Health Prescriptions without Going to The
Pharmacy
Prescription Without The Pharmacy
by Sherri L Dodd
After several months of noticing consistent weight gain, a
thirty-five year old woman decides to visit her doctor. She is
amazed that the extra weight seems to have come from out of the
blue and proclaims her diet has never been a problem before
now? She wondered if it could be her thyroid (a f requent
complaint of her mother’s). Or maybe pregnancy? Even worse,
could it be some chronic condition? And, forget about what it
could be, what could the doctor give her to lose the weight and
regain her energetic zest? After a thorough checkup and
confirmed lab results, the doctor found nothing of concern, but
did write Mary a prescription – one mile of walking per day,
five times a week.
This action is not so absurd. According to the Archives of
Internal Medicine, more and more doctors are being encouraged
by their industry’s board of superiors to write prescriptions
of exercise for their patients, especially those with obesity
issues. And fortunately, they are conceding.
The estimated figure of premature death rate resulting from
obesity-related afflictions (heart disease, diabetes, etc.) is
300,000 per year. This equates to healthcare costs of up to $90
billion! There would be a substantial drop in these cases if
patients would participate in physical activity. Not only would
it help to lower their body weight, it could among many things,
lower high risk factors of heart disease such as high
cholesterol and hypertension.
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Regular exercise is an important
part of your health and shouldn't
be neglected. If you make exercise
an integral part of your lifestyle,
you'll benefit. |
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Since individuals seek out medical advice long before they
consider assistance from a personal trainer, the measure argued
the importance of doctors condoning the use of exercise to
assist with obesity problems. With the medical field supporting
the notion of a fitness program, it serves as reinforcement for
the general population of Americans to make exercise an
essential part of their lives.
Guidelines included discussing the following topics with the
patient:
•Assessing BMI and explaining what the results mean
•Referring to general nutrition of good health
•Suggesting an approximate 500 calorie decrease in the person’s
diet
•Writing an actual prescription (nothing beats instruction in
black and white form)
•Giving Lifestyle amendments to expend calories, such as taking
stairs instead of elevators or walking during a lunch break
•Recommending a pedometer and a minimum of 10,000 steps per
day
•Introducing the benefits of strength training, and how to get
started
As the subject in our story discovered, metabolism begins to
naturally slow down as we age, but there are actions we can
take to help the situation. You do not have to wait for your
doctor to write you a prescription for treatment. You do not
even have to hit the local drugstore to obtain over-the-counter
medicine. Exercise is a therapy that is always accessible to
you and nothing beats the resulting quality of life that it has
to offer.
About the Author
Sherri Dodd is the creator and author of Mom Looks Great -
The Fitness Program for Moms. She is an ACE-certified Personal
Trainer and Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant with
over fifteen years of exercise experience. She has lectured to
groups of 100+ people on her fitness plan and is a freelance
writer on the topics of fitness and general nutrition as well
as the humorous side of motherhood.
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