Here is a clip from Oprah Radio with Dr. Mehmet Oz interviewing dad:“fathers are sometimes the culprit” -Dan

The front page of the Sunday New York Times today tells a sobering story. Although every one of the stories above the fold is related to health, the main one is about M.D. Anderson, the world famous cancer hospital, and the fight against cancer.  The closing quote, which is the headline of this post, was made by the former chief physician, now a cancer patient himself.

It seems your best bet in getting through life without the horrendous impact of cancer and its treatment, is not to get it. Perhaps this is an absurd suggestion, and yet what if we focused our efforts on reducing the incidence of cancer?

I remember hearing Mehmet Oz speak a few years ago, before his fame on Oprah, about preventive medicine. He said that 90%  of all disease is preventable.  He told the audience, “most or you have some kind of cancer growing in your right all the time and most of you will fight it off and never realize you had it.”  That is because, cancer as he defined it is a case of cells in the body growing out of control. Your immune system deals with this on a regular basis.  It is when your body is not able to fight off the growth that you get a diagnosis.

I don’t usually remember the details of a lecture several years later but these statements were stunning.  Oz went on to describe the things you can do to strengthen your immune system including eating well, exercising, having a good support system (good relationships), etc.

No one knows  with certainty whether these statements are true.  We do know that many chronic illnesses are caused by stress to the body and the mind and some are environmentally caused. But, whatever the percent is, we do have some control over our health and most people don’t give priority, because the ramifications of being sedentary and eating fries and burgers is very subtle and very slow.

If the metaphor of war is approporiate, perhaps the lesson to be learned is from a quote by Omar Bradley: “The way to win an atomic war is to make certain it never starts.”

• You’ve heard plenty of stories of patients faced with mounting medical bills, denied insurance claims, and impossible health decisions. Here’s one particularly heartbreaking case about a mother who had to choose between treatment for her own inevitable blindness or care for her daughters, who have inherited her rare genetic disease. [St. Petersburg Times]

• The economic recession may have stunted spending at fancy restaurants and gourmet grocery stores, but there’s one food trend it hasn’t been able to touch: Neighborhood farmers’ markets have increased 71% over the past decade, according to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, and about 5% since the end of last year. [USA Today]

• Our good friend Mehmet Oz, MD, recently broke the record for seeing the most people in one day at a free clinic set up in a three-football-field-size arena in Houston—the city with the highest rate of people in the nation (about 1.3 million residents) living without insurance. But in a new blog, he explains why he’s not proud of this accomplishment. [Huffington Post]

• Breast cancer strikes fewer than 2,000 men in the United States each year. So when 20 male Marines or sons-of-Marines, all who have spent time at a training base in North Carolina, are diagnosed with and treated for the disease, we have to wonder whether there was something in the water. [CNN]

• Anyone with a teenager (or who remembers being one themselves) can understand how a bout of bad acne can affect an adolescent’s mood, outlook, and social life, and—in extreme cases—could even lead to depression. Now, new research suggests an interesting catch-22: Turns out that a teen’s emotional distress might in fact make bad skin even worse. [Time]

Previous news from Around the Web:

Silence Dogood here. I’ll bet most of you are familiar with Dr. Mehmet Oz, one of the “YOU” docs on RealAge, coauthor of YOU: Looking Younger, and a frequent guest on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Oprah’s Harpo Productions has now created “The Dr. Oz Show,” which of course is being promoted on the RealAge website, complete with promotional photos of Dr. Oz.

Now, I have nothing but admiration for Dr. Oz. In his 49 years, he’s accomplished more than most of us would in 20 lifetimes, beginning with an undergraduate degree from Harvard and simultaneous graduate degrees—an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton Business School. (As if getting either one from these prestigious schools wouldn’t be challenging enough!) And that’s just the beginning, as you’ll discover if you check out his bio on Wikipedia as I did. This is one high achiever. And (cover your ears, OFB) he’s very easy on the eyes as well.

So you can imagine my shock when I saw the photos of the “new and improved” Dr. Oz being used to promote his new show. To repeat, we’re talking about a 49-year-old, attractive, incredibly high-achieving cardiothoracic surgeon here, not a candidate for “Extreme Makeover.” But the promotional photos showed, shall we say, a strikingly younger Dr. Oz. His face was smoother, more chiseled, and considerably leaner than the photos of the “original” Dr. Oz that had graced the RealAge website.

Not that there was anything wrong with the appearance of the “new” Dr. Oz. He looked fantastic. But it strikes me as a condemnation of our superficial society when a comparatively young, undeniably attractive, and hugely respected surgeon has to get a facelift and presumably go on a crash diet in order to get his own TV show.

The RealAge website, and books such as YOU: Looking Younger, are all about choosing the right foods and supplements and exercising, as opposed to, say, plastic surgery. But the “do as I say, not as I do” message clearly reinforces that you’d better never look older than your college-age kids or else. And, folks, we’ve all seen the ghastly results when people just keep trying and trying. (Cher, anyone? George Hamilton?)

Just this past weekend, I was watching a PBS special on Julia Child. And one thing that struck me was how old most of the people being interviewed looked. These were real people, editors and chefs and food mavens and the like who had known Julia back in the day, in all their current wrinkled glory. (Julia looked old too, but since she really was ninety-something at the time of filming, it’s understandable. If you can’t look old in your nineties, even on television, all is lost.)

