Like everything, this requires a balanced approach.

Diseases are the combined result of genetics and environmental exposure.

Our genetic work-up dictates the way in which our body will respond to certain nutritional deficiencies and certain substances in our environment.

Many times it is a multi-step process in which a certain gene leads to the way we respond to a certain substance. this in turn leads to minor changes we are not even aware of. Those changes now make us more susceptible to a certain substance that didn't harm us before. This in turn can lead to mutations in other genes, which now make us more vulnerable to numerous other substances.

The disease manifests itself clinically only after the body's own repair mechanisms become overwhelmed by those gradual changes.

At that stage we can't repair it just by changing our nutrition or other environmental exposures. This is where pharmacological agents and other medical interventions have a role.

Yet, if we only use pharmacological agents without changing our environment, the same process is likely to occur again.

Also, occasionally correcting the nutritional deficiencies and environmental exposure (if one is able to figure out what they are among the numerous substances we are exposed to every day) may lead to a gradual reversal of the pathological process.

A good example is celiac disease. Once gluten is eliminated from the diet most people will become healthy within a relatively short period.

But, not everyone is gluten sensitive. There are numerous other substances we are exposed to on a daily basis.
The modern world created an enormous amount of neurotoxic and carcinogenic substances which are added to our foods, soaps and cleaning detergents in "safe amounts".
But, what are "safe amounts"? what may be safe for one person can cause significant harm to another because of his/her genetic build-up.

The enormous advances in modern medicine over the last century have given many (physicians and patients) the illusion of "happiness in a bottle".
The message was- eat what you want, live as you want, if you take a certain pill you will be fine.

Yes, physicians did advocate a "healthy life style" but they did very little to find out what this life-style should be for their specific patient.
Very little time in medical school is dedicated to understanding nutrition or to learn what kind of toxic substances are abundant in our environment.

In fact medical students learn that they should be very contemplate about such environmental exposures. They are immersed in formaldehyde in anatomy class. They work with numerous toxic substances in the lab. and they are ridiculed if they show any concern. They are allowed to smoke. The are encouraged to skip meals. They are exposed to sleep deprivation on a regular basis etc etc.

So, the message that is conveyed to them is- If you can endure this, so can your patients.

Modern society is quite happy with the kind of training that future physicians are getting. Very little changes have occurred over the years.

Patients are being blamed for not living a "healthy life-style" when no one ever prescribed one for them. "Exercise more and eat a healthy balanced diet". is the mantra physicians are taught to say. A "one size fits all" approach they would never use in the medications they prescribe.

Red meat is essential for some people and less so for others, Exercise is beneficial for some people and harmful for others, detergents in soap and cleaning material may be well-tolerated by some but lead to serious consequences in others etc. etc.

The need for proper individualized activity and nutrition was well recognized by ancient Greek physicians, but completely abandoned in modern medicine.

Patients are treated according to their diseases and not according to who they are. A patient that had a heart attack should stop eating red meat, take statins and exercise more. And what if this patient requires red meat, what if he/she is sensitive to statins, what if he/she belong to those people who do not benefit from exercise?
Then the patient is being blamed for being "non-compliant" and refusing to live a "healthy life style". Or that he/she has "depression", "anxiety" etc.

I think patients should follow the medical advice of their physicians, should take their medications, but they should also insist on what they know is right for them. They should ideally have an on-going dialogue with their physician so that together they can find the optimal approach.

Or else more and more people will feel in the way described in this poem, and more and more quacks will be able to fill this growing gap.