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.