The prevention of disease seems to be quite the buzz these days. The public is beginning to exercise to prevent heart problems and cut down on cholesterol to prevent cardiovascular disease.
They are quitting their smoking habits to prevent cancer, and so on. Prevention of disease, however, perpetuates a very serious misconception concerning disease; that is that it has a single cause. If a lack of vitamin C were the cause of the common cold, taking vitamin C would prevent it.
While immune system resistance is helped by vitamin C, it also depends upon a number of factors. That is why three children in a family can all drink their orange juice and two will get a cold and one will not.
Resistance depends upon how well the body is working; how well it can utilize vitamin C, the amount of rest a person gets and, of course, the frequency of coming in contact with the virus or bacteria. These are all factors in how well or poorly it fights off the potential illness.
There are probably a dozen other factors as well, many of which we do not even know. And some, like genetics, we cannot control.
If exercise prevented heart attacks, people who exercise would never have a heart attack. There are people who smoke two packs of cigarettes a day for thirty years and do not get lung cancer. Conversely, there are people who never smoke a cigarette and die of lung cancer.
Here is the point. There is only one thing that is truly effective in preventing disease. That is staying healthy! The more things you do to promote your good health, the greater the likelihood of not ending up with a disease.
Exercise is important, but it is only one piece of the health picture. Vitamin C and all the other aspects of good nutrition are another piece.
Avoiding poisons like cigarette smoke is another. The more aspects of health you address, the greater your probability of being healthy; and the greater your chances of preventing disease. But ultimately it comes down to YOU, and YOU being accountable!
For those of you reading this article that have never been to a Chiropractor or simply went when “something hurt,” let me just give a very quick explanation of what we do.
Every tissue, cell, organ and process in your body is ultimately controlled by your brain and Nervous System. The brain sends messages (commands) down the spinal cord and out to nerves that travel all throughout your body (just like telephone wires branching across America).
Individual spinal bones called vertebrae protect the spinal cord and nerves. Due to causes such as slips and falls, car accidents, stress, poor posture, sitting at desks all day, etc. these vertebrae can become misaligned.
When this happens, the signals traveling from the brain to the other parts of the body become impaired resulting in less than optimal functioning and health of the body.
Chiropractors adjust (move) the vertebrae back to their normal positions that allows for better transmission of nerve messages throughout the body leading to better functioning and health.
Of course, maintaining the integrity of your nervous system is a vital part of health. That is where Chiropractic comes in. You must correct vertebral subluxations (misaligned vertebra of the spine causing spinal cord and spinal nerve stress) because they interfere with the proper functioning of the Nervous system.
Besides directly improving the nerve supply, the removing of subluxations also indirectly affects the other aspects of good health. If there is interference in your Nervous system, you may not be able to properly utilize the good nutrition or get the maximum benefits from exercise and rest.
Your body will be less resistant to the poisons you cannot help but be exposed to, like secondhand cigarette smoke. If you want to prevent disease, the proper attitude is not just doing certain things to prevent certain diseases.
That is a futile approach. There are just too many diseases. The proper approach is to do those things necessary to be healthy. Perhaps if everybody were doing everything necessary to promote and maintain health, we would not have to worry about preventing disease. That seems to be the most intelligent idea.
Answer these questions to yourself. 1) Is the body self-healing? (If you cut your finger does it heal? What if you cut a dead person’s finger?) 2. Is the body self-regulating? (Are you consciously thinking about replacing red blood cells? About regulating your heart rate?) 3. Is the Nervous system the master system controlling and regulating all these functions? 4. And what happens if we interfere with the master system?
Will the body function as well as it was designed to? Will it be as healthy as possible?
Dr. Howard Fleischer has been practicing in Culver City for 16 years, specializing in spinal correction and wellness care for children and adults. Voted Best Chiropractic office in Culver City four of the last five years by the Culver City Reader’s poll. If you would like to schedule a no out of pocket charge initial consultation and exam please feel free to call his office and mention that you saw this article in our paper. 310-398-0888
