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How is Stress Affecting You?

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April is National Stress Awareness Month. Have you ever wondered why stress affects everyone differently? How is stress affecting you?

It is well documented that high levels of stress can contribute to heart disease, cancer, headaches, ulcers, backaches and nearly every condition known to mankind. How can stress cause so many unique problems in different people especially since the stress reaction is the same for everyone?

Stress Is A Nerve System Reaction
Stress is a nerve system reaction that causes your heart to beat faster, your muscles to be tense, your stomach to tighten, and your hair follicles to stand up, all as a way to prepare your body for an emergency. When you interpret a situation as stressful, whether it truly is or not, your brain triggers this reaction by sending a signal over your spinal cord and nerve system to every cell of your body. In prehistoric times, this would have been the perfect reaction to escape from a hungry dinosaur, but in today’s stress filled world and no Tyrannosaurus Rex, this chronic reaction can cause pain, sickness and disease.

The Pre-stressed Nerve System
Where your body breaks down from stress may depend on whether or not you have a condition in your spine known as “vertebral subluxation.” A vertebral subluxation is a spinal injury that interferes with the normal function of your nerve system which can affect your health on every level. If you have this condition in your spine, your body is already pre-stressed.

Many people deal with stress through meditation, exercise and healthy food choices. These are all very good things to do as part of your lifestyle, but if your nerve system is pre-stressed, the slightest deviation from the perfect stress management plan can send you into a frustrating, uncomfortable, or painful tailspin. Removing this pre-stress causing subluxation can improve your resistance to daily stressors dramatically.

Research shows that it only takes the weight of a dime to reduce nerve transmission. Additional research has found that nerve compression can exist without pain and can cause deterioration within two weeks.

In this pre-stressed condition, your body becomes more vulnerable to outside stresses. The location of the subluxation can determine what types of symptoms, if any, you experience. For example, someone with nerve interference in the upper part of the neck might feel headaches, have allergies, or a stiff neck. Because the nerve fibers that come out of the upper neck also go to the entire body, pressure here can literally cause or mimic nearly every symptom or disease you can name.

Interference to the nerves in the lower back may cause a backache, leg problems and also affect ovary, prostate, bladder or bowel function. Interference in the middle of your back may affect your heart and lungs or cause tension, stomach problems, and digestive disturbances.

Remove The Underlying Problem
Like most serious conditions, vertebral subluxations can cause stress for decades without any symptoms. The birth process, childhood falls, sports injuries and poor lifestyle habits are just a few causes of subluxations. Rather than getting to the cause and removing this underlying problem, many people attempt to chase their symptoms away with drugs, or another type of quick fix, and then wonder why their condition returns. Removing the cause and optimizing the function of your nerve system is a better immediate and long-term plan.

Regardless or your symptoms, a chiropractic examination can locate pre-stressed areas in your spine that may be affecting your health on every level. Don’t wait for a crisis.

Avoiding Everyday Health Traps

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Are You Heading For An Everyday Health Trap?
Do you sit at a computer and talk on the phone all day? Do you wedge the phone between your ear and shoulder while you write? Is your desk, chair, keyboard or monitor too high or low? Do you text, surf the internet or watch movies with a hand held device? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then pay attention to this article and learn how to avoid these everyday health traps.

The health traps above cause repetitive strains that can have a similar effect on your body as a car accident, only it takes longer. Where a car accident takes a split second to cause injuries and health problems, repetitive strains may take a week, a month, six months or a year. The effects on your body can even lie dormant for decades without giving you any notice of a problem. Or, they can become sudden and dramatic.

Repetitive strains can cause vertebral subluxations in your spine that interfere with the function of your nerve system and affect your health on many levels. Headaches, neck pain, low back pain and herniated discs are just a few of the problems that can arise. Because your nerves control everything in your body, your organs and systems may be affected also. These symptoms and injuries can hamper your career and cost you a lot of unnecessary expense, time and suffering.

Here are 3 simple things you can do to avoid and prevent these everyday health traps:

Fix Up Your Workspace. Don’t wait for your company to do this for you or for a crisis to force you to do it. Back pillows, wrist rests, and headsets are not very expensive and can make a big difference. If you buy them yourself, you can take them with you if you change jobs or work from home. If you use a laptop, try standing at a counter instead of sitting at your desk. Move around your workspace instead of sitting during a call. Don’t underestimate the value these small changes can make on your body. Do them immediately.

Stretch and Watch Your Posture. By stretching your neck, shoulders and back periodically during the day, you will keep tension from building up in your muscles. Have you experienced soreness after a workout? The same lactic acid buildup that causes soreness after exercise causes muscle fatigue and weakness from these health traps. When texting and working with your handheld device, straighten up and be conscious of your posture, raising the device to eye level. If straightening up is uncomfortable, then you are way overdue for a chiropractic check-up.

Adjust Your Lifestyle. Avoiding everyday health traps can be as simple as adjusting your lifestyle. Having the awareness that you are doing things on a daily basis that may deteriorate your health and quality of life as you age will help you make changes in the moment that are good for you long term.

