Tag Archives: physical health

Wearable Health

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Is monitoring your health just a bracelet away? It’s a 2013 trend that’s catching on to people’s wrists across the country. Similar to a trendy watch, these bands–like the Basis–monitor your sleep, heart rate, calories burned, body temperature, etc. With a USB or Bluetooth these gadgets send data right to your computer or smart phone, so you can monitor and track your stats.

A friend of mine got a sleek white one as a Christmas gift and recently showed me how it worked. She was excited to more accurately know how many stairs she’s climbed in a day or how many calories she’s burned.

Other tech devices are catching on, too. And some recognize that simply monitoring body activity isn’t going to cut it. Take, for instance, Huff Continue reading →

Put a “Be” before Healthy

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So often the emphasis is on the “doing” not the “being” when it comes to caring for one’s health. People do all sorts of things, from taking daily medications to undergoing treatments and procedures to find out if they are healthy or not. Yet despite all these efforts, health can still be illusive.

All this emphasis on the doing is adding up to a high-cost health care system in the U.S. According to a recent New York Times article, “When it comes to medical care, many patients and doctors believe more is better. But an epidemic of overtreatment — too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures — is costing the nation’s health care system at least $210 billion a year, according to the Institute of Medicine, and taking a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and even death.”

I know a woman who juggles a busy family life and active career, while staying physically fit and involved in her community. She recently went through several routine cancer screenings that resulted in a very stressful few weeks. She had a hard time sleeping and Continue reading →

Winds of Change with Health Care

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The following guest blog is written by my friend Steve Graham. Much of his career as an editor has been centered on spiritual reporting. He writes from his home in Natick, MA.

It’s long been said that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That old adage holds a lot of modern-day significance when it comes to health care—and health maintenance in particular.

In his book “Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health,” Dr. H. Gilbert Welch notes a profound shift that has taken place in the medical world. Whereas for most of history doctors have treated people primarily after they began to manifest symptoms of disease, today it is the norm to be treated and examined in the absence of symptoms.

I have a friend who went to a doctor to get a basic checkup, in order to participate in a dance class. The results indicated a clean bill of health. But then the doctor strongly recommended visits to no fewer than five specialists in that health network, for further testing. My friend was surprised and asked why these were needed, seeing as no health problems were evident. The doctor explained that preventive care is now the normal practice in the U.S.

Still, the wind isn’t entirely filling the sail of an increasingly test-based approach to health care. From his background as a physician and researcher, Welch explores in his book the Continue reading →

Positive Results via Placebo

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If you follow my blog regularly, you know I’m interested in the placebo effect. I came across an article and a video that I thought might further stir thoughtful discussion on the topic. As always, share your thoughts!

Read:

Don’t Underestimate the Placebo Effect

Watch:

“In this episode of Good Life Project TV, author/entrepreneur, Jonathan Fields, interviews famed psychologist, behavioral-economist and bestselling author of Predictably Irrational and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, Dan Ariely.

In his late teens, a horrific accident burned 70% of Dan’s body and sent him into the Continue reading →

Staying Healthy–Not a High Wire Act

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Today’s guest post is from my friend Steven Salt’s blog, Healthy Salt, Pinch of Spirit. Like me, Steve’s blogs explore the dynamic relationship between health, spirituality, and consciousness. Enjoy! And share your comments below.

Ever imagine walking a tightrope high off the ground with no net to catch you?  One false move and…

That’s many people’s take on staying healthy.  The approach to wellness can be full of angst for some who feel it’s all about walking a fine line.  Advertisements and water-cooler talk have encouraged incessant contemplation of ill health and the notion that every malady the world has to offer is right at our doorstep ready to knock us over.  It’s a conditioned response educated in western culture . . . the promotion of illness and the subsequent anxiety it unleashes.

It’s smart to live sensibly, eat properly, and avoid unnecessary risks. Many also include prayer and meditation in a regimen of health maintenance.  Just about half of Americans use prayer for health concerns, a percentage that has been increasing over the past decade according to the American Psychological Association 2011, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality report. Continue reading →

Spirituality in a teenager’s galaxy

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From guest-blogger Dawn-Marie Cornett:

Being the mom of three teens, there are days I wish the idyllic life portrayed by June Cleaver and her TV family were the truth of today. But it’s just not!

From pop-culture TV shows like “Teen Mom” to scholarly works on the subject like “Promoting the Health of Adolescents : New Directions for the Twenty-first Century”  (Susan G. Millstein, Elena O. Nightingale, Editor, Anne C. Petersen, Editor), society is overflowing with public opinions, religious dogma, and “scientific findings.”

Despite all the research, teens seem to be more uncomfortable with each other and more confused on big issues like sex and its part in their physical and emotional health than ever. The Guttmatcher Institute released statistics on teen sexuality in February of 2012. Here are a few snippets: Continue reading →

Is God “good for you”?

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Today’s News & Culture update:

I listened to this Talk of Iowa public radio broadcast that explores the relationship between physical health and religion/spirituality. A doctor is interviewed on the program who says, “You absolutely cannot separate physical health from the mind/body/spirit. I have incredible technology at my fingertips, but ultimately my career has become more of a ministry in healing. When you’re dealing with healing someone, not just treating them, you have to take into account not just the physical dimension, but the emotional and spiritual dimension.” Continue reading →

Drop everything and play!

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Who knew that 20 minutes of kicking the soccer ball around with mom would produce that much happiness for my fifth-grader? No more complaining that this was the most boring, worst day ever and there was “never anything to do.” No more frustration on my part either.

I’ve learned that being an uber-busy, multitasking, working mom sends my kids one strong message. My most prized asset? Time. So when I prayed about how to push through the negative frustration that sometimes bubbles up in our home, the answer I got was to give them my time. Not one eye on them and the other on my iPhone, the dinner, or my laptop, but totally focused one-on-one interaction. Continue reading →