Lasersmile Health Files

“Let’s seek health rather than fight disease”

Dr Hisham Abdalla

I envisage a world full of healthy, happy people. I see people empowered with health, properly applied knowledge and enduring experiences. Happy, healthy and prosperous societies only come about through education, passion and sharing inspiration.

Isn’t it by time we figured out what is really our focus; health or disease? In a world full of repeated ailments and increasing physical and fiscal costs of treatment one has to wonder why we’re constantly fighting the symptoms rather than dealing with the cause of disease.

The law of attraction dictates that whatever we focus on, we attract. So why is our “health-care” system so focused on disease? We’re looking for it fighting it, seeking magic bullets and quick fixes. Is it “disease-care” then? It’s time we focus on health, research it, understand it, teach it and live it. Let’s empower ourselves with knowledge & skills to achieve and maintain health. Let’s take responsibility rather than blame and complain.

Through my teachings I hope to help as many people understand the core of health, with a specific focus on oral health, my specialty, and its relationship to the rest of your wellbeing. This first blog is an introduction to the paradigm of thinking Health (positive) rather than Disease (negative). In following blogs we ‘ll discuss specific aspects of oral health, risk factors and what you can do to help yourself and your family improve your wellbeing. You’ll save yourself time, money, disappointment and enjoy feeling better, looking better and BEING BETTER.

Disease by definition is a state of dis-ease. It’s an imbalance, overburden and breakdown of what was once a well functioning “healthy” system, balanced and at-ease. The innate knowledge of how to maintain our body at Homeostasis (a state of balance and equilibrium- dynamic and flowing, yet at ease) is imprinted within our genes, in every living cell. We’re built to last, be healthy and avoid disease. So what goes wrong then? Dis-order attacks.

Risk factors affect us. Things like stress, toxins, pollution, bacteria, viruses, poor diet, alcohol, drugs, radiation, sugar and other factors that attack us constantly trying to tip our balance and get us into dis-ease and dis-order. The more risk factors we get hit by, for a long enough period of time, the more we’re at risk of getting sick. Whether it’s a cavity in your tooth or terminal cancer of your colon, the process is exactly the same. Something attacked you long enough, your body was unable to fight back any more (despite its built in know-how) and you went into dis-ease. Sometimes we have acute (short lasting) states of dis-ease, sometimes they are chronic (long lasting). Nevertheless, it’s always a PROCESS not an accident whether we’re healthy or not at any point in time.

So whose responsibility is it to understand the process of health and the process of breakdown of health? EVERYBODY’s! Healthcare professionals are responsible to teach their communities and people are responsible for themselves and their families.

“A true healthcare professional is one who empowers others to take care of themselves”.   Dr H Abdalla

Is oral health any different to general health? Well that’s possible if your mouth lived by itself. It doesn’t. You are one, and what happens in or to your mouth, what goes through your mouth and what you do with your mouth directly affect everything else about you. The way you look and feel, how well your other organs function and how balanced your system is, are all related to your mouth and each other. It applies the other way too. How you are mentally, physically and physiologically will always affect your oral health. Oral health is affected directly by things like diet, depression, diabetes, infections, drugs (legal or illegal), alcohol, metabolic problems, pregnancy, body pH balance and much more. Let’s tackle these risk factors one blog at a time.

Watch this space and keep well.

Yours in health