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20 Nov 2005 @ 09:25, by lugon. Medicine, Healthcare
In my previous article I mentioned avian flu and the possibility of a pandemic. The links are still relevant if you want to take a look there.
Here's an update:
It looks like China is having more flu outbreaks in birds, with a couple of human cases. See details.
A Californian man has created a blog to write about his local community preparation. Knowing the ability of influenza viri to cause silent disease and spread while there are no symptoms, and knowing the inability of a number of governments to do their (our) thing all that well, it looks like it's at least one of the right things to do.
Current statistics are not all that important. The important thing is the unknown: when will a mutated strain start spreading effectively and unstoppably?
Lots of extremely well presented stuff is here if you want to educate yourself. I insist: it's really good stuff. Powerpoint/PDF presentations are nice, easy reading.
C'mon: get a bit anxious, despair at the complexity of the challenge (see the "daunting task" article), then roll up your sleeves! More >
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 2 Nov 2005 @ 13:31, by jerryvest. Medicine, Healthcare
It is taken for granted in American culture that the individual will identify with his/her emotions and follow their dictates. In recent decades, such dubious cultural values have infected more and more people, with access to greater material wealth, at the same time that the business/religions of our culture have evolved ever more cunning pitches to our emotions. This dynamic is now fueling the disintegration of that culture, heedless of the long range consequences as long as the short-term balance sheet looks good. (Tarthang Tulku - Gesture of Balance)
I am proposing that we develop a partnership for introducing Healthy Touch Programs for our Elders and Care Givers on a global scale. This initiative will include using our 15 Minute StressOut Program & DVD with elders and care givers in nursing homes, home-based services, outreach services, border programs, day care, shelters, hospice, hospitals, assisted living arrangements, and other resources for the aging population. This program is widely used with all populations, groups and varied organizations with great success. Because guidlines for the safe use of touch are clearly identified and reinforced by the workers,the StressOut Program is ideal for the use with our elders and caregivers. And, our volunteers have already given the 'stressout' to over 10,000 participants. 15-Minute StressOut Program
The use of touch for promoting health, wellness and disease prevention is an ancient approach to medicine that was introduced over 2,000 years ago in China. According to Eisenberg (1993), “Millions of Americans are already using massage, meditation, acupuncture, and herbal remedies of all kinds, without their doctors’ recommendations.” These alternative health practices are used not only for stress reduction but also for relief of pain, heart disease, anxiety, and inability to sleep. Furthermore, in his dialogue with Bill Moyers in Healing and the Mind, Eisenberg suggested that in the Chinese culture, it is believed that how you live ultimately influences your health: “It’s not just diet or exercise; it’s also a spiritual or emotional balance that comes from the way you treat people and the way you treat yourself. And, since that’s the basis of their culture, it spills over into their medicine.” (Eisenberg, D. (1993), “Another way of seeing;” B.S. Flowers & D.Grubin (Eds.), Healing and the mind: Bill Moyers, NY: Doubleday.)
Our elders are perhaps one of the most abused, neglected and forgotten groups throughout our country and beyond. Our aging population is often considered the ‘throw away’ generation as they are considered non-productive and of little value to a society that bases its success, worth and values on “the bottom line” and on “winners and losers.” Of course, this is a short sighted, limited view of human worth, dignity and self-respect; yet, many of our elderly are continuing to suffer from stress, anxiety and depression and are barely surviving while struggling to meet their basic human needs. US Census
The world population is growing, and it's also growing older. Researchers say birth and death rates are gradually falling worldwide, increasing the number and overall proportion of older people. For many societies, caring for all those aging citizens could be difficult.
The United Nations estimates that about one out of every 10 people on the planet today is at least 60 years old. By 2050, it's projected to be one out of five which means that not only will there be more old people, there will be relatively fewer young people to support them. (“Aging World Population Presents Challenge for Future Young,” Barry Newhouse)
Furthermore, Mr. Newhouse notes:
Some governments see family support systems as a way to avoid the financial problems that industrial nations face with their publicly-funded safety nets. But he says history has shown that familial support systems are generally weakened when nations become more prosperous -- as fewer children live with and care for their parents. And he says if the nations wait too long, it may be too late.
