This is the first of a planned series of posts discussing our health and ways to improve it. In the introduction, I compared it to the classic novel, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” which teaches the importance of building a rapport with our machines. Our bodies are our most important machine, and I want to introduce a few key areas related to our health, and solicit discussions that readers can use to learn from others' experiences. Just as our bodies are complex, so too are the methods to maintain them. But these methods can be reduced to simple guidelines that we can adopt and adjust to improve our outcomes.
Great writing, David! Thanks to you blog, I've started calculating/noting my BMI. I'm guessing you have had many of the same experiences that most of us over 50 have had with doctors. In an effort to appease us and to appear they are earning their $$$, they shoot us full of drugs or prescribe allopathic medicine. You might enjoy a 1971 movie written by Paddy Chayefski and starring George C. Scott, entitled THE HOSPITAL.
Buying medical services is like buying auto repairs. We hire them for their skills, but if we understand what they're doing, we're more likely to get what we want. Being a successful patient needs some skill, too.
You wrote in your essay above: "so a better approach might be to take more responsibility ourselves, learning how to prevent those failures and avoid the pills and procedures to patch up our mistakes." I decided that that was the most coherent explanation of health I'd read in a long time. Then I came down to the comments section where you answered Charles with another terse bit of wisdom about auto repairs. I will be following you here on substack. I may even be able to add to the conversation. Thanks...
Great writing, David! Thanks to you blog, I've started calculating/noting my BMI. I'm guessing you have had many of the same experiences that most of us over 50 have had with doctors. In an effort to appease us and to appear they are earning their $$$, they shoot us full of drugs or prescribe allopathic medicine. You might enjoy a 1971 movie written by Paddy Chayefski and starring George C. Scott, entitled THE HOSPITAL.
Buying medical services is like buying auto repairs. We hire them for their skills, but if we understand what they're doing, we're more likely to get what we want. Being a successful patient needs some skill, too.
You wrote in your essay above: "so a better approach might be to take more responsibility ourselves, learning how to prevent those failures and avoid the pills and procedures to patch up our mistakes." I decided that that was the most coherent explanation of health I'd read in a long time. Then I came down to the comments section where you answered Charles with another terse bit of wisdom about auto repairs. I will be following you here on substack. I may even be able to add to the conversation. Thanks...
Thank you! I look forward to hearing from you. Good health is a team effort. I'm nearly finished with an essay on heart health. I hope you enjoy it.