A 10% decrease in weight is associated with...

Looking for a New Years Resolution that is worth making? Maybe the following my provide some inspiration.

A 10% decrease in weight is associated with .....
(obviously this only applies if you are currently overweight)

↓ >20% total mortality
↓ >30% diabetes-related deaths
↓ >40% obesity related cancer deaths
↓ 10 mmHg systolic BP
↓ 20 mmHg diastolic BP... See More
↓ 50% in fasting blood glucose in newly diagnosed DM
↓ 10% total cholesterol
↓ 15% LDL cholesterol
↓ 30% triglycerides
↑ 8% HDL cholesterol
↓ frequency of sleep apnoea
↓ breathlessness and improves lung function
Improves back and joint pain
Improves ovarian function

And for all you folks out there who have been thinking about breast cancer (thanks to that sophisticated "what colour bra are you wearing?" status updates), did you know that increasing your physical activity can decrease your risk of breast cancer. In fact exercise is astoundingly good at increasing your health, well being and longevity.

Health benefits of physical activity:
(30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise on most, or preferably all, days of the week.)

• All-cause mortality risk reduced by 50%
• Cardiovascular disease risk reduced by up to 50%
• Hypertension prevention and management
• Stroke risk reduced by up to 30%
• Type 2 diabetes prevention (risk reduced by 30–50%) and management
• Cancer risk (colon, breast) reduced
• Osteoarthritis management (pain control, maintenance of muscle strength, joint structure and function)
• Osteoporosis risk reduction
• Falls risk in the elderly reduced by resistance exercises
• Weight management and reduction (when combined with dietary changes)
• Mental illness (anxiety, depression and subjective feelings of stress) prevention and management

Now turn off your computer and go for brisk walk!

(PS the stats are shamelessly cut and pasted from a RACGP online education module I am doing today.)

Worth Watching

I talked to someone on the telephone yesterday at length about how can we possibly account for the tragedy and evil in the world. Where is the meaning in our lives? Is there something beyond random chance at work?

As humans, we have a rich heritage of mythology, which has persisted through the ages and across diverse cultures. What are the lessons that we, as individuals and as the human race, can learn from this wisdom passed down in story form, and from the breadth of our history?

The person I was talking to has started on the process of discovering and asking their own questions quite recently. I could identify very strongly with their dismay in realising that the more they thought about "things" all it did was reveal more questions, rather than resulting in answers.

I find this talk by Jordan Peterson very helpful.
>> Jordan Peterson: The Nature of Evil
He is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto (formerly a professor at Harvard). He has obviously been thinking about these issues for much longer, and much more in depth, than I have.

I highly recommended watching this presentation. It is well worth taking the time to watch and think about some of the ideas he presents.

Plastic Bag Fiasco.

A large supermarket chain here in NZ decided to impose a 5c charge on plastic shopping bags. The charge lasted only 4 weeks in the Wellington area before it was down-graded to a "voluntary" charge due to customer complaints. Hmmph!!

Pathetic!!!! Cheap-arsed, narrow-minded, short-sighted, environment-buggering, complaining idiots!. Such a small, simple, tiny change and yet event this is too much to for some neanderthals apparently. Grrrrr. What makes it even more annoying is that the 5c charge actually works extremely well. Over the last 5 years there has been a 22% reduction in plastic bag use here in NZ. Compare this with the dramatic drop caused by the 5c charge".

"In the short time the compulsory scheme had been in place, participating supermarkets had reduced bag use by 50 per cent, or 40 million bags" Foodstuffs Wellington managing director Tony McNeil.

Reported in the New Zealand Herald.

Reducing plastic shopping bags is such a tiny change that it barely rates a mention in the environmental debate. But you would think that it might be an introductory area in which change was not that difficult to effect and perhaps might get people thinking more about the damage we are causing to our environment and the looming issue of climate change. But no, apparently even this is too much to ask.

Success.

Someone asked me today, "What do you do?"
This must be one of the most commonly asked questions between new acquaintances.

