By: Dr. Pierre Ghassibi, MD. – June, 2022
Greetings all. Let me repeat here a theme that I covered before but maybe in different words. The treatment of very many conditions and diseases is like crutches for a broken leg. These are advices that help prevent our body from breaking:
* Our muscles hold our structure. We have to keep them in shape. But good muscles bring also less cancer, less diabetes, less dementia, less depression, less arthritis, less heart attacks, less strokes.
* A plant-based diet does the same. If we cannot turn vegan, at least we can cut out meat, chicken, pork, etc. and eat fish less than once a week. Omega three is not what it is claimed to be. A plant-based diet also fights climate change.
* It is rare for back surgery to markedly eliminate pain. Heat, ice, massage, and pills, only hide the problem. The back mostly heals itself if we take care of it. The way to take care of our spine, in addition to staying fit, is to never bend over and never use the arms to lift. We have to lift with the pelvis. The arms only keep the object glued to our center. The effort should come from the pelvis and from the knees. People with weak knees should not lift more than a few pounds.
* Our children: My patients often thought that I wanted to starve their children. We want our kids to eat “well” because we love them. But “well” does not mean a lot. We are seeing teenagers with hip and knee disease from morbid obesity and lack of muscles, we are seeing diabetes, even heart failure at a young age from obesity. Add to this poor self-esteem, migraine, reproductive issues, poor sleep and a number of skin conditions due to obesity.
* We should realize that we cannot impose our opinion on our children, friends, colleagues, and spouses. Every tiny family hostility pulls us a bit apart, but with time, the distance gets appreciable. This is very hard to practice because imposing our opinion and style on others is built in our DNA. This is the main Tower of Babel in society. If we are sure that our opinion is the right one, we should try to gently convince others and not impose our way. Imposing poisons the atmosphere and it does not last.
* Avoid accidents by protecting the eyes, wearing helmets, seat belts where necessary, avoiding accidents and falls by being careful. I often advise against multitasking and being in a hurry, major causes of accidents.
* Add to the above following the doctor’s recommendations for checkups, vaccines, mammos, colonoscopies, blood work as required.
P. Ghassibi, md
ghassibi@hotmail.com ◊