Know Your Bones

I'm a guest blogger on ThirdAge!

Thanks to Yvonne's introduction, I'm excited to be part of the blog at  ThirdAge, a portal for people 40+. 

To be sure, my patients (and KYB and TA readers!) crave a deeper understanding of their treatments than they can get during a doctor's appointment.  I appreciate the obstacles like rising out-of-pocket costs, and our harried, misdirected health system.

My posts will share the science, with a peek behind the curtain revealing the “secrets” to your best healing.
   
Please let me know what’s on your mind.  How can I help you Know Your Bones?

Raise Awareness of Real Beauty and Support the Girl Scouts!

The folks at Dove soap have partnered with the Girl Scouts of the USA to promote a concept of Real Beauty!  I LOVED scouts as a kid (and earned every merit badge, thank you very much :)!) and my girls are enjoying Brownies. 

Now is the time to stand firm and celebrate your curves!  By signing the Dove Real Beauty Pledge Book , you can help support programs which help foster improved self-esteem among young girls. 

For every signature in the Pledge Book, Dove will donate $1 to Uniquely Me, a Girl Scouts of the USA program which supports improved self-esteem among young girls.  The goal is to raise an additional $50,000 for Uniquely Me by August 31st--with your help of course! 

I encourage my friends and readers, and Blogosphere colleagues, like  Embracing Women's Health,   Sugar Shock,  Interpret-her,  Healthy Concerns and Lipsticking to add your signature to the Pledge Book and Dove will donate $1 in your behalf to Uniquely Me!

Look for my Pledge at about #2337:  "Direct your energy toward building your strength, resilience, independence, INTERdependence = Real Beauty.  Know your bones!"

You are what you eat: don't be junk!

Thanks to a team of researchers in Japan who have demonstrated a connection between "bad cholesterol" and degeneration of the discs of the spine.  At the 2005 meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, Mika Hangai, the principal investigator stated, "Aging, obesity, high LDLc, high HbA1c and arteriosclerosis were significantly associated with disc degeneration."

Let's connect the dots:  your living tissues are constantly growing, turning over and breaking down.  Every part of your body relies on healthy blood flow and the right nutrients to repair itself and stay strong and resilient (read: young!)  If you're using crappy building supplies (junky, processed, fake food), your body's foundation is overloaded (by obesity) and the blood flow trying to deliver healing elements and flush away cellular wastes are clogged (by arteriosclerosis), guess what?  You're gonna hurt!  Worse than that, you hurt because you're falling apart! 

Connie Bennett's blog Sugar Shock is an eye-opening expose of the politics and pathology surrounding Big Sugar.   She keeps a close eye on the shenanigans, and has first-hand experience on how transforming your eating plan (for the better) will improve health (for the better!)

Good health and a state of "wellness" means you respect the way all of your body's systems are interrelated.  Do everything you can to sustain your vigor and balance in ofer to ward off anything that threatens it with disease and deterioration!  Know your bones!

Aren't patients more than their hair and bad skin?!

Why are so many of my physician colleagues shelving their expertise in favor of operating a glorified beauty salon?  Healthy Concerns recently interviewed a disgruntled doc who felt the "office aesthetic field" was his only recourse.  How sad.

At Know Your Bones, I'm examining our fractured health system.

According to Christian Raulin, M.D.; Baerbel Greve, M.D.; Sabine Raulin, M.D.:  "The massive public interest and the patient´s demand for laser treatment regardless of the indication have led many physicians to follow the booming trend and acquire a laser (2). In these days of tight budgets, it is implied that lasers provide powerful sources of additional income outside of the field of managed care."

The payors (insurance companies and the government) have trivialized your doctors' expertise in managing your vital organs--they've set the rates we'll be paid, and have reduced the practice of medicine to piecework. 

I wish that legitimate disease management and health promotion received as much fanfare as all this window dressing.  If you'd be willing to pay for hair plugs, Botox or thin thighs, what would you be willing to pay for sturdy joints, a vigorous heart and a tireless brain?  Please tell me, I'm interested...

Links to Holistic resources:

Holistic Junction -- Holistic Practitioners; Acupuncture Schools, Chiropractic Schools, Massage Therapy Schools, and Reflexology Schools. More than just another holistic site -- with over 5 million page views annually, Holistic Junction is your health-conscious community that powerfully integrates innovative news and literature on insightful, holistic and natural ideals. Host to hundreds of alternative, healing arts and massage therapy schools, Holistic Junction invites you to participate in diverse forums, share original art, articles, opinions and much more; advertise your practice or organization; and browse over 800 directory categories.