LIFE HEALTH-WELLNESS

For the past 24 years a large percentage of my chiropractic practice has been based on the pattern of American health care. A person may have back or neck pain, headaches, or some other pain that can be related to the spine. Perhaps they sustained an injury due to an automobile accident, sports injury, injury on the job, or a fall or other accident at home. They would become my patient and I would treat them until they were well. They would then be discharged until they hurt themselves again. The same pattern holds true for medical doctors. You get sick and you go to the doctor. People just didn't make an appointment with the doctor to say, "You know Doc, I feel great. Can you give me something to keep me feeling this way?" Or how about, "I'm 25, fit, and can do anything physically I want. Can you give me something so I will still feel this way when I'm 75?"

In ancient China the doctor was paid as long as the patient remained well. If the patient became ill, the doctor didn't get paid until the patient was well again. They had true health care. In America today we have disease care. Insurance companies promote disease care when they will pay when you are sick but not when you are well.

This is all changing, and in a few years will be completely changed. With medical costs and insurance premiums skyrocketing, large companies are having financial difficulty providing their employees with adequate group health insurance. Self-employed individuals and others without group insurance often have to go without health coverage because they can't afford the premiums.

Insurance companies may advertise how concerned they are about your health, but their main concern is the health of their bottom line. It is this concern for the bottom line that is forcing them to look at ways to cut medical expenses. This cost control can be accomplished by cutting health services they pay for. These cuts bring anger and resentment from the policyholders. Another cost control measure many insurance companies are implementing is prevention. It cost much less to prevent a disease than it does to treat the disease once it has occurred. Insurance companies not only improve the health of their bottom line, they make their policyholders happy by providing more covered services instead of less. Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Kansas’ largest health insurer, has already started the campaign.

In my practice I have had well over 115,000 patient visits. It has recently come to my attention as I was looking through my first year’s appointment book, that about fifty patients who came to my practice the first year are still coming twenty-four years later for regular maintenance (preventive) care. Most of these patients have to pay for their care themselves because their insurance policies don’t cover maintenance care. As a group, these patients are the healthiest percentage of my practice. Several have told me they just don’t get sick. One of these patients is 100-years-old and still working. She was recently honored as the oldest continuously working person in the state of Kansas. She doesn’t use a cane or a walker; pays for her treatments herself; is adjusted by me every two weeks; never misses an appointment; and tells me how great chiropractic is. This lady is an example of how the wellness industry should work. And she did not even have the advantage of recent scientific breakthroughs in microbiology and cellular biochemistry that have spawned the wellness revolution.

One-seventh of the U.S. economy, $1.5 trillion, is devoted to disease care, which is a reactive response. People become customers only when they are stricken by a specific ailment or condition. Wellness is proactive. People voluntarily become customers to feel healthier, reduce the effects of aging, and avoid becoming customers of the sickness business.

Baby Boomers are the driving force of the wellness revolution. They refuse to accept that as a person gets older, they start hurting, lose function, and die. The boomers accept getting older and dying. But, they refuse to accept the hurting and loss of function that most people attribute to the normal aging process.

Because this group controls a large amount of money, they are investing billions of dollars each year into wellness care. The economic experts tell us by the year 2010, over one trillion dollars per year will be spent on wellness care, not disease care. Companies look closely at the economic trends to know how to plan their strategies. The economists say the wellness revolution will overtake the computer industry. This wellness industry will have the greatest economic impact in our lifetime.

Wellness services represent perhaps the only sector of consumer spending that does not take time to enjoy. Money spent to make a person feel stronger, smile better, look younger, or feel healthier gives rewards that are enjoyed every moment of every day-on the job, at home and every moment in between.

The purpose of our wellness program is to help you make the right decisions to stay healthy. And if you are sick, even with severe chronic illness, give your body the best chance to regain health. The protocol for achieving our wellness goal is life changing and often life saving. There are five steps in this wellness protocol.

Step 1: Maintain a healthy lifestyle for wellness. This step is your responsibility and includes exercise, water intake, and a healthy diet.

Obviously wellness is not achieved by finding a doctor who will tell you what you want to hear. It is listening to a doctor who will tell you what you need to hear. The lifestyle for health is simple. But, if you neglect these simple guidelines, you cannot expect to achieve maximum wellness.

1. Exercise a minimum of 35 minutes three times a week. Walking at a brisk pace is ideal for most people. Other activities might include working out at a health club, or mowing your lawn with a push mower. If you have a health condition that will not allow you to do any of these types of activities, you will need to start at an exercise level you can tolerate.

2. Drink a minimum of 48 ounces (6 8oz glasses) of water per day. Our kidneys must have water to keep our system free of toxins and waste products. Because of the chlorine level and mineral content of our local water, I highly recommend drinking bottled water filtered by reverse osmosis. This is available by the gallon at most grocery stores. Or you can install your own reverse osmosis system in your home for less than $300.

3. Eat a healthy diet consisting of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Include in your diet foods high in fiber, such as whole grains, and limit your intake of foods high in fat, salt, and sugar. The benefits of a diet such as this are well documented.

Step 2: Control your intake of known toxins.

1. Above all else, for your health’s sake DON’T SMOKE!

 

2. Avoid aspartame. This is the ingredient in diet drinks and sugar substitutes, like NutraSweet and five thousand other "sugar-free" items. I am convinced this is a toxin that should be totally avoided. Most people use it to keep from gaining weight. But, it has the opposite effect of making you crave sugar. There are documented government investigations linking aspartame with serious diseases. (See "Aspartame" and "Notes on Aspartame" by clicking on "Aspartame at the top of this section.)

3. Aluminum may be associated with Alzheimer’s. Avoid cooking with aluminum pots and pans. Use caution with aluminum cans, aluminum foil, and especially anti-perspirant deodorants that contain aluminum.

4. Avoid or limit your intake of the following: pork products, sodium nitrate, high fat dairy products, margarine (a small amount of butter is better), olestra (a toxic fat substitute), caffeine (limit coffee to 4 cups or less per day), chlorine, fluoride, and alcohol.

Step 3: Get regular chiropractic care.

The chiropractic methods used in my office are well established to remove nerve interference so the body can function at a more efficient level.

 

Step 4: Testing

Be tested to see if a specific supplement support is needed. The testing involves muscle testing and is painless. It will show if problem areas exist that need to be addressed. The testing may include the following:

· Rebalance electromagnetics

· Reset adrenals and General Adaptive Syndrome (GAS)

· Repair nutrition for organ or system weakness

· Remove infectious organisms

· Replace enzymes

· Reinnoculate bowel flora

· Remove heavy metals and other toxins

Step 5: Remove abnormal emotional patterns.

Develop a positive mental attitude (PMA). There is physiological evidence that laughter is "good medicine." Take a minimum of 5 minutes each day for solitude.