posted on July 14, 2004 08:05:46 PM new
A friend of mine today remarked how it occurred to her that our mother's and father's generation didn't seem as plagued by so many health problems as we are now.
That they overate, smoked, drank and still managed to live alright and well into their 70/80ties without heart failure, etc. She said she thought it was stress or some isolationism that is causing all this.
(All I could think of was people I knew who as adults who lived hard like dean martin or jerry lewis. - Or maybe it was we didn't eat so much fastfood back then?) So what is the stress, if that is what it is?
Is it economic or what?
Sometimes I wonder if science (doctors) aren't finding more conditions than the body might just fight off itself? Kind of like, what you don't know can't hurt you? Mind over matter? (Is that sophomoric thinking to most of you?)
posted on July 15, 2004 04:50:10 AM new
neroter - I agree with you! It's my theory that what you don't know, probably won't hurt you. IOW, my grandmother contracted cancer when she was in her 60's. My grandfather and her doctor chose not to tell her because the treatments would have been too much for her at her age. She lived until she was almost 80. The cancer didn't kill her. Complications from a stroke did. Had she known about the cancer, I'm fairly certain it would have taken her life and quickly.
I think that by knowing all we know, our bodies subconsciously give up the fight and allow the doctors and the treatments to fight for us. There is an enormous amount of power in our minds and bodies and it is capable of fighting disease.
Also, we sanitize everything. We no longer allow our body to build up its own immune system. I know people that bleach everything. Bleach has been known to cause pneumonia and other respiratory ailments. I remember playing in the mud when I was a child. My granddaughter isn't allowed to play in the mud because of the germs. I also think the overuse of antibiotics is partly to blame.
My great-grandfather smoked cigars his entire life and he was well into his 80's when he died.
posted on July 15, 2004 06:26:09 AM new
Cheryl thats what I think, too. That the worry and the anxiety of it (disease) does more harm - like you said it gives signals to give up, or something. I wouldnt say disease does not exist entirely, but I do think people back then did not put so much faith in doctors and their diagonois. It's like the more we know, the worst off we are!! So I was wondering how that could be? My friend thought there was more a sense of community among people back then and that produced less anger and anxiety or - better well being.
terryann; yes, I would think too many anti-botics might have something to do with it too. Or maybe its enviromental - seems there are so many more chemicals and toxins around us than before.
Well, it almost like a non-issue here. I guess if youre comfortable financially its difficult to relate to any stress from that. I was thinking of my brother who worked really hard (two jobs) for his family. He didnt smoke, drank but stopped about 15years before...and then ups and dies of a heart attack. We have no history of heart disease in our family. In my mind, I think alot of it was the stress and pressures of trying to keep up with it all.
Maybe if Kerry gets elected he can (fill in the blanks} ...would be nice!
posted on July 15, 2004 06:41:26 AM new
add: I think the doctors are way overboard on the drugs for kids too. I bet about 2 in 10 really have add or other social disorders but 7 or 8 out of ten are being given some type of drugs for it.
(I think its just an easy way for the parents to control the kids, druggin them up and keeping them quiet.)
posted on July 15, 2004 08:26:54 AM new
7 or 8 out of 10 is 70 or 80% of all kids!! It might see like that many kids are being medicated for ADHD or ADD, but it's nowhere near that number.
There has been a pretty significant increase in the last 10 years or so. I've only seen maybe two kids so far whose parents unwisely insisted they were ADHD and wanted them on meds. Usually, the reverse is true. I see at least one kid each school year who desperately needs medication to be able to function in school, whose parents refuse.
I've heard the argument that parents and educators are just lazy and want kids medicated so they are easy to control, that there really isn't any such thing as ADHD. Not so. A kid with ADHD is not just a normal behavior problem. They are incapable of attending to the smallest task. They cannot learn, cannot progress. There is a spooked, wild animal look in their eyes. Normal discipline and behavior rewards simply don't work. Effectively, they're sociopaths. When medicated, a new kid comes out. One that can focus, reason and learn.
What causes it? Who knows...my own theories, which really are just opinions, tell me that mother's drug and or alcohol use during pregnancy might have something to do with it. This is a small community, everybody knows everybody's business. I've seen a high correlation between ADHD kids and parents who are known to be dopers. I also think it may have something to do with the fact that kids are raised on TeeVee sound and image bites and video games. Everything is quick, rapid fire, instant gratification. No waiting. Even kids who aren't ADHD are so easily bored these days it's hard to believe.
I can understand a parent not wanting to medicate a kid. If my son were to be diagnosed, I'd have a tough decision to make. The drugs used to treat it are powerful controlled substances and nobody really knows the long term potential for harm. But having seen how one or two unmedicated kids not only cannot learn themselves but destroy the learning environment for the rest of the class, I wouldn't leave him in a public school and make it everybody else's problem.
___________________________________
Beware the man of one book.
- Thomas Aquinas
[ edited by profe51 on Jul 15, 2004 08:27 AM ]
posted on July 15, 2004 11:58:07 AM new
This may seem too simple, but I believe that unhappiness causes stress. I think too many people are truly unhappy - with themselves, their jobs, their family, lack of money, whatever, and it does them in mentally and physically. Our society pushes the importance of material possessions to the point where your success is measured by how many possessions you have (whether you or the bank owns them). When a person works their butt off so they can afford all the trappings, they soon find out none of it makes them any happier, making them even more stressed when they realize what they're caught up in.
Another thing is communication. We're all so afraid (in real life) we'll step on each others toes or hurt someones feelings that we don't really communicate anymore. We end up saying what's PC or what we think another person can handle and keep our true feeling to ourselves. That ends up being detrimental to the people we're trying to communicate with and ourselves. Who needs that?
posted on July 15, 2004 12:50:24 PM new
I agree with your friends take, in your opening post, neroter.
More and more doctors are saying studies are showing stress as a large factor in illness.
Stress - what is it? It can be from many life choices, sources. Some get stressed when others don't think they have anything to be stressed about. Others don't recognize stress in themselves until it lands them in a hospital bed at some point.
Isolationism is as good as any. I believe that as we have isolated ourselves from our families we don't have the support system our old generation had. They sure didn't have easier times or issues to deal with than our generation currently does now. They had to work hard...they had to make do...and they had larger families than we do now to care and provide for...usually on one salary.
Now many are working 14-16 hour days, purchasing what they can't afford, having more children than they can afford or emotionally deal with, etc. etc.
Much stress is self-inflicted by the life choices we make, imo. I've seen a tremendous difference between the way of life in CA and here in AR. Here they work to live...there they live to work...all the while having less time for social interactions with friends, neighbors and family....who usually don't live close to them [in distance] anymore.
posted on July 15, 2004 05:15:00 PM new
A large portion is the modern diet. Plus our bodies develope then fight cancers periodically, without any medical intervention.
posted on July 15, 2004 06:18:38 PM new
Hi. Yes, I think you guys are right. With my brother, I think, he couldn't say no to the kids - equating love with what you can give them in material possessions. Even though he was a good father and took them places and did the all the games, karate etc., etc. I dont think he drew any boundaries for himself and he shielded his wife from the financial burdens.
Kraft, I think we may get pc with extended family.... but not too much with immediate family. It's almost impossible to do when living with somebody. -dont you think?
And parklane, I do believe diet has a whole lot to do with it. But even having a good diet is work...and expensive.
