Benefits

As our longevity increases and we become more prone to the progression of geriatric disease we begin to think more about quality of life issues.  The saddest occurrence is to be afflicted with an agonizing and disabling condition which does not shorten life expectancy.  The advent of many remarkable therapies has done a great deal to improve the quality of life for many conditions which, in the past, were poorly, if at all treatable.  When any medical intervention, particularly surgery, is recommended it is the patient who must carefully weigh the risks against the possible benefits before making a decision.  The risk versus benefit ratio applies in all cases.  The understanding of these risks is the basis of informed consent.

                            Ethics

  Eugonomics

The science of changing what is presently considered to be "normal" and, by the process of knowledgeable intervention, to extend or enhance it beyond the vista of "normal" is what "Eugonomics" is all about.  Ergonomics is the science of achieving maximum utilization of "normal."  Eugonomics represents the next step beyond Ergonomics.  Ergonomics is the science of designing work and home devices intended to potentiate functionality of effort and to minimize associated health problems and injuries.  Eugonomics is the science of designing the means of making the body better and lasting longer.  The prefix eugo- means "good" and has come to denote "normal" in medical syntax.  It is the intent of the field of eugonomics  to break the barrier of "normal" and to create a new paradigm of "normal."  Nanomedicine, technology of the future (devices measured in nanometers) such as implanted miniature monitoring and drug delivery devices have the capability of being eugonomic. We only know what we are aware of.  Fortunately, these limits are constantly expanded by science and inspired insight. 

Health Savings Accounts

          Health Maintenance

The maintenance of good health requires a continuing commitment to good nutrition (with appropriate supplementation), being a non-smoker and drug free, maintaining reasonable body weight, and exercising, on a regular basis to improve muscle strength, tone, and flexibility.  An added dimension in the area of spine health is counteracting the deleterious effects of our existence on a high-gravity planet by daily anti-gravitational body traction/ distraction in order to counteract deleterious compressional and rotational forces.  In this manner individuals can readily achieve increased longevity and improved quality of life through eugonomic principles.

          Hurry

We live in a "now" society where today is not soon enough.  With the myriad of modern "inconveniences" available to speed up our lives and almost instant gratification through the internet and companion fast-delivery services there still appears to be less, rather than more, time available to us.  Maintaining good health and a good quality of life require good decisions (which can be only based on good information).  Time to slow down and collect this information.  It is not unusual for patients to spend more time selecting a nutrition bar in a health food store than in choosing a surgeon.  There needs to be some change.  Start by slowing down and carefully perusing the Burton Report®.

                       






                  Indifference

The greatest strength of medicine is its conservative nature.  The greatest liability of medicine is its conservative nature.  Conservatism does not excuse indifference, ignorance, or disrespect.  Too often the medical profession is not current in regard to important information.  Today's era of electronic communication appears to have reached out to the patients more than their physicians.  Part of the responsibility of being a patient today is to keep one's health care professionals up-to-date.  An important responsibility of the health care community is to listen to their patients.

  Integrity

How does one measure integrity?  Integrity is an inherent guide as to the worth of an individual.  Integrity is something not immediately evident to the beholder.  In the world of medicine, there are a myriad of adverse external influences acting against the provision of good health care directed to the patient's benefit.  These undesirable pressures seem to multiply each day.  The result is a most frustrating and demoralizing situation. The challenge to each health care professional is to maintain the ethic of their profession, their integrity and sense of humor, and not simply give in or take the "easy" way out despite the great temptations to do just this.

This section has been written to honor the memory of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1913-1947?).  The plaque shown above is on the "Path of Remembrance" at the Yad Vashem Holocost Memorial in Israel.  Mr. Wallenberg, through the use of bribery, threats of postwar retribution and sheer nerve, saved over 100,000 Hungarian Jews from certain death at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.  The icon of Raoul Wallenberg stands as a symbol of all that is brave and good in the world.  His name continues to serve as a lighthouse beacon in exhibiting that there are some who will not compromise their integrity no matter how great the adversity.  In what must be one of the most perverse episodes of modern history Raoul Wallenberg  was kidnapped and imprisoned by the Soviets on January 17, 1945, in Budapest, on his way to meet with the commanders of the Soviet troops occupying the capitol.  Despite torture, he did not "cooperate" with the Soviets and was "eliminated" in 1947 (at age 34) because he had been an unwilling witness to Soviet depravity.  The enduring interest in Raoul Wallenberg has been reflected by the continuing inquiry by the world community, as to his exact fate.

Kati Marton (author "Wallenberg", "Wallenberg: Missing Hero ") has pointed out that Raoul Wallenberg created a particular societal debt for all of us by his remarkable example of not bending before the murderous machinery of both the Nazis and the Soviets, two of the 20th century's most brutal totalitarian regimes.

Footnote:
On November 27, 2000 Aleksander Yakolev, chairman of a Russian Presidential Commission (considered to be Russia's most authoritative voice on Soviet-era repression), indicated that Russia might finally be on the verge of confirming Wallenberg's fate.  "We do not doubt that he was shot at Lubyanka" (Soviet secret police headquarters and prison in Moscow).  Yakolev indicated that the former Soviet KGB secret police chief, Vladimir Kryuchkov, told him in a private conversation of this execution".  He was executed because"  "First of all he knew too much, and second, he refused to cooperate with our people."  On December 22, 2000, a two-page statement was issued by the Russian prosecutor's office which indicated that all documents related to Wallenberg had disappeared from the archives.  "The archives were simply purged, and all the files were destroyed to hide the evidence," said Leonid Troshin, spokesman for the Prosecutor General's office. (Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2000).     

Wallenberg clearly paid the ultimate price in order to maintain his integrity.  There were also other diplomats during World War II who attempted to maintain their sense of humanity despite the madness surrounding them.  In this regard Hiram (Harry) Bingham, United States; Aristides DeSousa Mendes, Portugal; Carl Lutz, Switzerland and Georg Duckwitz, Germany are also identified by the Burton Report^® as being due our respectful homage. 

Health Savings Accounts

          Inspired Insight