A Message to the Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

Two weeks ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop (drinking organic green tea), when I overheard a couple of college students talking about biochemistry, and then physiology.  I assumed that they were studying for careers in the healing arts.  Later, the buzzword “chiropractic” came up and, being just a few feet away, I could not help but eavesdrop.  What I heard was disappointing.  It was the same old gobbledygook started by the American Medical Association (not stirring things up; just a fact) that permeated throughout the public in the old days.  Despite an anti-trust lawsuit won by the chiropractic profession 25 years ago to stop the libelous, slanderous perpetuation of negativity by the AMA, you can still see the lines drawn in the sand between medicine and chiropractic today.

I suppose it makes sense, to a degree.  The two paradigms are, after all, based on fundamentally different philosophies.  It’s just a shame that, in order for one to be right, the other has to be wrong.  Earlier in my career, in trying to find a balance between sharing the unfortunate truths about the allopathic/medical model of healthcare and condemning it, I veered far too strongly toward admonishment.  I hope that time has mellowed my approach and is reflective in the education that I provide both verbally and through the written word.  After hearing the students bash my profession as “unscientific,” I made it a point to walk by their table before I left, introduce myself, and hand them my card and a scrap piece of paper with some suggested reading.  Such little gestures can be powerful agents of change to the uninitiated.

However, to those of us that have been initiated and that have been trying to help our families, friends, and peers to make changes, we have a responsibility to increase our efforts.  I recall, a year ago, when Mollie and I were watching my former protégé turned colleague, Dr. Josh D’Allasandro, give us a dry run of the New Patient Orientation Class that he would go onto use when he opened his office in February 2014.  At the end, after he had explained the offer that he would make to people learning about Upper Cervical Care for the first time, he said something that I’ve said a hundred times before in our office: “…if you don’t want to make an appointment, then that’s OKAY.”  I highlighted the last two words because something struck me that night, which prompted me to ask myself, “Is it really OK?”

Of course, I remain adamant to the idealization that making decisions about your health should not be driven by fear.  I don’t want somebody to become a patient at Triad Upper Cervical Clinic because they’re afraid of what will happen if they don’t.  That’s a lousy foundation upon which to build a doctor-patient relationship.  All the same, Upper Cervical Care is not a luxury; it’s an essential.  Remember my story?  I wouldn’t be who I am today without Upper Cervical Care.  It was the missing piece of the puzzle to me getting my life back.  It has played the same role for so many of you.  So, again, I posit and slightly rephrase the previous question: “Is it really OK for us to stand idly by and watch people suffer for another moment longer than they should, solutionless and without guidance?”

Throughout the year, I’ve written in many a newsletter about how we need to modify black and white thought processes about health-related matters.  Let’s do that one more time for 2014.  There is a gray area, here, that I believe we’ve been neglecting.  In regards to Upper Cervical Care, we either spread the word or keep it a secret; we tell someone a thousand times with as many rejections or just once and leave it be (if we say anything at all).  Why don’t we, moving forward, push a little harder when the person we’re telling is in dire straits?  It would be wonderful if everyone were completely ready for something different before walking a non-medical path, but sometimes, the best way to get the truth out there is just to clearly and definitively state it without reservation of how someone else might feel about it or react to it.  Those students at the coffee shop?  They need to be spoon fed new information.  The chronically ill recipient of half a dozen diagnoses on several medications per day?  Maybe it’s time we not so easily concede, constantly giving them the ball instead. 

I met a woman at our Dinner w/ Doc recently that clearly needed help in the present and not several months or years into the future (she might not have that long at this rate).  She said, “I’m not ready, yet,” when we prompted her to come get evaluated.  I asked, “With all due respect and with genuine concern, why aren’t you ready yet?”  She didn’t have an answer.  But the ball is in her court.  I decided to no longer be “OK” with everyone who wanted to wait until the perfect time (if any time) to explore their vast array of “other” options in healthcare beyond medicine.  Our system is, arguably, broken beyond repair.  To sit back and watch people go down with a sinking ship?  I’ve reached a point in my life and career where that’s no longer “OK” with me.

Many of my patients will vouch that “Dr. Chad listens.”  I am always listening.  I’m hyperaware.  Just as I hear the students try to piece together their understanding of complicated body chemistry and spew false rhetoric about chiropractic, I hear such statements as “I’ll give Upper Cervical Care a try” or “my friends just don’t get it” or “I just want to think about it for a little while” or “getting adjusted won’t help you get over that cold.”  I thoroughly observe.  I see the kids that visit the office with their parents and don’t follow through with getting them checked, the reluctance to stop bombarding their children with medications despite the statistics that we offer, and the hesitancy to fully embrace a different model of healthcare.

I want each and every one of you that personally remains skeptical to read this message clearly – and pass it along to the skeptics that you encounter: if you give your body the chance to be well, then I promise that you will regain your health.  It may take time, but you’ll get there.  Remember that the biggest difference between Upper Cervical Care and the other holistic approaches is that we aren’t aiming to treat the body; we are helping the body heal.  People don’t get truly well by being treated; they do so by healing.  As we exit 2014 and enter 2015, I am personally enhancing my goal to practice as I preach, to lead by example, and to make lasting change in this community.

Are you ready?

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad

How Does Healing Work?

Mollie and I wrote an article together for the November edition of the Natural Triad Magazine.  As not all of you are in a position to read it, we thought we would reprint it here for you as this month's e-newsletter, as its message is powerful.  Thinking good things for all of you!

How Does Healing Work?

By M. Chad McIntyre, D.C., and Mollie Gordon, HHC

Do you know how your body heals? Do you know what you need to heal and be healthy? Much of traditional medicine is symptom-based, and our society has gotten caught in a "Take a Pill" mentality. But what about the body? What about the healing process? What about our active role in our own healing?

There are five primary areas of healing:

• Normal function

• Structural integrity

• Positive attitude

• Nutrition

• Exercise

Normal function

The body knows how to heal. For example, when your skin is cut, the body naturally performs functions to clot the blood and repair the tissues. If normal functions are disrupted or are not working properly, though, the healing process will be delayed or weakened. What can cause a disruption? Most commonly, it occurs when the brainstem is impeded or compromised. Since the brainstem is the control center for the nervous system, which controls each organ system, any interference disrupts bodily processes. Healing and remaining in good health are largely dependent upon your brainstem properly regulating basic functions from digestion to heart rate to immunity.