It is for these reasons and because of our compassion for others, especially our elders that our international community can begin to awaken to this dilemma and develop collaborative support systems and networks such as NCN to promote universal health promotion and wellbeing with our aging populations and care givers.
I would like to introduce a beginning Action Plan - An Outline for Advancing the use of Touch with Our Elders in my next NCN News Log. We can help ease the pain, suffering and neglect of our elders and support our care givers throughout our World. I believe that together we can design a plan that has a chance to be realized when each person or individual interested in contributing to the wellbeing of others understands and appreciates that physical interaction or human touch is a BASIC HUMAN NEED or REQUIREMENT for living a meaningful, dignified and healthy life. Beyond this is the fact that when humans do not interact physically, they become angry, depressed and become isolated and alone in the world. This is far too evident in our American society today. In a recent visit to a nursing home, one of the residents told me--“There must be something wrong with me – no one wants to touch me!” How sad is this?
The languages of the senses, in which all of us can be socialized, are capable of enlarging our appreciation and of deepening our understanding of each other and the world in which we live. Chief among these languages is touching. [Touch is] “The powerful means of establishing human relationships, the foundation of experience. (Ashley Montague, Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin),.
In an article our health team published using “Alternative Health Practices in Ethnically Diverse Rural Areas: A Collaborative Research Project,” (1997), we discovered that our touch program was successful in alleviating pain and suffering and reducing the blood sugar levels with diabetic patients in rural health clinics. We also did a successful follow-up program with persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease living in nursing homes in southern New Mexico. [link]
I believe that, with your help, we can use “safe, skillful and appropriate touch” with all populations and especially with our elders who have been neglected, disrespected and abused for far too long. Let’s give TOUCH a chance to heal and to nourish our human family. More >
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 17 Sep 2005 @ 07:07, by mahendra. Medicine, Healthcare
Pranayama is an important, yet little known part of Yoga. Its techniques have been practiced for centuries by ardent students of Yoga in remote ashrams, and have been preserved for us through many generations both in practice and in handwritten books. Until recently, this art and science of Yogic breathing was almost completely unknown to the common man like many other ancient Indian arts. Those who knew it used to be very reluctant to share their knowledge and experience with anyone, unless a student proved by tests that he was ready to receive it. During the last three decades, however, this situation has changed; and subjects such as Yoga, pranayama, meditation, and even Kundalini, are being discussed all over the world, not only by Yoga teachers, but also by the general public and by scientists. More recently, various techniques of Yoga have begun to attract the attention of physicians, therapists, and medical consultants. It is common to find both patients and doctors who can narrate their own experiences about the cure of various diseases by using Yoga techniques. It has been proved beyond doubt that Pranayama is a very important means for preventing and curing many ailments. Its aim is to bring the traditional knowledge of this great art of the common man, it can be used without much external help for the maintenance as well as the restoration of health.Its keeps diseases away by using the age-old techniques of Pranayama More >
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 8 Sep 2005 @ 14:34, by jerryvest. Medicine, Healthcare
Free DVD for Victims, Families & Helpers!!!
As an active member of NCN, author and team leader of the 15-Minute StressOut Program & DVD, I want to make this instructional program available to large numbers of victims and helpers of this devastating hurricane.
Please accept this invitation, around the world, to join us in advancing the use of touch to improve the quality of lives, health and relationships. To learn more about us, our methods, research, guidelines, and values, do visit our Links, Resources, and other pages on our website.
Team members and others interested in using our "StressOut Program" for victims, helpers, and others located in shelters and other resources, please contact us and our distributor will send you our DVD, free of charge. 15-Minute StressOut Program
Humanity needs Loving Touch & Support. Please pass this invitation on to others who may be in need of skillful, healthy, loving, and respectful touch. We are here to serve.
Best wishes,
Gerald (Jerry) Vest, ACSW/LISW/LMT
Professor Emeritus
New Mexico State University More >
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10 Jul 2005 @ 09:10, by swanny. Medicine, Healthcare
% HEALTH CARE PARADIGM
The available data would seem to suggest that health is not a merely objective or subjective matter but a "correlated" and relative degree of both.