What I thought as I was watching the special was that you simply never see anyone who looks old on TV or in the movies or in magazines. Sure, character actors may be supposed to be old, the crusty grandpa or fiesty grandma, but even they don’t look old. The hair may be white, they may be wearing “old folks” costumes and walking with a cane, but look at their smooth, made-up faces. Yow. Not a wrinkle in sight. So seeing actual people showing their actual age on this special came as a shock. Look, people really do get old! People really do look old!

As I read about more people in their 30s, and increasingly in their 20s, getting plastic surgery, not to improve some unfortunate feature but to erase the signs of “age,” I have to wonder where on earth our youth-obsessed culture is taking us. Maybe the fact that my family never gets wrinkles has warped my perspective, and if I had prominent crow’s feet in my 20s I’d have been rushing off to the surgeon, too. But I hope not. (And no, we’re not vampires, just in case you’re wondering.) I’d prefer to keep my money in the bank instead of handing it over to the plastic surgeons and ultimately turning into a laughingstock. 

Much as I admire Dr. Oz, I think I’m switching allegiance to Dr. Gupta.

            ‘Til next time,

                         Silence

Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz made a great point in their YOU Docs daily newspaper column August 19th and I commend them for saying what they did because I believe many doctors would not say what they did.  Mike from Ohio asked, “Is it too late for me to prevent a heart attack or cancer?  And what does ‘exercise and eat healthier’ (his doctors recommendation) really mean?”

They first told Mike: “You have hit on two key points, Mike.  First, it is too late only when both laced shoes are 6 feet below ground.  You CAN change your destiny.  Second, knowledge isn’t enough.  You also need to take action.”  Which is exactly what we teach and preach to everyone we see who is dealing with chronic pain, and you can read more about our approach in my article I wrote “The 3 things you MUST do to be pain free for life.”

Then the Docs said what I think is really important (bold is mine):

“Which brings up your next question.

So what does “exercise and eat healthier” really mean?  And why didn’t your doc explain that to you?  Let’s tackle the second question first.  Docs do what they are paid to do. We do mitral valve repairs really well because Mehmet and I get paid very well to do the surgery and anesthesia for those repairs.  What gets paid for gets done in American medicine.  And what gets done gets studied on how to get it done better, so America’s docs do things like mitral valve repairs really well.  But they don’t always do so well on helping you prevent them.

Got it?  Then you understand what Congress and the White House don’t seem to (Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Harkin of Iowa seem to be smart exceptions): To reform health care, we have to get insurance companies and Medicare to pay health-care professionals well to teach healthy lifestyle treatments, including helping you determine the right physical activity and get support for doing it, and learning how to cook healthy food that tastes as good to you as an In & Out burger but keeps you out of the hospital and doctor’s office.”

We don’t pay doctors to prevent problems, only correct the after-effects.  If your back is starting to hurt your doctor will probably tell you to “ice, rest, take it easy and if that doesn’t help here are some painkillers.”  Then, when the painkillers no longer help, surgery is usually the next step.  Most people are not happy with that scenario and are looking for preventative and non-invasive techniques.  Surgery is an absolute last resort.  That’s why I view Egoscue as being so powerful.  We take the person with back pain and teach them what is causing it, how to fix it and how to prevent it in the future.  We do it without drugs, surgery or manipulation.  Our goal is to educate our clients on how to maintain their health for the rest of their life.  “Wellness is not only the absence of pain, it’s the absence of limitation.”

Teresa Hogan

Pull out a stopwatch and try your hand (or feet!) at these fun, family-friendly obstacle course ideas from Krystin Swift, fitness manager at Ethos Fitness and Spa for Women in Midland Park, NJ.

Combine any of these station ideas for a one-of-a-kind family obstacle course. Encourage each other to finish the whole course, or make it a race and time everyone to see who’s the fastest.

For walking or crawling stations, 25 yards is a good distance to start. Be sure to measure it out before the race begins and mark it with clear signals; a cone or sidewalk chalk is best. As your family masters the course, change the stations around or increase times and distances at each station for a challenge.

*Ok for kids under five

Bear crawl*
Forget banged up knees. Instead crawl across the yard with your hands and feet like a bear.

Crab walk*
Instead of your belly facing the ground (like in the bear crawl), flip over and face the sky. Use your hands and feet to scurry across the yard like a crab.

High knees marching*
March like a marching band’s leader, pulling the knee up and parallel with the ground as you walk forward.

Frog jump*
Channel your inner frog and squat low to the ground, jump forward into the air, and squat back to a hovering position. Do it again and again until you’ve crossed the finish line for that station.

Box hop*
Using sidewalk chalk, draw boxes at an angle, two feet apart from one another. To start, stand in the first box and jump sideways to the next box and then sideways again to the next. Think of it as skiing across the driveway. For an added challenge, vary the distance between boxes. If you don’t land with both feet in the box, you have to go back to the last box and try again.

Weighted-ball toss
Using a medicine ball (or a small ball no heavier than four pounds), partner up and toss the ball back and forth. After each toss, take a step back until you reach markers without dropping the ball. If you drop the ball, start over. (Good distance between markers: 30 yards.)

Hula-hoops
For a good cardio station, keep a hula-hoop going for 20 seconds. If you drop it, start over. For an added challenge: try keeping a hula hoop going for 20 seconds in one direction and then for 20 more seconds going the other direction.

Jump ropes
If you have a few jump ropes, you have a ready-made station. Each person has to jump 15 times before going to the next station.

Soccer practice
Set up cones and dribble a soccer ball through the cones and back. Use however many cones you have. It’s best to start with three cones and increase as it gets easier for everyone to complete. This exercise works on agility as well as side-to-side motion.

