Fitness and Health: A Practical Guide to Nutrition, Exercise and Avoiding Disease

For example, an individual who is on a course of degeneration
leading toward the onset of cancer at age 60 may be treated with ther-
apies designed to delay the onset to age 130. If that person dies natu-

rally at age 110, the onset of the cancer will have been avoided. This
is “outlasting” disease. The result is a phenomenon called “squaring
the survival curve,” a concept promoted by James Fries of Stanford
University, who says: “... many people with the early stages (of dis-
ease) never progress to the later stages during their lifetimes.”

SELF-HEALTH CARE • 237

Health Care Failure

Almost everyone has a horror story about the health-care sys-

tem, from procedures to insurance (not to mention the many

scams in this sector). But when health-care fails to deliver, let’s

not forget our part. Health care can fail us when:

• We don’t take responsibility by not taking care of our-
  selves. This involves eating exceptionally well; being phys-
  ically active; significantly reducing environmental stressors
  (such as the chemicals in our air, food and water); control-
  ling mental and emotional stress; and controlling body fat.


• We allow others to dictate our care — from insurance
  companies and employers, to the government and even
  our relatives.


• We don’t have a health professional that matches our
  unique needs; e.g., you wouldn’t go to a podiatrist for a
  sinus problem. Despite attempts to restrict our options by
  insurance companies, we do have a choice.


• We give health professionals free reign of our body and
  mind. We should work with health professionals in
  addressing our needs; they should also be our teachers, but
  we are always in charge.


• We cling to one particular health-care approach or philos-
  ophy and risk losing objectivity regarding personal health.