Keep Your Health Tips

Prof.Walter B Shelley, the renowned Professor of Dermatology and author of the “Advanced Dermatologic Therapy” recounts an incident that occurred when he, along with his wife, Prof.E.Dorinda Shelley, was preparing the manuscript of their celebrated book. His mother in law came to visit them. Taking a look at their table and shelves were journals and text books were strewn around, she exclaimed, “You call that writing a book? I call it copying a book!”

Little did she know that most of the articles and books written on scientific subjects, including medicine, are mostly a compilation of wisdom passed down the ages!

This is the rule, rather than exception, in the scientific world. We need not undergo the tribulations of trial and error when the topics under consideration have already been studied in detail and the results recorded for posterity by the brilliant clinicians and research scientists. We should build our articles on the strong foundation of proven scientific facts . Then apply common sense so that it does not clash with the natural laws of scientific deductions and analysis. It is a norm that ensures the credibility of the scientific information provided. But, mind you, it can be termed plagiarism, unless the source references are acknowledged and credits given properly!

Modern medicine has come a long way during the last 150 years or so. Causes for many diseases are well known now, and definite treatments are available for many illnesses. Advanced diagnostic procedures and technology are within the reach of even ordinary individuals around the world. The much maligned antibiotics are saving thousands of people daily from certain death. Universal Immunization Programs have ensured that millions of children will live without the disabilities caused by Polio and other infections in the third world. The advances in treatment of diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases have raised the average life span and quality of life in most countries.

Still there are lots of problems still awaiting solution: treatment and control of genetic diseases, autoimmune disorders like lupus erythematosus, viral infections like HIV, nutritional deficiency in the third world, emergence of multi-drug resistance, to name a few.

The amount of new data and information that is coming out in the health related sciences every day is astounding and even professionals find it difficult to keep abreast of these current knowledge explosion!

The advent and popularity of internet has brought the medical and other health related information within the reach of ordinary (non-medical) people. The prompt availability of health information is a double edged sword, though.

The positive aspect is that up to date knowledge is at the fingertips of the seeker any time he or she wants it. Patients can obtain detailed info regarding the causation, pathological changes, clinical features and diagnostic procedures of diseases and take informed decisions about the treatment options available. Those who are researching health related articles do not have to spend long hours and days through dusty volumes of books and journals anymore.

The danger looms in the form of the spread of misinformation and dis(torted)information of scientific data by non medical persons. Some of the false information may be passed on unwittingly, when authors quote from so called “expert” articles written by people who have no basic knowledge of the human body and health sciences and who in turn may have depended on non authentic sources.

The second group, the really dangerous one, include scams and fraudulent sites which, to sell their alternate therapies, discredit scientific research and conventional medicine. They purposefully twist available data to their advantage and also widely quote from dubious healers alleged to perform ‘miracle’ cures for all sorts of diseases. Before falling for such scams, it would do well to ask your physician about their opinion of such claims and miracle cures.

Also visit the quackwatch site by Dr.Stephen Barrett, MD and look around for scams of similar nature to learn the real truth behind them: http://www.quackwatch.org/

The preceding discussion brings out a case for editorial regulations on health related matters on the World Wide Web. There are no effective regulatory bodies at present. Till such regulations are set up, a self regulatory protocol is necessary. It should be insisted that all articles on diseases and other health related topics should have a list of main references appended at the end of each article. This will go a long way in helping the readers decide whether the information given in the article is from a reliable source or not.

Dr. Hanish Babu, MD is a dermato-venereologist, author, stress management trainer and a netpreneur. He has recently released a stress management package “10 Days to Stress Free Life”.

To subscribe to his Less Stress News Letter, go to: http://www.lesstress.net

For Skin Care Tips, go to: http://www.skin-care-tips-from-dermatologist.com

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Article 5 of 7

The first segment of this article deals with the vulnerability, through the lack of knowledge, of the individual in dealing with his or her health. The second segment discusses some of the special means available, through the use of technology, to far better deal with the environment as it relates to human health.

If you would, please refer to handout “B” (the Health Chart) The B handout can be viewed also by clicking on a link at the end of this article. The handout is also an essential part of this discussion.

