Medical Care Is Not Health Care

For all my awesome blog readers (Yes, all 5 of you) I am back - and hopefully with bigger and better things. It has been a while, but things are well. I am done with all my class work and have been so patiently waiting to enter into the clinics. After a month of loopholes known as CSA testing, I have now become INTERN Devereux. Not being in the class room, as awesome as it sounds, has left me with limited ideas of what to post. Due to several pleas, I have attempted to keep this blog going. I definitely need to keep my eyes and ears more open to things, but there are some great things out there to share. I will be more diligent in doing so. So . . . on with the show!

I don't think I will write much this time - simply due to the fact this is my first time using my iPad to write this and typing on here is not so easy. I have spent some time looking for ideas, and I literally stumbled upon an article the other day. It is from another blog at kevinmd.com  -  It is a social media site for health care providers to post their blogs. This article was from an MD with an interesting perspective. However, he is not this holistic doctor like Dr. Mercola or Dr. Oz. I spent some time looking through his other posts, and found myself in constant disagreement. Which makes this particular article even more interesting. His post is titled "America has a medical system not a health system"

This title, from an MD himself, is very interesting. This statement alone creates a barrier between medical care and health. He introduces this right from the beginning, stating that even though we have the latest technology, the latest research, the best trained doctors and the most money available in this system - the health in this country is below average. How so? He states that the profession does not focus on Health, but rather disease and trauma. If I broke my leg and needed serious attention, I sure hope there's a good doctor on hand to provide care - but if I get sick, feel depressed, or my blood pressure is high - the last place I want to go to is a medical doctor, because HEALTH is not their focus. I have made the case that it iscommonly known that heart disease, cancer and stroke are the most common factors of death and disease in this country. But very little, the medical profession included, know what the causes are for these issues, and more importantly what to do about it. He cited the CDC listing major factors in failing health, I will list the top 5 -
1. Tobacco
2. Poor nutrition
3. Lack of exercise
4. Alcohol
5. Infections

It is my opinion that 90% if diseases are derived from a nutrition deficiency. We are a nutritionally deprived nation. Even the FDA recommended nutritional allowance is just the bare minimum and a majority of this population can't even meet those standards. This also includes, in my opinion, tobacco and alcohol. These two uses have their own health issues alone, but they also play a big part in nutritional deficiency. And addressing the last on the list, infections, is directly related to nutrition as well. The most proven way of fighting off infections and preventing diseases is to boost the immune system. Three major ways to improve your immunity is to eat right! Exercise! And get adjusted to allow the nervous system to communicate to the immune system properly to create necessary function and protection!

Amazing, isn't it. The part that I enjoyed the most is his suggestion of working as a group of medical care providers. See, I could read this article and start blowing smoke, getting mad and saying he has no right to start declaring things that the chiropractic profession has known for over a century. I could ridicule and scoff - but how many patients will that help? I think it is vital that we do work together, to find a common ground, but more importantly use our individual, strengths to provide better care to our patients. What we need is a HEALTH care - not medical care

Thinking Healthy Thoughts

One of my favorite aspects of chiropractic philosophy and being at Parker was the approach to health beyond the physical nature.  My very first month into the program I attended a seminar in which I wrote down a quote, "I didn't go to school to become a doctor; I went to school to learn how to take care of people and being a doctor was the best avenue to achieve that goal" - along with that quote, I recall a speaker emphasizing along side the physical care, we must provide and encourage mental health, spiritual health, emotional health, and social health.  It is not enough to care for someone physically - but in accordance and in balance with all aspects of wellness.  This speaks volumes to me when it comes to the power of the mind.  Candace Pert once said, "The mind is not confined to the space above the neck, the mind is throughout the brain and body."  The mind extends throughout our whole entire body.  The mind influences every aspect of our well being.  The mind is a power of health.  In order to be healthy . . . we must think healthy.

