There’s no doubt that there are many extraordinary things confronting people these days when it comes to personal health. The rise in prostate cancer in men, the occurrence of bowel cancer in both men and women and mental health disorders rising at alarming rates, are all part of “normal” in the modern world of technology.
Life expectancy is, globally speaking, on the rise. That means people are living longer, so what’s all the fuss about when it comes to obesity, anxiety and depression and cancer rates if life expectancy is on the rise?
The point is that people are living longer overall, however their quality of life in the latter years is, in many cases, poor. So what’s causing the decline in those latter years?
Simply put, medical science is helping people to stay alive. Life expectancy has not increased because people are living healthier. There’s no other way to put it other than to say that doctors are stopping people from dying.
Well, I guess that begs the question “is that a bad thing? Isn’t that what doctors do? Aren’t they into the preservation of life? After all, isn’t that their gig?
Indeed that is their gig, and yes the life preservation and therefore life expectancy stats are looking good, but those latter years of life staying alive without a prostate, suffering from sleep Aponea, injecting insulin because you have diabetes, taking anti depressant medications and suffering a poor or non existent sex life, and the list goes on, are not lifestyle choices we intentionally make 20 years prior in our younger days.
So why is it that we have found ourselves in this predicament where obesity and other lifestyle conditions are increasing at alarming rates? Why is it that many people live their latter years in a world that is plagued by lifestyle related health conditions that cause suffering on a daily basis, with ever increasing impact on them, and their families, as they get older.
Some time ago a friend of mine at a party commented that I was looking pretty healthy for a 50 year old and wondered if I was still training in the Martial Arts. I replied I was and went on to ask how he has been. He said he had just been to the doctor who gave him, in his words, “a clean bill of health”, to which I replied, “that’s great”. He quickly said “we’ll … apart from some high blood pressure … but he gave me some pills for that … apparently it’s really common” he concluded. “That’s great you have it sorted I said” and, waiting for him to go on, he paused and said “what do you think?”
Well first I thought “have you got an hour and how easy will you take the truth? … here goes I though to myself”
“Mate” I said ” do you want my make you feel good answer or my what I’m thinking answer?” He said to give it to him, both barrels! Not missing an opportunity to help a mate, I said, “well, in short, it’s the beginning of the end my friend. In the Martial Arts we call high blood pressure in obese people who don’t exercise dead man walking“.
He was silent, and I let the silence last, as I wanted my friend to listen to what I said. I know he heard me, but did he listen?
The answer to this lies in the way people think in our modern technological age. It’s all about how we get our kicks, how we satisfy ourselves on a day to day basis, and how we get the things we want in our lives.
Our lives revolve around what I term “the pharmaceutical lifestyle”, and I’m not just talking about prescription and non-prescription mediations our modern lifestyle seems so happy to accept as a “normal” part of living. More importantly, I’m referring to the quick fix or I need a solution to my problem now way of life, a solution that’s not based on long term investment, but rather a quick, outcomes focussed solution that delivers results right now that I don’t have to labor to enjoy.
For my friend in the story above, I went on to chat to him about how often he eats a meal during the day, and how often he schedules exercise in his daily routine. He told me he just doesn’t like to eat breakfast and has never done so, saying that’s normal for him. And how could I convince him that this breakfast behaviour is one of a multitude of things that have definitely contributed to his high blood pressure and obesity. His response sent a clear message to me that my advise was discounted as trivial and not so relevant. Yet interesting that he was quick to take his doctor’s advise to swallow a blood pressure tablet every day. He hasn’t done that all his life, but is happy to accommodate that now.
Kind of funny isn’t it that in our wise moments we would all agree that the best things in life aren’t things, but rather its what we have to work hard to earn and achieve. We’re talking about what gives us a sense of I did that from real guts effort and determination, a no quit attitude, and a stick at it till the job’s done kind of way. We all admire that. As parents we’re quick to teach our children to work hard to get a good job, and to stick at things till their done, to not quit. Do we all really really live by that?
As part of the “Pharmaceutical” lifestyle I refer to in this article I’m really talking about the quick fix answers that we oh so often hear about on the television, radio and on the internet about how we can solve today’s problems right now with a quick fix. Just tonight on a current events program they were talking up the famous good ‘ol “soup diet” that’s stood the test of time and is the one and all great cure for weight loss. The program went on to talk about all the people who have lost so much weight using the famous soup diet that was promoted by a cardiologist who had a real need to help his patients lose weight fast in preparation for surgery. A quick fix that really worked for that purpose, however the program on television was promoting the diet as a fast fix for all people needing to lose weight, not advising people that the soup will help for a short while, but that you can’t eat soup for 5 meals a day and think that you’re going to stick at it.
There is no doubt in my mind that there would be thousands of people who would have searched the internet within minutes of the conclusion of that program to get the recipe for that soup. People looking for a quick fix. Yet the answer is right before them – to simply start eating more fruits and vegetables, with a modest serving of protein, try eating every 3 hours, and limit alcohol.
This old fashioned recipe of moderation seems to get lost in the pharmaceutical lifestyle of quick fixes where some pill, potion or super food diet will be the answer to all our ills. Simply put, it’s easier to go for the option that, in the short term, seems easy.
