As we get older we can start noticing our bodies more than when we were younger. A lot of times these symptoms are completely reversible. The reason people have more health challenges as they get older is simply due to the fact that time is the friend of disease. Let me explain, if you have a nutritional deficiency or a misaligned vertebrae in your back those are the seeds of disease. Just like in a garden seeds take time to grow. Disease takes time to grow some times 10,15, 20 years etc.

Disease does not have to be a normal part of aging. Yes we might slow down a little bit, maybe we can't run as fast as we used to and maybe your reflexes aren't as fast because we all age. But that doesn't mean that we have to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer etc. chiropractic offers a proactive approach to staying well. When you maintain a better spinal alignment you have less stress on your nervous system. Your nervous system controls and coordinates every other organ in your body. If your body can regulate your digestive system better or your hormonal system better then you will stay in better health. If your diet is supplying you with the building blocks that your body needs to maintain proper chemistry and healthy tissue cells then you're going to stay in a higher level of health.

 

The facts are these simple principles can have a profound effect on your level of health, your attitude toward life and your ability to stay active and healthy into old age. Most health approaches are designed to wait until you get sick and then focus on suppressing the symptoms of the illness i.e. high blood pressure pills for hypertension etc. I think most of us realize that drugs don't heal in most cases they just manage the disease as we get sicker. Natural health care works with the very foundation of health.

 If you want to stay healthy and active then you must take care of your body. Eating right for your genetic makeup, making sure you're taking extra supplements that match your nutritional needs, and keeping your nervous system free of pressure are the most dynamic thing you can do for your health. It beats any annual exam, MRI, blood work or any other test to find disease. I'm not saying testing is not important I'm saying being proactive is the most important. You don't have to spend the last 5, 10+ years in a rest home hooked up to machines and taking 20+ drugs. You can stay active and vital up to the end. Call today for an evaluation. Get and stay on the road to better health. Health is the best health insurance on the market.

Methylation acts as an on/off switch that allows the body to learn how to respond to environmental change.  It represents the only cellular pathway that effects both adaptability and structural integrity of the body.  Like the simple water molecule, methyl groups are necessary for life.  This pathway is directly related to most major chronic conditions:

Heart disease, Stroke, Cancer, Diabetes, MS ,ALS, Parkinson's disease,  Huntington's disease ,  CFS/FM, Mitochondrial disease,SLE, neural tube defects, Miscarriages, Down's syndrome,  Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia,  Repair of tissue damage,Proper immune function,  The aging process, and  Autism.

methylation [meth??-la´shun] the addition of methyl groups.

The issue of a person being an under or over methylator can be confusing. It may not be one of the all time critically defining issues, but it may help in the general sense. Several common supplements often recommended for those with autism spectrum conditions are involved in this process (this is just one of the processes these supplements may help with).

"Methylation" is not just one specific reaction. There are hundreds of "methylation" reactions in the body. Methylation is simply the adding or removal of the methyl group to a compound or other element.

So why do we care about methylation at all? In general, when some compounds receive a methyl group, this "starts" a reaction (such as turning a gene on or activating an enzyme). When the methyl group is "lost" or removed, the reaction stops (or a gene is turned off or the enzyme is deactivated). Some of the more relevant methylation reactions would be:

1. getting methyl groups "turns on" detox reactions that detox the body of chemicals, including phenols. So if you are phenol sensitive, and you increase your methylation, then theoretically your body can process more phenols and you can eat fruits without enzymes!

  2. getting methyl groups "turns on" serotonin, and thus melatonin, production. Therefore, if you are a under-methylator, you can increase your methylation and have higher more appropriate levels of serotonin and melatonin. This means you may not have to take SSRIs, or may have improved sleep.

 3. if you are an over-methylator you can take certain supplements to decrease methylation and perhaps turn off reactions that need to be off. This may decrease aggression or hyperness, for example.

This is the general idea. To what extent this actually works in real life for any individual is back to "every one is different." But this is one thing that the Pfeiffer Treatment Center really looks at. I hope this explanation helps.

Something to note is that everyone is not EITHER an over OR under methylator. There are more groups than that, and you may be just fine in regards to methylation. Even if the Pfeiffer statistic is exactly correct when they say 45% are under-methylators and 15% are over-methylators, that totals 60%, so almost half the people are neither.

HOW TO HELP

As a solution, our unique topical delivery system, assures that our pharmaceutical grade Neuro-methylation Cream promotes and enhances the methylation processes needed to improve the production of glutathione, increase Vitamin D levels and allow maximum B12, B6 and vitamin delivery to the nervous and immune systems. This potent nutrient-rich cream can help maximize and aid in:

Mood Improvement & Stabilization   Mental Focus & Concentration                  Organization Skills   5 MTHR Mutation     Short Term Memory Loss             

Cerebral Folate Deficiency   Hormonal Regulation    Sleep Patterns   Immune Function

 

Such nutrients as Pyridoxal 5-Phosphate (B6) and Vitamin B12 in a methylated form called methylcobalamin (Methyl B12) and hydroxycobalamin (Hydroxy B12) and natural Vitamin D assist the body neurologically and physically. The advantage of using a topical cream is that it is delivered immediately into the skin, bypassing any mal-absorption problems of the gastrointestinal tract, which can be a common occurrence when the body is toxic or has gastrointestinal issues. In addition to assisting in detoxification and neuro-immune support, this topical cream is designed to work with the body to assist with oxidative stress, auto-immune diseases and sensory overload.

VEGA testing is a simple biofeedback procedure.  Your nervous system is a highly sophisticated information retrieval and intelligent response output organ.  Your nervous system is a bio computer more sophisticated any computer made by man.  Part of the nervous system retrieves and analyzes information the other part responds to that information.

During the VEGA test your nervous system is exposed to several different substances that it either responds to or doesn't.  Probably the easiest way to explain this is if someone has an allergy to ragweed.  In an allergy test with VEGA testing we would expose the body to the vibratory rates of ragweed.  Because the body recognizes this as an allergen we would monitor a response.

This is an objective response that is repeatable.  We observe this response in the apparent change in arm or leg lengths.  The response of tapping the knee and observing the reflex extension of the lower leg is the exact same reflex we observe.  If you elicited the reflex at the knee with the leg straight you would observe a temporary shortening of that leg as the muscles contracted.  This biofeedback reflex mechanism is the basis we use for monitoring in VEGA testing.

HISTORY

VEGA Testing is based on the phenomenon of “medicine testing” found by  Dr. Reinhardt Voll, M.D., a German  medical doctor, in his work with electrical acupuncture.  Dr. Helmut Schimmel, M.D., also of Germany, later  developed Dr. Voll’s work into a system of substance testing now known as VEGA  testing.

VEGA testing is based on the effect  of electrical resistance changes of the  skin on certain acupuncture points (low electrical resistance areas)  in  response to differing substances that are either beneficial or detrimental  to the body.

Dr. George Goodheart, D.C., U.S.A.,  discovered in the 1950’s that the muscles of the body, in the presence of certain substances, would either  become weaker or stronger.  This finding is part of a diagnostic system called "Applied Kinesiology". Based  on this phenomena, a simple arm or  leg check can monitor the body’s  response to any given substance.

Because this particular procedure is  more objective and can be performed  repetitively without fatiguing the body,  this is the system that we use.

VEGA TESTING’S SCOPE

VEGA testing is a multi-faceted diagnostic procedure.  It can be used to determine if a patient has an allergic tendency, and, if they do have allergies, what particular antigens they are allergic to. VEGA testing allows us to find the major organs that are under the most stress. It also helps to determine the level of stress of each organ or part of the body.  It can monitor the progress that a patient is making, without having to re-run expensive laboratory tests.

The VEGA test method allows for nutritional evaluation to determine if there are serious mineral or vitamin deficiencies, as well as food overloads, e.g., over-consumption of salts or sugars, proteins, etc.  VEGA testing also gives some information about the emotional status of a patient.  We can determine if the nervous system is being stressed by some strong deep emotions, and what possible remedies might be effective in helping the emotional processing.

The VEGA test method allows for determining what nutritional products or remedies might be effective in the treatment of certain conditions.  VEGA test method also allows for the determination of what is called, “Causal Chain”, or the domino effect that is taking place in the body. Most of the time when one organ malfunctions, it affects another organ, which affects another, etc.  To find the original, or most stressed organ, can be very important in understanding a patient’s particular health problems.

VEGA test method is a quick, easy method of developing an acupuncture diagnosis as to which meridians or electrical circuits within the body are malfunctioning.

