Just today I found a new article at Health.com which cited a study from Japan. They found that people with diabetes were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease as those without. They found that diabetics also had a 1.75 times chance of developing dementia. Along with that I read an article that stated Americans are consuming less soda since 1998. However we still consume 736 eight ounce servings per person each year. That’s still a little over 2 cans a day, every day!
This particular blog post has been quite personal, in that I am one of those people who can run a high cholesterol. That is unless I follow the diet which I’ll recommend later. However, it became much more personal when a close family member had cardiac bypass surgery. Thankfully, they are doing very well, but it was a sober reminder that I too must always be on guard with my diet and exercise.
My wife works in the Information Technology field and they have a saying, ” garbage in equals garbage out.” It means that a poorly written program will give poor results. The human body works in a similar fashion. If we don’t feed the body well, then we shouldn’t expect it to perform very well. In other words we get “sick.” In Part 2 of this series I want to discuss diet and doing what we can to avoid the garbage in part of the equation.
or… If I Had Known I Was Going to Live This Long I Would Have Taken Better Care of Myself.
In the course of my 27 years in practice I have had a chance to work with some amazing people. As a group, some of my favorites are my geriatric patients. That group of wonderful people have shown both the good and the bad in demonstrating how to age gracefully. I have met those who are quite honestly waiting to die. They are suffering with various pains and conditions and are on several medications. I can’t blame them when they tell me that they don’t want to live much longer as they are truly suffering. I have also met those in their late 80′s and early 90′s who are still active and living on their own. They are not just waiting to die, but are living fully for today. So I began to ask myself, “What’s the difference?” Over my next few blogs I want to share some of the things I have learned along the way. Hopefully, if we follow this direction, we can all be in great health in our 80′s, 90′s and beyond.
I was shocked by a recent article that stated the top selling group of medications are the antipsychotics in the amount of $14.6 billion per year. This group includes such medications as Ridperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Geodon, Abilify, Haldol and Compazine. These medications are especially dangerous in the elderly and in children. In geriatric patients they can cause death often due to cardiovascular complications. In children there is an increased risk of suicide. Each of these has an additional list of 25-30 “serious reactions” that inclued stroke, seizures, diabetes, hypertension, anemia, pancreatitis and other blood problems.
Last night, after my class on menopause, I had an interesting and disconcerting conversation with a woman. She was in her mid 40′s and told me she was considering having a bilateral mastectomy. I naturally thought this poor lady had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. However, I was wrong. She was actually considering having both of her breasts removed for prevention. She had a family history of grandmother, mother and sisters having breast cancer. While up to now she had completely normal mammography studies and absolutely no lumps upon self examination, she was still seriously considering having this normal tissue removed. Her fear of cancer was just this strong.
I love food. It is one of my favorite subjects. I love eating, shopping for and preparing it. But it has to be REAL food. Good, clean, natural, whole. Because Americans have become accustomed to a fast and processed food diet, I’d venture to say many people have never been exposed to a steady diet of pure, clean, unprocessed food.
October is National Chiropractic Health Month. This year’s topic is about obesity and is titled, “Why Weight? Get Healthy!” If you are wondering why chiropractors feel the need to address this issue, consider this: (more…)
When I consult with patients about various health concerns, I always ask about medications and nutritional supplements. There often will be an extensive list of medications taken. Likewise, there will be a list of the supplements, which often includes aspirin. This is a problem because aspirin is NOT a nutritional supplement. Aspirin is a drug, albeit a non-prescription one, but a drug none the less. It is a foreign agent in the body which requires detoxification and could have negative consequences from its consumption.
Who is responsible for your health, you or your doctor? How you answer that question boils down to your philosophy of health. If you take an active role in educating yourself about wellness, lifestyle, and disease prevention, you will probably answer, “I am responsible for my own health.” If your philosophy is based on the “sick care” model, you may lean towards relying on your doctor. When illness or disease strikes, you go to your doctor for relief, oftentimes in the form of some prescription drug. You trust the doctor is making an educated judgment on how to “fix” the problem.
