- With Mayo Clinic oncologist
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
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Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
"The magic of the electronic village is transforming health information. The mouse and keyboard have extended the stethoscope to the 500 million people now online." - Dr. Edward Creagan
The power of the medium inspires Dr. Edward Creagan as he searches for ways to share Mayo Clinic's vast resources with the general public.
Dr. Creagan, a Newark, N.J., native, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hospice medicine and palliative care. He has been with Mayo Clinic since 1973 and in 1999 was president of the staff of Mayo Clinic. Dr. Creagan, a professor of medical oncology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, was honored in 1995 with the John and Roma Rouse Professor of Humanism in Medicine Award and in 1992 with the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, Mayo's highest recognition. He has been recognized with the American Cancer Society Professorship of Clinical Oncology.
He describes his areas of special interest as "wellness as a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-financial model" and fitness, mind-body connection, aging and burnout.
Dr. Creagan has been an associate medical editor with Mayo Clinic's Web sites and has edited publications and CD-ROMs and reviewed articles.
"We the team of (the Web site) provide reliable, easy-to-understand health and wellness information so that each of us can have productive, meaningful lives," he says.
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Stress blog
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Aug. 22, 2008
Having a support system is key to dealing with life's stresses
By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
The Rift Valley is a narrow ribbon of geography consisting of arid, sun-baked, wind-swept plains between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. The valley runs on the east coast of Africa from Tanzania in the south through Uganda and Kenya in the middle and into Ethiopia in the north. This piece of the planet is the home of some of the greatest distance runners in the history of the world. As we have touched on in previous blogs, runners from this part of the globe currently hold more world records and more Olympic medals than any other population in the history of the world.
Because of the tremendous riches associated with athletic talents, this has been one of the most scrutinized groups in the world. Initially, somewhat flippantly, the athletic community attributed their greatness to their genetic endowments and to their training at altitude. However, many other peoples trained at altitude such as in Mexico and South America and not have achieved the running greatness of our East African colleagues. By the same token, human genes change over million of years not simply over several decades, so that theory simply does not hold up.
At a recent scientific symposium a number of experts scientifically, through peer-reviewed information, reviewed the experiences of these runners, and here is the take-home message:
- Elaborate analyses of heart and lung function and oxygen capacity showed no difference in these athletes compared with others.
- Muscle biopsies and sophisticated analysis of energy-producing molecules in muscles do not seem to be consistently different among these athletes. So, what is different about them and what can we in the real community of survivors learn from them? Well, there are some "secrets":
- They train harder and more intensely than any other peoples in the world.
- They have often supported professional coaches who bring scientific training methods into the culture of the East Africans.
- Each runner does not run for the endorsement, the shoe contract, or the advertisement. Each runner clearly has a deep commitment to his/her community, his/her culture, and has an intense connection with the land and the peoples whom they represent.
So, what are the lessons for us? I can see at least two:
- We need to take care of ourselves as did these runners.
- If we are isolated, if we are marginalized, if we are without a support system, we are at a profound disadvantage dealing with life's stresses.
Again, as with other blogs, does this make sense or am I missing some fundamental truth? As always, thank you.
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