When a patient is showing signs of an infection, VEGA testing allows for a quick evaluation to determine what is behind these acute symptoms - whether the source is a virus, bacteria, yeast overgrowth, food sensitivity, or an allergy response.

This method allows evaluation of the immune system, showing which organs in the immune system are under the most stress and need the most support.

We can determine also if a patient is suffering from geopathic stress.  This condition is due to radiations that might be influencing our health because of underground streams or mineral deposits or gases from underground; these can affect our bodies in subtle ways.

Through VEGA testing we can also tell if dental fillings are having an adverse effect on the body due to mercury leaching into the system.  It will indicate the presence of a toxic overload, and tell if that overload might be due simply to metabolic toxins, or if it is from heavy metals or insecticides that have entered through the environment’s food or water supply.

VEGA testing also can give us an idea of which areas of the body (which arteries, etc.) may be being affected by excessive cholesterol levels.

BIOLOGICAL SCORE (AGE)

 In the Vega test system the concept of bio-score, based on evaluating the body’s response to 21 ampules for  toxic load of the body,  relates to the level of over-all stress or disease within the body.  If we gave each organ that was malfunctioning a numerical value, then added them all up, that is the idea behind the bio-score.

By having a score like this when starting therapy we can evaluate our treatment program any time we would like.  As the body heals itself the score will reflect this by going down.  If the score becomes fixed then a change in the treatment program becomes necessary.  The bio-score is based on the body's reaction to one or more diagnostic ampoules in a set of 21.  The more ampoules that the body reacts to, the more problems that  represents.    If you react to two ampoules, say number 10 and 21, then your score would be 21x2. If you reacted to 3, 10, 16, 21 then your score would be 21x4.  Knowing each number within your score is not important, just your top number and how  many, tell the story.  In those two examples, 21x2 would be better than 21x4.  The following tells what to expect with different readings:

TWO  SCORES: PROGNOSIS EXCELLENT MILD IMMUNE STRESS,2-6 MONTHS OF CARE.

THREE SCORES: CHRONIC IMMUNE STRESS,6-9 MONTHS OF CARE.

FOUR SCORES: IMMUNE  SYSTEM NOT COPING, ADRENAL STRESS, ALLERGIES, INFLAMMATIONS, CANDIDIASIS, FATIGUE, 9-18 MONTHS CARE..

FIVE SCORES:  IMMUNE AND ADRENAL STRESS VERY SEVERE, AUTO-IMMUNE LIKELY,1 1/2-2 1/2 yrs. 0F CARE.

SIX SCORES: PROGNOSIS POOR, SERIOUS DISEASE LIKELY, SLOW RECOVERY, 2 1/2 +yrs. OF CARE.

THE ABOVE WAS BASED ON A LARGE SAMPLE OF PATIENTS AROUND THE WORLD . YOUR RECOVERY MAY BE FASTER.

We invite you to contact our office to schedule VEGA testing 918-663-1111.

                It's a basic necessity of life, as important to our health and well-being as air, food and water. When we sleep well, we wake up feeling refreshed, alert and ready to face daily challenges. When we don't, every part of our lives can suffer. Our jobs, relationships, productivity, health and safety (and that of those around us) are all put at risk. And lack of sleep due to sleep loss or sleep disorders is taking a serious toll.

  The 2002 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Sleep in America poll found that 74 percent of American adults are experiencing a sleeping problem a few nights a week or more, 39% get less than seven hours of sleep each weeknight, and more than one in three (37%) are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with daily activities. In the past century, we have reduced our average time in sleep. Though our society has changed, our brains and bodies have not. Sleep deprivation is affecting us all and we are paying the price.

Getting enough sleep refers to the amount of sleep you need to not feel sleepy    the next day. If sleepiness interferes with or makes it difficult to do your daily activities, you probably need more sleep. Although sleep experts generally recommend an average of 7-9 hours per night, some people can get along with less while others need as much as ten hours to feel alert the next day. Sleep requirements vary over the life cycle. Newborns and infants need a lot of sleep and have several periods of sleep throughout a 24-hour time period. Naps are important to them as well as to toddlers who may nap up to the age of 5. As children enter adolescence, their sleep patterns shift to a later sleep-wake cycle, but they still need around 9 hours of sleep. Throughout adulthood, even as we get older, we need 7-9 hours of sleep. Sleep patterns may change, but the need for sleep remains the same.

 THE FIVE LEVELS OF SLEEP

As we begin to fall asleep, we enter REM, which is composed of Stages 1-4.

Stage 1 Light sleep; between being awake and entering sleep

Stage 2 Onset of sleep; becoming disengaged with the environment; breathing and heart rate are regular and body temperature goes down

Stage 3 & 4 Deepest and most restorative sleep; blood pressure drops; breathing slower; energy regained; and hormones are released for growth and development

REM: 25% of night

TIPS FOR GOOD SLEEP

"              Avoid caffeine (coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) and nicotine (cigarettes, tobacco products) close to bedtime.

"              Avoid alcohol as it can lead to disrupted sleep.

"              Exercise regularly, but complete your workout at least 3 hours before bedtime.

"              Establish a regular relaxing, not alerting, bedtime routine (e.g. taking a bath or relaxing in a hot tub).

"              Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet and preferably cool and comfortable.

How's Your Sleep?

CHECK IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING APPLY TO YOU:

"              Snore loudly

"              You or others have observed that you stop breathing or gasp for breath during sleep

"              Feel sleepy or doze off while watching TV, reading, driving or engaged in daily activities

"              Have difficulty sleeping 3 nights a week or more (e.g., trouble falling asleep, wake frequently during the night, wake too early and cannot get back to sleep or wake unrefreshed)

"              Feel unpleasant, tingling, creeping feelings or nervousness in your legs when trying to sleep

"              Interruptions to your sleep (e.g., nighttime heartburn, bad dreams, pain, discomfort, noise, sleep difficulties of family members, light or temperature)

"              If this is you talk to Dr. Keefe

You can get a full 8 hours of sleep but if you went to bed at 2am and woke up at 10am, you will not be in tip top shape. Definitely not compared to if you slept at 10pm and woke up at 6am. It's crucial to have not only the right amount of sleep, but to also sleep at the right time. The best time range to go to bed to help you wake up in great shape is between 9pm and midnight.

   From 11pm to 3am, most of your blood circulation concentrates in your liver. Your liver gets larger when filled with more blood. This is an important time when your body undergoes detoxification process. Your liver neutralizes and breaks down body toxins accumulated throughout the day.   However if you don't sleep at this time, your liver cannot carry out this detoxification process smoothly.

                When your brain is sleep deprived it's very hard to maintain focus and so conversations are a big challenge. It's only normal to want to completely control the mechanism of conversations when you feel out of control in maintaining your thought process. Anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks of proper sleep will make conversations 1000 times easier. Your ability to construct thoughts and ideas and put those thoughts and ideas into productive words and phrases will just flow from a healthy brain that's had enough sleep. The amount of stress in your personal life your family live your social life will just start to melt away.

When you stand on the vibration platform you will notice the following benifits: Burns Fat and tones and tightens Skin - Increased fat burning because the metabolism increases by training. The vibrations reshape the body in the hip, waist and abdomen.

 

Increases Human Growth Hormone output by up to 361%. Decreases cellulite and boosts your body's natural collagen production: The massage exercises loosen the agglutinations and results in better mobility of the tissue layers. The image of the skin will also improve, because cellulite is broken down and the connective tissue is enhanced therefore it would boost your body's natural collagen production for improved skin texture.

Increase your muscle strength up to 50% in as little as three weeks: During the training almost 100% of the muscle fibers are utilized.

Improves blood circulation and lymphatic drainage and metabolism: During training, the muslces pump blood into the smallest capillaries up to 50 times per second. This allows the cells to receive fuel more rapidly and causes waste products to be disposed of much faster. Also by enhancing your local circulation it builds a stronger immunity system. Fights  Against Numbness.

Builds Bone Density and fights osteoporosis and reduces your back and joint pains. Decreases blood Pressure, Decrease your recovery time after workouts. Dramatically increase your flexibility: Due to better blood flow, heating of the muscles and the tendon stretching reflex, the body becomes much more supple and relaxed.

Improved sense of balance and coordination: The receptors in the entire body are stimulated at the same time, which leads to improved coordination of the relating muscles at the same time the sense of balance are trained.

Reduces stress: Decreases level of Cortisol (hormone released when under stress) Causing better mood and sense of well being. It helps your relax with its vibration and it also can help you fight insomnia.

 

Using the remote, the power button is the red upper left button the start button is the upper right button. If the unit is on and you push the start button you will stare at level one of the 20 possible levels. If you push the program button "P" lower right then the start button you will start the first programed session of 3. These are 10 min. sessions with 3 different levels at about every 3 mins. I recommend starting at the first program. Each push of "P" will bring you to the next program, then you push the start button.

