the bend

More and more experts are starting to sound the alarm about this rush to diagnose and start treatment on all these pre-disease diseases.

Dr. Ivan Oransky, former online editor of Scientific American, calls it “preposterous.” Every year, Oransky said, “…more than 100,000 people a year are dying from complications of the treatments they’re getting, rather than from the conditions that are being treated.”

A perfect example of this is the condition called osteopenia, which is much more about marketing than about medicine.

Osteopenia is the “pre” version of osteoporosis. Only it’s really not.

What they call osteopenia is anything that’s just a tad less than the normal bone density of a woman in her 30’s.

Still, it’s been the reason that millions and millions of women are fearful of every step they take and have been panicked into popping potent, dangerous drugs.

And these are drugs that have been shown to weaken bones and cause fractures!

Dr. George Lundberg, editor of an information site for MDs, calls the treatment of these pre-diseases a “…fine — sometimes blurred — line” of treatment by “an honest, well-meaning physician.”

Is pre-hypertension “a real condition?” asks Dr. Lundberg.

What about pre-coronary heart disease and pre-menopause? “Is pre-skin cancer an actual condition?”

But of all the pre-disease out there, which is just about anything and everything, I think the cruelest of all is pre-dementia.

In fact, experts on dementia in Australia published a just-out paper against this diagnosis fraud, saying that telling people they have pre-dementia is a really bad idea.

And we might be seeing a lot more of it, thanks to a new Medicare rule imposed by Obamacare.

Your annual — and now covered — “wellness” visit, which might sound like a great idea, will also include a sneaky “cognitive” test.

Can’t remember something right away? Quick! Time for more brain testing. Something experts say can cost around $5,000!

And cost isn’t the only concern. Imagine what would happen to someone’s outlook on life when they are told they can expect to have complete dementia.

One thing I know for sure…they will take any Big Pharma drugs thrown at them to try and avoid this horrible fate.

Sources:
“Is pre-(fill in the disease) a useful concept?” George D. Lundberg, MD, Medscape Internal Medicine, December 16, 2013, medscape.com

“Pre-dementia screening: more harm than good?” Nancy Walsh Today, September 11, 2013, MedPage Today, medpagetoday.com