Given this complex nature of health how does a useable and suitable treatment methodology emerge. There are now the public and private systems and then the composites therein but given this complex nature how is care and treatment to be administered in an effective yet fair manner.
Is the dollar, to be the sole determiner of health access, and if so is this fair, or is health perhaps some what more an aspect and degree of need and ability to pay.
Given these considerations I would propose a system which incorporates the financial considerations of both the costs and the ability to pay. Such a system would have your basic health and emergency needs covered as some will probably always be so poor and in dire need or state as to render them priorities and some will always be so rich as to afford their own doctors and hospitals.
For the rest, given the somewhat subjective/objective nature of health I would propose a % based system where premium procedures would incur sufficient prices to cover there costs but allow faster access by payment of a percentage based premium of ones yearly income. Say to access faster hip replacement one would have to pay .3% of income. This would allow all to have faster access but determine need and desire on the basis of the proportion of total assets as a means of determining degree of pain perhaps and etc etc..
No it is perhaps in itself not a perfect system and its administration will probably some what problematic but like democracy ...., it may be a bad system but its the best one we've got at the moment.
July 10, 2005
A. G. Jonas More >
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8 Jul 2005 @ 14:02, by swanny. Medicine, Healthcare
July 8, 2005
THE MEASURE OF HEALTH
Hey Ho.....
This internet thingy .... I don' t know.....????
Well I suppose one has to "work" with what ones got....
No matter it would seem....
anyway "OFF TOPIC"..... OPPS.....
THE MEASURE OF HEALTH....
Is health objective or subjective or both a compound
Is health static or dynamic.....???? or again both.....
and what do you call something that is both static and dynamic
but "life"..... cyclic perhaps....
So then the model of health is ....???
We don't even know....
or is there more than one model....???
Is one persons health perhaps another persons "disease"....
apparently.....
MODELS OF HEALTH
Okay then maybe there are different models of health and different
degrees.....
Who defines them though....
Which ones are "legitimate"....
Does the "market determine" or "need" or compassion or empathy or
morality....
Okay again there's at least two models
Men and women....
What is healthy to a man I would quesstimate is not the same
as what is healthy to a woman.... Venus/Mars....
So there's two different yet equally valid models...
Its a start....
So as a male then what is health or healthy to me...???
Good question?
Hi.....
Alfie More >
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 19 May 2005 @ 16:12, by jerryvest. Medicine, Healthcare
In my previous log I introduced holistic health care practices that I teach in my classes for the US Army, for my university and for prisons and detention centers.
I find that by maintaining a daily health routine, my life, health, and relationships are more balanced. I developed a routine over several years of experimenting with lots of exercises and programs and have now narrowed it down to a few very effective activities.
I start my day with Master Level Exercise-Arica Psychocalisthenics by Oscar Ichazo. These 23 exercises are coordinated with the breath so I find that they balance the body, mind and emotions while also giving me the vitality to maintain high levels of fitness. I follow this practice with some yoga exercises and some movements that I learned from tai chi and quigong or specifically, The Kath State - The Energy of Inner Fire, also designed by Oscar Ichazo. Following these exercises, I sit in meditation for 30 minutes to calm and quiet my mind in the morning and evening.
I also receive a body massage and acupuncture treatments regularly and engage in a 15-Minute StressOut Program several times during the week. I enjoy lots of physical activity so I ride my bike, play golf and take walks with my dogs as well.
I have learned that by maintaining a routine of daily activities throughout the week, it helps build and maintain determination or willpower needed for living in a society that is so scattered and out-of-balance.
As a professional and teacher I have also found that our students appreciate and trust us when we practice what we teach.
Recently, while turning 70 years of age, I discovered that I have prostate cancer and arthritis, especially noticable in my 4th & 5th lower vertabrae. I have thoroughly appreciated the help and support from my family, Dave Chitick, our NewCiv community, especially the interaction with Richard(jassoLog) who shares my plight and experience with prostate cancer. I am in the process of receiving treatment for the prostate and plan to have a speedy recovery.
I am particularly interested in introducing a helpful tool for persons who have back problems in this article. I read in a journal that over 70% of our adult population have back problems. I've recently become part of this back pain group. It is even hard for me to believe that I have back problems with all of the health practices that I have been engaged in for over 40 years; however, some of it can be attributed to farm labor as a child, heavy lifting and some of my athletic activities that I have enjoyed throughout my life. Also, my mother, sister and three brothers inherited arthritis so I am not feeling alone with this pain.