So what can someone do if they suspect that they are not healing normally or optimally maintaining their health?  Visit an upper cervical practitioner for analysis of the brainstem. Upper Cervical Care specializes in this specific area of the body, safely identifying and removing potential interference with gentle corrections. Through supported health practices, the body can repair itself and health can be improved.

Structural integrity

A body that is lacking in structural balance is a body under constant strain. The body is so smart that if the structural integrity is compromised through trauma (car accidents, falls, childhood injuries, etc.), it will compensate. The body’s foundation, located where the head and neck meet, must be level to maintain equilibrium. If the head is not level due to a structural imbalance, the body will naturally adjust. For example, a shoulder will raise, a hip will drop, and a leg will appear to be longer than the other. If left unchecked and uncorrected, other parts of the body will also work to compensate for the basic structural imbalance, forcing the body into a constant state of repair instead of performing daily, routine maintenance. This will ultimately result in structural breakdown and coinciding symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, etc.

So what can someone do if their structural integrity is compromised? Visit an upper cervical

practitioner or massage therapist to regain and maintain structural integrity.

Positive Attitude

Do you know of anyone who is negative all the time yet still has an abundance of good things happening to them? A positive mental attitude has long been considered a key to being a successful, contributing member of society, but it has also been found to have a profound impact on healing. People who strongly believe that they will get well despite the occurrence of a dire circumstance recover faster than their pessimistic counterparts. Developing a genuinely positive attitude, not just deflecting all negative thoughts, allows us to move through life with less stress and more constructive energy. As it is known that stress is the #1 cause of disease, one of the best ways to decrease stress is to improve how we deal with it in the first place. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. Mental, emotional, and energetic road blocks can decrease your ability to heal.

So how can you improve your attitude, even when surrounded by negativity? Cultivate positive relationships, including with yourself. Develop a hobby. Read and watch positive media. Participate in workshops, seminars, or health coaching programs that help you identify your roadblocks and provide tangible solutions to overcoming them. Health coaching can really help you transform longstanding health issues and support your healing process.

Nutrition

Do you know how quickly your body regenerates parts of your body? Your stomach lining regenerates every 6-8 minutes; your liver cells regenerate every 4-6 weeks; every 4 months, you have fresh blood; every 12 months, your bones regenerate to a certain extent. In a nutshell, you are not who you were last year. Each organ, muscle, and tissue in the body is in a perpetual state of regeneration and healing through the production of new cells. We make new cells through what we consume. Would you prefer that your body make new cells for your heart, lungs, intestines, and reproductive organs with fast food or with quality, nutrient-packed food? The more chemicals that are in the food you eat, the more difficult it is for your body to properly process and use that food. You really are what you eat.

So how can you improve your nutrition? Make dietary changes, learn new recipes, work with a registered dietician or a holistic health coach. There are a lot of options in the marketplace, so keep looking until you find what works for you. And if you need help, be sure to seek out a professional who can help translate all that data into information you can use.

Exercise

Your body is meant to be active and mobile. There are several hundred muscles in the human body, and they are meant for movement. To remain sedentary for much of the day is to go against the very nature of the human frame. A person with a job that involves mostly sitting must find ways to get their body moving each day. Continued health and healing cannot be achieved without some degree of physical activity. There are so many ways that you can get exercise these days, so be sure to choose some and keep moving. Take advantage of the options that exist. Motion is vital to structural health and healing. 

So how can you improve your body's movement? Walk around the block and extra time, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or join the gym. If you need more guidance, work with a personal trainer, purchase a quality exercise DVD, or take yoga classes with instructors that will help you learn. There are lots of options, so keep looking until you find what works for you.

A body that functions properly can take the constructive foods put into it and create an abundance of normal cells.  A workout can be immeasurably more effective if the body is structurally balanced.  A positive attitude helps us manage stress.  By taking an honest inventory of these five primary areas of healing, you can identify how you can take an active role in your healing process. Then, you can expect health. Be well!!!

Tackling the Topic of Safety and Football

Dr. Alex Powers is a neurosurgeon who works for Wake Forest University.  He's also an avid football fan.  His research and his passion for the sport are often at odds because Powers is one of the leading physicians exploring the topic of brain trauma as it relates to his favorite sport.  Labor Day weekend 2014 was a classic example of his plight.  He was in the lab, examining the charts of high school football players the week prior and then flew out with his two sons - both youth players - for a family vacation on the west coast to see the Oregon Ducks play on Saturday and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

I can appreciate that.  As many of you know, I am a huge football fan.  Saturdays during the fall are dedicated to the game.  My daughter, just two years old, already proudly states on a daily basis, “GO IRISH!” (in reference to my long-time favorite team, Notre Dame).  I even have a yearly tradition of attending college games.  All the while, I’ve read a lot of the research about head injuries and their long-term implications on football players.  Much like Powers, I just have to flip the switch on game days.  At times, it feels similar to knowing all of the ill-effects of smoking and still advocating the use of cigarettes.  It’s a contradiction that leaves me feeling uneasy. 

According to Dr. Powers’ data, a single season of high school football does potentially irreversible damage to the brain in proportion to the severity and number of hits taken.  Basically, he concludes that the brain changes shape and the white matter, which allows for the intercommunication between parts of the brain, is what is specifically damaged.  His stance has created widespread panic.  Shawn Springs, a former Pro Bowl NFL player and the co-founder of a company that designs football helmets with greater safety measures, has told Powers that his research is going "to scare everyone to death...and kill football."  Doctors and researchers have told Powers, “You have to kill the game. There's no way, as a physician, that you can condone the data." 

All of us that have any interest in the game – parents, coaches, players, doctors, researchers, etc. – are being forced to evaluate our position and form an updated opinion based on the data that has become available.  "I was totally naive about it,” Dr. Powers said.  “I thought people would see the data and say, ‘This is awesome. No one has ever looked at it this way.’”  The fact of the matter is that people should be looking at the data like never before.  We have to. 

From the Upper Cervical perspective, any repetitive trauma to the head and neck is bad.  The body was built to be well-protected against trauma, but not repetitive trauma.  My problem with the sport has more to do with the impact that the hits, the tackles, and the falls have on the upper neck, particularly the top bone in the neck because it’s not designed so much for stability as it is for mobility.  Being held in place only by muscle puts the top bone at a fundamental disadvantage to withstanding the impact of traumas.  Without the stability of an interlocking joint or bony lock, the top bone is very vulnerable to misalignment.  Remember that the brainstem – the part of your body responsible for regulating your organs, muscles, and tissues (even intercommunication between the brain) – rests in the ring of that bone.  The head and neck protect your life line.  Helmets can’t protect that vital head-neck junction.

