The Price of Health
As you probably know by now I am a big advocate of people taking charge of their own health. I was actually thinking about promoting a product “Healing Kitchen” that I absolutely believe in as a cornerstone of good health but it is a bit pricey. With that statement I found myself asking ‘what price is health?‘ and ‘What does it cost to be sick?“ As some of you may know we do a lot of pro-bono work because we believe in making our services accessible to everyone. And it comes to a point where we do so much pro bone work we have to stop and actually earn some money… anyway – so I am thinking about how we ‘cost‘ our health on the basis of what things cost and then I get this email:
It’s Time to Declare Your Health Independence
If the current health care debate has anything to teach us, it’s that it’s going to be more expensive in the future to get sick. Much more. On the other hand, it will pay you handsomely to keep yourself and your family well. Insurance premiums are already rising. They’ve doubled since 2000 — and one California provider is preparing customers for an immediate 39% premium hike. One US city now bills $300 for a 911 call (expect this idea to spread).
Just in case you need extra motivation to start taking better care of yourself and your family, here are some scary statistics on the high price of illness these days
- 62.1% of bankruptcies in the US are medically-related
- 50% of all home foreclosure are caused by medical problems
- 37% of Americans pay more than $2,000 for medical bills out of pocket each year
- 30% of workers lose two or more weeks of work because of illness annually
- 46.6 million Americans have no health insurance
- 14,000 workers are losing insurance coverage every day because of unemployment
Meanwhile, Type 2 diabetes is an epidemic (with nearly 30 million Americans already diagnosed and perhaps 10 million walking around not knowing they have it). Cancer is now the nation’s leading killer, striking 1-out-of-2 sometime in our lives. And heart attacks still claim 500,000 of us every year. These are not good survival odds.
These are some seriously scary stats…
Here are 7 Simple Ways to Keep Out of Medical Debt (why not call it – ways to save your life and some money to enjoy it with???)
Numerous studies show that the majority of the health problems that send us to the doctor and the hospital are almost entirely preventable by making a few simple lifestyle changes…
Review – Original Shakti Mat
The Shakti Mat is a portable bed of nails used to relieve pain, promote relaxation and help with a range of health problems including insomnia, pain relief and recovery from injury. It is very popular in Sweden where it is used by an estimated 10% of the population. So we thought it was worth trying – we were so impressed we now use it in clinic. Why? Because we have seen this simple self help option make a difference to many common problems that western medicine does not offer sustainable solutions to. It helps us help ourselves – with no harmful side effects.
What is it?
Originally, a bed of nails was constructed out of wood and metal nails. Today the mat is available in a portable user friendly design. The metal nails have been replaced with plastic spiked discs and instead of a wooden base there is a comfy Styrofoam padded insert within a 100% cotton material ‘pillowcase’. Each mat has 230 plastic discs and each disc has 27 points. This results in potentially 6000 points of contact with your skin which surpasses traditional models.
How the mat works:
“From a physical viewpoint the points on the discs stimulate the body to release endorphins – a family of neuropeptides concentrated in the pituitary gland and hypothalamus involved with pain relief. These endorphins are the body’s response to stress and help determine mood. Membrane receptors for endorphins are found in large quantities in the pain pathways of the nervous system. The release of endorphins triggers a self-healing mechanism in the body and blocks pain. The result is a sense of deep relaxation and well-being, even high levels of happiness.” Use of the Shakti mat also prompts the body to release a range of other calming hormones and it increases the circulation of blood and lymph. This too has a detoxifying, stimulating and healing effect.
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