When it comes to the power of the mind, I can't help but mention the name, Earl Nightingale.  I'll try not to dwell too much on his influence, but I do encourage anyone and everyone to look him up, find his message and utilize it in your life.  There is great power . . . to the strangest secret in the world.  In his efforts to find out what made some men successful in life and others fail in their goals . . . he came up with his answer in which he shared with his employees.  In his study he concluded that out of 100 people who began life with goals and dreams, by the end of their career - 95 will not succeed.  What is success?  He defines it as doing something with purpose and doing something you love.  It has nothing to do with money.  A school teacher can be successful if that is what that person enjoys.  A mother can be successful if that is her purpose.  And out of 100 people, only 5% are successful.  What makes the 95% fail?  He states that they lose sight of their goal.  Through fear, laziness, distractions, and excuses . . . several people lose sight of their purpose and Conform.  Why do these people work without a purpose . . . they do so because they have conformed and work just because other people work.  What makes the 5% successful?  It is because they are who they thought they were.  And that is the key, the message, the secret . . . you are what you think.  If you think you are successful, you will be successful.  Because what you think about is what you do and what you do is what will get you where you want to be.

How does this apply to health.  It is a very interesting topic, but if applied if we think about being healthy . . . we will be healthy.  We cannot lie to ourselves nor can we deceive ourselves.  We can't tell ourselves we want to be healthy while eating a whole carton of ice cream.  The real reason you are emptying that ice cream carton is because you truly don't think you can be healthy.  You have given up, you've lost your purpose, you have conformed.  It is time to change all that and truly change your thoughts.  If you want to be healthy . . . you must think healthy.  You must of the power of the mind to heal the body.

There is a branch of medicine recently formed known as Psychoneuroimmunology.  This branch looks how the mind effects and neurology and immunology of the body.  These include the study of Hans Selye and the effects of stress.  But it goes beyond that.  In 1950, a study was conducted with pregnant women given a drug they were told would reduce or get rid of nausea and vomiting, but were actually given Ipecac which induces vomiting.  The vomiting ceased in all women even when the drug was suppose to make them vomit.  Dr. Ader also studied the effects of taste aversion, providing a drug with a certain taste.  Over a period of time, the drug was removed but the taste was still given to the patient.  What he noticed was that the body was still reacting as if the drug was administered.  The mind, believing the drug is still present with the taste, creates the necessary reactions in the body.

With research, concepts, and experiences we see the power of the mind.  This is more than "tricking" the mind.  This is the true application of thought . . . creating health because we think it.  Health is beyond the physical frame.  We must . . .  absolutely must emphasize the balance of all aspects of wellness.  We must have a goal and a purpose and not let anything get in our way.  We must not conform with the rest of society, living the way they are living just because we know no other way.  We must take control of our own mind and destiny.  We must thing healthy thoughts . . . and be healthy

Article: TV Can Hurt Your Health

In the recent months, I have seen several health articles that have caught my interest.  I have recently read one that I found interesting by the title, but was very disappointed in the content. (5 Ways TV Can Hurt Your Health) I don't go searching for articles and I know any article from Yahoo is no valid research, but sadly many people are exposed and read the content.  I have decided to provide at random articles that I come across, and share my opinions on them on whether it is good to read or the errors that they may portray.  Thousands of people read these articles and too many of them mislead the public

As for this particular article, the title grabbed my attention with the thought, "Finally, a good article to read."
My overall opinion on this article is pretty much a swing and a miss.  I believe the article was in the right direction, but failed to validate itself.  I think it was with good intentions, but lacked serious content and understanding. The title itself is catchy, but yet misleading.  Can TV hurt your health? The answer is - Yes. But is it the cause? No - TV is not the cause of bad health, it is merely an association.  Let's take a look

The article states that 2-3 hours of watching TV a day can increase risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, All-Cause Mortality, Sleep Deprivation, and Nearsighted vision. As I may concur with these researched results, I already feel cheated.  Those 5 conditions would not be in my top 5 harmful effects of watching TV.

