OUR mental health is arguably more vital to our being than our physical health, although both are essential to our general well-being. A solid stabilizing anchor for all this is faith, a belief in a supreme spiritual almighty far greater than us or any force on earth. Whether we call it God, Allah, or Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonai, Budha, Abba, Brahma, Hashem, or others, each and all represent goodness, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, love of fellowmen, and peace.
Loneliness, sadness, depression, pain, and other neuro/psychological ailments are ameliorated by having a strong faith in the existence of a most powerful omnipotence in the universe. This loyalty greatly impacts our emotional balance, our general health, and inner peace.
I am not a religious extremist. I believe in God and He is my compass and GPS. I thank the Lord for every morning He grants me to wake up to and for all His graces and blessings for my entire family and friends. And that includes my longing for world peace, an elusive friend I have been praying for as long as I can remember. No saint and imperfect, I disdain bigotry and treat people, even strangers, with respect. I find all this to be beneficial to my own health and sanity.
One God
While it is not realistic in our world today, it would be wonderful if all peoples around the globe believed in one single supreme almighty and lived in harmony and peace, instead of worshipping different gods and fighting each other. Each faith proclaims God represents love and peace, so why the hatred and conflict?
One religion for the world where love and compassion for all our fellowmen rules humankind would certainly be ideal, but realistically impossible. The best compromise would be various peoples with different religions living together in peaceful coexistence, with understanding and tolerance for each other. After all, we, Homo sapiens, modern man, are all relatives, having originated from ONE single family in Southern Africa around 300,000 years ago. Global peace would be a nirvana, a paragon vastly conducive to the physical and mental health of humanity.
Fanatics
In spite of the religious and political divergence in the world today, there are the fanatics, extremists, zealots, religious, political, or simply power-hungry and greedy people, with blind beliefs and irrational thinking, who are the stumbling block to world peace and prosperity. The majority of all peoples, no matter their faith, Islam, Christian, Buddhist, Hindus, Sikhi, and partisan beliefs, are good and just people, who love harmony and peace.
Unfortunately, even in a democracy, a selfish and unjust minority could adversely impact, if not overpower, the majority. The rioting, flag-burning, criminals destroying businesses and public properties, killing people, in the name of free speech (in abuse), are too frequent events that devastate the mental and physical health of people and contribute to our ailments. We may not be aware of it, but all these, especially the potential for a nuclear Armageddon, are registered in our subconscious, constantly nagging our brain and bothering our immune system each and every day in our life. Our domestic problems with finances, taxes, price of eggs, gasoline, and other commodities, are nothing compared to the insults from these fanatics upon our life and the extreme fear of the prospect of a global catastrophe initiated by unthinking evil zealots. Every religion should seek world peace in earnest to make domestic tranquility around the world a reality.
RFK, Jr.’s MAHA
On the home front, the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, as the 26th Secretary of Health and Human Services, is predicted to usher in a more vigilant and strict policies to root out unhealthy aspects in human health and environment in the United States. This includes healthier diet for children in schools and for the general public. Products on the market that have been vetted as healthy foods will carry an FDA healthy icon label, making it easier for people to find and choose the healthier food items at the supermarkets.
Hopefully this more aggressive approach of RFK, Jr., will include stringent quality control of all vitamins and food supplements on the market today. There are thousands of products out there, which have not been scientifically tested and proven to be safe, effective, and as good as they claim to be. They pose potential dangers to people’s health.
While the wonder drug aspirin, vitamin D3, and the prescription drugs being advertised are proven good, effective, beneficial products, the majority have not been scientifically evaluated.
Does Prevagen and other neuro-drugs popularly advertised to improve brain function, which some people are interpreting to be a good to prevent Alzheimer’s, have any double-blind, randomized, evidence-based clinical studies to prove their claim?
How many DOZEN capsules does one need to take a day of the advertised “Fruits-and-Vegetable” (not 3 as the Ads recommend) to equal the required daily minimum of fresh fruits and vegetables?
How about the claim that the nose clip, or dental gear, etc., being marketed as a therapy for sleep apnea? As a cardiac surgeon, I know that the patho-physiology of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the caused by a sagging soft palate and the tongue falling back, blocking the airway. Those gadgets sold out there are a scam! The golden standard of care for OSA is CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) to “push” the blockage wide open (like inflating balloons), to enable normal breathing and good oxygen supply.
The surgically-implanted Inspire should be more honest in its ads to clearly state it is only an alternative to CPAP for those who could not tolerate CPAP. People could misinterpret Inspire’s ads that it is better than CPAP, which is not true. It requires surgery, for one; it needs an implanted electrode to stimulate your tongue while asleep, and it does not work for all patients.
There are countless products that need scientific scrutiny and vetting to safeguard the people. After more than a century, it’s about time the public was protected from the vicious greedy entrepreneurs.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, health advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana Governor, U.S. senator, and later a presidential candidate, Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, pugilist Muhammad Ali, David Letterman, Astronaut Gus Grissom, distinguished educators, scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com; Email: [email protected].