Fitness Triumphs over Medicine -- one Aussie's thoughts

Here's an article from an Austrialian talking about the Triumph of Fitness over Medicine.  The article is his but I have to say I agree with a lot of what he has said.  I am looking forward to hearing what you think.....

.......You're not wrong.



Here's an article I drafted recently based on the Australian experience - where despite record levels of spending on medical care, the health of the population continues to decline.


I don't like the word 'prevention'. 'Preventive health' is medical speak.


You don't prevent health you create it yourself.
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FITNESS TRIUMPHS OVER MEDICINE


If you ever you wanted evidence that the best bet for departments of health throughout Australia was fitness not medicine, all you had to do was watch the final of the Biggest Loser.


In the race to improve the health of Australians the Commonwealth Government continues to spend infinitely more on medical research, surgeries and hospitals that it does on fitness. However, you can put down the glasses, the race is over, it’s fitness first, daylight second, medicine a distant third.

I’m a big fan of the Biggest Loser. Where else can you see people go from fat to thin, unhealthy to fit, sad to happy, all in a few short months? Certainly not in many surgeries and pharmacies around Australia


The Commonwealth Government’s timid response to the epidemic of personally generated body system dysfunctions - metabolic, musculo-skeletal and psychological - is to set up a toothless Preventive Health Agency with the bulk of the ‘illhealth’ budget still ending up in the pockets of an increasingly ineffective, expensive and bloated medical industry: preventive health $145m versus Medical industry $68B.


So, here’s the blue print for health, fitness and wellbeing in this country.


* we need to make a distinction between what's medical and what's not. Too many people are going to doctors for things doctors can't fix and for things that would best be attended to by someone else, like a nurse, naturopath, counsellor or fitness practitioner.


1. Then we need to make the distinction between what's a disease and what's a personally-generated body system dysfunction. If you've got a disease, a medical complaint or your dysfunction is too far gone, you need medical treatment. Otherwise start working on yourself.


1. Anyone with any of the personally generated dysfunctions who is prepared to donate 4 weeks of their time to work on their fitness can have free access to fitness instruction at a fitness centre close to their home. Getting fit becomes their full time job. No pussy footing, no molly codling, just 8 hours a day devoted to restoring poor function to good with a balanced health, fitness, wellbeing and nutrition program.


* the health of Australians to improve, departments of health around Australia have to lever the fitness industry into the front line of primary health care.


You know that the bulk of the illhealth problems in this country are fitness problems and you know you can’t solve a fitness problem with a medical solution.


* the current Department of Health into two to form a Department of Health, Fitness and Wellbeing on one side of the ledger and a Department of Medicine on the other, with the current budget for general practice being split evenly between general practice and the new Department of Health, Fitness and Wellbeing.


* Commonwealth Government has to publicly acknowledge that in a toxic, sedentary society, that’s under nourished, over fed and stressed to the max, the medical model is the wrong model for improving health, fitness and wellbeing. Over the last 35 years it’s had a good trial and come up short.
* Commonwealth Government has to recognize the effect that the practice of junk medicine is having on health standards, junk medicine being the prescription of medications which mask symptoms rather than restoring poor function to good.
John Miller


So....what do you think???  Click the comment icon and share your thoughts.

Mindfulness and the acceptance of the unfair

For those of you that also read Eating Coach, you will already know what a huge proponent of Mindfulness Training I am. 

This article from Biosingularity, discusses how mindfulness training effects decision making -- moving away from the more emotional areas of the brain and increasing the ability of the brain to make a decision based on more rational information of the present moment.

Eating too much, impulsively buying things we can't afford, acting out because life isn't fair -- all of these seemingly hard to control impulses might be brought under better management with mindfulness training.

At best, it could change your life -- at worst, you've devoted some time to a undertaking that didn't pan out.  Might just be worth a try!

An unusual vomiting syndrome

Although it is unusual, cyclical vomiting syndrome is worth knowing about.  It is caused by the vomiting center of the brain being triggered -- it isn't a stomach issue at all!  It's unique aspects are:

• The attacks are sudden, with an abrupt start and end point
• The symptoms displayed during an attack tend to be similar to previous attacks
• Once the episode is over the patient quickly feels well again, as if she had never been sick at all

Interested to know more?  Check out this great article from Children's Hospital Boston!

 

Positivity

Here's a neat positivity test.  A couple of weeks ago, at BorgessAthlete, I talked about positive to negative interaction ratios and some of the research done by Marcial Losada on what it takes to have a team (athletic or work-related) flourish (or languish).

