Obesity as a Disease?

Last week the American Medical Association voted to classify obesity as a disease.  Obesity has been characterized as a major health concern, a complex disorder, and an urgent chronic condition.  It is reported that this move will add 78 million adults and 11 million children to the list of individuals needing treatment for a disease.  This will oblige physicians to offer treatment for an illness that requires no more than a visual assessment.   Is it really the physician’s responsibility?  I assume we all have a mirror. 

This begs the question, “what is disease”?  Perhaps obesity is just another symptom of a disease with a real underlying problem.  In a broad sense disease can be anything that impairs normal function.  The implications are huge.  Any new “disease” is worth big bucks to the pharmaceutical industry.  Add this to an overweight medical system with poor performance.  Will insurance companies be required to cover subsequent treatments?  It will more likely become a pre-existing condition for them to exclude coverage.  Some seek gastric bypass which generally results in them being uninsurable.  Will it open the door for individuals to get disability? 

In a world gone mad, the government food stamp program has contributed to the problem.  Covered items include soft drinks, candy, cookies, snack crackers, ice cream, bakery items, and energy drinks with a nutritional fact label.  The oversimplification is better food equals better health but not everyone has that luxury. 

The basic problem is too many calories of the wrong types of food verses the amount of calories burned.  Just for the record, obesity can include other factors such as food allergies, hormone balance, toxicity, addiction, and emotional considerations. 

Do we create our own disease?  Are we enabled to create our own disease?  Do we blame others for creating our disease?  Don’t think about this one too hard as it will be disruptive to your stress hormone system.

Stay Well!  It's your only chance!

Detoxification and Tacks Law

A physician at a seminar presented tacks Law.  While it may seem a bit obvious, there may be those that could benefit. 

First Tacks Law
If you sit on a tack, it takes a lot of aspirin to feel good.  The appropriate treatment for tack sitting is tack removal.

Second Tacks Law

If you are sitting on two tacks then removing just one does not result in a 50% improvement.  Chronic illness is multi-factorial and often requires attention to more than one aspect in order to achieve results.

Natural Healing

We are created with the ability to heal.  If you cut your finger, you bleed and then you heal.  There will be a point in time that you will not even have a physical awareness of that injury.  Of course you could still remember but it is not on your mind.  The true healing of disease does not evoke thought or emotion relative to the event.  We continue our life as if nothing happened. 

A “cure” implies the ability to end a disease.  This “cure” may involve a product, surgery, medical treatment, or lifestyle change.  The word cure is often viewed as absolute claim.  So, implying that a product will cure a disease is not accurate as it does not take the individual into consideration.  A cure is effective if when you remove the product or treatment, the symptom does not return.  A remission implies the symptoms of the illness are not present but the illness can return.

Healing is different to me as there could be a product involved, but there can also be mental, emotional or spiritual aspects.  There are many levels of healing.  Some may still have the physical manifestations of the illness but have healed on a spiritual and emotional level. 

There is the common concept that we fight illness.  This concept is counterproductive to healing.  Just think about the mental image of fighting which creates mental disruption.  That is not to say that we may struggle when we are ill, but fighting creates damage.  Fighting is resistance or conflict.  To heal you must be resistance-free.

Most of us have known someone with cancer.  The very word “cancer”, creates a mental picture of the disease and evokes negative emotions.  Every time someone asks, and you say, “I have cancer”, the negative is reinforced.   Even the emotional experience is consumption.  At that moment, the focus is on the treatment for the cancer.  With that focus, one may miss other forms of healing.  One patient told me that getting cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him because he re-evaluated his life and made positive changes.

Illness often starts on the mental, emotional or spiritual plane and erupts in the physical.

Healing starts with changing your mind to create a mental environment that is conducive to healing.  Some healing traditions involve spiritual bathing, a baptism, the anointing of oil, or prayer.   So healing can be finding new balance in your life.  Making a conscious decision to heal creates a path to better health.

Live well!

Underlying Cause of Disease

We are creatures of comfort.  If we are cold we may put on a coat or change the thermostat.  If you have some “dis-ease”, discomfort or symptom that is unpleasant you may seek help.  If you have a headache you may take an aspirin.  Aspirin was one of the first modern herb/drug products made from willow bark.  We are really a drug-orientated culture.  Is it wrong to take an occasional aspirin?  No but the key word here is occasional.

 

What was the cause of your headache?  It could be dehydration, constipation, stress, liver dysfunction, or hormone imbalance.  Any common symptom can have a variety of causes.  Conversely, any cause of disease, such as a toxin can display a different symptom in any given person.  The perfect example of this is all of the possible side effects a given drug can exhibit in a group of people.  Another great example is the many “natural” products that are multi-level marketed that make so many claims to “cure” this or that.  What works for one may not work for another!

The body’s first mechanism to eliminate a toxin is excretion.  Your nose runs, you vomit, you get diarrhea, or you sweat.  Even a woman’s monthly cycle could be part of this process.  Taking a drug makes the symptom go away by suppressing the signal, but it does not help eliminate the original reason for the problem.

Many drug therapies are started to compensate for lack of basic health such as good hydration, bowel function, and diet.  Unrecognized food allergies can be a major source of revenue for pharmaceutical companies.  The grains of the food pyramid are emerging as a major health risk for many.  Especially of you have an “O” blood type. 

The body is created with the ability to heal.  Unfortunately, there can be roadblocks to such healing.  Many roadblocks are self-induced.  Other roadblocks may include toxic substances such as pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and over treatment with drugs and “natural” products. 

Excess supplementation could also put things out of balance.  Too little calcium can contribute to osteoporosis.  In the book, “The Reverse Effect”, too much calcium without the proper amount of magnesium can cause osteoporosis.  Balance is the key.

Stay Well!