A lot of patients have asked me to explain what is KST, a new adjusting technique I’ve added to my chiropractic practice over the past year.
Koren Specific Technique is composed of three steps, all of which lead to a more in-depth analysis and adjustments while you are standing up.
The first step of the KST process is called “challenging.” This is where I check your entire structural system including your skull, spine, discs, hips, ribs, sternum, shoulders, arms and legs, hands and feet. In this way anything that is out of place can be analyzed.
The second step, “checking,” tells me if the body part being checked is in proper position. The base of the skull is used as the feedback area. This works because of the high number of proprioceptors in that area. You will feel my hands at the back of your head checking the feedback from the physical challenges I put on the different body parts. This is similar to muscle testing, a procedure used by applied kinesiology wherein a muscle will become weak when confronted with a muscle challenge.
The third step, “correcting,” uses the FDA-approved ArthroStim™ instrument to make a very specific adjustment on only the segment that is out of position. This device was developed by IMPAC technology in Oregon and has been continuously refined over more than two decades. It introduces force to the body to realign segments and to remove nerve pressure at a speed of 12 “taps” per second (12 herz). It is a fast, accurate, low force and controlled adjustment.
KST allows me to adjust you in different postures, which is important because sometimes a problem can only be reproduced in a certain position. However I always have you stand up for ArthroStim™ adjustments for the benefit of working with gravity so that your body can process the correction immediately.
My patients report improved movement and ability to relax, better sleep, and emotional releases including dreams, after these adjustments. Sometimes you may want to go home and sleep afterwards, or you may feel a little sore the next day. This is common and temporary, and disappears within a short time.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Working Towards a Healthy Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a very special time in a woman’s life, and therefore we need to be sure to nurture and take proper care during this time. An important key to a healthy pregnancy is being able to deal with stress and keep stress low. Here are tips to help you on your journey.
There are many factors that are going to help your pregnancy decisions. One of the most important is to gather as much information as you can regarding all of your options for you and your baby. This will help you to make the proper choices that best fit you and your needs to make this a good experience.
One of the most important things you can do is to create a good health care team, which includes a midwife or OB/GYN, a birthing coach or doula, and a chiropractor. These people have a great deal of information and skill in helping to make your pregnancy go well. With a good team in place, it can help ease a lot of stress and tension because you have resources to go to answer questions that you may not know yourself.
Your team can also help you create a birth plan that fits you and your spouse’s needs. There are a lot of decisions to be made throughout the birth process, especially if it is your intention to have a natural birth where no drugs are to be administered and/or you want the ability to have free motion throughout and don’t want to be bedridden during the course of labor.
This birth plan may include decisions as to fetal monitoring, labor induction, whether to use drugs or have your water broken, as well as what to do if you are going to get an epidural or episiotomy or C-section, and who will stay with the baby in case of an emergency situation (go to www.birthplan.com for more information). Copies of your birth plan should be in your chart before delivery; and also bring copies when you go into labor so that the staff on each duty shift knows to follow your plans.
It is important to ask questions throughout the course of your pregnancy, especially about things you are confused about. You have the right to ask for second opinions when you are uncertain about the answers you are getting. You must remember that you are in control to make your own decisions based on the information provided from those you trust.
It is OK to say no. And you should expect that your decision should be honored. This is not about ignoring medical advice that may put your baby at risk, but about making decisions with your health team that help make for a safe, natural pregnancy.
Here are some do’s and don’ts for a healthy, enjoyable pregnancy:
• Do practice wellness and don’t just go with the current fad.
• Don’t get overscheduled and be stressed out during your nine months of pregnancy. It will have a negative effect on you as well as on your baby.
• Do exercise regularly. Daily walks, water aerobics, and prenatal yoga are very good exercises during your pregnancy. Be sure to incorporate deep breathing with your exercise to increase oxygen content in your blood.
• Do not be sedentary . Excessive weight gain during pregnancy has been linked to labor difficulties and to gestational diabetes.
• Do consider the source of your prenatal vitamins. It is best to purchase your vitamins from a reputable health source or health care provider.
• Do not overload your body with caffeine intake. Caffeine can increase your risk of miscarriage.
• Do not agree to routine ultrasounds. While the American College of OB/GYNs recommends ultrasounds be performed only for specific reasons, the current trend is that people are having them done on a regular basis throughout their pregnancy including 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds for early pictures of their baby. People need to know that ultrasound is a force being applied into your body, and while it has been around for many years, expecting women and their families need to know that the effects of repeated ultrasound exposures on the fetus are not fully known.
• Do not take medications unless absolutely medically necessary. Be sure to be working with your OB/GYN and health team on any matter that might apply, before taking medications.
• Do not take anti-depressants. Studies show that exposure to anti-depressants increase the risk of pre-term labor.
There are many factors that are going to help your pregnancy decisions. One of the most important is to gather as much information as you can regarding all of your options for you and your baby. This will help you to make the proper choices that best fit you and your needs to make this a good experience.
One of the most important things you can do is to create a good health care team, which includes a midwife or OB/GYN, a birthing coach or doula, and a chiropractor. These people have a great deal of information and skill in helping to make your pregnancy go well. With a good team in place, it can help ease a lot of stress and tension because you have resources to go to answer questions that you may not know yourself.
