Since we had the short discussion on longevity and ethics in medicine last time, I thought I would post this little quiz that I saw on Dr. Oz's website too.
http://inflammablog4.blogspot.com/
If you think about it most illnesses could be considered built in mechanisms to "weed out" or kill out certain disease states. Take diabetes for example. Too much visceral fat and intramuscular fat can (and more than likely will) lead to diabetes. This could be considered an evolutionary mechanism to decrease the prevalence of obesity in the human population. I know that sounds mean, but if you look at things from a biological and ecological standpoint, and it makes sense for other animals (remember the giant arthritic frogs)!
Someone in class yesterday stated that prolonging life is unnecessary because people lose interest in living when they get older. In some ways I disagree (mostly disagree) and agree. For sickly elderly people who have chronic health problems, I would understand the rationale for losing their desire to live. HOWEVER, I disagree with the claim above because their lifestyles could have contributed to their health problems. For example, did they smoke? Did they exercise? Was there a lot of stress in their lives? Did they eat right? If they did not take care of themselves then some responsibility lies within those individuals. If they were more healthy it is reasonable to assume that
ReplyDeleteOne great person who exemplifies what it means to live healthily is (drum roll) Jack Lalanne. He was a fitness and health expert miles ahead of his time. He opened some modern gyms in the United States and had a very popular show dedicated around maintaining or improving one’s health. Oh, and at the age of 54 he beat the 21-year-old Mr. Universe, Arnold Schwartznegger in a chin-up and pull-up contest. At the age of 70 he swam 1.5 miles against strong currents while handcuffed and tugging 70 small boats filled with 70 people. He died at the age of 96.
From the 1930s up until his death he preached consistent exercise, varying exercise regularly (to avoid plateuing), denounced eating high sugary and fatty foods in favor of raw fruits and vegetables, and interestingly raised awareness about stress and its deleterious effects. This sounds like common knowledge stuff now but he was one of the first people to make these claims. He was quoted as saying, “I drink 6 or seven glasses of water a day. I also drink vegetable juice. And I have at least 5 or 6 pieces of fresh fruit everyday and 10 raw vegetables.” He occasionally had some fish but was mostly a vegetarian. And he was also quoted as saying, I don't care how old I live; I just want to be LIVING while I am living!” So he is doing things that prolong his good health so he can enjoy life.
So I think prolonging life is mostly good. I think that his message of healthy living is important because a considerable amount of people nowadays literally cannot afford to get sick due to medical expenses.
Here are some clips from his shows. They mostly contain healthy living tips but one contains footage of fingertip push-ups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIVfe-crHDs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBVk071N88M&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEboAJf9UVc
works cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_LaLanne
http://www.jacklalanne.com/jacks-adventures/