There are now over 1 millions Australians with Type 2 diabetes. WOW! Last weekend we attended the Living with Diabetes Expo in Brisbane, Australia. It was well attended but would only represent about 1% of diabetics in Brisbane. There were some excellent resources, companies and seminars at this expo.
But perhaps the stereotypical Type 2 diabetic is lazy. You can do something about Type 2, but you have to get off your butt to do something about it. 1% did and I congratulate you. The other 99% don't care about their cost to society.
Sam.
Yesterday wa officially dubbed "Fat Wednesday" in the UK.
Nutrition experts said that Wed 02 Apr falls in the middle of a four week gap between people giving up New Year diets and starting new ones to get in shape for the northern summer.
An added factor is the early Easter break this year, which means most people still have chocolate in their homes.
The Sun newspaper said the average Briton consumed about 4000 calories yesterday - almost double the amount officially recommended by dietiticians.
-Taken from Pharmacy Daily-
Another election has swung by and yet more promises about our "health crisis" and how they are going to fix it. It is always the same; We will put more funding into hospitals, create more beds and get more doctors!
PLEASE! Someone's health is over by the time they need a hospital bed or doctor (unless of course they have cut a limb off). When will funding go into getting the common sense back into people and start slapping a few others around? We know what food is good for us. We know that exercise is good for us. We know that smoking is bad for us. We know the difference between good and bad!
I try and live a good "health" life. I stay fit, eat well and don't smoke. I pay my taxes, of which a portion will go to try and save an obese smoker's leg. Why the F*** should I have to pay for that? Why can't I get a tax break because I am not a burden on society?
The demise of the Australian "healthcare" system will be due to the fat, the smokers and the unfit. Hmmm... This is almost every politician I ever see on TV.
Now I see the problem!
Below is an extract from an American Doctor's Book, Detoxify or Die by Dr Sherry Rogers. After reading this, you seriously have to question if governments have been properly informed prior to adding fluoride to water. Queensland is just about to start fluoridating the state commencing with the Gold Coast. (Maybe they need dumbing down and killing off. :))
"Flouride is a good example of a toxin that is deliberately added to water. Flouride is a halogen that is a potent enzyme inhibitor that is even used as a preservative and anticoagulant for biological specimens. It is known to cause excessive calcification not only in arteries but joints and ligaments, and contributes to many forms of cancer and osteoporosis.
"For 11 years between1986 and 1997 a national survey of 39,000 United States schoolchildren revealed no statistically significant differences in tooth decay between children drinking flouridated versus non-flouridated water. In addition it was found that instead of building strong health teeth, flouride damaged brain enzymes and lowered IQs (Zhao, Foulkes). And we certainly have an epidemic of learning disabilities to back that up.
"Flouride has also been linked to behavioural disorders, birth defects, flu-like symptoms and arthritis. Flouride acts much like a heavy metal (even though it's a halogen) in damaging enzymes. Also once in the cell membrane, it can cause malfunctions as well as damage hormone receptors and other regulatory sites. It that were not enough, flouride has also caused an increase in bone cancers as well as hip fractures from skeletal fluorosis (accumulation of flouride in the bone). By displacing minerals that belong in the bone, fluoride leads to a weakening of bone and an eventual increase in fractures.
"Death rates are also higher in flouridated communities versus those living on well water (Yiamouyiannis, Hoover, Cohn). In one study by the United States National Cancer Institute, there was a 70% increase in osteosarcoma (bone cancer) among young men in fluoridated areas of Iowa and Seattle versus a 4% lower incidence among young men in non-fluoridated areas in the same states. In regions of New Jersey, the incidence of osteosarcoma was 3-7times higher in fluoridated areas. Remember osteosarcoma is a rare type of bone cancer, so when you see a startling increase, you know it has to be something pretty pervasive in the environment that many people are exposed to.
"Studies also show that fluoride can damage the heart and other organs like the brain, kidneys and hormones. It interferes with the metabolism of testosterone (contributing to the Viagra epidemic, ushered in by physicians writing over 100,000 prescriptions a week). Many researchers are particularly concerned about fluoride in infant formulas, baby foods, juices, tooth treatments, and prescriptions from their pediatricians, in addition to being deliberately added to water. It turns out that children with immature detoxification systems are getting a higher dose than most adults, and they are less able to handle it. And if you want to boost your fluoride intake fast, begin Prozac, the prescription anti-depressant that contains three fluoride molecules per molecule of fluoxetine."
The hardest thing about losing weight is starting. If you start, then it is very hard to keep going. Getting out and exercising hurts, it makes you tired and just not enjoyable at all.
Here's a tried and tested idea. Have a holiday (about 5days is fine) which involves hours of activity everyday. It could be a skiing holiday, trek, etc. But you have to be going for more than 4hours each day and just be totally engrossed in what you are doing. At the end of the day, you are totally stuffed. Beer gets guzzled and you wake up and do it all again because you really want to. You hurt, but you put that behind you because of the joy that this adventure brings.
Now, what you do is 2 weeks out, start getting fit. You have a goal. An adventure holiday. 2weeks is not long enough to get sick of it, but long enough to atleast build a small amount of fitness for you trip.
