What Exercise Can You Recommend that Doesn’t Involve Exertion?

Life has causes and effects.  What we do matters, particularly when it comes to our health care.  Recently, I had a patient who saw me in the office with significant risk factors for heart disease.  He was a diabetic and his blood sugars were very out of control.

I had to chuckle when his wife asked me, “What exercise can you recommend that doesn’t involve exertion?”  

Her question wasn’t that far off from what many people expect concerning their health.  We’d all like to get results without suffering any pain.  Ours is a generation that is averse to pain or discomfort.  We like fast food, instant service, and immediate results.

Having to struggle or endure unpleasant feelings to improve out health isn’t something we like to do.    I’ve had many people who want to continue eating beef and pork, foods known to create heart disease and then wonder why they have a heart attack. 

What can be done to encourage people to take responsibility for their own health?  I don’t have an answer.  Sometimes difficulty or pain is the best teacher.  When people experience a heart attack or are fearful about losing a loved one- sometimes this is enough to get them to change.

For now, all I can do is continue to share the best medical advice possible to the people who wish to become well.

November 26th, 2007 - Posted in Medical | | 0 Comments

Love Your Life

The past is gone, like a soap bubble burst. And the future? Its a mysterious dream, not yet real. All we really have is the present, this touchable moment.

We’ve all heard the phrase: live in the present. And while this is important, we also have to consider how are we living in the present? Are we just existing in the moment? Are we reliving the past while in the present? Or is our mind three steps forward concerned with the future?

Recently, I was at a Peak Potentials (www.peakpotentials.com) training seminar called, Masters of Influence. One of the speakers, Greg Mooers, a monk for 10 years, introduced an amazing affirmation. It’s designed to expand our ability to live in the present moment, and even to enjoy it.

Every morning after waking up and getting out of bed, he suggests that we thrust our arms above our head looking up to the heavens and say, “I love my life” three times.

Now this might seem hookey. It might make you wonder if your brain is beginning to congeal like some out of date cake mix- but after trying if for a few day’s it’s actually made me feel better.

It’s made me look hard at how I approach life. So often we go through life not enjoying the present. We don’t accept our life just the way it exists. We want it to be different somehow. We want it to be more of this or less of that.

Saying, “I love my life” doesn’t mean we stop trying to improve our lives. We aren’t giving up and accepting mediocrity. It just means that our life is the way it is in this moment, and if we want to be happy we have to enjoy this moment.

If we can learn to accept life as it presents to us, if we can love our life just as it is- then we can rise above the small moments and revel in the wondrous and simple beauty of living.

To find out more about Greg Mooers and his message go to: www.lifecamp.com

November 20th, 2007 - Posted in Emotional/Psychological | | 0 Comments

Stress: It’s the Little Things that Matter

Just spoke at the Ann Arbor women’s expo- “Overcoming Stress Through Heart Centered Living.” I was amazed at what I learn each time I speak. The talk was an introduction to eliminating stress, but what struck me was how the the little things in life could be stressful.We like to think that it’s the big things (at least I do) critical illness, having someone we’re close to die, or loosing our job- that create stress. Yet, two particpants at the talk remarked that sleeping too much or not sleeping enough was really stressful to them.I sleep well. I always have. So it really made me think that everyones experience in life is different. Not everyone relates to life like I do. So difficulty with sleeping could be a very stressful event for someone.I began thinking that its really the little things in life that matter, that can lead to damaging stress. It’s the spouse that snores. Its the boss who looks at us a certain way. These are the things that can really make us uptight and ultimately lead to illness.Stress is subjective. Stress is what we make of it. Jeff Gordon can drive a race car 200 miles an hour and it probably seems like a Sunday drive. While this would scare the buggers out of me. And often its the routine things in life that really get caught in our claw. Traffic, small persistent annoyances at work, or irritating habits- it’s the mundane events that don’t go the way we’d like them to go that stresses us out.Stress is of 2 types: the stressful events you can change and those that are beyond our control. If we can make some progress on the first type, by changing what is in our power to change then the second type can become more manageable. If I walk in the door to my house and I’ve not let the traffic bug me, then I’m better able to accomodate the stress of family matters.It makes sense, but its something we need to be reminded of on a daily basis.

