Friday, April 13, 2012

Probabilities

I have just returned from a wake - saying goodbye to an outstanding community member who touched my life in a way that can never be forgotten -  or undone.  I am blessed by having known her.
She did not die of natural causes.  She died of Lung Cancer.  I do not know what "caused" her cancer.  We don't really know what causes anyone to end up with a disease because so many factors interplay.
A person can smoke and get lung cancer or not get lung cancer.  A person can not exercise and stay healthy or exercise and stay mobile into their very late years.  But it is not a crap shoot at all.
We have known risk factors and probabilities.  It is possible to stack the deck in ones favor.
 That being said:
  • maintain a normal weight
  • exercise daily (including strength training on 2-3 days)
  • limit saturated fats, sugars, salt and empty calories (and sometimes calories in general)
  • add fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains and healthy oils to your diet
  • don't smoke
  • limit radiation (sun and medical)
  •  avoid environmental toxins
I want to add that we learn new things every day.  It may be that what we thought was a risk factor turns out not to be and vice versa.  I hope that you won't take that to mean that no one knows what they are talking about and instead take it as learning and getting better at things.  You can only act on the information available to you today, but that does not mean that it won't change.  You should act accordingly.

No comments: