Let's Talk Getting Healthy

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN LIFE!

We all go through life with the wish of making a difference in our life and the lives of others. We go out of our way to make a difference.  Everything we do has far reaching effects no matter how small or insignificant it seems.

If we look at the Butterfly, it is said that when a butterfly flaps its wings, it sends a wave that is felt around the world and throughout the Universe.

If you think about that simply, the energy that is created as the wings flap, moves through the air and collides into other molecules of air that goes on and on and on...

The scientific theory that a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the course of the universe forever.  If you change even the smallest of life's details, you completely change its outcome.

With this in mind I have a short video that I want you to see, it demonstrates this far reaching effect that a simple gesture can have on Making a Difference!



"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything,   I will not refuse to do something that I can do." ~ Helen Keller


                                       

"TEXTING THUMBS" Soon to be Known as TWITTERING THUMBS!

This is a SERIOUS PROBLEM, well, okay maybe not serious but if are suffering from it you know its painful. There is HOPE to save the digits that allow you do things that other species on the earth cannot.

Texting thumbs is a problem that is beginning to show up in adults more prevalently.  Since the onslaught of video games, kids have complained of the sore "thumb syndrome"  leaving parents to laugh and give them the proverbial "You play you pay" speech. 

Now that the tables are turning, adults are looking for a solution to this dilemma. They are getting hand, wrist and arm massages, stretching the fingers and wrists even soaking hands at night in hot water, Yeesh! All this to stay connected.

The American Physical Therapy Association recently recognized BlackBerry Thumb as an official work place malady -- a stress-related injury due to over-use of any PDA or smartphone. The link gives you some APTA guidelines, below I will add my corrections for this ailment.

Lets look at this phenomenon of communication side effects from a slightly different standpoint.

How HAPPY Do You Want To Be?

Does that sound like a silly question to you?  When I ask my patients that question, they laugh and chuckle a bit and look at me and say something like, "as happy as I can be, of course!".  I then ask them if they ARE as happy as they can be?    The simple answer is, YES!  The real answer is NO! Let me explain, using this example we have to know where you are on the happiness scale. Thats right, the Happiness Scale, a number between 0-10 (0  means not happy at all and 10 means Outrageously Happy). 

Take a moment right now and close your eyes and pick a number on your happiness scale.  Just choose the the number that comes to mind.  Lets say you pick the number 6, so you aren't ecstatic but you are pretty happy. 

My question is, if you are a 6, is this the average number of your happiness for the week?  If yes, how do you raise it to a 10?  There are many tools and techniques to do this.  In my office I use a number of techniques to help people increase their happiness level.  It is an exercise, just like running, biking or going to the gym, it takes practice.  The more you practice the better you get at it. 

There is a book I highly recommend that gives you a multitude of tools for increasing your happiness level.  The book is Marci Shimoffs, "Happy for No Reason" (there is a link at the lower left of this page, just click the picture and it will take you to the book).  She gives you tools like:

• The Happiness Questionnaire

• Solution Focus Technique

• Look for the lesson and the gift

• Daily Happiness Awards

• Happiness Habits

These are just a couple of examples of the topics in this wonderful book.  I highly recommend it to raise your happiness scale to a RESOUNDING 10.  Don't You deserve to be "As Happy as You Can Be", then you MUST read Marci's Book!

Abundant Happiness and Blessings to You!

"When we are filled with chi, we glow and are attractive to others. Our good chi will inspire others to be happy, too"

DEPRESSION ~ How Low Will YOU Go? The Final Chapter

While this is the final chapter on this segment, it is by no means the end of the discussion.  Depression is still one of the most debilitating and "life stealing" disorders today.

Clinical depression affects all aspects of a person's life. It impairs our ability to sleep, eat, work, and get along with others. It damages our self-esteem, self-confidence, and our ability to accomplish everyday tasks. People who are depressed find daily tasks to be a significant struggle. They tire easily, yet cannot get a good night's sleep. They have no motivation and lose interest in activities that were once enjoyable. Depression puts a dark, gloomy cloud over how we see ourselves, the world, and our future.