Let’s say the sloping line in handout B represents our health in general. From the normal-plus level down to the potential disease level area. Although this chart is oversimplified, it does give us a better picture of what we are all presently dealing with on a day to day basis in our lives, and also, in general, what we are trying to accomplish here. It’s very sad but true, that we have no idea where we are at on any such line of wellness, up in the healthy areas or down in the disease area, nor do we have the ability to exercise any organized degree of control over our position on any such line.

The disease area is where our present health care system primarily operates. In fact, the present health care system is often referred to as a disease-oriented medical system. We hear a lot about this area, because this is where most research and other medical activities take place, not up in this pre-disease stage area, or for sure not up in the normal-plus area.
(Although I am using only one line here (in handout A) for discussion, and simplification, purposes, the use of a number of lines, possibly representing major body systems, may in fact provide a more realistic representation).

We are told that major diseases such as most cancer, heart problems and the like usually take years to materialize, yet how often is someone given a complete physical examination and a clean bill of health, only to come down with the symptoms of one of these diseases within weeks? Obviously, the person was not likely in good health at the time of the examination; he or she was in reality down in this disease area, or pre-disease stage area, not up here, and for sure not up here in the normal plus area. The hundreds of health level conditions from the disease level up through the normal plus level would be fully established by this system. Currently you are diagnosed to have some level of diseased, or with the absence of that diagnosis, considered to be normal and sent home. What about the hundreds of subtle conditions in betweenfor example such as your system being slightly out of balance with minor corrections required?

Unfortunately, at this time, the way we usually become aware that we are not normal is when we develop the physical symptoms of a disease or from the results of a lab test. Instead of being up in the normal area, we are sadly down in the disease area or close to it. We often go from what we consider to be a condition of good health to abruptly finding out we have a disease, sometimes a very serious one, often causing a major change in our life, to often with no warning or opportunity for any form of intervention to prevent it. We then can only hope that the disease is curable or at least treatable.

For all practical purposes, basically we are left completely in the dark to struggle with where we are really at on our own. Most of the time we have no idea of how close we are to the potential disease levels. Operating under these conditions most of us just do the best we can, hoping to help ourselves with our level of health, whether it’s through what we eat, an exercise program, what we try to avoid, etc. This is a very weak and vulnerable position to continually be in, but it’s currently a fact of life. Unfortunately, it’s about all we can do. That is very sad indeed with the technology available to provide us far far more.

The proposed system, would not only provide you far more knowledge about your true level of health, but in addition, and just as critical, usually how you could have far more control over that level of wellness. The contrast between the current health care situation and what the system being proposed here could provide in terms of preventive and wellness knowledge might be compared to someone just feeling around in the dark, and then having someone come along and turn on the lights.

This article discusses a core element of the proposed national research center and how the supercomputers can relate vital data to disease and prevention and wellness. It also discusses a system that has the means of not only closely monitoring your health in great detail but far more control over it as well.

Now let’s take a look at the environmental factors:

In order to exert control over our level of wellness, we clearly also need to take into account external elements that affect our health, and of course that includes our personal environment.

In discussing our environment, we will use the word “environment” in its broadest sense, to include foods, nutrition, and exercise programs so on. However, bringing the environment into the health picture vastly complicates setting up any simple electronic processing system. It requires a far more powerful and sophisticated medical information system, but it’s absolutely essential. Any system that does not include the environment cannot be effective. The current high levels of disease and medical expense would only continue. This system does include the environmental elements.

So, how do we go about bringing in such large and diverse amounts of data into some type of format or system so that they can be evaluated as to their affect on our health?

Please refer to handout “C” Labeled Environment.

These are just a few examples of the many environmental factors that we are exposed to that can affect our health.

If we look at the upper left side of the page we see typical foods such as tomatoes broccoli and grapefruit, and directly across the page are listed some of the potential concerns for contamination, such as insecticides and herbicides, both widely used in this type of farming now days.

Just below that on the left are meats, poultry, dairy products, and eggs. Here we have additional potential contaminants we need to be especially concerned about–antibiotics and hormones–which are used very extensively by the farmers providing these products. (There are details in the book on the excessive use of chemicals by farmers).

We also have water. Well water is usually inspected by the county for bacteria only, not chemicals.

Then, last, but for sure not least, we have medicines, which could well be some of our most dangerous exposures. There definitely needs to be a far more reliable means of testing the typical pharmaceutical drug. In addition, there is a great need for more effective, friendlier and less expensive medicines. Extensive testing of natural elements is part of this system, which will be discussed later.