Monkey bars
If you have a jungle gym in your backyard, use the monkey bars as a stop in the race. Every one must cross the bars before continuing to the next station. If someone falls off, she must start again before continuing on.

Basketball toss
If you have a basketball goal in the driveway, mark three spots (or more for an extra challenge) from which everyone must shoot and make a basket. It’s best to number the spots so everyone starts in the same place. Move spots back or at angles from the goal. When a basket has been made from every spot, you can go to the next station.

Dash*
A great way to round out the whole obstacle course is to end with a 50-yard dash (or smaller distance if you don’t have the space). Mark off the dash starting with the end of the previous station and let everyone run to the finish line. It could come down to the wire!

Teresa Hogan

After 5 years as the health expert on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Oz kicks off a daily show Sept. 14. Watch the show at Doctoroz.com (or find listings for the syndicated program in local TV market). Here’s what he wants you to know about the show:

Go to his show…
And you may end up on stage. “It feels like a big party with experts teaching people dancing, yoga, pull-ups, all on stage. We also have a segment called ‘Ask Dr. Oz,’ where you can ask me a question on anything—nutrition, fitness, staying young, relationships, stress, money, parenting.”

Dr. Oz may knock on your door
“We have lots of segments where we go into people’s homes and get involved in their lives and find out how we can help.”

You get more than facts
“Just knowing that smoking can cause lung cancer is never enough to make a smoker quit,” Dr. Oz says. “You have to reach people emotionally, too, which is what Oprah does so well. I’m excited to connect with audience members. I want to inspire them to make life-changing behaviors.”

More from America’s Healthiest Families:

iStockphoto

This quick morning workout by Dr. Oz is all you need to get your body going.

Start with a a sun salutation:

1. Stand on a mat in Mountain pose (face forward, feet together, arms down at your sides, weight evenly distributed) with feet hip-width apart, hands in prayer position.

2. Inhale as you sweep your arms up and gently arch back (only go as far as feels comfortable).

3. Exhale as you bend forward at the waist (Forward Bend pose), reaching your hands toward the floor and your face toward your knees (it’s okay to bend your knees a little).

4. Inhale as you step your right foot back into lunge position.

5. Exhale as you step your left foot back and come into plank position (think push-up position with your arms straight, but not locked). Hold for a moment while you inhale.

6. Exhale and bend your elbows to lower your body to the mat.

7. Keeping your hands in place beneath your shoulders, press your hands into the floor and inhale as you straighten your arms, allowing your back to curve into a gentle backbend as you lift your chest (Upward-Facing Dog pose). Tuck your tailbone, and only go as far as is comfortable.

8. Exhale as you push up with your arms while lifting your hips toward the ceiling, pushing up and back into Downward-Facing Dog pose (legs and arms straight but not locked, so your body forms an inverted “V”).

9. Inhale while stepping your right foot forward into lunge position.

10. Exhale while stepping your left foot forward and straightening your knees to return to Forward Bend pose.

11. Inhale while slowly coming up out of the bend. Finish with your arms reaching overhead, arching gently back from the waist.

12. Exhale and slowly return to Mountain pose by bringing your hands together and lowering them to prayer position.

Teresa Hogan

“I’ve gained weight, and the pounds won’t budge.” “My kids are picky—they complain about most vegetables and reach for cookies.” “I try to make it to the gym but rarely do.”

Sound familiar? Meet the Carroll family, whose challenges were like most of ours. They aimed to eat healthier and exercise regularly, but wondered if it was even possible with their crazy-busy lifestyle. Kathleen, 46, often travels for work (she owns a consulting company), so she rarely sees the inside of her gym. Meanwhile, her husband, Randy, 50, works in retail, with shifts that can begin at 4:30 a.m. or end at midnight, which meant he often turned to carb-heavy snacks left in the break room.

Teresa Hogan

Healthying up their diet was a key goal. Kathleen wanted to drop the stubborn 10 pounds she’d gained last winter. Randy—who takes medication for high cholesterol—hoped to eat smarter to ward off the heart disease that plagues his family. And the couple wanted to break kids, Dillon, 11, and Peyton, 5, of habits like reaching for cookies and eating around most veggies on their plates. In fact, Dillon had recently started carrying a few extra pounds, which they knew upset him.

“We needed better exercise and eating strategies that worked for the whole family,” Kathleen says. “What we were doing wasn’t working.”

We asked Oprah’s go-to doctor, Mehmet C. Oz, MD—who gets his own show this month—to give Kathleen and her family a custom health makeover. Here’s how he’s changed their diet and lives—and may just change yours.

A Special Thank You, Asics!
To help the Carroll family get moving, ASICS treated each family member to a new pair of walking shoes. Randy received ASICS GEL-Motion, Kathleen now sports a pair of GEL-4-To-8s, and kids Dillon and Peyton were both given ASICS GT-2140s.

Thanks, Asics!

Teresa Hogan

On a sunny weekday afternoon, Mehmet C. Oz, MD, the renowned 49-year-old heart surgeon (vice-chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University and director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York–Presbyterian Hospital), co-author of five best-selling books in the You series, YOU: The Owner’s Manual, YOU: The Smart Patient, YOU: On a Diet, You: Staying Young, and You: Being Beautiful—and newly minted host of his own nationally syndicated daytime talk-show, The Dr. Oz Show—drove out to the Carroll’s home in Ridgewood, New Jersey, to help the family turn things around.

