Earth Day!

Yes, today is Earth Day.

Just another reminder for us all to be mindful in how we use disposable things in our day to day life. Yes, everything has an environmental impact. Yes, one person making lifestyle changes can make a difference. Yes, the problem is very real.

How does this affect our health? Simple. Pollution, waste, and negligence will impact the environment negatively and it will all come back around to bit us in the butt by providing us an enviroment harmful to our health.

What can YOU do? Simple.

-Recycle. Plastic, paper, alumium cans.

-Use napkins or towels in the bathroom? Grab 1 or 2 instead of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... I have seen people grab about a 3-foot long piece of paper towel to simply dry their hands in the bathrooms. Overkill.

-Get by by using less to do the same amount. I am sure there are ways in which you can do the same task using less resources. Like shower for 5 minutes instead of 10.

-Drink water from a reusable bottle instead of buying bottled water. Water is water, it might taste a little different from bottler to bottler, but it is all the same, you will get used to it (or just be content with it) and you pee it out anyways.

-Promote awareness. Long-term enviromental damage is not something to be taken lightly or think that we won't be directly affected by it (that's just being selfish).

-Make simple changes. See how easily one can make a difference.

Exercise Prescription: just do it

Want patients to actually do something when you tell them to exercise for their own good? Write them a prescription for it!

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20090417/exercise-prescription-coming-your-way

This is AN EXCELLENT PRACTICE to get used to. Typically, patients come to their doctor with a complaint and expect to leave the office with SOMETHING in their hands, the solution. Usually, it would be a prescription for an actual drug that you can pick up at the pharmacy.

Here, the complaint can be anywhere in series of other health problems caused by being overweight. Therefore, it follows that the solution is to lose weight via exercise!

The beauty of this is that the patient can't even complain that they didn't get a "prescription" from the visit. Sure, they can grip and demand an alternative. But! I am sure that to anyone's "medical expertise" that the best solution to the problem is indeed EXERCISE and not a simple pill they can pop once a day.

The effect is two-fold. You treat the underlying cause, and this will ameliorate the presenting complaints over time. Two birds, one stone, right? It is much better than managing ONLY the complaint with a drug and dismissing the true problem.

Exercise. It works. It's cost-effective. It's simple.

Write it. Sign it. Tear it. Give it.

Lose weight without doing anything!

Looks like there IS any easy way out.... but not just yet...

Researchers have found that you can activate brown fat to help burn off white fat!

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20090407/can-brown-fat-make-you-thin

What does this mean? America can keep with their sedentary and lazy life style, and just pop a pill and everything will be alright. Unless the increased calorie burn increases your appetite, and hence, you eat more, negating its effect.

Flip side: Popping pills could prevent obesity overall, lowering the prevalence, and therefore, less chronic problems would result. Maybe some good can came from this after all? Sure, less work for all of us. Then we can deal with patients with REAL medical problems, ones they didn't set themselves up for.