Action needed, not investigation

The article Thursday about poor longevity in the U.S. echoed what the World Health Organization has been reporting for many years [“Under 50? Living in U.S. is risk to health,” page one, Jan. 10].

The WHO ranks the U.S. at the bottom of developed nations in “healthy longevity.” How can this be? We have the finest health care in the world, right? Wrong.

The drug companies run the show, and their products are, on average, not as efficacious or benign as the natural medicine that prevails in less “advanced” cultures, not to mention being a lot more expensive.

If people will step outside the box and pursue prevention and therapy at the hands of naturopaths and enlightened MDs, they will not be captured by these miserable statistics. Of course, the usual suspects, like diet, obesity and lifestyle, must also be dealt with.

The route to better health and longevity is clear. We simply have to take it.

--Murray Swanson, Issaquah