If you are going to sit or lay on the platform use the lower levels {NOT THE  Programs} you need to get accustom to it first then you can use higher settings.

Working with the crazy fit vibration exercise device. Simply standing on the device is helpful but you will accomplish a lot more by using certain positions. We will enclose pictures of different positions that you can try and you will determine what muscles and parts of the body these positions focus on. After you've tried different positions you can develop your own routine to maximize the effect.

The remote control allows you to select each level of vibration intensity individually or you can use programmed 10 minute sessions that move through different vibration intensity. If you are going to use the device in any position other than standing I recommend starting out with the first level of intensity and work your way up slowly. Three 10 minute sessions will give you the 30 minute exercise time that is nationally recommended for fitness and health.

It's recommended when you first get the unit to position it against the wall or maybe in a corner where you have walls on both sides or between the wall and a piece of furniture for support. For balance and coordination is recommended not to hold onto anything by using the device but until you developed a good sense of balance you might want something you can grab onto if you feel like you're losing your balance.

You can virtually exercise every muscle in your body with this device and you can slide exercise tubing with handgrips under the device to exercise your arms while standing. But the best way to exercise your arms is in the sit up or half set up posture with your arms on the device (start at the lowest setting).

 

"The doctor  of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, diet , and in the cause and prevention of disease." Thomas Edison

 

When a Chiropractic physician positions his hands to give an adjustment, a change is about to take place that could improve your health for a lifetime.  Because nerves and blood flow from between your vertebra and not only go to the internal organs but to other parts of your body, misalignments potentially can have a devastating effect on your health.

The nervous system controls and coordinates every organ, part and system of the body and relates the individual to his or her environment.      (Grays Anatomy)

 

Let me explain: little Tommy, due to his serious asthma reactions, could not go outside and play with his friends, that is until after his Chiropractic adjustments started. Then he could play with the best of them.  Chiropractic adjustments freed Jeff of his chronic daily headaches and his wife Jessica no longer has sinus headaches.  Beth was afraid to hold her newborn after the car accident because of her seizures, her medical doctor told her even though the drugs were starting to lose their effect he could not increase the dose because it could be fatal.  After her first adjustments she never had another seizure.

 

Frank has suffered 20 years with his neck, shoulders and arms.  It was that car accident he had when he was 20. He took the pain medication and the muscle relaxers but he never was free from the pain. That is until he got his Chiropractic adjustments.  Sandy had carpal tunnel syndrome and was told surgery was her only option. Chiropractic adjustments proved that wrong.  Jim was sure he was having a heart attack but after five hours at the hospital they sent him home with pain pills.  Three or four times a week he would be gripped with chest pain and it became hard to breathe.  Chiropractic adjustments changed that.  Jim's mother suffered from digestive problems for the past 15 years.  Chiropractic adjustments restored the normal nerve and blood flow to her digestive system and she can eat whatever she wants now.  Jeannette suffered from chronic colitis that kept her running to the bathroom three or four times after each meal.  She stopped doing activities  that she used to have fun doing because of the flare-ups.  It's been six months since she received her first Chiropractic adjustments. It's been five months since she had her last attack of colitis.

 

 Bill was told surgery was his only option for his back injury and his surgeon told him there was no way he could return back to the type of work he has been doing the past 30 years.  He received his first Chiropractic adjustments on Monday and by Friday he was back working full-time amazed how much better he was doing.  Jennifer has had bad menstrual periods ever since she was 18 and  the ibuprofen that she was taking started causing serious kidney problems.  After she started receiving Chiropractic adjustments her next period was already 50 percent better and by her third period she was pain free for first-time.  Linda and Bill had been trying to have a family for four years.  Two months after they started Chiropractic adjustments Linda was pregnant.

 

Some patients say they need to get popped, others cracked.  I prefer the word adjustment, after over 40 years of experiences like the ones above that word seems to better describe the act of releasing health back into the body.  Now don't get me wrong, you can call it what you want.  It's not what you call it; it's just making sure you get it on a regular basis.

THE SCIENCE

Health is when each organ is functioning properly,  and is functioning in relation to the needs and wants of the rest of the body.  (Dorland's Medical Dictionary)

Nerves from the spinal cord (Pre-ganglionic fibers)   communicate (synapse)  with the nerves controlling organs (up to 20 post-ganglionic fibers - autonomic chain).

Vertebra become subluxated (misaligned) and compress the nerves (pinched nerves).

10 millimeters of pressure decrease  the nerve function 40%. 20 millimeters of pressure decrease  function by 60%. (Spinal Research University Colorado)

This nerve pressure causes the underlying weakness that allows disease to develop. Healthy  bodies don't get sick.

Studies show chiropractic is twice as effective as medical care, at half the cost. (Trial records  Wilks vs. AMA)

 50% of successful quitters did it cold turkey: the other 50% quit gradually. The first 48 hours are critical for most people once you pass them, it will be easier each day. So pick the tips that suit you.

1.            Smoke one less cigarette each day.

2.            Make each cigarette a special decision, and put off making the decision.

3.            Don't give up cigarettes - completely carry one with you in case of need. You'll find you're saving it - permanently.

4.            Don't quit “forever” just stop for a day - and tomorrow try it for another day, and tomorrow and tomorrow.

5.            Tell your friends and family you're quitting. A public commitment bolsters will power.

6.            Pick Q (QUIT) Day  and quit.

7.            Hide all evidence of cigarettes, ashtrays, matches, etc, so you aren't reminded of your renunciation.

8.            Lay in a supply of chewing gum, celery sticks, nuts, carrot sticks, etc.

9.            Nervousness, hunger, etc., are signs of the body's readjustment. If they're hard to manage, consult me.

10.          We carry supplements that help cut the craving and are safe, ask about them.

If you need help, we can employ auriculo-therapy which is a physical therapy modality used in addictive disease. This therapy consists of specific micro-electrical currents which are directed to isolated points on the ear which triggers the release of pituitary hormones (endorphins) which is thought to alter simulative physiological brain pathways.

Effects of auricular therapy  on drug addictions

It has been found that by stimulating these acupuncture points in the ear, you could enhance what is known as an "award cascade" effect from the limbic system. This re-balances an addict's chemistry. It can change the addiction from an overwhelming compulsion to a manageable situation which the patient can then eliminate. Certainly, many drug addicts would give anything to rid themselves of their habits - but that over-whelming compulsion to use the drug is more than they can overcome. Thus, this help is a wonderful asset to the addict on a physiological level.

It is through this mechanism that a person is able to break the addictive habits of smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc.

THE SUCCESS RATE FOR this PROGRAM HAS been running APPR0XIMATEY 79% with WOMEN AND 85% with MEN.

We have entered the era of chronic disease. From herpes to AIDS, heart disease to cancer, more and more conditions are appearing that we have no wonder drugs to cure. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is another. Although labeled incurable by the medical profession, who are seeking for some wonder drug, this disease is being helped through Chiropractic. It is important to note that most of the new health problems of today are immune system-related.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Chiropractic is the #1 effective way to rebuild a weakened immune system.

In a three-year study of 107 individuals who had been under chiropractic care for five years or more, Ronald Pero, Ph.D., chief of cancer prevention research at New York's Prevention Institute, found that chiropractic patients had a 200% greater immune competence than people who had not received chiropractic care.

I felt that, rather than boring you with a lot of facts and figures about CFS, I would let a very special patient tell you her story.

CASE HISTORY: Debby S.

In July of 1985, I was diagnosed as having Chronic Mononucleosis. I was sent home with directions of bed rest, and really thought nothing serious of it. Weeks passed and I was still very ill. I had to quit my job. Months passed, and I was still very ill. I was getting worse, not better.

Medical expenses started piling up in the desperate search to find "my cure," "my health again," that which had been taken for granted for so many years. I was sent from one doctor to the next until I landed in the hands of an infectious disease specialist only to have him again do more poking and prodding.

In the end, I was sent home with a pamphlet entitled, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - How to Live with Your Disease". All I could see before my eves was a picture painted with illness. . I drove home with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome branded in my mind, soul, and body.

CFS is an illness that is not totally understood. Its cause is unknown and it consists of many different symptoms ranging from severe and debilitating fatigue. muscular aches and pains, neurological problems, flu-like symptoms to a host of different other problems. I found nothing to stop the horrible sickness. Nothing could be done to control the waxing and waning of the illness. The months passed into years.

