Facing Mortality

So, I see mainly disease at work. I don't see health. Occasionally, I will see injury in a healthy person but mostly I see sickness.

Medical education up until the late 1700 was mainly observational. Since 1900 it has been based on science and research. For good or bad, science will get us healthy and living longer. Any other health based systems may have the answers, Eastern medicine, acupuncture, vegan diets, organic, etc. Eventually Science should show what is evidence based and what is healthy and should explain the mechanism of action.

So, I went through medical school. I learned the biology, biochemistry, pathology, anatomy, pharmacology. Granted, I have forgotten a lot of it, but I understood it once.

But now I am in practice and have been for 10 years, meaning I have seen more than 50,000 patients/patient encounters. So now I am trying to pay attention to what makes people healthy, not just what makes them sick.

I have been trying to understand this because I turn 40 and want to stay healthy. People DIE after 40 from normal things like heart disease and cancer. They die younger than that too, but most of those things have a genetic component. This means that before that it was my parents fault, now it is my fault.

Here are some things I am learning:

Triathalon participants have twice the risk of death over marathon runners. They die in the swim, not the marathon. Triathalon participants are also older than marathon runners and richer generally. Cardiovascular fitness (ie endurance) by itself may not be the only thing needed for health.

Lean muscle mass is necessary for Blood pressure, Diabetes, Stroke, and chronic diseases.

Plant based diets have lower cancer risks.

Ketogenic (high Fat diet, high protein diet) has been shown to not change cholesterol, and has been shown to lower risk of cancer (no sugar means cancer cells die) this evidence needs more research but some of the logic is sound.

Sleep plays a big role in hormones, hormones change body metabolism and fat composition.

Meditation/prayer is essential for blood pressure and can help with depression

Cold showers are supposed to help with fat burning, younger skin, lower blood pressure and increased testosterone

Cardio exercise is supposed to help prevent dementia

Calories in and calories out still is key to weight loss and weight gain.

Through out the last 30 years what is 'healthy' has changed.

High intensity interval training is key to fitness, benefits of burning fat and growing muscle.

Weight lifting is key to growing in size/strength

Reading helps prevent dementia

Here is what I am seeing:

people that stay working stay out of the hospital. most people I see have no job. they have either retired and therefor no longer have something to keep them going. Or they are unemployed and that leads to lack of effort. There is something about working that keeps people healthy.

I don't see a lot of body builders in the emergency room

I don't see a lot of runners.

I don't see a lot of Vegans in the emergency room

I have never met anyone on ketogenic diet

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So What should I be doing.

Sounds like a low carb diet, high in plants is the way to go, the closer to eating something out of ground or off the tree is better. If you can grow it, even better.

High Intensity Interval Training and Circuit training should be part of day

Getting better sleep will help with hormones

meditation/prayer

Read daily.

No where in any of my reading did anyone say the internet was helpful or that movies/television were helpful