The Guide to Incredible Health and Wellness

“There is an infinite wisdom of the universe and we either accept it and live within its confines or ignore and ultimately pay the consequence of our ignorance. “Dr Brian D Huggins

I guess that being a boomer myself qualifies me in a certain aspect of being an expert for our demographic. Before we get into the details of health and wellness I want to take a little time and reflect on the boomers’ collective past.

Well I guess for reasons of my particular family I have changed the boomer demographic slightly. Although the actual years of birth are 1946-1964 I think you almost have to include a couple of years on either end as they have gone through the same experiences that we have.

For me I am a ‘52 model and garnered a lot of experiences as I was the youngest of six. I am sure that we have all had some common thread boomer history. Through the late fifties I recall the power of Elvis along with Little Richard and Jerry Lee even though they are kind of the prior generation they still influenced the music. I would venture that many of the earlier boomers will recall the arrival of the TV and the later group witnessed the growth of the programmes thru the sixties. Do you know what I am saying Will Robinson?

I believe our demographic has witnessed perhaps the most radical changes in mankind since the end of WWII. The technology alone is moving so quickly most of are already lost.

Over the years we have all witnessed various trends in health. I think that we must come to the conclusion that truths in health do not change. When we are faced with the drug of the month or surgery de jour the outcome of health and wellness is often compromised.

For example when I attended grade school at least a couple of times a year the mobile x-ray truck showed up at the school and chest films were done on every child. If that was truly necessary for health and wellness ask yourself why that wouldn’t be done today. In shoe stores you could try on a shoe and stick your foot in a machine that would show you your foot bones with fluoroscopy. Naturally they finally figured out that if this was kept up parts would start falling off with excess radiation.

If you are old enough you will remember Thalidomide. This drug was prescribed to pregnant women between 1957 and 1961 for morning sickness and sleep aid. At the time it was one of the medical miracles or a supposed truth in health. The problem with this medication is that it caused severe deformities in the children being born. Many of the children were born with flippers rather than hands. To this day there are Thalidomide Victims Associations across the continent.

What about DES? Women were prescribed it up until 1975 to combat miscarriage and morning sickness. The problem arose when they discovered that the women who had taken it had a high risk in breast cancer. More recently it has been revealed that daughters of women who took DES have a 40% increased risk with breast cancer.

In the fifties and sixties most children had their tonsils removed as it was the surgery de jour. Why? Often it was for convenience… a prophylactic against tonsillitis. Usually, it was due to the fact that the tonsils would become enlarged and swollen. They were removed because parents were told that we didn’t really need them. News flash…the palatine tonsil is part of the immune system and helps protect against infection. The lymph system acts as a filter. Does it make sense that when they are swollen they are doing their job?

In the seventies and eighties if anyone had course to be involved in an abdominal surgery they automatically removed your appendix. Again this was thought to have no apparent use however it has been since revealed that the appendix provides the body with a natural laxative.

The magic potion and lotions have not stopped through the years. They only change as they are usually revealed to be not a truth and more so a detractor of health and wellness.

When the most of us went to school there was no such thing as ADD or ADHD. In the past twenty years the syndrome has been classified as a disease and it requires drugs. Usually children are given a class II narcotic known as Ritalin. It is widely traded in the streets. When you review many of the shootings like Columbine you find out these children are on psychotropic drugs. The popular acne medication increases risk of suicide. There is a cost to trying to manipulate health through the use of pharmaceuticals.

As a boomer and one who has seen thousands of cases in practice I have come to a number of conclusions. Conclusions about health and wellness and I believe a critical position for your health is to adopt what I have called the Parthenon of Health and Wellness.

You see a Parthenon is composed of many pillars that collectively support the structure. In health you need several strategies to collectively support your structure…your life….you.

It has five essential components and if you address each one and embrace it you have beaten many of the odds that are faced against you. The goal is to minimize all those degenerative diseases and conditions.

The tactics that you need to include are

Proper Nutrition- the fuel that runs your body

Adequate Exercise and movement

Proper Rest and rehabilitative time for your body

A Positive Mental Outlook on Life

A Properly Functioning Nervous System

I will discuss these components at another time and talk about what are the basics for keeping your engine tuned and firing on all cylinders.

You know… keep your motor runnin… headin down the highway…looking for adventure… for whatever comes your way….Born to be………………….

Till next time…peace

Dr Brian D Huggins