Dr. Powers is hoping to make the game safer by directing his studies toward the high school level, thus creating a safer game in college and the pros as a by-product.  I plan on reaching out to Dr. Powers and trying to add a new wrinkle to his research.  What if we ensured that the kids enduring the trauma were strong enough to withstand it without the adverse effects?  A body that is balanced/structurally sound from an early age would be more capable of absorbing the same traumas than an out-of-balance counterpart.  I suggest we keep in-check the structural integrity and balance of these young athletes and see if that changes the outcomes.  As of now, given the sheer number of traumas that occur between birth and the fifth year of life, plus the other traumas that occur at school ages, we don’t know for sure that the kids in the study aren’t already weaker.  We ought to know. 

Frankly, this is a scary topic.  There is not a time in your life when your body is more vulnerable to the effects of trauma than during youth, yet that is the time that kids start playing football.  We have to look beyond the obvious, here.  The effects of trauma from football include more than just hospital visits, broken bones, dislocations, and concussions.  This entire discussion is based not on black and white injuries, but on the shades of gray effects that often do not become noticeable until much later – headaches, pain, degeneration/arthritis, memory loss, lack of focus/concentration on the surface layer; and, bearing in mind what the brain and brainstem do for your body, the connection to heart disease, cancer, and autoimmune disorders. 

As much as I love football, if you asked me – as a parent – “Would I be OK with my child playing,” my answer would probably be “No.”  Imagine building a home on a tiny island in the middle of the most common area in the world to be affected by hurricanes.  Even if you constructed the sturdiest little house on the planet, why would you voluntarily build it in a place where you knew – for a fact – that it was going to be subject to high winds and flying debris for four months per year?  Why would I let my kid do the equivalent?  I’m not sure I could overcome that thought. 

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad

The "One Day at a Time" Lifestyle

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” -- Abraham Lincoln

A recent trip to Philadelphia yielded a conversation during which my friend told me, “I hate it when people say, ‘Just take it a day at a time.’  Who can do that?!”  I responded, “As someone who lives that way, I can promise you that it’s doable.  Some people are just wired that way.  For those of us who aren’t, it takes work, but it’s worth it; it makes my life much better.”  
 
Living life “a day at a time” is a foreign film without subtitles to some of us.  I remember the days before I began living life one day at a time and they were not pretty.  I lived in a perpetual cycle of fear and worry.  I’ve shared with most of you the physical part of my journey.  Another part of my healing process involved changing my mindset, not just in regards to my health but to my entire life, too.  Figuratively, I was driving down the road at 100 MPH at night, constantly more concerned about that which lay beyond the range of my headlights instead of the 200 feet in front of me.  If I wasn’t concerning myself with the future, I was hyper analyzing the past.  Only, I was not doing it to take away important lessons from my mistakes and was, instead, getting stuck in a rotten pattern of self judgment and doubt.  
 
It was during my early days being under Upper Cervical Care that I started becoming more aware of my mindset (being in a brain fog kept me unaware of many things).  Surrounding myself with people that lived by the “one day at a time” mantra was eye-opening.  I had basically been trained to anticipate the worst and hope for the best.  Seeing these happy, purposeful, dynamite personalities living their lives to the fullest allowed me to recognize the futility in spending so much time caught up in the past – which is over – and the future – which I cannot control.  There’s no future in living in the past.  “The past cannot be changed.  You can learn from the past but you can’t alter it,” Bryan Golden, author of Dare to Live Without Limits, wrote in a 2009 article on this topic.  “The past is a seminar you have taken.  Make note of what worked and what didn’t.  You don’t want to repeat the same mistakes.  You do want to replicate successes.  Worry is a complete waste of time and energy.  You will never achieve anything by worrying.  To make matters worse, any time spent worrying takes away from the time you have available for dealing with today. “

It’s quite a burden, carrying the past on your back with your mind simultaneously weighed down by the future.  “Exhausting” is one word I’ve seen used to describe that lifestyle by a fellow liver of life just a day at a time.  To live anything more than a day at a time is to approach life, energetically, like a sprint.  It takes enough energy just to get done what you need to right now.  Add to that the energy required to dwell over what already happened and brood over what could… you only have so much energy.  Life is a marathon.  Distance runners have to learn how to pace themselves to make certain that they have enough stamina for an entire race.  Counselors use that analogy when helping addicts overcome their vices.  Many of us get addicted, if you will, to – as my mom often says – the woulda, coulda, shoulda.  It doesn’t begin that way, no more than a chemical addiction does, but it can end up that way.  And as they say to addicts, “When you allow yourself to be consumed with anger and worry [or judgment and doubt, etc.] or become embroiled in non-stop stress that you’ve accepted as a way of life, your strength is sapped, depleting you of the energy and motivation to continue.”

The biggest thing that kickstarted my transformation to a new way of thinking was my mentor’s favorite saying: “What you think about, you bring about.”  So, living life a day at a time is merely an exercise in being aware of what you do want and not wasting time or energy on what you don’t.  Intention is very important in this lifestyle.  If you make clear what you want, then you plan and think toward your goal.  It prompts you to maintain a high standard for yourself, but it’s also not about being perfect.  It’s about present time consciousness and the acceptance of the fact that learning never stops – it’s just part of the journey.  Every day, I wake up with a quick self note about the things that I want.  Every night before I go to bed, I restate that purpose.  Everything in between is about staying in the moment, my intentions already set. 

We speak often in the office about health being a goal that requires certain fundamentals, amongst them a good attitude.  Who can realistically overcome problems (health or otherwise) if they’re full of negative thoughts about days, week, months, or years ago or ahead?  Living life a day at a time lays the groundwork for a less stressful existence.  Today is over once it’s over.  Tomorrow is a new day.  You take the good things from yesterday forward, acknowledge the previous day’s less awesome moments for learning purposes, and embark on the next step in the journey.  The only thing that you have control over is your actions, anyway, so there’s little sense in prognosticating.  From personal experience, I can vouch for this being a very enjoyable way to live.  The great stuff is greater and the lousy stuff isn’t nearly as a lousy. 

“One day at a time- this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.” -- Ida Scott Taylor

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad

Robin Williams and Depression

Earlier this month, the world was saddened by the death of legendary comedian, Robin Williams.  The cruel irony in his passing was that he literally brightened the lives of millions of people, but he could not find enough light in his own life to keep living.  As has been reported, Williams committed suicide. 

