I am Music (or Medicine)

I don't mean to be catty, but Barry Manilow has a big nose. It could have happened to you or me, but it happened to him. However, he does sing well and has made a lot of money in the music industry, far more than I have made preaching Preventive Medicine. He wrote a song called "I Am Music" and it is a very pretty and well performed song.

While I am not music, I also did not write the rules and I am just informing you of what they are. The rules of Preventive Medicine are simple and it is "follow them or risk getting seriously hurt." I don't mean to be "either-or" or "black and white" or rigid, but you need to know the rules of the game or you just might get seriously hurt.

Like it or not, the human body is genetically designed to be essentially 90% vegetarian or whole grains-vegetables-beans (most of the time, but not all of the time). I am telling you that the rules say to be trim, have a positive attitude, smoke less than two cigarettes every other day, less than four coffees or alcohol drinks a week, lots of exercise, or run the risk of cancer-diabetes-heart disease-stroke-kidney failure-dialysis-diverticulitis-hiatus hernia-peptic ulcer disease, etc.

I am simply telling you what the rules are, and it is "do it right or get hurt." I didn't write the music (rules), but you must play your own instrument correctly or not only will it sound bad but it won't work right.

H. Robert Silverstein, MD
Hartford, CT