Dr. Oz talks to Montel on Tuesday's Oprah: Motivational thought number sixteen: Update

March 16, 3:52 PMNew England Fitness ExaminerJo Levy

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Climbing Higher

I admit it. I am a fan of Montel Williams and not because he has Multiple Sclerosis; however, I read his book Climbing Higher a couple of years back. I also have an autoimmune disease (Sjogren's Syndrome). Since reading this book I religiously take the supplement Tumeric.

Tomorrow he will be on Oprah with Dr. Oz. Dr. Oz will be talking about Montel's life after his diagnosis. I will update this piece after I watch it but I wanted to make people aware of the show. Since 1991 Montel has been for many a household name.  Montel is one of the lucky ones because he has the money to go anywhere he wants to get alternative and/or the latest treatment; however, as a result of the book  Still I was able to put myself on Tumeric and have fewer symptoms than others with SS.

Montel copes with the pain through the use of medicinal marijuana. He says he is managing many of the symptoms through medication and an extremely healthy diet of raw vegetables with few processed and cooked foods.

"Montel's new book Living Well: 21 Days to Transform Your Life, Supercharge Your Health, and Feel Spectacular, shares some of his approaches to the diet and exercise that he says is saving his life. He says the book embraces his motto, "I will be the only person who owns the definition of who I am, period." (Oprah.com)

On the show  Dr. Oz described MS and used an electrical cable to explain how the disease attacks a patient's central nervous system. Montel stated, "My primary symptom is pain," he says. "I've got pain from my shins to my feet, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and it's been there for the last 10 years."

Dr. Oz said that  suffocation caused by chest hugs is the leading cause of death for people with MS. Another leading cause? Suicide. "Folks just cannot take it," Dr. Oz says. "It just eats away at you from the inside." After his diagnosis, Montel says there was a time when he went into his closet and put a gun in his mouth

You can read more of this interview  at Oprah.com I realize some may say that they have MS and don't get the PR that Montel gets and that is true just as Michael J. Fox gets PR for his Parkinson's diagnosis. Let's hope though that the celebrities with money and contacts can get more research done.

 President Barack Obama lifted the restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem-cell studies opening up the doors for perhaps many cures.

Other motivational thoughts in my series:
 

• Motivational thought number fifteen:  Should fitness be required for a topless waitress?
  
• Motivational thought number fourteen:  Body Dysmorphia
  
• Motivational thought number twelve: Procrastination
• Motivational thought number thirteen:   Kim Kardashian
  
• Motivational thought number eleven: Woman in sports and 
  
• Motivational thought number ten: A cause outside yourself
• Motivational thought number nine: Cherish every day
  
• Motivational thought number eight: Willpower
  
• Motivational thought number seven: Pass up the buffet
  
• Motivational thought number six: Join a support group
  
• Motivational thought number five: Keep a journal
  
• Motivational thought number four: Find a partner in the gym
  
• Motivational thought number three: Look at magazines
  
• Motivational thought number two:  Exercise at the right intensity
  
• Motivational thought number one: All work is 25% perspiration and 75% determination.