Health Education: dee runs too

Supplements

I am comforted to see that I am not the only one who expresses concerns about the sale and use of supplements and herbals. In reading a story in the WSJ recently, I also learned that some laws or regulations have been enacted since I first began to express my concerns in the pages of my blog. Just briefly, my concern has always been lack of evidence, lack of oversight, lack of disclosure and lack of purity. These are still my concerns and the concerns of others, but you have options for vetting the products you would like to try. There is also a little more accountability in that the FDA does have manufacturing standards for supplement makers and there is a law from 2007 that mandates a report to the FDA for any serious side effect. Really the big difference between supplements, which include your mulit vitamin, calcium, fish oil and all those products that promise less osteoarthritis, bigger muscles and weight loss, is that the manufacturer is responsible for proof of efficacy and safety and does not have to have FDA approval to sell or market the product. It is only after the product is on the market that the FDA can respond to problems and false claims. And as you may know, the FDA is somewhat overwhelmed with oh, all the meds and medical devices that are causing us problems. There are resources for the consumer and it is up to us to use them. I would recommend the FDA site to check on any reports of problems, and I would recommend Medlines’ supplement page for research, efficacy and side effects. Be more careful with a supplement company website. Consumerlab is good, but you have to pay for it and I think that is unnecessary. One piece of advice offered in the article is one I would caution against putting much faith in. That is to ask your physician about a supplement. I DO think you should tell physicians and hospital staff of anything you take, but to expect a doc to have had the time to evaluate a supplement is a little idealistic. You really have to do this work yourself. For me, I again stick with the supplements I have found the most research to support which are vitamin D and fish oil. I stay away from any supplement promising weight loss, enhanced performance or joint repair. Be mindful that many products making those claims have been found to have undeclared and harmful ingredients with adverse outcomes of liver and kidney damage. Oh, and as a tobacco educator, skip those all natural quit smoking products also. Here are the links I feel you would be wise to use: <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/ConsumerInformation/default.htm">http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/ConsumerInformation/default.htm</a> <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html">http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html</a> <a href="http://www.consumerlab.com/">http://www.consumerlab.com/</a>

Supplements

I am comforted to see that I am not the only one who expresses concerns about the sale and use of supplements and herbals. In reading a sto...

5:38 PM

DO Be Defensive

Our bodies were meant to be lean mean fighting machines. I thought of that today as I read an article regarding some research into the microbes that inhabit our gastrointestinal or GI tract. This system includes our mouth, esophagus and stomach. The National Institutes of Health is awarding grants to various researches to study every microbe that is in or on the human body according to Barbara Martinez of the Wall St Journal. Scientists at the University of Michigan have been studying mice to see what effect antibiotic use might be having on microbes in the GI tract. They found some instances where the good or worker bacteria was killed along with the invading germs or parasites and that the good bacteria did not always return to its normal levels even six weeks after the antibiotic course had ended. This of course will make a person suscpetable to even more illnesses. Of great concern is a disease called C dif. I recall this disease when I worked in the hospital and now I realize the persons who were diagnosed with it were often being treated with antibiotics for urinary tract infections. C Dif can become serious, even deadly, especially in compromised or elderly persons. This only drives home the point that we must be mindful of what we are exposing our bodies to, whether elemental or internal. It is very disconcerting to me that we allow exposures even purposely cause them (i.e. tobacco) and then take drugs to treat the consequences which themselves have consequences. Eating right and preventing illness is best, tolerating some acute illness or pain is also called for at times. Too many times we want a pill for every single thing that ails us. As I said yesterday, even people with the flu should not necessarily take medicine for it. And with that heavy on my mind, I went grocery shopping today. In front of me at the check out was a family of four. I could see a few new outfits and supplies for school. I thought the parents were doing their duty to prepare their children for now and the future. But also on the conveyor belt was a case of instant noodle lunches and a 12 pack of some juicy drink in a bag. I do not think that the parents realize that they are making a mistake. I do not think that the people who need the message about healthy eating the most are getting it. What our children are consuming in their early years is going to cause them disease as very young adults and will prevent them from achieving all that their parents dream. I want to get the message out. I want to simplify all this health info and make it practical and possible. I also am aware that it isn’t just the under educated who are misinformed but the college educated as well. Maybe it is information overload. I say so because in another WSJ feature, “What’s Your Workout” , a perfume company president, Terry Darland, said that her breakfast often includes low calorie orange juice and 2% milk. Her workout sounded perfect, but if I had the chance to talk with her, I would advise that she lose the juice and choose skim milk over 2%.

DO Be Defensive

Our bodies were meant to be lean mean fighting machines. I thought of that today as I read an article regarding some research into the micr...

5:35 PM

Misguided Empathy or Empathy Gone Wild

A friend and reader of this blog sent me a video link to a news story that she thought would get a reaction out of me. As she has known me awhile, she guessed correctly. I was appalled at the video and because I found it so asinine as to be disturbing, I will not share the link nor the name of the person in the video with you. I am afraid that the true motive of the personal trainer was fame not empathy, as he claimed. And yes, I would label him notorious. By this point, you should be pretty curious about what has set me off. I will describe it now. A very fit and attractive male personal trainer and model decided that to truly understand the struggles of his overweight clients, he should too be overweight. So in an exaggerated version of Supersize Me, he gorged himself and put on 90 pounds. His face is now swollen and his stomach protrudes. He has low back pain, and his cholesterol is significantly elevated. I believe he said that his blood sugar was also borderline for diabetes. He is now working out again, limiting his food intake and taking what he considers to be the same journey that his clients face. I am pretty certain, though I did not conduct a survey, that the majority of people who are overweight and obese did NOT set out to make themselves that way. People truly struggle with self image and issues around eating - such as; food as reward, food as love, food as a coping skill. Learning new ways to eat and to nurture oneself require a lot more than the “empathy” of a personal trainer who spent the last six months or so force feeding himself. I would add another note about empathy and how this very useful skill can be misconstrued. There are people on both side of an issue, most often addiction, who think that to legitimately help a person or to be helped by a person, both have had to have had the same experience. I.e. alcoholics run AA, former smokers are the “only” ones that can help current smokers quit, and to help a person control their eating one must have also struggled with eating in the past. This shared experience is the concept that drives empathy. So true that, fine. Where do we draw the line? Can I help you parent your children if I have had none? Must I have beat my children in order to teach you not to? Do people who work in domestic violence have to have been a victim or perpetrator? Can I treat your diabetes if I have never had diabetes? How about that blockage in your artery? Must all cardiac surgeons have a history of heart attack? Must all psychiatrists have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar in order to medicate others? Do you have to have had a mastectomy to perform one? Perhaps our personal trainer would like to smoke for 20 years to see if he can get lung cancer and a little empathy there too. Ok, true, I would like a runner to treat my running injuries, but that does not mean a non runner doesn’t know about muscles. Indeed, professionals must at times profess a lack of personal experience and acknowledge instead their education, awareness and experience treating others with similar problems. So if empathy escapes you, try honesty. People respect and respond to honesty and a genuine desire to help.

Misguided Empathy or Empathy Gone Wild

A friend and reader of this blog sent me a video link to a news story that she thought would get a reaction out of me. As she has known me a...

5:22 PM

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DO Be Defensive

Misguided Empathy or Empathy Gone Wild

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