Mollie (our office manager and in-office health coach) is quite the film buff; as am I.  When someone of the Robin Williams ilk dies, she and I have a conversation about it.  Our chat veered toward the topic of depression, which Williams had been battling, on and off, for many years, dating back to the death of one of his best friends, fellow comedian John Belushi.  As Mollie said, “Robin Williams made a life out of showing us our humanity, and their deaths are no different.”  So, let’s use this as an opportunity to take a broader view on topics such as depression and suicide.

“Depression is a complex thing, having environmental, social, emotional, spiritual and chemical causes,” Mollie emailed me as we furthered our discussion beyond Triad Upper Cervical Clinic’s walls.  Suicide is, too.  We often see these complex issues oversimplified through words like “selfishness” and “cowardice.”  Is this a black and white topic?  Or does it, as throughout life, feature many shades of gray?  Strength is a virtue that we celebrate, but not everyone has it to the extent necessary to will themselves out of the darker periods in their lives.  To imply that Williams was “selfish” or a “coward” because he could no longer muster the fortitude to keep fighting could well be viewed as too much of an assumption and fail to contextualize the reality of his situation (and others like him). 

We all like to think that we’re immune to these problems.  Yet, we are also a society that puts such a premium on being strong that we often, simultaneously, teach each other to hide signs of weakness subconsciously.  Read as a familiar theme?  How many of these newsletters over the years have been geared toward recognizing and getting the underlying causes of signs identified instead of masking/hiding them?  One of the fundamental human traits is self-preservation.  It is a lengthy, tumultuous process to reach a point where a human-being goes against its very nature and kills itself.  Using Mollie’s quote on the causes of depression, the process might look something like this (and this is merely an example): Robin was born to pretty sharp parents, who afforded him opportunities that are idealized on TV but present their own unique set of pressures (absentee mother and father who don’t give as much attention, in his case) and may have led to him “acting out” later in life when he became addicted to alcohol and cocaine.  He beat up his body and mind pretty harshly with his habits, enduring chemical substance abuse until his friend, Belushi, died of an overdose.  The emotional toll was pronounced for Williams.  One of his classmates at Juliard, Christopher Reeve, then had an accident that left him a paraplegic, further shaking Williams to his core.  Constantly in the public eye, Williams struggled with the trappings of stardom all the while.  Add to all of that two failed marriages and being a celebrity dad and you’ve got a potent recipe for major emotional problems, which eventually manifested as severe depression.  In all likelihood, he was medicated, further disrupting his already chemically imbalanced brain (the years of abuse) and ailing body (evidenced by his heart surgery in 2009). 

Does that narrative paint the picture of anything less than an intricate human-being with problems that in some way, shape, or form we all can relate to?  Take out the celebrity part and, odds are, you know someone exactly like him.  I can surely appreciate the point of view that devalues a person who does not value the gift of life, but I think it is a viewpoint that uses black and white brush strokes instead of the multi-colored pallet that makes up an individual person.  Williams was certainly colorful.  One of my colleagues commented on social media that, “In my opinion, suicide isn't ‘selfish’ to the person committing it. It's more of a demonstration of weakness. When someone is depressed, it is imperative to have a strong support system around them, so they, in turn, feel strong. Tough love doesn't work with someone who is depressed. They need to feel like they're worth something to someone, in order to avoid that weakness creeping in.”

Mental health issues are not well understood.  The manner in which they’re dealt with?  Even less understood.  I encounter people that wear like a badge of honor their prescriptions for depression and anxiety that alter their body chemistry, but feel it’s a social faux pas to seek counseling.  Which one is the band-aid and which was one helps solve the problem?  Yet, drugs are the popular route with greater acceptance in our society.  Reports are that Robin Williams was medicated, prompting his fellow Hollywood stars to speak out about their past use of popular anti-depressants and the suicidal thoughts that they triggered.  Messing around with brain and body chemistry is a dangerous game.  There’s actually nothing wrong with counseling…at all.  It is an essential cog in the wheel in making sure that you have your mental faculties in order amidst the chaotic nature of modern society’s overexposure to just about everything.  A good attitude is one of the pillars of health.  Counseling is often needed to achieve it.  Support is often needed to maintain it.  “Please, if you know someone who has a mental illness, give them a hug and explain to them why the mean so much to you,” my colleague concluded. “Make them feel like they are worth something, because in their mind - they aren't. You may save a life and initiate the first step out of depression.”

From the Upper Cervical perspective, body chemistry and the general neurologic governing of the emotional (limbic) system is regulated by the brainstem.  Here was Mollie’s final thought on the matter: “Upper Cervical Care can help. Keeping the brain-body connection operating at its best can help those who battle depression. It is not a replacement for other modalities, especially counseling and soul-work, but it can help those modalities be more effective.”

Feel free to discuss.  And RIP Robin Williams. 

Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad

Lead HPV Researcher Warns Public, Provides Opportunity

Disclaimer - The information in this newsletter should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition.  Dr. McIntyre is a licensed healthcare professional, but this column is intended only to make you aware and to make you think.

Last October, I wrote an article detailing the dangers of and the lack of efficacy for the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine, concluding that “70% of the cases of HPV resolve themselves in one year without treatment.  Most viruses will be eradicated if you give your body a chance to do its job.  The immune system is built to stop foreign invaders, making it of paramount importance that your immune system is doing its job at its best.  The brainstem regulates the immune system, but is one of the most common adversely affected structures in the body when traumas occur (accidents, slips, falls, sports injuries, etc.).  Upper Cervical Care ensures that the brainstem can ideally regulate immune response, giving you faster and more efficient reactions to foreign invaders like HPV and other viruses.”

It has been said that the average 17 year old has heard over 20,000 hours worth of drug commercials.  The pharmaceutical industry constantly bombards the market with its message, so much so that the realities both for what it does and does not offer often get distorted or lost.  Conversely, the cautionary tales from those that have been harmed by pharmaceutical interventions or the red flags waved by those of us in the healing arts that are critical of the medical paradigm are so few when compared to the mainstream ads you see and hear all the time for drugs.  So, I think it’s important to reiterate some of the information out there about things like the HPV vaccine.  You may not hear or read about what people like Dr. Diane Harper have to say on the matter anywhere else. 

