Dakota Beacon

FIT FOR LIFE Remember how Mom used to harp about a healthy life style? “Go out and play.” “Eat your spinach.” “No more candy.” She taught us to take care of ourselves through healthy choices. Exercise, diet and weight control are front and center as never before. Taking Mom’s intentions to heart, it’s wise to ease back into these healthy habits if we’ve been dormant. Play it safe and check with your doctor first. That said, physical therapists and physicians suggest a comprehensive way of determining fitness along the lines that Mom taught us. It encompasses diet and weight control, flexibility, muscle strength, endurance and cardio-respiratory (CR) efficiency. Of these, CR and weight control are most important. CR is critical for life. It comprises the respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. The lungs take in oxygen and the heart, arteries and vessels carry blood, with oxygen and nutrients, to the body. If the cardiac system fails the result is a heart attack. If the vascular system fails oxygen won’t reach the brain and results in a stroke. That’s basically what the layman needs to know. So how do you strengthen your CR system to work efficiently? Diligently and routinely exercise while monitoring your target heart rate. Swimming, jogging and team sports will do. Walking, however, is cheap, easy and available. Why the infatuation with walking? People hike for health, saunter for serenity and ramble for recreation. That’s the magic of walking. A good aerobic response may be achieved by exercising at your target heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes each day. First, determine your maximum heart rate. Do this by subtracting your age from 220. If you are 60 years old, your maximum heart rate will be 160 beats per minute (bpm). Next, calculate your target heart rate. Your target heart rate is between 60 and 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Continuing with our example of a 60 year old person, multiply 160 bpm by 0.6 and 0.8 respectively producing two figures: 96 bpm and 128 bpm. Our example target heart rate falls between 96 and 128 bpm. Check your pulse as you exercise with the objective of achieving your target heart rate. Count your heartbeats for 15 seconds then multiply by 4 to determine your beats bpm. You may find another pleasing indicator. Your weight might begin to drop if you maintain a 2200 calorie per day diet. A word to the wise. Restrict alcohol consumption and cease tobacco use. Substance abuse does not make you a better you. Enough said. Why all the hoopla? The new normal is coming and doctoring as usual is about to change. With Medicare reimbursements to doctors on the chopping block and an existing doctor shortage to treat an aging population, can rationed health care be far behind? Details continue to dribble out of the 1017 page health care bill, H.R. 3200, a copy of which may be viewed on the internet at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.+3200: The legislation may also be tracked at http://www.thepeopledecide.us:80/?bid=240. Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, published in the New York Times Magazine on July 19, 2009, an article titled “Why We Must Ration Health Care.” It is an eloquent case for restricting the health care we would normally expect. Singer’s article may be viewed at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19healthcare-t.html. I don’t buy the argument that the government can add 40 million uninsured people to the health care system, cut the total cost and not go into debt. A growing nameless, faceless bureaucracy representing Treasury (IRS), Health and Human Services and other federal agencies will set the guidelines for care rendered in doctor-patient decisions. The guidelines will be enforced by the states. Key in the cost control debate will be the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative-Effectiveness Research. That agency will establish additional guidelines for rationing health care on a cost effectiveness basis. Is there such a “crisis” in health care that a $2 to $3 trillion health care bill must be rushed through in a mere couple of weeks? Isn’t it worth reading and understanding our national obligation? Maybe those who are rushing the bill are afraid the public will find out what is in the bill. At this rate, the federal government will be able to control every aspect of our behavior under the guise of health and safety. As a measure of excellence, rest assured no congressman or senator will relinquish their own lucrative health care plan to live with what they are legislating for the rest of us. By the time our kids realize what we’ve done to them, we will have become a nation of indentured servants to our own government. Stay fit, feel fine and enjoy life. No one lives forever, but no one should die by committee. Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).