Discovering Wellness Newsletter
Stress
People experience stress on a daily basis. Even when the experience is positive such as a job promotion or becoming a newlywed can cause stress. Stress is a reaction to any internal or external stimuli that disturbs how your body functions and disturbs mental or physical health.
Nearly 80% of all health problems are stress related. Many illnesses are caused by stress. The long lasting or chronic stress lowers the immune system, which in turn can increase susceptibility to illness especially to immune-related disorders. Emotional stress leads to hormonal imbalances that interfere with immune system function.
The three sources of stress are our environment, body and emotions. Stress causes the body to go into a “fight or flight syndrome”. The fight or flight syndrome is a person’s reaction to stressful circumstances which has damaging physical effects due to prolonged stress. This fight or flight syndrome causes the nervous system to go into a hyper mode which can have ill effects on the body. Spinal adjustments will help reduce the nerve interference thus returning the body back to normal mode.
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The Power of Sleep
Are you constantly on the go? Do you feel like there is not enough time in the day to get what you need done? Is your only solution is to cut back on sleep? How else are you going to get through your never-ending to-do list or make time for a little fun? Sure, a solid eight hours sounds great, but who can afford to spend so much time sleeping? The truth is you can’t afford not to. Many of us want to sleep as little as possible—or feel like we have to. There are so many things that seem more interesting or important than getting a few more hours of sleep. But just as exercise and nutrition are essential for optimal health and happiness, so is sleep.
As a preventive health-care specialist, Chiropractors know that sleep is an elemental component to wellness. Sleep is among the most common health complaints. That’s why chiropractors stress that patients get adequate amounts of sleep. Inadequate amounts of sleep is linked with an increased risk of head pain that effects all ages. Sleep loss also increases your risk of developing many types of problems and illnesses such as sleep apnea, insomnia, cognitive abilities and many more. The loss of sleep cripples our immune system, leaving the body vulnerable to infection. “We suspect that chronic sleep loss may not only hasten the onset but could also increase the severity of age-related ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and memory loss” {Lancet 1999; 354:1435-9).
Missed sleep alters levels of hormones that are crucial to your mental well-being, such as melatonin, serotonin and cortisol. Disruptions in the production of these hormones may spark mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety.
If a lack of sleep is starting to affect your concentration, memory or mood, you may have a sleeping problem. Many times the ability to get good sleep could be a disturbance in the nervous system. So, do not look for traditional medical prescriptions like sleeping pills to solve the problem. Make sure your next step is an appointment with your chiropractor. Since chiropractic is based on the philosophy that the body functions as a whole, rather than as a system of isolated parts. If you have Pain, both acute and chronic, which is another primary reason why people experience disturbed sleep, we can help by creating balance in the nervous system. Whether it’s back pain, neck pain or headaches, chiropractic treatments have a long history of being able to help.
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Walk away sniffle-free
“Allergies have become one of the major public health problems.”
(Pol Merkuriusz Lek 2003;14:453-5,)
So the next time you sneeze, it may be a good time to visit your chiropractor. Yes, a chiropractor. The majority of people never think about it, but chiropractic care can help with allergy relief. Current research shows that there is a direct link between the nervous system and the immune system. Chiropractic helps patients by correcting the subluxations in the spine which removes the nerve interference, and as a result, the immune system is able to function optimally. By removing the nerve interference it allows the immune system to have high resistance to disease and infection and a better ability to deal with stress, and greater health and well-being.
Since our immune system is influenced by our nerves, hormones and by stress. If unhealthy, your immune system may fail to recognize and remove any cancerous cells as well as overcoming infection. This may cause it to overreact to any foreign substance such as pollution, dust, dead cells, etc. The most common immune disorder is the allergic reaction which occurs when the immune system overreacts to an allergen. The response to an allergen is the body makes to many neutralizing chemicals such as histamines to correct the problem. Instead histamines cause inflammation, mucus, skin reactions and other symptoms of allergies.
Chiropractors treat patients by releasing the stress from the patient’s nervous system. In result, the immune system functions better and the allergies are reduced. Patients with misaligned spinal vertebra may have compressed, stretched, irritated nerves, which apply pressure and stress to the system. Once the subluxation is corrected and stress is taken off of the nerve, the nervous system is free and now the body can then work more effectively to neutralize the allergy-causing chemicals found in the body.