I truly began to believe I would have to learn to live with this illness, until I was led to Dr. John Keefe and his practice. After a few weeks of working with Dr. Keefe. I began to start picking up. The sick, flu-like feelings started to subside. Little by little, my energy started coming back. I stopped "living my illness" for the first time in along time. I knew I was pulling out of it!

Through the incredible Vega testing Dr. Keefe performs, my body has been able to communicate what supplements it needs. Through the spinal adjustments, my immune system is straightening out.

I have come a long way in the last 6 months. It has taken a lot of serious dedication to Dr. Keefe's program. I know I would still be lying on the couch if I had not kept the faith and hung in there!

I urge anyone with any illness to go through the program. It has worked for me! I'm back to working full time and feeling better and stronger every day. I no longer "live with.. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

I HAVE MY LIFE BACK.

FOOD AS MEDICINE SERIES

Foods and neurotransmitters

Much of the information in this pamphlet is referenced from "Younger (thinner) you diet" by Eric R. Braverman M.D.

We will be covering four key neurotransmitters and the foods that help bring a better balance. Each section will cover, and symptoms when these neurotransmitters are low and the most common actions these have in your body and brain.

Dopamine

With low dopamine-you feel depleted. It takes more time and effort to get things done, your concentration may wonder, you're thinking and decision-making may not be as quick. You may sleep a little longer but still wake up tired. You search for stimulants like coffee or caffeinated beverages just to get you going. You're prone to addictions. Dopamine controls feelings of bliss and pleasure, euphoric, appetite control, controlled motor movements, feel focused.

Dopamine builder-tyrosine-rich foods include: beef, chicken, cottage cheese (low-fat), duck, eggs, granola, oat flakes, ricotta cheese, Turkey, wheat germ, whole milk, wild game, and yogurt. Spices that increase dopamine: Basil, black pepper, cayenne, cumin, fennel, flaxseed, garlic, mustard seed, rosemary, savory, sesame seeds, tarragon, turmeric. Supplements that boost dopamine-tyrosine, phenylalanine, rhodiola Rosa, B1, chromium, folic acid, yohimbine, methionine, vitamin D, magnesium, phosphatidylserine. Dopamine enhancing hormones:- testosterone/estrogen, vasopressin, DHEA, thyroid, cortisol, HGH, erythropoietin, calcitonin, insulin, TRH.

Acetylcholine

Acetylcholine-deficiency include memory lapses, increasing paranoia, frequent urination and bowel movements, sexual dysfunction, as well as dry skin and dry mouth. With advanced deficiencies you will find yourself avoiding contact with others. Your ability to get into a routine it's totally out of hand, and you can't manage your daily schedule. Acetylcholine effects alertness, memory, sexual performance, appetite control, release of growth hormone.

Acetylcholine foods: choline foods-Almonds, beef, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, caviar, celery, chicken, cod roe, coffee, eggs, flava beans, fish, grape juice, hazelnuts, lettuce, oranges, peanuts, soybeans, tofu, wheat germ. liver, milk, and wheat germ.

Memory spices: allspice, basil, cumin, peppermint, sage, thyme, turmeric. Acetylcholine boosting hormones: HGH, arginine vasopressin, DHEA, calcitonin, parathyroid, estrogen. Nutrients that augment acetylcholine: choline, DMA E., acetyl l-carnitine, phosphatidylserine, fish oils, glycerol phosphorylcholine, piracetam (derivative of GABA).

GABA

GABA, GABA aminobutyric acid-with low GABA you can feel anxious, overwhelmed, unwell, and even shaky. That's why migraines, mood swings, sleep problems, anxiety, pain and panic attacks are related to GABA imbalance. Your sleep can be disturbed by night sweats. You might even experience occasional dizzy spells, clammy hands, or forget what your best friend ask you to do for her. Severe drops will cause your day to end with tasks left undone. Meanwhile your constant anxiety accelerates weight gain and oppression and can cause you to withdraw completely from your work, your community, and your family. GABA has an anti-stress, anti-anxiety, anti-panic, anti-pain effect and causes you to feel calm, maintain control, focus.

Glutamine foods for GABA: beans, brand, brown rice, cassava (yuca), corn, high fiber breakfast cereals, lentils, whole milk, peas, root vegetables (carrots, beats, rutabagas, turnips), whole wheat or wheat breads, yams (sweet potatoes),, dairy products, fish, meat, poultry.

Boost GABA with vitamin B foods: bananas, beans, beef liver, beats, broccoli, cantaloupe, pigs grapefruit, halibut, kale, lentils, mangoes and nuts notes oranges a spinach wheat and wheat bran.

De-stressing spices: Caraway, cardamom, cilantro cinnamon, cloves, coriander, lemongrass, oregano paprika, poppy seeds

GABA hormones: progesterone pregnenolone GHRH oxytocin

Serotonin

Serotonin, the brain chemical allows you to experience pleasure and feel good about yourself. Deficiency can cause suspicion, being self-absorbed, and being a rule breaker. Promotes and improves sleep, improves self esteem, relieves depression, diminishes craving, prevents agitated depression and worrying.

Serotonin foods through tryptophan: Avocado, chicken, chocolate, cottage cheese, duck, eggs granola, wholemeal, rolled oats, Turkey, wheat germ, yogurt.

Serotonin spices: saffron, marjoram, peppermint , spearmint, dill, nutmeg, licorice, turmeri, cinnamand fennel

Serotonin boosters: vitamin D melatonin 5-hydroxytryptophan, B6, fish oils, magnesium, sceletium tortuosum, fucoxanthin, acetyl l-carnitine, DHEA, phenylalanine, SAMe, L-tryptophan, St. John's wort.

Serotonin enhancing hormones: progesterone, human growth hormone, pregnenolone, leptin, aldosterone For ideas on how to combine these foods, herbs and spices I refer you to Dr. Braverman's book. He gives several ideas and recipes to combine these foods in your diet.

 

At Keefe Clinic we offer urine and saliva testing for hormones and neurotransmitters to help determine your levels. We also offer a simple questionnaire to help identify which of these four neurotransmitters you might have an issue with. But the lab test offers a complete profile on your neurotransmitters.

The "digestive system" or "digestive tract" is contained in a long tube called the alimentary canal that runs from our mouth to our anus. The mouth, the esophagus, the stomach, and the intestines are all components of the digestive system - and though each has a special function, they all have the same purpose: to convert food into energy and eliminate what's not needed. Let's investigate some of the digestive problems that people suffer from when certain parts of the digestive system malfunction and what the chiropractic position is regarding these conditions.

Dysphagia

After we chew our food, mixing with digestive enzymes, we swallow it - that is, unless we have a swallowing problem, or dysphagia one of the most common problems of the digestive tract. (People with dysphagia feel the food "going down slowly" or "sticking')

Esophagus

Next, the food travels to the stomach down the tube called the esophagus (Latin for "I swallow"). Most people think of the stomach as a simple pouch or container where food is stored and dissolved before being absorbed by the intestines. Well, it's that and much more than that. In fact, the stomach is one of the busiest and most interesting organs in the body. Inside the stomach are billions of gland cells that manufacture, by a process that is still not fully understood, one of the most powerful acids found in nature: hydrochloric acid (HCL). HCL dissolves the stomach contents so they can be absorbed by the intestines. This acid is so powerful that if it were ever to escape from the stomach, it could eat away our heart, lungs. Liver, veins, arteries, and every other organ in our body.

What Keeps the Acid In?

 

Hydrochloric acid stays safely in the stomach because the stomach's inner walls are covered by a thick layer of mucous, which is made by hundreds of millions of mucous-secreting cells These cells live only two to four days - in fact, they are shed at the rate of half a million cells per day.

Heartburn

At the top end of the stomach is the cardiac orifice, a muscular area that is usually closed to prevent food from backing up into the esophagus. But when people have "heartburn' the food may reflux (flow back) a little through the cardiac orifice from the stomach to the esophagus. This condibon is usually felt as a burning sensation behind the sternum or breastbone. (During vomiting this orifice opens up). At the bottom of the stomach is a valve (the pyloric sphincter) that lets food into our intestines a little at a time.

Stomach Troubles

 

Many things can go wrong with the stomach. The problem perhaps most commonly seen in both children and adults is chronic stomachache, also called nervous stomach or dyspepsia. Another common condition is stomach or duodenal ulcer, which occurs when the mucous lining becomes thin and the powerful acids and digestive juices start to eat through the stomach and intestines - causing a very painful condition.

Pyloric Stenosis / Gastritis

 

The stomach can also suffer valve problems, such as pylonc stenosis - a tightening or shrinking of the opening between the esophagus and the stomach: gastritis - an inflammation of the stomach walls: and both benign and malignant tumors.

