Movement and Exercise
1990 and 2007 were two very difficult years for me. In 1990, I lost my body-brain coordination. I could not accurately bring a glass of water to my mouth. I had to hang on to walls to walk. It took two to three years prior to 1990 before I was diagnosed with SLE (lupus). Other than steroid shots, there were many medications I could not tolerate. In the end, I turned to prayers and intense inner focus. I imagined small movement sequences again and again until they became very real and clear in my mind. I asked my five year old to teach me to play the piano. He taught me to connect the musical notes to the piano keys and my fingers. My twelve year old had a typing game on the computer. I practised on it several times a day. Jane Fonda videos were also around the house. I bought them for my fourteen year old. I used them a few minutes a day till my feet could step to the music. Within six weeks, I went back to work.
In 2007, I became very stiff. My joints stuck together. Even taking a breath hurt a lot. My neighbour, who was a doctor, came up with a painkiller I could tolerate. I became strong enough to get up and seek medical help. UPM Pusat Kesihatan conducted blood tests and found my inflammation markers to be alarming. The blood cell numbers were also downtrending. They referred me to a specialist hospital. Selayang hospital diagnosed another autoimmune issue: rheumatoid arthritis. Swell!
Periods of being immobile and frail really make me value mobility. I hated the shrinking of my world. I hated that I was dependent on others to accomplish the simplest of tasks. I concur with Peter Attia, that a long lifespan is torture if it does not correspond with an equivalent healthspan. Peter Attia is acknowledged as a prominent longevity expert. His new book, Outlive, and his podcasts, theDrive, stress exercise as the most important modifiable factor in both healthspan and lifespan.
Exercise increases cardiovascular and respiratory function and decreases the loss of muscle size and strength. It also increases bone density and decreases osteopenia and osteoporosis. Strong muscles protect joints, improves stability and flexibility and reduces the risk of falling. As we age, it is inevitable that we become frailer and weaker, however, movement and exercise will slow the rate down.
For people with autoimmune issues; movement and exercise have immense benefits, including stress and pain management, reduction in fatigue and inflammation, improvement in mobility and flexibility. However, and this is a big important warning, an activity that is too intense or too long, might bring on a flare-up. I have to fine tune very carefully and not be greedy. I especially tend to overdo my walks. I love being out in nature and tend to push myself. If I do that, I often wake up feverish. For me, it is better to do three ten-minute workouts than a single thirty-minute workout. On very bad days, I stretch and do whatever I can on my bed. When my balance is bad, I do chair work. There are many workouts to choose from on YouTube, I try to choose qualified and certified trainers so that I am a bit more certain of not hurting myself. I tend to like quiet workouts with less talk and ‘motivation’. My current go to workout when I am somewhat in pain is this one: https://youtu.be/32Z0Ctkn6iU
I am fortunate that I live in a pretty neighbourhood. My preferred form of exercise is walking. The current hot and humid weather is making me inconsistent. I tend to flare-up in extreme heat, and also break out in rashes
Dr. Peter Attia talks about the equal importance of zone 2 training, resistance and weight training and high intensity training. I am happy enough to be somewhat physically active. When in pain, it is easy to give up. Not wanting to be frail and immobile again, I try my best, even if all I can manage is five minutes.
Reference
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
by Peter Attia MD, Bill Gifford - contributor, et al.
Websites: www.distilledmoment.com
Email. : distilledmoment@gmail.com
Twitter handle: @distilledmoment
