Today, I diagnosed metastatic cancer in a new patient who had just come to see me. I had to tell this young, beautiful, vibrant woman that did not not have long to live, perhaps a few months. There was nothing I could do for her. All I could do was to tell her that I cared for her. I could show her my professional “love.” My consultation report was faxed to the patient’s referring primary physician, and an hour later, the physician called me, in disbelief. Together on the phone, we could only share a sense of profound loss.
You might read this and think: Love is useless in this case. Love will not cure her cancer, nor will love protect her from the pain and suffering that is imminent. And you would be absolutely correct. But what is the alternative to love? Is it hate? Is it apathy?
When I was younger, I used to consider that only actions and accomplishments are truly useful. You can list them, objectively and concretely. You can measure productivity and compare the results to other people’s activities. But when there is no useful action, as in this case, is there nothing left but despair? When someone hurts you, is there nothing to do but retaliate? Medically, it has been shown that hate hurts you physically just as much, if not more, than the person you hate. Scientifically, it has been shown that despair pains you mentally just as much, if not more, than actual bodily trauma.
So, should you choose “love”, because it is the lesser of two evils? Well, I certainly do not think so. As I get older and accumulate more knowledge and experience, I realize more how little control I have over life in general. Maybe you did not have a good childhood, perhaps people have done horrible things to you, natural disasters occur, and now you are helpless.
Please realize that the only thing you have under your control is how you feel and how you will react to external events. Unless you have a psychiatric illness, you can choose to “love” or you can choose to “hate.” None of us lives forever. Do you want to wait until you’re lying on your deathbed before you think “maybe I should have been nicer to this person or to that person?” Or do you want to evaluate every day of your life whether you have contributed in some way some love to the world that day? I offer you my humble opinion that “Love is THE answer – every day of the year!”
Posts tagged ‘Every’
A recent study shows that exercise every day and get some sun can Reduce breast cancer risk for 50%. The report was published in the “American Journal of Epidemiology” This study found the participants go out to enjoy the sunshine every day, Not less than 21 hours, Reduce 26% of breast cancer risk, Why does the sun will reduce breast cancer?
The researchers analyzed that Although the deep sea oily fish, milk, eggs and other food contains vitamin D, But about 90 percent of vitamin D is produced By skin contact solar UV. A number of laboratory tests showed that vitamin D can be transformed into an anti-cancer hormone by breast cancer cells. Adult intake 2000-4000 IU of vitamin D daily can increase blood metabolites of vitamin D to maintain a certain level(1 IU of vitamin D, equivalent to 0.025 mg). Significantly reduce the risk of suffering from some diseases, including breast cancer, colon cancer, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. Vitamin D is another simple molecule that is incredibly important. more research is suggesting that vitamin D might also help prevent many diseases. We actually have the ability to produce vitamin D in our skin with regular exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Research in the last several years has shown that low levels of vitamin D may increase the risk of heart attacks in men and deaths from some cancers. Not many foods naturally contain vitamin D. Foods high in this vitamin include oily fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel, and fish liver oils. but these vitamin D is obtained through food is not enough to human needs, The easy easiest way to get vitamin D is from sunlight. The finding adds to evidence the “sunshine vitamin” has anti-cancer benefits and renews arguments about whether a little more sunshine is a good thing. Although the traditional method of getting vitamin D is from direct exposure to sunlight, no one is recommending foregoing proper protection from harmful UV rays just to get the MDR of vitamin D.
This study found that vitamin D deficiency is very common among women with breast cancer, and it suggests that vitamin D deficiency is linked to poorer outcomes in these women, Only 24 percent of women in the study had sufficient blood levels of D at the time they were first diagnosed with breast cancer. The risk of dying of breast cancer was 75 percent higher in women with too-low levels of vitamin D versus women in the optimal range, they added. Increased intake of vitamin D from the diet and from sunlight may reduce the risk of breast cancer by over 20 per cent says a new study.