Sadly, we don’t even really know which chemicals we are ingesting or inhaling let alone the quantity. Also, what about the synergistic effects of these chemical combinations? At this time none of this is known!

Because this involves precious human health, and even life itself, this haphazard method of controlling food and water supply contamination, in this day and age of technology, is very sad indeed, and in my opinion absolutely unnecessary!

Capturing the environmental information for each individual at first seems almost insurmountable, but if we look into it further and with the help of some of the latest technology it is not as difficult as it first appears. For example, one use of technology, that would be very effective and easily applied, is to convert the checkout counter at supermarkets to easily transfer your supermarket orders to a special home computer, by merely having the credit card reader converted over to also read a plastic card you could carry with you. You could pass the card through the card reader the same as a credit card. The reader would recognize it for the type of card it is, read the telephone number on it and transfer details of the total order to a special home computer. This information could be easily downloaded later for use in a health report. Not only would that provide a total list of what you purchased, and avoid detail work on your part, but it would also provide the critical brand names. This would be very valuable in terms of research, in monitoring the quality of food. When significant health problems arose with a particular product, the research and diagnostic computers would be able to actually identify the brand.

This system would be very practical because the supermarkets already have all that store product information on their store computer systems, and such a system would require primarily the conversion of the credit card readers.

Also an environmental staff person would be mandatory in each medical office operation to help input, all environmental data for the patient or individual. This expert’s wages would likely be reimbursed by the government, at least initially, from the huge savings in health care expenses provided by the new systemsavings in the hundreds of billions of dollars (there is a small chapter on the economics involved). It should be noted that the environmental data input would be used for research purposes only for the first two or three years, but could likely be used for diagnostic purposes later (there are details in the book on how and why this is so).

We discussed the limited options available to preserve human health within the limitations of the present health care system. We also discussed both the limitations of knowledge, and the ability to control, one’s personal environment as to its effect on human health.

W D Wood author of book and article. An electronic engineer with a successful background in large computer system design and researchfor more information on author please link to http://www.vibranthealthplus/aboutauthor

Link to http://www.vibranthealthplus.com/handoutb
Link to http://www.vibranthealthplus.com/handoutc

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Perhaps the cheapest and most expedient way to lose weight is to walk it out. Most people can lose at least one pound a week by walking at a moderate pace for at least thirty to sixty minutes a week.

Not only is walking great for weight loss, but it also cuts your risk of stress related mood disorders, heart disease, colon cancer, stroke, breast cancer and diabetes!

Every individual is different when it comes to how long it will take for him or her to burn the fat off. To put it simply, a pound of fat equals 3500 calories. In order to lose that one pound a week you will need to burn off 3,500 more calories than the total calories that you consumed for that week.

Time does not matter as much as distance. However the faster you walk the more calories you will be burning per mile.

Walking your weight off is not the same as strolling. You can stroll weight off but it will take a lot longer then if you walk at the optimal fat burning pace.
This determined pace means that you are breathing a little hard but not so hard that you cannot carry on a conversation in full sentences.

It helps to pretend that you are walking fast, like you would if you were a bit late for an important appointment. When you are walking at this speed it means that you are exercising at sixty to seventy percent of your maximum heart rate, which burns calories efficient, helps create lean muscle and elevates the efficiency of the metabolism.

So how do you know how many calories you are expending?
A simple rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile for a 160-pound person.

However to treat walking your weight off seriously you will need two tools, a pedometer which can be acquired for about twenty dollars at a drug store and some way of counting the calories of the foods you eat every day. This can be as simple as an online site with lists of calorie values for different foods and a notebook.

Most pedometers automatically calculate the amount of calories that you have burned based on your weight, height and other values. Most of them measure the distance you have walked in both miles and calories burned. This allows you to easily see how many calories you have burned during a walking session.

By keeping track of the calories you consume during the day you can easily calculate how far you would need to walk to burn off the 3,500 calories that you would need to burn off in one week to lose just one pound. If you wanted to lose two pounds then you would increase your walking to burn off 7,000 calories a week.

Patricia has been interested in health and fitness since the early 70’s and knows how to seperate hype from fact.
Dieting & Fitness Articles & Tips

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