"Hurricane Irene"

Yours in good health,

Antibiotics will make infectious diseases obsolete. Vaccines will prevent childhood illness. Help raise money because a cure is right over the horizon. Modern medicine is the reason we are living longer. Gene manipulation and stem cell research will soon be the answer to diseases like Parkinsons, Alzheimers and even cancer. Do you recognize any of these statements?

It’s what I call the New Tide Syndrome. Every year, Tide promises us that the detergent will clean our dirty clothes even better that last year. Weather you believe your clothes are much cleaner or not is up to you. I believe this is mostly marketing hype and the parallels in the Healthcare system are striking in my opinion. The American healthcare system will now be referred to by me as the “sickcare system”, since this is more acurate. Over 25 Billion dollars per year are spent to advertise to Americans and their trusted doctors.

Every year people are promised better results and more health and yet the statistics do not show this as true. Conflict of interest relationships with the FDA and Big Pharma are common place even after they are uncovered. 100,000 lives are lost in the U.S. every year due to hospital errors and millions are harmed by medication errors. This does not mean that people are intentionally injuring patients. Obviously the large majority of health providers have good intentions and yet the medical industrial complex fails to inspire people to become truly healthy.

The World Health Organization has a definition of health. ( www.en.wikipedia.org ) Of course most Americans are unaware of this probably, which is one of the reasons we accept the dismal system that we have.

The United Nations keeps track of Infant Mortality. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year. This rate is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country. Would you think that America was number one on the list and babies would be safe here. We are currently 45 on the list from best to worst. You can verify this on the CIA WORLD FACT BOOK or even as easily as checking Wikipedia.

We are also told that we live the longest which is another fallacy. The United States is currently (2011) ranked at # 50. There are groups of people around the world that do live much longer on average and their quality of health in later years is astounding. Each group that is studied has some definite trends that we can all learn from. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with modern medicine, as many of them hardly use our supposed breakthroughs. If you would like some of the books and research, feel free to contact me for the sources. The good news is that creating health is not expensive and many of the answers are simple.

I know that this blog will create some opposition but I believe the facts are more important than arguments, it is time for health providers to stand up, unite and make real health changes for Americans. It does not come in a bottle or a pill and it never will. True health comes from within and educating yourself and taking control of your own body and mind. Chiropractic is leading the charge, and now your family can forget the hype and have real hope.

A recent back pain article on WebMD shows a perfect example of the major problems our Medical system creates because our reactive sickness care model that the Uinted States currently uses. 80% of Americans will experience back pain, mid back pain, neck pain, lower back pain with sciatica and much of it will become chronic pain. People seek out many treatment options while nerve and muscular problems, degenerative disc disease and arthritis, are said to often be the cause. Treatment with common drugs for back pain simply mask the underlying issues while allowing the decay and degeneration to continue. Treatment such as surgery for back pain is becoming increasingly common with very few patients having successful outcomes and many having complications and chronic pain regardless. Of course on the WebMD site it is difficult to find Chiropractic and back pain together. Since scientific literature shows that Chiropractic is far superior to all other methods it seems questionable that WebMD would leave this out. Chiropractors have been successful for millions of patients with acute as well as chronic back and neck pain issues.

The worst part about WebMDs ignorance is that Chiropractors do not treat back pain, neck pain, muscular pain, sciatica, arthritis, etc. To a Chiropractor this is simply a body signal. The real underlying issue is often known as a Subluxation. While these other more dangerous treatment options do not remove the underlying cause the patient usually ends up in a Chiropractors office years later. Chiropractors continue having excellent success because removing interference in the spine and letting the body’s own healing mechanisms is always benefical to the person. This is not a treatment or modality, it is a unique way of assisting the wisdom of the human body to express itself and function the way it is intended to. Regardless of other options you may learn about, the best choice should include a visit to a Chiropractor to get checked. Make sure you read my upcoming article on how to pick the right Chiropractor.

