“Are you healthy?”
“Are you doing things that you want to be doing?”
“Are you living the life that you want?”
For years, I have asked these questions to the people sitting across from me. I have always been intrigued by the long pauses from my patients and clients. They often share that it is a simple question. But it is not an easy answer. Universally, the people that I serve have been grateful to have time to sit with the questions and have given them much thought. It gives context and clarity on how I can be of service to them. Even more, it gives them a call to action. As the Roman poet Virgil wrote, “health is the greatest wealth.” This is the essence of High Yield Health.
My friends, this is why I am a doctor and why I love being a doctor. I truly believe that medicine is more than a science and an art. It has the opportunity to honor all of us so that we can live our best lives.
Sick or Not Sick?
Modern medicine is a marvel. I am so grateful to be formally trained as a MD physician. The science that I learned and the training that I received are simply awesome. It is sacred to be of service. At those moments of despair and crisis, modern medicine rises to the occasion. We want this for our loved ones and for ourselves when we are in these critical moments. But alas, this approach is limited.
Let me explain. Imagine when someone shows up at a hospital’s emergency room with chest pain…
What happens there? What is the immediate worry? We are worried about the #1 cause of death in the world that you and I live in – heart disease.
The ER staff will trigger a protocol to immediately screen for a heart attack. They will run a series of blood work and run tests over the next 12 to 24 hours. After all of this, what does one hear 97% of the time at the bedside?
“Good news! You did not have a heart attack.
You are fine. You can go home.
Please sign the discharge papers. You are all set.”
My friends, this is a common scenario in hospitals all around the world. And yes, it’s good news that the person didn’t have a heart attack. But, does the lack of a diagnosis and not being “sick” automatically mean that the person is healthy, well, and living the life he or she wants? As we blurt out “NO” to answer this absurd question, it becomes clear. We quickly understand that “not sick” does not equal being happy, healthy, and living the life we want.
Modern medicine can be seen as a binary system: “sick” or “not sick.” It’s very, very good at helping people go from the first category to the second. We have made and continued to make incredible advances in diagnosing and treating diseases. Surgical advances and trauma care continue to excel. We are finding cures that we thought were impossible.
However, this isn’t what true “health” means. So, it is time. It is time to define health on our terms.
The True Definition of Health
I cherish the medical training that I have had. The years at the bedside and in the consultation room have truly been a gift. I am most grateful for the lessons learned from my patients and clients. With this, I have been allowed to see medicine beyond the standard of care. I am excited about going beyond the status quo of “sick versus not sick.”
As MD medicine is rooted in the physical body, we absolutely will highlight the best tests and treatments. We will guide you on how to get the most out of your doctor visits and navigate the medical system. But, this is only part of the path to your best health. My friends, we are more than our physical bodies; we are also our thoughts, our feelings, and how we wish to connect to others and ourselves. Therefore, with High Yield Health, we see health as physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
With physical health, we will leverage the best of science. We will be seeking the opportunities to prevent and reverse heart disease. As much as this sounds audacious, the science for this has finally come to the forefront with new testing, imaging, and approaches. This is an exciting time in medicine. Whenever we talk about heart health, please know that we are also honoring brain health. Said another way, anything that is good for the heart is also good for the brain. Much more to come on this in upcoming articles.
With mental and emotional health, we will go deeper into understanding stress versus distress. We will appreciate the wisdom of Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychologist who noted that thoughts influence how we feel, and feelings influence how we act. Here, we will highlight the opportunity to understand the power of thoughts.
It is often said, “where our thoughts go, we go.” We will take lessons learned from mindfulness teachers and meditation instructors. We will understand the slippery slope of how easy it is to get stuck in the past or fearful of the future. We will learn to be in the present moment. Please trust that this is where the magic is. We will show you. This is the highway to living the life we want.
With spiritual health, I wish to be clear. I am no theologian, so I will not talk about religion – I will leave that for the experts. When we say spiritual, we are focused on the human need to feel connected. Above and beyond, we must honor what gives us meaning and purpose.
Whenever I am afforded the opportunity to do so, I will ask someone who is in my office if they feel connected or feel a sense of belonging. This can be with their family and friends, or it can be with their colleagues and community. In regards to meaning and purpose, I will ask someone what gets them up in the morning and what do they look forward to doing. I call this the North Star. I want to know what someone is looking for. I want to know if someone is living the life that they want to be living. If not… why? Most often, this is a tough question because most of us have never talked out loud about this. I find that when we talk about it, we become clearer. When we have a direction (the North Star), we move towards living our best lives.
Together, we will guide you on bringing the best of medical science and testing into your life. We will share with you which advances are primetime and high yield.
We will sort through the foods and diets. We will share and clarify what to eat and how. We will also bring the best exercise into your life. Whether you love going to the gym or not, we will connect you to muscle health, aerobic wellness, physical balance, and a full range of motion throughout your body.
Sleep will be celebrated much and often. We will detail opportunities of how to get to sleep, stay asleep, and have energy for the day that you wish to fully live.
We will honor stress and distress as we will boil the ocean of insights from meditation, mindfulness, and breath work. We will guide you to live in the present moment.
This newsletter is created for three reasons:
(1) We want you to be healthy,
(2) we want to help you take the next steps to perform at a higher level, and
(3) we want to help you live the life you want.
To be clear, it is more than information. It is about results. We believe everyone can improve their health. We believe in a few things done well. We believe in taking clear and actionable next steps. Those that are practical and attainable. For us, these are the steps towards being healthier and happier.
Our philosophy is guided by two simple principles:
(1) We want to give you the information we would want to read if our roles are reversed, and
(2) we only share advice we would want our own families to read and experience for their best health.
I’m so excited to talk about these topics with you! High Yield Health is written with you in mind, so feel free to share your thoughts. We exist because of readers like you who are interested in being healthy & well, performing at your best, and living the life you want.
Cheers,
Dr. Param
Param Dedhia, MD
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