1. Diabetes - Type 2 Diabetes is an insulin resistant diabetes often association with diet and weight.  So what does TV have to do with it? Obviously, if we are watching TV, then we are not moving and being active. And our diet is effected greatly by our TV routine.  The most common time to watch TV is during dinner time - often resulting in family dinner around the TV.  As well as we often snack as we watch our favorite shows.  And our choices of foods and snacks are not very often the healthiest.  I know these are generalizations - but they are also reality in this day and age. Diabetes is not caused by TV, but it certainly get the ball rolling. TV = poor diet = obesity = diabetes. 
2. Cardiovascular - Again, this is a Diet and Exercise association.  To take it another step, this is also a Stress related issue that can have harmful effects.  One may think how can watching TV be stressful? Well, there are a few ways. One - we put out body in a stress position. We don't think sitting for a couple hours is harmful, but if we add that to sitting at work, sitting in the car, sitting on our computer or phone - then it certainly adds up, putting our body in poor posture causing chronic stress that we may not be aware of. Second, what we watch can be stressful.  One mistake that people do is watch the news before going to bed. Watching the news at all is stressful, but just before bed result in poor sleep. We also watch drama  or scary shows that can produce stressed physiology in our body.  Stress physiology will increase our Heart Rate and increase our Blood Pressure.which chronically with a poor diet can result in damage to the cardiovascular.
3. All-Cause Mortality - I truly don't understand All-Cause Mortality.  The information is pretty vague. I can probably reason on their behalf, but don't know if it is something I can truly defend. It's just too general. But I can put in my plug on how sitting for long periods of time can be detrimental. Again, it goes back to stress physiology which in turn can lead to chronic pain, fibromyalgia, fatigue, decrease immune system, decreased mental function, Parkinson's, ADD, metabolic dysfunction an so on. Simply stress puts the body in a spot of vulnerability.
4. Sleep Deprivation -  Again, TV serves more of a void than anything useful. If I was a TV, I would be quick to defend, "Hey, don't blame me.  It's not my fault you chose to watch late night re-runs than to go to bed knowing full well you had to get up early in the morning." We need to blame our own poor choices rather than an inanimate object - but the awareness needs to be brought up as 90% of Americans today are sleep deprived.
5.  Nearsightedness - This may be the more under appreciated condition, not given the respect it needs as a major factor.  I grew up eventually with nearsightedness with the thought that I just had "bad" eyes.  This article only states the association and I didn't expect any explanation, but thing people misunderstand that that nearsightedness (or even farsightedness) is not so much an "eye" condition as it is a muscle, nerve, or nutrition condition. To see things closer, we first need to converge our eyes.  To see far, we first need to diverge our eyes.  If we are trained to focus our eyes (TV or even at school) then the muscles to diverge our eyes get weak thus losing our ability to see things far away = nearsighted.

I hope these explanations help. I feel this article really lacked substance and understanding, but did get things pointed in the right direction.  It is not so much TV that is harmful, but the associations that come with it - Poor posture, Stress Physiology, lack of exercise or motion, poor diet, and everything else associated.  Let's stop blaming the TV and really start blaming ourselves for our poor choices.  This article could have simply stated, "Get off your butt and go exercise", and could have saved us from the harm from reading this article.

Our Roadtrip

Who likes going on road trips?  Whether you had a bad experience, or the time of your life, road trips are always an adventure.  When I think of the ultimate road trip, I think of my trip I made almost two years ago from my home in Boise, Idaho to attend school in Dallas, Texas.  It was a trip over 2,000 miles, all alone in a small Toyota Echo with no AC and filled to the top with whatever didn't fit in the moving truck.  It certainly was an adventure.

Now, think about that road trip, specifically the car.  What if the gas tank was filled up half way, how far do you think I would get?  What if the car had an electrical short in the engine, how far do you think I would get? And what if there was a flat tire on one side . . . how far do you think I would get?  Not very far probably . . . . But that is exactly how we are living day in and day out as a society.  We go through life on low fuel, with an electrical short and a flat tire on one side.  I would like to explain these situations we have placed ourselves in.

The half a tank of gas is our energy system.  This is our sleep and our nutrition which provides us with the necessary fuel.  90% of Americans are sleep deprived.  Not a good way to start out, and our nutrition isn't any better.  Our nutrition has changed from whole foods to processed.  We are now eating products, not foods (I just drank a "Coke", I just ate "McDonalds").  Our effort to eat healthy is to either choose Sugar (which depresses our immune system, defects our nerves, and causes weight gain) or to play it safe and use a Sweetener (which destroys our brain cells).  We need to provide ourselves with proper sleep and good healthy eating habits if we are to start this road trip the right way . . . or we aren't going very far.

The electrical short in the engine is our mental health, mainly our brain.  The nervous system is the master engine of our body.  What causes an electrical short in our bodies.  These are known as the three T's - Trauma, Toxins, and Thoughts.  All these effect our body structure, which then interferes with our nerves.  We need to avoid the traumas, toxins, and thoughts, and make sure our body is aligned and in tune to function properly . . . or we aren't going very far.

