Over half the drugs given out by docs aren’t needed, and changes in diet could cure ills instead
Under-educated docs should replace prescriptions with advice about diet and lifestyle to stop over medicating the public
HALF of all prescriptions issued on the NHS are unnecessary and could be replaced with simple dietary advice, a health conference heard yesterday.
A lack of nutritional awareness among doctors was blamed for fuelling the obesity crisis and the over-medication of patients.
GPs often fail to advise patients on healthy eating because they receive little training on the subject at medical school.
Instead, they turn to medication, with which they feel more comfortable, it was claimed.
Dr Phil Hammond, an NHS doctor and broadcaster, told the Royal Society of Medicine that the omission of nutrition from the syllabus was "clinically negligent".
The lack of nutritional education at medical schools is appalling
Dr Andrew Weil
And he added: "Doctors should be able to draw from a whole toolbox of interventions, including medication and dietary advice.
"Exercise and a good diet play a role in reducing the risk of cancer and cardiovascular problems by a third.
"If there was a pill that effective, every health professional and patient would want to know about it.
"But the responsibility for giving people this message should not be the doctors' and nurses' alone.
"The information should also be getting to patients directly."
Prince Charles was among the audience at the Royal Society of Medicine, Central London, for the first UK conference on food and medicine, named "Food: The Forgotten Medicine."
Dr Andrew Weil, one of the world's leading authorities on nutrition and health, from the University of Arizona, said: "The lack of nutritional education at medical schools is appalling and leaves doctors functionally illiterate in this area.
Food can be as powerful as drugs, and it's great this is finally starting to be recognised
Dr Trevor Thompson
"Nutrition plays a key role in preventing disease and healing those in bad health.
"But doctors know too little about it, so reach for medication instead.
"I think there has been a belief - particularly among men - that nutrition is too close to home economics and not a proper science.
"But there is now a huge amount of research in this field that shows the real benefits of a good diet.
"By failing to educate patients in the benefits of good nutrition, doctors are fuelling the obesity epidemic.
"They do not tell patients how to live a healthier lifestyle and direct them to healthier foods.
"However, it is not doctors' fault because they themselves have not been adequately trained.
"This needs to change."
He added: "I would say about half of prescriptions are unnecessary and could be replaced with dietary advice instead.
"Dietary advice is more cost effective, safe, and has no negative side-effects."
Dr Trevor Thompson, from the University of Bristol medical school, said most trainee medics study no more than a dozen hours of nutrition across the country.
But most of this is "more like bio-chemistry" because they focus on the nutritional composition of the food, rather than what constitutes a good diet and how to encourage patients to change.
He said: "We are increasing the amount of time students study nutrition because we believe it should play a key role in day to day practice.
related stories
"We want doctors to consider dietary advice as a reflex, in the same way they would consider drugs.
"Food can be as powerful as drugs, and it's great this is finally starting to be recognised more widely."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368