The Inversion Table -- a spacy experience
Recently, I purchased an Inversion Table that has given me complete relief from the back pain and am now able to resume all of my activities, including golf. (I strongly recommend that anyone purchasing this "hang up" table that you follow the instructions given in the video which are included with top-of-the-line tables.) There are many Inversion Tables available on many websites. Honest, I am not a representative of any company--only my own.
Some of the benefits include elongating the spine, increasing the space between the vertebrae, which relieves the pressure on discs, ligaments and nerve roots. In the literature that came with my F5000 inversion table, it is noted that "...Your heart must work against gravity to pump blood up to your brain, which is the body's largest consumer of oxygen. Inversion is a simple way to improve circulation to the upper body." Furthermore, they show their honesty about this experience..."Sometimes there's an explanation for why inversin works and sometimes there isn't." [link] [link]
On a higher note, after hanging with our head down, totally relaxed, our body-mind feels totally free. I put some headphones on and listen to some great music--Enigma-Wispering Spirits.
You can adjust the table's level and balance by moving your arms up or down. I enjoy this experience of finding my equilibrium and harmony while reversing my energies.
Following this hanging or floating experience, I disconnect myself from the foot clamps, I lie down on my mat and observe my body-mind-emotions all evaporating into space. Anyway, I'm sure that you long time meditators and yoga practitioners will love the "table". Hey, even beginners could benefit as this is a very safe and pleasurable way to relax our skeletal and muscular systems.
I now have another addition to my daily health routine and love every moment with this new treasure. Anyone interested in joining an Inversion Table support group, do let me know. :) More >
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 11 May 2005 @ 08:50, by jazzolog. Medicine, Healthcare
Today means boundless and inexhaustible eternity. Periods of months and years and of time in general are ideas of men, who calculate by number; but the true name of eternity is Today.
---Philo
Example moves the world more than doctrine.
---Henry Miller
In Buddhism there is no place to apply effort. Everything in it is normal---
you put on clothes to keep warm and eat food to stop hunger---
that's all.
---Yuan-S'ou
Photo of Ilona and the author on Easter Sunday.
A year and a week ago I underwent major surgery for removal of a prostate gland that had been determined to be a bit cancerous. I wrote about it and talked openly. Cancer is as terrifying to people of our civilization as just about anything we think of. I learned in the waiting rooms, however, that it makes brothers and sisters of us in treatment, as men and women struggle with their own varieties. The silence in those rooms is broken with great relief when we start talking together. I thought writing and letting people know what happens to me might serve some purpose---at least for research because so much effort is going into finding a cure...or even a cause. More >
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 19 Apr 2005 @ 14:50, by jerryvest. Medicine, Healthcare
In the October 1985 Issue of Corrective and Social Psychiatry and Journal of Behavior Technology Methods and Therapy, I published the article, "Health Promotion, Health Fitness and Stress Management for Prisons." I received letters from all over the world requesting a copy of this article so I assumed that our correctional systems were interested in examining and beginning to offer health practices to their incarcerated populations. However, the general attitude of citizens in this country is to lock the criminals up and throw away the key. And, institutions(schools, families, prisons,religions, etc.) by their very nature, are slow to change.
KOJO NNAMDI: From WAMU at American University in Washington, this is Public Interest. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.
Maybe you've heard the numbers before: 1,600 prisoners being released in the United States daily, about 600,000 prisoners to be released this year. The prison population in the United States now stands at about 2 million, which is about four times the number of people who were incarcerated back in 1973. What this all means is that most of those people will be getting out of jail or prison—prisons and jails that are located generally in rural areas. Ohio System
About Visions for Prisons
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Robina Courtin
Although the prison community emphasizes fitness with body building equipment, weight lifting, boxing, basketball, and other competitive sports, these activities do not necessarily foster attributes of total health; empathy, curiosity, caring, compassion, openness, responsibility, dignity and self respect. The holistic or integrative approach, on the other hand, encourages emotional, physical and spiritual fitness without creating winners and losers. (Does this sound familiar with our public schools as well?)