So lets look at a different perspective on treatment protocols.  As I mentioned in the earlier posts, the Chinese acupuncturists look at diseases in the body differently than we do. In America, we test and look for the symptoms of a disease and treat it accordingly.  If the tests come back negative for a specific disease, no matter what your symptoms, most doctors will choose to wait for the positive test results before treating your disease. 

Did you know that approximately 30-40% of a disease process must be present to even show positive on a blood test? So, if your disease has only progressed to 25% in size it may not show up on most blood tests.

The Oriental culture or more specifically, traditional Chinese Medicine doctors don't care what you name your disease, they treat the cause of the disorder.  They use tests like pulse diagnosis, tongue diagnosis, palpation of specific points called alarm points, visual clues, even smell to diagnose a condition.  Looking at Depression, in the previous post we talked about the liver being involved heavily. The liver would be examined for any dysfunction, and treated accordingly.

I also talked about neurotransmitters, specifically serotonin  as a problem with depression. If you recall I said that taking serotonin related medication will treat the symptom but not the cause. 

So lets look at some nutritional recommendations for Depression.

DEPRESSION ~ How Low Will YOU Go? Part 3

In the previous two posts we discussed Depression, what it is, how it occurs. Now lets talk about how it can be treated with or without drugs.  As you may recall, what the previous post talked about was the neurotransmitter, Serotonin as one of the causes of Depression when it was low. Traditional medicine goes directly to increase the serotonin with medication or drugs.  Which is definitely one way to treat the disorder, but not without side effects. 

I mentioned in the first post of this series that a deficiency of hormones is also part of the problem.  Estrogen seems to have the largest effect on the Serotonin levels.  Well then, we could just increase estrogen and the problem is solved, right? Not necessarily, adding hormones can also cause unwanted side effects, even cancer.

I propose we take one step back in both of these cases, Ready?   If there is a deficiency of Anything in the body there is a reason, lets take a look at that.  What is it that makes up neurotransmitters and hormones? How are they made?  By looking at these mechanisms, helps us to understand how the liver, from the Chinese medicine standpoint, is part of the cause of Depression.  Okay, hang in there it gets easier to understand from here.

So lets take a closer look....

DEPRESSION ~ How Low Will YOU Go? Part 2

In the last post, you saw a video and a link to help you understand more about depression.  It is a serious health disorder and should be taken seriously when you encounter it, either personally or with someone you know or love.

Let's re-cap some of the symptoms:

• Sadness, anxiety, or "empty" feelings

• Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"

• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, including sex

• Insomnia, oversleeping, or waking much earlier than usual

• Loss of weight or appetite, or overeating and weight gain

• Feelings of hopelessness and pessimism

• Feelings of helplessness, guilt, and worthlessness

• Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts

• Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or remembering

• Restlessness, irritability or excessive crying

• Chronic aches and pains or physical problems that do not respond to treatment

You don't have to have all of these signs to be considered "depressed", but they have to last at least for 2 consecutive weeks.  Also, if you have a few of these signs, it could actually mean something totally different, like hypothyroidism. That is why it is important to be examined by a health care practitioner who is licensed in your state.  Hypothyroid will be the topic of another post, one of my favorites I might ad.

I also want you to pay attention to your children, do they show signs of depression?
Studies show that 2 out of every 100 children and 8 in 100 adolescents have major depression.

In teens, as in adults, bipolar disorder and depression are clearly connected. As many as 30% of teenagers who experience an episode of major depression develop bipolar disorder in their late teens or early 20s.

The presence of childhood depression also tends to be a predictor of more severe illnesses in adulthood. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1999; 281(18): 1701-1713.

Hopefully by now you are getting the idea of how serious a problem this is.  To the majority of us, who go through our day feeling "on top of the World", there are many who feel like they are on the bottom.  There is help and hope for them.

You have read about some of the traditional treatments for Depression, for the rest of this post and the next, I want to talk about some alternative therapies that can be used in conjunction with conventional treatment.

DEPRESSION ~ How Low Will YOU Go!

     Depression is a Big Health issue, effecting more than 20 million Americans each year! There are many different levels of Depression and it is important to understand where you stand(or sit).  More importantly, realizing it and doing something about it.

