What do you think of CVS not selling cigs? Did they read the new WHO cancer report?

So, I read an article during my lunch break that was very startling and it had to do with cancer.

A report that recently came out from WHO or the World Health Organization stated that they believe that the cancer rate will increase by 57% in the next 20 years. That would mean that the amount of cases of cancer would rise from 14 million to 22 million.

Experts are saying more and more that it will be impossible to "treat our way out of cancer." I would assume that they mean that the rate at which cancer is being diagnosed is far faster than any treatments can be developed to keep in under control or possibly stop/reverse it.

There are some positives and in the essence of being fair, some of the statistics that explain this information have some caveats. For example, we have to take into account larger populations who are living longer and also have to do with a much larger elderly population. More people are living longer which means the statistical rate at which larger/longer living populations will get cancer, increases with it.

However, they state that the two MAIN ways that we can curb this cancer rate are listed as reducing alcohol consumption and curbing obesity rates. They state that 1/3 of the most common cancers could be prevented through maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Novel idea, huh?

The leading cause of cancer in the world, according to this report, remains to be lung cancer caused by the inhalation of carcinogens. AKA- smoking. These cases equal 1.8 million cases a year most of which are fatal diagnosis with 1.6 million of those cases causing death. It still boggles my mind why anyone would take up this habit to begin with, knowing that it has 0 health benefits and does nothing but kill you. For those who say "it's a stress reliever" well so is yoga and meditation, those can be done for free and make you healthier instead of slowly killing you.

So, that is the perfect segway into the big news that hit today about CVS. CVS announced that they will be halting the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products starting October 1st in an effort to remain true to their credo of helping people live healthier lives. Some say it's a re branding campaign, probably some components of both.

On a personal note, my own company will be going smoke free in 2015. This means that no one is allowed to smoke anywhere on the property. As a non-smoker that makes me happy to hear that I don't have to breath in nasty, stale cigarette air. Obviously though, I am biased.

I give a huge thumbs up to CVS for taking this stance for 2 reasons. The first reason being that they are actually one of the few companies who is willing to put their beliefs and credo above profits. It is estimated that they will lose 1-2 billion dollars a year in revenue.

The second reason being that they are trying to help people make good decisions about their health. With the cancer reports findings, it looks like we could use some help!

However, not everyone is happy about this. While the majority of people that I have seen approve of the decision and see it's healthful impact, others are not pleased. Look at some of the tweets that you can find if you search the public #CVS hashtag.

Eric Shapiro ‏@EricShapiro3 4h

It's not the role of drugstore chains to cure bad habits & it's not "courageous" to be a corporate busybody. #cvs

Emily! ‏@EmilyF_NC 2m

If #cvs was interested in consumer health, half their store wouldn't be taken up by Russell Stover this week. I'm not buying it @morningmika

 

Oz Banks ‏@ozbanks1 5m

In protest, I'm chain smoking in front of every CVS in town while lighting homeless, elderly, and children on fire! #CVS #FightThePower

 

So, with new ads coming out to turn off teen smokers, cigarettes being taxes at a higher rate, no smoking in bars/entryways,restaurants and now major retailers refusing to sell them - what will happen to tobacco? Will we actually manage to move towards a society where lung cancer rates bottom out? Will we be healthier as a whole?

I don't know but I for one am happy to see ANY movement towards a healthier America. Now if we can get people moving and eating better - we will live forever! Mwahaha!

My 1st Experience with Acupuncture! Healing Hands Clinic

Hello all!

I am so pumped to write this blog post because recently, I got the opportunity to try something I have never, ever encountered before. I recently was provided the opportunity to try a new avenue in the health and wellness community...Acupuncture!

Andrea Maria Perullo de Ledesma, L.Ac., M.S. is probably one of the most impressive women I have ever met in my life. Not only does she speak several different languages but she has more than 5 years of education in medicine, Asian studies and experience in South Africa and China treating auto-immune disorders and HIV/Aids with Acupuncture. She has been running her own Acupuncture clinic for 6 years in Charlotte and offered to teach me more about it.

Andi talked to me about the real history surrounding Acupuncture including history about it's basis in Chinese history. Here are some of the things that I learned:

• Each organ is associated with an emotion and a color
• Your energy is supposed to flow downward through your body
• Your spirit is called your "shen"
• There are 12 meridians in the body that are associated with different organs
• The tongue and the pulse can tell an Acupuncturist a lot about your health!
• There are 3 pulse points in both wrists that correspond to different organs

Ok, so here was my experience. Andi sat down with me and talked about my medical history and the issues I was having that could be helped through Acupuncture. I discussed with her that I had A LOT of stress in the past month and that I have asthma.

She felt my pulse in both wrists and told me that my pulse is strong but "wirey" which made sense because that corresponds with stress. Also, she said that I have a "rebellious Qi" which means that your energy is running in the wrong direction.

The 3 pulse points correspond like this:

 



She also took a look at my tongue and told me 3 things:

1. I have a scalloped tongue which means that I have digestive issues

2. I have a strong crack in my tongue that indicates I could have problems with acid reflux

3. I have a coated tongue which also could show digestive issues or food sensitivities

 

So, because of what we discovered that because of my stress and asthma it corresponds to the liver and lungs. The liver is affiliated with the color green and gets thrown off by stress and anger. The lungs are affiliated with the color white and is associated with grief.

 

Once we talked about all of these things, I laid on the table and Andi placed the needles. The most awesome part was that I didn't even feel the needles going in! What I did feel was a slight tingling sensation through my extremities. Probably the weirdest part was that there was a needle that was put right at the top of my head!

 

 

 

She explained to me that I would need to lay and relax, meditating or sleeping for about 45 minutes. The time went so fast and I felt myself falling into a really deep relaxed state. I was aware and conscious but was so relaxed, I didn't want to move.

 

 

 

She removed the needles very quickly after the 45 minutes and put a delicious smelling oil on my head. As I slowly got up, I realized that I had a bit of queasiness in my stomach but besides that I felt so Zen and relaxed.

 

Aside from stress and asthma, I talked to Andi about the other things she treats with Acupuncture and she said that she works with a lot of women with fertility issues and has helped over 50 women get pregnant. She can also help with sports injuries, chronic pain and a slew of other things.

 

I highly recommend Acupuncture to others and especially Healing Hands Clinic with Andi. She was awesome, explained everything to me and made sure I had an excellent experience.