LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Fitness: |
by Rick Moore |
Have you ever read or seen anything that would make you so shocked or amazed that your only reaction is "ohmygawd?" Well, that's what this column is about. It's usually stuff that's out of the norm, and there seems to be a lot of that lately. But you know what? I kind of like it. Some of it is useless trivia and some is very useful information. So let's get to it. Remember last month's column on SARS? Now that the war is wound down, it's hopped up into one of the top stories on the news every day, and it's more serious now. It's about to hit the U.S. as predicted. As of now, the cities of Buffalo and Detroit are on alert for SARS carriers from Canada. It seems Toronto (their close neighbor) was hit particularly hard with the virus, and now our border patrols are on special alert. SARS is devastating the economies of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and others where the cost is in the billions of dollars. This is very serious. Even the Far East's largest airline, Cathay Pacific, is in danger of going bankrupt due to lost business. And the list of casualties keeps growing. We'll keep you updated on the latest in future columns. Here's a very interesting piece of info that will make your jaw drop. It comes from Time magazine's "numbers column" of facts. Did you know that the time it took to identify the virus that causes SARS was 8 days, but it took 3 years to identify HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That's one to really make you think. And while we're talking about viruses and epidemics, this jaw dropper comes from the Wall Street Journal. A story out of the Netherlands describes the investigation by Dutch health officials into the death of a 57 year old veterinarian. It's believed that he is the first human victim of a current bird flu epidemic that is devastating the bird and poultry industry in Europe. As many as 50 million chickens and turkeys have been slaughtered since the avian flu struck the region in late February. Officials said that there is a small possibility the disease could mutate and jump to humans...Do you think? The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has declined to comment. And now to the lighter side of "ohmygawd." CNN had a story that stated that many common surgeries were really not necessary. I guess it's the reverse of the old saying, "when in doubt, take it out." Not so, anymore. It seems that some surgeries, like sinus operations, can do more harm than good. And that even slicing into the back can speed up the onset of arthritis. Often an organ that is injured will recover on its own. So instead of having a kidney removed after a car accident, it's much better to leave it alone to recover by itself. The same goes for the liver. A study at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore studied 3,000 patients with severe leg and back pain for 2 years. The usual approved treatment would be to give the patients 2 weeks to feel better, or else face an operation. But in 86% of the injured patients, they got better on their own. Now it took a much longer time (1-3 months) to recover, but they did recover. In fact, the longer the injured person waited, the better. Instead of back or leg surgery, the patients elected to do exercises to build up strength. The same could be said for arthritic knees. Anti-inflammatory medicines, weight loss (if overweight) and exercise help a lot. Surgery is not the only alternative. Why the big breakthrough? Well, doctors now have such advanced technology like the CT scan and ultrasound to help monitor the patient much more closely without resorting to surgery. I bet the insurance companies are loving this. From WBOC news in Salisbury, I learned that obesity is out of control in Delaware. Really? Take a look around at the shopping malls, grocery stores, restaurants, and outlets. What do you see? Yes, it ain't pretty. In fact, years ago I wrote several columns on the predicament of being overweight or obese in this state and county. And what are we doing to correct it? Not much, I'm afraid. We still super-size our meals. An article in Weight Watchers magazine stated that our portion sizes just keep growing and growing. And that keeps us growing and growing. For example, they described what happened at a little league baseball game. There were angry coffee customers who were outraged that they were being served their coffee in 8 oz. cups. Now that's a standard size serving, folks. These people were used to their Starbucks 16 or 20 oz. cups. The concession stand staff was verbally abused by almost everyone for "cheating" them out of their usual size serving. Like I said, the FDA actually considers 8 fluid ounces of water, coffee, milk, soda, and other beverages as a standard serving size. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that between 1977 and 1998, the average portion size increased for most of the popular foods studied, including desserts, salty snacks, soft drinks, fruit drinks, French fries (Freedom fries!) burgers, tacos and burritos. And now we have something we call "portion distortion." Want some examples? A brownie recipe that appeared in the 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking yielded 30 servings. The same recipe today yields only 16 servings. More proof? A 1984 toll house cookie recipe yielded 100 servings. The same recipe today calls for 60 servings. In 1954, Burger King restaurants offered a burger that weighed 3.9 oz.the only size they had. Today, Burger King Whoppers weigh a whopping 9.9 oz. And Coca Cola doesn't get off that easily, either. The only size Coke offered back in 1910 was 6.5 oz. Today, you can get a Coke that is 34 oz. In 1955, McDonald's regular (and only) size fries weighed 2.4 oz. Today the "supersize" fries weigh 7.1 oz. Are you adding this up? When we hear the news reports that Delawareand for that matter the entire U.S.is obese, is it any wonder? We eat too much of the wrong things, and we don't get enough exercise. The next time you go to the beach, count how many people are overweight, then count how many are in shape. Which category do you fit into? "Ohmygawd." Rick Moore is a personal trainer certified by the American Fitness Professionals & Associates. Visit him at www.ricksfitness.net, or call 302-684-0316. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 13, No.4, May 2, 2003. |