Interrupt conversations and you’ll be 7 times more likely to get heart disease

Interrupt conversations and you’ll be 7 times more likely to get heart disease

RECENTLY I received in the mail a free promotional issue of Bottom Line/Health magazine or newsletter. I usually receive health or wellness materials and newsletters in the mail. Having subscribed to some of them in the past, my name must now be in the mailing lists of dozens of health-related marketing organizations.
This last one caught my attention because it contained pieces of revealing information you will rarely find in the newspapers and magazines.

Here’s one. People who interrupt conversations are at greater risk for heart problems. This is according to several university studies in the United States. In fact in a study at Duke University it was found that if you interrupt conversations you are up to 7 times more likely to have heart disease.

Why? The theory is that people who interrupt are excessively “competitive and controlling” considered the hallmarks of “the worst ‘Type A’ personalities.”

Now I quote the more interesting part of the story:

“Now here’s the amazing part: These high-risk people can lower their risk without totally altering their personalities… and without any drugs, exercise or dietary changes. All they have to do is practice being good listeners.

“In one study, the test subjects focused on being silent while others talked.

“Result: They lowered both their blood pressure and their stress hormone levels!”

So next time you feel that urge to interrupt somebody who’s talking, suppress that urge. You’ll not only be seen as a polite good listener. You’ll also be greatly reducing your risk for a heart attack.

Here’s another one. Don’t use your cell phone before bedtime. “A study at the University of Zurich found that exposing people to the electro-magnetic fields from cell phones altered their brain waves during sleep… resulting in sleep disturbances!”

Here’s a shocking information: A recent survey in the U.S. revealed that MORE THAN HALF of pharmacists “admitted they’d filled the wrong prescription due to a doctor’s sloppy handwriting!”

Some mistakes are corrected in time to save the patient but the others result in injury and even death. The newsletter states that in the U.S. “drug errors account for 140,000 deaths per year!”

So what to do? The story advised that next time your doctor writes a prescription for you or your kids, ask him to spell it out so you can write it down together with the dosage and schedule. When the pharmacist gives you the drug, compare the label with your note.

* * *

Talking about drug errors and deaths caused by them, I recently received an email from the country director of Nikken Philippines, Emil Quinto, quoting a paper/article from Life Extension Magazine, March 2004 issue. The magazine is published by Life Extension Foundation, based in the U.S., whose main objective is to contribute to the extension of the healthy life span of people. (Check their website, www.lef.org)

The paper “Death by Medicine” is the work of a group of researchers, three MDs and two PhDs, who “analyzed and combined ALL the published literature dealing with injuries and deaths caused by government-protected medicine.”

I quote from William Falloon who in the foundation website quoted a portion of the 30-page study that had 160 documented references:

“This fully referenced report shows the number of people having in-hospital, adverse reactions to prescribed drugs to be 2.2 million per year. The number of unnecessary antibiotics prescribed annually for viral infections is 20 million. The number of unnecessary medical and surgical procedures performed annually is 7.5 million. The number of people exposed to unnecessary hospitalization annually is 8.9 million.”

The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an outstanding 783,936 per year. It is now evident that the American medical system is the leading cause of death and injury in the US. (By contrast, the number of deaths attributable to heart disease in 2001 was 699,697, while the number of deaths attributable to cancer was 553,251.5.)

To put this statistic in perspective, the report states: “Our estimated 10-year total of 7.8 million iatrogenic* deaths is more than all the casualties from all the wars fought by the U.S. throughout its entire history. (*What’s iatrogenesis? From the Greek roots, iatros = doctor; genesis = caused.)

More from this shocking report next issue. In the meantime, please share this knowledge with your family and loved ones. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not bashing doctors or the drug industry. I’m only highlighting disturbing revelations from the scientific studies of some American medical doctors and PhDs. Studies that challenge our old notions like let the experts do the work, hence, leave your health to your doctor.
Throughout the years I have developed the belief that you have only one body and your body is the only place you have to live in. So why not take charge and take care of it yourself?