HealthyConcerns.com

Paula Deen, type-2 diabetes and ethics

Elisa Camahort — 2012-01-13T16:34:44-08:00

I'm sorry that Paula Deen has discovered that she has Type-2 diabetes.

I'm flummoxed but understanding that she's going to become a spopesperson for a pharma company that makes a Type-2 diabetes treatment. [PS-Novartis says it's notTHEM she has inked a deal with.]

But I'll be disappointed and aggrieved if she does all that and does nothing to adjust her cooking style.

To continue cooking about as unhealthily as it's possible to do, to make a joke, really, of that unhealthiness, and then to monetize the at-least-partially-resulting illness?

Seems to cross a line to me.

This blogger thinks so too. What do you think?

Note: The story is all still a bit hearsay-y, so stay tuned to see what Ms. Deen really come sout and says.

The diagnosis

Elisa Camahort — 2011-12-10T09:46:43-08:00

Prominent internet thinker Xeni Jardin blogs her experience getting her first mammogram, ultrasound and, ultimately, diagnosis.

It is powerful stuff.

It is moving.

It has been experienced by many. But few have captured it in words.

It is something I've experienced only a little part of. I have a couple of odd spots in my breasts. Spots they track. Have tracked for years.

And each time I go for my annual mammogram (this year augmented with an ultrasound) I wonder if these odd harmless spots will stop being so.

So far, so good for me.

If you are heading down this path, I'm guessing Xeni will be blogging it. And here's another resource: Susan Niebur has been blogging her battle for four years. And Laurie Kingston.

These are women warriors. I hope your admiration will join mine.

Cross-post: BlogHer.com interview with Kathy Freston

Elisa Camahort — 2011-08-30T12:14:58-07:00

Interviewed Kathy Freston for BlogHer. She's awesome:

http://www.blogher.com/interview-talking-health-oprah-and-veganism-author-kathy-freston

Planned Parenthood, health care and me

Elisa Camahort — 2011-04-10T12:42:12-07:00

Hi. I've used Planned Parenthood. In fact, for at least 4 years (not sure I fully remember how long) Planned Parenthood was my sole health care source.

I used the student health center when in college, but then I moved to NYC, and like any of us who don't go right from college (or high school) to full-time employment with a company big or progressive enough to provide employees with health care, I was out of luck.

I was doing part-time temp work while pursuing my dream, and even when I transitioned to full-time work, there was no health care. And no I didn't buy heath insurance. I'm not sure at the ripe old age of 21 I had a good concept of why I would need it or how to get it.

What I did know, what had been sort of burned into my consciousness, was that I need to get an annual exam. (In fact, if you use the birth control pill they don't give you refills past a year in order to require you to get that annual exam.)

So, each year, when I came home for Christmas, I went to the Planned Parenthood in Sunnyvale, CA. I got my exam; I got my pill prescription renewed. And given I lived in NYC during the early days of the AIDS crisis, and during the time where the message that every person should get tested was so pervasive, Planned Parenthood is also where I got my AIDS test.

I don't remember what I paid. I paid something, but it was a sliding scale based on my nearly non-existent income.

I should add that even when I moved back to California and worked full-time, for about 7 years I worked for very small companies who did not provide health care. I didn't have my first company-provided health care plan until 1997.

At some point I started making enough money that I did go out and get myself an individual health plan.

But Planned Parenthood was a place that women like me could go, be treated with respect, and have our basic health care needs addressed.

I have never been pregnant. Which, obviously, means I have never had an abortion. And most of my fellow pursuing-a-dream friends who used Planned Parenthood were the same.

Not that it should matter, given abortion is legal in this country.

You may have seen lots of folks tweeting this week and weekend about using Planned Parenthood.

This is just my story. One story. One I think many many American women could tell.

What is your Planned Parenthood story?

In women's own words: How a heart attack feels

Elisa Camahort — 2011-01-01T12:29:31-08:00

Much like when I learned that drowning almost never looks like it does on TV, learning that a heart attack almost never feels like it looks like it feels on TV is startling, but ultimately incredibly helpful.

Over on KevinMD today, Carolyn Thomas not only share her experience of having a heart attack, but the experience of many other women. Reading all their descriptions I'm struck by how diverse the symptoms are, how long you can go on with heart issues and not realize it, and mostly how much a hypochondriac it might turn me into for a while.