The same principles apply with the emotions you feel within yourself.  How did your day stack up to the goal positivity ratio of 3:1?  Take the test and find out.

Then....if you're not happy with the results and you realize you want more positivity in your life, check out this website from the Happiness Project.

Remember:  what you think is that which you create!  --make it GREAT!

Are you going to embrace or ignore the science???

.......The most recent headlines have raised concerns that diet sodas boost stroke risk. Diet and regular sodas have both been linked to obesity, kidney damage, and certain cancers. Regular soft drinks have been linked to elevated blood pressure.

"The World is too much with us"....

...poet William Wordsworth complained over two hundred years ago.  "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers."  Today many women would agree with him.  We're chronically exhausted from the "getting"-- the amount of energy spent earning a living and juggling the demands of home and career.  And the reality of the recession means we're paying now for the "spending" of yesterday.

But despite all the doom and gloom that constantly assaults our senses, there is a way for us to ransom our lives and reclaim our futures: it consists in turning away from the world to recognize what in life makes us truly happy.  For each of us, what that is will be different.  But once we obtain this inner knowledge, we will possess the ability to transform our outer world. 

"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself," the pilot and writer Beryl Markham reminds us.  We cannot let this continue to occur....
--an excerpt from Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach

It's amazing how the world never really experiences anything new -- it just keep turning.  Wordsworth wrote 200+ years ago, Sarah wrote the above in 1995 and here we are again, experiencing many of the same things.  The big question is, is it again? Or is it still?

Our evolution???

Reposted from Jay Parkinson -- an interesting thought about evolution.

Evolution typically works through environmental stressors. The environment becomes harsher, a gene mutates, and that gene propagates throughout the population because the mutant is actually better able to deal with the environment.

But what happens when the environment in which we live isn’t overly harsh, but overly productive? Our consumer culture over-produces and over-consumes. We have a huge excess of calories in everything, especially cheap sugars and fats.

Does this mean that genes that determine your level of self-control are now evolutionarily more advantageous? Is this massive amount of calories we can consume now an evolutionary stressor?

Is it now beneficial for the population of people to have a large number of individuals with strong self-control genes?

Pay yourself First

Chris Brogan posted a list of  "pay yourself first" principles -- I think they are really worth taking under consideration.  The healthier you are, the more productive you can be -- but more importantly, the more you are able to find the joy in your own life (which has the benefit of making you healthier....note the positive reinforcing circle?)  So here they are ( if you like the list -- click on over to Chris' site and check it out):

If you want to improve your lot in life, if you want to balance your priorities, here’s my quick little recipe for paying yourself first:

Get as close to 8 hours of sleep a night as you can.

 

Schedule “do not disturb” time with your family as often as possible.

 

Weigh every business opportunity against your change in quality of life.

Ask for what you’re worth, so you can work the right number of hours for respectable pay.

Work your core projects first over all external projects.

Weigh the negatives and positives of any trip you might be asked to take. Decide accordingly.

Realize that physical fitness boosts mental fitness and make it a priority, not a nice-to-have.

Listen for warning signs (your body tells you when you’re messing with its parameters).

Cut out junk: food, hours, consumption, entertainment. Your mind and body deserve the best.

Audit how you’re spending your time and validate whether it’s working for you.

Get out into nature once every two days at least. Nature is that other window with the higher resolution.

An interesting thought on Pain Relief

"Love is the drug....." --I can't remember the next part of that song.

New research using MRI scanners indicates that love (or in this case looking at a picture of one you love) can reduce the amount of pain a person feels.

Researchers put study volunteers into an MRI and induced pain (a hot probe to the palm) -- while the participant was in pain, they were shown a picture of an acquaintance or a picture of their beloved or given a distracting cognitive task (naming sports that don't use balls).

Researchers found that looking at a picture of a beloved reduced the participants moderate pain by 40 percent and reduced severe pain 10-15 percent.  The distracting task reduced pain by similar level but used mostly cogitative pathways of the brain where as the picture of the loved one lit up the pleasure centers of the brain indicating dopamine release (similar to the pain relieving effects of a runner's high).

Cool, huh?  For more information on this study, click here!

Significant Health Problem Alert

 "Obesity is among the most significant public health problems of the 21st century...." says a report coming out in JAMA October 27.

It is also almost completely in our power to change.  We will never have everyone the size of Barbie -- Thank goodness for that!  But we could all weigh less tomorrow than we do today by making just a few changes....today....to how we eat.  If we do that today then get up and do that again tomorrow (and so on), we will knock out "one of the most significant public health problem" -- no muss, no fuss, no telethon.

