Stress In Childhood Can Impact Health Long Into Adulthood

The ways in which childhood trauma and abuse can impact a person's health for years to come is a disturbing idea to contemplate. We would like to believe that once a child has left an abusive or stressful home they can then begin to live a healthier and happier life. Unfortunately, the long term effects of abuse can last long after the abuse has ended.

A recently published article in the health section of the BBC, has revealed several studies showing the long term effects of poverty and childhood stress on overall health for years to come.

Childhood stress, abuse and poverty, were found to increase a person's risk for cardiovascular disease, inflammation, high blood pressure and a host of other diseases. Childhood abuse and poverty has also been associated with long term stress in social situations; which can increase blood pressure and have a negative impact on health.

Research shows that children who survive childhood abuse and neglect are at greater risk of incarceration, drug abuse, suicide, relationship instability, shortened life span, and illiteracy.

The role of a Naturopath is to treat both the cause of disease and to encourage preventative measures be taken to insure people remain healthy. Having said that, it seems obvious to me that health care practitioners, or anyone who is concerned with public health, should take an active role in education and advocacy for policy changes necessary to reduce the risk of childhood neglect and abuse; which has such long term negative impacts on public health over all.

Alternative health care offers hope and education to people wishing to improve their health and well being, and I do not wish to suggest that their are no options to survivors of abuse to recover and improve their health. Rather, I would suggest that health care providers cannot address the idea of preventative health care; if that discussion does not address social inequality and its impact on public health.

Pacific Northwest Restaurants Make Local Fresh Cuisine An Art Form

Having just returned from a one-week stint in the Pacific Northwest I can say emphatically that there was no lack of great restaurants in that part of the world. Both my fiance and myself traveled to Oregon to attend the 25 annual AANP Convention, and also took some time to enjoy a little tourism. The most exciting development I have seen, from an environmental and health standpoint, is the creation of several restaurants that serve local, fresh, and whenever possible, organic cuisine.

Probably the best restaurant we ate at was located in the beautiful small town of Astoria Oregon. Astoria has a rich history (and once made the bulk of its money from the generous Columbia Salmon run that was once teeming with fresh fish). Unfortunately, like many business that are based on natural resources, the economy experienced a boom and then bust collapse leaving many locals out of work. And now, Astoria has reinvented itself and become a sleepy and beautiful tourist town with great local restaurants and artist.

When you do visit Astoria Oregon, be sure to visit on a Sunday, if you can, so that you can enjoy a walk through the local Sunday Market. And then afterward, visit the Restaurant Clemente’s for lunch. The owners, Gordan and Lisa Clemente, buy their vegetables and fish from local businesses and never freeze anything. The food is always fresh, preferably caught or picked that very day (the fish we had eaten for lunch, had been caught by Lisa’s brother that very morning). And the delicious salad we ate contained vegetables grown from the local family farm.

With out a doubt, the food was the best I have ever had and the attention and respect that the chef (Lisa prepared our meal), gave to every detail of the meal was exceptional. Afterwards, Lisa came and spoke to us about her vision of creating an excellent restaurant that incorporated local organic food with minimal negative impact on the earth. Another great thing about the restaurant was the local art. Clemente’s makes an effort to exhibit and promote the works of local artist (many of whom are quite exceptional).

A similar great meal was also had when we visited a local restaurant in Portland Oregon a few Days later. We chose to eat at a local gem called The Farm. This restaurant also has its produce, cheese and meats supplied by local businesses. The concept of both of these great restaurants is to attempt to minimize the environmental impact of shipping food from far away. Instead, both these restaurants attempt to buy within 50 miles of their location. They buy organic whenever possible. The impact on the environment is far less damaging and the food itself is much fresher and healthier then the food you would otherwise get at a more conventional restaurant. The great thing about this type of eating is that you are not only helping to support local businesses, and the environment, but you are having a meal that is having far less of a damaging impact on the environment and far better for your health over all.

How the City of Los Angeles Took The Life Of My Friends Dog

My friends dog Blue died last week. She was buried in a private ceremony at the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park in Calabasas, California. I believe her life was taken by living in the city of Los Angeles.

Blue was a great dog. She was a smart and affectionate Siberian Husky who could speak on command and always knew where I hid the dog treats; that I kept for her when she came to visit me at my job. But Blue became a victim of Los Angeles in what became a tragic disease caused by being a resident of Los Angeles, the victim of its toxic exterior. You see, Blue died from Carcinogenic lung cancer, due to long term exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment (it goes without saying that Blue did not smoke cigarettes-and for the record neither did her owner).

Carcinogenic forms of lung cancer are on the rise in our pets, and in case you think that does not effect you, think again. They are dieing because they are breathing the same air that we are. Like the canaries that use to be brought into the coal mines to warn of poor air quality, our pets are contracting the diseases that we are destined to contract years later. Indeed, had Blue lived in a city with cleaner air quality and better environmental policies, like Portland Oregon for example, there is a real chance that my friend's dog Blue might still be alive today.

Unfortunately for Blue, she lived in a toxic city. A city that saw such bad air quality last year that, during the ever reliable annual Los Angeles's fire season, the city became such a thick airless dingy blanket of smog, lasting for weeks, it made life in the city virtually uninhabitable. In response, those residents of Los Angeles that could afford to, piled into cars and planes and began clamoring out of the city in droves in a desperate attempt to find air. And those of us that stayed, tried to find solace in the nearest oxygen bar.

The concerns about air quality and its effects on health are not a new subject for health care practitioners, (or anyone concerned with social justice and inequality as it pertains to health) a considerable amount of data has been collected on the correlation between poor air quality, poverty, and illness. What concerns me is how the residents of Los Angeles have learned to adapt and accept conditions which are, for the most part, unbearable.

Indeed, the burden of the city is so great, it has grown increasingly more difficult for most residents to live here. And we are growing accustomed to it. We have grown accustomed to two-hour commutes on roads that have grown increasingly dangerous and dilapidated. We have grown accustomed to dangerous drivers that ignore the recent ban on using cell phones while driving. And spend more time looking at their navigational systems then looking at the road they are suppose to be driving on.

We have grown accustomed to ignoring and being ignored. We have grown accustomed to becoming annoyed by the countless homeless veterans and mentally ill displaced persons we see every day on our streets. Our annoyance replaces what should have, and what might have, once passed for human compassion. In a city filled with people that spend more time concerning themselves with celebrity gossip then the welfare of our citizens. And we have grown accustomed to that as well.

We have grown tolerant of a level of rudeness that is completely unacceptable in any society with even a minimal understanding of propriety and decency. In my practice, I have gotten use to treating patients that hold up their hands to silence me mid-sentence while they talk to a faceless someone on the other end of their cell phone. I have gotten use to people walking away from me while delivering the patient's treatment plan as they respond to a text message. And I have grown accustomed to a city so toxic, it continues to leave its soiled footprints on every aspect of our health and the health of our pets.

So while we vote in the next election, and begin to contemplate who will hold California's next governor's and senate seats, I hope when we cast our ballots we take a moment to think about the toll Los Angeles is taking on our health, and the toll it could take on our futures if things don't begin to change soon. As for me, I plan on thinking of my friends pet Husky. Her name was Blue, she was a great dog and great companion, and I miss her greatly.