Archive for the ‘Health’ Category - Keith Wommack - Nationally Syndicated Columnist on Health, Thought and Spirituality


Health regardless of lifestyle, diet, and genes?

Posted by Keith Wommack on Jun 10, 2013    |    4 Comments »

@Glowimages mon025048.Because Roseto’s residents were so surprisingly healthy compared to the rest of the United States, researches, once they learned of the health differences, began to study every aspect of the residents’ lives to find the cause of their good fortune.

Joe Stampone, a relative of one of the founding fathers of Roseto, Pennsylvania, explains why early researchers were so intrigued: “Virtually no [resident] under 55 died of a heart attack; for men over 65, the death rate from heart attack was half that of the United States as a whole; and the death rate from all causes was 35% lower than it should have been. There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and little crime to speak of. No one was on welfare and no one even suffered from peptic ulcers. These people died of old age. That’s it!”

So, what kept these Italians so healthy?

 

Health alerts that make you sick

Posted by Keith Wommack on May 20, 2013    |    3 Comments »

@Glowimages MEE09155.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.

 

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

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

Glow Images - Model used for illustrative purposesThe 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?”

 

Guilt harming your health?

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

Wheelchair @Glowimages 061212g0006.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.

 

More to medicine than medicine

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

GLOW IMAGESToday, 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.

 

Tips For a Wise Health Consumer

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

GLOW IMAGES - Model is used for illustrative purposesIf 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.

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

Since February is National Wise Health Consumer Month, you may have noticed various published tips 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.

 

Reducing stress the military way?

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

Military iStock_000020687195XSmallMarine 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.

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.”

Marines are taught to quiet the mind in order to reach an inner calm.

Many are finding the mind to be the door to improved mental and physical health. Those utilizing mindfulness, meditation, or prayer-moments, to control and calm thought, claim these methods reduce stress and increase productivity.

 

The elephant in the room (about your health)

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

elephant iStock_000013556370XSmallThey 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.

 

Family Meals – Nourish body, mind, and soul

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

Candle iStock_000002698082XSmallStephen 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 8 year-old sons, Jarrod and Jordan.

However, this time it was different. What confused Stephen were the flickering candles. Still befuddled, he asked, “Somebody’s birthday?”

Joanne, already setting a place at the table for Stephen, said, “No, sometimes it’s fun to make a normal meal special by having candlelight.”

 

Keep your family safe – Improve mental health

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

School room - iStock_000000520125XSmallLast 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.