Prevention Matters

Americans are working harder than ever to be healthy. We have been obsessed with fitness, diet and health for many years, yet our obesity and diabetes rates are skyrocketing. Obesity related diseases include gall bladder disease, strokes, neurodegeneration, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and osteoarthritis just to name a few.Take a look at these alarming statistics, and you’ll understand why prevention matters.· The American Heart Association reports that the estimated prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults is 68.2% in the U.S. Men and women of all race/ethnic groups in the population are affected by the epidemic. 31.8% of children are overweight and obese.· The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing dramatically over time, in parallel with the increases in prevalence of overweight and obesity.· Seven out of 10 Americans will experience a heart attack, stroke or cancer by the age of 65. The average age of a heart attack, stroke or cancer is 43. Most will survive and many will go bankrupt.· The Social Security Administration reports that over 6.8 million Americans are receiving Social Security disability benefits.  Almost half are under the age of 50.Research from the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSi) shows that from 1960 – 2010, U.S. healthcare spending grew a whopping 818% while the GDP grew 168% during the same time period. It is not clear how long our economy can continue to support the disproportionate growth in health care spending.Results from the 2012 Survey on Employer Health Benefit Plans conducted by Oliver Wyman Health & Life Sciences Practice shows that American companies know that if current trends continue, they can’t. Of more than 1300 employers that participated in the survey, nearly two-thirds believe that the cost of providing health coverage is unsustainable in the long term at current rates of medical inflation. On October 12, 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Sears will be giving vouchers to employees to shop for health insurance.With our health care system as broken as it is, the best way to get premium health care is to accept responsibility for your health. The cost benefit of preventive health care has never been so critical. Prevention is the most effective and common-sense way to improve health and reduce health care costs.
Would you rather fix a broken glass or prevent it from breaking?

Massage Therapy and the Affordable Care Act.

If I were searching for a controversial topic, unfortunately it wouldn’t be too difficult. So this brings me to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a.k.a. Obamacare, oooh bad word! If I can manage to side step the controversy, it’s my gateway to continue the focus on prevention and wellness.

The ACA, in part, shifts the focus of health care from sickness and disease to prevention and wellness. Further, it ensures Americans have access to quality, affordable health insurance by requiring that health plans offer a comprehensive package of items and services, known as the essential health benefits (EHBs). There are 10 categories that fall under the EHBs, and I will only focus on #9 which is preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management.

Licensed massage practitioner, Diana L. Thompson, was enlisted to help prepare a list of research citations that support the inclusion of massage therapy in the EHBs. Obviously as a massage practitioner, this is of great interest to me so this component of the ACA really caught my attention. In Massage & Bodywork magazine, Ms. Thompson says that “inclusion as a wellness intervention is only possible because a cadre of research already exists providing evidence that somatic therapies are critical components of health care. The ACA, in section 3502, demands that health care delivery include integrative approaches: ‘Insurers must establish community health teams that include complementary and alternative providers.’”

Not only is it exciting to see that health care reform places emphasis on preventive and wellness services, but specifically I know the benefits of massage therapy as a client and practitioner.

Research is beginning to reflect common applications of massage therapy such as pre- and post-surgical massage, massage for acute inflammation due to trauma, and massage for labor and delivery. An evidence-based clinical guideline that reviewed 10 studies concluded that “therapeutic massage can decrease pain, tenderness, and improve range of motion for sub-acute and chronic neck pain.” Ms. Thompson says that “research suggests that massage therapy may interrupt inflammatory processes contributing to neck and shoulder pain. ‘The best available evidence for treatment of neck pain includes…massage therapy.’”

Sick Care vs Health Care

Shifting our focus to prevention and wellness is critical to the sustainability of our health care system. As we face a crumbling “sick care” system in America, maybe we should reflect on the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Did you know this…?

Coca-Cola and other soda giants add artificial colors to their products to attract children and adults to fake sweetened drinks that provide minimal nutrition, if any.

Adding artificial colors contributes to the obesity epidemic because it gets people addicted to unhealthy sugar-laden products.

Additionally the caramel coloring used by Coca-Cola and other soda giants like Pepsi is completely artificial. This caramel color is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creates carcinogenic compounds. A high dose of this known carcinogen is proven to cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice.