Yoga and Chiropractic

Yoga is becoming a more and more popular activity in the Western world today. As a Chiropractor in Natick it is a pleasure to talk about such a wellness oriented topic. The number of places holding Yoga classes of many different types is on the rise in Natick, Framingham, Wellesley, Wayland and all over Metrowest. With a choice of Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga and many more it can be easy to get confused. This article will help you to understand the difference between the most popular types of Yoga so you can choose which type is right for you. Yoga even focuses on the spine, as well as your mind body connection which is right up the alley of a Chiropractor. Ok, let’s get started.
Hatha Yoga – In Sanskrit (an ancient classical language of India) “Ha” means “sun” and “tha” means “moon”. This type of Yoga is a relatively slow paced, gentle type of Yoga and is a good place to start if you are completely new to Yoga and don’t know any of the asanas (poses). Like all types of Yoga, Hatha Yoga aims to unite the mind, body and spirit.
Ashtanga Yoga – Ashtanga means “eight limbs” in Sanskrit. It’s a fast moving, intense style of Yoga based on a progressive sequence of asanas, synchronized with the breath. Ashtanga Yoga can be quite physically demanding as you are constantly move from one asana in the sequence to the next, so you’ll find that it will improve your stamina as well as your flexibility and strength. Can you see why I, as a Chiropractor likes this one?
Power Yoga – This is a western interpretation of Yoga and is based on Ashtanga Yoga. A Power Yoga class may not necessarily stick to the exact sequence of poses like Ashtanga Yoga does, but it does involve practicing a series of poses without stopping and starting. This depends on the instructor and their level of expertise.
Iyengar Yoga – This type of Yoga is based on teachings by B.K.S Igengar and concentrates on the correct alignment and form of the body. Unlike Ashtanga Yoga, there is an emphasis on holding each pose for a long period of time rather than moving constantly from one pose to the next. Iyengar Yoga uses props such as blocks and straps to help align the body into the different poses. I love the alignment concept of course.
Vinyasa Yoga – Vinyasa means breath-synchronized movement and is another fast paced type of Yoga, with an emphasis on breathing. A practice typically starts with sun salutations and moves on to more intense stretching. Throughout the practice each pose is balanced with a counter pose.
Bikram Yoga – Otherwise known as “Hot Yoga”, Bikram Yoga is practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees, with a humidity of around 40%. Generally a sequence of 26 different poses is practiced during a Bikram Yoga class and the hot temperature helps to loosen muscles. Due to the high temperature most people sweat a lot during the class and this helps to cleanse the body of toxins. You’ll either love it or hate it because of the heat.
If you’re just starting out or have never done any Yoga before, you may want to try a few different types of yoga to find out what you like best. Remember, there’s no rule that says you have to stick to one type of Yoga.
My wife and I have even done yoga at home before. Of course we get regular Chiropractic care so having your structure healthy first is very important. A few years ago she went to a certain Yoga class and did not really enjoy it. My wife then tried Bikram and has been addicted ever since. There are several very good studios in the area and I have met the instructors so if you are curious or would like to know about the different Yoga studios in Natick, Framingham, Wayland, Wellesley or surrounding towns, please ask me the next time you’re in the office. Chiropractic and Yoga, a match made in heaven.
Remember to watch our video on the home page.

Remember when you went to a school dance and the boys stood on one side and girls on the other side of the room? Everyone was nervous and wanted to talk to other people but their legs felt like concrete. Your heart was beating faster and you could not think of what to say.

Then the music started. After a few minutes, one of your favorite songs came on and you and your friends looked at each other and were nervous and excited. The next few minutes were a little bit of a blur but the next thing you knew you were standing across from a person and you were both moving your legs, arms and body awkwardly to the beat.

I’m back from my daydream. Thanks for joining me. The point is that there was what we call a catalyst. The music somehow started a reaction inside that helped move everyone across the floor. There is a major catalyst in our bodies that is similar to the most amazing music. It’s called enzymes. Digestive enzymes break down the food into nutrients that we need for every function in our bodies. They have been called the spark of life by some scientists. The food we eat is packed full of these tiny spark plugs. Food comes with enzymes so you can break it down while using very little of your own. This allows you to conserve your energy for other functions. Meanwhile, we consume large amounts of energy drinks and caffeine to get through the day.

So how do we increase our energy 100%? First, we need to start eating whole foods and make sure most of them are fresh and not cooked, micro-waved etc. The second thing we need to do is increase our fresh, clean water intake. Both of these are the easiest and most effective ways to increase your energy through the roof. Try this for one week and let me know how you feel.

Interested in one more great way to increase your energy? Check out our upcoming articles on increasing energy.

Create great health!

Dr. Edward Beck
Advanced Chiropractic Center, Natick, Ma

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