I was having lunch with a good friend the other day.  We were talking about a number of subjects, but the general theme was health.  He asked how I would define overall health – how healthy am I – or, how healthy is anyone?

It got me to thinking about it – how do I define overall health?  Obviously if I pass a medical physical, I could consider myself healthy.  But is that all there is to it?  I had a Navy flight physical every year for 31 years and passed every one of them.  I also had a dental check-up with each flight physicaland a twice a year physical fitness test.  When I go to my doctor for my annual physical, it doesn’t include a dental check-up or physical fitness testing.  I have to go to my dentist for that assessment for an assessment of my dental health.  I am on my own initiative to determine my personal physical fitness.  So, I don’t believe a periodic medical general physical is the definitive answer for overall health.

 I go to my dermatologist every six months to get screened for any new actinic keratoses or any potential skin cancers.  My regular physician does not examine my for pre-cancers for which I have a predisposition.  This is another indication that a regular medical physical is not the perfect indicator for overall health. 

I personally add several blood tests to my physical each year that my doctor does not specify – highly sensitive C-reactive Protein, homocysteine level, anti-malignin antibody in serum (AMAS), free testosterone, vitamin D3 and a few others.  I will add the omega3/omega6 ratio test to my next physical since it is a better indicator of heart health than a homocysteine level test.  So, the normal panel of blood tests ordered by my physician is not totally indicative of overall health.  If something is outside the normal range, it gives the doctor a chance to order some more blood tests.  But, the typical blood panel does not cover vitamin D deficiency, cancers, heart health or overall inflammation – just to name a few.

I am not asked to do flexibility tests during any physical – like I did in my early Navy flight physicals.  Flexibility is an indicator of total health, yet it is not checked unless you have something wrong and complain about it.  Emotional health is not usually checked either.  I’m sure there are a few other things that could be checked that I can’t think of this moment.

The Navy and other military services require an semi-annual test for physical strength and endurance – push-ups, sit-ups and a 1.5 mile run.  I’ve passed every one of those, but always wondered why the run in the Navy was limited to 1.5 miles.  Anyone can push the limits and pass that test without much effort.  If I had designed that test, I would have set it up to run for one hour and measure the distance run rather than set an arbitrary short distance – but, I’m not in charge of setting those standards.  I would have added pull-ups to the annual tests also – I believe the Marine Corps does have that requirement.

Blood tests, dental, emotional, strength, endurance and other things all determine some aspect of overall physical health.  If you never have a regularly scheduled medical physical – every year or two – how do you really know how healthy you are?  You don’t!  You might feel good, but you can’t feel blood pressure, cancer or heart disease.  Half the people with heart disease die without ever having any symptoms.

If you are taking any prescription medicines, can you really say that you are 100% healthy?  I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never had to take any prescription drugs except for a specific period of time to address a temporary malady.  I believe prescription medicines add more problems than they solve with the side effects for each drug.  Sometimes you never have a symptom, but read the fine print to see what could be going on without you feeling it.

What about supplementation?  Fifty to one hundred years ago our fruits and vegetables were loaded with vitamins and minerals.  Over time a lot of those nutrients have been removed from our foodstuffs to make them look better and last longer in the logistics process from the farm to the grocery.  So, eating green vegetables with you meals does not give you the same nutrient value that your grandparents enjoyed.  Supplementation is needed to some degree for a lot of what we need – this is my belief.  A deficiency in vitamin D3 or B12 can cause lots of problems.  A deficiency in free testosterone is not good either.  We live in a world of nutrient deficiency and supplementation is a good, effective way to remedy those deficiencies.

Unless a testing protocol is established to test many aspects of your physical and mental health, I don’t think that one test fits all to determine how healthy you might be.  I believe you have to decide what is important to be tested and have it tested so you know where you stand.  Sometimes your insurance will pay for these tests.  If you really want to know how healthy you are, you’ll have to foot the bill for the remaining tests.  Some tests can be done annually and others less often – based on your assessment.

Choice have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin