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The Health and Fitness Express contains
the random and organised thoughts of John Miller
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I read recently that the increasing epidemic (or is it a pandemic) of
adult onset diabetes in the well fed and under-exercised world is going
to put even more pressure on government health budgets.
Of course that's only true if governments accept responsibility for it
isn't it? I'm not sure they should, after all they're not the cause of
it
It's like the continued braying about the need to pour more public money
into the medical/pharmaceutical industry because the population is
getting older. My own view of this is that we're being softened up to be
taxed at ever increasing rates just because governments are kowtowing to
an industry group, egged on by an increasingly unhealthy populace, that
has a tight rein on the nation's heart strings. Governments have been
bludgeoned into accepting responsibility for things that are not of
their own doing or own choosing.
Of course it suits both the medical/pharmaceutical industry and
individual consumers to put their hand out for a subsidy for poor
health. Put your hand out for an reward for keeping yourself fit and
healthy and you get it bitten off! In fact it's illegal in this country
for medical insurance companies to give people a rebate on their health
insurance because they at low risk of making a claim.
It's like the recent brouhaha about the sheep ship. If it had been
widgets that had been knocked back by some company in Arabia we wouldn't
have heard any more about it. In the mean time the Australian tax payer
has to fork out another $20m of unbudgetted funds. That money could put
a phys ed teacher into 400 Australian primary schools.
So what and who is behind the thinking that my poor health is some one
else's responsibility - not even some-one who might be remotely
responsible (like my mother, father, physical educator or doctor), but a
collective of some-ones - the government acting on behalf of my fellow
taxpayers?
Quite frankly I don't know, but the mood is such that the conventional
wisdom about someone else paying for my own poor health choices is
rolling out across the landscape like a tidal wave. The Commonwealth
Parliament is currently debating bills worth between 500 and 1000
billion dollars, the numbers rolling across the tongue as though it were
a mere $900 or $1000 we were talking about. That's 100,000 more phys ed
teachers. That would really make an impact.
I feel that in the end expecting the government to pick up the tab for
every visit to the doctor and every tablet will bankrupt the country. If
it doesn't do that, siphoning money out of the pockets of taxpayers into
the medical black hole will slowly choke off the funds that could either
stay where they belong or be spent on great national productive
enterprises that make us all richer
So what are the two major causes of adult onset diabetes? Answer, sloth
and gluttony. Not very fashionable these days dredging up a couple of
the seven deadly sins is it? And you can bet your last buck that not a
lot of medical research is being channeled into this area.
During Diabetes Week you'll be encouraged to donate more money to
diabetes research, 99% of which will be devoted to
medical research
that's focuses on the horse after it's bolted. If you want to throw your
money away, at least earmark your donation to go toward that funding
which is devoted to inspiring and motivating people to keep themselves
in exceptionally good shape. On the other hand if you're desperately
looking for somewhere to park your spare cash, keep me in mind. Then I
can spend more of my time training and writing.
If you send me $10, I'll send you back a cute little diabetes risk
factor assessment form, and after you've done the tests I'll give you an
estimate of your risk of getting diabetes.
MASTERS AND DICKSON
While we're on the topic of health and aging, spare a thought for the
tens of thousands of people who recently entered the Masters Games here
in Canberra. It makes a mockery of the notion that age and poor health
are intimately connected.
David Dickson, Rome Olympian and member of Fit and Healthy swam under
1.10 for 100 m freestyle in the 60 - 64 group. That's a very good swim,
irregardless of age. His younger fellow Olympian, Shane Gould swam 1.04
in the 45 - 54 age group. And it gets better. In the men's 80 - 84
group, K. Vickery swam 1.28. That's unbelievable. It's health and
fitness at it's best. And I noticed in the results that Tubby Ramsay
swam 8.56 to come second in the 400m individual medley for men over 65.
If you can beat that, report back.
I can tell you one thing, we don't need more medical research. In fact
80% of medical research is bunkum. The money just goes into sheltered
workshops for the academically gifted. Most of it is spent on inventing
better ways to patch people, up not providing them with incentive to
keep themselves fit and healthy in the first place. Not many researchers
would have been down at the AIS pool probing Mr Vickery's mind for the
secrets of how to enter your dotage in great shape.
Have you ever thought how bizarre it is that the private sector of
science is dedicated to inventing products and services which save us
expending energy and fill our minds and bodies with junk and the other
half has it's hand outstretched for public money to devise ways to clean
up the mess created by the first group!
Save yourself the expense. Look after yourself. Keep yourself in good
shape. Keep your hand in your pocket (unless you want to send me money).
All we need is the incentive to keep ourselves as fit as the tout that
Mr Vickery must be. While the rest of his cohorts are booking themselves
into nursing homes, this old bloke is churning through his laps. I bet
he's as lean as a greyhound and toey as a Roman sandal to boot.
Mr Vickery's main prize though is good health. There are no prizes for
poor health, only tablets. And we're not talking rocket science here.
Percy Cerutty restored himself back to good health by starting a
walking, running and swimming program and not eating anything cooked for
three years. Imagine how healthy we'd all be if we did that?
So, don't ask what medical research can do for you, ask what you can do
for yourself. We don't need more medical research to tell us how to live
a healthy life. Percy's prescription of exercising like buggery and
eating wisely is all we need.
If the public does want to subsidize something which would have a real
bearing on community health it would be good personal and physical
development programs. It's pointless trying to change the body without
changing the mind - and vice versa.
If medical costs were going down I'd count medical research as a
success. It's not. That's why just about every time you put your hand
into your pocket for medical research you're being dudded. Spend you
money on your own health research program. Work out for yourself what
you need to do to keep yourself fit and healthy. Then do it.
And next time you go for a swim, time yourself for 100m. Regardless of
your age or gender, if you can't beat Mr Vickery, train harder. If you
can, report back. As a general rule, if the time you take to swim any
distance is less than twice the time it takes for the world record
holder, then you can count yourself as being in pretty good shape.
In the mean time stay tuned, highly tuned.
Regards
John Miller
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