Your team can also help you create a birth plan that fits you and your spouse’s needs. There are a lot of decisions to be made throughout the birth process, especially if it is your intention to have a natural birth where no drugs are to be administered and/or you want the ability to have free motion throughout and don’t want to be bedridden during the course of labor.
This birth plan may include decisions as to fetal monitoring, labor induction, whether to use drugs or have your water broken, as well as what to do if you are going to get an epidural or episiotomy or C-section, and who will stay with the baby in case of an emergency situation (go to www.birthplan.com for more information). Copies of your birth plan should be in your chart before delivery; and also bring copies when you go into labor so that the staff on each duty shift knows to follow your plans.
It is important to ask questions throughout the course of your pregnancy, especially about things you are confused about. You have the right to ask for second opinions when you are uncertain about the answers you are getting. You must remember that you are in control to make your own decisions based on the information provided from those you trust.
It is OK to say no. And you should expect that your decision should be honored. This is not about ignoring medical advice that may put your baby at risk, but about making decisions with your health team that help make for a safe, natural pregnancy.
Here are some do’s and don’ts for a healthy, enjoyable pregnancy:
• Do practice wellness and don’t just go with the current fad.
• Don’t get overscheduled and be stressed out during your nine months of pregnancy. It will have a negative effect on you as well as on your baby.
• Do exercise regularly. Daily walks, water aerobics, and prenatal yoga are very good exercises during your pregnancy. Be sure to incorporate deep breathing with your exercise to increase oxygen content in your blood.
• Do not be sedentary . Excessive weight gain during pregnancy has been linked to labor difficulties and to gestational diabetes.
• Do consider the source of your prenatal vitamins. It is best to purchase your vitamins from a reputable health source or health care provider.
• Do not overload your body with caffeine intake. Caffeine can increase your risk of miscarriage.
• Do not agree to routine ultrasounds. While the American College of OB/GYNs recommends ultrasounds be performed only for specific reasons, the current trend is that people are having them done on a regular basis throughout their pregnancy including 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds for early pictures of their baby. People need to know that ultrasound is a force being applied into your body, and while it has been around for many years, expecting women and their families need to know that the effects of repeated ultrasound exposures on the fetus are not fully known.
• Do not take medications unless absolutely medically necessary. Be sure to be working with your OB/GYN and health team on any matter that might apply, before taking medications.
• Do not take anti-depressants. Studies show that exposure to anti-depressants increase the risk of pre-term labor.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Retracing Your Steps
Retracing is a part of the healing process. Typically retracing is the process of addressing the cause of old problems (like injuries) that were never properly attended to at the time, and therefore when the right attention does get applied to them, the body brings those injuries up so the right progression of priorities can allow the body to work toward healing.
It is always interesting to work with a patient when they come in with a specific problem, say low back pain, and after a series of visits they come in and let me know their shoulder has started hurting. As we go through the process of finding out why that could be, we learn there was an old injury to that area that they had forgotten happened. Because of the process of realignment through chiropractic adjustments, we awakened the muscle memory to that area, allowing for the injury to “reawaken” and therefore to be opened to be addressed and healed. Again, remember that chiropractic adjustments open the pathways of the nerve system, allowing body to talk to brain, and brain to talk to body.
Sometimes the injuries in the retracing process that come back up can be fairly difficult to work with because of the years and years of adhesions and scar tissue that have built up around those areas and ultimately have shut down that area or system. It is like the body has created its own mask for that area over time. As we peel away that mask, we work toward reorganization of the neurology and physiology of the area that is being addressed.
It is amazing how effective the body is at bottling what should be a painful situation and pushing it aside or encapsulating it so that you go on with your life doing function after function. This does not mean that you will have optimal function in that area, or in your body, but the body’s ability to respond to allow you to do the task at hand in some manner is absolutely incredible.
With that said, retracing really becomes an important aspect of the healing process because without retracing, we could never really reach our true optimal function. Spending the time to retrace old injuries that were never addressed can allow for enormous improvements in the overall function of the system as a whole.
It is always interesting to work with a patient when they come in with a specific problem, say low back pain, and after a series of visits they come in and let me know their shoulder has started hurting. As we go through the process of finding out why that could be, we learn there was an old injury to that area that they had forgotten happened. Because of the process of realignment through chiropractic adjustments, we awakened the muscle memory to that area, allowing for the injury to “reawaken” and therefore to be opened to be addressed and healed. Again, remember that chiropractic adjustments open the pathways of the nerve system, allowing body to talk to brain, and brain to talk to body.
Sometimes the injuries in the retracing process that come back up can be fairly difficult to work with because of the years and years of adhesions and scar tissue that have built up around those areas and ultimately have shut down that area or system. It is like the body has created its own mask for that area over time. As we peel away that mask, we work toward reorganization of the neurology and physiology of the area that is being addressed.
It is amazing how effective the body is at bottling what should be a painful situation and pushing it aside or encapsulating it so that you go on with your life doing function after function. This does not mean that you will have optimal function in that area, or in your body, but the body’s ability to respond to allow you to do the task at hand in some manner is absolutely incredible.