1week of adventure holidaying and you will come back fitter, leaner and eager for more. This is your one big chance to keep going with exercise. You have been going for 3weeks and you feel great! And your adventure holiday has done an amazing job on your fitness level. I bet you haven't felt that fit for years!
And how would I know? I did this about 6years ago. Booked a 1week ski trip to Mt Hotham. Spent 2 weeks riding a stationary bike on my verandah for 1hour everyday and skied for about 5hours everyday for 5days. When I got home, I was feel fit and refreshed. I kept going. I started riding my bike for about 1.5hrs everyday and loved it! It didn't hurt and I could get over the hills.
In 6months I lost 20kg. It was easy. Why? Because I got over the hardest hump of any weightloss challenge. That first 3weeks.
I hope this helps! It helped me.
Until today, in Australia if you had high blood pressure, there were 4 ways to lower your blood pressure;
The Federal Government has withdrawn RESPeRATE's restricted representation as a high blood pressure reducing device. This device had 10 clinical trials and studies proving its benefit for hypertension reduction. It has the Who's Who of the hypertension world on its clinical advisory board. It was a Class 1 device which means it is the lowest risk category possible for any medical product.
However, because we had the wrong wording on our website, this brilliant device can no longer be promoted as a high blood pressure treatment. Not because of the risk, not because there were side effects, but because the wording wasn't 100% right. (The wording wasn't misleading or anything, just not exactly the same as what it should have been. It was an innocent mistake.)
Did you know that there are about 6million people with high blood pressure in Australia? Did you know that only 30% of people on medication are at their goal blood pressure? Did you know that hypertension costs this country about $1billion each year? Did you know that RESPeRATE was the ONLY medical device proven to lower blood pressure?
Did you know that there are only three hypertension treatments available in Australia?
My wife is 17wks pregnant which is great! But it also brings along quite a few different things that makes it hard to work out what is going on in her body. Over the weekend, she was feeling a little light headed, exhausted, etc. Pregnant I guess. We checked her blood pressure and it was quite low; 96/57, 105/60, 111/76 in three seperate readings over three days. She called her doctor this morning who then asked the maternity nurses. Apart from being exhausted and this being quite normal, they gave her a unique solution which I have never heard of:
If you lie on your left side, your blood pressure will go up!
Now that is something I have never heard of. But apparently it goes for anyone who is feeling a little light headed, not just pregnant people. You learn something new every day!
We have been in this industry now for 9years. That is a long time! During that time, I have been lucky enough to meet some people who I believe really do change the lives of people in Australia for the better (of course). In my mind, three people who stand out are:
Dr Ross Walker
Dr Sandra Cabot
Dr John Tickell
I have a lot of time for these three. They all do public speaking, so if you get a chance, have a listen. They also have some very good books and all are worth reading. If there were three people most likely to help us with Australia's Health Crisis, it would be these three. No government can achieve what they do because they are too sickness focused. There's a doctor or hospital bed shortage? Well why not spend the time and money to prevent people from making it to hospital. It would certainly be 10times cheaper and more productive for the economy. But of course, hospital beds and doctor numbers are political bombshells or election winners, which every side of the fence you are on.
Find these three, invest time into what they do and save Australia's health system. It's worth your time.
Sam.
A new documentary by Michael Moore has just been released in Australian cinemas called Sicko. Michael Moore is famous for in your face docos like Farenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine. Critics are acclaiming this new work as his best yet. The US has a really stuffed up healthcare system and one that the world is trying to avoid. This will really shed the light.
I am a big Michael Moore fan. He is an extremist and fundamentalist, but is very much needed to provide an alternate view from those expressed by big corporates and government.
Let me know what you think of Sicko once you have seen it. I'm excited!
I did a quick bit or research on adverse drug events in Australia and was absolutely shocked by the state of affairs. It is estimated that 2.5% of all hospital admissions are medication-related. This equates to about 150,000! This equals about $400million each year.
Further, 26% of 27,000 hospital-related incidents were medication-related, as were 36% of 2000 anaesthesia-related incidents, and 50% of 2500 general practice incidents.
Up to 30% of people over 75yrs sent to hospital are medication-related, while up to three-quarters are potentially preventable!
I find this sickening! Firstly, our push to take more and more medications. But the medications increase our risk of further sickness, injury or death.
I ask everyone to do everything they can before they have to go on medication. Get fit, eat better, drink less alcohol, drink more water and use drug-free products such as supplements and medical devices before you go near a drug. Medication is way too easy to prescribe in Australia. With a 15min consultation, it is so easy to make it end with a prescription. But too often, the practitioner does not have the knowledge to discuss proper lifestyle changes, supplementation or medical devices before prescribing.
Do yourself and the country a favour, do everything in your power to avoid medication. We could save this country (and our ailing sickness system) over half a billion dollars!
Here's what I suggest. Got a problem? Do your research. Don't accept the first thing a practitioner advises, because they generally don't know. I put a lot of faith in the retail pharmacy industry because they have to know everything there is about medical devices, drugs and supplements.
Ask your pharmacist! It could save your life.
To read the full article on Adverse Drug Events and Medication Errors in Australia - Click Here