5 Stages of Health

5 Stages of Health

How many of us have constant niggles, maybe a chronic complaint, can't lose weight, feel persistently tired and often stressed? Tick any of these boxes and there is something in The Five Stages of Health for you.

Over the past 20 to 30 years we have seen the emergence of the wellness industry - offering 'wellness' in many forms. Wellness centres, health magazines, internet sites and a variety of products promise cures for everything from wrinkles to Alzheimer's disease and even haemorrhoids. Throughout the world people are spending thousands of hard earned dollars each day on these products and services, hoping to look younger, feel younger and live longer. But does any of this stuff work or is it just a sham?

In the Five Stages of Health Dr Ross Walker debunks the myths and hype of modern health and gives you the facts you need. You get the truth about what are the real modern killers, what you can really do to slow the ageing process, what vitamins and supplements can make a difference and what you need to be doing to be healthy in each decade of your life.

Dr Ross Walker brings over 30 years of medical experience to the must have health resource for men and women of all ages

Dr. Ross Walker is an eminent practicing cardiologist with a passion for people and health. Considered one of the world's best keynote speakers and life coaches, he is the author of six books (some of which have been best sellers). Dr Walker is also a regular presenter on the Nine Network's TODAY Show and radio stations 2UE, 6PR, 4BC and 3AW.

5 Stages of Health
Random House Australia
Author: Dr. Ross Walker
ISBN: 9781742752501
Price: $34.95

Interview with Dr. Ross Walker

Question: What are the five stages of health as described in your book, 5 Stages of Health?

Dr. Ross Walker: One of the big issues with the way medicine is practiced is that we are very good at dealing with acute problems with medication, surgery and procedures but there is a lot that is left out, from there. The first stage of health is very well covered by modern medicine and the first stage is about medicine actually working and treating issues such as high cholesterol very easily. We are missing out on the other stages that aren't dealt with by the medicine profession.

The second stage is the environmental stage which includes the fact that I don't like having a mobile phone to my ear because of the electromagnetic radiation we are all being exposed to. So many people (as I am doing now) sit in front of a computer all day or have their mobile phone stuck to their ear all day and many people have a television in their bedroom. There is increasing evidence that the dirty electricity that we are getting from the sources of electromagnetic radiation is not particularly good for our body. There is also a myth that we should be drinking eight glasses of water a day and often people are drinking that water from a plastic bottle that is loaded with dreadful chemicals such as Bisphenol A which is one of the synthetic chemicals we are exposed to all day, every day which also creates great health issues.

The third stage is the genetic stage; a lot of people think 'if I eat good food and exercise I won't get any diseases' but if your father died at 40 of a heart attack he may have passed the genes onto you for the same condition and you need to deal with that. It is very important to look at your genes and have an early screening test, I'm not saying have your whole gene mapped but we can look broadly at early gene markets for heart disease and many risk factors for cancer and those diseases - we can then deal with them before they cause a problem. It's your genes that loads the gun and your environment that pulls the trigger.

The fourth and fifth stage is dealt with poorly as a profession but we also deal with it poorly as human beings as well. The fourth stage is emotional health, for example if somebody doesn't like their partner, kids or job and they have a heart attack then returns to the partner, kids and job they don't enjoy and nothing changes. Albert Einstein said "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". You have to change your situation which isn't always practical or sensible but most importantly change your attitude to your situation. A lot of people think that it is someone else's job to make them happy or they believe they are unhappy because somebody else is making them unhappy - you're unhappy because you choose to be and I think that every moment of your life you have to choose happiness no matter what's happening. Horrible things happen to all of us and when a horrible thing happens, we all feel bad and if you don't you're not a human being. We have to develop coping mechanisms to deal with the horrible things and get over them to move on with your life.

The final stage is mind health and this is where I try and combine Eastern technics with Western medicine and I talk about how the energy flows through the body (which is completely unproven) and if you look at how you manage your life energy and you look at your life symbolically eg. If something horrible happens you say "this has been a dreadful event in my life, what is it trying to teach me and how can I become a better person?" I believe that life is about one thing which is Spiritually Evolution (which has nothing to do with religion) which is about becoming a better person on every day of your life. Each morning when you wake up you press the 'reset' button and say "I'm going to do it a bit better today, than I did yesterday" and that is the fifth stage.

I wrote the book because I believe if you really want to be healthy you can't just take a pill to lower your cholesterol or have your gallbladder removed or go for a run every day; you have to have a more global approach to how you live and that's what I talk about in the book.


Question: How does stress relate to health in terms of effecting our health, negatively?

Dr. Ross Walker: Stress has a huge impact which is where the fourth and fifth stages of health come in. If you're under a lot of stress, for whatever reason (work, emotional) that releases a whole lot of chemicals into your blood stream including stress hormones, adrenalin and cortisone which has an adverse effect on your body. There is a big study called The Interheart Study which included over 15,000 people in a number of countries and showed clearly that about 30% of heart disease was related to stressful events and the perception of stress in the life. The British Whitehall study looked at British Civil Servants and showed very clearly that people who suffered from job strain had a much higher rate of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. There are a number of studies to show links between stressful events and ongoing life stresses and disease like cancer.

The three big dramatic life events that cause enormous stress and health problems are: the death of a loved one, infidelity or divorce and moving life. Moving life could include moving from Melbourne to Sydney and that is an enormous stress in your life because you have to re-establish social contacts, start a new job and setup a new life which has an enormous stress on the body.


Question: If we are lacking energy, how can we rectify that with our health choices?

Dr. Ross Walker: Firstly if you're lacking energy you need to find out the reason you're lacking energy and there are a number of different reasons you could be lacking energy; for example stress: if you're working too hard, playing too hard or sleeping poorly you're going to lack energy and you will need to address those issues which is talked about in the Energy chapter.

If it's not stress that is causing you to lack energy you may have something called Chemical or Endogenous Depression which can make you tired, upset your sleeping patterns and mean you lose your zing in life.

Thirdly if you're lacking energy and are an adult male or post-menopausal female a very common condition is sleep apena where your sleep, during the night, is disordered by you stopping breathing which is a very common condition and cause of lack of energy, throughout the day. Lack of energy could also be due to a disease such as a thyroid problem, anaemia or a kidney problem. For a female going through menopause or for when a male hits the equivalent (50 years of age) that can take away a lot of the sex hormones which can also make you tired.

It's not just a matter of saying 'I lack energy, I'll take a tonic and it'll make me feel better', you have to ask why you are lacking energy and then once you address why the tiredness will be stopped. There are certain things you can do, tonic wise, that will give you energy as well such as a good multivitamin, taking 150mg+ of Coenzyme Q10 and 400mg of Magnesium Orotate which will improve the energy in the energy component of your cells. There is a thing in the cells called mitochondria which is the energy store and Coenzyme Q10 and Magnesium Orotate improve the energy you make in the mitochondria.

The book is currently the number one selling health book in Australia.


Interview by Brooke Hunter