(No, I didn't draw it, wish I did. The artist is Bill Burg)

I am sure that sometimes the question is asked with genuine interest. But how often is it asked so that we can put each other into recognizable stereotypes.

Don't know about you, but I feel like there is more to me than my job. So next time I am in that "Nice to meet you" phase of a conversation I am going to try not to perpetuate this annoying habit we seem to have collectively developed, and talk about something else instead.
:)

Perpetual Perks

Here in NZ we are in the middle of our own mini-mini-mini parliamentary members' allowances scandal. While there are no shocks of UK proportion (there are not many moats in NZ that require cleaning I guess), there has been enough to keep the media happy for a few days.

The most interesting thing I heard from the radio show talk fest was the ongoing cost of ex-prime ministers to the Australian tax payers. (Kiwis do love to reference Australia when discussing their internal affairs). I had no idea that ex-prime ministers where eligible for such big bucks for the rest of their lives and was quite surprised to hear the figures, but apparently this information is available through Freedom of Information. The Herald Sun ran the article this week.

	John Howard's $1m splash on us JOHN Howard is costing taxpayers more in retirement than he did while running the country.

"Australia's five living former prime ministers submitted expenses tallying almost $3 million last year, the figures show."

The costs relate to running the offices of these fellows. Obviously they can't be expected to work from home like many other private individuals do, or fund the expenses of their offices themselves I suppose!

Yes I know that in the overall picture of the Australian tax-payers' budget this is a minuscule amount. But it seems to me that this is an extravagant, if not unwarranted, perk for those who have formerly been PM. Even if I could stretch my mind to think that our ex-prime ministers deserve some kind of pension, surely it should be a little more modest. Say, half the salary of the current prime minister at most. After all, I am working from the assumption that these men went into politics for the love not the money. Even if some may suspect that love to be of power rather than their country.

What do you think? Should receive ongoing financial support once they no longer work for the country? If so, what would be a reasonable sum to be available to them and should it be a life-long entitlement?

Well, given this ongoing cost, I don't think too many tax-paying Aussies will be wishing John Howard a long life - if they ever were!

A Win! (I suppose you could call this a boast).

It's been a busy week at work:

Swine flu, a big Measles outbreak, a patient with a bee sting in the mouth (the first time I have had to give adrenaline to a patient, and never mind the patients vital stats, I am sure mine own where off the chart while we waited for the ambulance to arrive), and of course the usual stream of patients who burst into tears and need much more than the time allotted to their appointment.

But, among the busyness I did have one very satisfying moment. A regular came in to see me, affectionately known as my "f***ing, f***ing, f***ing" patient (and that's just on the way down the corridor to my consulting room). He is a young guy but has had some adverse circumstances and is waiting for major orthopaedic surgery. But this week when he came in he looked fitter, healthier and happier than I had ever seen him before.

I asked him how things had been going. He animatedly told me that he was doing really well and that he had been aqua jogging at least 5 times per week for over a month and that he was loving it!

He raved about how good he was feeling and the changes that he was already noticing including losing 4kg, noticing his muscles "popping" out, and his double chin shrinking. He was just as enthusiastic about the social aspects, having met a lot of fellow aqua joggers. "It's just like Shortland St, everyone gets to know ya and says hi. They are giving me stick and saying they are going to put glue and Vaseline on my crutches when I go in after the surgery". He was clearly loving it!

I asked him what made him think of taking up aqua jogging. He looked at me a bit confused and said "You did. You told me I should."

O yeah, so I did. And yes I felt a little sheepish about not remembering giving him this advice.

But then I am frequently telling so many of my patients about the benefits of exercise. And I do try to give a few suggestions of exercise that would be appropriate for them. Most of the time I know my advice falls on deaf ears and I feel like a broken down record repeating the same message.

So it was such a buzz to hear that, against all odds, this tough, blue-collar, kiwi bloke had followed my advice to take up aqua jogging and that it had made a big difference in his life.

Now that's enough to keep me feeling positive about my job for at least another 6 months.

By the way, he didn't swear or complain once through the whole consultation, and that in it's self is practically a miracle.
:)