“I want to inspire people to lead long, happy, healthy lives,” says Dr. Oz—who lives in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, with his wife, Lisa, and four kids—“and there are so many little ways you can do that.” Here, how life for the Carroll family got healthier, calmer, and more fun.

Before: Too much junk in the pantry. When you keep bad-news stuff on hand but then try to resist it, you create an all-out craving for the food, Dr. Oz says. Keep unhealthy snacks away by using his rule of fives when you shop—avoid foods if any of the first five ingredients is one of these: trans fat, saturated fat, high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, or refined flour. “Your body craves nutrients to feel satiated, not the empty calories from these ingredients,”

Dr. Oz says, adding that eating empty calories actually makes you overeat as you go in search of more-nutritious fare. If one of the five is listed further down the ingredient list, it’s OK to eat it, he says, because that means the ingredient is only minimally in the product.

After: The Carrolls make a clean sweep. “It was liberating at first to purge our pantry of so many foods that weren’t helping us,” Randy says. But then “going cold turkey” turned tough. “We said, ‘OK, now what?’” It took time to stop craving the old favorites, he acknowledges, but now the family loves having feel-good picks like pretzels and strawberries always on hand.

Next page: Exercise

Teresa Hogan

Before: Exercise? Easy to blow off. “We all had bikes, but I couldn’t remember the last time we’d used them,” Kathleen admits. Dr. Oz’s advice: Make family time exercise time. Play tag, kick a soccer ball, or take a walk around your neighborhood.

After: Family time equals active time. The Carrolls have started biking together every weekend. “At first, Peyton complained that Dillon was ahead of him, but each time we have more fun,” Randy says. And Kathleen (plus Randy when his work schedule allows) now takes morning power walks.

Also fun: Ethos Fitness and Spa for Women in Midland Park, New Jersey, where Kathleen is a member, taught the family how to create an at-home obstacle course. “We made fitness stations in our driveway—one for jumping rope, another for shooting hoops, another for hopscotch,” Kathleen says. To make your own, go to Health.com/dr-oz.

Next page: Eating dinner

Teresa Hogan

Before: Dinner revolved around carbs. Typical Carroll dinners, which often included lasagna and meat with buttery biscuits, were short on lean protein and produce.

After: Dinner rocks with all the right stuff. “Dr. Oz inspired me to plan a week’s worth of meals ahead of time,” says Randy, who is typically the family cook. “On Sundays, I’d blanch three days worth of vegetables—asparagus, green beans, and broccoli. I’d buy chicken and salmon to grill the other days,” he says. “I’m still maintaining the routine, though our schedules sometimes make it tough. One week we were swamped with school activities and parties, but we got back on track the next week.”

Before: Dillon’s goal—get leaner. Dillon’s smart to have a get-fit goal. “When kids have a little extra meat around the middle, their bodies secrete chemicals that deposit fat cells in the body that are harder to get rid of later on,” Dr. Oz explains.

The great news: It’s actually easier for kids Dillon’s age to reverse this cycle because, as adolescence hits, testosterone increases and helps them turn fat into muscle, Dr. Oz says. If you stock your house with appetizing healthy food, no dieting is needed—just encourage daily active time to help your child build muscle, which burns twice as many calories as fat.

After: He’s a leaner workout machine. Dillon’s BMI has improved almost two points, and he’s already lost a pound. He loves breaking a sweat, too. “I really liked getting to shoot hoops with Dr. Oz when he came to our house,” Dillon says. “I’m most proud of how we’re doing activities after dinner together four or five nights a week. Last night we played badminton. It was really fun to hit the birdie back and forth, and my hair was soaked with sweat.”

Next page: Chin up

Teresa Hogan

Before: No time to pump up. After a long day at work, Randy didn’t have much time for a workout. Dr. Oz’s streamlined solution: pull-ups. “Randy should do as many pull-ups as he can on his sons’ jungle gym,” Dr. Oz says. “It’s one of the best weight-bearing exercises because you have to lift your entire body weight using your arms, upper body, and abs,” he says—plus, it’s a superquick workout.

After: Pumped arms and abs. “The day Dr. Oz came I could barely do five pull-ups,” Randy admits. “Now I can do 10. I haven’t missed a day, even when it was raining, because it just takes a few minutes.”

Before: Work = danger zone. Kathleen relied on diet soda while she worked. “The problem is that diet drinks give a sweet taste, but your brain is smart enough to realize that calories aren’t coming in,” Dr. Oz says. “As a result, your brain goes looking for calories, and you end up snacking on food you wouldn’t have otherwise.” And Randy was often tempted by the pastries and bagels in his office break room.

After: Solutions that work. Kathleen hasn’t had a diet soda in two weeks: “I’m reaching for them less.” She’s made changes on the road, too. “When I was in L.A. for work, I was at a Latin restaurant. Prior to Dr. Oz, I probably would’ve ordered one of the fried things with lots of sauce. Instead, I got salad with grilled chicken and a healthier pico de gallo seasoning,” Kathleen says. As for Randy, he now takes fat-free Greek yogurt with kiwifruit or blueberries and granola to work. “I kind of get heckled for it,” he says. “But these healthy snacks are working for me.”

Before: The boys were finicky about veggies. Broccoli and green beans made the cut with Dillon and Peyton, but eating those every night was getting old for Randy and Kathleen. Dr. Oz’s advice? Keep offering fresh options.

