October 2009 Archives

This is a recent Facebook post by a colleague of mine from Connecticut...I liked it a lot and feel the same way!  Read, enjoy and act!

"Here are the top ten dangerous thoughts about your health, and some considerations around those thoughts

1. Maybe it will go away.

Maybe it won't! But seriously folks. Have you ever walked into a home (maybe even yours!) and been greeted by the magnificent scent of fresh, homemade, apple pies baking in the oven? What a treat. You immediately recognize the aroma. After a while, however, your system acclimates to that sweet smell, and you are no longer aware of it. Has the aroma gone away, or have you just become used to it? Has your pain or problem really gone away, or has it become so much a part of you that you just do not even recognize it any more?

2. It comes and goes.

However, it comes back! Is this like a recurring nightmare? What's important here, is that it comes back, not that it goes away! Maybe the oil light on the dashboard of your car only comes on occasionally. Certainly, you know a problem is brewing. How long will you choose to ignore it?

3. It's not that bad.

Compared to what? If you have a toothache, how bad does it have to be before you get to a dentist? Do you know anyone who was told by their dentist that if they took care of their teeth, or came in earlier, it would have been preventable, or perhaps just a simple cavity? You let it go long enough, and you may need a root canal. Ignore your teeth long enough and you'll need new teeth. Ignore your spine & nervous system long enough and you are in serious trouble...remember it controls EVERYTHING!!!

4. It only hurts when I ...

This is analogous to having an alignment problem on the front end of your car. If you drive at 55, the front end wobbles. If you drive at 35, it doesn't. Does this suggest there is no problem with the front end? Here, too, let it go long enough and soon you'll not be able to drive over 15 without your front end wobbling, never mind all the other problems that show up (symptoms!)

5. I know what my problem is, it's ...

Most of the time, people describe their symptoms. "My problem is I have a backache, or a headache, a toothache." Great! So like the toothache, the symptom alerts you to the fact that there is an underlying problem. Let's wake up to the underlying cause of the problem, not the symptom. Depressing or numbing a symptom is like putting a piece of tape over the oil light or taking the battery out of the smoke detector.

6. I was told I have to live with it, so I do.

So, who told you you have to live with it? In my 16 years of practice, I have helped countless people who have been told they have to live with it. They felt that since they were told they would have to live with it, they indeed would. What they found, however, was after appropriate healthbased, honoring, specific chiropractic care, they were free to live without the "it!" Living with utmost health potential. The Asthma chld who no longer needs the inhaler. The colicky baby who can sleep through the night.The bedwetter who can have a playdate & sleepover. The grandma who no longer needs a walker.The spouse who is not a walking medicine cabinet, because they said it was in her head...the life changing stories go on!!

7. My doctor couldn't find anything wrong.

Has your doctor performed an in-depth, appropriate spinal screening, comparative thermal scan (measuring the temperature variation along your spine), or a surface EMG (to measure the comparative tension along your spine, which just happens to house the spinal cord, the master control system of the body)! If you hit a bump with your car and your car now shimmies and sways, would you take it to a body shop for an evaluation? They would find nothing wrong. (Unless the shimmy was so severe, you hit another car or a wall!) In my practice, I look at the alignment of your spine & nervous system to determine the underlying cause of your problems.

8. I've been this way for years, why change now?

Your body consistently regenerates. There is no time like the present to begin to lead a healthier, freer, more flexible life. Your body is a self-regulating, self-healing, self-regenerating system. Remove interference, and you have no choice but to heal!

9. I don't want to know!

Denial is as great a killer as anything else is. Back to the tooth analogy. How long would you choose to deny there is a problem with your tooth before you have to be strapped into the dentist chair? Honor yourself, take care of yourself.

10. It's because of my age!

I love this one! Many years ago, my father was told that the arthritis in his right knee was because of his age. He calmly asked the doctor, "So doc, how much older is my right knee than my left?" ( I told him to ask that!!) Please, give me a break. How many people older than you do not have what you have that you have been told, "It's because of your age?" This is a great excuse not to take care of yourself.

Take your power back. If you do what you've always done, see the doctors you've always seen, you'll get what you've always gotten. You are the only one who can take the responsibility of taking care of you -- do it!

Pass this along to those you know need to read this!! You know there are plenty of them."

Dr. Luigi

Come to find out this past week that a local, very large company will be increasing the cost of health insurance to their smoking employees more than $600 per year above what the non smoking employees will be charged.  How they will enforce this I can't figure unless they will be putting in secret video cameras or something of the sort.

