Chronic diseases. Why I’m with Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Sep 07, 2024

Chronic pain has been labeled as the evil of the century, affecting millions worldwide. Pain is a universal human experience, an unbiased, undeniable reality that strikes at the core of our existence. While some possess remarkable resilience to pain, there’s a simple truth: pain is as real as it gets—it’s where belief is unanimous.

Chronic Disease and Pain are killing our nation.

One in five U.S. adults—or more than 50 million people—live with chronic pain. New cases arise more often than other common conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, depression, and high blood pressure. Three-quarters of American adults are overweight or obese; more than 40% of adults 22 to 44 are obese, according to a 2023 study. Among American teens, about 30% are prediabetic. More than 18% of young adults have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Some children as young as 4 have needed liver transplants because of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – which is a disease of high fructose corn syrup and other processed sugars.

Rates of kidney disease and autoimmune conditions are increasing. Cancer rates among young people are rising. This is despite Americans spending more and more to treat many of these conditions.

Pain treatments haven’t kept pace with the need. Over-the-counter pills such as aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) such as Advil cause many side effects. And opioids. The evident inadequacy of existing medications to alleviate human suffering has fueled the continuing opioid epidemic, which has led to more than 110,000 overdose deaths in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Few ask what’s fueling the chronic pain epidemic.

How far are we going to let the chronic disease epidemic go before someone stands up and says stop? People like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are more in tune with the chronic disease epidemic than any other politician. He realizes that chronic diseases like obesity, arthritis, and diabetes affect millions of Americans and add to the national debt more than military spending.

RFK Jr. wrote in his WSJ article, “ninety-five percent of the members of a USDA panel charged with most recently updating nutrition guidelines had conflicts of interest.” These are the same people who guide National Institutes of Health research and publish things like Lucky Charms are healthier than ground beef.

So, where does current medicine stand in the face of this enormous problem? What Can Be Done?

Stop with processed foods, fast food, lack of preventative care, access to non-contaminated foods, and the list continues. For example, why are we celebrating the preservative that give the orange color to Doritos when it causes the skin of mice to become transparent?

Nutrition classes and functional medicine should be required in medical schools. Most chronic diseases are preventable through improved eating habits. Cutting out processed foods would improve, if not erase, many chronic diseases. Yet, most medical schools don’t require nutrition courses.

I support Robert Kennedy Jr. in his fight against chronic disease.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting RFK Jr. and hearing him speak in Philadelphia and Boston. While I don’t agree with him on every issue, I know his history and have listened carefully to what he has to say publicly.

Like any public figure, he has been subjected to legitimate criticism and ill-informed, intentionally distorted, and inaccurate attacks. He has handled both calmly and without rancor or hyperbole. Despite blocking his Secret Service protection, excluding him from debates, and being stonewalled by the media, Kennedy’s response has been to remain positive, sticking to arguing the issues he believes to be important: massively growing debt that steals prosperity from young people, expensive and, to date, unsuccessful interventionist foreign policies; and his stance on chronic diseases.

Most interesting is his candid and detailed plans for addressing the nation’s chronic disease crisis. Every president, going back decades, has instituted a plan to combat chronic diseases. Yet our chronic disease problem only worsens. Rates of diabetes, obesity, disability, back pain, migraines, addiction, and mental health continue to rise. I’ve written about this in my books The Revolutionary Ketamine and Stopping Pain.

Kennedy is a self-described environmentalist and understands the impact of toxins like mercury, cadmium, and lead on our children and health. Kennedy’s credentials on the environment are beyond reproach. He knows how synthetic fluoride affects our streams and wildlife and recognizes the potential harm of toxic fluoride levels in our drinking water.

My priority is what’s best for society. However, the reason to support Kennedy is that he is an honest, imperfect man, tested by tragedy at an early age, who emerged as a man of intellect, humility, and grace. And, if Americans can’t stand up together and say “no more” now, when will we?

Johnathan Edwards MD Substack

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