Since mid-Fall TV commercials have been trumpeting the horrors of the "flu season". "It's never too soon to begin fighting this year's bug" they blare. Public health announcements urge us to get our "yearly flu shot", as if this is something we've got permanently scheduled in our Blackberries. All the leading over-the-counter pain medications offer special seasonal "flu" mixtures, and their ads deluge daytime and prime-time broadcasting.
For the health consumer, namely us, it seems as if this annual "war on the flu" is received wisdom. We're just defenseless human beings at the mercy of the all-powerful flu virus.
What's wrong with this picture?
What's never mentioned in the "flu warning" marketing is the versatility and adaptability of our remarkable immune system. We're the lucky owners of a built-in state-of-the-art biowarfare system, on-the-job 24/7 to combat microscopic foreign invaders of our health and well-being. Once our immune system has detected a foreign protein it mounts an immediate defense, attacking and destroying the alien molecules. And, the memory of that particular invader is permanent, enabling a future immune response to be swift and effective.1
The big issue with influenza is that new strains appear each year. We've never encountered these germs before. But, the whole basis and strength of our immune system is flexibility. It is specially designed to respond quickly to new attackers. And, for the most part, it does this very, very well.
Of course, no one wants their dinner companion to sneeze in their plate of pasta, as Elaine did on an infamous episode of "Seinfeld". Through a typical cascade of unfortunate events, Jerry's and George's comedy pilot was almost scuttled because the network executive was Elaine's date, and he got violently ill by being on the receiving end of her blast of micro-bugs.
In the real world, our immune systems can be weakened due to life habits, circumstances, and stress. Stress is a notorious compromiser of immune defenses.2 And, of course, being human, there's plenty of stress from dawn to dusk. If worry and anxiety pile on top of not-enough-sleep or sub-optimal nutrition, getting sick is a pretty likely outcome. So, developing and maintaining healthy habits of living and successful strategies for managing stress is really the key.3
If you do the simple things that keep you healthy and well, in the winter months you can pretty much "let the flu go around you". You can be confident, knowing you've done the work to fight off the latest flu threat. Someone else's germs are their germs, not yours. If your immune system is on the job, you're far less likely to "catch" something.
And, even if you do succumb, you've got a much better chance of getting well again quickly.
1Sompayrac L: How the Immune System Works, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2002.
2Wein H:Stress and disease - new perspectives. NIH Word on Health, October 2000.
3The Truth About Your Immune System - What You Need To Know. Harvard Health Publications, 2007.
We're in the middle of several deadly epidemics in the United States. Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are affecting more and more people every year. Recent statistics show that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Thirty percent of American children are obese. Approximately 21 million Americans have diabetes. One child out of every 500 has type I diabetes. In America, 72 million adults have high blood pressure. These are shocking statistics, considering that U.S. health care expenditures totaled $2 trillion in 2006. That's 2 TRILLION dollars.
As Americans, we're getting less healthy by the day. The good news is there are many things we can do about these trends. There is real action that every American, young and old, can take to support and protect their health and well-being. These action steps all focus on lifestyle - the choices we make each and every day.
The first step is an honest self-assessment. When was the last time I exercised? Does my clothes size increase every couple of years? How many times during the week do I eat fast food? When was the last time I ate an apple instead of half a box of cookies?
Regardless of the answers, it is possible to become healthy and fit again, whatever your current circumstances. You CAN lose 10 or 20 or 30 or however many pounds. You CAN climb stairs without getting out of breath. You CAN regain the youthful glow of vitality. You CAN be vigorous and proud of your body, rather than worrying about what's going to be the next thing to break down.
Healthy eating and regular exercise are essential parts of the solution to combating obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.1,2 These practices have the magical effect of resetting your metabolic clock - your body shifts from a pattern of storing fat to a pattern of burning fat.3 Over time, with a nutritious food plan and consistent exercise, you even burn fat while you're resting! Your body is very smart. You just have to treat it right.
