Effective Smoking Deterrent

I don't usually care for commercials, but they got me on one today. I usually get pissed when I have to wait five seconds to skip an ad...and those sly marketers did it. The simple headline, "Tips From Former Smokers," grabbed me. What? And from the opening line--it's genius!

"When you got a hole in your neck, don't face the shower head."

Bam! Powerful. And it keeps getting better. If this ain't a deterrent for smoking, man, nothing's gonna stop ya. Yeah, it worked for me.

Listen up, school boards...play this CDC video for every kindergarten, grammar school and high school in the world if you want to deter smoking. Make them in different languages. Don't hold back, show the kids--you'll probably decrease new smokers by fifty percent. G'head--dare ya. And tell 'em Campos told ya.

Random? Half Cancers Preventable

Some people think we live in a random universe, nothing but probability--a chance for this, and a chance for that. Some also think that health is random. Some people get sick, others do not. A roll of the dice for the most part. In fact, that's what insurance is for: you purchase insurance hoping that you won't get sick, but if by chance you do...

This approach to health, however, is foolish. We know that health and wellness are not random. What we do regularly determines whether we will experience health or not. It certainly is about probability when it comes to our health. The more we engage in healthy behaviors, the greater the probability we will remain healthy; and the more we  engage in unhealthy behaviors, the greater the probability we will develop illness or disease. True, it's never one hundred percent, as Jim Fixx showed that any fitness enthusiast can drop dead from a heart attack, while George Burns smoked cigars into his 100s. Go figure.

But what we do is still the most important determinant of health. Take a recent study that now shows 50% of all cancers are preventable. That's right folks! And the big C is the second leading cause of death following another preventable condition...you got it--heart disease.

The numbers one and two killers in the U.S. are preventable. Smoking is blamed for 33% of all cancers, while 75% of lung cancers are due to smoking. Shoot, I used to smoke, I get it. I liked smoking, heck yeah...but I quit. Simple as that. My cancer risk went way down. Probabilities.

Here's another: Obesity is responsible for 20% of all cancers in the U.S. Throw in booze, pollution, poor diet, prescription drugs by the pounds... Why, heck...of course cancer is the number two killer--people are poisoning themselves.

And the political perspective is that these people just don't have enough resources. State smoking cessation programs are being financially undercut, and people don't have money, or the insurance, to be treated once they get sick. Random.

But by quitting smoking, eating well, minimizing junk food (like sodas), and exercising regularly actually helps lessen the risk of heart disease and cancer. Not random.

Duh.

Peer Influence Strongest in Teams

Listen up parents: Sports participation may keep your adolescent child from smoking.

Listen up parents: Sports participation may lead your  adolescent child to smoke...especially your daughter.

Huh?

That's right--both are conclusions of a recent study on peer influence conducted out of the University of Southern California. According to the research, middle-school children involved in organized sports were less likely to smoke than their peers. Nice. However, if their teammates smoked, then preteens were more likely to do the same, and the results were more pronounced among girls. Talk about smelling like team spirit.

Researchers questioned 1,260 sixth through eighth graders about their smoking behavior. The children were middle class, lived in urban areas and ethnically diverse.

The researchers concluded that peer leaders, especially in athletics, could help influence kids to avoid the stinky habit.

"Current guidelines recommend the use of peer leaders selected within the class to implement such programs," said Kayo Fujimoto, the study leader. "The findings of this study suggest that peer-led interactive programs should be expanded to include sports teams as well."

No doubt individuals of a group are going to influence one another--it's called group cohesiveness. And no group more cohesive than the athletic team.

It really does make sense, then, to address health issues with both girls and boys as a team. If you can get through to one, you might just be getting through to all. But I am certain it's best to start teaching 'em young, and to not be too obtrusive about it. Anything pushed to hard on the adult end is bound to stir curiosity. Listen, if my parents and teachers said it was bad, then it was good as far as I was concerned.