Realities of penal organization and purpose present real challenges to the establishment of a comprehensive health promotion/health fitness/stress management program in that setting. Security is, of course, a primary consideration of such institutions--and rightly so. Consequently, scheduling of any program has to be considered in terms of tight, often inflexible, time slots in order to allow for prisoner checks and other facility and organization requirements. Another primary consideration concerns residents themselves. Some screening should exist initially to insure the safety of those residents who are sincerly interested in participating in the program. Finally, and most important to the health promotion worker, is identifying the special needs of this special population in order to offer maximum health potential within the limits identified. And, treating drug problems alone is not the solution to this problem, rather using an integrative approach is more successful. [link]
It is a very important lesson to reduce the tensions that often lead to serious problems within a prison facility. This tension also may well build up so that the prisoner who is released into society continues to see himself/herself as the victim and society as the criminal. This, unfortunately, has been the vicious cycle that has confronted law enforcement officials and justice systems for decades. Thus, punishment, protection of society, and rehabilitation are all essential elements for prisons to incorporate into every prisoner's health care plan.
We can't solve any problem without first solving the problem of human nature. We won't be able to solve the problems of homeless, impoverished, illiterate people, of murderers who would never have become murderers had they been adequately loved. You show me a murderer, and I'll show you a person who's been failed in the supreme need for love, who never learned how to love, and will hate, as I heard one saying, "I hate the whole world's guts, and the whole world hates mine." These are the victims of society, just as the doctor is a victim of society, as most of us are victims of our society.
We don't love children adequately, we don't even know what love is. It's a great help to know exactly what the criteria of love are, because these murderers, these violent people, these terribly undisciplined characters are exhibiting the frustration of love. [Love, Montagu says earlier, is the ability to communicate to others your profound involvement in their welfare, is that you will never commit the supreme treason of letting them down whenever they most stand in need of you, and that you will minister to and encourage the growth and development of their potentialities. That's love.]
Ashley Montague
I have designed a balanced approach to health care in prisons that I believe can make a significant difference to the high recidivism and recurrent crimes of this population. Those who find themselves outside of society rules are punished by the very fact that they are isolated and separated from the main body. However, most felons, 98% of them, will return and will find their transition less fraught with difficulty if they develop and maintain a comprehensive health fitness and health awareness program. As Fritjof Capra, one of our great physicists in the health movement states: "Health care cannot just be 'provided' or 'delivered'--it has to be practiced." [link]
The following practices are incorporated into my plan for introducing to youth offenders in a state detention facility here in southern New Mexico.
SUBJECT: Introduction to Holistic Health/Integrative Practices for Juvenile & Adult Facilities – 6 week course.
I. Scope of Work & Activities – This six (6) week course offers two weekly, two-hour sessions, Tuesday & Thursday, for six to eight (6-8) participants, introducing student residents to an Introduction to Integrative Health Practices Program that enhances the whole person—physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually. Cross-cultural health practices will be introduced to acquaint the participants with methods or disciplines that include: Kum Nye, T’ai Chi, Yoga and Acupressure. Western practices will also be integrated into the course such as Arica Psychocalisthenics-Master Level Exercise, 15-Minute StressOut Program, progressive relaxation, gestalt strategies and mindfulness.
II. Goals & Outcomes -- Students will: 1. Have an overview and direct practice experience with traditional and modern health promotion and health fitness methods; 2. Become aware of cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary approaches to health and wellbeing; 3. Learn to assess and identify strengths and negative patterns of conditioning; 4. Be able to demonstrate at least twelve (12) "Master-Level Exercises" that promote revitalizing the body and awakening their organism; 5. Learn to coordinate their daily activities and incorporate a daily health routine to promote balance with their physical, mental, emotional and social relationships.
III. Details of Monthly report & performance measures: Students will be introduced to the development and maintenance of a Daily Health Journal. This journal will include: 1. A personal commitment to maintain a holistic health experience with identified health practices that support their physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing; 2. A student report, each session, to the instructor, describing their personal experience with daily health activities (this includes their emotional state and behavior); 3. A Log that includes their class attendance and description of time spent in meditation, mindfulness and other health related activities.
