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After giving birth to Casey, who was over 11 pounds at birth, their mother, Gayle struggled to lose the weight she gained during pregnancy. As Gayle aged, she developed several health conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and prediabetes. When she was 71, Gayle had a sharp pain in her abdomen and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which took her life just under two weeks after the diagnosis. The oncologist implied the cancer was a random occurrence, but Means did not agree, arguing that her mother had been taking five medications for which she saw five different specialists. The various doctors each claimed Gayle’s conditions were normal. While Means agrees they were statistically normal—” the average American over sixty-five sees twenty-eight doctors in their lifetime. Fourteen prescriptions are written per American per year” (x)—she also argues they were preventable.

Means notes escalating rates of fatty liver disease, prediabetes, and obesity in children and teenagers, as well as the decline of overall  adult health and American life expectancy. She argues that people have been convinced that these health issues are disconnected, normal, and treatable with modern medicine. Means counters that such diseases are interconnected, not normal, and should be managed with a holistic and preventative approach rather than through a reductionist, modern medicine approach.