With that said, retracing really becomes an important aspect of the healing process because without retracing, we could never really reach our true optimal function. Spending the time to retrace old injuries that were never addressed can allow for enormous improvements in the overall function of the system as a whole.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Get to Know and Love Your Connective Tissue
Connective tissue is important in the body because it is the only thing that is congruent throughout the entire body. Outside of the connective tissue itself, every cell in the body is individual and has its own makeup and task.
Connective tissue is a very old system in the body. As we have evolved, more systems have come into play, so that some are much older compared to how developed the nervous system is today, with all its mechanisms, for example.
Connective tissue is the matrix which holds the body’s cells and organization together. Because connective tissue is the same throughout and contiguous, something that happens on one side of the body will be immediately and quickly recognized on the other side of the body before even the nerve system can react to that event.
When debris such as toxins from the outside world enter our body, it is in the connective tissue where they will tend to be stored. This has the potential to create havoc on ourselves. When there is waste material buildup, the space for the cells becomes compromised, and in time, with enough toxic buildup, the normal shape of the cell becomes compressed, affecting the structures, the nerves, capillaries, veins, lymph vessels – and thus cell function is compromised.
Put another way, debris buildup causes disorientation and deformity in the cell; therefore that cell cannot function properly even on a normal day to day operation.
When there is an injury in the body, connective tissue is ultimately affected. Often there is tearing of the different tissues. When that happens, there is inflammation in the area. The body repairs this injury by making a scar. The scar, known as an adhesion, can affect the normal pathways of how information travels throughout that connective tissue body. It also creates weak spots in the system, therefore leaving it prone to more injuries or recurrence of injury in the future. It is very important to break down those adhesions when they occur to help re-form the proper matrix of the normal connective tissue. That is done best through myofascial release techniques and myofascial re-education.
So it is important to free up connective tissue and remove debris in order to allow the cell shape to stay uncompromised.
How Do We Free Up the Connective Tissue From Toxic Buildup?
One of the best ways to help remove toxic buildup in the connective tissue is by rolling lightly over the skin. A very good tool is called “the Stick,” known as “a toothbrush for muscles.” (www.intracell.net; available for purchase at Actus Chiropractic) With that process it helps push toxins out of connective tissue surrounding the muscles and different tissues of the body.
Other ways to help remove toxins from connective tissue is good hydration, massage therapy, and of course, chiropractic care. Acupuncture and acupressure will also have an effect on connective tissue health.
Connective tissue is a very old system in the body. As we have evolved, more systems have come into play, so that some are much older compared to how developed the nervous system is today, with all its mechanisms, for example.
Connective tissue is the matrix which holds the body’s cells and organization together. Because connective tissue is the same throughout and contiguous, something that happens on one side of the body will be immediately and quickly recognized on the other side of the body before even the nerve system can react to that event.
When debris such as toxins from the outside world enter our body, it is in the connective tissue where they will tend to be stored. This has the potential to create havoc on ourselves. When there is waste material buildup, the space for the cells becomes compromised, and in time, with enough toxic buildup, the normal shape of the cell becomes compressed, affecting the structures, the nerves, capillaries, veins, lymph vessels – and thus cell function is compromised.
Put another way, debris buildup causes disorientation and deformity in the cell; therefore that cell cannot function properly even on a normal day to day operation.
When there is an injury in the body, connective tissue is ultimately affected. Often there is tearing of the different tissues. When that happens, there is inflammation in the area. The body repairs this injury by making a scar. The scar, known as an adhesion, can affect the normal pathways of how information travels throughout that connective tissue body. It also creates weak spots in the system, therefore leaving it prone to more injuries or recurrence of injury in the future. It is very important to break down those adhesions when they occur to help re-form the proper matrix of the normal connective tissue. That is done best through myofascial release techniques and myofascial re-education.
So it is important to free up connective tissue and remove debris in order to allow the cell shape to stay uncompromised.
How Do We Free Up the Connective Tissue From Toxic Buildup?
One of the best ways to help remove toxic buildup in the connective tissue is by rolling lightly over the skin. A very good tool is called “the Stick,” known as “a toothbrush for muscles.” (www.intracell.net; available for purchase at Actus Chiropractic) With that process it helps push toxins out of connective tissue surrounding the muscles and different tissues of the body.
Other ways to help remove toxins from connective tissue is good hydration, massage therapy, and of course, chiropractic care. Acupuncture and acupressure will also have an effect on connective tissue health.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Educating Yourself About the Swine Flu and Shot Part III
(Last of three parts of article written for the Brentwood Press)
Natural ways to build immunity
There are always going to be threats of flu pandemics, real or not. If you want to break free of the drugs and shots controversy, you may consider that there are ways you can protect yourself through informed lifestyle choices to keep your immune system functioning optimally year-round.
Natural ways to build immunity
There are always going to be threats of flu pandemics, real or not. If you want to break free of the drugs and shots controversy, you may consider that there are ways you can protect yourself through informed lifestyle choices to keep your immune system functioning optimally year-round.
In fact, virologists aren’t scared of this year’s strain; their answers to a poll by the British science magazine The New Scientist shows that what they personally were doing is NOTHING. They are not getting vaccinated.
The following steps have been recommended to help keep you and your immune system strong:
Proper nutrition: Eat fresh whole foods as much as possible.
Supplementation: Vitamin D and good quality omega-3s are thought to be effective.
Avoid sugar and processed foods; these not only give you no nutritional boost, they actually compromise your immune system.
Manage stress, whether physical, mental, or environmental
Get adequate sleep.
Maintain a positive mental attitude.
Wash your hands often and avoid contact with nose, mouth, eyes.
Exercise enough to sweat. Sweating helps to detox the body through the skin, its largest organ.
Conclusion
Natural News reports that public support for this vaccination is waning as more facts are exposed. Legal action against the FDA’s approval of the shots is already taking place, and recent mainstream polls show that more than 50 percent of mothers are refusing to vaccinate their kids. A CBS News poll in October 2009 found that only 46 percent were going for vaccination. (6)
The bottom line here is that yes, tragically, people will get sick and some will die. People who are sick to begin with or have immunosuppressed systems will be at greater risk of illness because when the amount of “dis-ease” in the body is too much, the body becomes overwhelmed and then disease sets in.
Are we truly helping the body by taking away a mild illness that through normal healing processes will allow the body to get stronger? Is it worth the risk to millions of people to be vaccinated with a questionable product in order to protect the few that may, unfortunately, die of H1N1?
In other words, it is suggested that you educate yourself on what you put into your body so that you are aware of the risks you take either direction that you go.
For more information call Dr. Val Tompkins, D.C., Actus Chiropractic, 9030 Brentwood Blvd., Suite D, Brentwood; 925.516.2363.
References and footnotes
(1) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/28/Swine-Flu.aspx
(2) http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/h1n1-swine-flu.aspx
(3) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/03/What-We-Have-Learned-About-the-Great-Swine-Flu-Pandemic.aspx; reference: Strauss JH, Strauss EG, Viruses and Human Disease. Academic Press, San Diego, 2002, p153.
(4) http://www.HSIBaltimore.com
(5) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/19/The-Truth-about-the-Flu-Shot.aspx
(6) http://www.NaturalNews.com/027222_swine_flu_flu_vaccine_swine_flu_vaccine.html
(7) CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/surveillance.htm.
(8) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/08/04/Squalene-The-Swine-Flu-Vaccines-Dirty-Little-Secret-Exposed.aspx
(9) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/17/Washington-Health-Department-Suspends-Mercury-Restrictions-for-Swine-Flu-Vaccine.aspx
(10) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/5943331/Tamiflu-linked-to-side-effects-among-children-reports-find.html
(11) Tim O’Shea, The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination I$ Not Immunization. 2009. thedoctorwithin (pub).
(12) http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/04/28/1976_swine_flu/
(13) National Vaccine Center, 909shot .com
(14) http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/279039
Educating Yourself About the Swine Flu and Shot Part II
Should you be worried?
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D., studies have shown that the H1N1 virus does not infect other tissues or the brain nor spread to others well. (3) The biggest confusion seems to surround the risk of hospitalization for pregnant women and children. Media have reported that pregnant women are six times more likely to end up in the hospital than the general population. Yet an article for emedicine medscape.com (WebMD) says that the risk of a pregnant woman’s being hospitalized with H1N1 infection is one in 300,000.
However, a report published Nov. 4, 2009, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says that "In contrast with the common perception that pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) infection causes only mild disease, hospitalization and death occurred at all ages, and up to 30 percent of hospitalized cases were severely ill." The article refutes the notion that older Americans have high rates of immunity from previous swine flus. Although one-third of those hospitalized were ages 18 or younger, the authors write that people age 50 or older have the highest rate of death once hospitalized.
How the body’s immune system protects you
The body’s self-protection system is its immune system. Even if you pick up the H1N1 virus, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will get sick. Whether you become sick — and how sick — depends on how strong and healthy your immune system is. Most disease-causing organisms that invade the body naturally do so through the mucus membranes in the nose, mouth, pulmonary system and digestive tract. These membranes have their own natural immune defense system.
The flu shot is designed to prepare the immune system to fight off the virus. However, a vaccine bypasses these first lines of defense and tricks the body into a fight-or-flight immune response. a man-made illness. Artificial immunity creates a different response in the body than would otherwise happen in a natural immune response, which lasts a lifetime. Thus, if we understand human physiology — that the body has an innate intelligence for coping with invading organisms — then we should be able to help it do what it does naturally, as opposed to interfering with its healing processes by making up artificial mechanisms that it was never designed to deal with.
The medical solution
Medically, Tamiflu seems to be the drug of choice for helping relieve flu symptoms. However, it has side effects that are potentially harmful, especially for children. (10) Some 1,800 adverse reactions were reported related to the drug in 2007, when Japan barred it for children. (1) What’s more, it provides only 36 hours of symptom relief at best. (The Financial Times reported that governments around the world have stockpiled 220 million doses at a cost of $7 billion for a pandemic that has not happened.)