BMI

The other day, I was out in the community delivering a Wellness presentation to a group of professionals.  One of the subjects of the talk was BMI (or Body Mass Index), what it is a measurement of, and what ways can the data it gives accurately be used.

I got into a little bit of trouble from this particular group and I am not entirely sure why.  It might be because they were getting conflicting reports about what the measurement really says about them -- and maybe I added to the problem by adding another wrinkle.

Here is an extension of what research is saying about BMI.  I agree with some of the cited researchers when they say sometimes, the stress of being labeled overweight is worse for you than the motivational benefit that the label provides.

If you feel you have a good grasp on BMI already -- I encourage you to click here and scroll to the bottom of the page under the heading Limitations and Shortcomings. 

Read the article -- and then let me know what you think!

Fear of Getting Fat captured on MRI

Here is an interesting observation:

Researchers looking for better diagnostic tools for eating disorders screened women to see who was at risk for body image issues.  Once screened, the women were put in an MRI and shown pictures of women of different body size. 

The researchers were surprised to see that when a picture of an overweight female stranger was put in front of the test subject, the part of the brain active when body image issues are present lit up --even in women who seemingly had no real body image issues.  --Sure, the response was not as large as those with known body image issues -- but it lit up no the less.  (and to a much, much greater degree than did the male test subjects under the same conditions).

It just goes to show something we have known for a while -- even the most secure women are susceptible to body image issues -- it's just the culture we live in.

For more information on this study, click here.

Life is about balance

I just read an interesting article on folate and Vitamin B12.  Each one has benefits -- appropriate folate is associated with fewer neural tube defects in newborns, and better cognitive functioning in older adults.

B12 helps regulate normal body functioning and assists in red blood cell formation.  Life gets tricky when things get out of balance:

"After adjusting for other factors, the researchers found significant links between low B12 and increased risk of anemia (170%) and cognitive impairment (150%). Among the subjects with low vitamin B12 status, high levels of folate were associated with both anemia (210%) and cognitive impairment (160%). Those findings suggest a possible harmful effect from excess folic acid when paired with B12 deficiency.



For subjects with normal B12 levels, however, folic acid seemed to have a beneficial effect on cognitive impairment. High folate levels in this group were associated with a 60% lower risk of cognitive impairment. No significant association was seen for other conditions."

For more information on the importance of folate/Vitamin B12 balance, click here!

Back pain?

Back pain is a huge source of lost work days in the US and sufferers are getting younger and younger.  Several physical therapist I know that specialize in the spine say they are seeing 16 and 17 year olds' with backs more like 50 and 60 year olds' due to sitting and playing videos games so much.

I'm preachin' to the choir when I tell you that if you are suffering back pain -- exercise is the last thing you want to do.  However -- it just may be the key for pain reduction according to a study from the University of Alberta.

Those who exercised 4 days per week had  28 per cent less pain and 36 per cent less disability but those working out 2-3 days didn't have those same significant results. 

So don't let your pain slow you down -- the slow down might just keep you in more pain!

An interesting risk factor for Heart Disease

Loneliness.

We are social creatures by nature.  When I was a kid, I heard about a study where a baby monkey would rather spend its time on a wire frame covered by a soft blanket than on a bare wire frame with a bottle attached to it.  I have heard that some people in nursing homes die from lack of human touch.

In this study, researchers have linked loneliness to higher blood pressure, lower sleep quality, and dementia to name just a few.  The really great news though?

The most effective treatment for loneliness is working on how people view themselves and others.  It's not all about finding 4000 hobbies that keep you in the presents of people 24/7 (which is good because I could never survive that much socialization!)

It is about learning to recognize the negative thoughts we let float around in our head and then reframe them into something more neutral.  This is the same sort of intervension that is sometimes used for people with depression.  Loneliness is more about how a person perceives their interactions with others because it downgrades the quality of the interactions they do get.

The mind really does effect the body -- treat the loneliness and the physical body gets healthier.

Corn sugar?

Did you all see the articles or hear the reports about the Corn Refiners Board asking the Federal government for permission to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to corn sugar???  Doesn't corn sugar sound more wholesome?  After all, corn is good for you.  And sugar (although we know we eat too much of it) is still natural, right?  That must mean that corn sugar is wholesome, too!??

Here's the deal, America: 

We eat too much sugar....period.

