The founders of Armstrong Activity Therapy benefit from the miracles of modern medicine every day but they also believe, based on very strong evidence, that the impact of these miracles for long term conditions is greatly increased, physically & psychologically, by daily activity... although the NHS is not prescribing it.
One of us (MG) had a heart attack more than a decade ago and had a stent in the acute phase & now takes 7 different drugs a day to reduce the risk of a 2nd heart attack, or some other more dreadful cardiovascular event. The picture shows the leaflets he has received in one year, but in 11 years he has had NOT ONE WORD from the NHS on the benefits of exercise, after the very good gym based programme he had in the first 3 months after the heart attack.
The other (TAG) has had many more adventures. She developed Type1 Diabetes in her early teenage years, and there is probably no more challenging disease for a teenage girl, and then about the age of 20 fractured her spine in a skiing accident. This required surgical fixation with ironmongery inserted and this stabilised the spine but led to 10 years of severe pain, immobility & weight gain which of course did not help her Type 1 diabetes management! These problems continued until she found herself in a gym and decided that this was one therapeutic option that no-one in the NHS had ever suggested so she took action and transformed her health problems. Obviously she still depends on Insulin, really the first big medical breakthrough in the Second Healthcare Revolution, the high tech revolution, the first being the public health revolution of the 19th Century. She now also enjoys the benefits of the Third Healthcare Revolution, which is driven by citizens, knowledge and the internet, using digital resources to control her blood sugar and insulin, particularly when being active. MG also uses digital - the NHS Active 10 app to ensure he does his 30 minutes brisk walking, actually now 32 minutes the additional minutes to compensate for the effects of ageing which increase the need for activity because ageing reduces resilience and the ability to cope with challenges such as the challenge of inactivity, resulting from the modern environment dominated by the car, the computer and the desk job.
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One of us (MG) had a heart attack more than a decade ago and had a stent in the acute phase & now takes 7 different drugs a day to reduce the risk of a 2nd heart attack, or some other more dreadful cardiovascular event. The picture shows the leaflets he has received in one year, but in 11 years he has had NOT ONE WORD from the NHS on the benefits of exercise, after the very good gym based programme he had in the first 3 months after the heart attack.
The other (TAG) has had many more adventures. She developed Type1 Diabetes in her early teenage years, and there is probably no more challenging disease for a teenage girl, and then about the age of 20 fractured her spine in a skiing accident. This required surgical fixation with ironmongery inserted and this stabilised the spine but led to 10 years of severe pain, immobility & weight gain which of course did not help her Type 1 diabetes management! These problems continued until she found herself in a gym and decided that this was one therapeutic option that no-one in the NHS had ever suggested so she took action and transformed her health problems. Obviously she still depends on Insulin, really the first big medical breakthrough in the Second Healthcare Revolution, the high tech revolution, the first being the public health revolution of the 19th Century. She now also enjoys the benefits of the Third Healthcare Revolution, which is driven by citizens, knowledge and the internet, using digital resources to control her blood sugar and insulin, particularly when being active. MG also uses digital - the NHS Active 10 app to ensure he does his 30 minutes brisk walking, actually now 32 minutes the additional minutes to compensate for the effects of ageing which increase the need for activity because ageing reduces resilience and the ability to cope with challenges such as the challenge of inactivity, resulting from the modern environment dominated by the car, the computer and the desk job.
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