Treat the Cause, not the Symptom

I don't spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the tube, but when I do watch TV it seems like about 2/3 of the commercials I see are for prescription medicines that I should ask my doctor about.  Whether it's sleeplessness, erectile dysfunction, depression, stress, hyperactivity, cardiac trouble, or diabetes, there's a pill out there that will make everyone feel better.

Bullcookies.

Try listening to the pharmaceutical commercials about 20 seconds in.  The list of potential side effects for most of the advertised drugs sounds far more frightening than the condition it's intended to treat.  Would I really want to risk engaging in suicidal behavior as I try to quit smoking with my pharmaceutical?  There's got to be a better way to give up smoking...

From kids to the elderly, our country is being medicated to the gills, but all these pills do is treat the symptoms of a condition.  The cause goes untreated.  I'm gonna call names, which I'm sure is going to endear me to a number of pharmaceutical companies.  To that I say... big effing deal.

"I Don't Like the Drugs, but the Drugs Like Me" ~M. Manson

Smoking Cessation

The Cause - People start smoking for a variety of reasons, among them the desire to fit in, rebellion against authority, and following in the footsteps of adult role models.

The Drug - Chantix® Anti-smoking drug.  This particular drug has been linked to depression, suicidal thoughts, and violent behavior, according to the legal firm of Davis & Crump.  The drug reduces the attachment of nicotine to acetylcholine receptors in the brain and may also inhibit the release of the pleasure hormone dopamine.  The presence of dopamine is what makes cigarette smoking addictive, and this pharmaceutical may have a direct negative effect on levels of pleasure chemicals in the brain.

Treating the Root Cause - Parents can prevent their children from picking up the habit by not smoking themselves and by developing a relationship with their child that makes the child feel loved and valued. Most important is actually having a conversation with your younger child to address the topic of smoking and its potential impact on health.

Smoking is a tough addiction to overcome, but it can be defeated.   For those smokers that want to quit, you can follow in the footsteps of both my in-laws and my own father: quit cold turkey and chew lots and lots of gum.  Exercise will help immeasurably as it helps cleanse the body and restore normal brain function - and it releases pleasure hormones.

Headaches

The Cause - stress, fatigue, poor vision, dehydration, illness.

The Drug - Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Naproxen - These medicines simply mask the symptom by reducing swelling or muting the brain's pain receptors.  The cause of the problem is still there, but it is dulled to the point of being less of an annoyance.

Treating the Root Cause - For the most part, drink more water and get some exercise.  Exercise reduces stress, increases immune response, and actually combats fatigue (as counterintuitive as that may seem).  For vision-related headaches, a trip to your local vision specialist may be in order.

Erectile Dysfunction

The Cause - causes of ED are numerous but are generally divided into psychological and physical causes.  Psychological causes include such issues as anxiety, stress, poor self-image, and depression.  Physical causes can include high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, low hormone levels, and high cholesterol.

The Drug - pick your poison.  Viagra.  Cialis.  Levitra.  Any of these guys are willing to take your money to help you fulfill your basic needs.

Treating the Root Cause - Look at the list of causes.  They read like a list of basic problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.  While there are causes of ED that would require the use of pharmaceuticals, most people buying these medications would be well served with exercise and a modified diet.

Sleeplessness/Insomnia

The Cause - Stress, anxiety, depression, emotional trauma, and health problems among others.  Sound familiar?

The Drug - Ambien, Lunesta, Silenor, Sonata, etc.  There are enough drugs on the market for insomnia to choke a small elephant.

Treating the Root Cause - With the possible exception of emotional trauma, most of the causes of sleeplessness can be managed with regular exercise.

Hopefully a trend is becoming obvious.

Pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals understand this concept - that those that exercise are far less likely to need their products and services.  Do I believe there is a conspiracy afoot?  Not at all (well, at least not as far as doctors are concerned.  Big pharma is another story entirely).  I do believe, however, that doctors are telling their patients what they want to hear - that "there's a pill for that."

Pharmaceuticals, by and large, exist to dull the symptoms of our poor lifestyles.  As a nation, we must get out of the collective mindset that drugs exist to help us.  They don't.  They merely mask the body's natural signals, giving the illusion that all is well.

I cannot sit here and claim that exercise will eliminate the need for pharmaceuticals every time for everyone.  I can say with a degree of certainty that a nation engaging in a regular regimen of exercise will put a severe dent in the need for drugs.  In other words, we have to attack the root cause of the problem - sedentary, inactive lifestyles that are breeding grounds for conditions that big pharma is only too happy to help you treat.

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From the Heart...

I haven't planned this blog entry.  I haven't written notes or anything.  I'm just coming from the heart on this one.  Shooting from the hip, as it were.

I am a human being - prone to failures and fallings.  Recently, I've been mired in a bit of self-imposed guilt-ridden laziness that has prevented me from doing the things that are necessary to be effective as a mouthpiece on this website.  Alice and I were talking yesterday about how much easier writing for Wo40.com is when we're in the gym.  Until just a couple weeks ago, we weren't even members of a gym; we let our membership expire about a year ago.  After that membership expired, it was just a matter of attrition that stopped our writing about fitness related activities.

Our diet soon followed our exercise patterns and subsequently went to hell.

Now, that's not to say we've stopped exercising and given up totally on our health.  Not at all.  We still train in karate at least 3 days a week in addition to walking all over - to the store, to the post office, to the bank.  Physically we're not in a bad way.  We're just not training as hard as we could (or should).

