I remember a story about a Peace Corps worker who tried to teach soil conservation to a group of nomadic farmers. They were not interested in the subject until he got them to believe that there is a limited amount of land. They believed that land was limitless and all they had to do was keep moving to new fertile land. It wasn’t until their understanding of the whole world shifted that they began to embrace the practice of soil conservation.
A significant portion of our national budget goes to pay for healthcare. With the focus of our government in reducing expenditures to reduce the national debt, it is expected that there will be reductions in government spending on healthcare. Many Baby Boomers are entering the age when they will start using Medicare and this is a concern. Articles show that jobs are increasing at a rate of 25% in the healthcare market, but some feel this is not necessarily a good indicator since the goal is to reduce healthcare spending. More and more effort is being placed on providers to become more efficient in delivery of healthcare services, especially in light of the fact that the United States ranks 37 in quality of health care of the industrialized nations despite being number 1 in healthcare costs. Perhaps, more attention and money should be spent on expanding prevention and wellness programs since most of the effort is now aimed at extending insurance coverage and decreasing the growth of costs through improved efficiency. There is even a movement to decrease or eliminate tests that show limited efficacy. Some movies/books are showing impressive results in reducing heart disease, diabetes and arthritis with changes in diet, exercise, stress reduction, improved sleep and attitude. Another strategy is to have each individual take responsibility for improving health one step at a time. Anything is better than nothing and making changes in your routine can be done systematically and easily. Start walking a little more; park the car just a little farther; stand and do a little exercise while watching TV; eat a few bites less with each meal; drink a little more water; drink less soda; laugh a little more; go to bed a little earlier; talk to your friends and watch a little less TV. You can do a lot of little things on a daily basis to improve the quality of your life. Wouldn’t you rather be a little healthier with better blood flow to your brain, possessing stronger muscles with more flexibility, while looking and feeling a little younger? You have a choice and you are in charge of your life.
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It’s been about 2 years since I last tried to read Jared Diamond’s book, Collapse. He wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning book, Guns, Germs and Steel, which discussed how some civilizations rose to high technical advances and others remained at a Stone Age level. I had zipped through this book, finding it read like an Indiana Jones adventure. Collapse, on the other hand, discussed the demise of many advanced civilizations, which I found disheartening and stopped reading about two-thirds of the way through. Nevertheless, I recently picked it up and read it again. To my surprise, I am getting inspired.
This book is filled with examples of wrong decisions and how these decisions led to unsustainable living conditions. I started thinking about modern life and how we sometimes do things that don’t make any sense and yet we still do them. Here are some examples from the book: There is a theory that Easter Island, with the big stone tiki-head statues, became desolate when all the trees were cut down. Who would do such a non-survival thing like that? What would possess some group to do that? Here is another example: 60% of Australia’s land area and 80% of the human water use is dedicated to agriculture, but the value of agriculture relative to other sectors of the Australian economy contributes less than 3% of the gross national product. Of that agricultural land, 99% makes little to no positive contribution to the economy, which is possible with the help of indirect government subsidies. It would almost make more sense for Australia to put its efforts into other sectors for growth. One more example: A cows’ digestion produces methane gas twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide emissions from cars in causing global warming. The author suggests that it may be more effective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing cattle production. What does all this have to do with keeping fit? Perhaps, if we can decode why groups of people make non-survival decisions that wipe out whole civilizations, then maybe we can find the answers to why individuals make non-survival decisions that impact the quality and longevity of their lives. How do you shift the whole nation’s idea that obesity is a train wreck waiting to happen on an individual, community, economic and future level? How many people do you know who are actively changing their lifestyles to make a dent into this problem? How many people do you know who think of this as a global problem that has far-reaching implications? I have been teaching qigong for about 13 years and studying it for 15, and I often forget that there actually are people out there who have never heard about it. A quick and easy description of qigong is “An ancient Chinese form of exercise designed to improve health and longevity.” It is pronounced “chee gong” and means the practice of moving the vital life force throughout the body. Similar to acupuncture, it moves the vital life force without using needles. As an exercise program, it is designed to improve organ health.