November 11th, 2007 - Posted in Medical | | 0 Comments

Where’s the Men’s Expos?

Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking at the Ann Arbor New’s Womens Expo.  It’s an event geared especially for women’s health and wellness.    Funny, rarely do you ever see men’s expos. 

Studies have shown that women are much more likely to attend a workshop or seminar.  I’ve found that to be true.  Much of what I talk about concerns health and well being.  Rarely do men show up.

It’s usually 80-90% women.  Although we men tend to think we’re the stronger sex, when it comes to emotional strength women are way ahead. 

Men don’t work on their health.  They have to be prodded and pushed to go to the doctor.  They’re stoic to the point of apathy.   Male hormones must contain a large portion of obliviousness- because most men are truly oblivious when it comes to matters of the heart.

This isn’t to say that women aren’t catching up.  More and more women are being diagnosed with illnesses of the heart.  They too can learn to clam up and let the stress of life overwhelm them. 

Ok men, lets stand up to be heard.  I’ll heading off to Ann Arbor now, looking for the Men’s Expo.

November 9th, 2007 - Posted in Emotional/Psychological | | 0 Comments

We’re All Connected

We’re all connected.  Reading The Heart Math Solution by Doc Childre and Howard Martin has re-affirmed this for me.  They describe the electromagnetic field that is created by our heart and showed evidence that it emanates eight feet out from our bodies.   Like our own Wi-Fi, we’re constantly broadcasting a silent signal.  And whoever comes into our space is affected by what is happening inside our hearts- inside us

A connection exists whether we like it or not.  An invisible thread weaves its way up and down, around and through us.  Our intersecting threads maybe similar ethnicity, shared cultural ties, or connecting values.  Or perhaps the only similarity between us and the stranger sitting beside us on the bus is the fact that we both are human beings.  And we both have beating human hearts.

The question for me is:  Do I affirm that connection?  Do I open myself up consciously? If so, what is the message that is broadcasting from my heart?  Is it uplifting and giving people hope and direction to find greater love?

Or is it just more CNN and Fox News static?

November 6th, 2007 - Posted in Emotional/Psychological | | 0 Comments

Time to Discuss Limiting Health Care?

Health care costs are exploding.  Medicare costs are growning at a double digit rate. Our system is overtaxed.  We all know this.  We read about it in the newspaper nearly everyday.  Because I pay for my own health insurance I see it in my pay stub.  This year I’m paying nearly $1200 a month for Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance. And even though as a society we spend more per capita than other Western countries still up to 20% of Americans have no health coverage. As a cardiologist, I’m part of the system.  I know what the costs are for the tests I order for my patients.  Health care isn’t cheap. What never seems to get talked about whenever the high cost of health care is mentioned is the idea of limiting the services we offer based on age or debility.  In other Western countries that offer care to all their citizens certain expensive treatments (kidney dialysis, open heart surgery, coronary stenting)  are limited based on age or debility. In most countries kidney dialysis is not offered to people over 65 years of age.  Open Heart Surgery is also not offered to people who are quite old or infirmed.In America, we don’t do this.  Even when people are very, very sick and it is clear that they don’t have more than a year to live we still offer treaments that cost $100,000-200,000.   Resources are limited.  They are.  We can’t deny it.  As a society we have to choose where we are going to spend out dollars. Now I don’t claim to have any answers to this question.  And I wouldn’t suggest that age alone be a deciding factor for treatment decisions, but what I do suggest is that it’s time to be having public discussion around the issue of how we spend the money that’s available.Quite frequently as physicians we see very debilititated patients who have multiple systemic problems:  heart disese, lung disease, kidney failure- and then get admitted to the hospital for an acute serious illness.  Even though the chances of survival are less that 1/1000 we don’t limit our treatment.With all the discussion of National Health Care or One Payer System I still don’t see any debate regarding this issue.  It’s like we’re afraid to even talk about it.  Should we limit the care we give to people with little chance of survival?  Should we consider age in our decisions about health care provision?As I said, I don’t have the answers, but I think its time to at least open the door for discussion about the choices we make as a society. 

November 5th, 2007 - Posted in Philosophical | | 0 Comments