The Standard Medical Approach

Digestive troubles are often poorly understood and many medical treatments are therefore directed only at treating the symptoms. As one medical text has stated: Further, treating symptoms alone, apart from the risk of the side effects and adverse reactions that are common with drug usage, can lead a person into the false belief that the problem is gone merely because the symptoms are gone. It's not unusual to hear of a person "living on" antacids, Di-Gel, Tums, Rolaids, or some other over-the-counter remedy, as well as prescription drugs, without any sign of improvement. As a general rule, then, when there's any kind of health problem, it is always best to avoid medical drug therapy and surgery, which are often dangerous forms of treatment, and investigate first and foremost more natural forms of health care.

The Chiropractic Approach

 

It may confuse a patient who has experienced relief from a digestive problem after chiropractic care to hear that chiropractic does not attempt to treat or cure digestive conditions. The chiropractors purpose is to analyze a person's spinal column for a very common yet very dangerous condition: vertebral subluxation, or spinal nerve stress. Vertebral subluxations damage nerves and interfere with the proper communication between the brain and the body.

Dis-ease

 

In order for the body to be healthy, the brain must be able to communicate to all the body organs including, of course, the digestive organs. Any interference of the nerves' ability to communicate to any part of the body can cause a state of "dis-ease", an old term meaning that the body is functioning at less than top efficiency This can be a very destructive state, leading to lowered resistance and thus to disease. If vertebral subluxations are found, the chiropractor, by performing the procedure known as "spinal adjustments," will then proceed to correct or relieve them. And, although chiropractic is not a treatment for disorders of the stomach or digestive organs, relieving pressure on the nerves that go to the digestive system has been recognized as essential for good health

 

As early as 1921 research revealed that slight spinal abnormalities could cause stomach and digestive disorders, including disorders of the esophagus, duodenum, and intestines. Henry Winsor, M.D., working on cadavers at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Discovered that diseases of the digestive organs were present when vertebral subluxations affecting nerves traveling to digestive organs were present. Lewit showed in 1985 that 87 percent of a group of adolescents suffering from duodenal and/or gastric ulcer had "pelvic distortion, with increased incidence of blockage in the craniocervical junction. In 1984, Grieve discussed the effectiveness of spinal care with dysphagia and "abdominal nausea.""' Maigne has written that relief of interference with the nervous system has alleviated digestive pains and "pseudo-ulcers,'' among other conditions. Robuck's clinical research led him to state that spinal adjustments could help individuals suffering from "dyspepsia and epigasitric distress." In another study of 100 patients with stomach and duodenal ulcers it was found that 86 had spinal abnormalities of the area that supplied the stomach with nerve fibers.'' The noted researcher N. T. Ussher, M.D., found that spinal misalignment could produce disease by irritating the nerves that supply various organs and that correction of the spinal problem could give relief to stomach ulcers, gastritis, colitis, and spastic constipation."

In Conclusion

 

The digestive system can weaken, begin to work improperly, and fall prey to a multitude of diseases. The job of the chiropractor is to ensure that the stomach and the rest of the digestive system (as well as all the other organs of the body) are receiving an unobstructed nerve supply. This promotes body harmony, enhanced ability to cope with stress, and improved resistance to disease. Remember, if the nerves are impinged upon by vertebral subluxations, no amount of Di-Gel, Rolaids, Pepto-Bismol, Tums, or antacids will relieve the pressure. A chiropractic spinal adjustment is what the body needs.

is a neurological condition, which affects the nervous system. Epilepsy is also known as a seizure "sudden, excessive discharge of nervous-system electrical activity that usually causes a change in behavior". It is usually diagnosed after a person has had at least two seizures that were not caused by some known medical condition like alcohol withdrawal or extremely low blood sugar.

 

The seizures in epilepsy disorder characterized by transient but recurrent disturbances of brain function that may or may not be associated with impairment or loss of consciousness and abnormal movements or behavior. It may be related to a brain injury or a family tendency, but most of the time the cause is unknown. The word "epilepsy" does not indicate anything about the cause of the person's seizures, what type they are, or how severe they are.

 

If I have one seizure, does that mean I will get epilepsy?
About half of the people who have one seizure without a clear cause will have another one, usually within 6 months. You are twice as likely to have another seizure if you have a known brain injury or other type of brain abnormality. If you do have two seizures, there's about an 80% chance that you'll have more.

If your first seizure occurred at the time of an injury or infection in the brain, you are more likely to develop epilepsy than if you had not had a seizure in that situation.

 

EEG are also likely if your doctor finds abnormalities on a neurological examination; a set of tests of the functioning of your nervous system that is performed in the doctor's office.

Seizures have a beginning, middle, and end. When an individual is aware of the beginning, it may be thought of as a warning or aura. A warning before a seizure; a simple partial seizure occuring within seconds before a complex partial or secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizure, or it may occur alone; also a warning before a migraine headache. On the other hand, an individual may not be aware of the beginning and therefore have no warning.

 

Sometimes, the warning or aura is not followed by any other symptoms. It may be considered a simple partial seizure Simple partial seizure that involves only part of the brain and does not impair consciousness.

The middle of the seizure may take several different forms. For people who have warnings, the aura may simply continue or it may turn into a complex partial seizure. An epileptic seizure that involves only part of the brain and impairs consciousness; often preceded by a simple partial seizure (aura, or warning).or a convulsion. An older term for a tonic-clonic seizure. For those who do not have a warning, the seizure may continue as a complex partial seizure or it may evolve into a convulsion.

The end to a seizure represents a transition from the seizure back to the individual normal state. This period is referred to as the “post-ictal period (an ictus is a seizure) and signifies the recovery period for the brain. It may last from seconds to minutes to hours, depending on several factors including which part(s) of the brain were affected by the seizure and whether the individual was on anti-seizure medication. If a person has a complex partial seizure or a convulsion, their level of awareness gradually improves during the postictal period, much like a person waking up from anesthesia after an operation.

When are people most likely to get epilepsy?

New cases of epilepsy are most common among children, especially during the first year of life. The rate of new cases gradually declines until about age 10, and then becomes stable. After age 55 or 60, the rate starts to increase, as people develop strokes, brain tumors, or Alzheimer's disease. (All of these disorders can cause epilepsy.)

Natural Healthcare Offers Hope For Epilepsy

 

Over the past 30 years I have seen several patients with seizure disorders and the good news is most of them respond to treatment. The response can be anywhere from substantially less seizures to a complete resolution. One common factor that we will see are changes within the skull and upper neck. This can cause irritation on the central nervous system and, in susceptible individuals, produce seizures. Chiropractic physicians are the only ones trained in the detection and correction of vertebral subluxations.

Because of our unique training in these structural, neurological dysfunctions most other physicians will miss this potential cause of epilepsy.

There are also biochemical components to epilepsy that include toxicity, allergies and specific nutritional deficiencies essential for normal brain function. Again these areas are ones that only doctors in natural healthcare specialize in.

Because these two important areas are overlooked by most physician types most patients with epilepsy are sentenced to years of taking harmful, suppressive drugs that don't cure the problem. These drugs can affect a person's personality, energy level and quality of life.

It's important to note that not all patients can be helped through natural healthcare. But that's true with any other type of health care that you might try.

"First Of All Do No Harm"

 

Unlike drug therapy which kills over 2000 people a week in the United States, based on CDC statistics, natural healthcare is the safest of all forms of health care. The worst most patients notice under natural healthcare is they don't respond. The good news is natural healthcare has well over 80% success rate with most health problems. I don't mean successfully suppressing the symptoms. I mean resolving the underlying chemical, biological, structural issues that cause the condition and thus the symptoms disappear.

What is the big killer in the U.S.? AIDS? Cancer? Heart Disease? Guess again - when you add up all of the accidents, suicides, overdoses and violent deaths due to drugs and alcohol, then drugs and alcohol addiction is the number one killer by far!

A few years ago, Dr. J.M. Holder researched effects of auricular therapy (a form of acupuncture stimulation to the ear - a technique we have used here at Keefe Clinic since 1980). You may have read about that study in the papers then - it indicated that auricular therapy was the most effective therapy for drug addictions of the 178 government-approved therapies at that time! This study was released in the early 1990's and has started to revolutionize drug addiction programs across the country.

This study was headed by Dr. J.M. Holder, D.C., M.D., Ph.D. He practices chiropractic, teaches at a medical school, and conducts research. He was the first American physician to win the Albert Schweitzer Prize in Medicine, and is in line to receive more awards due to his most recent research.