A better approach is to teach children about various health risks--like smoking, boozing, or sex (especially unprotected)--by just giving them the facts, without added emotion. This is smokers lung, girls; and this here is the result of a drunk driving accident; and over here we've got syphilis...and so on. Trust that kids will come to their own conclusions, and believe me, if a few on the team get it, then they probably all will.

But mostly it starts in the home, folks. If you smoke, your kid will probably smoke too. If you drink soda, your kid will probably drink soda. And on and on...

Remember, there's no I in team, dammit. So teaching the kids, especially peer groups, about healthy habits, without shoving it down their throats, will likely get through the best. Good work, team.

Dumb Doctoring

You want me to let you in on a little secret? It's called dumb doctoring. Here's how it works: Patient comes into doctors office with symptoms. The symptoms are of a normal physiological process gone awry. Doctor prescribes medication to relieve the symptoms, ignoring the cause (usually a faulty lifestyle habit). Patient gets relief as long as the medication is continued (lifestyle drug), but then develops more symptoms related to the long-term drug use. The patient goes back to the doctor with new symptoms...and gets more medication.

But where does it end?

Well let's see. How about I finish the story like this: Um...study comes out...yeah, uh...showing that...the medication used to treat initial symptoms...uh, increased the risk of hip fracture! Yeah, that's it--better than a freakin' movie of the week, because IT"S REAL!

A recent study shows that women who take popular heartburn and indigestion medications (read: commonly prescribed) may put themselves at a higher risk for hip fractures. Long-term use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), may increase that risk by 35-50% for current or former smokers. Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid are some examples of these heartburn/indigestion medications.

Can I give you some Prilosec?

Dr. Hamed Khalili, clinical and research fellow in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and lead researcher of the study says that postmenopausal women, particularly with a history of smoking should be closely monitored on these drugs. These results coincide with a recent FDA revision of labeling of PPIs "to incorporate concerns about a possible increase in risk of fractures with these drugs," he said.

Khalili's team looked at over 80,000 postmenopausal women over the course of eight years, from 2000 to 2008, and found that nearly 900 hip fractures occurred--with a 35% increased risk for women using PPIs compared to women who didn't take the drugs. And the increased risk of fractures among women who smoked was even higher, reaching 50%. The longer a women took a PPI, the more her risk increased.

But back to dumb doctoring. The data showed that the number of women in the study taking PPIs increased from 6.7% in 2000 to 18.9% in 2008. Duh! Couldn't the dumb doctors have gotten the numbers higher than that?! Consequently, the researchers expect hip fractures to rise even further in upcoming years.

What's so laughable about this story is that it's simply an everyday occurrence in the world of modern medicine. The story I described above is the way it's done in 99% of medical practices in the country (g'head, prove me wrong). The only fools not seeing it are the doctors themselves; so blinded are they by their backwards ideology.

Listen, drugs are useful--but in moderation! Short-term drug use is best, Trapper--not a freakin' decade-long habit. Duh! But that's what we call dumb doctoring here in the western world. Most indigestion and heartburn issues are diet related. The body responds to foods it doesn't agree with (or activities, like lying down immediately after eating, or smoking) with acid reflux. The long-term answer is not drugs! On the contrary, it's finding the real cause and correcting it. But oh no...that would be far too much work, wouldn't it?

And when patients return with more symptoms...? Why, let's give 'em more drugs. May I repeat...DUH! And people of the general public you are not off the hook, either, because you don't ask yourself why? Why does the body respond with heartburn for months...years? You think it's normal? You think you just don't have enough drugs in your body?

I know that not everybody cares about maintaining health--that many people want to just live their lives and deal with their illnesses as they come. I get it--I really do. But I also know that some of you reading this do care about your health, because it allows you to live more fully; it allows you to do the things you love. So this post is really for you. If you have symptoms lasting for more than a couple of months, then just understand that you are disrupting your body in one way or another. No biggie--find out what it is and make the necessary changes, that's all. But understand that if you ignore it; or worse if you ignore it by quieting it with drugs, but never really solve the problem, then you will pay later. And not that much later, either.

As for you dumb doctors--whoops, your bad. Maybe no one will notice...