A sign of things to come for all of us?  At one point, I grilled a disability insurance agent about their ability to find out about the health status of people-especially regarding the results of advertised "confidential" testing.  I was assured that this company had the ability to find out pretty near anything it wanted...left a bad taste in my mouth.

Let me shamelessly promote health.  Starting November 1 we will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Northeastern NY Regional Food Bank-bring in $50 worth of food and receive a consultation, health history review and a computerized nervous system stress test.  Do something good and get something to make you good-win, win.

Then, starting just after Thanksgiving, we begin collecting hats, mittens, gloves and scarves for children in need.  We call this Dress A Tree/Dress A Child and we have done it for 10 years in Guilderland.  Donations go to the rescue missions of Schenectady and Albany-the person with the largest gift (tons o' scarves) gets a special gift from AAC Family Wellness.

Our passion is to help people get and stay well.  Be a part of it this holiday season!

Many of you have seen this bumper sticker:  "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."  I'm fairly certain that it has something to do with politics, but I thought of it again today when I comtemplated my involvement in health care.  Here's how I apply this particular bumper sticker...

We spend the most amount of money on healthcare, yet don't even reach the top 10 as far as overall health of a country.

One in four children in New York are obese.

2 out of 3 people are taking more than one prescription medication per day. Averages for the elderly approach 15 different medications in a day.

Doctors are regularly prescribing psychotropic drugs to children under the age of 5 for behavioral disorders.

Every year the flu shot fails to influence the mortality rate of susceptible populations while the manufacturers make billions on the population's fear.

More women will declare "Early detection!" and "Save the Ta-Tas!" and "Until there is a cure!", but will not spend one second wondering WHY we are getting more breast cancer and at a younger age.

Medical procedures and malpractice is the number one reason why people are dying in this country.

Americans don't sleep enough and often can't.

The economy goes down and the profits for McDonald's go up.

Pharmaceutical companies spend billions marketing drugs to consumers...and doctors.

Medical insurance companies are "for profit."

Our average age of mortality is 77.

Your health is a marketplace-spend your dollars wisely and with an educated mind.  Your health is sacred-you only get one body in this lifetime-there is no way around a good diet and regular exercise.  Spend some time learning how to keep it healthy and then spend the time (and out of pocket money) required to do so.  Know that medications are only a stop gap and often cause great damage to the body.  Know that heart disease and cancers are lifestyle diseases-you have a great deal of control in whether you create these diseases or not.

There is a new book out called "Anti-Cancer."  It is written by a medical doctor who had brain cancer and went into remission.  He asked his doctors if there were lifestyle changes he could make to support his health and they had nothing to say.  Luckily, he has lots to say about lifestyle and cancer.

 

 

Define balance.  Merriam Webster has 9 different meanings for the noun and another 6 entries for its use as a verb.  Balance from the health perspective also has several meanings.

We can talk about the particular definition of "physical equilibrium".  Of a person who loses their balance due to vertigo or neurological imbalance or painful extremity or low blood pressure (and the list goes on).  A loss of balance in this sense equates with some serious dis-ease in the human body.

"A means of judging or deciding."  How often do we think about a food choice, our entertainment, a walk, a spinal adjustment or taking a drug and really examine the impact of such on our overall health balance?  Not enough, perhaps.

"Mental and emotional steadiness."  Do you have peace?  Think long and hard about this particular item regarding your health.  A lack of mental clarity and peace becomes physiological processes in our bodies which can build your body up or tear it down.

"An aesthetically pleasing integration of elements."  Although I will use this out of context, I like how it sounds.  Realize that when it comes to your health, a lack of balance takes away your health, your life.  Working toward balance not only gives you health, it gives you happiness and peace in life.

*Think Well-Your guide to achieving balance in your mind-will be presented by Dr. Michael Quartararo in our Guilderland office on October 13th and in our Ballston Spa office on October 14th both at 7pm.  Please join us!  For more information visit our website www.aacfamilywellness.com.

Haven't we all felt this at some point or another?  A sense of not being able to get anything going.  Of not really having a lot to say even though there are a million things going on in the world at any given time much of it worthy of at least a comment.  Here's how I'm choosing to look at this today...

...a calm in the storm.  The outside world is chaotic and hectic at times.  To find some peace amidst the hubbub is bliss.  Some words of how to do this:

Exercise, breathe, find some time alone even if it is just 15 minutes per day, and dare I say?  Avoid the news! 

*"THINK WELL" a presentation by Dr. Michael Quartararo will be held in our Guilderland office on October 13th and in our Ballston Spa office on October 14th.  Both presentations will begin at 7pm.  If you'd like to attend, contact us via our website:  www.aacfamilywellness.com.