Dr. Harper, a renowned medical physician best known for her work in developing the HPV vaccine, has recently made some interesting comments.  Despite dedicating a substantial portion of her career to HPV vaccines, she has assessed and reviewed the many adverse events resulting from the vaccines and decided to tell the truth about it.  “The benefit to public health is nothing,” Harper says about HPV vaccines.  “There is no reduction in cervical cancers; they are just postponed.”   That’s a powerful statement from arguably the world’s top authority on the subject.  HPV vaccines are designed specifically to prevent cervical cancer.  If they are not even remotely accomplishing their goal, then that’s not just faulty drugs but a blasphemous marketing tactic.  It would mean that a multi-billion dollar industry has been created for no actual benefit to patients.  This is not the first time.  Any long-time reader of this newsletter has been made aware of the many drugs that make false proclamations.  

Sadly, the public reaction when medical professionals like Harper speak out against vaccines and other drugs is often to try and discredit the naysayer instead of take seriously their claims.  It’s fascinating, really.  In so many other businesses, the similar circumstance of an industry leader speaking out against a problem identified in his/her area of expertise would be met much differently than it often is in healthcare.  Earlier this week, German car giant, BMW, recalled 1.6 million cars over the concern of faulty air bags.  The cars in question were made between 8-16 years ago, so it barely affects the current market.  Still, they are taking action.  "As a precaution, we just feel now that the right thing to do is just to bring them all in and replace the passenger-side air bag," a BMW spokesman said.  If we change the subject to vaccine dangers, however, it’s neither a stimulant for further research nor the wake-up call that it should be.  Unfortunately, those in support of the vaccines/drugs all too frequently go on the attack as they crawl into a defensive shell.  Ignorance is the enemy of progress.  Burying our heads in the sand when someone says something that goes against the common thought process, particularly in matters related to health, is very dangerous.  Basically, the facts from the research say that HPV vaccines are more dangerous than that which they intend to prevent.  The serious adverse reaction rate, according to Harper, is as high as the cervical cancer death rate.  Others, as mentioned in the article that I wrote last year, are stating that the adverse reactions are even worse. 

Of course, the CDC says that HPV vaccines are safe.  Such resources are often the ones denouncing Harper’s claims.  Personally, I’m a bit leery of what I read from the CDC.  There’s a lot of contradictory information floating around their website.  If you search for HPV vaccines on CDC, you’ll see a note about a large number of them being recalled, but not to worry because “no concerning adverse reactions have been seen with those vaccinated by the lot.”  You’ll see similar caveats on many of the posts that are made about drug/vaccine recalls.  The number one reason to recall drugs (and reason numbers two, three, four, five, and six for that matter) is that they cause adverse reactions.  So, what gives?  Most in favor of drugs and vaccines tend to greatly understate the frequency of adverse reactions, at best, and deliberately act as if they never happen, at worst.  I think it’s important to remember that, when it comes to the development of anything chemical (as drugs/vaccines are), the burden of proof is on the scientists.  It’s not the patient’s responsibility to prove why they should NOT receive a vaccine like Gardasil (for HPV); it’s the doctor/scientist/researcher’s responsibility to prove to the patient why they should.  Scientists/developers/researchers/doctors have to prove, first, that it’s safe and, second, that it accomplishes what it proposes to be capable of doing.  If someone with a credible voice (like Harper) steps in with proof that it’s not safe and that it fails to accomplish what it proposes, then it’s back to the drawing board for those pushing for the drug/vaccine. 

I understand defending something that you believe in.  If you’re passionate about anything, then you should be able to relate to defiantly taking a stance.  However, there’s this thing that we spend so much time talking about called communication and both lines should be open.  Opportunities are so very frequently missed to use valid points, such as the ones that Harper brings up, to openly discuss both privately and publicly the risks and benefits of vaccines and other drugs. 

Thinking good things for you,

-Dr. Chad

Turning Tragedy Into Change

Last week there was another school shooting in the United States, home to more school shootings (by far) than any other country in the world.  Too often nowadays, tragedy leads not to action, but fearful avoidance.  There have been 74 school shootings in the last 18 months, fifteen of which were of the variety that make national headlines – the ones you would know about.  15 over 18 months is one every five weeks.  The time has passed for talking about it and the time has come to do something.  Many reasons exist for why these incidents have become more prevalent in the last twenty years than ever before.  Not to discount any of the other reasons that these occurrences have increased, but the primary intention of this column is to call into question the manner in which our society has chosen to deal with mental instability in children and offer solutions.

No matter the effect, there is always a cause.  According to the National Institute of Mental Health, close to 50% of all teenagers have been diagnosed with a mental disorder.  They also posit that 20% of teenagers have or will suffer from a “severe” mental health disorder.  There is quite a bit of controversy as to whether or not the cause leading to such effects is based on faulty diagnosing procedures (over diagnosis being the by-product) or real problems.  All the while, the use of medication to regulate behavior has spiked in the last decade, tripling the number of kids who are taking drugs.  The percentage of children in the United States currently on behavioral prescriptions is now around 10%.  Every pharmaceutical drug has side effects.  We need to be a lot more careful about making drugs the first option and transition them back to their place as the last resort.  “What’s not known about the long-term effects [of drugs prescribed for mental health disorders] is very troubling,” Christopher Bellonci, M.D., assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, said. “The younger you go, the more you can affect the developing brain.”  
 
If kids are angry, depressed, lacking in focus, or otherwise, the protocols for how to handle them has seen a sharp de-emphasis on the factors that can help these kids and their parents truly understand and overcome their less than desirable conduct and are further emphasizing putting them on prescription drugs.  It’s a consequence of the same dated mindset of treating disease by methods that produce opposite effects of symptoms designed to satiate our rabid societal desire for instant gratification.  The American Psychological Association has concluded, based on their research, “that all too often, Americans are taking medications that may not work or may be inappropriate for their mental health problems.”  Though it is not working, it continues to be a problem.  Back in 2009, the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported “that in 2006 more money was spent on treating mental disorders in children aged 0 to 17 than for any other medical condition, with a total of $8.9 billion. By comparison, the cost of treating trauma-related disorders, including fractures, sprains, burns, and other physical injuries, was only $6.1 billion.”  That’s a lot of money and not a lot of results.  People recognize that these pharmacological methods are ineffective and even dangerous, but little is being done about it.  Step one to doing something about it is spreading awareness that it’s a fundamental flaw in the system to over diagnose and under value the essential reasons why behavioral issues develop.