Become a Sexual Dynamo

Probably no surprises here, but regular exercisers have more lift to their libido.  So says a recent study out of the VA medical center in North Carolina.  According to the research, men that worked out regularly (and quit or refrained from smoking) reported better sexual function.  This was true even after adjusting for age and race.  Nice.

A related Finnish study showed that women who exercised regularly and quit or refrained from smoking had better urinary health.  These findings are scheduled to be released tomorrow at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association in San Francisco.

Although the benefits of exercise and disadvantages of smoking are pretty evident for most people, many do not realize how quickly they can benefit by just getting started now.  I've done it, quit smoking after twenty years.  I loved tobacco; but without a doubt, my greatest gains have been in my cardiovascular endurance, and that alone was worth quitting.

I do not miss the feeling of being out of breath on the slightest brisk walk or run.  Sure, I continued to work out, play sports and be relatively active, but I was entirely aware of my cardiopulmonary limitations, simply because I'd get winded.  However, since I was smoking from a very early age, I didn't realize how much it effected my endurance until I quit.  To this day I say it's the greatest effect I've noticed, and that benefit alone keeps me from ever restarting.

When it comes to sexual health, the cardiovascular system is everything.  For men to get and maintain an erection, receiving proper blood flow to the penis is imperative.  That's how Viagra works, by increasing penile blood flow.  But you can do it naturally: Kick the nicotine habit, and work out, both anaerobically (resistance training), and aerobically (treadmill, bike, hiking, elliptical, etc.).  I guarantee if you do both these actions (keys #2 and #6 in my book The Six Keys to Optimal Health), you'll feel results almost immediately.  You know they say a hard man is good to find...well, it's good for the man, too.

Unhealthy Habits Age You by 12 Years

As important as practicing healthy habits is, discontinuing (or better yet never starting) poor health habits can add years to your life--twelve to be exact; this according to the findings of a recent study. Let's see, twelve years ago I was...DANG that's a long time! Check it:

The study tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years, and looked at the following four bad health habits:

• smoking
• drinking too much
• inactivity
• poor diet

Researchers found that people partaking in these habits had a substantially increased risk of death, and they seemed 12 years older than people in the healthiest group. Doh!

Of the research subjects having all four habits (314 people), 29% died through the study period. The subjects having none of the habits (394), only 8% had died. The people involved in the study were adults aged 18 and older, but 44 years old on average. The most common cause of death among subjects was heart disease and cancer, both caused by the unhealthy habits studied.

The healthiest group included never-smokers and those who had quit; teetotalers, women who had fewer than two drinks daily and men who had fewer than three; those who got at least two hours of physical activity weekly; and those who ate fruits and vegetables at least three times per day.

"You don't need to be extreme" to be in the healthy category, said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo. "These behaviors add up, so together it's quite good. It should be possible for most people to manage to do it."

Tis true. It is one of the major premises in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health. Healthy habits are cumulative. Start slowly and add habits one by one. For example, start with bodywork, like chiropractic care, and get out of pain. Once pain starts to subside, start exercising. Cut out sodas next. Then start eating more fruits and vegetables, and so on. It doesn't have to all be done at once. Pick up a few healthy habits, then go for the more challenging ones, like quitting smoking or drinking or mainlining speed. Having a foundation of a handful of healthy habits will get you through a lot easier than trying to kick a habit cold turkey with nothing to fill the void.

By reducing faulty health habits you could add twelve years to your life--no small amount once you start getting up there. Add to that a few healthy habits and woo-boy you might even tack on another twelve. Think of that. What will you do with the time?

You Control Your Health

Time to get serious, people. Forty percent of all cancers are preventable. Listen up: 4.8 million cancer cases do not have to happen. Get it? You are in charge of your health. Health is NOT random. If you are living by that philosophy, you're sunk.

Is there a health care crisis? You bet. The crisis lies in the idea that you are not responsible for your own health, or your health care. Forty percent of all cancers are preventable. This from a report by the Geneva-based International Union Against Cancer (UICC). As UICC president David Hill says, "If there was an announcement that somebody had discovered a cure for 40 percent of the world's cancers, there would quite justifiably be huge jubilation." No kidding.

