The current issue of Bottomline Health states a recent HealthGrades study (www.healthgrades.com/research) reached an interesting conclusion. Seems that patients in five-star hospitals were 70% less likely to die while in the hospital for treatment of one of the listed conditions compared with a one-star hospital. The study included death from any reason, not just errors. More than half of all deaths were associated with four diagnoses: Heart failure, respiratory failure, pneumonia and sepsis.
There is value in this study in that they point out the more often a procedure is performed at a hospital, the better the outcome. Seems like just common sense but a lot of people don't realize how much difference there can be between hospitals. As a respiratory therapist with 28 yrs experience I can tell you there can be lots of difference between hospitals and lots of difference between doctors. So if you are in need of a medical procedure compare your local hospitals before you proceed.
But I think studies like this also miss the boat. In fact, western medicine misses the boat. The healthcare ship has sailed and left you stranded.....
Here's what I mean....
We hear so much about the millions of dollars cancer (or heart disease or diabetes etc) research needs. We are assaulted with commercials and ads on tv and in magazines about the next terrific pharmaceutical solution. We are even told we can eat anything we want; just pop an antacid later.
The you-have-a-problem-pop-this-drug mentality is one of the reasons we have a healthcare crisis in this country. The pharmaceutical industry should be ashamed and drug commercials should be banned from tv. Heart disease, diabetes and cancer are not caused from a deficiency of pharmaceuticals.... but from a lack of nutrients.... and exercise. Pharmaceuticals have a place in acute life-threatening situations but the emphasis in healthcare should be on not contracting heart disease, diabetes, cancer or any other malady; not on covering up the symptoms with pharmaceuticals. We need to learn to be proactive instead of reactive in our healthcare.
We pour tons of money into medical research and spend tons of money on pharmaceuticals and still the United States health system ranks 37th in the world. http://www.who.int/whr/2000/media_centre/press_release/en/index.html Additionally, the United States ranks worst in preventable deaths. http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN07651650
Common sense should be telling us one of the reasons for this (maybe THE reason) is while we place so much emphasis on dollars for research; we overlook nutrition. Yet according to the World Health Organization 70+% of cancer could be PREVENTED thru ... guess what ...... NUTRITION!
Look at what the majority of us eat. We are addicted to convenience; fast food, microwavable meals, processed nutrient-poor frankenfoods and high fat, high sodium, high sugar snacks. OUCH!
Look at the increasing chronic illness statistics and one realizes we are killing ourselves. The leading cause of death in kids is cancer... and we are now seeing Type 2 diabetes (an adult disorder) in kids. This alone should wake us up! Walk thru a grocery store and read the ingredients of food products marketed to kids..... it's SHAMEFUL.
You say "what about genetics?"....... well, Dr Dean Ornish has reached an amazing conclusion regarding genetics. Watch this: http://tinyurl.com/47avy7
It seems we have an amazing amount of control over the quality of our health.
My question is when are we going to wake up ... wise up.... and use the control we have.
For our own survival we must create a new mentality regarding wellness. We must learn to be consciously aware of the nutrition in what we eat. Mindless eating is killing us.... and our children.
The vast majority of us live like there's an infinite amount of time allotted to us. But time slips by while we utter the words "I'll do it tomorrow" or "I should..." . A lot of the people I run into as a respiratory therapist in a hospital and also as a health coach in my nutrition business haven't connected time and health. But they are intimately connected.
Make no mistake about it what you consume today affects your future quality of health.
There are moments when I reflect on what I've been thru in my own journey to conquering illness and on what I see in the hospital as a respiratory therapist and at those moments I desperately want to get thru to every person I meet how really tragic it is to lose the quality of your life thru illness; especially illness you could have prevented.
Preventable illnesses are incredibly tragic. Illness takes away a lot of the choices in life. The loss of human potential and the implications that has on the quality of an individuals life, as well as, the loss to society is unfathomable.
I'd say at least 90% of the misery I see in the hospital is preventable.
And if you check out the World Health Organizations website or read a number of books "The China Study" by T Colin Campbell, "Eat To Live" by Joel Fuhrman,M.D., "The AntiOxidant Miracle" by Lester Packer, PhD to name just a few; you will find I am exactly correct.
Just the other day a casual friend remarked she just HAD to lose weight. She's right. She's headed for a really bad life if she doesn't. She asked me how to lose weight. I gave her a few suggestions. She replied she couldn't do that to each suggestion. She doesn't have time and it's to expensive to buy healthy food. Ok so let's get this: she wants to lose weight but she won't change anything that she's doing. If she sticks with the decision she doesn't have time she will join the ranks of thousands of other people overweight with a high incidence of chronic illness.
What she's missing is that time is running out on her not having time to take care of herself.
Another friend stated she's losing weight by eating a high protein diet and generally eating less. But can't find time to exercise. Hopefully, she's eating just enough protein and not overdoing it. Excess protein is not a good thing. Eating less could be a good thing. But it's not really about eating less; it's about being aware of what you are eating, eating mindfully, eating a varied diet of vegetables and fruits and being sure to get all the nutrients her body needs. I hope she is.
And she'll have to come to the realization exercise is a part of the deal. Good health isn't just about eating right and it's not just about normalizing your weight. The body needs to move as much as it needs for you to give it the right nutrients. What she's missing is that time is running out on her not having time to exercise.
These two folks are representative of the folks I keep bumping into in my quest to help others live a healthier life. I'm not picking on these two folks, really I'm not... it's just that they are both on my mind cos not only do I care about both of them greatly; they really are representative of the folks I keep bumping into.... folks with a time problem. There's far to many of you out there.
Aas a respiratory therapist I see the results of the standard american diet and a sedentary lifestyle over and over. It's what urged me to earn my M.S. in Holistic Nutrition and become a health coach. Overweight people. Massively overweight people. Gaping ulcers on their body. Diabetes. Leg amputations. Dementia. Heart disease. Re-do re-do cardiac bypasses. COPD patients who can't breathe but still manage to suck on cigarettes. I see tragic results caused by an unhealthy lifestyle that were preventable.
And folks who don't have time to eat nutritiously or exercise.
The clock is ticking folks....
How many times have you said to yourself:
I should eat better?
or I should exercise more?
or I wish I had more energy?
How many times have you actually attempted to lose weight, get stronger,
live healthier..... and failed? Don't kick yourself.
Most of us have grown up living the typical american lifestyle and eating the typical standard american diet. It's not easy to change a lifetime habit and it's to your credit you have tried even if you failed. You just need a little support and guidance.
Nutrition gave me back my life from a debilitating illness. I am so grateful to have my life back. The power of nutrition amazed me so much I then went on to earn a Masters in Holistic Nutrition. My mission and passion is to help you realize the benefits of a nutrition-aware lifestyle. Normalize your weight, have more energy, feel better! Help yourself to have a well life.
Are you ready to transition to a healthy lifestyle? Lose weight? Have more energy? Feel good?
Don't try.....DO.
Time isn't waiting for you.
My offer still stands: Free health coaching (once a week 30 minutes, unlimited email contact) with your purchase of the Shrink It Weight Loss system http://tinyurl.com/c5n4eo
Even if you don't need to lose weight you do need to eat well, exercise and take a quality multi-nutrition supplement http://tinyurl.com/37plfv .
Time isn't waiting for you.
Don't try, DO.
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