The flat tire is about balance.  It is important to keep a proper balance, physically, physiologically, and mentally.  One that I would like to focus on is Stress.  Our body needs a balance of stress and relaxation.  We need relaxation to keep our body from being overworked and our systems running efficiently, but we also need moments of stress to keep us going- our moments of "Survival".  Unfortunately, we are faced with stressers from the time we get up to the time we lay back down that night.  It seems impossible to avoid it.  However, if we are always faced with stressers, we run ourselves out.  This is why we begin to see sleep deprivation which then turns into chronic fatigue and then into chronic pains.  And if someone isn't feeling well and in pain, they become less active and become sedentary which then leads to more serious conditions such as Chronic Depression, ADD, ADHD, Parkinson's and much more.  We need to maintain a proper balance in our lives Physically, Mentally and Physiologically . . . or else we really aren't going to get very far.

Who often finds themselves on low fuel, pushing it to see how far into Empty we can go before refuelling?  Who finds themselves feeling or hearing strange noises and just shrugs it off as nothing? More importantly, who sees the "Check Engine" lights and just ignores it, or even tries to cover it up?  Now, I didn't ask about your car . . . I asked about you.  Are you running on low fuel, pushing yourself to just keep going?  Are you hearing or feeling strange things and just shrug it off as nothing?  Are you seeing the "Check Engine" light (pointing to head)?

When I planned my trip, I had a goal in mind.  I was going to Dallas, Texas and nothing was going to stop me.  I made the necessary precautions to make sure my vehicle was functional and ready for the trip.  I bought a map, I bought new tires, I got a tune up and I filled my gas tank to Full.  I drove through rain, thunder and lightning and even through the high winds of Wyoming and through the endless plains of Kansas, but I kept going  . . . because I had a plan and a Goal.  I encourage everyone to set yourself a Goal of where you want yourself to be, and taking every precaution necessary to get you there.  Prepare and maintain your vehicle . . and enjoy your Trip

Are We Getting Any Healthier

I just read this quote-
"If medicine is about health, then why do we keep building more hospitals"
-Dr. Haggerton


And then I just saw this article- "Physician offices projected to see a decade of significant job growth"
 http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/01/11/bil20111.htm


Which poses the question, if the medical field is growing, then are we getting healthier?  Which is a fair question to ask.  If we aren't getting healthier, then where is our money going to?  What about all our resources and research?  What about the whole medical system?  If we aren't getting healthier, then are we headed in the right direction?  We need to take a long hard look at the current system we are cycling in and see where we stand.  If the field is growing, if the research is moving forward, if our technology is advancing- then shouldn't we see a dramatic increase in health?


There is a governmental program that looks at this very issue and monitors the health care of this country.  For every decade they make goals for those ten years and work to progress in those goals.  This is called Healthy People, which has just recently ended.  The most recent is called Healthy People 2010 and the results will come out this spring to look back on the past decade.  But there is an article that has taken an early glimpse on the predicted results.  http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/05/05/early-report-card-on-healthy-people-2010-barely-a-c/.


So how do we measure up?  Not good.  Only 19% of the goals set we actually met and only 52% of the goals are predicted to show any progression.  This is not a final result, but statistics show that many major health issues continue to climb in numbers, such as Smoking, Obesity, and Diabetes.  And even though Heart Disease has declined, it has completely missed the mark.  The article rates our Health Goals with a low C grade.  The new Healthy People 2020 has just begun, hopefully we can make better progress.  But we can see that the system we are trapped in is not going to get us there.


I just wanted to add a couple articles that were brought to my attention that have been related to some previous posts.  I hope you read them.  They are short and an easy read, and they give some great insight on the subjects.  The first article shares how forward head posture is related to tension headaches.  It was just nice to see something out there backing up the importance of keeping good posture and a good curve in our neck.  This article only touches on the association of headaches, but hopefully you can see the other effects it can have on our body systemically. http://drmaj.com/new-study-shows-how-chiropractic-can-help-with-tension-headaches/.  


The next article just came out and was shared this morning. http://www.yourspine.com/Chiropractic/Chiropractic%20Improves%20Brain%20Function.aspx. It helps back up my recent post on Parkinsons Disease and how Chiropractic can help with brain function. "Chiropractic adjustments have a positive effect on the Central Nervous System (CNS), specifically on the four primary frequencies of brain function  . . . associated with a greater degree of relaxation, health and healing."  Pretty awesome stuff!