And in much the same way what we decide to wear is determined by what happens at fashion week in New York, what we chose to eat is determined by food politics.  Big ag growers, small farmers banning together to create Eat Local campaigns, what and how celebrities are choosing to eat....We are being marketed to -- all the time.

Pay attention to the name changes -- it means the food is trying to shed an image (think prunes turning into dried plums a few years back).  Maybe there is nothing wrong with starting to call high fructose corn syrup corn sugar -- but it doesn't make it "more natural" or "more healthy" than it was before.

Kids and body image

Alright....  The kids are back to school and the control parents seemingly had during the summer about who their kids were seeing and interacting with is now completely gone.  According to the news, our kids are back in school with bullies, drug seekers, kids having pre-teen sex, and just about all the bad influence  nightmares a parent could have.  We also know that adolescences is a hard time for kids to adjust to their growing, changing bodies -- especially for girls.

I have some good news and I have some bad news.  The good news is there are ways a parent can help kids make it through this age without developing many of the body image issues that plague our society.  The bad news is the help that is out there seems not very helpful when faced with the enormity and lifelong consequences for our beloved kids.

A leading psychologist gives the advice that we should help our kids fight the tendency to gain weight as a means of helping them with body image issues.  The advice seems logical in the "well, duh!" kind of way.

But is that helping them deal with the real issue of liking who they are -- or are we merely keeping them in parameters that help them not become what they (or we) fear?  Yes, I want kids to get more time playing and moving -- that is a healthy choice for all of us.  But rather than weight, should we be teaching our children to focus on the choices that really matter in life?  Like putting effort into their school work, working hard on the debate/soccer/yearbook activities they are involved in?  And then helping them gain an appreciation for how much easier they can participate in debate/soccer/yearbook/etc when their bodies are healthy and well-fueled?  Their (and our) lives are made better by a body that has been well cared for  -- and with some teaching, those choices can seem obvious and easily made.  And then, perhaps, body image wouldn't be such a big deal.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810025239.htm

Pro-Ana???

This weekend, I learned something I didn't know.  I guess it shouldn't surprise me but there are sites on the Internet that help and support people to stay anorexic and bulimic.  There are forums, information, and support for those struggling to stay super-sickly thin.

I guess it shows the power of the Internet that no matter who you are or what is important to you, you can connect with like-minded people. 

I struggled with writing this post -- on one hand, you don't have to talk to me for more than 8 minutes before you will probably get the sense that I am extremely passionate about empowering people for greater health.  Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia (pro-bulimia) sites, although empowering to their members, are not empowering them for greater health.  I don't really want to raise awareness of these sites for the people seeking them -- but... they aren't really my readers anyway, right?

So, Readers, the point of me blogging this news to you is that this is something to be aware of.  If you have adolescent kids (boys are at risk too), it bears checking out some of these sites so you can become aware of the language and kinds of support they offer -- if those phrases start popping up in your child's speech, it may be a sign that professional help is needed sooner than later.  Intervention sooner means healthier kids and fewer unproductive behaviors to relearn.

Dementia related to midlife stress?? Is there any hope for us?

Here's something that is not exciting -- a study published in Brain indicates a link between times of high-stress in mid-life and developing dementia later on.  Yikes!!  Who isn't stressed in mid-life?

According to this article:

"Stress was defined as a sense of irritation, tension, nervousness, anxiety, fear or sleeping problems lasting a month or more due to work, health, family or other problems"

The study authors say much more research is needed in this area before we jump to any conclusions.

The good news??

"Most of those who said that they were stressed did not develop dementia"  --So there isn't any reason to get stressed about your stress level. 

The take home? An over-abundance of  stress isn't healthy and there are a million ways to reduce your stress level.  Go for a walk, turn off the TV, don't watch the news, meditate, enjoy your friends when you're with them...and the list goes on. 

Don't change your stress coping behaviors because you are scared of increasing your risk of dementia -- change your stress coping behaviors because when you do, you will enjoy your life more!

Think Tai Chi is only for old people?

No way!  If you have ever taken a class, you might have notice how the movements highlight your lack of balance and coordination.  Think your coordinated?  Maybe, maybe not -- but you'll know for sure after your first session on Tai Chi.

Young and old alike can benefit from these ancient, smooth movements.  Alternative forms of movement are attracting the attention of the West's scientific community.  The newest study I have come across looks at whether Tai Chi is a better therapy for Fibromyagia sufferers than just stretching.  And the results of that study??

Survey says "Tai Chi wins out as a more effective pain management technique.  As an added bonus -- with less pain, people suffer from less depression.

Interested in trying Tai Chi?  Click here for classes at BHFC.