All too often a visit to the doctors comes away with a new prescription to address some attained disorder. The conversation goes something like this:

Physician: “Your blood sugar is higher than I’d like to see it. It’s continued to rise over the past several months and it’s now in a range that I think we need to get it under control using (insert drug of choice here).”

Patient: “Wow that’s surprising! I’ve cut out a LOT of bad foods from my diet and I’m eating “healthier” like you told me to.”

Physician: "Yes, well it doesn’t seem to be working. Here’s a prescription. Get it filled and start taking it.”

Patient: “Ok…”

This dialogue implies that the patient will be on this drug for the rest of his/her life. That’s where the part of the conversation that’s missing should pick up. Physicians should be explaining that drugs in general are tools to rescue a patient form long term metabolic damage while finding ways to reverse the condition are pursued. The remainder of the conversation should go something like this:

Physician: “It’s my hope that the use of this drug will be short term. I’m not sure what “eating healthy” means to you so I think I want you to see a registered dietician to go over how and what you’re eating. I’m also going to recommend a personal trainer for you to work with. I’d like to see you getting into the gym a few days a week and also stepping up your overall activity. Maybe even get one of those activity trackers like a FitBit. I want to see if we can get your blood sugar under control and get you off this medicine. I’d prefer you not have to take this indefinitely." 

This should be the standard of care. Now I already know what many physicians will say…. “It’s hard enough to get people to comply with taking their meds, how are we going to get them to eat right and exercise more?” I will use their argument against them. We know that patient compliance is an issue even when it’s something as simple as taking a pill once a day. But that fact doesn’t stop physicians from prescribing these drugs. And it shouldn’t be the barrier to giving a better solution just because patient compliance will be a problem.