After: the boys are still finicky about vegetables! They’re getting more adventurous with produce, though. “I love watermelon,” Peyton says. Dillon gave kiwifruit a chance—something he wouldn’t try before. “It takes kids about 12 times of trying a food and not liking it before they’ll finally accept it,” Dr. Oz says. “Just ask them to take one bite. One day, your kids will surprise you and ask for seconds.”

More from America’s Healthiest Families:

Istockphoto

Forget wrinkles. To gauge how old your body really is, check your blood pressure.

“It’s the number one cause of aging,” says Dr. Oz.

When high blood pressure blows a hole in one of your arteries, your body has to patch it up, either with healthy HDL cholesterol or lousy LDL cholesterol, he says.

If you eat a healthy diet full of lean meat, produce and good fats found in flaxseed oil and nuts, then you’re more likely to have a high amount of HDL, which makes a great patch on your artery wall.

Lousy LDL cholesterol, on the other hand, makes a crackling patch that doesn’t last, resulting in a scab, known in the medical world as a thrombosis.

A thrombosis can close off major arteries of the body, increasing your risk of heart attack.

So remember these two things: High blood pressure is like a fire hydrant—you don’t want to open up on your arteries—so aim for a reading that’s 120 over 80 or less. Number two: Get your cholesterol checked regularly so you know how much healthy HDL you have compared to unhealthy LDL.

Last month, HealthCorps founder Dr. Mehmet Oz (author and heart surgeon) presented findings of a recent study on the impact of HealthCorps Coordinators in their communities.

Dr. Oz, HealthCorps Founder

A new study on HealthCorps—a school-based educational and mentoring program modeled after the Peace Corps—shows that its students are “reducing soda consumption, exercising more and developing a better understanding of healthy behaviors.” The study looked at 971 high school students enrolled in 11 New York City high schools (although HealthCorps operates in 50 schools in nine states across the United States).

The two-year study was conducted by Professor John Cawley, Ph.D., in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University. Cawley’s research includes a range of topics connected to the “economics of obesity” like the “effect of body weight on labor market outcomes such as wage rates, unemployment, employment disability, and the transition from welfare to work, and  “the role of body weight in adolescent behavior, such as smoking and sexual activity.”

Dr. Oz said, who presented the study’s findings in June, said:

“These findings underscore the effectiveness of our peer mentoring program in our mission to stem child obesity and diabetes among underserved populations across the country. While no one program can be a panacea for the health issues plaguing America’s youth, the HealthCorps program is an effective path forward in tackling at least two of the CDC’s principal target areas for the prevention of childhood obesity (decrease soda consumption, increase breast feeding, increase intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, decrease television viewing and increase physical activity.)”

The newest class of HealthCorps participants (called Coordinators) is currently engaged in a month-long training in New York City. On July 6, the program inaugurated the training month with a special ceremony and reception in New York City at the site of HealthCorps’ first pilot school. Training will end on July 30 with a trip to Katchkie Farm, an organic farm in Kinderhook, New York.

Then the Coordinators will fan out to high schools across the country at the start of the school year as full-time health educators and mentors carrying out the organization’s curriculum on nutrition, fitness and mental resiliency. HealthCorps Coordinators are recent college graduates with a strong interest in pursuing medical school or graduate health studies after their two-year term.

Read more about what Coordinators do, testimonials of Coordinators about their service, and how to apply.

When women go through menopause, Dr. Oz explains that, over a two-or three-year period, the ovaries stop making the hormones estrogen and testosterone. “That’s why, sometimes women put a little pooch on when they go through menopause,” he says. “If you don’t have testosterone, you can’t make muscle mass.”

Meanwhile, the same reduction of hormone production happens in men…just not in such a dramatically short amount of time. “You can’t tell that it’s happening sometimes,” Dr. Oz says. “But that exact same shift is occurring.”

Dr. Oz says this decrease in testosterone and growth hormones—particularly as a man enters middle age—can lead to decreased muscle mass and loss of vitality. “It’s absolutely an issue,” he says. “That’s why, for a lot of guys as you get older, we start checking hormone levels because they’re often treatable or even with lifestyle [changes] you can get back on the right course.”

Dr. Alicia Stanton, Chief Medical Officer of BodyLogicMD sheds some light on Andropause – The Male Menopause

Hormones decline in both men and women as they age.  Human growth hormone, sometimes known as “The Master Hormone” declines about 14% per decade after it peaks around 20 years of age. By our 70’s, the level is significantly lower. This decrease brings about a slow decrease in testosterone levels in men as well. Some are calling this the “male menopause”. It is very different from the female menopause which occurs because the ovaries are depleted of their eggs. The maturation of ovarian follicles to eggs is what drives the cyclic female hormone production. When the eggs are no longer available, the production of hormones in a cyclic fashion ceases. Females do, however, continue to produce a low, constant level of hormones on their own.

 Many things can accelerate the decline of hormone levels in both sexes. Stress levels, diet, nutrition and lifestyles all contribute to hormone imbalance. Currently, one of the main culprits is stress. This is true because the stress hormone, cortisol, is built with the same building blocks as our sex hormones, DHEA, testosterone and estrogen. The more stress we have, the more cortisol we demand and the fewer building blocks we have to make our sex hormones. So, we get less testosterone which causes a decrease in libido, fatigue, depression, inability to build muscle mass and increase in erectile dysfunction in men. This situation is further aggravated by poor diet, lack of exercise and lack of sleep because all of these things create more of a demand for cortisol. Many women start having perimenopause symptoms in their late 30’s due to this imbalance. Men may also see symptoms of low testosterone as early as their late 30’s too – especially with the high levels of stress we have today. The good news is that hormone levels can be checked and monitored and missing hormones can be replaced if necessary. However, it is not all about hormone replacement. It is about optimizing nutrition through a diet with lean proteins and complex carbohydrates as well as adequate vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and  omega 3 fatty acids. It is also about limiting your exposure to stress and setting boundaries as well as getting appropriate rest and exercise. If the simple lifestyle steps are started early, it is possible to maintain hormone balance naturally throughout your life. If, on the other hand, you have many significant symptoms, discuss your situation with a physician who understands Functional Medicine and get your hormone levels tested.