Now, before people write this entry off as a "poor poor pitiful me" post, let me clear up the intent of this post: We are normal people living in a normal world with normal issues.  When I read other fitness blogs, I'm sometimes led to believe that everyone else has got it all together - that they never stray from their diet and never miss a day in the gym.  The truth of the matter is likely that they (those other bloggers) are likely no different from us.  There are ups.  There are downs.  There are times when they wonder why in the hell they're going through the pain of exercising.  There are times when they eat like crap.  The difference is that they might not talk about it publicly.

I'm here to tell you that Alice and I are not paragons of healthy virtue.  We eat junk.  We drink soda.  But those activities do not define us as voices in the fitness world.  Eating the way I do, I still come in at under 200 pounds because I work exceptionally hard in the dojo (my karate training hall).  Alice is still a lean mom of 4 that a good many women envy for the size 4 she wears.  She, too, works incredibly hard in the dojo, despite injury setbacks and a conflicting work schedule.

So, we're fairly normal.  Our chief goal is to be better today than we were yesterday.

If that's all you ever ask of yourself, then you're on a pretty good path.

Be well!

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I Am An Addict

Addictions suck.  If you don’t think so, just try getting addicted to something and then try to give it up.  You know – just put it down, walk away, and never go back.

Easy peesy.  Right?

I am an addict, and soda is my drug.  Despite knowing that drinking soda is akin to consuming liquid toxic waste, I still can’t break my dependency on the stuff. 

I had a moment of epiphany the other day.  It was in a period of desperate tiredness and strong thirst that I grabbed an ice-cold bottle of my fizzy friend and popped the top.  I took a swallow and came about this |  | close to being orgasmic.  I felt all quivery and heart-fluttery.  It's possible my loins even tingled a little. 

TMI.  Sorry.

I think I downed half the bottle in the first few swallows and then came to the sudden realization that I was enjoying this experience perhaps a little too much.

I’m not proud of this addiction.  I’m a bit ashamed, actually, that I can come on here and speak about the horrors and inherent dangers of the chemical hodgepodge that makes up soda while I secretly cower in the corner of a dark room getting my bloat on.

Yeah, I’m a hypocrite.  But I’m an honest hypocrite, and that has to account for something.

A few weeks ago, I tried to quit cold turkey.  I was drinking a gallon of water a day and trying to act like I enjoyed it.  But caffeine is a bitch, and she likes to lay the smack down when she doesn’t have her way.  I made it 2 weeks before I popped the top again and fell off the wagon.  The grip on my brain was loosened and the headaches went away.  The fatigue was replaced by sugar highs and caffeine rushes.  I didn’t necessarily feel ‘better’; I just felt a little closer to ‘normal’.

So I’m back to square 1. 

Again. 

Dammit.

There’s a solution to this problem.  I know there is.  It can’t involve will-power or chemical means because I don’t have the former and don’t want the latter. 

Until a complete solution is found, I shall try to keep consumption in moderation.

And I’ll hope that people can forgive me for being a hypocritical junkie.

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10 Unsettling Facts about Diet Soda

I received an email a few weeks ago from Christine at radiologytechnicianschools.net inviting us to share this article about diet sodas with our readers.  People ask me quite often what I think about diet soda as an alternative to regular soda consumption.  My answer is usually something like, "You'd be better off eating the bottle the diet soda comes in rather than drinking the soda itself."  If regular soda is a nutritional wasteland, then diet soda is a chemical catastrophe.

If you want to drink a non-water beverage during the day, you'd do well to stick to soy milk, iced tea with Splenda, and limited amounts of fruit juice.

Thanks, Christine, for sharing this article with us.

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We've all heard that if you're going to drink sodas, choose diet. This may seem like the best option for diabetics and people who are watching their weight, but there is more to consider when drinking diet sodas than just calories. We may not know exactly what these carbonated colas are doing to our bodies, but there is plenty of research that suggests they aren't doing much good. Here are 10 unsettling facts about diet soda:

Click here to read the rest of this article.

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Reader Question

Reader Teresa at our Wo40 Facebook Page asks a really good question.  I'm posting it here for everyone's benefit.

"Question for ya Keith.  I'm trying to lose weight. I have limited my calories to 1200 a day and doing the elliptical 48 mins 4-5 days a week.  Am I eating the right amount of calories?" 

Excellent question, Teresa!  The answer is actually quite individual, so just a "yes" or "no" won't work.  My suggestion is that you go to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ and get 2 numbers.  The first is your basal metabolic rate (BMR for short).  After you have that number (it will show up in the green bar once you hit the "Calculate BMR" button), scroll down a little and click on the "Harris Benedict Equation" link.  Do a little math and get an approximate count of your daily calorie burn.

When you have those numbers, I recommend 2 things: never let your calorie intake go below the first number, and stay about 500 calories below your second number.  I'll use myself as an example:
My BMR is about 1910 cal/day.  My HB number is 2960 calories/day.  My daily intake goal should be about 2400 cal/day and should never fall below 1910 cal/day.

For the record, my wife's HB number is 2075 and her BMR is 1339.  Assuming you're in the same general ballpark as my wife, 1200 calories is too low for your dietary needs.  Cutting calories too drastically will cause your body to retain fat as a source of emergency energy rather than using it now for energy.  The eventual results will be slow metabolism, sluggish feelings, and really slow weight loss.

Contrary to what a lot of people believe, you have to EAT to DROP FAT.  If that isn't good news, I don't know what is!

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