Who Would Have Guessed?

As we have learned more about ourselves and the universe in which we live, we have relatively recently learned that while the human body is made up of roughly 10 trillion cells, there are roughly 100 trillion one-celled organisms, bacteria and fungi, living in and on us. Ten times as many of their cells as ours.

Knowing this, could and should change one’s life.

If it doesn’t jump out at you, at least, consider what they eat, and who’s feeding them.

I am Not a Chiropractor ... Entirely

Dr. Young and Emma Hrabak

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. While I used to be a chiropractor, it is clear to me that now I’m only part chiropractor.

Don’t be mislead, I am proud to be a chiropractor. I love that part of me.

The schism occurred between our culture’s understanding of chiropractic, and my own professional life in the healing arts.

The chiropractic profession was founded in Davenport, Iowa in 1895. The central thesis of its practice was that the function of the spine directly influenced the function of the rest of the body, and the central therapy was spinal manipulation. Though not as well known, chiropractors have historically also provided patients with physical therapy, laboratory testing; and lifestyle, exercise, and nutritional counseling. Chiropractors are licensed in all 50 states and are only limited in our scope of practice in that we cannot perform surgery nor prescribe drugs.

While many satisfied patients in the last hundred years have directly experienced, and known the benefits of chiropractic care for problems such as constipation, menstrual cramps, allergies, and elevated blood pressure; the more obvious cures were of back pain, neck pain, sciatica and headache. Understandably, what stuck in our cultural mind was that chiropractors are back doctors, the treaters of musculoskeletal complaints.

From the day that I opened my practice in 1983 I wanted to treat both musculoskeletal and other conditions. In the first few years I had the opportunity to treat 2 insulin-dependent diabetics, who within 2 weeks of beginning spinal manipulation, had to reduce the amount of insulin that they were injecting by 50%. Years later
I successfully treated a 19-year-old woman with ankylosing spondylitis who had been in and out of a wheelchair, and had been told that she would be on drugs for the rest of her life.

I have always loved relieving back pain, neck pain, and headaches, but have continued to be drawn to a deeper involvement with patients. I have also been driven by the unmet health needs of our community, our nation, and our world that  cry out for doctors who are willing and able to apply a Functional Medicine, or holistic approach to patient care.

This last month I was rewarded and fulfilled to treat an eight-year-old with excessive weight gain (unresolved medically), an adult female with severe ulcerative colitis (unresolved medically), and a two-year-old with ADHD (unresolved medically).

Thank goodness some people know that I am not a chiropractor ... entirely.

Stool Softeners Like Dynamite

Stool softeners are treatments, not answers. Folks use stool softeners because they are constipated. Obviously, stool softeners do not answer the burning question of why the food you ate is moving through you at a snail's pace.

Something mysterious is holding things up in your gut. While stool softeners are not literally explosive, you are metaphorically using dynamite to blow things on through you. Sounds like something is wrong, and we all know that it is not bright, and often dangerous to simply use a bigger hammer or more dynamite.

So, what causes constipation, bowel movements less than once a day, or difficult bowel movements? The four main factors are: food allergens such as dairy products, lack of exercise, stress, and lack of the mineral magnesium. Correcting the real causes can often cure the problem.

For you ladies, please beware that if the contents of your digestive tract move slowly, there is greater opportunity for bacteria in your gut to re-release estrogen that was slated for excretion with your stool, back into your blood stream, thereby potentially increasing your risk of hormonally-related cancers such as breast cancer.

Remember, dynamite is not the best answer for your colon, or for your health and safety.

Do Some People Just Like Being Miserable?

photo by cliff1066 at flickr

This is a really important question. You can read my answer by going to my book at:
http://turning60consciously.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-248-do-some-people-just-like-being.html