Dr. Jennifer Landa of BodyLogicMD of Orlando applauds Dr. Oz

I applaud Dr. Oz’s answer on The Oprah show regarding andropause or as we like to call it Man-o-pause!  For men Testosterone reaches a peak at around age 25-30 and then goes down at a rate of 1-2% per year which is why as Dr. Oz points out that the onset of symptoms is very slow and not very obvious to men.  The changes with menopause tend to happen over a shorter period of time so women are more aware of the changes.  Men may notice a lack of energy, declining memory, increased moodiness, a decrease in libido and/or erections and a loss in muscle tone, increase in fat and a loss of stamina.  Levels of testosterone are easily checked in a blood test and can be corrected with testosterone therapy.  In addtion to improving all of the above symptoms, replacing testosterone also decreases the risk of heart disease and alzheimer’s disease and can improve cholesterol and blood sugar levels among many other benefits.  Many of the changes that men tend to chalk up to aging can be improved with testosterone therapy.

Mehmet Oz

Mehmet Oz talking to audience

Morning Meditation

]]> http://thenewservice.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/healthcorpsgreengardengala2009/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:05:21 +0000 Amy Potthast, Idealist.org http://thenewservice.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/healthcorpsgreengardengala2009/

HealthCorps — the national service corps founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz that brings health mentoring and education into public schools across the United States — is holding its Green Garden Gala, an annual black (and green) tie fundraiser, tomorrow night at the World Financial Center in Manhattan.

The Gala aims to raise funds to establish HealthCorps’s curriculum in more schools and to honor actor and dancer Ben Vereen — an advocate of diabetes awareness, New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and New York Philanthropist and CEO of the Red Apple Group John Catsimatidis for their  considerable contributions to the health and well-being of American youth. Check out this video about the event.

HealthCorps will also grant its first Music for a Better Life award to music legend Quincy Jones. The night will also feature performances from Wyclef Jean, Stepp Stewart, and Eturnity Band. Hip-hop mogul and vegan Russell Simmons will attend, among 500 other supporters.

In addition to the entertainment, the Gala will also incorporate elements of HealthCorps’s Mental Resilience curriculum into the evening’s activities, with booths set up to offer tastings of healthy foods, and to teach guests about reading food labels, for example.

The fundraiser (individual tickets to attend cost $1000) goes to support the activities of HealthCorps which currently places health coordinators in 44 public schools across the country to educate teens about healthy diet and lifestyle through tailored peer-mentoring and activism. The two-year term of service offers a stipend and benefits to coordinators, who are often recent college grads heading for a career in medicine or public health. (Note that HealthCorps isn’t currently affiliated with AmeriCorps, so the benefits structure is different from AmeriCorps service.)

HealthCorps is currently recruiting — check out the elegibility requirements and consider applying.

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When it comes to pragmatic marketing, Mitch Rothschild is the smartest person I know. He runs a marketing and sales company called Raspberry Red. His company has built a site, www.vitals.com, where consumers can check up on their doctors. This site provides consumers with the tools to investigate the backgrounds of physicians and make intelligent, informed decisions about which doctor to choose.

But here’s the cool thing.

According to Quantcast.com, an independent site that measures the characteristics of websites, “Vitals.com is a top 5,000 site that reaches over 1.4 million people monthly, of which 1.3 million (94%) are in the U.S. The site attracts a more educated, middle aged, fairly wealthy, slightly female slanted group.”

No bad for a site that’s slightly over a year old.

Mitch’s gift is that he’s sensible, focused and devotes himself to first understanding the constraints of the marketplace, before applying his know-how to a solution.

He cut right to the heart of the matter when I posed our challenge to him.

The biggest problem, Mitch explained, was that these houseware items are low cost. In completing any purchasing transaction, one should expect a cost of $40 per transaction. Housewares tend to be inexpensive so these transactional related costs cannot be built in and absorbed. Besides, it is very difficult to build a brand on the web.

Mitch then pointed me in a different direction.

You may have heard of a company called RealAge. They provide an online test. This “test” asks 150 or so questions about your personal habits, lifestyle and family history. Based on your responses, the company provides to you – via your e-mail address which you enter — your “biological age” and then makes recommendations on how you can get “younger.” Some of the suggestions are simple – eat a better breakfast, take a multivitamin – stuff like that.

Most important, the test is interesting and people like to take it. After all isn’t everybody intrigued by the analysis and the possibilities. Well, maybe not everybody. However…

More than 27 million people have taken the test. That’s a lot of people…and a lot of data.

How does RealAge make money? While its suggestions are non-medical, it really is selling better living through medications. It is acquiring priceless data that most drug companies could never be successful in getting from prospective patients. If a RealAge visitor becomes a member, his or her data goes placed into a marketing database.

To promote their site, RealAge employs a “hub,” Dr. Mehmet Oz of Oprah fame, as a spokesperson. His message complements RealAge’s – you too can change.

