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May 2000
Second Wind
Lomita, California
Dear Friends:
The health
of our nation has been dramatically improved by new healthcare
initiatives, beginning with the National Hypertension Education
Program, which started approximately 25 years ago. By identifying
patients with high blood pressure, and lowering and controlling
blood pressure through the systematic use of a growing number
of effective drugs, the incidence of heart attack and stroke began
to fall. The Hypertension Education Program was followed by the
National Cholesterol Education Program, which called upon physicians
to measure cholesterol and its components. Reduction of cholesterol
levels through diet, smoking cessation, exercise, and more recently
with cholesterol-lowering drugs, further reduced deaths from heart
attack and stroke.
Heart attack,
stroke, and other diseases, which are characterized by spasm of
overactive arteries, probably are the result of blood pressure
responses which at one time were necessary for evolving humans
to mobilize energy and to flee dangers such, as attack from predatory
animals. These same reflexes can cause harm in the modern era
because of vascular damage. This vascular damage is made even
worse with tobacco smoking.
A new healthcare
initiative, known as the National Lung Health Education Program,
(NLHEP), proposes to identify patients at risk of chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, (COPD), with the use of simple spirometry in
physician's offices. COPD is the result of inflammatory damage
of the airways and lung vessels primarily in susceptible smokers.
Abnormalities in lung function are also predictive of a high risk
of lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
It seems to
me that what we need in this country is not just an attack upon
isolated diseases, but a holistic healthcare program, designed
to stop smoking, control blood pressure, maintain a normal weight,
encourage physical activity, and avoid drug abuse. Picking a healthy
lifestyle not only reduces the risk of these major diseases, but
will combat osteoporosis, depression, and maybe even Alzheimer's
disease. In any case, the length and quality of life would be
enhanced through a holistic approach to health.
I will be
in touch next month.
Your friend,
Thomas Petty, MD
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