As he studied the effects of auricular therapy on drug addictions and the physical causes behind the addictive personality, he found that by stimulating these acupuncture points in the ear, he could enhance what is known as an "award cascade" effect from the limbic system. This re-balances an addict's chemistry. It can change the addiction from an overwhelming compulsion to a manageable situation which the patient can then eliminate. Certainly, many drug addicts would give anything to rid themselves of their habits - but that over-whelming compulsion to use the drug is more than they can overcome. Thus, this help is a wonderful asset to the addict on a physiological level.

Now to his next study: Dr. Holder reasoned that the effects demonstrated in the first study described above dealing with problems with the limbic system could be tied in to the effects that subluxations have on the nervous system. He knew that the limbic system is not just a compartment hidden in the center of the brain, but it also extends down the "dorsal horn" of the spinal column. He decided to test to see what Chiropractic adjustment intervention could do with this particular system of the nervous system.

In 1994, the Holder Research Institute established that only vertebrates have an opiate reception site, brain reward system. This means that the vertebral subluxation complex is the hallmark of insult to any vertebrate's ability to express the state of well-being to its fullest potential. If messages from the brain are interrupted from their expression to itself and the rest of the body by vertebral subluxations, the vertebrate necessarily will not have the fullest quality of life. What is called the "brain reward cascade" is a scientific model that has the vertebral motor unit as its cornmon denominator which provides an understanding to the neurophysiologi-cal mechanism on how the meso-Limbic system expresses a state of well-being. Therefore, a subluxation-free spine is mandatory to express one's greatest potential.

Dr. Holder went before the Research Committee at the where he teaches to present his research ideas. They approved his study, and conducted it at the largest addiction hospital in Miami, Florida. This study divided addicts into three groups: group one receive regular counseling therapy that is common to all addiction centers. Group two received that therapy plus Chiropractic adjustments, and Group three received standard addiction therapy plus "sham" Chiropractic treatments. That means that these patients were really not adjusted.

At the end of that study, the results were astonishing, even to Dr. Holder. After compiling all the data, he found that the combination of Chiropractic adjustments with counseling therapy approach to addiction and compulsive disorders produced far better results than any other test results for any other government-approved technique now available. His conclusion: for the 180 different addiction disorder techniques that have been tested, Chiropractic now proves to be the most effective, even more effective than the use of auricular therapy found previously so helpful.

This means that: Chiropractic care, coupled with proper nutrition, electro-stimulation of points in the ear, and counseling is the best help currently available for individuals who have addictive-compulsive disorders.

September 18, 1895

 

DEAF 17 YEARS
I was deaf 17 years and I expected to always remain so, for I had doctored a great deal without any benefit. I had long ago made up my mind not to take any more ear treatments, for it did me no good. Last January, Dr. Palmer told me that my deafness came from an injury in my spine. This was new to me; but it is a fact that my back was injured at the time I went deaf. Dr. Palmer treated me on the spine; in two treatments I could hear quite well. That was eight months ago. My hearing remains good.

Harvey Lillard
320 W. Eleventh St.
Davenport, Iowa

TODAY

Hi, my husband and I have been trying to start a family for seven years. After trying the doctors my medical doctor sent us to without success, we were told about chiropractic. Well, two months later I was pregnant.
- Linda

My name is Jim. I lifted something wrong at work and heard something pop and went to my knees in pain. I was told surgery was the only option I had, and I would be off work several months. Then the bad news......I might not ever return to my same job. Someone told me to try chiropractic, best suggestion I ever got. I was back to work in three weeks and am doing great...
- Jim

It was a year ago that I had the car accident, and just a few weeks after that, the first seizure hit. For the next several months I was terrified when the next one would come. Every few weeks the doctor would increase my medication until he said any higher could be fatal. I was looking at a life of drugs that left me a zombie and I was still having seizures. When a friend told me about chiropractic, I didn't think it could help. What a mistake I almost made! Today I am free of seizures and feel fantastic, even my daily headaches are gone.
- Jill

I used to have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome before I tried Chiropractic
- Beth

My child was hyperactive and doing poorly in school...not any more! For the first time she is making A's!....
- Karen

I couldn't believe after twenty years my allergies were gone.....
- Larry

In 1895 Dr. D.D. Palmer gave the adjustment that was heard around the world. Today Chiropractic is the worlds largest natural health care system.

Though started in the U.S. in the late 1800's, Chiropractic is now found around the world.

Chiropractic is a science, philosophy and art making up the second largest healing art in the U.S.

PHILOSOPHY

The power that made the body can heal the body. There is an inborn intelligence (innate) that controls all function within the body. As innate is expressed to each tissue at 100%, then there will be 100% function or health. The body does not need outside help to do its job-- it just needs no interference. When the spine is subluxated (misaligned) INNATE can't control and coordinate the body, thus ill health happens.

SCIENCE

Health is when each organ is functioning properly, and is functioning in relation to the needs and wants of the rest of the body. (Dorland's Medical Dictionary) The nervous system controls and coordinates every organ, part and system of the body and relates the individual to his or her environment. (Grays Anatomy) Nerves from the spinal cord (Pre-ganglionic fibers) communicate (synapse) with the nerves controlling organs (up to 20 post-ganglionic fibers - autonomic chain). Vertebra become subluxated (misaligned) and compress the nerves (pinched nerves). 10 millimeters of pressure decrease the nerve function 40%. 20 millimeters of pressure decrease function by 60%. (Spinal Research University Colorado) This nerve pressure causes the underlying weakness that allows disease to develop. Healthy bodies don't get sick. Studies show chiropractic is twice as effective as medical care, at half the cost. (Trial records Wilks vs. AMA)

ART

The highly skilled, specialized art of finding and adjusting misaligned joints of the body (mainly the spine). Helping restore proper function by restoring normal nerve and blood supply to the body. Taking the knowledge of chemistry, physiology and diet to restore proper blood chemistry balance and organ function.

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, diet , and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- Thomas Edison

The Chiropractic Physician looks to correct the cause-not just to cover the symptoms.

Symptom relief is the approach most medical physicians use in treating their patients, leaving the underlying condition time to get worse. This approach is widely used, although drugs can't replace sick cells with healthy ones. And physicians who were only taught drug therapy in school don't have the tools to do anything else.

Chiropractic training takes a totally different approach. Lifestyle components like diet (vitamin therapy, herbs etc.), exercise, stress, body ecology and nervous system health are taught in place of drug therapy.

Because of the difference in philosophy of health care, tension has built up between the two approaches in patient care. This tension has produced a lot of negative propaganda from the AMA (the union of most drug therapists). It has gotten so nasty that the federal court has demanded the AMA stop its attempt to block the growth of chiropractic. Despite the scare tactics the AMA has used over the years to keep patients from seeing other types of doctors like Chiropractors, Chiropractic has grown into the second largest health care system in the US and the world's largest natural healing art. The federal judge found the AMA's main objection to chiropractic was an economic one. Chiropractic patients were getting well after medicine failed to help them and they were telling others. Not only that, they were asking their drug therapists why they did not do for them what their chiropractic physician did....ouch!

LAWS OF HEALTH

Chiropractic Physicians don't claim to cure every disease, and they refer patients to other specialists at a far greater rate than the reverse, even when the MD knows we could help his patient.

However, most chiropractic patients report receiving what they came for. In fact, Chiropractic doctors have the highest approval rate over MDs in patient opinion polls.

There are no magic potions or pills to produce good health, but there are five laws:

• Diet
• Rest
• Attitude
• Exercise
• Healthy Nervous System

Some have said that there are no incurable diseases, just incurable patients. If you don't work the laws, don't expect to receive the benefits.

A SPECIAL CLASS

In studies of those who visit Chiropractic Physicians as compared with those seeing drug therapists, the following profile was discovered.
On the average Chiropractic patients:

• Had more higher education.
• Were more concerned about their health, and took more responsibility in their life styles.
• Asked more questions and expected to get answers.
• Thought for themselves and refused taking information from their physician without question.

COULD I BENEFIT FROM MODERN CHIROPRACTIC?

Only a Chiropractor can tell for sure. Some people don't know most health problems respond to the tools that modern Chiropractic has to work with. Call today and find out what you are missing! 663-1111

FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome) is a widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder for which the cause is still unknown. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons - the soft fibrous tissues in the body.

Most patients with FMS say that they ache all over. Their muscles may feel like they have been pulled or overworked. Sometimes the muscles twitch and at other times they burn. More women than men are afflicted with FMS, and it shows up in people of all ages.

