Healthy Living

It is an interesting thing, that among all the issues that has impressed itself on the mind of man, none has been more enduring than the desire for good health. You see it in the papers. Every week, we have a whole newspaper dedicated to health, 'Mind Your Body'. You hear it everywhere, people giving each other advice on the latest diet/exercise plan, or the best sinsei in town. We all have vested interests in our health. Everybody wants to feel healthy. The oft quoted phrase, 'Health is wealth' is an adage for many corporate executives who find some time in their crammed schedules to work out for 1 or 2 hrs in their gym.

In this age of increased demand for better health, I have pondered much about the solution for sickness, esp. in the context of chronic diseases in industrialised nations. I don't have a simple, one-sized-fits-all bandaid for this problem, but I do have a solution to prevent many such illnesses. Eat healthy, live in harmony with your friends and family, yourself and God.

Most major religions emphasize the importance of living in temperance, exercising regularly, and consuming healthy foods. My Church is no excepiton. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that God revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith a health law, what we call the word of wisdom.

In it, the Lord Jesus Christ prescribed the following (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 89):
1) No alcohol, coffee, tea (strong drink)
2) No other harmful substances in your body (tobacco, drugs of abuse, etc.)
3) Eat more wholesome herbs, fruits, and with prudence and thanksgiving
4) Eat meat sparingly, with thanksgiving. It is pleasing unto God that they should NOT be used, only in times of winter, cold or famine.
5) All grain is good for man and beasts, and is to be the staff of life

The blessings attached to it are (also in accordance to 'walking in obedience to the commandments'):
1) Health in their navel and marrow to their bones
2) The discovery of wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures
3) Running and not being weary
4) Walking and not being faint
5) The destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them.

Frankly, I don't exercise much. Though I should, and I will begin haha. But in spite of not exercising, I have kept healthy. I look fresh, feel fresh, and think fresh. Many people have asked me why I'm so chirpy in the morning. Honestly, I believe that it's because I keep the law of health.

In case you're wondering if all this is hokey-pokey, there have been a multitude of studies done which show that healthy living and healthy eating prevent a whole range of illnesses. If we wish to avoid heart attacks (acute myocardial infarctions), stroke, cancer, diabetes, liver failure, etc. then we must live healthily. In a study done by Santisteban, mice injected with breast cancer cells who were fed a low glycemic index foods survived far more than those who were fed high glycemic index foods. (Glycemic index: numerical index given to carbohydrate rich food, based on the level of rise in blood glucose after eating the food. The higher the food, the higher the assigned index).

P.S: Given the 'evidence-based' nature of our Singapore government and pouring so much money into 'Lose weight', 'Climb stairs', 'Walk more', 'Less Salt/Sugar' campaigns, you would have thought they definitely would have done their ample research to see if their $$$ was put into something true.

Not only that, we must be at peace with ourselves and our fellow beings. Stress promotes inflammation, which is the soil for ill health (e.g. cancer, heart attack). In the book, Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, he quotes a study done in 1988 (Krumholz, et al) on the Prognostic importance of Emotional Support for Elderly Patients hospitalised with heart failure. Those whose loved ones were less supportive had 40% more blockage in their coronary arteries (blood vessels supplying the heart) than those who were reported having warmer connections. In 1999, a study done on the effects of Marital Stress (Seeman and Syme) reported that toxic relationships are AS MAJOR a risk factor for disease and death as smoking, high blood pressure/cholesterol, obesity and physical inactivity. There are so many studies which show that ill mental and emotional health are REAL risk factors for sickness. Haven't we ever been stressed with work to do? Or had friends who have caused us grief? Or had seemingly hopeless situations? Remember the sniffles, fevers, and restless sleep?

I had a patient who was abused when she was a little girl by her stepmother. When she cried, her stepmum would dunk her head in a pail of water and hold it there. This traumatic incidences stayed with her, and she never told anyone. She now blamed her heart disease (several failures of her heart valves) on this. She lamented that no one else in her family ever had any serious illnesses, she was the only one. I was intrigued, and though I had no physical evidence, I had an inkling that there was some truth in this. When we keep the hurt inside, bad things happen. I'm very sure that many who are depressed or who have psychiatric disoders have unresolved problems which have been left to fester.

As a medical student, I see how we as a doctors play more of a diagnostic and therapeutic role, rather than treating the whole person. Sometimes I wonder if in our hurriedness to treat the patient's condition, and to move on to the next to complete the patient list, we hurt the patients more than we help them. I think someone should do a study on the effects of ill communication and bad vibes on the prognosis of patient health, esp. in the context of Singapore!

There are so many things going on now in the health community, the definition of health, and how the public is increasingly perceiving their health and also the profession, that it's impossible for me to totally document all of this in a single blog post, much less my blog. Suffice to say, if we determine to eat and live and think and feel healthily, then we will always feel that we have all the blessings in the world- whether in sickness or health. Time to put on my running shoes.

Sundays, Books and Family

Sundays are a time of peace for me. Mostly. We go back home, change out, read scriptures, sleep, answer mail and blog and keep up with the latest developments in our friendships. How rare is that! It's like having a holiday every week. No homework, no TV, no entertainment, just fresh quiet time with family and God and planning for the new week. Awesomeness incarnate (kung-fu panda flashback).

Nowadays life has been more or less very straightforward. Medicine. Med. Meddie. Madness. Somehow they sound the same! *scratch head* They probably are. Hmm. Got to order a CT scan to further investigate.

Therefore, it is time (big grand anthem and fireworks exploding)...to get a life!

That includes:
1) Break the trend of eating at Kopitiam everyday! Then again, I just got this very nice Kopitiam card which gives me 20% discount and I'd hate to waste it. One down.
2) Spending more time listening to friends and family instead of getting swallowed up in Clinical Examination: A systematic guide to Physical Diagnosis. But it's 3 more weeks till the end-of-posting mother of all killer tests! Doh.
3) Getting rid of all the books on my humongous desk. But I don't want to waste precious lower limb ATP (small little molecular bits of energy which drive your cell which drive your tissue which constitutes your organs) walking all the way to my shelf and extending my arms (wasting upper limb ATP) to grasp those books (more ATP).

I think that we all face very difficult trials everyday. -solemn nod-

'Ohm'ing Omeprazole

Coldplay never titles their songs according to their lyrics. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't. I'll borrow their creativity and name this post something totally random. Unless, of course, you think that I'm having a hidden meaning behind it and am tremendously brilliant and subtle. Subtly brilliant. Haha so oxymoronic!

But maybe I DO have a hidden meaning behind this! *mysterious cloaking movement*

Ah hah!

When we were small, our parents used to motion to us to consume our food by stretching out the spoon laden with fried rice to our faces, and cajoling us with 'ohm' (or 'um'). We would stare blankly at them, then, figuring that in order to get this pesky metallic stick with stuff at its end out of our faces, we need to gobble down the food and echo an 'ohm'. The spoon will then be pulled upwards so the food will be scraped off the roof of our mouth, forcing our neck to crane upwards and producing a most difficult sensation and near-gag. Our reward: subtle nutrition and a sigh of relief from our feeder.

Sometimes we view things that way. Sometimes things happen the way they are, uncomfortably, necessarily...well, some might be unnecessary.

Omeprazole. Did the powerpoint today for our group's pharmacology presentation. Next week, we'll be presenting in front of a live audience- our friends! It's going to be fun. By the way, omeprazole is the drug they use to treat gastric ulcers. Speaking of which, Richard, not eating does not give you ulcers!