According to the New York Times who did a detailed story on RealAge, companies like Pfizer, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline parse this data and target their products with a laser like focus to prospective consumers. (RealAge provides only the e-mail address and its site policy acknowledges that it shares data with third parties who can help fulfill its mission of “better living.”)  Because of this wealth of data, these pharma companies can target a specific demographic pretty easily, such as overweight smokers who are male between 45 and 50 and get depressed. The companies then send out e-mail advertisements that present the possibility of a treatment that can make a life-changing difference. Tthe e-mail recipient can then choose whether to investigate further.

So what does this have to do with our challenge…visit the RealAge site and stay tuned…

“I’m s rvivor. I’m not go give up. I’m not go stop. I’m go work harder… I will survive; keep on surviving.” I have made up in my mind I will survive I truly believe your attitude determines your altitude. If you think you can, you can and if you think you can’t, you can’t. I realize this may not apply in all situation but I bet if there were to be a study done it would hold true. I was listening to Dr. Mehmet Oz speak and he talks about most heart surgeons will not operate on a patient that believes he/she is going to die. It has been 3 months since I began chemo for breast cancer this time around. I am at the stage of no hair at all over my body and just a little bit left on my head I am wearing scarves and a wig that I am not fond of. To go from very short hair to having hair is a challenge and a whole other subject for me. I have had a 50% reduction in the size of the tumor that reoccurred from 2005 and I have tested again this week to see where I am. Through it all, I’ve made up in my mind to survive and to live a long life.  There are so many reasons why but let me give a few:

• a handsome,  smart 7 year old son to raise
• getting married
• nurturing a blended family with ex-factor drama
• becoming a millionaire $$
• going to high school games and school functions for my children
• use my experience with cancer to minister and encourage others

Do you see what I mean? With so much work to be done I have to keep the faith and believe that I will get through.  If I have a defeated attitude God can’t work His plan through me (Jeremiah 29:11). I do know that He has all power and use anyone that He wants to but I know there is a special gift in me that He placed that only I can accomplish. I cannot and refuse to throw in the towel on life because of going THROUGH treatment. If you have this kind of faith for yourself transfer some of it to those closest to you. Even if it is not spoken directly, I believe you can believe something for someone until they began to see it for themselves. I am believing a path of renewed purpose and strength for my friends and I get the opportunity to see them grow more each day.

It’s way past bedtime for me but I have such a buzz that I can’t get to sleep.

No, not that kind of buzz!

The best kind – a natural high. I spoke in front of 500 people (and had a great time doing it!) but that wasn’t even the best part. (I actually asked for some red wine tonight but just realized I didn’t even take a sip… I don’t drink anymore… my body doesn’t like it.)

Andy and I just returned from the Celebrating Science & Soul event, which “generates donations to support the Institute for Health & Healing’s work of healing people and transforming the practice of medicine. Last year the Institute touched the lives of more than 50,000 people, many through our scholarship fund and free programs at the bedside and in the Bay Area community.” Amazing, really.

Each year, this event honors pioneers in integrative medicine. This year’s honoree was Dr. Michael Harner – an incredible visionary – as well as Dr. William Goodson, breast cancer surgeon extraordinaire, who received a Compassionate Caring award. Beautiful people. Past honorees include Drs. Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Mehmet Oz (pre-Oprah!), and Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. Wow.

I had the honor of speaking as a patient testimonial. Here’s the video if you’re interested in watching. It runs about 7 minutes.

I haven’t shared much of my personal story yet in this blog. I’ve had a bit of a block. I am a super private person; I get the heebie-jeebies when I share too much personal info. But SO MANY people thanked me for doing so tonight at the event, that I see now I must. The story of my past 2.5 years is much bigger than just me. It’s part of my contribution and part of what I can give back. Because, you see, it’s been a long journey for me, but not as long as for others who are still suffering in silence and who, like some of the attendees tonight, may read / watch / hear about / listen to my story and have that be their nudge of hope that gets them to start healing and return to claim their life.

So, here, I will start to break my personal barrier and I begin offering to you my medical story and the story of my return (braver! bolder! brighter! than ever before) to owning my life.

I’ll start by giving you the video above as well as my speech transribed below. Pass it on.

*****

Simla’s Speech

They say the memory of pain is one we cannot retain, probably for reasons of survival. I beg to differ.

Pain.

It takes over your life until it’s all you can see, feel, taste, or think about.

It clouds your world so you don’t know who you are or whether you’ll ever have a good day again. When a good day means you can breathe without your ribs throbbing or your lungs burning, when you can tie your sneakers and take a step without your feet screaming, brush your teeth without getting exhausted, and remember the sentence you just read for the fifth time.

That’s the state I was in when I arrived at the Institute for Health & Healing Clinic in November 2006. I had already seen close to ten physicians to no avail. I had severe nerve, muscle, and bone pain along with short-term memory loss, debilitating fatigue, and a host of other symptoms. My standing diagnoses are fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, undifferentiated connective tissue disorder, multiple chemical sensitivity, and immunotoxicity. Along the way, I had been misdiagnosed and developed medication-induced hepatitis and pancreatitis. Not to mention gallstones. Add to that a lifelong battle with IBS, asthma, chronic bronchitis, a bout with Legionnaire’s Disease and pneumonia, and you get the picture. I was a mess. I was desperate, and desperately lost.

As a management consultant, I had thought I could use my intellect and methodical thinking to figure it all out. I was wrong. I had to go much, much deeper.

