For the last 30 years, I have been practicing as an emergency medic in urban and austere environments. During that time I have been instruction & teaching emergency and heart based curriculum and piecing together volumes of research and literature regarding the mechanical and emotional components of the heart. During this time I have come to some of my own conclusions. There seems to be a lack of a holistic understanding of how to treat patients emotionally in the practice of emergency and treatment based medicine to obtain better physical results. And while these ideas are shared by many others in the field of medicine, those number are far too few to be heard over the roar of common western practice.
Some of our best medical institutions use using these understandings in their practice. Unfortunately, the cost associated with access to these facilities and the limited availability of these institutions reduces its overall effectiveness as they are the exception. And most importantly, the preventative lessons and practices patients need to keep from getting sick in the first place are rarely applied in the practice of treatment based medicine. We have an obvious need for more access to education on these topics of holistic health. Unfortunately, we have a steep, up hill battle regarding finding health in the United States and most developed western countries.
Lifestyle disease is just that; the result of living a certain way. These diseases include, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and the majority if not all autoimmune disorders. In many cases the patients are exposed to toxins in their environment. For instance, maybe the most common toxicity in our environment is a cell phone. Having your cellphone on you body causes your heart to react differently. Subtle changes in the rhythm, due to the radiation it emits, have long term effects that we are just beginning to understand the full depth and consequences of. Another example shown through research is that WiFi emissions disrupt sleep patters.
In all of the cases, stress is the driver. Stress from our consumption of external stimuli which has an inward effect, resulting in mental and physical ailments. The consumption of too much work, poor food quality, excessive media, pornography, drugs, alcohol and of course sugar, which maybe the worse of them all, contribute to a toxic hormonal concoction that we create through the perception of stress. That hormonal concoction creates toxicity in our blood, contaminating the cell, disrupting communication with the DNA, resulting in illness. This can be exacerbated through thought. The thought of stress recreates this hormonal concoction to relive the events while taking on real additional stress and increasing the potential for illness.
The trick to living a heart centered life is being aware of our thoughts, feelings and actions while directing them towards beneficial practices that improve our way of being.
Check out the video below for my full lecture on the anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. I provide insight into the biological impacts of stress, addiction and depression and how they exacerbate disease. Enjoy the lecture and please share with anyone you think it might benefit.