Your chiropractor is a wonderful asset - both as a health care practitioner and as a guide - on your journey toward fitness and wellness. Your chiropractor has extensive resources available on practical nutrition and how to design a supportive food plan. He or she has deep knowledge regarding the types of exercises and activities that will be right for you. You and your chiropractor can design an exercise program that will be both fun and rewarding. Working together, you'll be maximizing your health and vitality. You will begin to fulfill a way of living that will support you in being healthy and well for years to come.
1Lindstrom J, et al: Sustained reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle intervention: follow-up of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. Lancet 368(9548):1673-1679, 2006.
2Orchard TJ, et al: The effect of metformin and intensive lifestyle intervention on the metabolic syndrome: the Diabetes Prevention Program randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 142(8):611-619, 2005
3Yannakoulia M, et al: A dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of whole-grain cereals and low-fat dairy products and low consumption of refined cereals is positively associated with plasma adiponectin levels in healthy women. Metabolism 57(6):824-830, 2008
Most of us are procrastinators. We let things go until the last minute. Papers, magazines, and books pile up on the desk until the process of finding what we're looking for resembles an archeological dig. Our garages look like our desks. Stuff fills the garage just like stuff covers the desk. Eventually, finding things resembles exploring for treasure in a dark, long-abandoned cave. We're motivated to clean our desks and garages only by the impossibility of adding any more stuff to the clutter and the piles.
Sometimes it seems as if procrastinating is hard-wired into our DNA. This is particularly true when it comes to our health. No one wants to go to the doctor, so it becomes even easier to put off the needed checkup. Whether it's our chiropractor, our dentist, or our family physician, nobody seems to want to pick up the phone, go to the office, and take care of business. Of course, procrastination in relation to our health can lead to some big problems. Tooth pain that comes and goes doesn't seem like such a big deal. But if the coming and going is fairly consistent, then there's probably a cavity that needs filling. You keep putting it off and when you finally get around to going to our dentist, you learn you need an expensive root canal and a crown. That's not good.
Or you're playing pickup basketball on the weekend. You go up for a rebound and get shoved in the back. The next day you have lower back pain. You keep thinking it'll go away, but it's now four weeks later and your back is still stiff and sore. Had you seen your chiropractor the first week, after the pain had persisted for four or five days, treatment might have been pretty straightforward. Now you learn it's going to take at least several weeks of treatment before you can play ball again. Not good. Diabetes is the same thing. 1High blood pressure is the same thing.2 Overweight is the same thing. 3Procrastination with your health always costs more time and more money in the end. Prevention and, if necessary, early detection, are the keys.
When it comes to your health, the opposite of procrastination is managing your symptoms. It's not necessary to run to your chiropractor for every ache and pain or to run to your family physician for every sniffle or low-grade fever. It is important and necessary to pay attention to what's going on with you. Symptoms that linger mean something is wrong and your body needs help in getting better. Once you begin paying attention a learning curve will kick in. You'll develop skill in identifying problems that need attention. The next step, of course, is to pick up the phone, make an appointment, and arrive at the appointment on time. Your chiropractor or family physician will be glad to be of service in identifying the problem and providing appropriate treatment.
1Bo S, et al: Prevalence of undiagnosed metabolic syndrome in a population of adult asymptomatic subjects. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 75(3):362-365, 2007
2Guyomard V, Myint PK: Optimum control of blood glucose for prevention and treatment of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med 11(3):201-211, 2009
3Anderson AS, Caswell S: Obesity management--an opportunity for cancer prevention. Surgeon 7(5):282-285, 2009
Is it possible that ups and downs with respect to our health and well-being are yet another reflection of the ebb and flow of all things? Aren't ups and downs part of the natural process of life? If ups and downs are natural, should you really be concerned with the downs? Isn't disease merely the normal flip side to health? If you have a stretch of bad health, isn't that merely the luck of the draw, part of the price you pay for being alive? And if you can wait out the bad periods and expect that they'll eventually swing around to a period of feeling good, why should you exert yourself and spend time, money, and energy exercising and eating "healthy" if it's all going to even out anyway?
