Beauty...
Be your own
kind of beautiful
Be your own
kind of beautiful
By Mollysims.com
Dr. David Langer, a distinguished neurosurgeon known for his expertise in brain and spine surgery, experienced a significant personal shift when he was involved in a serious skiing accident a year and a half ago. The accident not only altered the course of his life, but profoundly influenced his perspective on patient care and resilience. You might recognize Dr. Langer from the critically acclaimed docu-series Lenox Hill, which offers an intimate look into his life following the accident. Today, in one of our most requested (and emotional) episodes, Dr. Langer joins us to discuss a range of topics, including dealing with grief, managing stress versus anxiety, the impact of technology on our brains, and debunking common misconceptions about brain health.
“Stress is an evolutionary thing. We all need some stress, as long as it’s not anxiety. There’s a certain underlying stress that makes you successful. In fact, if we didn’t have stress, we probably wouldn’t be happy with our lives. Anxiety, on the other hand, is when it becomes pathologic and negative. Stress can be a motivating factor to get things done, while Anxiety affects you emotionally, when it shouldn’t. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself what you’re anxious about because when you can understand it, you can better manage it.”
“Most of it [brain health] is not in your control. If you’re smoking five packs of cigarettes a day, are obese, and don’t sleep, you’re going to have a bad brain, but most people are not that far gone. There’s no guarantee the person who does a little bit of those things will be any healthier than the person who avoids them entirely. Making a huge fuss about occasional lapses is somewhat silly. The key for optimized brain health is to avoid hurting yourself and not developing repetitive bad habits. There are clearly better things for ourselves, such as having a higher calling and focusing on something beyond just money and power. Feeling that you’re giving something back is important as well. One of the great things about my job is that I get paid well, but that’s not why I chose it. I love what I do, and I don’t watch the clock waiting for breaks – that’s when you do your best work. I tell my kids to choose something that makes them at least 80% happy. Unfortunately, that’s not common. Also, it’s important to remember that just because others go on great vacations, it doesn’t mean they’re happy. The best place to take a vacation is in your own mind. You can be very happy wherever you are and thinking you need an expensive trip to find joy is misguided. A trip may provide pleasure, but true joy comes from a very different place.”
“The number of brain tumors have gone up a little bit, per capita, however no one really knows why. It could be because of NutraSweet, for Christ’s sake. We do so many things like drinking diet soda or eating certain preservatives, but really, we don’t fully know what it does. The data around cell phones having a negative effect on brain health is really weak, it is probably not a major factor in causing brain tumors. The energy in a cell phone is pretty small, and we usually use our dominant ear when we listen to a cell phone however tumors are no more higher on the right side, than the left. If you’re really worried about it [brain tumors], you can just use earphones. There are about a thousand other things that I wouldn’t do before I wouldn’t use my cell phone. For example, you can’t smoke, drink in moderation, eat healthily and get plenty of sleep. Family is also huge in regards to brain health, whether it’s your religion or having some sort of healthy way of thinking about the world.”