In my practice, I treat people(usually 2 times more women than men) within all levels of depression.  You may want to re-read that, I said, I treat PEOPLE, not the disease.  That is important since the disease is a condition of the body, improve the bodies function and it gets healthier.

When people initially come to me they want the depression symptoms treated! I explain to them, that will be our primary goal AND they are having these feelings for a reason.  Some people know why, others don't. 

What I want you to understand is that Depression(the person who has it) is treatable whether you are on medication or not.  We will cover this topic over the next few posts, so you can see how this sometimes debilitating disease can be successfully treated.

First, lets look at this video of how depression happens.

Now lets read more about Depression, even if you don't suffer from it, chances are you know someone who is.  This is from the National Institute of Mental Health, it has lots of good information although it really doesn't cover Alternative Medicine at all. We will cover that here.

In the next post, we will discuss how the different types of depression effect your daily routine and how to start correcting it, simply and painlessly.

WATER ~ To Drink or Not To Drink ....

Drinking Water has been undergoing a lot of scrutiny lately.  How much should you drink? Should you drink any at all?  What benefits does it have? if any?  Well, I am here to tell you how I determine what is the proper amount of water to drink.

First, lets leave all the hoopla around water alone for now. Lets just look at the human body.  There are certain facts we know about water in the body.

     1. The body is made up of 70% water.
     2. The blood is 75% water.
     3. Your Brain is 75-85% water.
     4. Water aids digestion by producing               saliva, the first stage of carb digestion.
     5. Drinking 500ml of water can increase your metabolic rate          by 30%.
     6. Dehydration is defined as a 1% or greater loss of body            weight due to fluid loss.
     7. A 10% or more loss of body weight due to fluid loss can         become life threatening.
     8. When dehydrated your attention and concentration can            decrease by 13%.
     9. Short term memory can decrease by 7%.

Those are just a few facts about water in the body.  We also know that water is essential for proper kidney function of filtering your blood and excreting waste products in the urine.  The kidneys also help control blood pressure.

In the blood, water is necessary for cellular structure and transporting oxygen through the blood stream.  Without adequate hydration the red blood cells loose their shape, like a deflated balloon and therefore cannot function optimally.

Our bodies are electrical in nature, the ELECTROLYTES,  are carried in the fluids of the body, both blood and lymph.  The more water that is available, the more freely the electrolytes can move around the body. Our heart is dependent upon these electrolytes to function, just ask your cardiologist!

Your large intestine is dependent upon water to saturate the fiber to form the solid waste of the body.  If you don't believe me don't drink water for a few days and then drink some and see what changes occur in the bowel movements.  Water also helps dilute the urine. A good indicator of dehydration is a dark colored urine or decreased urine output.

Okay, so you say, Doc this is all fine and good, I understand that these are the facts, so why is there so much discrepancy over drinking water or not?  Well let me explain what I tell my patients.

LOW BACK PAIN ~ I can hardly STAND it!

Low Back Pain is a common complaint in todays world. It is the second most common neurological complaint. It is estimated that 31 million people will experience back pain this year, so you are not alone.  In my practice, I see many forms of back pain and treat it very successfully because I look for the cause and not just treat the pain. 

The first step is to identify where the pain is? Then, what the pain feels like? Then I want to know how severe it is and when is it the worst? What can you do to relieve it? These are a partial list of questions we ask to get to the cause of the pain. As I said, there are many causes of low back pain, lets see if yours is in the list:

1. Trauma - An injury or overuse to the area
2. Visceral Pain - pain coming from an organ that is overworked(ie. the kidney)
3. Muscle Strain - maybe injury related, may not be. (bending over to brush teeth)
4. Disease Process - Kidney infection, fibromyalgia, prostate problems, you get the idea.
5. Nutritional Deficiency - Yes, low intake of certain nutrients can cause low back pain.
6. Neurological Process - Compression of the nerve or blood supply to the low back area. (Sciatica, peripheral nerve or artery disease)

This is a partial list just to let you know that it can be more than just "a pulled muscle". One of the largest reasons for low back pain that I see is related to a Visceral referral area or kidney referral.   So lets look at how we can relieve pain in this situation.