IV. Other performance measures will include a closing evaluation instrument to review the changes and improvements of the participants during the six week course.
SELECTED RESOURCES & LINKS
Kum Nye Relaxation, Tarthang Tulku, (1978, Dharma Publishing)
Kum Nye Relaxation is a gentle healing system which relieves stress, transforms negative patterns, helps us to be more balanced and healthy, and increases our enjoyment and appreciation of life. ". . . The written tradition of "Kum Nye" is contained in Tibetan medical texts . . . ." [link]
T’ai Chi –
The movements of the T'ai Chi form, follow a precise system of balance and relaxation. The most important principle in T'ai Chi is relaxation. In doing the T'ai Chi form, we become aware of where we are relaxed and where we hold tension. The postures and movements help the body to release tension in the muscles and encourage flexibility in the joints. [link]
Yoga & Mindfulness
Specialized breathing exercises and relaxation techniques are introduced to improve concentration, balance and reduce hyperactivity. [link] [link]
Master Level Exercises – Psychocalisthenics, (1993, Oscar Ichazo, Arica Institute, Inc).
The series of 23 exercises is based on elemental callisthenic movements plus yoga asanas, it is strictly developed for awakening the organism in a serial fashion, with which we produce a flash of vital energy through all the organs, glands and tissue. The series produces strength, coordination, balance and flexibility of body, mind and spirit. [link]
15-Minute StressOut Program, (1980, Gerald Vest)
I designed this 'healthy touch' program, in collaboration with the Associated Students Organization - New Mexico State University (NMSU), Health Promotion Team, NMSU School of Social Work and the Family Preservation Institute, as one alternative for improving health and wellbeing in our university, society and beyond. The 'stressout program' includes "guidelines for the safe use of touch" with all populations. Touch techniques are self-administered or exchanged with a partner. We use our skillful touch program with individuals, groups, couples, families and communities. The program develops trust and empathy while learning to coordinate the power of touch with the vitality of the breath. [link]
Continued and advanced courses will be designed using the same methods for participants interested in improving the quality of their lives, health and relationships.
[link] More >
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 7 Apr 2005 @ 01:40, by jerryvest. Medicine, Healthcare
Peter Jennings announced that he was joining with 10 million other lung cancer victims and beat this thing. My wife had her left lung removed 3 years ago along with some nodes and went through the chemo and radiation therapy for several months. She was fortunate that a small tumor was discovered in her lung while undergoing gallbladder surgery, so catching these cells early is important.
Everything in her body looked so good, for about 3 years, with positive reports from all of the body scans, but my partner suggested to her oncologist that she should also receive a brain scan. Sure enough, the body scan showed a small tumor, just under her skull. So, she chose to have the tumor surgically removed. It was a successful operation and she came home, feeling pretty good, following a couple of days in intensive care.
On April 1, my partner received the Gammaknife radiation treatment. This is very high tech radiation treatment that focuses on the surgical spot and/or if other cancer cells are detected, they shoot gamma rays for several minutes into these areas. The team consists of a physicist who sets the parameters, the oncologist and surgeon. The nursing staff were well trained and stayed with us throughout the experience. The real downside for us was having my partner wear this head brace, screwed into her skull in 4 places. She wasn't given any real pain medication for this procedure. Perhaps the worst part of this treatment was arriving in the hospital at 5:00am. We left home at 4:00am to make the trip from Las Cruces, NM to El Paso, TX.
We had to wait 4 hours for the surgeon to arrive and push the button on the radiation machine.
I can tell you for certain that the "Laying-on-of-Hands" exercise worked perfectly during this time. Lou was most comfortable sitting in a chair so I rested my hands on her shoulders for much of the time while we observed and experienced the unity of our breath and of our being. The Power of Touch andLearning to breathe
After the treatment, Lou was unscrewed and freed of this contraption. There was some blood on the bandage that she held on her head, so the treatment obviously penetrated her skin. We were given a room and after about an hour, we headed for home.
I learned that my partner is determined to beat this cancer thing. She has been through more medical interventions than a human should ever have to endure in a life time. She just gets stronger following each challenge and intrusion. We are having a great life right now and every moment with Lou is very precious.
Pain Management and Pain Advocacy More >
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