I'm a big believer, though, in listening to your gut, following your instincts, and paying attention to your body...even when you think it may make you look silly. So, a little short-term hypochondria is OK with me.

I encourage you to check out the post and familiarize yourself with the ways a heart attack can manifest that don't include gripping your chest and falling to the ground instantly.

Happiness=lowered expectations?

Elisa Camahort — 2010-12-29T15:01:24-08:00

Medical Lessons pointed me to an article in The Economist that discusses the "U-bend" of happiness. Apparently, once into middle age, we get happier.

Much of this, it is proposed,is because ambition dies, and acceptance is born. We realize we're never going to make it big; we accept that fact; our expectations are lowered, meaning our life is more apt to meet those expectations. Met expectations=happiness.

Reminds me of the time I got a new boss. He had no experience in Marketing and yet was temporarily managing my team...Product Management and Product Marketing. I delivered this awesome presentation on all the phases of Marketing (Inbound Product Management, Outbound Product Marketing, Marketing Communications, etc.)...and where we were performing well, and where we were unable to deliver everything we should. Of course I was trying to make him see how understaffed we were, and the impact it was having on our ability to perform. I also tried to make the point that ambitious, talented people get quite demoralized if they feel they cannot get their job done. It's not a good environment.

I'll never forget his response: Happiness is all about meeting expectations. Why don't you lower your expectations of what you need to deliver?

I responded: If you could just talk to executive management and get their agreement that we can deliver less than everything i've outlined, that would be really great. Absolutely.

Heh.

Yeah, that never happened.

But I digress.

Medical lessons also reminded me that the nation of Bhutan measures something they call Gross National Happiness (GNH). That link leads to the official Bhutanese site about their GNH index. It's really kind of fascinating, outlining their methodology, among other wonky things.

Funny, I don't see anything about "lowering expectations" as the path to higher GNH. Looks like they list a whole bunch of other stuff like education, good governance, health, etc.

So which is it?

What makes you happy?

New documentary about AIDS in America: The Other City

Elisa Camahort — 2010-09-21T06:58:32-07:00

AIDS is still a political football in this country, even as most of think it no longer impacts our lives. A new documentary called "The Other City" explores that...and how it reflects America's issues around race, class and more.

Written and co-produced by Jose Antonio Vargas, a sharp journalist I met in NYC last year.

Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/TheOtherCity?v=info

When Worlds Collide: Reality TV and Health Care Issues

Elisa Camahort — 2010-09-20T14:36:41-07:00

Awesome interview on Diabetes Mine with American idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox about her Type 1 diabetes (which I didn't even know she had):

http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/09/crystal-bowersox-her-first-interview-on-diabetes.html

New book I want to read: The White House Doctor

Elisa Camahort — 2010-06-29T07:00:00-07:00

Recently saw Connie Mariano on The Daily Show, and now I have a hankering to buy her book, The White House Doctor. She served as the family physician in the White House for a part of the first Bush presidency, the entire Clinton presidency and part of the Dubya presidency.

She seems to have a dry sense of humor, and gives a peek into something I knew nothing about. I guess it's totally logical, if you stop to think about it, that the President would always have a doctor no more than a few feet away. But I never really imagined there'd be someone whose job it was to follow the President everywhere 24/7. And what that would be like.

It sounds fascinating. And I'm also kind of fascinated to see how much she can really share. I mean, isn't there doctor-patient confidentiality? Don't administration staff sign NDAs?

Anyone out there have this book? What's the word?

According to new study: Exercise does not prevent weight gain

Elisa Camahort — 2010-06-27T12:07:56-07:00

Depressing study showing that exercise does not prevent weight gain for middle-aged women...unless they're already at a healthy weight. Le sigh.

http://getbetterhealth.com/physical-activity-for-weight-loss-not-for-most-middle-aged-women/2010.06.26#more-22553

Of course as with any study, it raises as many questions as it answers. And since only the abstract is available at no cost on the JAMA site, I'm not sure if the answers are available or not.

Like: Isn't weight loss still (mostly) a mathematical equation? Is the fact that exercise did not prevent weight gain indicative that women who exercised were eating more to fuel their energy to exercise? Or is it disproving the whole generally accepted notion that weight loss is all about calories in vs. calories out.

Inquiring minds want to know, but might be too lazy to find out. Since, you know, there's now no motivation not to be lazy, right?

What? Is that not how I'm supposed to interpret this study? :)