The Threat of Chronic Illness

The greatest threat in the history of mankind is upon us; that threat is chronic illness. 30 percent of Europe was killed by the Black Plague. 80 percent of the industrial world is being killed by chronic illness. Clearly, humans are now the sickest species on earth. In less than a century, we have gone from super species to sickest species.

We have the sickest elderly, the sickest adults, the sickest teenagers, and sadly, the sickest children in the history of our species – in the history of any species. The chronic illness rate of the entire industrial population is greater than 50 percent and over 80 percent for our adult industrial population. Chronic illness is the leading cause of death and suffering as it is currently killing 80 percent of our population.

Chronic illness rates have been steadily rising over the last 50 years despite ever increasing medical spending and medical procedures. To quote Dr. James Chestnut, "The current system is not working. We don’t need more debate about who should pay for healthcare, we need to start debating about what kind of healthcare we should pay for."

Chronic illness is the leading cause of personal, corporate and government debt and bankruptcy. In the U.S. alone, by 2017, chronic illness will cost 4.3 trillion dollars per year. This equals $12 billion per day, $500 million per hour, and over $8 million dollars per minute – EVERY DAY!

Frequently, I hear people comment that they cannot afford to invest the time and money needed to get and stay well. In reality, what they really can’t afford to do is get sick!

Chestnut, J.L. 2011. The Wellness and Prevention Paradigm. The Wellness Practice – Global Self Health Corp. Victoria, BC., Canada.