When it comes to lung health, conventional medicine’s playbook reads much the same as it does for other areas of health—reach for pharmaceuticals first and skip the deeper conversation. Got asthma? Here’s your daily inhaler and a rescue one for the tough days. COPD? Let’s add steroids, bronchodilators, and maybe even some oxygen therapy. While symptom management is obviously important, the idea of tackling root causes seems oddly absent from the discussion. Why reconsider triggers like air quality, dietary inflammation, or even stress when there’s a pill—or an inhaler—for that?

Take asthma, for example. Instead of advising on how to identify and reduce exposure to allergens, processed foods, or pollutants, most patients are given a prescription and reminded to “stay compliant.” Sure, inhalers can be lifesaving, but they often come with side effects like throat irritation, tremors, and even increased heart rates. And when those side effects crop up, guess what? You’re handed yet another prescription to deal with them. The real winner here? Surprise, it’s the pharmaceutical companies cashing in on this perpetual cycle.

And don’t even get started on COPD. This chronic condition is often treated as a one-way ticket to lifelong dependency on medications. Patients are handed bronchodilators and corticosteroids almost reflexively, despite the fact that many of these drugs offer diminishing returns over time and come with risks like muscle weakness, weakened bones, and reduced immunity (just what you need for a lung issue, right?). Instead of focusing resources on smoking cessation programs, better environmental protections, or even breathing exercises, the medical system doubles down on what’s most lucrative—drugs, drugs, and more drugs.

Consider Laura, a mid-50s COPD patient. Her diagnosis came with a laundry list of prescriptions but no meaningful advice on how her poor diet or neighborhood’s bad air quality might be accelerating her condition. After months of steroid use, she started experiencing severe joint pain, only to be told that yet another medication could help mitigate that issue. The cycle continues while her health—and wallet—take the hit.

Meanwhile, lifestyle changes like adopting anti-inflammatory diets, prioritizing outdoor activities in clean-air zones, or engaging in practices like diaphragmatic breathing get swept under the rug. These approaches are often deemed “alternative” or “not evidence-based,” though there’s plenty of research suggesting otherwise. But hey, no one makes billions selling fresh air and leafy greens, right?

Pharmaceuticals absolutely have their place, but the overreliance on them for managing lung health feels less like a thoughtful approach to medicine and more like a business strategy. After all, what’s more profitable—a healthier population or lifelong customers chained to their inhalers? The answer seems painfully clear.