The answers to these deep questions have profound implications for everyone. First, there are no "right" answers. How you conduct your life is a personal choice. But in fact many people do not make active choices. They exist in a default state, floating along on the current of any random convenient stream. "Whatever" is the slogan and catch-phrase of these persons. Such individuals fail to recognize that we live in an entropy-seeking universe. Breakdown, disorder, and decay are the tendencies of all things.
Our health is no exception. If you do not proactively take steps to combat the inexorable progression to disorganization, your body will gradually fall apart. Literally. Understanding that the patterns of life are cyclical does not imply that you should just lie down and take it. The fact that downward trends are inevitable does not imply that doing good things for your health and well-being are useless and a waste of resources.
In fact, taking action on your own behalf makes the highs of the cycles higher and simultaneously decreases the depths of the lows.The result of such action is specific improvement of your health over time. Yes, improving your health takes effort. In this space-time continuum unless effort is exerted to maintain the organization of matter, disorganization will rapidly follow. Muscles don't stay hard and strong on their own. Without proper training, heart and lung efficiency and strength deteriorate over time. With a careless diet, digestive organs become sluggish and function poorly. And so on down the entire list of physiologic components and functions.
So, yes, it's a random universe. Stuff happens, so why not sit back and "go with the flow". Quality of life is the criterion. How much quality our lives have is based on our personal contribution. Our personal effort. Our personal commitment to healthier lives for ourselves and our families. And that requires effort.
1Stineman MG, Streim JE: The biopsycho-ecological paradigm: a foundational theory for medicine. PM R 2(11):1035-1045, 2010
2Pinto BM, Ciccolo JT: Physical activity motivation and cancer survivorship. Recent Results Cancer Res 186:367-387, 2011
3Brinkhaus B, et al: How to treat a patient with chronic low back pain - Methodology and results of the first international case conference of integrative medicine. Complement Ther Med 19(1):54-62, 2011
This is turning out to be a pretty tough century. Or at least so far. The recent earthquake-like shocks in the economy have impacted everyone, and most people's stress levels are sky-high.
Jobs have been lost, retirement savings have shrunk drastically, and energy prices are rising again. Economic stress leads to real physical stress.
Stress is more than just a state of mind. Stress has real physical components, including tight muscles, headaches, difficulty falling asleep and restless sleep, abdominal pain, allergies and asthma, inflammation, and high blood pressure.
Some results of stress may have long-term consequences. Prolonged high blood pressure, for example, may lead to heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Long-term inflammation may lead to weight gain, diabetes, and even kidney disease.
Of course, we could have stress because we have stress. We're stressed, and now we begin worrying about all the things that could go wrong because we are under stress. Not a good plan.
A better plan would involve being proactive and beginning to take action steps that support our health and well-being. The action steps include the usual suspects - exercise and good nutrition. Everyone knows they "should" be doing regular exercise and "should" be eating good food every day, the difficulty is that no one wants to do what they "should".
The way to reducing one's stress levels is in choosing to take action. We choose healthy behaviors because we want to, not because we think we "should". The concept of personal choice is powerful and may lead to shifts toward behaviors that are healthy.
From an information point of view, both exercise and good nutrition have potent effects on a person's health.Both reduce inflammation. Both neutralize circulating free radicals, reducing a number of health risks, and both provide new energy resources, making us healthier and happier.
Choosing good health improves our lives in countless ways. By choosing, we take back the power of good health. Everyone in our lives benefits by our renewed energy, creativity, productivity, and love for life.
Beginning a program of chiropractic care is another positive choice we may make. Chiropractic adjustments help our bodies work more efficiently and effectively, directly reducing physiologic stress and indirectly improving our ability to effectively manage the stress in our daily lives.
Your chiropractor is an expert in health, wellness, and well-being and will be glad to help you design exercises and food plans that will work for you. Remember - being healthy is a choice!