It would be helpful to have a general understanding of how brain activity is conducted.  The human body works via electrical circuitry similar to what you have in your house.  That circuitry is called the central nervous system.  The brainstem plays a regulatory role in the electrical activity throughout your body, including that of your brain.  There are basic processes that depend on the integrity of the central nervous system to allow for such normal functions as hearing or seeing something and being able to establish a rationale, cognitive thought in reaction to it – in other words, the inner workings that control behavioral response.  Rationale thoughts and behaviors – hard to call them “normal” when everyone is so different – require certain biochemical and neurologic procedures to be in place.  Upper Cervical Care is the process of detecting and removing such functional, neurologically based problems by ensuring that the brainstem is working the way it is designed to.  It should be a part of the revised protocol to help identify the root for mental health issues, as should the other things described below.  
 
As so little in our world is black and white, I believe that multiple factors have contributed to mental health problems being more prevalent than ever.  I agree that way too many kids are diagnosed with “disorders” when, in reality, they’re just being kids.  Sometimes, the mistakes children make are little more than their learning process for how to grow up and adapt in a world that’s increasingly different.  Yet, when it is an actual problem and not a few bad choices, there are nutritional factors to consider, as our foods have largely been stripped of their nutritional value in an effort to make eating more convenient and fast.  It is also a cultural shift, which has led to teachers being handcuffed in their ability to educate and entitled kids who don’t believe that they have anything to learn.  Then, the media is so negative and the TV shows so melodramatic that it is a wonder if children even know anymore that the world has a lot to offer them if they offer something to it.  Add to that the spotlight that kids are put under from early ages through social media and online influences and the generally regarded fact that kids no longer have a strong sense of personal responsibility.  
 
Failure to consider these fundamental factors and assuming that the best option is to essentially numb bad behaviors and thoughts is a dangerous game – literally.  “Some 90 percent of school shootings over more than a decade have been linked to a widely prescribed type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs,” according to British psychiatrist Dr. David Healy.  Some sources say it’s actually 100%.  Enough is enough; it’s time for a change.  I sincerely hope that we will all soon come to the conclusion that these tragedies should stimulate a serious revamping of how we collectively view mental health.  
 
Thinking good things for you,

Dr. Chad

Groundhog Day - A Vicious Cycle

You wake up in the morning, groggy and feeling as though the previous seven hours spent sleeping never really happened.  Clearly, you slept.  The clock read “11:03 P.M.” right before you zonked out and you opened your eyes to “6:59 A.M.”  It doesn’t feel like it, though.  You push yourself out of bed and immediately notice that you’re leaning to one side.  Looking down at your feet, your eyes focus in as if staring at your knees, ankles, and toes might somehow reestablish a sense of normalcy during this all-too-common occurrence of seeming off balance.  Half stumbling and half walking, you maneuver yourself to the bathroom and flip on the light.  Once upon a time, this would have been when you sat down to eliminate the waste processed through your digestive tract from yesterday, but it has been a long time since that was the case.  Despite that gurgling sound in the pit of your stomach that suggests that a few moments on the porcelain God would be just what the doctor ordered, you’ve been through this routine enough to realize that nothing will happen if you do and that there are other things that have taken precedent in the morning routine.  

Two hours later, you are on your way to see what the day brings.  There’s that uncomfortable moment when you get into the car, your joints crackling as if you just sat down on bubble wrap.  The same thing happens when you get out of the car a bit later.  It always happens when you get in the car.  Speaking of the car, remember when you could turn your head so easily to check the blind spot over your right shoulder?  That online search for how “German engineers suggest using car mirrors” was quite helpful, you may recall.  In the future, you find out that using your mirrors in the manner recommended by BMW is actually a good thing, but it would have been nice to choose to do it that way rather than have to out of necessity.  Oh well.  Once the morning sluggishness finally wears off thanks to that third cup of coffee – or was it an energy drink today?  Memory isn’t what it used to be – you start your list of daily tasks.  You have to carefully concentrate on one thing at a time to avoid your mind traveling in a million different directions.  Did you put the clothes in the dryer?  That thing from the national board is due this week, right?  The dryer wasn’t left on, was it?  You never like leaving it on while you’re gone (just in case).  The meeting at 11:30.  Did you prepare?  You’ve got ample prep time, so you should be fine.  Whew, it’s been a long day already and it’s not even lunch time.
 
Lunch brings with it a set of challenges all its own.  You heart desires the Southwest chicken sandwich, but you know that eating something with a kick to it will make the afternoon a chore.  After all, it’s hard to get any work done when you’re constantly taking breaks.  You get that sort of nausea with it, too.  So, it’ll be the salad and soup again for the millionth time – “Just make sure that there’s no garlic in it” you call to the waiter, all the while thinking in the back of your mind how annoying it is to have to be so picky when you like so many things.  It’d be nice to have a “cheater day” and vary up the diet a bit.  The 11:30 presentation took a lot out of you and a dull ache has settled in the back of your head.  You barely notice it; it’s par for the course, at this point.  As the day continues, the ache spreads.  The more that you are on your feet, the greater the difficulty that you experience.  You don’t work out anymore – it hurts you too much to do so – but at the end of every day, you feel like you just worked out for the first time in two years.  As abnormal as it is, it has become normal for you, but - unbeknownst to you – it makes you very difficult to be around.  By dinner time, the day has worn you out and your patience has been reduced to nil.  Those close to you just assume that “it’s who you are, now” since the doctors said everything was normal.  You long since quit trying to find out why you feel and act the way that you do.  You guess that it’s just what getting older is like. 
You’ve become a human doing instead of a human being.  You exist more so than live.  Like the movie Groundhog Day, in which Bill Murray awakes to the same February morning repeatedly, life has become an endless loop of days you’re just getting through.  
 
I’ve met so many people in my career that would relate to the above.  I know that I sure relate to it.  That was me.  Upper Cervical Care gave me my life back and it took years of self reflection to find out when I actually lost it, ultimately realizing that it was gradual and cumulative.  By the time that I learned about Upper Cervical, I had developed a quiet assumption that I was never going to get better and had begun going through the motions of living.  Your level of health simply doesn’t always reflect what it says on some lab test.  Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to have the bar raised for what I should expect from my life.  I sincerely hope that you are allowing us to help you raise that bar for your life.  Too many of us think that scenarios similar to the above are OK.  They’re not.  We should all want more and go get more from life…and that begins with your health.  
 