To help your family and friends relate to your condition, have them think back to the last time they had a bad flu. Every muscle in their body shouted out in pain. In addition, they felt devoid of energy as though someone had unplugged their power supply. While the severity of symptoms fluctuate from person to person, FMS may resemble a post-viral state. This similarity is the reason experts in the field of FMS and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) believe that these two syndromes may be one and the same. Gulf War syndrome also overlaps with FMS/CFS.

Symptoms And Associated Syndromes

Pain - The pain of FMS has no boundaries. People describe the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Quite often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning and you may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively.

Fatigue - This symptom can be mild in some patients and yet incapacitating in others. The fatigue has been described as "brain fatigue" in which patients feel totally drained of energy.

Sleep disorder - Most FMS patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly. Patients appeared to spend the night with one foot in sleep and the other one out of it.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70% of FMS patients.

Chronic headaches - Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 50% of FMS patients and can pose a major problem in coping for this patient group.

Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome - This syndrome, sometimes referred to as TMJ or TMD, causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one quarter of FMS patients. Typically, the problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint and not necessarily the joint itself.

Other common symptoms - Premenstrual syndrome and painful periods, chest pain, morning stiffness, cognitive or memory impairment, numbness and tingling sensations, muscle twitching, irritable bladder, the feeling of swollen extremities, skin sensitivities, dry eyes and mouth, dizziness, and impaired coordination can occur. Patients are often sensitive to odors, loud noises, bright lights, and sometimes even the medications that they are prescribed.

Aggravating factors - Changes in weather, cold or drafty environments, infections, allergies, hormonal fluctuations (premenstrual and menopausal states), stress, depression, anxiety and over-exertion may all contribute to symptom flare-ups.

Possible Causes

The cause of FMS remains elusive, but there are many triggering events thought to precipitate its onset. A few examples would be an infection (viral or bacterial), an automobile accident or the development of another disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or hypothyroidism. These triggering events probably don't cause FMS, but rather, they may awaken an underlying physiological abnormality that is already present.

What Is The Prognosis?

Long term follow-up studies on FMS have shown that it is chronic, but the symptoms may wax and wane. The impact that FMS has on daily living activities, including the ability to work a full-time job, differs among patients. Overall, studies show that FMS may be equally as disabling as rheumatoid arthritis.

How Is It Diagnosed?

Currently there are no laboratory tests available for diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Doctors must rely on patient histories, self-reported symptoms, a physical examination and an accurate manual tender point examination. Proper implementation of the exam determines the presence of multiple tender points at characteristic locations.

Hope for fibromyalgia.

Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to help several patients with fibromyalgia. It has been my experience that there is not one cause for this condition so individualizing a patient's treatment program is essential. The immune system appears to be the most common weakness with the patients that I have worked with. Through the use of diagnostic testing like Vega testing we have been able to unravel the underlying cause and develop a treatment program on an individual basis. Not all patients respond as quickly to therapy because not all patients have the same underlying cause. From detoxification to specialized nutrients to rebalance the immune system as well as treating individual nutritional deficiencies, patients have responded extremely well to care. Though not all patients show a complete recovery, many do. Our program consists of developing an individual diet that matches a patients genetic makeup, targeting therapy to balance the immune system through chiropractic adjustments and specialized nutritional formulas. Enhancing a patients neurotransmitters with nutritional products that help enhance sleep and educating patients on the importance of following the five laws of natural health (see our pamphlets on the natural laws of health).

Diet, Exercise, Attitude, Rest And A Pressure Free Nervous System

Have you ever thought much about your nervous system? Millions and millions of tiny electrical fibers sending chemical and electrical information throughout your body. Making muscles move, causing glands to secrete, creating the miracle of sight and sound. Most people don't think much about how the body works but if we were going to decide upon the most important system it would have to be the nervous system. Not that you can do without your cardiovascular system or your digestive system but these systems and all the rest are controlled and coordinated by the nervous system.

Gray's anatomy, one of the most widely used anatomy books, indicates that the nervous system controls and coordinates every organ, part and system of the body and relate the individual to his or her environment. To put that in plain english your stomach won't digest, your lungs won't take in air, your joints won't lubricate themselves and your brain won't interpret what your eyes see without the function of the nervous system.

Who Are You?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the physical sense you are your nervous system. You're not your liver, though your liver is a part of what makes up your body. If you get a liver transplant you're still you. If you get a heart transplant you're still you but if science could transplant your nervous system then you would not be there anymore. Not only are you expressed through the nervous system so is your health.

Your nervous system was the first recognizable organ, a little gray streak, within a mass of identical looking cells. It was your nervous system's job to take those cells and make a complete human being. And now it's your nervous systems job to maintain the normal function of your body. It controls the growth of cells, the function of organs as well as coordinates the massive job of navigating your body's movements. The miracle of balance and movement of our human bodies is pulled off masterful by the control of the nervous system.

How Do You Work?

How fast should your heart beat right now? How much insulin should your pancreas produce right now? What is your cholesterol level right now? The answer to these questions are programmed within your nervous system. The ability to regulate these functions and thousands upon thousands of others is the ability your nervous system has to maintain you health. When your nervous system is in full control it can express your genetic potentials as far as health is concerned. It keeps your cholesterol level normal, your blood sugar normal, your hormone levels normal, your blood pressure normal etc.

If you have a digestive problem what's wrong with your nervous system? Your nervous system controls and coordinates the growth, repair and function of your digestive system. Why is your digestive system acting up? Has your nervous system forgot want to do? Of course not, but you can be assured something is interfering with its function. Your nervous system knows how to keep your digestive system functioning normally. Then why do you have digestive problems. Is it due to some lack of a drug? Some antacids? What is the daily recommended requirement for Alka-Seltzer?

No, your nervous system has not forgot want to do. But the information can get blocked and never reach your digestive system. When the information that tells your stomach how much acid to secrete becomes garbled what is your stomach to do? The organs need direction in order to function properly. It's your nervous systems job to give it that direction. When you get sick this direction is lost, chiropractic can restore it.

How Do You Get Sick?

There are different causes for nerve interference but the number one causes is subluxation. The subluxation is a slight misalignment of a vertebra which causes distortion within the spine. This misalignment with the accompanying changes in the spine can cause a considerable amount of stress on the nervous system. Unfortunately this stress is not always felt as pain. In fact a considerable amount of stress can develop along key nerves without any back pain whatsoever. As this stress is maintained, organs, parts and systems start to malfunction. Again this malfunction can take place slowly over time without a lot of warning. Our body slowly loses the vitality and energy that is part of normal function. Slowly over months and years disease develops.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSTURE AND HEALTH Roger Sperry,Ph.D. (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1981) discovered that 90% of the brain’s activity is used to balance your body within the gravitational field of earth. If your body is mechanically distorted, it will affect the other 10% of the brain's activity, which controls all the other body functions such as breathing, digestion and cognition. If the body framework (bone structure and spine) is misaligned it can impede or block the electrical and chemical transmissions of the nervous system, which controls all of your body's functions. This interference to the nervous system can cause or contribute to all kinds of symptoms and illnesses (in other words, the feeling that "I am hurting or I am sick"). Published research studies indicate that when body balance is restored, the body enters a healing cycle that alleviates pain and symptoms, elevates the immune system, increases blood and oxygen circulation, normalizes nervous system communication and creates more optimum body performance ("I feel good again").

Science

Nerves from the spinal cord (Pre-ganglionic fibers) communicate (synapse) with the nerves controlling organs (up to 20 post-ganglionic fibers - autonomic chain).

Vertebra become subluxated (misaligned) and compress the nerves (pinched nerves).

• 10 millimeters of pressure decrease the nerve function 40%
• 20 millimeters of pressure decrease function by 60%.
• (Spinal Research University Colorado)

This nerve pressure causes the underlying weakness that allows disease to develop. Healthy bodies don't get sick.

Studies show chiropractic is twice as effective as medical care, at half the cost. (Trial records WlIks vs. AMA)

How Do You Get Well?

A Chiropractic physician is trained in detection and correction of spinal subluxation complex. A Chiropractic physician is trained in diagnosis as other physicians are but when it comes to treatment we specialize in a natural approach. The Chiropractic adjustment to reposition the spinal bones also rebalances the spinal distortion that results from the subluxation. This releases the spark of life that allows the body the miracle of healing.

How Do You Stay Well?

The Chiropractic physician includes diet, exercise and other lifestyle techniques to restore the body to good health. Because the Chiropractic physician works with the spine many people mistakenly believe that chiropractors just work with spinal problems. A Chiropractic physician works with most health problems with treatments that are designed to fix and not cover up. The Chiropractic approach is a natural health care approach. We offer health care for the whole family.

