Dr. Eben Alexander near death experienes

“Dr. Eben Alexander’s near death experience is the most astounding I have heard in more than four decades of studying this phenomenon… one of the crown jewels of all near death experiences… Dr. Alexander is living proof of an afterlife.” ~ Raymond Moody, MD, PhD

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You are What You Eat – Too much of

You Are What You Eat (Too Much Of)

By G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN

Anyone who has any interest inweight loss knows there has been a long-running debate regarding the primary factor that causes weight gain.

 Go to the weight-loss section of any bookstore and you will see the calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein camps, each of whom insists they are the key to weight loss. They all have convincing arguments and they all can cite studies to support their opinions.

However, when I retrieve and read the evidence, I often find flaws based on lack of control regarding subject supervision. Occasionally I will come across a study that is well-controlled, but they are always short since it isn’t practical to have people live in a lab for more than a few days.

Therefore, I was intrigued when I read about a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that paid people to live in a metabolic setting for three months. By allowing researchers to measure every unit of energy expenditure, the result would be expected to be much more accurate than the typical questionnaire based study or three days in a laboratory type of experiment.

HPP organizing Hawaii Paths Committee to develop a bike path survey

HPPOA HAWAIIAN PATHS COMMITTEE AGENDA

12-18-12

 

I.  Review of Minutes for 11-20-12;

 

2. Report on digitizing HPPOA Path map;

 

3.  Report of a Subcommittee to develop a owners path survey for the HPPOA web page and HPPOA Path website development;

 

4.  Update/progress report on bike/pedestrian path on Paradise-new info from documents for specs and signage;

 

5.  Update on HPP bike event for Summer-report from sub-committee for bike event-contacts, meetings, initial planning (contacts, permits, volunteers, funding, publicity, etc.);

Limiting your Sun intake to avoid unhealthy skin damage

Get Some Sun (But Not Too Much)

By Julie T. Chen, MD

As we start to get more daylight hours for us to enjoy the sunshine, I inevitably get questions from my patients about whether it’s better to go with lighter sunscreen and get more vitamin D or to just worry more about skin cancer and wear heavier sunscreen.

My answer to my patients is to always wear heavier sunscreen. The reason is because it’s easy enough to get vitamin D from supplementation; why risk your skin health for it?

Even though vitamin D is a hormone in the body and plays a significant role in many physiological functions—including, but not limited to, the prevention of falls, fractures, and cancers—skin health is equally important. Since we are able to bring our vitamin D levels up easily without significant adverse effects with vitamin D supplementation, why risk the health of our skin?

However, this does not mean that avoiding sunlight altogether is a good thing. While skin cancer and premature aging of the skin is an issue with persistent sunlight exposure, the bright side of sun exposure is that it brightens our mood and allows us to be outdoors more for exercise.

Sun exposure improves our overall mood. Those with Seasonal Affective Disorder suffer from depression or low mood when they don’t get enough sun. For these patients, consider getting a sun lamp for winter time to use at home. But during the spring and summer months, it’s better to wear sunscreen and venture outdoors for physical activity so as to improve mood, metabolism, and overall health.

Many people aren’t aware that exercise is more than just about losing weight. When we exercise our body, our organs get exercise as well. Those who engage in regular exercise have healthier circulation, mental clarity, cardiovascular function, lung function, sugar and cholesterol metabolism, muscle functioning, and positive mood.

It is also seen in many studies that exercising outdoors provides additional health benefits because we are calmer and our mood is better when we are around nature. So, let’s learn more about skincare so that we can fully utilize our time in the sun this spring and summer season. When you are able to fully utilize the benefits of sunlight while protecting your skin health, you’re able to be more active, improve your mood, and avoid skin damage. So, let’s learn more about our sun protection options.

In regards to sun protection, I always recommend that my patients use wide spectrum sun protection factor (SPF) that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. With SPF 50, you will be getting about 98% blockage of UVB. At SPF 100, you’ll be only getting 1% more, at 99% blockage of UVB rays. So, most people are fine just using SPF 30 to SPF 50 if that’s what you have or are used to using.

The main take-home point regarding skin health this summer is to:

1. Make sure you use sunblock/sunscreen to protect your skin.
2. Use ample quantity to provide adequate coverage.
3. Reapply during the daytime to account for loss of effectiveness from sweating, friction, and other factors.
4. Get out into the sun to benefit your mood and overall health.
5. Ask your doctor about vitamin D supplementation if you are low and about sun lamps if you feel gloomy without adequate sun exposure.

Play safe this spring and summer and enjoy the sun!

Chronic Pain and Depression

Chronic Pain and Depression

Pain serves an important function in our lives. When you suffer an acute injury, pain warns you to stop the activity that is causing the injury and tells you to take care of the affected body part.

Chronic pain, on the other hand, persists for weeks, months, or even years. Some people, often older adults, suffer from chronic pain without any definable past injury or signs of body damage. Common chronic pain can be caused by headaches, the low back, and arthritis. Unfortunately, there is scant objective evidence or physical findings to explain such pain.

Until recently, some doctors who could not find a physical cause for a person’s pain simply suggested that it was imaginary— “all in your head.” This is unfortunate because we know that all pain is real and not imagined, except in the most extreme cases of psychosis. Emerging scientific evidence is demonstrating that the nerves in the spinal cord of patients with chronic pain undergo structural changes.

Psychological and social issues often amplify the effects of chronic pain. For example, people with chronic pain frequently report a wide range of limitations in family and social roles, such as the inability to perform household or workplace chores, take care of children, or engage in leisure activities. In turn, spouses, children, and co-workers often have to take over these responsibilities. Such changes often lead to depression, agitation, resentment, and anger for the pain patient and to stress and strain in family and other social relationships.

How is depression involved with chronic pain?

Depression is the most common emotion associated with chronic pain. It is thought to be 3 to 4 times more common in people with chronic pain than in the general population. In addition, 30 to 80% of people with chronic pain will have some type of depression. The combination of chronic pain and depression is often associated with greater disability than either depression or chronic pain alone.

People with chronic pain and depression suffer dramatic changes in their physical, mental, and social well-being—and in their quality of life. Such people often find it difficult to sleep, are easily agitated, cannot perform their normal activities of daily living, cannot concentrate, and are often unable to perform their duties at work. This constellation of disabilities starts a vicious cycle—pain leads to more depression, which leads to more chronic pain. In some cases, the depression occurs before the pain.

Until recently, we believed that bed rest after an injury was important for recovery. This has likely resulted in many chronic pain syndromes. Avoiding performing activities that a person believes will cause pain only makes his or her condition worse in many cases.