Have you ever opened one of my newsletters, only to quickly close it when you see an article suggesting you’re doing something wrong? Does reading articles on the internet contribute to a growing case of hypochondria (“Oh, no, maybe I have that disease!”) or orthorexia (an eating disorder where fixed ideas about health cause one to restrict or control their foods to an unhealthy degree)? Egads, not my intention, as you might imagine.
Living in my tipi in the early 1970’s, we might have said we were “tuning in to our bodies” when we tried to figure out if being a vegetarian was a good idea, or if a particular job was taking too great a toll on our health. Ten years ago we would take a morning temperature and pulse to assess thyroid function and readiness to exercise.
How many hours of sleep are best for you every night? Do you sleep the same amount every night?
On average, Americans sleep less during the week, 6-plus hours, and creep up above 7 hours on the weekend. In a recent study discussed in the Wall Street Journal here, some findings are familiar: skimping on sleep by as little as 20 minutes has cognitive effects.
I just made an appointment with a Physical Therapist specializing in athletes with knee problems: I loved giving my Medicare information and saying also that I am an athlete! Okay, I have to say I’m a side-lined athlete until the PT can perform some magic on my chronic tendon and bursa issues around my knees, but I am determined to race again (rowing) and ride again (bicycling), so he’d better be good.
As a clinician I know that common sense is an incredibly reliable tool: it’s most likely that the patient returned from a back-packing trip has abdominal pain and diarrhea because of some exposure from the trip.
One thing that every woman knows is that we become almost invisible at menopause! We can walk alone with impunity because we are rarely noticed. Evidently our invisibility extends to the medical eye. I was listening to one of my favorite and educational podcasts on the way to the lake this morning: Revolution Health Radio with Chris Kresser.
The possibility of a connection between red meat and breast cancer has been scrutinized repeatedly over the last two decades, probably in an effort to give women more control over a disease that so often seems to strike without reason. For instance, although there is indeed a hereditary component to breast cancer, most women diagnosed have no family history of the disease.
Two very important life-style choices might be of significant benefit if you want to prevent a recurrence of colon cancer.
A recently released study identified both regular exercise (60 minutes weekly) and twice weekly fish meals as factors associated with a reduced risk of cancer recurrence.
Can we wrap our minds around a new paradigm?
One of the recent newsletters from a popular health and fitness doctor suggested that we only need exercise a bit more to keep from gaining weight. Evidently all the different health authorities have calculated the amount of exercise needed. The recommended guidelines would have a middle aged woman exercising at least 20 minutes vigorously 3 X a week, or moderately at least 150 minutes a week.