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I think the pharmaceutical corporations and the "health guru" industry push hypochondriasis. I don't care how many anti-oxidant fish oil vitamins you take or how long a daily cardiovascular routine you do, you're gonna get real sick and die one of these days. Sure, if you eat at Mickey-D's x3 a day and smoke 60 cigarettes per 24 hour period, you're gonna get real sick and die a lot sooner. Then again, if you draw a bad hand genetically, you might not see your seventh decade no matter what you do. Myself, I try to enjoy the days that are here for me now because they ain't gonna go on forever! 



All serious conversation aside, I'm applauding you for using the word "hypochondriasis."  (Don't mind me, I'm a word buff and I've never seen anyone really use that word before outside of a textbook).

We are.
No doubt about it.

It's great in some aspects.

I love the fact that the Doctor gives me all manner of prescriptions, I love to experiment with different prescription drugs and see what happens.  ;D

At the same time it has a negative effect.
Health insurance rises and over time we lose our immunity.

My old man said something very wise to me once.

"Only wash your hands when they're dirty."

I don't get sick very often.

I've got a very strong system, thankfully.  I RARELY get sick.  Especially since I've been a teenager.  Since I've been 13, I've been sick a total of about 4 times.

All serious conversation aside, I'm applauding you for using the word "hypochondriasis."  (Don't mind me, I'm a word buff and I've never seen anyone really use that word before outside of a textbook).

Comes from the Greek word hypochondrios, which referred to the upper adbomen. The Greeks believed this area of the body to be the seat of melancholy--ie. worry, fear, anxiety, depression. The ancient Greeks were wrong on that one, but the word lives on.  Hypo=under. Chondros referred to the cartilage of the thoracic sternum (aka the xiphoid process). The prefix chondr(o) refers to cartilage in medical terminology to this day.
http://medinfo.ufl.edu/year1/histo/images/c21c.jpg
CHONDROBLAST
A cell of growing cartilage tissue.

We are.
No doubt about it.

It's great in some aspects.

I love the fact that the Doctor gives me all manner of prescriptions, I love to experiment with different prescription drugs and see what happens.  ;D

At the same time it has a negative effect.
Health insurance rises and over time we lose our immunity.

My old man said something very wise to me once.

"Only wash your hands when they're dirty."

I don't get sick very often.

Your old man sounds very sage.
:)

You need some toxins in your system to keep your immune system active. That's why people sometimes get sick after a course of antibiotics. The antibiotics kill off the bad bacteria, but they also kill off the good bacteria. However, not all bad bacteria are truly "bad."
Back in the '80s the "macrobiotic" diet got trendy. Macrobiotics really excelled at making people sick. People who subscribed to macrobiotics thought they would optimise their health by living as free from toxins as possible. That might work if you live in hermetically sealed chamber, but not out here where bacteria march by the gazillions!
I don't get colds, sniffles, flu very often either. An acquaintence of mind who did a program at my radio station called "Body, Mind, and Healing" was under the weather constantly. I used to razz him about it, and he'd say, yeah, but you don't get enough XYZ in your diet, so you'll die of cancer. I'd say, maybe so, but I'll live longer than you. Let's wager on it and we'll settle the bet in hell!
;D
Oh, and I don't smoke at all, or drink much booze. Heavy smokers and drinkers tend to get nailed in both the short and long run.

Your old man sounds very sage.
:)


Post war - East End of London - Very sage indeed.


Oh, and I don't smoke at all, or drink much booze. Heavy smokers and drinkers tend to get nailed in both the short and long run.


See, these are obvious. If you put toxins in to your body, yes, there will be negative effects, whereas when you try and work out exactly what you should put in to your body, it's far more difficult to regulate.

Myself, I do not believe in doctors.  I try to avoid seeing them at all cost.  In fact, I can count the number of times I have seen a doctor in the last 13 years on one hand.

In 1993, for my VA evaluation.
In 1995, for a minor concussion I got in a car accident.
In 2003, for a 10 year VA follow-up.
I have seen a doctor 2 times this year.  Once in March, and again this upcomming Friday.  Both of these are in reguards to my induction into the National Guard.

In short, I blame it on our being a country of people with no self-discipline and instant gratification with no work.

If you weigh to much, do not work out, instead take some pills.  Of course, you sometimes have problems because of addiction or phyiscal damage (Fen-phen).  Then you run out and sue everybody for putting you on them in the first place.  Never mind the initial problem is that you are a big fat pig who can't stop over eating.

My boss is a sucker for things like "holistic cures".  For the last few years, he has had increasing problem with tingling in his fingers and his legs falling asleep.  He has taken a ton of remedies, including DMSO, copper wrist bands, dietary suppliments, even seeing a chiropractor who told him it was an imbalance in his body salts.

