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Children’s Health and Longevity

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According to the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, 50 percent of the babies born since the year 2000 are expected to live over the age of 100. Additional research is concerned that our current generation of children may be the first in recent history to see their life expectancy go down.

How can this be? Doesn’t it seem like a contradiction to see so many children living longer while their overall life expectancy goes down? The answer is sad yet simple in that the other 50percent of children are expected to die younger and sicker than ever, not because of their genetics, but because of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

The Requirements of a Healthy Life
It is not rocket science to understand the connection between lifestyle choices, quality of life and longevity. A healthy life requires a lifestyle that includes healthy food, exercise, strong social circles and a healthy spine and nervous system, The 100 Year Lifestyle, as well as avoiding destructive habits such as smoking and excessive stress. On the other hand, a 50 to 60 year lifestyle includes unhealthy eating with excessive sugar, calories, sitting, lack of exercise and an unhealthy spine and nervous system.

“It Runs in My Family”
Are you raising your children to live a 60 year lifestyle or a 100 Year Lifestyle? You will often hear people say as they get older, after they are diagnosed with diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, that “these diseases run in my family.” While there is a genetic component to these conditions, it is actually a small component. These diseases are mostly lifestyle diseases. Based on the lifestyle in which your children are being raised, they are either inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a 60 year lifestyle or they are inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a healthy, active, positive, productive 100 years and beyond.

100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate chiropractic offices are filled with individuals and families who are committed to optimizing the expression of their genes by living their ideal 100 Year Lifestyle. By providing a positive environment filled with healthy lifestyle education and chiropractic care, we are helping our community raise healthy drug-free families over the course of their entire lifetime.

It’s Not Too Late
If you have not been healthy and you are ready for a change, it is not too late for you. 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliates provide care to many people who have lived from crisis to crisis and become tired of the suffering and the roller coaster ride. The good news is that, because of the amazing ability of your body to adapt and heal, it is never too late to take care of your spine and nerve system and adjust your lifestyle.

Begin shopping in stores that sell organic food. Fill up your shopping cart with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains. Avoid high fat foods like cookies, cakes, and cereals that are high in sugar as well as white flour and white rice. Turn off the TV and the video games and get outside with your family for walks or bike rides, and come in together for your chiropractic appointments.

In 1903 Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” It is 2013 and the future is now. You do your part by making good lifestyle choices and we will do our part keeping the master control system of your body, your nervous system, functioning at its full potential so you can enjoy good health now, for 100 years and beyond.

Two Weeks Too Long

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Research by Dr. Videman out of Helsinki, Finland found that even minor traumas to the spine can cause scar tissue formation within two weeks. How many two weeks is okay with you?

The Birth Process Can Be Traumatic

The birth process can be very traumatic to a newborn’s spine and cause nerve pressure that affects breathing, digestion, heart rate as well as the muscles and ligaments of the neck. Since research has also found that nerve compression can exist without pain, this spinal trauma can be asymptomatic for decades. That is a lot of two weeks! How many two weeks is acceptable for you? How about your children?

If you have ever watched a child learning to walk, how many times a day do you think they fall on their bottom? This repetitive bouncing on their bum can cause their spinal injuries, subluxations, which can affect growth and development and lie dormant for decades. This is a lot of two weeks especially if they live to be 80, 90 or 100 years old.

Children Respond Quickly to Chiropractic

“Infants and children respond so quickly to chiropractic care,” says Dr. Cathy Wendland-Colby, the 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate Chiropractor in Woodstock, GA. “Whether they have symptoms or not, every child should be checked for subluxations at birth and during every stage of growth and development. Waiting two weeks and letting deterioration set in is not okay.”

Unchecked Trauma Reduces Nerve Function

Seriously, how many two weeks is acceptable for you and your children? Even more important than the structure of the spine, which is really important, is the impact that these traumas have on the function of the nervous system. Research shows that the weight of a dime, not a lot of pressure, can reduce transmission. Stretching a nerve as little as six degrees can reduce nerve function up to 70% according to the Journal of Spine and Joint Surgery.