The medical idea for prevention is to create a vaccine to protect people from getting sick. The Health Sciences Institute (www.HSIBaltimore.com) explains that each year the flu vaccine is newly redesigned, using several strains from different types of flu that occurred the year before So in theory this year’s shot protects you from last year’s flu. Scientists who develop these vaccines bank on this year’s strain not mutating much from last year’s flu.
The CDC says, “It is not possible in advance of the influenza season to predict how well the vaccine and circulating strains will be matched, and how that may affect vaccine effectiveness.” (4) What’s more, this year’s vaccine didn’t go through extensive clinical trials to determine its safety and effectiveness. (1) Thus there may be a potential for repeat of the last dangerous swine flu fiasco in 1976. (12)
What’s in a vaccine?
More than just the flu strains. The vaccine contains the weakened form of the virus that was grown most typically in chicken embryos. Then several other ingredients are added to give the vaccine a shelf life and to help keep it sterile. When extra ingredients are added, the body has to also deal with what it considers chemical toxins — especially immune adjuvants, or enhancements, like aluminum and squalene. (8)
Although NaturalNews reports that this year’s H1N1 vaccine does not include adjuvants to help make it more effective, many vaccines contain:
· thimerosal (a toxic, mercury-derived preservative used to kill bacteria)
· formaldehyde to kill viruses; a known carcinogen
· aluminum to promote antibody response
· ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
· phenol (a disinfectant)
· polysorbate 80, which can cause severe allergic reactions
· Triton X100, a strong detergent
· Gentamycin, an antibiotic (5)
· Squalene (found in olive oil; when ingested properly carries many good antioxidants, but when injected into the blood stream causes chronic immune-mediated inflammation)
Thimerosal has been eliminated from some vaccines in the United States, and the compound may be linked to autism. But it will be added to the bulk of swine-flu vaccines. (9)
These ingredients are all toxic to the human body and can affect it in different ways. It is suspected that some of these ingredients may even be stored in the body and affect it at a later date. (11) There are so many stories about vaccine injury and the rapid increasing numbers of autoimmune diseases in a relatively short period of time, that it is hard to ignore the possibility of the effects these toxins may have on the body. (13)
The other thing to look at here is the list of side effects that each vaccine carries. Some are worse than getting the particular disease that the vaccine is manufactured to protect us from. (11) These are things we need to be aware of when making the right choice for our individual needs.
(Part II of III of article written for the Brentwood Press)
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D., studies have shown that the H1N1 virus does not infect other tissues or the brain nor spread to others well. (3) The biggest confusion seems to surround the risk of hospitalization for pregnant women and children. Media have reported that pregnant women are six times more likely to end up in the hospital than the general population. Yet an article for emedicine medscape.com (WebMD) says that the risk of a pregnant woman’s being hospitalized with H1N1 infection is one in 300,000.
However, a report published Nov. 4, 2009, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says that "In contrast with the common perception that pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) infection causes only mild disease, hospitalization and death occurred at all ages, and up to 30 percent of hospitalized cases were severely ill." The article refutes the notion that older Americans have high rates of immunity from previous swine flus. Although one-third of those hospitalized were ages 18 or younger, the authors write that people age 50 or older have the highest rate of death once hospitalized.
How the body’s immune system protects you
The body’s self-protection system is its immune system. Even if you pick up the H1N1 virus, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will get sick. Whether you become sick — and how sick — depends on how strong and healthy your immune system is. Most disease-causing organisms that invade the body naturally do so through the mucus membranes in the nose, mouth, pulmonary system and digestive tract. These membranes have their own natural immune defense system.
The flu shot is designed to prepare the immune system to fight off the virus. However, a vaccine bypasses these first lines of defense and tricks the body into a fight-or-flight immune response. a man-made illness. Artificial immunity creates a different response in the body than would otherwise happen in a natural immune response, which lasts a lifetime. Thus, if we understand human physiology — that the body has an innate intelligence for coping with invading organisms — then we should be able to help it do what it does naturally, as opposed to interfering with its healing processes by making up artificial mechanisms that it was never designed to deal with.
The medical solution
Medically, Tamiflu seems to be the drug of choice for helping relieve flu symptoms. However, it has side effects that are potentially harmful, especially for children. (10) Some 1,800 adverse reactions were reported related to the drug in 2007, when Japan barred it for children. (1) What’s more, it provides only 36 hours of symptom relief at best. (The Financial Times reported that governments around the world have stockpiled 220 million doses at a cost of $7 billion for a pandemic that has not happened.)
The medical idea for prevention is to create a vaccine to protect people from getting sick. The Health Sciences Institute (www.HSIBaltimore.com) explains that each year the flu vaccine is newly redesigned, using several strains from different types of flu that occurred the year before So in theory this year’s shot protects you from last year’s flu. Scientists who develop these vaccines bank on this year’s strain not mutating much from last year’s flu.
The CDC says, “It is not possible in advance of the influenza season to predict how well the vaccine and circulating strains will be matched, and how that may affect vaccine effectiveness.” (4) What’s more, this year’s vaccine didn’t go through extensive clinical trials to determine its safety and effectiveness. (1) Thus there may be a potential for repeat of the last dangerous swine flu fiasco in 1976. (12)
What’s in a vaccine?