Many people are familiar with tai chi and have seen the graceful movements of that martial art which has been adapted for use in promoting health and balance. Although I have never studied tai chi, people who do say that the basic movements often take up to two years to perfect. Qigong, on the other hand, is much simpler to learn and can produce health benefits in one lesson. One of the key aspects of qigong is that it focuses on the message system, unlike other exercise that may focus on cardiovascular health, muscle strength, flexibility or coordination. The message system is ideas, messages and thoughts that influence how we feel, posture ourselves to the world and color our attitudes. A book written by Masaru Emoto, Messages in Water, describes how various words, sounds and images can affect the formation of crystals in water. The more positive the message, the more beautiful the crystal formation. Negative messages do not produce crystals. Since our bodies are primarily water, this book shows the power of positive or negative thinking. I tell my qigong students to think positive messages telling the body to be healthier, happier, smarter and more beautiful. The body does listen to these messages. Eliminating or reducing negative messages improves one’s outlook. The “News” on television is 80% negative, which can negatively impact each cell of the body. Think about how talking to different people makes you feel. Who lifts your spirits? Who brings it down? Who are the people you prefer to be around? Think about times when you didn’t want to do something. How did your body feel? Can you remember your attitude? What about a time when you were excited about something – how did you feel then? Can you remember the way your body felt? An instructor of mine once said that a simple touch can produce a cascade of sensation in the body, an indication of many different physiological processes happening. He reminded us of how sitting in a dark movie theater at age 13 next to the boy or girl you had a crush on, arms just barely touching, could make the whole body respond with strong sensation and emotion. Hormones are message senders, after all. Qigong is a discipline that can systematically change the way you send messages to yourself and thereby can improve your health. It’s an easy practice that only requires you to do it. Whether it’s on television, in movies or in real life, have you ever noticed how someone reacts to getting hit in the mouth or face? In most cases they will move their lower jaw from side to side, stretch their mouth open, slam it shut, and generally try to put their face back the way it should be. While most people usually haven’t been hit in the mouth, those who have temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction certainly can empathize with these unfortunate individuals. When the temporomandibular joint is not in place and working properly it can cause a host of serious problems, such as grinding or “popping” of the jaw, an occasional unhinging or dislocation sensation when one opens their mouth, or just plain constant chronic soreness around the back teeth and ears. TMJ dysfunction affects everyone of all ages. There are many causes of TMJ dysfunction. They include stress, dental malocclusion (imperfect bite) and even arthritis. Often poor posture is to blame especially in the alignment of one’s neck bones and how one holds their head. One point to remember is; even though you have two separate temporomandibular joints, they must move simultaneously or at least in harmony. When proper movement is impaired, pain develops. To understand the situation better, let’s look exactly where all this occurs. The TMJ is the joining of the inferior maxillary (jaw) bone with each temporal bone on either side of the base of the cranium. The skull consists of 22 bones, 14 cranial and 8 facial. All are fused together into a single unit, save for one. Of course that one bone is the jaw bone. Hence, the need for a joint to hold this bone to the rest of the skull. A joint with ligaments, membranes, cartilage and the potential for all sorts of trouble. Like all other joints (such as the knee, wrist and ankle) the TMJ is extremely vulnerable to strains, inflammations and everyday wear and tear (especially when aggravated by poor posture). The TMJ is a form of a ball and socket joint, with the condyle (knobby end) of the jaw bone and the glenoid cavity of the temporal bone representing the ball and socket, respectively. It is interesting to note that the angle of the condyle (and the neck) changes as we develop and grow older. The bones are held together by a group of five ligaments: the external lateral, internal lateral, stylo-mandibular, capsular and interarticular fibro-cartilage. The two lateral ligaments attach on either side of the jawbone (inside and outside). The capsular ligament attaches to the condyle of the jawbone, while the stylo-mandibular ligament attaches to the angle of the jaw (at the bottom-rear, where one feels the soreness of the jaw). The interarticular fibro-cartilage, sandwiched between and in conjunction with two synovial membranes serves as a cushion between the bones. The TMJ’s configuration allows the extensive range of motion one experiences with their jaw bone. Like the body itself, however, what we take for granted is the result of an extremely complex structure. It’s this complexity that leaves the individual susceptible to the different cause of discomfort we described before. The temporomandibular joint is classified as a hinge-type joint, but it has a much more complex action than that. When simply opening and closing the mouth, the TMJ acts as a hinge, However, in the chewing action there is a complex movement of the joint which provides the grinding action of the teeth. It is impossible for only one side of the jaw to move at a time. During the grinding action, one temporomandibular joint slides forward while the other slides back. you can feel this by placing your fingers on your jaw joints and moving your jaw to the side (as if chewing). While your fingers are in this position, you can observe for “clicking” of the jaw. There should be no clicking or popping