As a little boy in the 70’s, my grandparents as were my parents (both
deceased) were greatly influenced by the Physicians of their time. As you may have already experienced, doctors treat symptoms rather than the underlying cause of the disease
or ailment…hence the reason for so many of
those orange medicine bottles I found in
both my parents, Grand Parents and now my in-laws Kitchen Cabinet (because there
is not enough room in the bathrooms medicine chest). Lets face a doctor without patients will eventually go out of business. Are certain medications useful, yes…. when
pre-existing genetic conditions cannot be treated, but for the most part
conditions can be treated with a Functional Medicine approach which takes into
consideration holistic (Whole person) approaches for treating the
individual.
Functional
medicine is personalized medicine
that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms
for serious chronic disease. It is a science-based field of health care that is
grounded in the following principles:
·
Biochemical
individuality describes the importance of
individual variations in metabolic function that derive from genetic and
environmental differences among individuals.
·
Patient-centered medicine emphasizes "patient care"
rather than "disease care," following Sir William Osler’s admonition
that "It is more important to know what patient has the disease than to
know what disease the patient has."
·
Dynamic balance of internal and external factors.
·
Web-like
interconnections of
physiological factors – an abundance of research now supports the view that the
human body functions as an orchestrated network of interconnected systems,
rather than individual systems functioning autonomously and without effect on
each other. For example, we now know that immunological dysfunctions can promote
cardiovascular disease, that dietary imbalances can cause hormonal
disturbances, and that environmental exposures can precipitate neurologic
syndromes such as Parkinson’s disease.
·
Health as a
positive vitality – not merely
the absence of disease.
·
Promotion of organ
reserve as the means to enhance health
span.
After a two year painful struggle
with Heart Disease, which consisted (2)
triple and (1) quadruple Bypass operation, my mother Naomi Wesen went home to be with God ….she was only
47. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my mother’s death was truly a blessing
because it left me with a question mark of my short existence on this planet
and the unknown existence in the afterlife.
I accepted the invitation to grow and develop my relationship with Jesus
Christ and through this relationship build and develop more meaningful
relationships within my friends, family
and community, and Catholic Church
which is the growing Body of
Christ. My studies, perspectives and experiences led me to realization that when we come into alignment
with Gods greater purpose for our lives we soon realize that are Great and Awesome creator and father truly made provisions for everything we could
possibly need to enjoy a long and
fruitful life on earth and more importantly into eternity.
Our ancestors, depending upon
what region of the world they lived in, flourished on a variety of diets mostly
consisting of fruits, vegetables, legumes,
healthy beef and fish. The average
American diet contains little food that resembles are ancestral origins. Food
that has been pounded, pulverized, over-cooked and over-processed could
certainly be classified as dead. Dead food has no resemblance to the
original food source and almost exclusively comes in a synthetically derived
form—always with an over-abundance of starch, sugar and fat, designed only to
appeal to our senses of smell and taste. Unfortunately a large portion of
our oceans have been contaminated with chemicals such as mercury making the
consumption of certain fish more than twice a week dangerous. Chemicals poisons and toxins are continually dumped into ground water systems affecting
both livestock animals and humans. Cattle
and other beef products are injected
with hormones and antibiotics which is consumed by humans when we consume beef or drink the milk we purchase at our local supermarkets. .
Estimates are as high as $10
billion spent on advertising all types of food and beverages to America’s
children and youth. According to the Federal Trade Commission report,
"Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry
Expenditures, Activities, and Self-Regulation," 44 major food and beverage
marketers spent $1.6 billion to promote their products to children under 12 and
adolescents ages 12 to 17 in the United States in 200In "Food for Thought:
Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States," the Kaiser
Family Foundation reported that children and adolescents see up to 6,100
televised food advertisements a year. Approximately a third of the ads are for
candy and snacks, a fourth are for cereal, and a tenth are for fast food. Only
5% are for healthy foods/beverages such as dairy products and fruit juice. None
are for fruits and vegetables.
In truth what we have is multibillion marketing scheme with one
objective…. Cause us and our children to rendor unhealthy food choices !! To make matters worse this trend eventually
leads to early death. Reliance on high-energy, processed foods is
the root cause of the American epidemic of obesity that has evolved over the
past fifty years. Excessive body fat is associated with increased risk of
heart disease, increased wear and tear on joints and ligaments, increased risk
of certain types of cancer and increased risk of chronic disease in
general. Often “central” obesity is accompanied by an alarming
collection of signs and symptoms including elevated fasting blood glucose,
hypertension, decreased HDL cholesterol and increased blood triglycerides. This
condition, referred to as insulin resistance syndrome, metabolic syndrome or
syndrome X, now affects somewhere between 25% and 50% of the population.
Stay tuned as I will be sharing my story on how I am currently working with other to build and develop a more optimal wellness plan based on functional medicine practices!!
