food – watercress words by Dr Aletha

What does “health” mean to you?

Let’s continue exploring the heart of health by looking at a couple of interesting books. In another post we considered this definition:

“a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
World Health Organization

2 bandaids crossed on a world globe — photo from the Lightstock collection (affiliate link)

Or you could also say

“There’s a Lot More to Health than Not Being Sick”

So, what is “a lot more”?

I’m introducing you to two medical writers who believe health is multifaceted and not centered around the presence or absence of disease.

Health- flux and adaptation

(Note: this post uses affiliate links to sites where you might make a purchase which will help fund this blog; your help is appreciated. )

book cover- The LUCKY YEARS by David B. Agus, M.D.

Enjoying life to the fullest

Despite the author’s impressive credentials, I was skeptical about a health book called “The Lucky Years”, as if health is just a matter of the luck of the draw or throw of the dice.

The author is David B. Agus, M.D. , Professor of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Southern California , , author of two bestselling books and a CBS News contributor.

In The Lucky Years- How to Thrive in the Brave New World of Health Dr. Agus covers some hefty topics including

how the human body ages
Innovative cancer treatments with immunotherapy , DNA sequencing, and molecular targeting
The use of clinical trials to study new treatments for cancer and other diseases
How cancers metastasize (spread)
Potential uses for stem cells
New insights into the development of antibiotic resistance
Proteomics- study of the body’s proteins
The relationship of antibodies to common viruses to onset of chronic diseases

Rather than highly technical detail he offers a broad overview of these new technologies and how they may help treat and potentially prevent the main causes of death, that is cancer and chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

He recommends patients understand and use technology to maintain and improve their health and not rely solely on their doctor to do so and to actively participate in the healthcare system.

He believes that health data will be used to prevent, detect and treat disease and to prolong life.

Large quantities of such data, organized in a secure database, will help us predict risk and recommend preventive measures, such as already done with

Colonoscopy to prevent deaths from colon cancer
Aspirin and statin use to prevent cardiac deaths
Management of low grade cancers conservatively, avoiding the use of surgery or chemotherapy

The body is an incredible self-regulating machine. You don’t need to do much to support its health and optimal wellness.”

Health is in perpetual flux.

I agree with Dr. Agus’ views on what health is, or rather what it is not.

“I don’t know what true health is, particularly on an individual basis.
For person A, health can be living totally free of illness and disability.
For person B, however, perhaps health means managing a condition well and enjoying life to the fullest despite some disability.
While we can certainly try to measure health in a variety of ways- weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, blood cell count, hormone levels, markers of inflammation, how you look, and how well you sleep, for example- none of those figures or generalizations will tell the whole picture.
And they won’t reveal how many years and days you might have left on this planet.”

He offers this advice –

“I encourage you to view your total health as a complex network of processes that cannot be explained by looking at any one pathway or focal point. Health is in perpetual flux.

book cover- FAST METABOLISM FOOD RX BY HAYLIE POMROY

A constant state of healthy adaptation

Nutritionist Hailey Pomroy, author of Fast Metabolism Food Rx, recommends using food as “metabolic medicine.”

“Food integrates with your body to create health in a powerful way.”

She explains health using a formula E + M = H which means

Eating, Exercise, Environment plus

Metabolism, Metabolic pathways, Me equals

Health, Homeostasis, Harmony

In this formula, E stands for everything we put into our bodies as well as everything around us, including people, your job, the weather.

M is what is inside of you, including your genetic makeup, and what happens when your body processes (or metabolizes) food, nutrients, toxins, medications.

“Health doesn’t always mean you are disease free, It means your body has created a homeostasis or internal balance, …is a constant state of healthy adaptation or flux.”

So, what does HEALTH mean to you?

Considering their advice, think about what health means to you.

Use these questions to get started.

Do you use any type of technology to manage your health and medical care? If so, is it helpful, or just more busy work?
What is your relationship with your personal physician? Do you rely on your doctor to tell you what you should do, or recommend what you should do to stay healthy and treat ailments?
Do you know what medical conditions you are at risk for, and what you can do to prevent them?
What health measures are important to you, like blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, BMI, mammogram, and why?
Are you “living life to the fullne” and if not, why not? What could you change to make that happen?
How do you use food?
What factors make up your E and your M? Do they add up to the Health that you want to create?

exploring the HEART of health

Dr Aletha

I don’t remember the first time I read an article by Charles Krauthammer but once I did, I never missed a chance to read more. Dr. Krauthammer passed away from cancer in 2018 and I among many mourn his passing.

His Washington Post syndicated column appeared in my local newspaper on Saturdays; I would read it aloud at breakfast so my husband and I could discuss it. Invariably, there would be one or two words or phrases we didn’t understand so I would look up the definition- this despite both of us having graduate degrees. We were alternately entertained, enlightened, and enthralled by his way with words.

