A Healthy, Happy Life in Spite of Media Hype

It is sad how we respond to media-generated hype and hysteria.

The 24 x 7 news void demands to be filled, and by golly, they do indeed fill it. 

Why a police chase ending in a rollover blocking the 405 south of Los Angeles is pertinent, we don’t know. But we are compelled to watch the gripping video. Ask a hard question – is the news you watch mostly useful, or is it mostly entertainment? 

Remember that the networks and cable news outlets are driven by a chase for revenue. The news arms of the majors (ABC, CBS, NBC) and the cable networks – CNN, MSNBC, Fox News – all are competing to keep your eyes glued to their particular screen.  The stories they feature are not primarily designed to make you a better citizen, or to keep you safe, but rather to maximize their advertising revenue. 

Take, for example, the stereotypical “stranger-danger” child kidnapping. As a media maven, one would think that these events have gone through the roof. Children are no longer permitted to walk to school or play alone because of such dangers. A child kidnapping in far-off Atlanta or Houston is emblazoned on our screens, not to help recover the child, but as a ploy to keep you watching the commercials.

To the contrary, a recent Department of Justice bulletin reports that such child kidnappings have not increased. The study found that approximately 105 child kidnappings occurred nationwide in 2011, about the same as in 1997. And more importantly, the number of deaths resulting from such events fell dramatically, from 40 percent to 8 percent. (The authors of the study credit technology – cell phones, GPS, security cameras – for making kids easier to recover). Bottom line – kids are safer now than ever.

This one example gives us some guidance – as a citizen, as a voter, as a parent, our best defense is to be well armed with relevant information. Our government does a great job of gathering and publishing statistics, and it is free for you to access.

For instance, here are the leading causes of death in the United States for 2014 from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

A quick glance at the big top four should convince you that diet and exercise and a healthy lifestyle should be your highest priority. 

Next is to take care to avoid accidents (unintentional falls being a significant portion of them).

Not much can be done yet to avoid Alzheimer’s disease although general good health, diet, and exercise are thought to help, along with maintaining strong social interactions.

Numbers seven through nine again speak to health, nutrition, and lifestyle.

Drug overdose and suicide are both very sad causes of death, perhaps interrelated. All we can do there is to support our loved ones and call for increased funding for rehabilitation and mental health programs. 

Finally to the most dangerous form of transportation known to man – our cars. Help is on the horizon with autonomous (self-driving) cars promising to greatly increase safety. In the meantime, you can take care to buckle up and don't drive under the influence (one third of motor vehicle fatalities involve alcohol-impaired drivers).

Not on the list but top of mind recently is homicide. The death rate for all homicides is 5.1 per 100,000 people. (Interestingly, that rate has declined over 50% from a high of 10.4 in 1980). Death by firearm is a fraction of that, 3.5 per 100,000. And unless you live in a drug-infested urban enclave, your odds of meeting this particular fate are exceedingly low.

Here are a few observations that may contribute to the length and quality of your life. First, shut off the cable news – it is not serving your best interests. Read your local newspaper – what is going on around you is far more important. And for goodness sake, put down that cheeseburger and go for a hike once in a while. 

The statistics demand it.

We are not alone

Science News Magazine has been published since 1922, over ninety years. The news arm of the non-profit Society for Science and the Public educates and informs the public about current happenings in science and technology. It has covered such seminal events as the first man-made nuclear reaction, the first electronic computers, man’s first walk on the Moon, and the first jet aircraft. For some time, the editors have selected the top science story of each year.

For 2013, there were plenty of candidates. The amazing rise of miniature unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Gene therapy advances in managing blood cancers. The ability to grow replacement organs from scratch. The Nobel prize in physics for the discovery of the Higgs boson.

But what was the top science story of 2013? Bugs.

Or more precisely, bacteria and other organisms which make up the microbiota living on and within the human body.

In a steady stream of studies and reports throughout the year, we learned more and more about our remarkable little cousins. For instance, the fact that only 10 percent of your cells are human; the other 90 percent are a mixture of bacteria, fungi, and viruses. (That microbes are so tiny and human cells relatively huge accounts for the fact that, by mass, our microbiota only amounts to a few pounds).

Scientists are even beginning to argue that we should view the human body as a superorganism defined by this mixture of human and microorganism DNA (microbiome). The advantage in doing so is that it might help us better understand the effects of diet, chemical exposure, and other factors on our health.

It is important to note that our community of microorganisms is for the most part beneficial. They help us digest food and convert it more efficiently to energy. They influence the immune system, training it to identify and fight true pathogens. They produce hormones instructing our body to store fats, and create necessary vitamins. To understand the workings of the human body without considering our microbiome is, we are finding, impossible.

Michael Pollan, in an in-depth New York Times Magazine article (“Some of My Best Friends are Germs”, May 15, 2013), details his research into this new frontier. Starting with a submission of swabs to the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado, he received a detailed report of his personal microbiome. Pollan interviews the scientists involved in the project and describes how our microbiome, unique as a fingerprint, is developed. Soon after birth, a community of microbes takes hold in the infant gut. Its composition from there is influenced by environment and, mostly, diet. In fact, the BioFrontiers scientists can identify from a person’s swab samples both where they live in the world and what is the makeup of their diet.

Researchers have observed that obesity may be encouraged by a certain mix of gut flora. And that mix of flora is a result of diet. Meat eaters have a distinct pattern of gut flora from vegetarians. Diets high in sugars and fats are quickly absorbed, denying nutrition to our little minions. They prefer diets high in fiber and complex carbohydrates; these take much longer to digest. What a surprise, then, to see that independent research into low glycemic index (GI) diets have concluded that diets high in fiber and complex carbohydrates are highly preferable for health. The microbes are the key, and they live or die by our dietary choices.

So what might this flood of human microbiome research mean? Perhaps we’ll find that our war on bacteria, with a plethora of antibiotic soaps and cleaning products, might be taking a toll on our little helpers. Certainly we need to be concerned with pathogens, but perhaps we are overdoing it.

We might find that diet books of the future will focus on cooking for our whole selves. Lightly cooked vegetables, whole grains, al dente pasta, for instance, all take longer to digest and provide the fiber that our gut bacteria thrive on. Feed them well and they will serve us well. It would be a complete change in perspective and provide a grand new toolset for managing obesity and optimizing health.

There is much research yet to do and understanding to be gained. But it is exciting that we are beginning to comprehend the owner’s guide to the whole human being.