How long have these unhealthy everyday health traps been a part of your lifestyle? How many months or years of these unhealthy habits have you accumulated? If your answer is more than 30 days, then now is the time for a chiropractic check-up. Whether you have symptoms or not, you can prevent underlying health problems from becoming permanent by taking these appropriate action steps right now.

Health Care Leadership Adjustment

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We Are In Desperate Need of Health Care Leadership
Our world is in desperate need of health care leadership. Costs are rising into the multiples of trillions while the quality of the care is questionable at best. In my research for The 100 Year Lifestyle Second Edition, I was blown away by the research and how the numbers have changed in just the 6 years since the first edition was published.

You would think with all of the cost increases that have occurred we would see improvement. We have not. Life Expectancy in the United States has worsened moving from 37th place in 2006 to 51st in 2012 compared to other countries. Infant mortality has dropped to 45th compared to other industrialized nations. Where is all this money going? There are growing concerns that the Affordable Health Care Act will actually drive the costs up even more while the quality of the care continues to decline.

The Current Health Care System Needs An Adjustment
Our health care system needs an adjustment. The core problem is one of philosophy. Our current system is Crisis Care only. “Health Care” education is primarily done by drug companies whose ultimate goal is to sell their drugs to consumers. The side effects are scary and you can learn about them from any drug ad you watch on television, hear on the radio or see in a magazine.

A Philosophy Adjustment Will Optimize Your Health
Manipulating body chemistry is not health care. You and your family should consider taking a new philosophical approach to your well-being. Here is a simple philosophy to begin living right away to optimize your health for a lifetime:

1. Innate Intelligence
You have within you an Innate Intelligence. Present from the moment you were conceived, this Intelligence guides the processes in your body that turn food into cells, eliminates waste products, coordinates muscle contraction and communicates with or without your conscious thought to every cell, tissue and organ of your body via your nerve system. As long as there is no interference to this system, you have the capability to heal, feel great, be healthy and function well for a lifetime. Nurture this Intelligence for the development of your human potential and you will set personal records in all areas of your life.

2. Interference
Unfortunately, there can be interference to the communication and expression of this Intelligence within your body. This interference causes dis-ease, weakness, and imbalances within your nerve system that can cause all types of immediate health problems. Or, this interference can lie dormant and asymptomatic for decades, leading to severe health conditions, chronic pain, deterioration and disease down the road.

Nerve interference in the spine is called a vertebral subluxation. Lifestyle interference is a result of poor health habits such as overeating, poor nutrition, excessive drinking, taking prescription or non-prescription drugs, or sitting too much. Environmental interference is caused by toxicity from air, food, water, or chemicals, as well as accidents or natural disasters. All three types of interference can cause pressure in your spine and nerve system and affect your health on every level.

3. Adjustments
Remove the interference from your body through adjustments to your environment, lifestyle, spine and nerve system so that your body can heal itself and function at optimum health and peak performance levels for a lifetime.

The U-U of Chiropractic

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The U-U of Chiropractic is the Under-Utilization of the health philosophy, science and healing art that is at the foundation of chiropractic care. Why is Under-Utilization an issue for you and your family? Why should our culture take note?

Benefits of Utilization
The statistics on the benefits of a healthy spine and nerve system and chiropractic care are astounding and well documented by scientific literature and the tens of millions of people benefiting from the care. Here are some examples:

People under chiropractic care use medical services 58% less
http://www.naturalnews.com/031206_chiropractic_immunity.html

People under chiropractic care take less medication
http://www.chiro.org/research/ABSTRACTS/The_Impact_of_Chiropractic_care.shtml

They are 15% less likely to end up in nursing homes
http://www.naturalnews.com/030004_chiropractic_aging.html

They are more likely to get back to work faster after injury on the job
http://www.silcom.com/~dwsmith/manga.html

They perform better in sports and recover quicker when injured on the field
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475402749774

A Clear Message
In the past, mixed messages about the benefits of chiropractic may have misguided you on how to utilize the care. They sometimes leave the impression that it is just for back or neck pain. While chiropractic care is exceptional at helping people with pain and other health problems, that’s not what the care is about. The true benefits of chiropractic care will be experienced when you and your loved ones go beyond Crisis Care and make the Critical Transition to Lifestyle Care. This type of care is not about treating symptoms. It is about keeping your spine and nerve system healthy and balanced over the course of your lifetime, whether you suffer from symptoms or not, so your body can function at its optimum levels.

From the moment you were born, your spine and nerve system have been exposed to macro and micro traumas that can affect the growth, development and function of your spine and nerve system. Since nerves control your entire body, these traumas may cause immediate symptoms that can affect every area of your body, or they may lie dormant and asymptomatic for decades leading to deterioration and disease down the road.

Which Type of Care is Right For You?
So what is the appropriate level of utilization of chiropractic care? The answer is different for everyone and can be discovered through a chiropractic examination. You will find that the intensity of your Lifestyle Care will depend on the intensity of your lifestyle, health goals and the underlying pre-existing conditions that have impacted your spine and nerve system since birth. If you want to live an active, healthy, long life, you must have a healthy spine and nerve system. Period. Get your spine and nerve system checked today and find out how you can best utilize and benefit from chiropractic care. Start today, regardless of your age, and express your full potential for a lifetime!

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.