MAHONING VALLEY Doctor: Promote healthy living

Prescribe drugs less and reduce health care costs, a physician says.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- The American health care system is heavily biased toward treating illness rather than promoting healthy lifestyles that prevent illness, a prominent doctor said here Wednesday.
"Prevention of disease is more important than diagnosing and treating it. As physicians, we're taught to treat disease, not prevent disease," said Dr. Duane Townsend, a Park City, Utah, gynecologist.
"The pharmaceutical houses really relish the illness of our society. They thrive on it. They make billions of dollars on us. The health care costs are out of control," he said. "The drug costs are now really out of control because we have a drug for every disease. All you have to do is look at television for all these drugs that are out there, half of which are not necessary," he added.
Dr. Townsend, a gynecological cancer specialist, was here to address The Council for Better Nutrition of Youngstown as it celebrated its 25th anniversary at Christ's Church on Glenwood Avenue.
"Congress now is trying to pass a bill to spend more of our tax money to pay for the Medicare people on drugs. Let's get them off the drugs. Reduce Medicare costs. Reduce taxes for crying out loud by being healthier. That's all you've got to do. It's not magic, but it requires a whole change of mentality," he urged.
Melanoma survivor
Dr. Townsend, who has practiced medicine for 40 years and is a survivor of malignant melanoma, is co-author with Rita Elkins of the book, "A Maverick of Medicine Speaks to Women," which was published this year by Woodland Publishing of Orem, Utah.
He discussed alternative hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. "They get hot flashes. Their bones dissolve. Their heart disease risk goes up equal to men. And there are a lot of things women can do to reduce these risks and to feel better," he said.
Using his method, he said, "It's all natural. You don't have to take a lot of artificial stuff. We do use estrogens from time to time, but we neutralize the bad effects and we enhance the good effects. Estrogen is really a good drug if it's used properly, but it's misused by the drug companies. They put things with it that makes it dangerous and they don't have to."
What he recommends
His prescription for a healthy life: "Change your diet. Get fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid the transfats and saturated fats that are found in grain-fed beef. Beef up the omega-3 fatty acids." The omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon, herring and sardines, reduce heart disease and Alzheimer's disease, he said. He also encourages his patients to exercise daily by walking and lifting weights.
Dr. Townsend is also one of three authors of "A Synopsis of Gynecologic Oncology," a gynecological cancer textbook for physicians, which was first published in the mid-1970s and is now in its fifth edition. He has also written some 100 articles that have been printed in peer-reviewed professional journals. He has taught at UCLA, the University of Southern California and the University of Utah.