After 3 years, he finally went to see a real doctor, who has scheduled him for a quadruple heart bypass for the end of the week.  It seems that the problem is that his major arteries are up to 90% blocked.  If he had continued with the pills and BS cures, he would be dead by the end of the year.

I remember a time when advertising perscription drugs was not permitted, Now, every other ad on CNN (the station I watch most) is for some drug for some malady that I never knew existed.  My favorit (not) was "Only Zantac is Zantac", but didn't tell you what it is for, just only "Ask your doctor if Zantac is right for you".  Advertising strategy is to convince us that something is

WRONG

with us and can be fixed by buying something, and given our obsession with youth, air brushed beauty, and playboy pin-ups, all media induced, how surprised hould we be?  There is a great, old documentary called "Killing Us Softly:  Advertising Images of Women" that lays it all out.  On a more analytical level, Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital puts it all in perspective.

In short, I blame it on our being a country of people with no self-discipline and instant gratification with no work.


Well, yes and no. Americans work harder for less money, less security, and fewer benefits than they do in other democracies.  It's not just that the consumer culture sells us on "instant gratification," it's also that Americans feel less hope for the future than they used to. Might as well be gratified now, because the future looks like hell. Lack of self-discipline has the same etiology. One must have motivation in order to attain true self-discipline, and to feel motivated, one must feel hope. There is an overwhelming sense of entropy in this country nowadays. Whether you are six, sixteen, or sixty, if you have a brain, you can sense things in general slowing down and falling apart. You get anxious, depressed, frustrated, angry, cynical...such feelings sap "self-discipline."
I see so many kids prescribed Ritalin or Adderall because they cannot seem to stay focused. Yeah, I remember growing up in a chaotic and dysfuctional family. What my family was in the '70s is much more typical today. When you cannot rely on the adults in your life, when you cannot trust what they say, when you don't know what the hell's gonna happen when you get home from school, just that you know it ain't gonna be good, man, you can't think straight! The crazy adults can't put the puzzle together, so they turn the therapeutic community. The therapist, the psychiatrist, the counselor is all but helpless to put the pieces together, so they do the next best thing, they prescribe drugs. Drugs for kids is a whole 'nother controversy! There is a truism you may hear from time to time, "the child is father to the man." So....
It's easy to judge somebody as 'not self-disciplined." The judgment is simple. The etiology and solution is anything but simple.

I remember a time when advertising perscription drugs was not permitted, Now, every other ad on CNN (the station I watch most) is for some drug for some malady that I never knew existed.  My favorit (not) was "Only Zantac is Zantac", but didn't tell you what it is for, just only "Ask your doctor if Zantac is right for you".  Advertising strategy is to convince us that something is

WRONG

with us and can be fixed by buying something, and given our obsession with youth, air brushed beauty, and playboy pin-ups, all media induced, how surprised hould we be?  There is a great, old documentary called "Killing Us Softly:  Advertising Images of Women" that lays it all out.  On a more analytical level, Harry Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital puts it all in perspective.


Yes.  I agree with this and will investigate the resources you mention.  Thanks.
(On the other hand, I know people who have been helped by anti-depressants, for instance, and so the drugs themselves can be helpful if used in the right context.  I'm just concerned about their being over-prescribed)

Myself, I do not believe in doctors.  I try to avoid seeing them at all cost.  In fact, I can count the number of times I have seen a doctor in the last 13 years on one hand.

In 1993, for my VA evaluation.
In 1995, for a minor concussion I got in a car accident.
In 2003, for a 10 year VA follow-up.
I have seen a doctor 2 times this year.  Once in March, and again this upcomming Friday.  Both of these are in reguards to my induction into the National Guard.

In short, I blame it on our being a country of people with no self-discipline and instant gratification with no work.

If you weigh to much, do not work out, instead take some pills.  Of course, you sometimes have problems because of addiction or phyiscal damage (Fen-phen).  Then you run out and sue everybody for putting you on them in the first place.  Never mind the initial problem is that you are a big fat pig who can't stop over eating.

My boss is a sucker for things like "holistic cures".  For the last few years, he has had increasing problem with tingling in his fingers and his legs falling asleep.  He has taken a ton of remedies, including DMSO, copper wrist bands, dietary suppliments, even seeing a chiropractor who told him it was an imbalance in his body salts.

After 3 years, he finally went to see a real doctor, who has scheduled him for a quadruple heart bypass for the end of the week.  It seems that the problem is that his major arteries are up to 90% blocked.  If he had continued with the pills and BS cures, he would be dead by the end of the year.


Remember, they make money from something being wrong with you.  I think they have a tendency to LOOK for there to be problems, like a mechanic.  My uncle feels the same way as you basically.  He says that vultures at least wait until you're dead, but not doctors.