As a practicing physician for over 30 years, I realized that more and more of my patients were becoming unhealthier and unhappier. This was often due to a self-induced lifestyle, including an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, substance abuse, financial irresponsibility, and an inability to deal with the usual stressors of daily life. As a medical school professor and researcher, I also had the latest data on the declining health of our nation, confirming what I was seeing in my practice: The #1 killer of Americans is an epidemic of self-induced disease and disability.
When I graduated from medical school in 1980, about one in 10 Americans were obese compared to one in 3 today. This high rate of obesity is leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, heart attacks, strokes, destruction of joints, higher rates of some cancers, including breast and uterus, and numerous other costly medical illnesses.
