Exercise Injuries:
Risk Factors, Prevention, and Treatment

Well, if you are like most other people, you too started out a couple of months ago with a New Year's resolution to improve your health and get back into working out. However, along the way you unfortunately may have encountered some set backs in your exercise regimen, namely injury. Below is a reference for exercise-induced injuries. Look to see if your specific problem is listed and remember to see a physician as necessary.

Spirituality: Physicians Integrating Faith Into Clinical Practice

First and foremost, it is absolutely necessary for us, as clinicians, to ask about the patient's religious and spiritual beliefs. This is very helpful in not only learning what psychological/spiritual approaches might be useful for this patient, but we can also determine if there are some religious restrictions on how this patient will allow us to treat him/her. For instance, some religions restrict us from transfusing blood products into the patient. Obviously, it would be beneficial for the clinician to have some knowledge of this before the transfusion begins. Other religious practices might be the avoidance of anesthesia or the avoidance of antibiotics. Nonetheless, it is important to understand any religious beliefs that might restrict our treatment of the patient.

Knowing the religious beliefs of a patient can also be a distinct advantage in obtaining adherence from patients. By being flexible and even knowledgeable about a patient's particular spiritual outlook, we can implement a treatment that provides a union of the medicinal aspect with the spiritual. For instance, a patient with a Buddhist perspective might be more inclined to comply with a medication regimen if we say, "I would like for you to take this pill 3 times a day with the last pill taken just before your meditation session." By mentioning their faith as part of the treatment, we further validate our role as a knowledgeable, caring physician. Finally, by incorporating the patient's faith into part of his/her treatment, we can help provide that link to that intangible force that provides for some miraculous recoveries. Many cases have been written and spoken of that refer to patients whom should have no hope of recovery yet, the patients miraculously turn around. Oftentimes, these patients are those that are very spiritual. The very popular Deepak Chopra writes and speaks of many such cases where he felt he could do no more as a physician, but he could aid the patient emotionally and spiritually by having them perform meditations and other Eastern religious practices. Sometimes these patient would recover from metastatic cancer or serious septic disease spontaneously. Who knows what the reason is, but faith may be at least partly responsible for their recovery, but maybe it is. Maybe, we all can try to become a little more responsive to the spiritual well being of our patients when we start to practice and maybe our patients will be better off.

Nutrition Tips to Fight Off Extra Pounds

As you are well aware, Spring is nearly here. That means that it is time to shed some of the "extra insulation" that has accumulated over the winter months. As you look forward to Spring, the following advice about eating "good" will be helpful in your struggle against fat:

• Drink at least 64 ounces of water each day. Don't eat dinner until you've finished drinking your daily water requirement.
• No counter eating, couch eating, car eating, and so forth.
• Keep healthy foods like fruit or vegetables handy in the refrigerator. Eat only if hungry.
• Soups are a great meal that are tasty and health (however, watch canned soups due to salt).
• If you are going to a restaurant, decide ahead of time what you will likely eat and stick to it.
• Watch food labels. Foods with a high percentage of fat or carbohydrates that are sugars will slow down your weight loss program. Don't just count grams, but instead determine the percentage of total calories that are fat or sugars.
• Never starve yourself, especially before going to eat or you will likely binge. Also, don't skip meals. Without proper nourishment, your starvation defenses will kick in, lower your metabolism, and store fat.
• Don't think that just because you are eating low fat/low calorie foods that you can eat all that you want. The calories still add up and must be burned off regardless of what kind of food you eat. Balance is the key.
• Trim all fats from meats and remove skin from chicken.
• Make your shopping lists in advance and don't shop while hungry.

Source: Fitness, Nutrition, and Wellness. The Internet's Fitness Resource

The Secret to a Happy Marriage?
Men, Just Give In

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times quotes research conducted by John Gottman of the University of Washington who studied 130 newlywed couples for six years in an effort to find ways to predict marital success and failure.

The best predictor of marital success was not the couple's use of active listening skills, instead, the marriages that did work well had the following thing in common: the husband was willing to give in to the wife. Gottman states: "We found that only those newlywed men who are accepting of influence from their wives are ending up in happy, stable marriages."

"For women, those who couched their complaints in a gentle, soothing, perhaps even humorous approach to the husband were more likely to have happy marriages than those who were more belligerent," said the article.

Rich Lichti, Emily Richardson, Reagan Yee, Emile Wakim, Kim King, Amy Kelly, Jen Dunn, Rob Cina

Wellness Committees

Spirituality - Tom Hansen, Christie Michels, Joann Jackson, Emily Banset, Laura Graeff

Exercise/Fitness - Suzy McNulty, Dan Reeves, Derek Gordon, Temple Brannan, Justin Tobias, Michelle Anthony

Nutrition - Katie Campuzano, Brian Williams, Jason Reuter, Dawn Swimm, Justin Kirven, Martin Janout

Mental Health - Jennifer Brown, Lori Borella, David Vasconcellos, Jane McCabe, Kyle Stanosheck, Mike McGurren, Neal Osborn

Relationships - Nancy Koster, John Schrader, Michelle Hunke-Daffer, Lynne McKeown

News and Events