OK, so what can you do? First, let's look at the top three cancers:

• Breast (women)/Prostate (men)
  
• Lung
  
• Colon and rectum

What can you do today that can help prevent these cancers tomorrow?

The first thing you want to do is observe your diet. Minimize processed foods, or better yet, get rid of them altogether. Whole and natural is best. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Take your vitamins. Drink lots of water (two liters per day, minimum).

Next, minimize or quit smoking. Minimize smoking? Exactly, most people that smoke can't do so moderately, so kick it altogether. Try breathing clean air, too. How about an air purifier? Don't minimize their usefulness. If you own a home in Los Angeles, contact me, I've got a guy that can set you up.

Minimize alcohol, recreational drug, and pharmaceutical drug consumption. These substances are toxins to the body. Stress the liver and kidneys and you'll be increasing your cancer risk (among other illnesses) exponentially. Alcohol can cause many different forms of cancer--2-4% of all cancers to be exact--including esophageal, stomach, liver, breast, colon and others. And don't underestimate the drugs your doctor gives you; they're poisons, too.

Maintain a healthy weight. I'm not one to lay on the guilt trips, so simply put, if you are overweight, just lower it by something. My dad dropped from 225 to 190. He's still about 25 pounds overweight, but that drop he made was significant to his health.

Exercise regularly. C'mon now, if you are not doing this you are missing out on so many health benefits that, well...you've got nobody to blame but...OK, no guilt trips. Just do it.

Get plenty of healthy sun, but don't overdo it. Listen, we all need the vitamin D, and we now know more than ever how much so. But sun worshiping, tanning beds, Jersey Shore...puleeze! Be smart, protect yourself--safe sunning is the only way to go.

There you have it: You are in control of your health. Health is not random. There is a health care crisis, and it's that far too many people neglect some very basic health enhancing behaviors. My book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, has these and hundreds of other tips to prevent cancer and live a life of health and vitality. You can direct your health: you are responsible for the health you have and maintaining it. Nobody else.

Americans to Blame for Poor Heart Health

Flash, this just in: Only 10% of American adults have low heart disease risk. You heard right, nine out of every 10 people in the U.S. have at least one risk to their heart health; and the worst part is that these risks are all lifestyle dependent. Not good for a nation bent on pointing the finger at external causes for its poor health rankings.

According to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that looked at four national studies covering tens of thousands of Americans aged 25 to 74, only ten percent had low risk in the following categories:

• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• high blood sugar
• overweight
  
• smoking
• exercise too little

Each one of these categories is significantly impacted by lifestyle behaviors. High blood pressure, cholesterol and weight can all be controlled with regular and moderate exercise. Regular. Three times per week, minimum. Are you doing that?

High blood sugar and weight is directly related to the amount and types of food we eat. The U.S. has a morbid addiction to sugar. I'm not talking just desserts here--oh, we've got that too, but what I'm talking about is sugary regular foods: cereals, canned foods, ketchup, BBQ sauce, French toast, scones and muffins for breakfast, and the worst of all--sodas! Hey I'm guilty too, because I have recommended sports replacement bars to my readers. No more! That stuff is sugary shit. I don't eat them, and I'm not going to recommend them to anyone else, anymore. Pure crap.

And the portions we eat are obscene. We all put away way too much every time we eat out. Sorry, but them's the facts. Too much food.

And smoking? Like my good friend J.C. says, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em." But just don't point the finger at anyone but yourself when it's time to pay the piper.

This is what really gets me irked about people: A full 90% of citizens are not doing all they can to care for their health, yet somehow it's somebody else responsibility to take care of them if they fall ill. Sorry, but nobody can do your push-ups for you, no matter how much you demand it.

Healthy Family Legacy

When it comes to teaching children healthy habits, what is the best thing parents can do to help their cause? You guessed it--practicing what they preach.