The Power of Upper Cervical documentary presentation – Tuesday, June 17^th at 6:30PM
 
“You people will know…soon” states Dr. Drew Hall in the final line of Storyville Studios acclaimed documentary, The Power of Upper Cervical.  The fact of the matter is that most people don’t know about Upper Cervical Care.  This documentary is an excellent way for the uninformed to become informed.  Across the board, our collective health is suffering because we simply don’t understand the basics for what it takes to be healthy.  Like one of the patients in the movie says, “I didn’t know. I didn’t know any different.”  This film will teach you and your loved ones the “difference” that Upper Cervical Care can make.  Please join us!  Seating is limited, so please RSVP via email or by calling the office.  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH711pGGXiI
 
Thinking good things for all of you,

Dr. Chad

Why is There Not More Research on Upper Cervical Care?

Many patients have previously asked - and many others have likely thought about it – “Why isn’t there more research out there about Upper Cervical Care?”

The answer to that question was, perhaps, best exemplified in a recent email that updated me about the progress of a study, which I donated money to about three months ago.
 
A little bit of background information before I continue: for the last several years, there has been a lot of research conducted in tandem between Upper Cervical Practitioners and Medical Doctors in Italy where Upper Cervical Care was given the wings of several Italian hospitals.  This is not unprecedented, as these types of joint tasks have occurred here in the United States, but suffice to say that a lot more research has been going on over in Italy where the system is better built to help patients find the root causes of their respective health problems.  Here in the States, there is a lot more bias toward the term “chiropractic,” creating a barrier between the paradigms which can often be difficult to overcome.  In Italy, this is less of a problem, in part because the Italian version of the AMA, as I understand it, does not view Upper Cervical Care and Chiropractic as the same entity.  Though groundbreaking discoveries are achieved in the USA when the two professions are able to collaborate -- such as in the University of Chicago Medical Center study that determined Upper Cervical Care is more effective than two blood pressure lowering medications! -- it has proven easier for more research to occur, with less hassle, overseas than in the US.

So, over in Italy about five years ago, the UC DCs and MDs combined to study whether the brainstem subluxation (misalignment of one of the top two vertebrae in the spine, to the point that the brainstem which rests within those bones is compromised) is one of the causes of Multiple Sclerosis, by using functional MRI to better assess the area.  Other forms of imaging have long-since established the neurological consequences of a foundational shift where the head and the neck meet, but the scientific community prefers the functional MRI.  That being stated, the brainstem subluxation was found to be a common link amongst M.S. patients in the Italian study.  Furthermore, it was found that not only was there a correlation, but that there a causative relationship; in fact, the brainstem subluxation was determined to be one of the four primary causes of M.S.  Powerful information, and game-changing for the scientific community.  For an Upper Cervical Practitioner, this study merely confirmed what we already knew, but as this information becomes scientifically solidified, it will begin to reach the public; and when it reaches the public, the manner in which M.S. and related conditions are handled is going to change… a much needed change.
 
The problem is that research – and this goes back to the question asked in the beginning – requires a lot of money.  The M.S. study in Italy ran out of it.  I happened upon this unfortunate fact on Facebook, of all places.  One of my colleagues posted a link asking for help in raising the remaining funds necessary to complete the study.  I made a donation.  Several months and tens of thousands of dollars later (from mostly UC docs and patient advocates), there still is not enough money to finish it.  Medical schools in the United States receive research grants provided by huge corporations with a vested interest in the results.  At least one pain medication earned well over a billion dollars in 2013.  As compared to the research described above, there is an endless funnel of money pouring into the studies on how to “treat” disease and infirmity, but a study that seeks the cause of such disease and infirmity gets stonewalled by too few dollars and cents.
 
Research in the Upper Cervical world does get done, but because we, the practitioners, essentially have to fund it on our own, it takes a lot longer.  Greater resources would lead to faster speed of completion, which would mean faster publication of results, which would make it faster and easier for the public to acquire access to that knowledge which the research concludes.  I once had a patient who asked me to verify the comments that I had made about another autoimmune disease.  I said, “I believe that if we can find out why your immune system is attacking your body, then we can do more than treat your diagnosis – we can put you in position to truly overcome.”  This patient abruptly quit receiving Upper Cervical care, because we could not provide him with the double blind, randomly controlled trials to back up such a statement.  No amount of philosophical discussion about the Law of Life that governs what we do as Upper Cervical Practitioners could knock down the mental barricade constructed by years of medical theories validated by research (but then, often, disproved by further research).  It took me 5 months to find the research for him; it now sits on my office’s educational wall.  Unfortunately, that patient left one month prior.
 
Upper Cervical has grown leaps and bounds in the last decade.  The relationship established with the Italian MDs has been a great one.  They literally said, “Upper Cervical Care makes all the sense in the world.  It is logical and reasonable.  We want to help you prove it scientifically.”  Good things are in the works, ladies and gentlemen.  For now, though, we, as doctors and patients, as well as the research community, simply have to be patient.  Money grows on trees if you want to spend hours in a lab trying to “cure” cancer, but it’s hard to find the location of those trees if your aim is to prove what causes it.
 
Thinking good things for you,

-Dr. Chad

PS - If, in reading this article, you find yourself inclined to learn more about Upper Cervical research and/or how you can contribute to it, visit http://www.ucrf.org/

Choices Today That Affect Tomorrow

Recently, a patient asked me, “With all the advances in technology and years spent studying certain body parts, don’t you think they’d have figured out by now how to do something about (X, Y, and Z conditions/diseases)?”  My response was fueled by an article that I had read the day before – the published results of a 75 year study conducted through Harvard University.  I replied, “I think that we can pour a ton of resources into better understanding these various conditions, but until the research stops being all about finding ways to treat these problems once they have already developed, we’re unlikely to find the cures.  The future of health science – when all the major advances will come – will begin the moment that our society recognizes the futility in trying treat disease when nearly every disease is preventable.  Once we focus on preventing sickness and disease, the research is going to make people look back at the currently modern era of USA healthcare and roll their eyes.”

It goes back to age old adage about “an apple a day will keep the doctor away.”  If you make smart choices today, then you’re going to benefit from them tomorrow.  Part of the curse of the instant gratification mindset toward modern medicine is that it often does not eye the future.  Short-term gains using that model rarely result in long-term successes.  The aforementioned Harvard study has compiled three quarters of a century’s worth of data to prove it.  Back in 1938, a team of researchers gathered several hundred undergraduate students and enlisted them for a lifelong project designed to answer that which all of us are concerned about: what makes people happy?  I found it unsurprising that many of the suggested keys to life were grounded in good health – nor was I surprised to find that good health was largely shaped, according to the research, by the choices that were made early in life.  Hereditary factors were not disregarded, just as we at the office do not disregard them, but the conclusions drawn are quite firm in their observations that the family tree had far less to do with health in the long-term than did more controllable factors.  When smart choices were made in adulthood, for instance, there was a far better outcome in overall health in the elderly years. 