More than just the flu strains. The vaccine contains the weakened form of the virus that was grown most typically in chicken embryos. Then several other ingredients are added to give the vaccine a shelf life and to help keep it sterile. When extra ingredients are added, the body has to also deal with what it considers chemical toxins — especially immune adjuvants, or enhancements, like aluminum and squalene. (8)
Although NaturalNews reports that this year’s H1N1 vaccine does not include adjuvants to help make it more effective, many vaccines contain:
· thimerosal (a toxic, mercury-derived preservative used to kill bacteria)
· formaldehyde to kill viruses; a known carcinogen
· aluminum to promote antibody response
· ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
· phenol (a disinfectant)
· polysorbate 80, which can cause severe allergic reactions
· Triton X100, a strong detergent
· Gentamycin, an antibiotic (5)
· Squalene (found in olive oil; when ingested properly carries many good antioxidants, but when injected into the blood stream causes chronic immune-mediated inflammation)
Thimerosal has been eliminated from some vaccines in the United States, and the compound may be linked to autism. But it will be added to the bulk of swine-flu vaccines. (9)
These ingredients are all toxic to the human body and can affect it in different ways. It is suspected that some of these ingredients may even be stored in the body and affect it at a later date. (11) There are so many stories about vaccine injury and the rapid increasing numbers of autoimmune diseases in a relatively short period of time, that it is hard to ignore the possibility of the effects these toxins may have on the body. (13)
The other thing to look at here is the list of side effects that each vaccine carries. Some are worse than getting the particular disease that the vaccine is manufactured to protect us from. (11) These are things we need to be aware of when making the right choice for our individual needs.
(Part II of III of article written for the Brentwood Press)
Educating Yourself About the Swine Flu and Shot Part I
This article (written for the Brentwood Press) is to help give insight into the controversial health topic of swine flu through a review of current literature, so that you can make an informed decision about what is best for your own health. Do the risks involved with the vaccine outweigh its promoted benefits? For example, you may be concerned about how the vaccine was made, how effective and safe it is, and what can you do alternately to protect you and your family this flu season by boosting your immunity.
What is the swine flu?
On April 26, 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) declared a national public health emergency: identification of a new influenza (H1N1) that contained a combination of human, swine, and bird viruses. It was making people sick and causing deaths in Mexico. By mid-June the World Health Organization raised this alert to the highest level possible, a pandemic (an infectious disease epidemic that is geographically widespread but not necessarily deadly).
Regular swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease that affects pigs; the current strain, A(H1N1), causes symptoms similar to regular flu like coughing, a fever of more than 100, chills, joint aches, severe headache, vomiting and/or diarrhea, lethargy, and sore throat. (1) About 5 to 9 percent of confirmed cases have been hospitalized for more severe symptoms like pneumonia.
Nearly all suspected new cases have been reported as mild, which suggests that this virus is not as potent as surmised. Virologists are saying that this year’s swine flu is no more dangerous than the seasonal virus, and actually seems to be much weaker. Data from the CDC do not support any reason to panic.
However, researchers working out of the Imperial College in London have confirmed the results of an earlier study on the behaviors of the H1N1 swine flu virus that found the virus attacks deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu. Their findings explain why the bug is more dangerous for some victims - and why it may be particularly deadly should it mutate into a more aggressive strain. (14)
Who is at risk?
According to the National Vaccine Information Center (www.NVIC.org), an advocacy group that questions the safety of vaccines, about half the patients hospitalized in the U.S. and about half the fatal cases in Mexico were people between ages 20 and 59. The majority of swine flu-related hospitalizations and deaths also occurred in people who were obese or suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. Most confirmed cases in all countries have been young adults under 30 and adolescents. A third of adults born before 1950 have been found to have protective antibodies already because of swine influenza epidemics in past decades. (2)
The CDC issued a report this fall saying that 129 children had died from swine flu complications since April 2009. About two-thirds of them had other health conditions like asthma, or neurological diseases like muscular dystrophy. According to newer figures released Nov. 12, swine flu has sickened about 22 million Americans and killed nearly 4,000, including 540 children. However most cases don’t require a doctor’s care and the flu hasn’t suddenly worsened; the CDC says the higher figures are a better accounting.
“So, the vast majority of children who are dying have one of a number of chronic health conditions, yet the media gives us the impression that perfectly healthy children are dying,” says neuroscientist and researcher Dr. Blaylock, M.D. (5)
A recent study of why so many died during the 1918 flu pandemic found that most of the deaths were secondary to bacterial pneumonia and not the flu virus itself. In 1918 hospitals had little to offer a sick patient -- there were no antibiotics other than sulfur drugs, no IV fluids and no respirators -- all they could offer was a warm bed and aspirin. This is the same group who would be most heavily affected by the current flu strain.
(Part I of III)
What is the swine flu?
On April 26, 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) declared a national public health emergency: identification of a new influenza (H1N1) that contained a combination of human, swine, and bird viruses. It was making people sick and causing deaths in Mexico. By mid-June the World Health Organization raised this alert to the highest level possible, a pandemic (an infectious disease epidemic that is geographically widespread but not necessarily deadly).
