For lasting health, focus on habit formation
The siren draw of miracle cures and magic bullets has long been a fixture of medicine and public attention.
Angie Wan and Amy Zhang, from Harvard Medical Student Review
Ever since German scientist Paul Erlich discovered the first “magic bullet” in medicine, researchers and marketers have searched for magical cures and treatments for virtually every human disease, ailment, and condition.
Merriam-Webster defines a magic bullet as “a substance or therapy capable of destroying pathogens (such as bacteria or cancer cells) or providing an effective remedy for a disease or condition without deleterious side effects.”
Thus, a magic bullet is a drug or treatment that will cure a disease or condition with no negative side effects. The problem is that Erlich’s first magic bullet was anything but, and the reason for that is that no magic bullet truly exists.
The story of the magic bullets
In 1906 the Nobel-winning Erlich predicted that one day, chemists would produce substances capable of targeting specific disease-causing microbes without harming the human body harboring them.
He labeled these ideal substances Zauberkugel — magic bullets, based on the story in German folklore about the Freischütz, or marksman.
In Johann Apel’s popular version of the story, a young man named William must prove he’s an able huntsman to win his beloved Katherine’s hand. Unfortunately for William, he’d be lucky to hit the side of a barn, and as time draws nearer to the date of his scheduled trial, he sinks more and more deeply into despair.
Long story short, William ends up making a pact with the Devil, who provides him with “enchanted” bullets, all destined to hit their mark. But to whose will these bullets obey is foreshadowed by the Devil’s warning:
Sixty for thee, three for me:
The sixty go true, the three go askew:
All will be plain, when we meet again.
On the morning of the contest, William impresses the hunting party with his tremendous skill. As final proof of his ability, the commissioner asks William to shoot a dove sitting upon a pillar. William levels his aim at the dove, fires his gun, and immediately his beloved Katherine falls, mortally wounded, to the ground. The Devil appears and reminds William of his earlier warning: “Sixty go true, three go askew.”
Katherine is buried by her grieving parents, and William becomes known as the “Fatal Marksman,” left to spend the rest of his life in a madhouse.
Salvarsan was the first magic bullet of medicine
Magic is just science that we don’t understand yet.
Arthur C. Clarke
In 1909, Erlich and his assistant Sahachiro Hata discovered the drug Salvarsan, an arsenic-based compound that was the first effective treatment for syphilis. The protozoan parasite, Treponema pallidum, had been identified, but until Salvarsan, no therapy beyond the horrendous mercury treatment had been found for this devastating and prevalent disease
While Salvarsan was certainly a game-changing and revolutionary discovery, it was also difficult to administer and had serious side effects, including limb loss, multisystem organ failure, and shock.
A bullet, yes, but magic? Not by a long shot.
Through the years, other magic bullets have appeared in the medical landscape. A few examples are:
Penicillin — discovered in 1928, penicillin was the first broad-spectrum antibiotic found to be effective against many bacterial organisms, including the syphilis-causing Treponema.
Insulin — first isolated in 1921 and commercially produced in 1923, insulin was the first effective treatment for diabetes.
Fluoxetine (Prozac) — introduced in 1988 by Eli Lilly and Company, fluoxetine was the first in a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. Less toxic and with fewer side effects than previously available anti-depressants, fluoxetine quickly became one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for depression.
But all medications and treatments carry risks, side effects, and consequences, some of which may not be apparent at first. For example, the overuse of antibiotics has led to many strains of drug-resistant bacteria, which now pose a major threat to public health. And there is much more that must be done to successfully manage a disease like diabetes beyond just taking insulin.
Even the magic bullets from the story of William carried risks; three out of the sixty-three bullets he received from the devil were destined not to follow his aim. That’s about a 5% chance of any bullet going wrong, and those are terrible odds.
Now, there are magic bullets for everything
The “magic bullet” concept has now expanded far beyond the original target of bacterial pathogens. These days, the use of the term is endless — limited only by the creativity of marketing-type folks.
A Google search of “magic bullet for (you name it)” garners millions of results.
Magic bullet for weight loss: 6,410,000 results.
Magic bullet for aging: 2,860,000 results.
Magic bullet for depression: 3,870,000 results.
Magic bullet for happiness: a whopping 30,900,000 results!
You can even order Magic Bullet Placebo Pills. Available on Amazon for $29.99, these “happy pills for stress relief” will help you “unlock your brain’s potential and achieve your goals.”
Magic bullets are easy answers to what are often difficult and challenging issues. And the truth is — and I know we all know this— there are no easy answers to life’s many challenges.
You can’t lose weight and never worry about gaining weight again.
The only way to avoid aging is to die.
You can’t overcome depression and never have to take steps to prevent and deal with future depressive episodes.
And happiness? That’s an inside job that involves daily effort and continuous personal growth.
Today’s magic bullets are often diets, supplements, treatments, therapies, books, memberships, and subscriptions. Promoters of these products use words like “breakthrough,” and “new science,” and offer immediate and miraculous results. Products are costly, and many are sold through multi-level marketing companies.
It’s not surprising that we humans want to find easy answers to our most challenging issues. Some scientists suggest that our brains are hardwired for this laziness thanks to evolution. They put it a little more nicely by saying, “individuals tend to save energy and avoid unnecessary physical exertion.”
Habits are better than bullets
But that doesn’t mean you’re destined to fail at achieving your goals. You CAN achieve your goals for good health and well-being by developing healthy habits that reinforce the healthy YOU you want and choose to be.
According to James Clear, habits are “the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day.” I like this definition because it reinforces the truth that a healthy lifestyle is based on the cumulative choices and actions you perform each and every day. With each choice you make and each action you take, you have the opportunity to create a healthier life.
Healthy habits create a healthy lifestyle, which centers around behaviors that include eating a healthy diet, being physically active, getting adequate rest, managing stress, avoiding substance abuse, and maintaining social connections.
Take care of these things, and these things will take care of you.
Sometimes we do need a little bit of “magic” to improve our health — an antibiotic for an infection, insulin to treat high blood sugar, or an antidepressant when we feel so low we can’t even get out of bed. But the real magic of real wellness happens when you take the time and make the effort to develop and maintain healthy habits.
Magic bullets are temporary fixes for issues that are complex and need long-term solutions. Stop looking for a magic bullet and focus on creating healthy habits, and what you’ll end up with won’t be an illusion, but real health that lasts.