In 2011 when the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a study that found dangerous levels of caramel coloring could be contributing to many types of cancers, it prompted Coca-Cola and Pepsi to quickly change their formulas so they didn’t have to include a cancer warning label on their products in California. Even after the reformulation many of their products still contain caramel coloring in smaller amounts.

I stopped drinking all sodas last year, and I feel fairly certain this contributed to my significant weight loss, not to mention lower blood pressure that allowed me to discontinue my blood pressure medication. I tried a sip of Diet Dr. Pepper recently just to see what it would taste like after a long absence, and it felt like I swallowed chemicals that burned my throat.

I just thought you ought to know what’s in your soda.

Turmeric vs. Advil

Some forms of Advil’s inactive ingredients include artifical food coloring made from petroleum, artificial sugars, sodium benzoate, GMO’s, propylene glycol (used in anti-freeze) and parabens. If you are in need of an anti-inflammatory, do you really want to ingest these ingredients? A healthier alternative is turmeric which can be used in pill form, or fresh turmeric root can be juiced. It’s a super powerful anti-inflammatory.

Dr. Andrew Weil shares the following:

Some of the diseases that turmeric has been found to help prevent or alleviate include:

■ Alzheimer’s disease: Duke found more than 50 studies on turmeric’s effects in addressing Alzheimer’s disease. The reports indicate that extracts of turmeric contain a number of natural agents that block the formation of beta-amyloid, the substance responsible for the plaques that slowly obstruct cerebral function in Alzheimer’s disease.

■ Arthritis: Turmeric contains more than two dozen anti-inflammatory compounds, including six different COX-2-inhibitors (the COX-2 enzyme promotes pain, swelling and inflammation; inhibitors selectively block that enzyme). By itself, writes Duke, curcumin – the component in turmeric most often cited for its healthful effects – is a multifaceted anti-inflammatory agent, and studies of the efficacy of curcumin have demonstrated positive changes in arthritic symptoms.

■ Cancer: Duke found more than 200 citations for turmeric and cancer and more than 700 for curcumin and cancer. He noted that in the handbook Phytochemicals: Mechanisms of Action, curcumin and/or turmeric were effective in animal models in prevention and/or treatment of colon cancer, mammary cancer, prostate cancer, murine hepatocarcinogenesis (liver cancer in rats), esophageal cancer, and oral cancer. Duke said that the effectiveness of the herb against these cancers compared favorably with that reported for pharmaceuticals.

If you factor in the many known serious side effects of Advil that include swelling, rapid weight gain, nausea, jaundice, chest pain, problems with vision or balance (the list goes on and on), you may want to seriously take a look at adding a healthy dose of turmeric to your regular diet.

Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Practices

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) reports that millions of Americans suffer from pain that is chronic, severe, and not easily managed. Pain from arthritis, back and neck problems, musculoskeletal conditions, and headaches cost U.S. businesses more than $61 billion a year in lost worker productivity.

Pain is the most common health problem for which adults use complementary health practices. Many people with conditions causing chronic pain turn to alternative practices to supplement other conventional medical treatment, or when their pain is resistant or in an effort to avoid side effects of medications. Despite the widespread use of complementary health practices for chronic pain, scientific evidence on efficacy and mechanisms—whether the therapies help the conditions for which they are used and, if so, how—is, for the most part, limited. However, the evidence base is growing, especially for several complementary health practices commonly used by people to lessen pain.

Thoughts on disease prevention.

Several months ago I adopted a multi-faceted approach to wellness. Through walking, yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, massage therapy, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture and nutritional supplements, I dropped 24 pounds, lowered my blood pressure, and eliminated blood pressure medication and hormone replacements. I’ve become acutely aware of what I put in my body and on my body so I’ve eliminated many dangerous additives and chemicals found in food and skin care products. You will hear more about this in future blogs. As stated by U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, “Preventing disease before it starts is critical to helping people live longer, healthier lives, and keeping health-care costs down.”

While my friends are excited about the Texans...

While my friends are excited about the Texans going to the playoffs, I’m equally as excited to find an alternative to alleviate high blood pressure without using medication. Maybe because I know that statistically the Texans won’t make it to the Super Bowl, not to mention that quarterback Matt Schaub has lead feet and can’t scramble when the pocket collapses so to me it’s a waste of excitement to follow the Texans’ demise. Maybe next year will be better for die-hard fans. Suzie - Enhome Houston Mobile Massage.