Your nervous system controls and coordinates the function of every cell, tissue and organ of your body. This includes your sinuses, heart, lungs, liver, kidney, stomach, intestines and every other organ as well as your arms, legs, hormonal balance and literally every function that is both conscious and unconscious that your body performs.

As the two weeks accumulate from these traumas, both the function of the spine and the nervous system are compromised. These compromises can be disguised as symptoms ranging from allergies, digestive disturbances and attention deficits to headaches, neck pain or backaches.

Two Weeks is Too Long

Unfortunately, however, most of these traumas lie asymptomatic for decades of two weeks until the body can no longer adapt and breaks down with more severe health problems, pain, sickness and disease. We’ve known this for a long time. Dr. Henry Windsor confirmed it in research he conducted nearly 100 years ago that found a nearly 100% correlation between the compromised nerve connections in an injured spine and diseases of the internal organs. (The Windsor Autopsies, The Medical Times)

More than 15 million people each year become diagnosed with osteoarthritis, a condition that results from decades of two weeks that influence the joints of the body. Two weeks is too long.

Since deterioration can occur within 2 weeks, many individuals and families make weekly and bi-weekly adjustments a central piece of their healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle Care keeps your spine and nervous system in balance so your body can function at higher levels. Don’t wait until you “feel” it. You may have waited lots of two weeks too long.

Crossfitters and Chiropractic

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CrossFit is Hot

CrossFit is hot and getting hotter. It has become the next big thing on the workout scene finding its way on ESPN where the CrossFit Games have aired to find the fittest people on earth. CrossFit’s philosophy is that their workouts are high-intensity functional movements, constantly varied and filled with pushups, pull-ups, jump rope, Olympic-style lifting, box jumps, running, and tractor tire flips. These workouts push the human body to achieve the next level of fitness.

The Chiropractic Connection

In the 2013 CrossFit Games the connection between Chiropractic and elite fitness was made apparent as 100 Year Lifestyle Licensed Affiliate Chiropractors, Dr. Devin Waterman and Dr. Brent Waterman of San Ramon, CA, teamed up to run the sports injury tent.

The majority of the top athletes at the games are under Chiropractic Lifestyle Care and many athletes lined up for their adjustments prior to competing. They understand that if their spine and nervous system are not working properly they cannot perform at their best or recover as quickly for their next event.

CrossFit athletes who received chiropractic adjustments for the first time were inspired by the improvements in their performance while those already under care wanted to ensure their competitive edge.

Northern California CrossFit regional athlete Dusty Sulon, AKA “The Dark Knight” gets checked for vertebral subluxations once a week, not because he has to, but because he understands the importance of a properly functioning spine and nervous system. He states, “I owe many of my personal records to Chiropractic Care.” Many CrossFit athletes nationwide feel the same way.

Dr. Kristin Dominguez, another 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate, is involved in the CrossFit community in Atlanta and takes care of many of the athletes at gyms and competitions. As a competitor herself, Dr. Dominguez understands firsthand the importance of a healthy spine and nerve system.

CrossFit workouts test the strength and mobility of the human frame and in doing so can place excessive stress on the body. Athletes learn their physical weaknesses quickly and often look for professional help to keep them strong. The spine is used for loading and setting up the extremities for proper biomechanics. The nervous system is the brain’s connection to muscles, tissues and cells.

CrossFitters and elite athletes in all sports understand that the health of both the spine and nervous system are vital and are directly connected to their performance. No wonder so many people in the CrossFit community have embraced chiropractic care.

Performance is about Lifestyle Care

These athletes understand that performance is about Lifestyle Care not Crisis Care. They care for their body like a race car. It doesn’t only get serviced when it is broken down. Before it is pushed to the limits everything is checked and adjusted so it can perform well on the track. However, unlike a race car that can have all of its parts replaced over time, you only have one spine and nervous system for a lifetime. Keeping it healthy should be your top priority.

The Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis

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Prescription drug abuse is out of control. Every day we hear stories in the news about celebrities, adults, and kids who have experienced the consequences of prescription drug abuse and have either died, been injured, or had to be admitted into some form of rehabilitation center.

It is hard to believe that those little pills can grab such a powerful hold on your mind and body and spin your life out of control. A recent report by the Executive Office of the President of The United States entitled “Epidemic: Responding to America’s Drug Abuse Crisis” revealed that prescription drug abuse is the nation’s fastest growing drug problem. Nearly one third of people age 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2009 began using a prescription drug non-medically.

In Canada, 54% of participants in a study reported misusing their prescription drugs at least once. 52% diverted the use of their drugs to a non-prescribed usage and 42% of the participants deliberately used their prescription with alcohol or another drug.

Drug ads on television, and in every other type of media, do not help the situation. Through beautiful scenery and highly paid actors, the commercials promise relief while disguising the side effects. Have you ever noticed how many drug ads come on during the popular time slots? One after the other we get hammered by them. Listen carefully to the side effects and do extensive homework before you ever put yourself in a position to get hooked. The highly addictive nature of some of these chemicals can own you for a lifetime once they get in you.

Seeing someone who is abusing prescription drugs, or any drug for that matter, is scary. The withdrawal symptoms can turn the calmest person into the image of a wild dog searching for food. A drug filled lifestyle can be dangerous. The side effects are many and are not communicated thoroughly. As time goes on, people often add a second, third, and sometimes many more drugs to their daily routine to offset the side effects of the one that they started with. Nursing homes are filled with individuals who, over the years, increased the number of prescription drugs that they use and abuse on a daily basis. 45% of Medicare beneficiaries are on more than 5 drugs.

If all these drugs were good for us and contributed to greater health and longevity you would think that the statistics would show it. But this is not the case. The World Fact Book ranks the United States 49th in life expectancy and Canada as Number 9.

If you think that you or someone you love is in the middle of a prescription drug crisis then you are probably right and you should trust your instincts. Consult with your doctor and get on a plan to change from a drug-oriented lifestyle to a drug free one. You can do it. Chiropractic offices everywhere are filled with individuals who have taken charge of their health and made this critical transition.

While the purpose of chiropractic care is not to take you off a drug it is very common that when people begin to get adjustments on a regular basis they find their need and dependency on both prescription and non-prescription medication goes down dramatically or disappears altogether. No wonder more and more individuals and families are taking the drug- free approach to healthcare that chiropractic delivers. Now it is your turn.

Health Care Is Rising

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Health Care is Rising. As the U.S. and many other nations try to figure out how to pay for the challenges of the aging population, individuals are realizing that they need to take responsibility for their own health through their lifestyle choices, while also utilizing chiropractic as their first choice for care.

People are living longer than ever. Our generation is the first in history that is getting the advance notice that whether we like it or not, want to or not we will probably live longer than we ever thought. The question is what will our quality of life be like along the way? Will we enjoy an active, healthy, purposeful life with meaningful relationships or will we follow in the path of the many elderly now residing in nursing homes? When it comes to health care values, how will we raise our children differently?

Hundred year old people are the world’s fastest growing segment of the population. The U.S. Census expects this group to grow by 746% between now and the year 2040. This is a staggering statistic as the Baby Boomer Generation moves into their later years. Unfortunately, Baby Boomers are watching their parents and grandparents suffer in their longevity with deterioration and chronic disease. Simultaneously, as they themselves get older, they are waking up to the reality that they need to live their lives differently and make their health a priority before they get sick. This is a philosophical shift that goes way beyond the concept of Affordable Care.

