Stroke and Chicken Wings
How sick is it that the very foods we eat to celebrate life can cause an early death? Is it only a coincidence that the city that celebrates with foods like “Buffalo Chicken Wings” has a high incidence of cardiac problems? News channels think it is funny to show people stuffing Buffalo wings down their throats to win a prize for the most chicken wings downed in a given time span. This same city has hospitals with people lined up waiting for by-pass surgery and stroke victims hoping to hang on a little longer. “Celebratory eating” as I refer to it, is the cause for countless victims of heart disease - related to clogged arteries - brought on by eating the wrong foods and mixing it with a joyous occasion.
New York state seems bent on eliminating redundancy in its health service industry - namely hospitals. Without regard to the distance between patients and emergency critical care, they arbitrarily decide to shut down hospitals and dictate the conditions. No matter that one hospital is government subsidized and the other is privately owned. No matter that the lives of hundreds of thousands of people will be affected and health care workers will be strewn across the state. What does this have to do with chicken wings? We don’t care about the cause, so look at the statistics:
In May 2007, the Stroke Care Center released the stats on Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital. The stated goal of this report is to raise public awareness about stroke risk factors as a part of National Stroke Awareness Month. The statistics are frightening, especially when you realize that the time between having a stroke and getting professional care is critical to survival. The Stroke census: 2005 - 35 discharges per month and in 2006 - 80 discharges per month. The TIA census shows 2005 - 12 discharges per month and 2006 - 20 discharges per month. It is interesting to take note of the age categories of the patients: 2005: 18 - 45, 27 discharges per month and in 2006: ages 15 - 45 indicates 50 discharges per month. In 2005 in the age group 46 - 65 there were 121 discharges per month and in 2006 the same age group showed 219 discharges per month. In the age group 66 - 85 we had 288 discharges per month in 2005 and 512 discharges per month in 2006. In 2005 those patients over 86 showed 72 discharges per month and in 2006 there were 142 discharges of patients over 86 years old. One thing stands out -- we are increasing almost 100% in one year the number of discharges due to stroke.
No-where in the report was there any reference to the causal relationship between stroke and the foods we continue to consider recreational eating. Young people can’t help but consider chicken wings, pizza, hot dogs and sausage as “fun foods.” Role models for healthy lifestyles are rarely recognized nor are they featured in the news reports.
I suggest we place a restaurant offering healthy foods overlooking tennis courts filled with senior citizens between the ages of 60 and 90. The people eating would never think of playing tennis, especially in this age group. Of course, if they were to consider the energetic play and the healthy bodies of these seniors, it might enter their mind that living longer doesn’t have to be dull. How valuable would it be if we knew what these people did to live so long and so well? What kind of wisdom would we find if reporters were to interview these seniors to find out more about the healthy body, mind and spirit? Well, that is just what we are going to do and have been doing for over two decades, and now we look to launch just such a program.
The “baby boomers” are losing the race for longevity because they forgot to check the fuel gage and the quality of the foods they consumed. We want to start the youngest at 4 years of age and make a concentrated effort to keep the oldest members of our society out of a “wheelchair city.” Since we are doing so poorly at cures, we might look at prevention.
Lifestyle changes include the foods we eat, the games we play, the work we do, the community we live in, the spiritual side of our existence and the friends we keep. It includes the fun we have, the jokes we tell and the laughter and handshakes we experience. It will revolutionize health care in America. Getting older doesn’t have to mean boredom, depression, nursing homes and frustrated children trying to make you happy. The secret is that only you can change that, but we are going to do better at giving you the information you need to live a happier, healthier, longer life while keeping you sharp mentally and physically.
One thought, one mind, one vision and one leader can change all of this, but not without you. So make the effort to do just one push-up - the one you do when you push yourself up and out of your rocker-recliner and take that first step towards a better life.
New York state seems bent on eliminating redundancy in its health service industry - namely hospitals. Without regard to the distance between patients and emergency critical care, they arbitrarily decide to shut down hospitals and dictate the conditions. No matter that one hospital is government subsidized and the other is privately owned. No matter that the lives of hundreds of thousands of people will be affected and health care workers will be strewn across the state. What does this have to do with chicken wings? We don’t care about the cause, so look at the statistics:
In May 2007, the Stroke Care Center released the stats on Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital. The stated goal of this report is to raise public awareness about stroke risk factors as a part of National Stroke Awareness Month. The statistics are frightening, especially when you realize that the time between having a stroke and getting professional care is critical to survival. The Stroke census: 2005 - 35 discharges per month and in 2006 - 80 discharges per month. The TIA census shows 2005 - 12 discharges per month and 2006 - 20 discharges per month. It is interesting to take note of the age categories of the patients: 2005: 18 - 45, 27 discharges per month and in 2006: ages 15 - 45 indicates 50 discharges per month. In 2005 in the age group 46 - 65 there were 121 discharges per month and in 2006 the same age group showed 219 discharges per month. In the age group 66 - 85 we had 288 discharges per month in 2005 and 512 discharges per month in 2006. In 2005 those patients over 86 showed 72 discharges per month and in 2006 there were 142 discharges of patients over 86 years old. One thing stands out -- we are increasing almost 100% in one year the number of discharges due to stroke.
No-where in the report was there any reference to the causal relationship between stroke and the foods we continue to consider recreational eating. Young people can’t help but consider chicken wings, pizza, hot dogs and sausage as “fun foods.” Role models for healthy lifestyles are rarely recognized nor are they featured in the news reports.
I suggest we place a restaurant offering healthy foods overlooking tennis courts filled with senior citizens between the ages of 60 and 90. The people eating would never think of playing tennis, especially in this age group. Of course, if they were to consider the energetic play and the healthy bodies of these seniors, it might enter their mind that living longer doesn’t have to be dull. How valuable would it be if we knew what these people did to live so long and so well? What kind of wisdom would we find if reporters were to interview these seniors to find out more about the healthy body, mind and spirit? Well, that is just what we are going to do and have been doing for over two decades, and now we look to launch just such a program.
The “baby boomers” are losing the race for longevity because they forgot to check the fuel gage and the quality of the foods they consumed. We want to start the youngest at 4 years of age and make a concentrated effort to keep the oldest members of our society out of a “wheelchair city.” Since we are doing so poorly at cures, we might look at prevention.
Lifestyle changes include the foods we eat, the games we play, the work we do, the community we live in, the spiritual side of our existence and the friends we keep. It includes the fun we have, the jokes we tell and the laughter and handshakes we experience. It will revolutionize health care in America. Getting older doesn’t have to mean boredom, depression, nursing homes and frustrated children trying to make you happy. The secret is that only you can change that, but we are going to do better at giving you the information you need to live a happier, healthier, longer life while keeping you sharp mentally and physically.
One thought, one mind, one vision and one leader can change all of this, but not without you. So make the effort to do just one push-up - the one you do when you push yourself up and out of your rocker-recliner and take that first step towards a better life.
posted by Stan Kent at
9:52 PM
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