- Keith Wommack - Nationally Syndicated Columnist on Health, Thought and Spirituality

Health alerts that make you sick

Posted by Keith Wommack on May 20, 2013    |    1 Comment »

Have you ever listened to an advertisement listing the possible side-effects of a drug and then felt queasy? Reading about those effects can make you feel ill, as well.

Dr. Lissa Rankin’s recently published New York Times bestseller, Mind over Medicine, in part, examines this disturbing phenomenon.

Reading Rankin’s thought provoking book reminded me of Fiona Macrae’s 2009 Health post The health alerts that make you ill: Negative thoughts ‘can induce sickness’.

Macrae wrote for the Daily Mail:

 A series of studies from around the world has shown that if you believe something could make you ill, it might well do just that. Simply reading the side-effects on a bottle of tablets raises your risk of experiencing them. And, taken to its extreme, patients who believe they will not survive surgery, are more likely to die on the operating table. Read More→

6 Simple Things – help fill an empty heart

Posted by Keith Wommack on Apr 24, 2013    |    2 Comments »

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Do’s and don’ts to regain the joy of life.

1) Stop being critical. Criticism closes your eyes to the good that has always been yours. Critical states of thought lead to critical mistakes, as well as cause critical states of the body.

2) Stop keeping score. It is not what others do but how much divine goodness you express that will ultimately satisfy you.

3) Stop trying to prove you are right. Instead of telling others you are right and they are wrong, live what is right and your life will begin to sparkle.

4) Start forgiving. Forgiveness means starting over with love. It wipes the slate clean. Forgive yourself and others. Forgiving others is about your peace of mind, not about absolving someone else’s responsibility for wrongdoing. Read More→

Did Your Prayers Go Out To Louisville’s Kevin Ware?

Posted by Keith Wommack on Apr 4, 2013    |    1 Comment »

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The jubilation from Louisville’s victory over Duke’s basketball team was overshadowed by Kevin Ware’s on-court injury on Easter Sunday. Ware a 6-foot-2-sophomore guard broke his leg in two places.

It was a disturbing picture. Players and fans immediately started praying. Across social media, people spontaneously began sending Ware messages of support. Professional athletes joined the chorus.

Michael Jordan tweeted, “Prayers go out to Kevin Ware. No athlete wants that to happen to anybody.”

Robert Griffin III tweeted, “Prayers up for Kevin Ware, his teammates, & family.”

When accidents and tragedies happen, the use of the word “prayer” multiplies. This begs the question, “Does prayer help or is it just a kind word we utilize in times of suffering?” Read More→

Guilt harming your health?

Posted by Keith Wommack on Mar 25, 2013    |    4 Comments »

Know anyone who doesn’t feel bad about something they’ve said or done? Guilt tortures the best of us. Unfortunately, the discomfort is not limited to mental agony alone. Intense regret can bring physical torment, as well.

Sometimes, the pain is self-inflicted.

Studies show that people occasionally attempt to free themselves from guilt through pain. And they are not always aware that they’re harming themselves.

Since the human mind is where guilt begins, to get at the source of the problem, the medicine must be mental. In other words, in order to heal a body affected by guilt, a mind must change. Read More→

More to medicine than medicine

Posted by Keith Wommack on Mar 4, 2013    |    5 Comments »

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Today, some health care providers are realizing there is more to medicine than, well, medicine.

For example, there is Mehmet Oz, best known as Dr. Oz. Oprah crowned him America’s doctor in 2004. He is a heart surgeon and the host of the weekday hit TV program, “The Dr. Oz Show.”

Oz entered medical school believing that traditional medicine had all the answers and he just needed to discover them. But the limits to this approach began to dawn on him while in medical school and as he began to talk with patients.

Michael Specter in a recent The New Yorker exposé on Dr. Oz, quotes Oz as stating, “Ultimately, if we want to fix American medicine we will need skeptical and smart patients to dominate. They will need to ask the hard questions, because much of medicine is just plain old logic. So I am out there trying to persuade people to be those patients. And that often means telling them what the establishment doesn’t want them to hear: that their answers are not the only answers, and their medicine is not the only medicine.”

Oz is bringing a much broader perspective on health to his viewers. Read More→

Tips For a Wise Health Consumer

Posted by Keith Wommack on Feb 19, 2013    |    2 Comments »

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If you’re a wise consumer, you shop around to find what you need. Today, there’s a product for every taste and helpful advice for just about every inquiry.

For example: If you don’t want to be noticed, Japanese professors have created glasses they say will prevent you from being identified by facial recognition software.

Questions about car buying? Even Oprah has a few answers for you on her website.

But then there’s health.

When it comes to health care, being an intelligent consumer requires even greater diligent examination.

If you are observant, you may notice various published tips exist to guide you.

Most of these recommendations focus entirely on the utilization of conventional medicine. But, if you have ever been curious about spiritual options for healing and health, below are a few word-to-the-wise ideas for those contemplating the use of spiritual/thought-based care. Read More→

Reducing stress the military way?

Posted by Keith Wommack on Feb 4, 2013    |    2 Comments »

Marine Lance Corporal Carlos Lozano drops from a helicopter during a simulated raid, confronts mock Afghan villagers, and is rocked by loud explosions. Then, obeying orders, he sits silently and stares at his boots.

The Marine isn’t happy about stopping to meditate. But it just might be for his and the entire Marine Corps’ good.

The Associated Press spoke with Lozano about his training exercise:

“Lozano said he and fellow Marines were skeptical at first. Some wondered why their rigorous combat training was being interrupted by a class asking the warfighters to sit in silence and stare at their combat boots, becoming aware of how their feet touched the classroom floor.”

Jeffery Bearor, the executive deputy of the Marine Corps training and education command in Quantico, Virginia, told the AP, “This is not tied to any religious practice. This is about mental preparation to better handle stress.” Read More→

The elephant in the room (about your health)

Posted by Keith Wommack on Jan 28, 2013    |    3 Comments »

They can’t ignore it. It’s there. Doctors, patients, and pharmaceutical companies can’t escape it. You can’t either. What is it?

The placebo effect.

The placebo effect is the health response patients experience when they believe they’re receiving a drug or surgery but are actually being given dummy drugs or simulated treatments.

Dr. Lissa Rankin writes, “The placebo effect is real, it works about 18-80% of the time, and it’s not just in your head – it actually dilates bronchi, heals ulcers, makes warts disappear, drops your blood pressure, and even makes bald men who think they’re getting Rogaine grow hair!”

Yet, there’s more. Read More→

Family Meals – Nourish body, mind, and soul

Posted by Keith Wommack on Jan 15, 2013    |    1 Comment »

Stephen looked puzzled. What he saw didn’t make sense. Our neighbors’ ten-year-old son was peering at us through the glass of our backyard French door.

Slowly, he opened the door, stepped in, and continued to stare. Finally, he asked, “What are ya’ll doing?”

It wasn’t as though he couldn’t tell we were eating dinner. He’d walked in while we were at the table many times. And, usually, we’d grab another plate and fork and Stephen would take his place next to our own ten and eight year-old sons, Jarrod and Jordan.

However, this time it was different. What confused Stephen were the flickering candles. Read More→

Keep your family safe – Improve mental health

Posted by Keith Wommack on Jan 7, 2013    |    5 Comments »

Last Thursday, children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, began attending classes at a repurposed school in the neighboring town of Monroe.

Heart-wrenching tragedies stir our desire to aid in the healing process and to prevent further harmful acts from taking place.

As the gun control debate continues, another factor is being discussed as a possible connection between this latest and other recent violent acts. This link is mental illness. Read More→