Back 2 Health

As mentioned in the previous post, our country is plagued by some serious diseases, many in which go unnoticed before it is too late, or so it may seem.  The medical field does all it can to battle these diseases, with very little success, usually only preventing more damage at the most.  Looking at all these diseases we face, what if I told you that there was something out there that could not only reduce, but possibly cure people from these diseases?  What if I said there was something that was risk free, inexpensive, and has the ability of having a great impact?  What would you say?

The answer, or rather the solution, is Nutrition.  This is the main idea of my Blog.  Back 2 Health. As a society, and even worldwide now, we have veered away from health, primarily we have as a whole have veered away from nutrition.  Too much Sugar is being consumed.  The average american consumes 150 lbs of sugar a year.  And there is less fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets today.  I can try to find the chart, but it shows a correlation between consuming fruit and cardiac diseases.  The more fruit is eaten, the less cases of heart disease in those parts of the world.  On the chart, Americans were one of the lowest of containing fruit in their diet.  Is it no wonder that heart disease is the number one cause of death in America? But it can be prevented. Lets get back on the path, lets get back into correct nutrition.

Study shows that a person who consumes fresh fruit daily will 70% less likely die from cancer, 32% die from stroke, and 24% chance die from a heart attack.  70%?  No medication comes close to those kind of numbers.  An interesting note.  There are several components of fruit that is so beneficial, but one is folic acid.  We all know this is important for pregnancy, which prevents some birth defects, but it is essential for everyone to have.  It is also an anti-atherogenic, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-depressent as well as a lack of folic acid is associated with poor cognitive function, dementia, and even Alzheimers.

Pertaining to this, there is a health appraisal questionnaire that one can fill out.  Comparing their results to their recorded diet, a doctor in this field of nutrition can recommend changes in their diet and then retake the questionaire again after their strict diet and compare the results. From what I have seen, the results are amazing.  High risk factors drop to normal or moderate risk.  There are significant changes.  There is a website that contains this questionnaire, found at www.nutri-online1.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=647
I have decided to take the questionnaire myself, and then change my diet for a week or two, and compare results that I will share.  I'm kinda scared, I'll be eating a lot of plants and maybe even some fish (yuck), but I am curious to see, even for me which I feel is in generally decent health, how changing my diet can improve certain things in my body and life.  Here I go

Master Our Innate

Long before the movie, William Ernest Henley has inspired countless of people with his powerful words, Invictus.  "It matters not how straight the gate, how charged the punishments the scroll.  I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

I put the phrase, Back 2 Health, at the top of this page to emphasize the urgency to return to something that we have gradually veered from as a society.  I feel several of us often say, "I'm already healthy"  I know, because it is something I have said.  But are we?

The body is an amazing thing, with an incredible design.  The majority of the body functions unconsciously, or with very little thought.  We have learned to breath without having to think about it.  The body, in its infinite wisdom, makes it all work, from our lungs for breathing down to each and every microscopic cell utilizing the nutrients needed to function.  The body knows all.  Do we know how much calcium our muscles need to contract, how much blood is needed in a certain part to avoid hypoxia, or even how many white blood cells are needed to fight off invaders?  We don't . . but our body does.  Our body wants to be healthy.  Let me repeat that, our body wants to be healthy . . . but are we letting it?

There are several factors, or Stressers, that expose the body to diseases and complications.  We organize these stressers as the 3 T's known as Traumas, Toxins, and Thoughts . . . or it can be put as the Physical, the Chemical, and the Emotional.  The physical varies from the small daily activities to the unfortunate traumas that occur.  This is the daily grind on the body physically.  The chemical is the things that we put in the body.  This ranges from what we eat, to what we expose our bodies to like dyes and makeup.  The emotional is often overlooked, but can have a great impact in our life and especially in our health.  Especially in the world today, we often cannot avoid Stress.  It is in our school, our work, and too often even in our own homes.  Several of these stressers have great impact on our immune system, thus exposing us to diseases.  It is not our body gone wrong, it is not even the pathogen that invades our body, it is our own choices.  All these stressers are avoidable.  Are we eating right?  Are we exposing ourselves to harmful chemicals?  I know each and everyone of us, including myself, can make better decisions in our lives.  Our body will be forever grateful.
 
Too many feel that they have no control on their health.  Some are told that they are genetically exposed to these diseases.  Don't let these lies fool you.  There is more recent studies I hope to share later showing that genes are not a permanent imprint, but can change and adapt. You have control.  You are the master of your health.  Take control of your life.  Take back your health.  "It matters not how straight the gate, how charged the punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."