Regular swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease that affects pigs; the current strain, A(H1N1), causes symptoms similar to regular flu like coughing, a fever of more than 100, chills, joint aches, severe headache, vomiting and/or diarrhea, lethargy, and sore throat. (1) About 5 to 9 percent of confirmed cases have been hospitalized for more severe symptoms like pneumonia.
Nearly all suspected new cases have been reported as mild, which suggests that this virus is not as potent as surmised. Virologists are saying that this year’s swine flu is no more dangerous than the seasonal virus, and actually seems to be much weaker. Data from the CDC do not support any reason to panic.
However, researchers working out of the Imperial College in London have confirmed the results of an earlier study on the behaviors of the H1N1 swine flu virus that found the virus attacks deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu. Their findings explain why the bug is more dangerous for some victims - and why it may be particularly deadly should it mutate into a more aggressive strain. (14)
Who is at risk?
According to the National Vaccine Information Center (www.NVIC.org), an advocacy group that questions the safety of vaccines, about half the patients hospitalized in the U.S. and about half the fatal cases in Mexico were people between ages 20 and 59. The majority of swine flu-related hospitalizations and deaths also occurred in people who were obese or suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. Most confirmed cases in all countries have been young adults under 30 and adolescents. A third of adults born before 1950 have been found to have protective antibodies already because of swine influenza epidemics in past decades. (2)
The CDC issued a report this fall saying that 129 children had died from swine flu complications since April 2009. About two-thirds of them had other health conditions like asthma, or neurological diseases like muscular dystrophy. According to newer figures released Nov. 12, swine flu has sickened about 22 million Americans and killed nearly 4,000, including 540 children. However most cases don’t require a doctor’s care and the flu hasn’t suddenly worsened; the CDC says the higher figures are a better accounting.
“So, the vast majority of children who are dying have one of a number of chronic health conditions, yet the media gives us the impression that perfectly healthy children are dying,” says neuroscientist and researcher Dr. Blaylock, M.D. (5)
A recent study of why so many died during the 1918 flu pandemic found that most of the deaths were secondary to bacterial pneumonia and not the flu virus itself. In 1918 hospitals had little to offer a sick patient -- there were no antibiotics other than sulfur drugs, no IV fluids and no respirators -- all they could offer was a warm bed and aspirin. This is the same group who would be most heavily affected by the current flu strain.
(Part I of III)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
What Am I Doing to You?
According to “Chiropractic First” by Terry Rondberg, D.C., chiropractic has come a long way since its founding in 1895 when D.D. Palmer performed his first adjustment, on a janitor whose hearing ended up being restored after 17 years of deafness.
What exactly is a chiropractic adjustment? “Specifically, the chiropractor determines the presence of nerve interference and helps the body correct itself by introducing a force in a prescribed manner: Contrary to popular misinformation, the Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) doesn’t force the misaligned vertebrae back into place but he or she facilitates the body’s correction of nerve interference,” Rondberg writes.
“During the adjustment, the subluxated vertebrae are unlocked and released from their misaligned positions. The body’s inborn intelligence is called upon to shape the spine. When this happens, the vertebrae return to their proper alignment and the normal nerve supply is restored. This allows one to achieve maximum healing potential with a complete nerve supply.”
In an adjustment, a patient will often hear a noise and that is due to the release of gasses that have built up within the joint capsule itself. The reason this happens is because there is no blood supply to the joints; therefore we need proper motion in order to get good nutrients in and waste materials out. When a joint becomes fixated and stops moving in its normal pattern, waste material has nowhere to go, so it builds up within the joint capsule. When this happens, there is a physiologic change that occurs within that joint complex, which can lead to dysfunction and that ultimately creates interference within that system.
The change that occurs in the body’s physiology in the joint is with the way nerve flow goes from the body to the brain. The reason this happens is because the mechano receptors around the joints are responsible for gathering the information from the body and relaying it on to the brain. Mechano receptors require motion in order to be active. When motion stops and mechano receptors shut down, pain receptors begin firing and information from the body to the brain will cease from that segment.
Thus we can see where the interference begins in the pathways from the body to the brain and back to the body. It is important to restore motion to allow the body to be able to perform at its optimum. When the body is able to perform at its optimum, we move toward health and away from dis-ease.
This is a good reason why regular chiropractic adjustments should be part of everyone’s lifestyle -- an important piece to staying healthy and functioning at your highest possible level. Chiropractic has something to offer for everyone.
What exactly is a chiropractic adjustment? “Specifically, the chiropractor determines the presence of nerve interference and helps the body correct itself by introducing a force in a prescribed manner: Contrary to popular misinformation, the Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) doesn’t force the misaligned vertebrae back into place but he or she facilitates the body’s correction of nerve interference,” Rondberg writes.
“During the adjustment, the subluxated vertebrae are unlocked and released from their misaligned positions. The body’s inborn intelligence is called upon to shape the spine. When this happens, the vertebrae return to their proper alignment and the normal nerve supply is restored. This allows one to achieve maximum healing potential with a complete nerve supply.”