This would seem like common sense if we thought about it more often.  Choose to eat organic and drink the recommended consumption of water per day in your 30s or 40s and the odds are statistically and significantly stronger that you’re going to not just outlive your peers that do not maintain those habits, but that you will also maintain a far greater quality of life.  It is time that we all collectively begin to make the connection between lousy food and a lack of health the way that we do cigarettes or alcohol.  Just as overconsumption of alcohol, which is quite common, and the use of nicotine products are associated with health conditions such as liver disease, lung cancer, depression, and other neuroses, the same can be said of processed foods.  At the end of the day, debate the specific dangers all you want, but the common denominator amongst them is chemicals.  If you put chemicals into your body – and especially if you bombard your body with chemicals like those that drink multiple sodas per day – then you’re setting yourself up for failure.  If the quality of the foods that you eat is not up to par and then you, additionally, do not adequately keep yourself hydrated with water (preferably filtered via reverse osmosis), you are basically sending an open invitation to become (or remain) sickly.  Water filters the toxins out of our bodies.  In regards to lousy foods, it helps take the chemical waste to the kidneys to the bladder to be eliminated from the body.  Soda, Gatorade, coffee, and tea do not as effectively produce this vitally important result. 

One of the common myths about eating organic food or drinking high quality water is that it costs more.  Ditto for the idea that doing things to improve your health that are not covered by your medical insurance cost you more.  In the long run, that is not true.  Maybe – and it’s a big maybe, honestly (a big part of the myth) – they might cost more on the front end, but these are the things that take your body from a toxic, broken down invitation for sickness and disease and make you a healthier version of yourself protected against the onset of the 14,900 diagnoses that can be billed by your providers.  Ultimately, that SAVES you money.  It’s far more cost effective to maintain a car rather than wait for it to break down.  The same goes for your body.  It just makes sense to put constructive things into your body.  If you’re not doing that right now, then start doing that right now.  There’s no time like the present – your future depends on it.  

Other common sense additions to your healthcare quest are structural balance, normal function, and a good attitude.  Bodies that aren’t balanced break down instead of wear down.  Organs that fail to receive proper communication from the brain work abnormally instead of normally.  Bad attitudes equate to more stress and all the muck that comes with it.  So, start forming better habits across the board.  You only get one body. 

Thinking good things for you,

-Dr. Chad

Intervention vs. Non-Interference

(Dr. Chad Note – This month’s newsletter was inspired by a message delivered by Dr. Robert Brooks in “The Power of Upper Cervical” documentary)

Have you ever been in a situation where you saw someone that you loved spiraling out of control?  Maybe it was one of your children when their grades started slipping or your spouse when he/she seemed to be frequently coming home from work acting as if it that day had been the worst in a series of horrible days in succession.  Maybe it was your college roommate going out every night and getting into a habit of addiction.  Do you recall when it was that you deemed it necessary to intervene?

It was a slippery slope, was it not?  Intervening in someone’s life should be a process of careful, calculated decisions.  You have to know when the right time to do it is.  At the wrong time, the “OK, look at what you’re doing to yourself” talk where you simultaneously offer your help might actually make matters worse.  Often, we choose a role of non-interference instead.  Non-interference ranges from stepping back and hoping that the person will recognize the area of his/her life that needs changing or subtly hinting in such a way that gets them thinking about it.  Intervention is a last resort.  Non-interference the preferred, first option. 

In modern healthcare, “when and when not to intervene” is a rare discussion.  More often than not, patients are categorized into a series of diagnoses for their various ailments and an intervention is offered.  While there is care taken to not misdiagnose, the evidence suggests that very little mind is paid to determining whether or not an intervention is necessary.  Go to the doctor with a chief complaint of pain, for instance, and you will likely receive one of many potential prescriptions for analgesics (painkillers), with often just the most serious/catastrophic reasons for pain ruled out in the “fact finding” process that leads to your trip to the pharmacy.  As a result, Americans consume 80% of the drugs produced worldwide.  In the vast majority of cases, health problems can be resolved through methods that adhere to the same principles of “non-interference” described in the life scenarios above.  If you have pain because your hips are out of balance, it is a signal alerting you to the fact that something needs to change (i.e. getting your hips rebalanced).  A foundational shift where the head and the neck converge around the brainstem causes a structural adaptation in the hips.  Identifying the fundamental discrepancy in physical health and making the specific correction necessary to return the body back to normal is more a case of, as Dr. Robert Brooks states in “The Power of Upper Cervical” documentary, “finding what’s wrong in my life and getting that out of my life” (non-interference). 

As my colleague, Dr. Tom Forest, states in the same documentary, “I wouldn’t go the dentist (for an invasive procedure) without Novocain.”  That would be an obvious example of when an intervention is necessary.  Failure to numb the mouth when a cavity is being filled would extremely painful and not worth the emotional turmoil, one could argue.  Most health related problems, though, are simple deficiencies in one or multiple areas that can be overcome through a non-interference-based approach.  Diagnosed with high blood pressure?  Your heart is working too hard, so find out what is causing it to work harder than necessary and remove it.  Intervening with a blood pressure lowering drug merely slows down the heart; it does not change the fact that your brainstem (which regulates your heart) may be pressured by the same foundational misalignment that caused your hips to be out of balance, creating for disruption of the signals down to your heart that govern your heart’s ability to function normally; nor does it change the fact that you might be too sedentary and/or eating poorly to cause you to gain weight and prompt your heart to have to pump more blood through your body.   

Too much intervention and not enough non-interference has been the primary culprit in the United States ranking 40^th out of 40 amongst industrialized countries in the world in health statistics.  It is time to revisit the manner in which we make choices.  Far more scrutiny need be used.  As is frequently the case in life situations, intervention before the time has truly come to intervene can be a major setback in progressing toward the ultimate objective – and, it comes to health, the objective is to be well.  As of now, we’re being told to intervene at every sign of discord in the human body.  With deaths, hospitalizations, and the like from adverse reactions / side effects of medications and surgical errors at an all-time high, it is time to scrap the current model and build a new one from the ground up that deemphasizes medical interventions and stresses the importance of non-interference (getting things out of your life that stand in the way of health).   

Thinking good things for you,

-Dr. Chad