Diseases vs. Health

Image by NVinacco via FlickrWatching tennis tournaments such as Wimbledon is always a joy to me, and mostly because of Roger Federer. However, I am not writing about tennis nor tennis stars in my health blog, instead, I am writing down my little thought about "disease" and health, triggered by my favorite tennis star.

It was said that Federer has a disease called "mononucleosis". Such a fancy/serious name(!) which I wish I could have and "proudly" present to those who question my health problems. But the fact is I do not have a name for my "problems" (if we don't count "chronic fatigue"). To many medical experts this means I have no problems after all.

Really, modern medicine found me in perfect shape, even though in many cases I could not stand up still for a few minutes, yet modern medicine can find problems such as "mononucleosis" (not sure how serious it is, but at least with a NAME) on persons like Roger Federer, who can play tennis for hours!

I am not saying that Federer doesn't have this disease, or this disease doesn't exist, what I am trying to say is that modern medicine seems to care only about "diseases", not "health". In other words, modern medicine can kill diseases, but not necessarily bring health to people.

I recently know a person, an elder Chinese guy who only eat one meal (dinner) a day, yet he is in great physical shape (he could act normal even without sleep for a whole night, or a couple of nights. he could go hiking 12 hours without any trouble). I was quite amazed and talked about this to a friend who is working professionally in medical field of diabetes. She was actually a little worried about this guy by saying: "well, don't be fooled by your eye. He might not have a good results if he took a blood check."

Then I had to think: I had "perfect" reports of blood checks almost everytime, but I am not nearly as healthy as this guy, who might not have a "beautiful" blood report like mine. So here comes my question: who should we trust: our body, or the report of blood check?

My answer is simple: of course we should trust our body. A perfect blood check report doesn't necessarily tell us how healthy we are, because (again) modern medicine is focused on "diseases" only, it doesn't care about "health". Of course, I am not trying to denounce modern medicine, but simply point out a fact which I firmly believe: there is a huge blind (even dangerous) spot on its conventional theory, experiment and practice.

Can My Bike Cure My "Fibromyalgia"?

I have been suffer quite serious joints pain/stiffness (rheumatism arthritis, I have this problem for years, sometime worse sometime better) since late spring, when weather got humid. I found riding bike made me feel better than walking. So I bought a bike. But I must do it slowly. Any tiny amount of "over-exercise" can do more harm than good. However, eventually I believe this is the "solution for my "Fibromyalgia".

Yoga on Time Square, NY

On June 21, thousands of people gathered on Time Square New York to welcome Summer Solstice.

A Good Video Presentation about CFS/ME

Some Pole Bean from Backyard

A Cute Little "Thief" In Backyard

This tinny hare kept perfect still just until I got a clear shot.

Cold Feet & Red Meat

Now, after my taking red meat regularly for over half year, my "cold feet" symptom pretty much disappeared. And these couple of days for the purpose of detoxification I cut off red meat again from my meals, I found my feet started feeling cold again. So I learned this connection almost for certain, that red meat was a necessary ingredient of my meals because they have something to do with my blood circulation or anemia (if cold feet was due such causes).

Too Tough to Listen to Our Body?

Many doctors/people suggested or implied that most CFS/ME sufferers were mentally fragile so that they exaggerate their physical conditions. I have found just the opposite: they usually are mentally tough persons. I even tend to believe that their mental toughness is not at all the solution of their illness, as some doctors/people supposed, but one of (important) causes of their illness: their tough minds consciously or unconsciously ignored their physical needs, always push themselves to do things that their bodies cannot really afford to do, so their bodies cannot receive right kind of cares (such as enough rest, right nutritions, etc.) and eventually are no longer able to sustain normal functions.

This is at least 100% true to me and mostly likely true to a few chronic ill persons I know.

Body and Mind (again!)

Image via WikipediaWhen I mentioned sometime to people that in many cases our physical problems have not much to do with our mental states, I did not mean there is no connection between them (as many people mistakenly understood), instead, the connection is tight: our body has so much power over our mind, and our mind has limited power to our body.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

I further believe, even our intelligence, the way we think, the way we feel, our long last mental peace and our happiness all rely on our physical condition.

Of course, physical health doesn't guarantee our happiness, but our happiness cannot exist without our physical well being.

P.S. I consider "disability" and "chronic illness" (or "disease") two different physical conditions. "Disability" causes inconvenience but "chronic illness" causes suffering. People with disability may mentain healthy mental condition but people with long term illness, who constantly suffer pain or other physical unwellness can hardly stay mentally cheerful.

Weight Control

Image via WikipediaI have removed the scale from my bathroom. I used to weigh my weight everyday and I got so tired of it and eventually realized it did more harm than good.

After I started to eat "normal" over half year ago, I gained a few pounds, on the top of many already extra pounds. As my energy got back, I have been able to exercise (walking and cycling) almost everyday. So my weight stopped increasing. Actually it seemed to decrease. I was very happy about that. However, about half months ago, I discovered some delicious Chinese food: a fired pancake, which I have not tasted for centuries. So I had one big piece of it every morning for one week straight and one day, I found my weight rushed back, increasing stealthily! Maybe I should not worry about it too much, but the thing is, not only my weight back up high, some other symptoms occurs as well! Of course, pancake is just one reason, not enough vegs is another. So these couple of days I ate vegs like a herbivore!

Did I not listen to my body? Well, I guess listen to our body doesn't completely equal to listen to our stomach.