1Appel LJ, et al: Effects of comprehensive lifestyle modification on blood pressure control: main results of the PREMIER clinical trial. JAMA 289(16):2083-2093, 2003
2Elmer PJ, et al: Effects of comprehensive lifestyle modification on diet, weight, physical fitness, and blood pressure control: 18-month results of a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med 144(7):485-495, 2006
3Viera AJ, et al: Lifestyle modifications to lower or control high blood pressure: is advice associated with action? The behavioral risk factor surveillance survey. J Clin Hypertens 10(2):105-111, 2008
We certainly live in stressful times. It's not easy to assess whether our era is the most stressful, but we do have plenty of daily stress. The job, the home, the kids, the relatives, and the economy - all these stresses add up and yet we wonder why we have so many aches and pains.
So many ailments are stress-related. Americans are notoriously overweight. Overeating is a stress-coping mechanism.1 Headaches and backaches are often associated with increased stress. There's a strong correlation between high blood pressure and stress, ulcers and stress, and even cancer and stress.
What can we do? The external stresses in our lives aren't going away. Our activity-filled lives are busy and complex - there's always going to be stress. The key is to help avoid or ease the physical effects of stress. Interestingly, chiropractic treatment can be of great assistance in reducing the effects of stress on the body.
In general, stress causes muscles to tighten. This is an unconscious reaction. Tight muscles cause a cascade of further muscle tightening, shortening of muscles and ligaments, and a resulting decrease of mobility in joints, particularly shoulder joints, hip joints, and joints of the spine.2,3
This overall mechanical effect of stress has a number of additional consequences. All the extra unconscious muscle activity wastes precious nutritional resources and uses up energy needed for critical body functions. Lactic acid accumulates, irritating nerve endings and further increasing muscular tightness. And, importantly, the losses in spinal joint mobility lead directly to increased levels of pain. This, of course, leads to more stress.
This vicious circle of stress, muscular tightness, and pain can be relieved and reduced by chiropractic treatment.4 Chiropractic therapy is specially designed to improve joint mobility of the spine and pelvis. This gentle, effective treatment gradually restores maximal spinal motion. Muscle tightness is alleviated, metabolic processes begin to return to normal, and nutrients become more available to help maintain healthy functioning. Levels of pain are reduced, and we become better able to withstand the physical effects of stress.
Your chiropractor will explain the many benefits of treatment, and will provide instruction in stretching techniques and specific exercises that help maintain the positive results of therapy.
There will always be stress. We can learn how to reduce the physical effects of stress, and become stronger, healthier, and happier in the process.
Take a Break! A few quick tips -
These short, focused breaks will help reduce muscular tightness and physical stress, and also help your brain recharge so you can be more creative and productive!
1Marchesini G, et al: Psychiatric distress and health-related quality of life in obesity. Diabetes Nutr Metab 16(3):145-154, 2003
2Weickgenant AL, et al: Coping activities in chronic low back pain: relationship with depression. Pain 53(1):95-103, 1993
3Burns JW: Arousal of negative emotions and symptom-specific reactivity in chronic low back pain patients. Emotion 6(2):309-319, 2006
4Hurwitz EL, et al. A randomized trial of chiropractic and medical care for patients with low back pain. Spine 31(6):611-621, 2006
Way back in the 1960s, when everything was brand-new, the Beatles introduced Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to national television audiences in American and the UK. The Maharishi came to the West with the Beatles to introduce a new thing - Transcendental Meditation.
At the time most Westerners were not familiar with meditation in any form. The Maharishi introduced a simple method that has become well-known and popular over the years. Meditation is even more important to our health and well-being in the 21st century than ever before.
It takes a lot to maintain good health these days. Of course, eating a healthy diet - with plenty of fruits and vegetables - and exercising regularly are the cornerstones of good health. Sufficient rest is another key ingredient - most of us require at least seven hours of sleep each night to restore energy and vitality.
There is another essential factor - one that is less well-recognized and easy to overlook. In the early years of the 21st century we all need to find ways to manage our daily levels of stress. If we tell the truth, for most of us, our stress levels are off the charts.