Using guided imagery, the incomparable Dr. Michael Cantwell helped reintroduce me to my Self – the Self that was not defined by pain. He helped me strengthen and redefine my connection to something bigger that had been lost. I was able to hear my inner voice again and let it take charge. Slowly, I began improving.

I recall one particular guided imagery session with Leslie Davenport, Integrative Psychotherapist, when my itching from jaundice stopped for good after I asked my body to give me a break, even though my skin was still very much the color of a ripe banana. Leslie’s kind and soothing presence created a haven where the noise in my body could sort itself out.

With the radiant Jodi Fishkin Manning, my stagnant insides found movement again, through her gentle touch as an exceptional massage therapist and powerful ability to really, deeply listen to what I had to say, without judgment or pity.

I still see Helen, the warm-hearted sage, every two weeks for acupuncture to keep my body balanced and my symptoms under control. But I see her just as much for her ability to help me get and stay grounded. She is always patient with my stream of questions, teaches me about myself and promotes guilt-free self-care.

That’s “my Team.” Together, along with my naturopath, chiropractor, rheumatologist, my husband Andy and my family, the IHH Clinic Team gave me hope, validated my pain but also my ability to heal, and encouraged me to pursue my newfound passion for holistic nutrition. In the past two and a half years, I left corporate America, went back to school (again!) to become certified as a health and nutrition counselor, and have opened the doors of a thriving holistic practice of my own.

Today, on most days, my pain is a memory – one that I respect, for it taught me much. Though my body can still be temperamental, I am always mending, healing, moving forward.  I can wear heels, haven’t needed surgery and my memory is better than ever, although my husband may beg to differ.

Consider yourself fortunate if you get to meet or spend some time with these exceptional practitioners tonight, as you are in the presence of true healers. They embody the spirit of medicine in all the ways medicine can and should manifest.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to express in a small way my immeasurable gratitude to Dr. Cantwell, Jodi, Leslie, and Helen.

How do you say thank you to someone who has helped you rebuild your body, mend your spirit, redefine your way of being, and incidentally, discover your life’s work?

But I can tell you that everything they’ve taught me is embedded in how I now live. I hope to pass it on. Thank you.

It’s a cold, gloomy, mid-February day, and I’d give just about anything for a good aromatherapy massage—if only I wasn’t behind on two deadlines, waiting on an hour-long conference call, and preparing for an integrative medicine conference that promises to be fascinating—though it will absolutely annihilate the rest of my work week. Oh, and I should be baking and FedEx’ing birthday cookies for my son, Jack. If anyone needs a massage, it’s me.

An aromatherapy massage means spending from 30 to 90 minutes (depending on your capacity for ecstasy and your budget) cocooned in an aura of aroma designed to help you achieve the mood you seek. Coupled with these lovely scents is a head-to-toe massage that—when performed by a skilled, empathetic therapist—will suck all the tension out of your body, catapult you out of the deepest doldrums, and ignite your energy like nothing else can. Really, it’s two therapies in one.

Istockphoto

Healing you can smell
Aromatherapy is recognized by enlightened members of the medical community for its ability to alter the perception of pain, alleviate nausea, ease insomnia, and help kill germs, says Mehmet Oz, MD, director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, in his foreword to Clinical Aromatherapy: Essential Oils in Clinical Practice, by Jane Buckle, RN, PhD. Buckle is a clinical aromatherapist whose book cites reams of aromatherapy research and aims to educate nurses, doctors, and other practitioners about how to add aromatherapy to their toolbox of healing techniques.

Next page: How to choose a therapist

Choose your therapist wisely
See my previous post on the secrets of a great massage, and use the American Massage Therapy Association to find a licensed practitioner in your area. Another great resource is your local day spa. Good ones are likely to have aromatherapy massages on the menu; call to make sure that the therapist uses pure essential oils, ask where she (or he) was trained, and inquire about how much experience she has.

In my experience, a good therapist will start off by asking you questions: What brings you here? Are you in pain? Where do you hold your tension? Do you sleep well? She’ll likely take a quick medical history to find out if you have any acute or chronic medical problems that might affect the way she conducts the massage. She’ll also ask if you have allergies, to make sure that any lotions or essential oils she uses won’t trouble you.

Therapists are creative about how they use essential oils during your massage. Some, after taking your history, may decide on a blend of oils to address your particular concerns. Others will ask you to choose oils that appeal to your senses. Still others have standard blends they use for specific conditions.

Luscious spa treatment…or therapeutic healing tool?
Here’s where it gets murky. We know that massage eases muscle pain, reduces stress, relieves headaches, and stimulates immunity via scores of studies that confirm the benefits of massage. Likewise, many studies suggest that certain essential oils have specific medicinal effects.

But it’s nearly impossible to study the effects of an aromatherapy massage because massage itself has so many physical benefits. That makes it difficult to tease out what, if anything, the aromatherapy adds, says Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD, chief of Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

I asked Dr. Cassileth specifically about one Japanese study, published last year, that suggested that an aromatherapy massage using lavender or sandalwood oil could relieve anxiety and enhance immunity for women who’d recently finished chemotherapy or radiation treatments for breast cancer.

“First of all, women undergoing cancer treatment may become nauseated by any kind of aromatherapy because they are very sensitive to odors,” she said. “Massage therapy is very helpful for cancer patients because it reduces pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Whether or not to add aroma is up to the patient and how she’s feeling.”

Still, many hospitals across the country, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering, offer aromatherapy massage to patients and sometimes even to members of the community.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get so stressed out that I have to check into a hospital to get my aromatherapy massage. See you at the day spa!

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