Science is confusing!!!

I was a vendor at a wonderful event this weekend, called Shannon's Slumber Party.  They expected about 700 women, though I don't know how many finally showed up.  The ladies shopped, got their hair and nails done, and got demonstrations in self defense, Pole Fitness, Zumba fitness, and had a private concert.  They were there to party!

In the midst of it all, a very sweet woman came by and read the sign for Patriot's Dream Farm.  Many people ask me about the name of our farm, and others about the origin of the products we make.  She asked a bit about that, then about what my credentials were in regards to nutrition and wellness.

This wonderful lady asked me about my research backround, and whether I had any research experience with post cancer post menopausal fitness.  I get similar questions all of the time.  The hardest part of science is the reality that no one really knows for sure, especially in medical research.

Ira Flatow recently blogged about having two scientists on Talk of the Nantion Science Friday who disagreed about the findings in 2 ancient bones, and the repurcussions those findings had on evolutionary study.  They disagreed so vehemently, in fact, that the host had to referee a shouting match.  In the last week, the host found himself in similar ground moderating a discusison about where the oil has gone from the gulf oil spill/ leak.  At the end of the day, there is so much we just don't know.

Back to the question from my new friend.  She had been unable to find anything definitive about why her body had responded as it had, and how to get her precancer strength and endurance back.  The truth is, we just don't know.  We expect science and medicine to have the answers, but really it only has clues that we use ourselves to solve our own puzzle.

The response of each person to a given illness is different, as is their response to treatment.  And tey were different from those arond them to begin with.  Add in to that hormones, when treatment or illness fall in the hormone cycle of your body and you have quite a conundrum.  Science looks for groupings of responses in order to draw lines and parallels.  It is up to each of us to work with our physicians and trainers to see how those findigs apply to us as individuals.

That said, it is certainly not impossible.  By working with a log book, and using research as a guide, we make one change at a time, and see what the response was to that given change.  We continue to draw ideas and groups of ideas from science and work to balance that for each individual.  Like you hear all over this blog, patience, perseverance, hard work and being present really do pay off.  We treat each person s an individual, and remember that wat works today may change with fluctuations in hormones or a change in another element of the health condition of the individual.  And by working through it, with the client leadig the charge and at the center of the work, we create a set of options to choose from.  Then the individual has all of those tools in their toolbag to continue to change things.  Refresher meetings are about refreshing those tools and developing new ones.

So science doesn't have all the answers, or even most of them- yet.  But we are scientists too.  And the work of following the clues responsibly is well worth it.  Got a question?  Email me.  Think the answer might benefit someone else too?  Post it as a comment.  Have a great day.  And don't give up.