Illness and Wellness are the two extremes of the life cycle. We are never completely ill or completely well, except maybe at the moment of conception and at the moment of death. At any given time we are somewhere between these two extremes, with our goal to hopefully be closer to the wellness end. The basic principle we must always be cognizant is that the degree of illness or wellness is dependant upon the health of the aggregate of the billions of cells that make up our body. Hence, the cause of our illness begins at the cellular level of any bio-system. I have heard it said that the average person, during his lifetime, gets ill thirteen times and recovers twelve. In this discussion we are obviously excluding death from some sort of trauma - that will be discussed in a later commentary.

Medical practitioners use signs and symptoms in order to diagnose and treat your illness. The signs are those things they can observe or measure; i.e., blood pressure or skin condition. The symptoms are the results of those signs as they are manifested in your body. Any malfunction begins in the cells and works it’s way outward where we see, feel, smell, and hear it as symptoms. By the time we recognize these symptoms and take appropriate actions the bodily condition has already started slipping toward the illness end of the health scale. At this point the medical practitioner will usually treat the problem caused by the signs which have been manifested in our bodies. Because we are dealing at a cellular level such treatment may temporary improve the symptoms and we feel relieved. However, the genesis of the problem has not been addressed and hence, may re-surface at some future time.

I believe the secret to a healthy wellness is really to keep our cellular biology clicking along in perfect condition. It is really that simple although we are dealing with an extremely complex system. It is not necessary to fully understand the small details of this complex system; it is enough to leave that to the medical profession. I know a technocrat who didn’t like Carl Sagen because Carl simplified science so it was understood and appreciated by the average person. He felt science should only be understood and available to the scientist. Some people feel the AMA has the same objective with Medical Science. Personally, my body and health belong to me and its not necessary to understand the science in order to appreciate and protect my body temple. In other words I don’t have to be a cellular biologist in order to stay well. I know that all illness begins in the cells and my job therefore, is to protect MY cells.

How to do this? First, recognize that all cells need food, their source of energy, so they can grow, function properly, reproduce, and die leaving their replicated off-spring to carry on. If they are diseased or damaged that condition also continues in the off-spring. Hence, my objective then becomes making sure they only get fed good healthy food.

This energy comes from only a few sources which I can control to a large degree. The main source of energy is the food I take into my body through my mouth and nose. If I want to stay healthy then the only substances I should allow into my body is matter the cells need for food. This includes only; pure water, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and pure air; and that is it. Anything else is counter productive. There are hundreds of thousands of chemical reactions continuously going on within our bodies which these cells require to live and reproduce. These required substances contain the chemicals needed to perform those reactions.

There are, of course, other things that get into our bodies that can be classified as environmental contaminates, such things as; tobacco in any form, alcohol which has no cellular requirement at all, non-therapeutic drugs, atmospheric pollutants, and pathogenic organisms. These negative poisons enter our bodies in a variety of ways and attack our cells.

We do have some defenses against these invaders. The best defense is a strong defense or, in other words, a strong immune system. If our immune system is functioning properly it will keep these pathogens under control. Before the immune system becomes overwhelmed supplements can be taken to boost your natural immunity - and I’m not talking about drugs which suppress the immune system in order to do the intended function against whichever cells it is intended to help. Could this be why all drugs have some unpleasant side effects which we often trade for the easing of our symptoms. More on this subject later.

Then, of course, all other environmental contaminates are man-made. Since they are man-made; man can correct or prevent them. All that is needed is a desire and commitment. More on this aspect of health later. For now just remember we (mankind) makes the decision to allow these contaminates within our body.

So our individual position on the health scale is completely our own complete responsibility. If we are not happy with our health the person we need to discuss it with is always available. Don’t delegate something so important as your health to a medical practitioner. I’m not suggesting don’t consult - just remember the decision is yours alone. The practitioner doesn’t have to live with any consequences - you do. So take personal responsibility for your health - you will feel better and the court dockets will be cleared much quicker, and half the attorneys will need to be looking for other employment. Good luck and may each day your cells will move closer to total wellness.

THE KEY WORD IS PREVENTION.