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 Dear Friend,
      "I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are in spirit" ( 3 John 2, NLT). Most of us make New Year Resolutions that involve our physical health but few of us make Resolutions that involve our spiritual and moral health which may explain why most Resolutions are forgotten by the End of February. As we plan our Health Action Plans for the year 2007. Lets us look to the Bible health and lifestyle principles. The Creator's owner's Manual cannot be improved.
 
In medical peer-reviewed studies reveal that religious committed people combined with a healthy lifestyle have fewer deaths from Coronary Heart Disease, Emphysema, Cirrhosis, and Suicides.
 
Exodus 15:26
" If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: For I am the Lord that healed thee."
 
January is Glaucoma Awareness Month.
Glaucoma is an eye disease in which there is gradual damage to the nerve fibers of the optic nerve. Usually, but not always, the damage of Glaucoma results from elevated pressure inside the eyeball.
 
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form in U.S. It usually affects people overage 40, and Blacks are much more susceptible than Whites. About three million Americans have the disease and half of them don't know they have it. An estimated 80,000 people in the U.S. are legally blind, in both eyes, from Glaucoma. It is the principle cause of blindness among Blacks, and the second-leading cause (after age-related muscular degeneration) of blindness in the whole American population. Much of this suffering could be prevented by early detection and treatment.
 
Symptoms
Glaucoma is silent, there is no pain in POAG and no changes in vision at first,even though the optic nerve is slowly being damaged. This is why there is a great need to diagnose the disease early, before there is any loss of vision. Glaucoma is the best examples of a serious eye disease for which early detection really helps, because there are effective treatments that will prevent or slow down vision loss.
 
People with a family history of Glaucoma, Blacks, Diabetics, and people who are either very nearsighted (high myopes) or who are taking steroids on a long term basis, are at much higher risk of developing Glaucoma. the overall prevalence of POAG in the U.S. is about one percent, but in Black populations it has been reported to range from two to nine percent. Therefore, if you are in any of these categories, you should get complete eye examinations more frequently, starting at a younger age, in order to get treatment before permanent damage is done.
 
See you again in February which is Heart Month.
 
The most important nutrient for your soul's chemistry is belief in Christ, the bread of life (John 6:35).
 
Sincerely,
 
The Valley CrossRoads Seventh Day Adventist Health Ministry DepartmentAdditional links on this topic:

February Newsletter