As a physician, I am intrigued and inspired knowing Dr. Krauthammer completed medical school and residency after and despite sustaining a spinal cord injury which caused quadriplegia (paralysis from the neck down, preventing use of his arms and legs). (This no doubt made his treatment and recovery from cancer surgery all the more difficult.) In his memoir, he explained how a caring professor did whatever it took to help him get through medical school after his injury, including lectures at his bedside while he was still hospitalized.

DR. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER-IN MEMORIAM-WWW.WATERCRESSWORDS.COM

He did not use “M.D.” or the title “Dr.” after he changed his career from psychiatry to journalism, but I think he should have, he earned it. He mostly wrote about politics and social issues but occasionally would address medical issues. (These and others in this post are affiliate links to Dr. Krauthammer’s books and others. )

Here are excerpts from a sampling of articles that deal with medical topics; I encourage you to read them in their entirety.

After watching videos in which The price of fetal parts was discussed over lunch, Dr. Krauthammer wrote

“Abortion critics have long warned that the problem is not only the obvious — what abortion does to the fetus — but also what it does to us. It’s the same kind of desensitization that has occurred in the Netherlands with another mass exercise in life termination: assisted suicide. It began as a way to prevent the suffering of the terminally ill. It has now become so widespread and wanton that one-fifth of all Dutch assisted-suicide patients are euthanized without their explicit consent.

ultrasound image of a 4 month old fetus — a prenatal ultrasonographic image of fetus at the four-month point in its gestation; public domain image used courtesy of the CDC/ Jim Gathany

There is more division about the first trimester because one’s views of the early embryo are largely a matter of belief, often religious belief. One’s view of the later-term fetus, however, is more a matter of what might be called sympathetic identification — seeing the image of a recognizable human infant and, now, hearing from the experts exactly what it takes to “terminate” its existence.

The role of democratic politics is to turn such moral sensibilities into law. This is a moment to press relentlessly for a national ban on late-term abortions.”

After Another massacre, another charade he said this about guns and laws about them.

gun metal barrel — Photo by Somchai Kongkamsri on Pexels.com

“So with the Roseburg massacre in Oregon. Within hours, President Obama takes to the microphones to furiously denounce the National Rifle Association and its ilk for resisting “common-sense gun-safety laws.” His harangue is totally sincere, totally knee-jerk and totally pointless. At the time he delivers it, he — and we — know practically nothing about the shooter, nothing about the weapons, nothing about how they were obtained.

In the final quarter of his presidency, Obama can very well say what he wants. If he believes in Australian-style confiscation — i.e., abolishing the Second Amendment — why not spell it out? Until he does, he should stop demonizing people for not doing what he won’t even propose.”

In this tongue-in-cheek (pardon the pun) post Food fads: Make mine gluten free he “preaches skepticism” about most current dietary advice.

“Exhibit A for medical skepticism, however, remains vitamin C. When Linus Pauling, Nobel laureate in chemistry (not nutrition), began the vitamin-C megadose fad to fend off all manner of disease, the whole thing struck me as bizarre. Yes, you need some C to prevent scurvy if you’re seven months at sea with Capt. Cook and citrus is nowhere to be found. Otherwise, the megadose is a crock. Evolution is pretty clever. For 2 million years it made sure Homo erectus, neanderthalensis, sapiens, what have you, got his daily dose without having to visit a GNC store.

Sure enough, that fashion came and went. But there are always new windmills to be tilted at. The latest is gluten.

various types of bread — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Now, if you suffer from celiac disease, you need a gluten-free diet. How many of us is that? Less than 1 percent. And yet supermarket shelves are groaning with products proclaiming their gluten-freedom. Sales are going through the roof.”

Exploring the HEART of health with Dr. Charles Krauthammer

I enjoyed listening to Dr. Krauthammer’s memoir THINGS THAT MATTER: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics

Charles Krauthammer-THINGS THAT MATTER — available as an audiobook from the iTunes Store

His book is a collection of his more memorable opinion pieces as well as a memoir of his life, including medical school, his life-changing injury, psychiatric medical practice, his journalism career, hobbies (chess and baseball) and life with his family.

According to Amazon-

” Now, finally, the best of Krauthammer’s intelligence, erudition and wit are collected in one volume.”

Dr Aletha

in memoriam

In his last piece for The Washington Post, barely two weeks before his death, Dr. Krauthammer wrote,

“I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”

I am sad he left, but grateful that he shared his “intelligence, erudition, and wit” with the world. May we all find the loves and endeavors that make life worth living and live intentional lives as well as he did.