A new study that observed more than 1,300 families showed that when parents up their consumption of fruits and vegetables, so do their kids. No surprise here. As I've said before: Kids do as their parents do. Drink lots of soda--expect Junior to drink lots of soda. Watch lots of T.V.--expect Muffin to watch lots of T.V. Bypass the gym and blow up--well, you get the point.

But isn't it refreshing to know that you can influence your children in the positive, too? All you have to do is adopt healthy lifestyle habits: eat fruits and vegetables, can the sodas, exercise regularly, get chiropractic care, rest up, and kick the smoking habit. And most important--believe in it! I promise you, whatever your children see you do regularly will be what they do too. You can bet on it. Doesn't it make sense to pass on healthy habits to your children? Don't make poor health choices your family legacy. Do the right things and your kids will too.

Smoke Free

Check this out: If you're a smoker--and a woman--and you quit, you'll reduce your risk of dying from a smoking related condition significantly over the next five years. You'll also cut your chance of developing a smoking related cancer by 20% within that same time period. So says the Nurses' Health Follow-Up Study that looked at 104,519 female participants covering the period from 1980 to 2004. Nice.

I'm really not that much of a "you better quit smoking" person. Weird, huh? Being a doctor and not feeling adamant about banning smoking. Well, I just don't. I smoked for 20 years and I know its got it's draw. I also know that cigarette smoking isn't the only thing that can kill you--pretty much everything can. I mean, we're all going to die, aren't we? Case in point: More women who didn't smoke died in the study (4,485) than both smokers (3,602) and former smokers (4,396) during 1980 and 2004. Yes, this study is ongoing, and has been since 1976, so many of the non-smokers who died were probably older. But that's not my point: we all die.

For me, dying isn't the most important issue, though; it's quality of life. And I can assure you that the quality of my life has improved dramatically since I quit smoking cigarettes. I have more energy. I'm sick less. I can work out harder. My lungs feel stronger and full of air. The list goes on and on. If you smoke, and you have since your childhood like I had, then you won't know what I'm talking about until you quit. It's better, trust me.

But, hey, some people can smoke occasionally (very few). If you only smoke once in a while, then you probably get the best of both worlds (kudos, cigar aficionados). But for most people tobacco is addicting, and they'll enjoy a better quality of life by kicking the habit. And if you really do give a hoot about quantity of life, then you'll be happy to know that according to the study: being smoke free for 20 years reverts a person to a physiological state of having never smoked at all. Isn't the human body amazing?

What The Heck's Going On Here?

Am I seeing this right? Are studies now showing that smoking and obesity might have some benefits after all? Researchers are reporting that smokers are at a lower risk for developing Parkinson's disease, while obese people who have heart disease live longer than their non-obese counterparts. What!?!? Now let me get this straight, two pillars of conventional health wisdom might be partial truths? Whaddaya know.

Check this out: 11 studies conducted between 1960 and 2004, looking at over 11,000 people, showed that current smokers had the lowest risk of developing Parkinson's disease, while former smokers, some having quit as long as 25 years earlier, showed the next lowest risk. Scientists are not quite sure what provides the preventative effects, but they extend to cigar smoking, pipe smoking and chewing tobacco as well.

Regarding obesity: among 6,900 men with symptoms of heart disease, researchers found that those who were obese were less likely to die over the next seven-and-a-half years compared with normal-weight men. Some studies also hint that obese people may survive heart bypass surgery better.

Now this doesn't mean that we should all pick up a pizza, beer and Marlboro lifestyle habit, but it does bring up a very important point. We still know very little about the workings of the human body. According to one of my former professors, we probably know about 40%, and I think this might be a generous estimate.

What's the significance? Nothing we know today is 100% definite, so proceed with caution. Don't just accept health information as it comes; think about it, be discriminating. As I like to say: today's conventional wisdom is tomorrow's obsolescence. You'll be the safest if you practice the basics - the six keys to optimal health. These are tried and true principles, which haven't changed for thousands of years - they're timeless. So, instead of banking on Viagra, Lasix or Botox, how about caring for your health as your most important asset? You simply can't go wrong that way.