With the recent economic downturn, people have looked to the past -- specifically the Great Depression -- for clues as to how things may go from bad to worse and back again. One thing many expected to find was a decline in overall health and climbing mortality rate during those years. As it turns out, the opposite was true. A look back at the Great Depression shows that during times of economic turmoil, the mortality rate has actually decreased. What does this tell us about health and wellness? For starters, it shows the importance of lifestyle in maintaining health and increasing longevity.

The study of Depression Era health reveals that although the nation's unemployment rate rose to over 22%, and despite economic activity dropping by 14%, the average life expectancy increased by 8.8 years. The nation saw a decrease in death caused by cardiovascular and renal diseases, cancer, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and motor vehicle accidents - all comprising the list of most common causes of death during the era. In fact, the only cause of death that increased during The Depression was suicide.

I have practiced medicine on the front-lines for more than 20 years. This is after my initial 12 years of training at major university medical centers. I have seen the best and worst of my profession in the hospital, doctors' offices and research labs. I have witnessed tragedies and miracles at 3 a.m., holding back my own tears to provide comfort to a grieving friend or family member.

There is nothing I would rather do than help my patients improve their health and comfort the ill. However, for the first time in my career, I am concerned about the future of our health care system.

Make no mistake, we do need reform. Quality care is expensive. We need to get better value and cut costs. However, we do not need to wreck the best health care system in the world. If you are sick you will do best in our present system.

We need to cut costs and make care available and affordable. Transferring the responsibility to the government is not the solution. Government does well at protecting us, and oversight. Government is not able to provide good service at the best price. This is where the private sector excels.

Lately, it seems like you can't open the newspaper (or click through the paper online) without coming across a headline about health care reform. Who should run the programs, who should pay for them, who should be covered and to what extent?

But what if you could take control of the costs yourself? What if you could pay in to a health care plan, tax-free, and accumulate your own health insurance funds over time? The truth is you already can, but these resources may be threatened as the government and health care industries try to deal with a looming crisis. I have discussed this many times on my radio program, and I'll repeat it here: This would be a major mistake!