Walk it off

Well Tylenol and autism are headlining the news this morning. The recommendation now being, don't use it while pregnant. The major medical groups however claim there is no issue at all and not using it poses a health risk! Well, now I question who is being paid by whom to arrive at either conclusion. There is no doubt that autism has been on the rise, along with a bunch of other things. Consider these nut allergies. If you are a boomer how many kids did you know with that problem? Did they have posters on the wall warning everyone about the possible presence of nuts? I can honestly say I never saw a single one. All us kids ate lunch together, peanut butter sandwiches were quite common and no one was dying! Clearly, something is going on. 

 Did you know that a prescription for Tylenol was required in the 1950's. It wasn't anything you could pop like candy whenever you thought you had a headache. I'm no doctor that much is certain, but I do think I have enough common sense to know one thing, ingesting any drug in excessive amounts is never a good thing. Is this use of Tylenol creating autism? I don't have a clue about that. And sadly, I have no confidence in any of the studies or reports regarding any of that either. There was a time when I felt like I could trust the "experts" but that trust has been severely undermined. It does appear to me that research has been bought and paid for pharmaceutical companies. To some degree medications and there approval for use has become a political thing. 

  Is it just autism on the rise? If you're paying attention at all you know that isn't the case. Mental health is at the top of the conversation. How many times have you heard we are having a mental health crisis here in America? What do you think is causing that? I think it is a self fulfilling prophecy thing. Just keep telling the children they have a mental health issue and they will. Really not hard to understand. Combine that with therapy, giving them that attention they are obviously seeking, throw in a few medications and there you go. The whole "time out" thing just isn't working out at all! What's required is holding those kids accountable for their choices. You don't reward bad behavior with excuses, explanations and treatment. No, you teach them to live with their choices and soon enough they will learn just what is what. 

  The truth is, the vast majority of drugs used today only manage and relieve the symptoms. They do not cure the disease at all. So, is that a good thing? Well, it will certainly make you feel better anyway, a means to manage the pain or whatever discomfort you are experiencing. When I was little I was most often told, walk it off, you'll be fine. I was. Another thing when I was a kid was this, if you needed to take medication, you were sick. Sick people stayed in bed and had to eat chicken noodle soup. There was no running, playing, going out. No, Mom would tuck you into bed, give you medicine and instruct you to rest. Then she went about her day. That did more to "cure" me than anything else I was ever given. 

  I'm just wondering if we haven't medicated ourselves into sickness. By ingesting foreign substances formulated in a laboratory somewhere we have altered our immune systems. As a result we have these issues like peanuts! It is also affecting our mental processes. For years it was thought the Romans were poisoned by the lead pipes they used in their cities. That has since been shown to be hogwash. What actually caused the moral decay that destroyed an empire? I don't know but it wasn't lead poisoning. My thinking is today it is the ingesting of all these chemicals. "Better living though chemistry" is a phrase I heard growing up. I'm not convinced. 

  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Old Ben Franklin first uttered that advice. At first he was just talking about preventing fires but later included that in his Poor Richards Almanac as general advice. I'm thinking we are taking pounds of "prevention" and then there is no cure for that. You just can't undo what has been done. My advice will still be, walk it off, deep breaths and get a grip! The most powerful defense you have against those everyday aches and pains is your own mind. It's being self sufficient. Instead of reaching for whatever miracle cure is being offered just be a bit patient, give it time. Distract yourself by doing something constructive, rather than stewing in your juices. 

                                                                                   

                         Only basketball players suffer more serious injuries than soccer players. :)