Medicine Is Not Magic!
One of the most positive benefits of the often stunning
advances in computer
technology over the last twenty years has been the
assistance that it has
given to the development of medical technology.
Computers have enabled medical research to be successfully
undertaken and
completed many, many times faster than was ever possible
previously. More
and more diseases and illnesses have been isolated and
investigated in a
fraction of the time that it once took.
Medical practitioners are becoming ever more skillful, with
increasingly
sophisticated tools and instruments to help them in their
tasks.
And yet disease, sickness and illness has not been
comprehensively defeated
or outwitted, nor is it ever likely that they will be.
For example, it is now widely accepted that, no matter how
quickly
computer aided technology and research might enable a virus
to be identified
and isolated, the virus itself can mutate into a more
virulent form much
faster!
Medical science is far more advanced than it ever was, but
it is still fighting
a never ending battle against the power and strength of the
‘bad side’ of
nature!
So, man will probably never conquer disease entirely.
People will always become ill with all sorts of conditions
and ailments, and,
in the worst cases, they will die from them.
Being healthy is, therefore always a question of degree to a
certain extent.
You can only do what you can to be as healthy as you can
possibly be.
Balanced against that, we have already suggested earlier
that some medical
conditions are known to be made worse by being unhealthy.
For example, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and
stress-related medical
conditions are all conditions that are known to be
exacerbated as a result of
being unhealthy.
What is perhaps more surprising is the increasing evidence
that would
suggest that becoming a ‘Healthier You’ will help you to do
fight against
many medical conditions that were once believed to be
unavoidable or
inevitable as well.
For example, everyone knows that one of the biggest killers
is cancer, and
probably many still believe that getting cancer is ‘just one
of those things’,
an unlucky and unavoidable bad draw in the lottery of life!
Not so, according to research.
Being healthier will definitely reduce your chances of
getting cancer,
according to the latest findings.
As long ago as the year 2000, the ‘New England Journal Of
Medicine’ was
reporting that whilst a persons genes appeared to account
for around 30% of
all cases of cancer, the balance could be traced to a variety
of other factors,
namely poor dietary habits, smoking, alcohol consumption and
a lack of
exercise, as well as exposure to environmental toxins.
All of these are factors that most rational thinking people
would quite rightly
believe to be unhealthy.
So, in short, being healthier can help prevent cancer as
well as the myriad
other conditions with which being out of shape are usually
associated.
The Four Pillars Of Health
We have already established that fitness is a vital part of
becoming and
staying healthy, but that health and fitness are not
necessarily synonymous.
Fitness and exercise, in fact represent just one of what I
call the ‘Four Pillars
Of Health’, all of which have to be considered and addressed
as a part of a
coordinated conscious effort to become a ‘Healthier You’.
These ‘4 Pillars’ are:
· Fitness & Exercise
· Lifestyle
· Diet
· Environment
This blog will work through each of these ‘Pillars’ in turn,
showing you
sensible, practical things that you can begin to do as soon
as you put this
book down to start becoming healthier.
However, it is important to realize that these ‘Pillars’ do
not work nearly so
well in isolation, and that if they are adopted independently
of one another,
then your chances of long-term success are limited.
For example, no matter how much exercise you do, if you
continue to eat all
of the wrong foodstuffs, smoke like the proverbial chimney
and consume
copious amounts of alcohol every night, then you are never
going to get
much healthier.
Likewise, if you live in a city, then no doubt you are aware
of the air and
environmental pollution that surrounds you daily.
Maybe you think that there is nothing that you can do to try
to offset some of
the worst effects of pollution?
You would, however, be wrong as there is overwhelming
scientific evidence
that dietary considerations can play a major role in helping
you to fight the
worst effects of the dirt and toxins that surround you.
This will be dealt with in much greater detail later.
The final assumption that I am going to make before
beginning to analyze
my ‘4 Pillars’ is that you are a very busy person!
If you are anything like me, then you have more than enough
to do every
day without taking on any additional burdens that would
stretch your
available time still further.
My objective is therefore to get you healthier than you have
perhaps ever
been, but to do so as quickly and efficiently as possible at
the same time.
And, if that sounds like a plan that you can work with, then
let’s go right
ahead and get things moving without any further ado.
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