20 May 2013

Ian Gawler Blog: Heal your Self

What do Dr Bernie Siegel and I have in common? Good looks? Well no, he is much balder than me. We have both run cancer groups and written books over many years? True, but then Bernie is truly world famous. We are friends? True, but the answer you were looking for is we are both film stars!

Well almost. We both feature amongst others in a terrific new American documentary, Heal Your Self, that focuses on Lifestyle Medicine and the self-help approach to health, healing and wellbeing. So this week some details and some great feedback. But first, do not give me a hard time about the baldness crack! I am making the most of it while I can. And then

Thought for the Day
See your day as a classroom 
and be aware of the different subjects and teachers 
available to you for your further education. 
Life is a great teacher
                                             Dr Bernie Siegel, author of Love, Medicine and Miracles

Heal Your Self is a film that works to highlight major areas of health such a food, love, meditation, environmental stress, emotional stress plus more. I was privileged to be included in the line up of presenters that also include John Gray, Ph.D., Meg Ryan's mum, Susan Holden of Seventh Generation, plus many other experts in health  - seventeen in total.

The film starts with people with serious illnesses telling what changes they made to take back control of their health, and ends with practical tips for you to try yourself. It is inspiring and informative – well worth a look. There is a very small viewing fee.

I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed taking part. LINK HERE
Or Link to Bernie's website, just do not mention the hair thing! Click here

NEWS
1. Nice to hear
I rarely feature feedback, but this comment came in after the recent Melbourne workshops and seems to put into words the aims I would have in presenting “A New Way of Living”, so here it is. A reminder I will be in Brisbane, Coff’s Harbor, Katoomba and then Sydney in June and July.
Details on the website: CLICK HERE

Spending the weekend with you and Ruth has had a huge impact on my attitudes and behaviour.

I would now drink water rather than eat the 'wrong' food.

I have exercised each day since the weekend. Not that I was slack before but I am now in a different paradigm.

I did the weekend because I just wanted to have more contact with you. I deep down knew it was going to have an impact.

Please continue doing your splendid work. We need you!

With love and much appreciation.
                                                             GK, Dentist

2. Sport – why no health advertising?

This is something you may like to add your voice to. The quotes come from The Conversation, the links are well worth following.

The Australian Football League (AFL) and Cricket Australia have refused to sell advertising space to a Tasmanian man trying to raise awareness of the impact of junk food and alcohol advertising linked to major sports.

Aaron Schultz is an ordinary dad. When he grew sick of seeing his children constantly exposed to junk food and grog ads he started a website called Game Changer with the aim of tackling unhealthy advertising in sport.

Can the four big sports – AFL, Cricket Australia, NRL and ARU – follow the lead of FFA and Netball Australia and use their enormous influence to promote healthy choices? Or will they and their star players continue to be ambassadors of booze, betting and junk food?

Maybe if we all add our voice, be a little socially active, we can effect a much needed change. To read more, CLICK HERE

3. Cancer the big budget winner in health – Oh really? Or should that be Big Business is the cancer big budget winner?

In the health sector, cancer emerged the big winner with an extra $226 million announced for cancer research, treatment and screening.

The Government’s largest commitment is for $92 million over four years to expand breast cancer screening to women from 50 to 74 years of age. This comes despite expert concern over the usefulness of screening in women over 69. Some European studies and countries are now seriously questioning the whole mammography program. More on this specifically in another blog soon, but in the interim, the budget will fund an extra 145,000 women to screened every two years.

The budget also included amongst other cancer payouts $30 million to fund chemotherapy drugs on the PBS, pending a review due to report in October; and $24 million to meet increasing demand for bone marrow transplants.

Not much visible for patient support and nothing I can see for Lifestyle Medicine. Guess we just do not have the lobbying power, or is it something else? What do you think? Add your voice to the Comments

RESEARCH ARTICLE

An egg a day blows your heart away. Does it?
While I am still of the view that a few eggs each week work well for most people, this is interesting.

Eggs increase the risk for heart disease and diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis published in Atherosclerosis. Researchers reviewed 14 studies and found that those who consumed the most eggs had a 19 and 68 percent increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, respectively, compared with those who ate the fewest eggs. For those who already had diabetes, the risk for developing heart disease from eating the most eggs jumped to 83 percent.

Li Y, Zhou C, Zhou X, Li L. Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: A meta-analysis. Atherosclerosis. Published ahead of print April 17, 2013.

2 comments:

  1. I will definitely get this DVD and the CD. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Ian. It is a great doco and I particularly enjoyed hearing from people who had put what the so called experts were talking about into practice.

    ReplyDelete