In an adjustment, a patient will often hear a noise and that is due to the release of gasses that have built up within the joint capsule itself. The reason this happens is because there is no blood supply to the joints; therefore we need proper motion in order to get good nutrients in and waste materials out. When a joint becomes fixated and stops moving in its normal pattern, waste material has nowhere to go, so it builds up within the joint capsule. When this happens, there is a physiologic change that occurs within that joint complex, which can lead to dysfunction and that ultimately creates interference within that system.
The change that occurs in the body’s physiology in the joint is with the way nerve flow goes from the body to the brain. The reason this happens is because the mechano receptors around the joints are responsible for gathering the information from the body and relaying it on to the brain. Mechano receptors require motion in order to be active. When motion stops and mechano receptors shut down, pain receptors begin firing and information from the body to the brain will cease from that segment.
Thus we can see where the interference begins in the pathways from the body to the brain and back to the body. It is important to restore motion to allow the body to be able to perform at its optimum. When the body is able to perform at its optimum, we move toward health and away from dis-ease.
This is a good reason why regular chiropractic adjustments should be part of everyone’s lifestyle -- an important piece to staying healthy and functioning at your highest possible level. Chiropractic has something to offer for everyone.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Why Chiropractic Works
Often we talk about the notion that there are three stressors in life that affect our body and health: Those three being physical stress, mental-emotional stress, and chemical stress. With that being said, each cell in our body has its own innate intelligence and therefore functions to its ability regardless of the stressors put on it.
However, that ability can be diminished when the stresses become too much for the system.
In looking at being healthy, we need to be able to listen to the body’s needs and respond to areas where the body is no longer able to function to that optimal ability. Most people ignore the early signs of the body talking to us, which are the early signs of the body’s inability to meet the needs being put on it at that given time.
Chiropractic, regardless of technique, is unique in the scope of wellness because it addresses the cause of the problem, and not the symptom. What is the cause of the problem? The cells’ inability to function at optimal capacity. Thus “dis-ease” sets in from the stressors named above, and when in that state long enough allows for “disease” to set in.
And that is when most people get the message to follow through to try to do something.
Therefore it is extremely important to learn to listen to our bodies and take care of those needs when they are initially present.
There are so many different signs to look for, but simple ones that we’ve all felt and seen would be ones as common as fatigue in an area, being a little extra tired on a certain day, a slight twinge or a cramp in a muscle, hunger pangs or feeling stuffed. These are signs of dis-ease. Ultimately disease comes from the process of a weakened immune system or a system that is under stress or in dis-ease.
The chiropractic adjustment itself works to remove interference (stress overload) from the body, allowing the body to move toward a state of wellness by putting it at ease. That is why all people respond well to chiropractic, and ultimately receive some benefit when getting adjusted and following through with the proper care.
With that said, chiropractic is not the cure-all for all disease. But chiropractic will help increase function in the body regardless of its state by helping to restore ease in the body and allowing for optimal function for that given body at that given time.
Most people go to a chiropractor for back pain or neck pain, and yes, great responses happen with that. But the bigger picture is that chiropractic’s strength really plays into keeping people functioning by enhancing the body’s ability to be well and helping the body to manage those stressors being placed on it.
The body is going to react to what’s put upon it. What the body is being subjected to will determine its response.
So, bottom line: Get adjusted on a regular basis that is right for your body and your body’s needs.
However, that ability can be diminished when the stresses become too much for the system.
In looking at being healthy, we need to be able to listen to the body’s needs and respond to areas where the body is no longer able to function to that optimal ability. Most people ignore the early signs of the body talking to us, which are the early signs of the body’s inability to meet the needs being put on it at that given time.
Chiropractic, regardless of technique, is unique in the scope of wellness because it addresses the cause of the problem, and not the symptom. What is the cause of the problem? The cells’ inability to function at optimal capacity. Thus “dis-ease” sets in from the stressors named above, and when in that state long enough allows for “disease” to set in.
And that is when most people get the message to follow through to try to do something.
Therefore it is extremely important to learn to listen to our bodies and take care of those needs when they are initially present.
There are so many different signs to look for, but simple ones that we’ve all felt and seen would be ones as common as fatigue in an area, being a little extra tired on a certain day, a slight twinge or a cramp in a muscle, hunger pangs or feeling stuffed. These are signs of dis-ease. Ultimately disease comes from the process of a weakened immune system or a system that is under stress or in dis-ease.
The chiropractic adjustment itself works to remove interference (stress overload) from the body, allowing the body to move toward a state of wellness by putting it at ease. That is why all people respond well to chiropractic, and ultimately receive some benefit when getting adjusted and following through with the proper care.
With that said, chiropractic is not the cure-all for all disease. But chiropractic will help increase function in the body regardless of its state by helping to restore ease in the body and allowing for optimal function for that given body at that given time.
Most people go to a chiropractor for back pain or neck pain, and yes, great responses happen with that. But the bigger picture is that chiropractic’s strength really plays into keeping people functioning by enhancing the body’s ability to be well and helping the body to manage those stressors being placed on it.
The body is going to react to what’s put upon it. What the body is being subjected to will determine its response.
So, bottom line: Get adjusted on a regular basis that is right for your body and your body’s needs.
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