Meditation can be a powerful tool for reducing the impact of stress on our bodies, and for helping us better manage the stress in our lives.1,2 Meditation is simple and straightforward - all that's required is a commitment to making it happen.3
You don't need any special equipment. You don't need incense or candles. You don't even need a mat or a cushion. You can do meditation sitting in a comfortable, straight-backed chair.
There are many methods and ways of practicing meditation. In Transcendental Meditation you silently repeat a simple phrase to yourself. You focus on the phrase, known as a mantra. In Zen meditation, you focus on your breath - not by breathing deeply, but rather as a means to focus your attention. Breathe in, breathe out. Your attention wanders. Notice that, and return your focus to the breath.
Or, you can simply sit quietly. Close the door and turn off your cell phone. Make sure everyone in your home knows this is your alone time. Just sit quietly for ten minutes, allowing yourself to relax. Find a place within yourself on which to focus, and let yourself go. Set aside ten minutes a day. You'll find that you eagerly look forward to this quiet time and that you emerge refreshed and revitalized.
Your chiropractor is an expert in helping people achieve greater levels of health and well-being and will be glad to help you learn about methods of stress reduction that will work for you.
1Barnhofer T, et al: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy as a treatment for chronic depression. Behav Res Ther Feb 5, 2009
2Carson JW, et al: Yoga of Awareness program for menopausal symptoms in breast cancer survivors: results from a randomized trial. Support Care Cancer Feb 12, 2009
3Sharma R, et al: Effect of yoga based lifestyle intervention on subjective well-being. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol 52(2):123-131, 2008
"The Stress of Life" is a perennial bestseller by Hans Selye, written in 1956. Selye almost single-handedly introduced the notion of stress into the worldwide consciousness. By doing so, Selye changed the way we think about ourselves, our values, and how we conduct our lives.
As Selye observed, stress is a double-edged sword. Many types of stress are good for people, both physiologically and personally. For example, Wolff's law states that bone will remodel (build more bone) along lines of mechanical stress. In other words, bone becomes stronger when it is subjected to physical loads. The physiological stress of weight-bearing exercise such as walking, running, and strength training helps prevent osteoporosis by making bone denser and more resilient. From a psychological perspective, the great German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, famously stated in "Twilight of the Idols" (1888), "What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." Apparently, Nietzsche (writing in the 19th century) was far ahead of Selye in pointing to the benefits (and dangers) of stress.
Life is filled with "good" stresses. A new love relationship, a new job, or a new baby may all provide great personal happiness and the experience of fulfillment and satisfaction. But each circumstance may also place new demands on us, calling on us to be and do much more than that of which we had previously thought ourselves capable. A person may develop all sorts of adaptive responses in attempts to cope with life's new requirements, but most of these adaptations are themselves stress-producing. Over time the adaptations become habits, stress becomes a day-by-day experience, and a host of physiological and psychological disorders and syndromes may appear.1,2 High blood pressure, diabetes, overweight/obesity, arthritis, insomnia, and depression may all be considered as long-term maladaptive responses to stress.3
Muscular aches and pains, muscle spasms, and headaches are common physiological responses to ongoing stress. A vicious circle develops in which stress leads to muscle tightness, which constricts blood vessels, which leads to headaches, which leads to more muscle tightness, more pain, and even more stress. One's day seems to become filled with stress and stress reactions. The good news is that means of ending these vicious circles of stress are available. Present time consciousness, regular exercise and a healthy diet, sufficient rest, and regular chiropractic care comprise a powerful tool kit for restoring balance in one's life.
1Wu EL, et al: Increased risk of hypertension in patients with major depressive disorder: a population-based study. J Psychosom Res 73(3):169-174, 2012
2Hristova MG: Metabolic syndrome - From the neurotrophic hypothesis to a theory. Med Hypotheses 2013 July 27 [Epub ahead of print]
3Martocchia A, et al: Targets of anti-glucocorticoid therapy for stress-related diseases. Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov 8(1):79-87, 2013
