February 2006

Welcome to our office's Chiropractic newsletter. We'd like to entertain you, inform you (and even inspire you a little).  (References available upon request)

To remain young, one must change.  – Alexander Chasea

 

Have a Heart…help us "Fill the Fridge"

 

Our 2^nd annual "Fill the Fridge" perishable food drive will be under way soon!  Watch for the refrigerator in our office lobby from February 14^th-March 10^th.  We will be collecting perishable food donations to benefit the Hope Gospel Mission.  Last year we collected enough food to fill 3 refrigerators.  This year our goal is to double that…6 fridges!!

 

Food needed includes:  milk, cheese, butter, lunch meat, hams, chicken, beef, and pork.  (Items can be fresh or frozen.)  For each item donated, you can register for the raffle to win a stay at the Grandstay Suites or a massage from Keith Beckstrom or Janine Morzenti.  If you can't make it to the office during the week, we will be collecting at Festival Foods on Saturday, February 25^th from 11:00am-1:30pm.  Everything donated stays here in our community.  Please help us make this food drive a success!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

·         Killed by fairies

·         Connecting to your source

·         Trans-fats

·         Chiropractic and spinal research

·         Antibiotics and Ear Infections

·         Humor

 

Killed by fairies

The January 2001 Smithsonian magazine has an article discussing historian Roger Ekirch's research on darkness.* It goes without saying that, in contrast to today, for most of human history the streets and roads, towns and villages became different worlds when the sun went down. Everything and everyone was cloaked in darkness.

 

In that world strange, dangerous creatures arose that filled the night and waylaid the unwary or unlucky. As professor Ekirch writes:

For our ancestors, night meant fear of demons, witches and nighthags. An incubus or succubus might waft into your bed... 'in one English parish, Lamplugh, out of 52 premature deaths from 1650 to 1663, four people were "frighted to death by fairies," seven were "bewitched," and one was "led into a horse pond by a will of the wisp."' (1)

What imagination people have! Unknown, unknowable creatures that grab us in the night and drag us off – what nonsense we say today!

But are those creatures from the dark past any less mysterious than those that kill us today? How many modern souls are dragged off by that dreaded beast, the osteosarcoma? How about its insatiable relative, the astrocytoma? What of the oak cell carcinoma that silently arises within us? Or that horrible adenocarcinoma that can quickly take a loved one's life?

 

In some ways they are not much different than an incubus or a nighthag. Just because we have given our monsters Greek and Latin names they are no more knowable and no less mysterious than a "will of the wisp" or a "nighthag."

Though we walk in lighted streets and have homes that glow from incandescent bulbs much fear still remains.

 

People today walk into their well-lit doctor's office with dread.  What will he/she discover?  Is there something mysterious and deadly growing inside of me?  Too many people live their lives as if they are waiting for something terrible to descend upon them.  That is no way to live.  Our Creator did not create us to be victims.

 

Modern medicine often waits until a person is seriously ill before they do something about their health.

 

By the time a serious illness (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.) is discovered by regular medical procedures a person has been suffering from poor health for many years.  The time to deal with a health problem is before it gets serious.  That's why chiropractors, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, homeopaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists and other natural healers are becoming so popular.  The scary things arising from within us can often be prevented by heading them off, by correcting disturbances in our physiology in early stages – by practicing preventative healthcare rather than waiting around as victims for The Big One to cart us away.

 

Chiropractic care, by locating and correcting subluxations now is an excellent natural, drug-free and non-surgical way to give yourself and your family health assurance.

 

Every organ and gland in your body needs a healthy spine and nervous system to function properly (see illustration).  Chiropractors can determine if there are blockages in your spine, and correct them so that increased energy and information may travel through your body without interference.

 

An old Chinese saying sums it up best: "If people paid attention to the little health problems, they wouldn't have big health problems."

 

Connecting to Your Source

Health and illness are multifactorial meaning that there are many things which affect our lives. In one fascinating study it was found that of 232 older patients at Dartmouth Medical School, those finding strength and comfort in their religious faith were 14 times less likely to die following heart surgery. Or conversely. they were 14 times more likely to survive.  There are powerful forces within us that we can harness to improve our physical and psychological health. Among them are prayer, love, spirituality, religion, family ties, close friends – they all help us connect to the inexhaustible well within. (2)

 

 

Trans-fats

 

What is a trans-fat? Is it really bad for you?  It seems that a number of years ago scientists with way too much free time on their hands found out that if they heated cooking oil to a very high temperature and then bubbled hydrogen through it the oil became solid.  Voilà – margarine was born (shortening too). These are trans-fats. Sound unnatural? It is. But wait, it gets worse.  According to the Harvard School of Public Health, consumption of trans-fatty acids doubles the risk of a heart attack, increases the risk of diabetes, and is responsible for the deaths of 30,000 Americans annually.

Udo Erasmus in Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, writes that trans-fats interfere with vision in children, lower intelligence, interfere with liver function, affect sexual function in animals and have been correlated with increased breast and prostate cancers.

Trans-fats increase supermarket food shelf life but don't seem to help ours. For more information on trans-fats and cooking with oils go to www.celtic-seasalt.com. (3)

 

 

Chiropractic and spinal research

 

Remember, a person with any kind of health problem needs chiropractic. Feel free to share these studies with others.

 

Less painkillers needed during delivery if patient under chiropractic care.  A study was conducted in which chiropractic adjustments were given during pregnancy.  It revealed that the need for painkillers during delivery was reduced by half under chiropractic care. This study was suppressed by the AMA because it showed chiropractic effectiveness. All pregnant patients benefit by chiropractic care which can help lessen or eliminate morning sickness and permit a more comfortable labor and delivery. (4)

 

 

 

Low back pain and urinary incontinence. This study comes from a medical orthopedic practice. Sixteen patients with low back pain had urinary incontinence.  When surgery reduced low back pain successfully (11 of 12 patients) the urinary incontinence was cured or improved.  (5)

Our comment – too bad they didn't try chiropractic adjustments first; they most likely would have gotten better without the surgery.  If you know anyone considering orthopedic surgery please have them contact our office and speak to us.

 

Antibiotics and ear Infections – don't bother

 

Antibiotics for ear infections makes no difference in outcome. In fact there are studies reporting that antibiotics given to children actually cause more ear infections. In this study, records from 2,089 otitis media patients were examined to determine incidence and treatment success. There was no difference in success rates between antibiotic and no antibiotic therapies. (6) Ear infections?  Try chiropractic first.

 

 

 

 

 

Humor

The pharmaceutical companies have finally come up with drugs that we really need.

St. Mom's Wort: Plant extract that treats mom's depression by rendering preschoolers unconscious for up to six hours.

Emptynestrogen: Highly effective suppository that eliminates melancholy by enhancing the memory of how awful they were as teenagers and how you couldn't wait till they moved out.

Flipitor: Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the urge to flip off other drivers.

Antiboyotics: When administered to teenage girls, is highly effective in improving grades, freeing up phone lines, and reducing money spent on make-up.

Buyagra: Injectable stimulant taken prior to shopping. Increases potency and duration of spending spree.

Extra Strength Buy-one-all: When combined with Buyagra, can cause an indiscriminate buying frenzy so severe the victim may even come home with a Donnie Osmond CD.

Ragamet: When administered to a husband, provides the same irritation as ragging on him all weekend, saving the wife the time and trouble of doing it herself.

 

 

 

Bye. See you next month. Don't forget to stop by for a spinal checkup and an adjustment.  And bring in the family too – for a healthier winter!