Long Term Chiropractic Patients Have Higher Blood Levels of DNA Repair Chemicals  Published by drkita on November 16, 2012

The February 18, 2005 issue of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research finds that patients under long-term chiropractic care have higher levels of the blood chemicals associated with effective DNA repair and overall wellness.

The test was a retrospective analysis of 46 patients, all over the age of 40 who had been under short- term chiropractic care for 8-52 weeks or long term wellness care for 52-312 weeks. Researchers assessed the levels of serum thiols, blood factors that have been found to help the body repair the damaging effects stress has on the structure of DNA. Serum thiols are measured in terms of nM cysteine.

The authors found that non-chiropractic treated patients in the control group had serum thiol levels of 124 nM cysteine. Patients with active disease processes going on generally had levels below 90 compared to patients under long-term chiropractic care who had values of 146.

If you know someone with a chronic health problem please pass along this post. Please see our other posts in the natural law series.

Each health-care system around the world has an underlying philosophy that it is based on. Medicine is based on an evolutionary/materialistic philosophy whereas Chiropractic is based on a vitalistic philosophy. Philosophies do have an effect on the theory and practice of the health-care system. For instance medicine has looked at the appendix as a residual organ leftover in our evolutionary development. And for years the appendix was routinely removed when surgeons were in the abdomen doing other surgeries. Today we realize that was a mistake because those patients without an appendix have more colon disease and cancer.

Chiropractic philosophy has always respected the body even before we understood how each organ worked, realizing those organs were there for a purpose. The vitalistic philosophy recognizes that if there is a design or intelligence then there is a designer or universal intelligence. Where as materialistic philosophy would look at design as a curious accident. In a vitalistic framework if one was walking in a forest and found a watch there wouldn't be any questioning about this watch being formed by some marvel of random action. In a vitalistic philosophy man is understood as more than just material or a bag of chemicals. Man has a spiritual component. As we study the effect of attitude upon health we will explore both mental and spiritual attitude.

First it is important to note that scientific studies have proven the effect of spiritual/religious activities on the health of man. People that exercise regular spiritual disciplines such as prayer or even church attendance have been shown to be healthier than the general population. Since our goal with each of our patients is to help you achieve the highest level of health let's for a minute explore how spiritual and mental attitudes affect our health.

Let's first look at a positive mental attitude.

If you are a patient reading this pamphlet you have been explained how the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord and the billions of nerve fibers) controls and coordinates your body. By definition health is when every organ, part and system of the body is functioning normally and its function is coordinated with the needs, wants, stresses and demands of the body. The basic principle of Chiropractic understands health as the normal expression of the nervous system to each cell in the body and the corresponding feedback from the cells or body to the central nervous system.

 

The brain and spinal cord are the key components of the central nervous system and the mind is expressed through these structures. Fortunately for us the unconscious mind or subconscious mind primarily is responsible for keeping track of the hundreds of millions of impulses traveling to and from the central nervous system. Our conscious mind would be overwhelmed since some of us have problems chewing gum and walking at the same time. Fortunately our subconscious mind can effortlessly keeping track of all the incoming information and perfectly devise a plan to maintain normal function. Even so our conscious mind does have an effect on our subconscious mind. Study after study shows the connection between the stress that we deal with on a conscious level and a corresponding affect on our subconscious mind and thus our bodies. So when our mind is at peace that has a positive effect on our bodies.

 

How does this spiritual part of man affect the mental part of man and is there a connection between spirit and body?

 

There are different disciplines that are considered spiritual in nature. Prayer, meditation, fasting, service to mankind could be considered a short list. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness temperance are considered some of the spiritual attributes. We hear a lot about happiness in our society. Happiness depends on happenings and with a lot of people if good things are happening then they are happy and if bad things are happening then they are sad.

Joy is more of an inward attitude and does not necessarily depend on what's happening. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones from the writings of Solomon. Many people who have obtained this spiritual attribute can maintain joy even when circumstances would appear adverse. I think if one understands the importance of attitude upon the function of the body one could quickly see how Joy would be better than sadness.

If one could call upon the resources of their spirit to maintain a constant positive attitude then there would be a corresponding benefit to that person's health. Many scientific studies show this connection. There is a difference between just trying to maintain a positive mental attitude and being able to draw on the resources of one's own spirit. It's much like looking at the conscious mind and subconscious mind. If a person's conscious mind had to maintain all of the bodies' functions than you can see how overwhelmed and impossible that responsibility would be. Our subconscious mind has more than enough resources to accomplish this task. In the same way as we learn to tap into the resources that are available on a spiritual level we can draw upon positive energies to help maintain a healthy attitude even in a world that is not always positive.

It's interesting to study the effects on individual lifestyles of people who routinely focus on their spiritual side as opposed to individuals who primarily focus on the physical/mental. Individuals focusing on developing a spiritual nature routinely discard many negative lifestyle habits. It seems that those individuals that ignore this component of their lives become involved in lifestyle practices that over stimulate their systems. " Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags" from the writings of Solomon. The spiritual component of man is more at a deeper level, more inward and individuals who ignore this part of their person tend to over stimulate themselves in the mental and physical areas as if in an effort to distract them from their deeper selves. "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings" from the writings of Solomon.

If you're reading this and are dealing with chronic health problems, issues with stress such as sleep disorders, depression or anxiety consider exploring the possibility of improving your mental and spiritual attitude through spiritual disciplines. Studies have shown simply doing something for someone else and becoming less focused on oneself can have a dramatic positive effect on one's health. The effects that prayer and/or meditation have on improving body function and reducing stress with the corresponding depression and anxiety, are well documented. To ignore this area is very short sighted. Just as it is important to feed your physical body good food you need to properly feed your mental and spiritual bodies. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding" from the writings of Solomon.

Let us define what is meant by proper rest. Ideally it means freedom from work or physical activity; freedom from disturbance of mind or spirit, peace of mind. The purpose of proper rest is to restore, to bring back to a former or original condition.

 

There are presently many theories as to why we require rest or sleep, what happens mentally and physiologically while we sleep and even how much each individual really needs. Based on the information that we have, a rational approach serves to unravel some of the mystery surrounding sleep and the essentials of proper or adequate rest.

When individuals are sleep-deprived their most common complaints are mental fatigue or confusion and musculoskeletal discomfort. These conditions are relieved by subsequent rest. We therefore may extrapolate that sleep is essential to maintain mental clarity and to neutralize structural stress. The physiology behind the restoration of mental capacity is not yet well understood, however, it would appear to be associated with renewing neurotransmitting chemicals and cell membrane potentials throughout our bodies.

These processes in turn are dependent, at least in part, upon the length of rest, the quality of one's nutrition, and the state of one's mind. Rest also provides time for your logical, analytical 'left' brain to relax its dominance and thus allow the emotional and imaginative 'right' brain valuable time for 'creative' expression. Thus, one of the keys to effective rest is learning how to turn down the volume of your 'left', brain while you tune into your 'right'! This is where regular use of an exceptional guided imagery tape can be so useful.

The physiology behind the other major function of rest and sleep, structural recuperation, is more important. There is a relentless force acting upon our physical structure, day by day, week after week: The constant force of gravity. The more effectively one learns to be aware of this force and to deal with it intelligently, the less destructive its influence. Failure to pay heed and to effectively reduce the effect of this downward pull on our bodies, often results in chronic and recurrent musculoskeletal discomfort (stiff, sore shoulders, neck, and back: hip, knee and ankle distress). Degenerative disc and joint disease, myofascial problems and even headaches are the result.

How then may we better cope with these stresses, especially with those related to the earth's gravity? While most of us are aware of the need for a good night's sleep, too few recognize the need for proper rest and relaxation. Both those who are engaged in heavy physical labor and business executives or white collar workers alike are subjected to a variety of physical stressors throughout their 'working hours'. There is mounting evidence that those who manage to obtain some rest and more resourceful postures during the day, not only live more comfortably and work more effectively, they also live longer! Once convinced of the benefits, how does one go about obtaining proper rest during business hours? Proper rest refers to "those inactivities which serve to aid restoration of optimal mental and physical function" (i.e. good health).

Our goals here include assisting the nervous system in its ability to cope with the stresses upon it, and assisting the physical body in compensating for the wear and tear of manual activities and the effects of gravity. All that is normally required is 15 to 20 minutes, twice daily, (in addition to your usual night sleep) to counteract the onslaught of stress-related fatigue and wear and tear.)

One of the most effective practices involves getting off your feet, and/or derriere, and laying supine on your back on a firm surface. Any carpeted floor will do nicely. The knees should be bent up toward your chest until your thighs are at right angles to your trunk, perpendicular to the floor, with your lower legs resting on a chair seat, couch, or even a box with padding on top.