The View from Vegas: Smoky with a Few Sunny Periods by Dr. John Gannage

WRITTEN WITH TONGUE FIRMLY IN CHEEK:
Attending an integrative medicine conference in Vegas is akin to doing a meditation retreat in Union Station, or doing facials with clay from China. It’s not that the purpose is defeated – it was a good conference with valuable information – it simply seems, in the case of Vegas, counterintuitive to learn about oxidative stress, environmental toxins and inflammation in a location that doesn’t have a smoking area. Because the whole place is a smoking area!

I like congruency, walking the walk, sending the right message, practicing what one preaches. It’s an integrity thing. But hey, a week of nosebleeds, headaches and brain fog, to take one for the team, it’s all good! Let’s just do the next one in a rain forest in Costa Rica, or a cottage resort north of Toronto. Heck, how about Orlando. Oh, the next MAPS training in the Fall will be in Orlando? ….perfect, my bronchitis should be settled by then. Thanks to Tim Guilford and his lipoceutical glutathione, the impact of the hotel’s poor air quality was lessened considerably, to be honest. It’s just the 3rd hand smoke lining my nasal passages and attached to my nose hair, which I anticipate smelling for the next few weeks, is something I really prefer to live without.

Vegas attractions?…spectacular in many ways.  The water fountain show at the Bellagio, followed by the Cirque de Soleil performance at Caesar’s, preceded by a wholesome meal at the Mesa Grill, were nice ways to spend an evening. Won’t be losing a single dime, or winning one for that matter, at any gambling table…no appeal to me anymore. And I have had one drink, so not a total prude. But there’s something about going to sleep when everyone else is basically waking up for the night’s activities, and then searching Google Scholar in the casino lounge at 6 AM amidst the ching-ching of slots, loud 70’s music, and clouds of smoke (yes, even at 6 AM) that really tests one’s mental discipline. I passed, with flying colours. Heightened auditory sensitivity in Rhesus monkeys with elevated body lead levels is something I learned on the casino floor in Vegas.  How many people can boast that? So much for what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…