When Dr. Eric Plasker wrote The 100 Year Lifestyle in 2007, the United States was ranked 37th in Life Expectancy and 35th in Infant Mortality. Upon researching the statistics for The 100 Year Lifestyle Second Edition, available now, he was disturbed that our country has become worse in both categories: dropping to 51st in Life Expectancy and 44th in Infant Mortality.

While quality medical care may be necessary when there is disease or a severe accident, Health Care is different. Health Care is about keeping your body, mind and spirit functioning at full potential. It’s about keeping yourself fit, balanced and healthy, and optimizing the function of your nervous system. Chiropractors who are practicing this philosophy of The 100 Year Lifestyle are providing this solution for the people in their communities.

Millions of families – three, four and five generations of them – have been utilizing chiropractic care since birth or early childhood and are some of the healthiest people. I look at my family members who have been fortunate enough to grow up with a healthy spine and nervous system and healthy lifestyle choices and I have seen them thrive as they become healthy adults. This is the direction that humanity needs to follow.

In 1903 Thomas Edison, the great inventor, was quoted:

“The doctor of the FUTURE will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

Well, that was 110 years ago. Enough time has passed to have the “future” be now. The new quote says:

“The doctor of the PRESENT will give no medicine but will interest their patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of Dis-ease.”

Isn’t it time that you and your family be present? Yes, let health care begin rising for you!

Avoid This Dangerous Holiday Duo

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Alcohol and prescription drugs are a dangerous combination. While celebrities are the most popular victims, too many people are affected by this bad combination. With the holidays coming up, this knowledge can even save the life of someone important to you.

Both prescription and non-prescription drugs do not mix with alcohol. Too many people take medications on a regular basis – daily, weekly or monthly – and are unaware of the damaging effects that can be caused by adding alcohol into the mix.

During the holidays, people tend to consume more alcohol. The combination of even small amounts of alcohol with many medications can result in adverse reactions within the body that can lead to severe health problems, and in the worst case scenario, even death. Your awareness about this issue brings responsible drinking to a whole new level.

A few examples include
– Medications used for ADHD or sleep disorders, such as Adderall, may actually circumvent the body’s normal warning systems and can mislead the person to unknowingly drink a dangerous amount of alcohol.

– Acetaminophen is listed as a Major Drug Interaction with alcohol and can result in liver damage, even from small amounts of this combination. This is the medicine found in over the counter drugs such as Tylenol and the widely used Cold Medicine, Nyquil.

– An antibiotic like Bactrim, Flagyl, or Tindamax should not be mixed with alcohol because it can cause severe reactions such as nausea and vomiting, headache, and rapid heart rate.

With other antibiotics, the immediate effects may be less severe but your energy can be reduced and delay how quickly you recover from illness.

Even in small amounts, alcohol may intensify medication side effects such as sleepiness, drowsiness, and light-headedness. The risk of serious injury or fatality when operating a vehicle or machinery is magnified and reaction time to prevent harm may be diminished.

Medications consumed by adults over the age of 65, many of whom already have balance issues and an increased risk of falls, can raise the risk when combined with even a small serving of alcohol.

The combination of medicine and alcohol should be avoided at all costs. If you are taking medication prescribed by a doctor, do your homework to learn about the potential reactions that may occur and avoid them.

When hosting a party or meal during the holidays, offer a variety of beverages to provide non-alcoholic, healthy choices to those who may need to avoid alcohol consumption. When attending as a guest, if you know you are at risk, offer to provide a non-alcoholic beverage to share as part of your contribution to the gathering.

You may read this and at first thought presume that the alcohol is the problem. For many, however, it’s the prescription and non-prescription drug use that is the problem. Millions of people each year are discovering that drugs are not the answer for long term health. As they become aware that long term drug usage can lead to severe side effects, they are making healthier lifestyle choices, 100 Year Lifestyle choices that include good nutrition, exercise, and a healthy spine and nervous system through chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

Avoid this dangerous mix, make healthier choices, and make this the healthiest holiday season ever.