of the joint as the TMJ moves through its complete range of motion. Sometimes this noise is audible to people close to you; other times it can only be felt as a lack of smooth movement and heard only by you. Popping and clicking of the TMJ indicates that it is not functioning normally. Examination includes determining the balance of TMJ activity and the muscles which move the jaw through its range of motion. When an imbalance is found, it can often be corrected by balancing the jaw’s muscular activity with physical therapy techniques. These treatments usually produce an immediate balancing of the muscles. It is sometimes necessary to have the bite balanced by a dentist to maintain muscle and TMJ joint balance. The medical team of Dentists and Physical Therapists have long known that TMJ dysfunction can cause symptoms far removed from the joint itself. Headaches, back pain, and pain across the shoulders are often relieved after TMJ dysfunction is corrected. More recent evidence shows that the TMJ dysfunction can cause functional problems throughout the body. Some of the more common symptoms of a TMJ dysfunction may include: facial pain, facial muscle fatigue or spasms, headaches, pain and/or “popping or clicking” of the jaw (especially while eating), tenderness or inflammation of the joint, dislocation or even locking of the jaw. Any one of these symptoms may indicate a serious problem, and it is recommended that the person having these symptoms see their dentist and have him refer that person for treatment. It is estimated that between 5 and 20 percent of the population suffer from temporomandibular disorders. Until recently, most of these patients, the vast majority of whom are female, have been labeled as at least partly psychotic. However, research efforts in the past 40 years and more have clearly shown that psychoses probably play a minor role in TMJ disorders and that stress may be the dominant factor in the etiology of the specific problem. The importance of referred pain cannot be overestimated in this disorder. As with any other problem, proper diagnosis is the essential key to successful treatment. Don’t put it off! If you would like more specific information on TMJ, please feel free to contact my office at 626-576-0591 Things you can do to help yourself until your physician can see you When tissue is damaged by being crushed, stretched, or torn, an inflammatory response occurs. Hemorrhage and swelling occur, along with the direct effect of the inflammatory products on nerve endings, produce pain and spasm. The spasm not only splints the damaged tissue, but also compresses pain fibers. Moreover, it lessens the efficiency of the vascular system and can result in ischemia (lack of blood supply) at the injured area. The pain fiber compression and ischemia establish a vicious pain spasm cycle. As a result, more cells are eventually injured than were initial. A hematoma forms when blood vessels are torn. Plasma also leaks into the damaged area to produce edema (swelling). Swelling is the greatest enemy of healing. The goal of early treatment is to delay or minimize swelling. By limiting the swelling, pain and muscle spasm decrease and the magnitude of the injury is reduced. Early motion is also important; otherwise, if the injured person avoids using the part, his/her muscles will atrophy in a few days. The joint or damaged tissue will then be less stable and will most likely be easy to injure again. ICE: The appropriate first-aid treatment for soft-tissue injuries is the application of ice. Ice, by delaying or minimizing swelling, decreases pain and muscle spasm and limits the magnitude of an injury. The lower tissue temperature induces local vein constriction, which lessens capillary permeability, making the blood more viscous or thick. Less blood flows into the injured area, and the hematoma (or local swelling) is less. The ice dulls peripheral pain by interfering locally with nerve impulses and decreasing the nerve’s ability to transfer signals. It relieves spasms by decreasing muscle activity, muscle spindle firing, and restricts certain chemicals which inhibit blood flow. Ice limits the magnitude of an injury by lowering metabolism in peripheral, uninjured cells. By decreasing the cellular demand for oxygen, cells are put in partial hibernation, and thus extension of the injury is avoided. Otherwise cells that have survived the initial trauma may not be able to withstand the lack of oxygen imposed by the disruption of local circulation. Initial treatment of an injury follows the acronym ICE, meaning Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The steps to be taken are as follows:
Heat: Over the years, heat in various forms has been the standard therapeutic treatment. Cold is now being applied more frequently, not only for the initial treatment of the acute injury, but also for the recovery phase. Heat is used now only in rehabilitation, whereas ice may be used to treat acute injuries and in rehabilitation. Some people are averse and sensitive to cold. The choice of heat for rehabilitation, then may be based on the injured person’s comfort. Both ice and heat are analgesic and reduce muscle spasm, but in most cases heat produces more comfort as a result of its sedating properties. Heat induces vein dilation and increases blood flow, resulting in an influx of oxygen and nutrients to the injured area and waste products being carried away. Regardless of whether heat or cold is used, however it still takes time for an injury to heal. After acute symptoms have subsided, the recovery rate with heat or cold is about the same. Waterproof heating pads are especially good for home first-aid. A moist towel should be placed between the pad and the skin to provide moist heat. The objectives of rehabilitation are to regain range of motion, strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, power, cardiovascular endurance, speed, balance agility and skills. The rehab process comprises many steps and each one must be successfully completed pain-free. In all cases of severe injury, consult your physician for a professional examination immediately! |
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