The REAL Meaning of being Healthy

After seeing the fear in the eye's of the breeder, who's 7 week old puppy I had just adjusted when I said to her that her puppy was not as healthy as it could be as a result of the misalignments she had of her cranial bones, upper neck and mid back vertebra.   At first I didn't understand the breeder's reaction.  Yes, misalignments have a huge impact on the functioning of the entire nervous system.  And, since the nervous system controls every other system in the body  (digestive, immune, endocrine....) the effects of misalignments are far reaching and potentially cumulative.  

 What I did not realize is that her definition of HEALTH or HEALTHY meant absence of disease.  So,  if I say her puppy is not as healthy as it could be, she thinks it is sick.   What has our media done to us to make us think that health is a just an absence of disease or symptoms.  That is not true at all.!!!!!

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and emotional well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  (WHO definition)

When I got home I called my client to further explain the concept of health and it's relationship to her adorable puppy.  

Let me put it this way.  Our society, media, medical establishments, and drug companies bombard us with ads that convey the message that if you have a symptom you are unhealthy.  Thus you must take something to get rid of the symptom.  WRONG and UNTRUE for many instances.  

Let's look at a fever.  A presence of a fever is :

1) a proper response of the immune system to attempt to burnout/cook/kill a virus or bacteria.  

2) it is evidence that the immune system is surmounting an army of t cells, and antibodies to fight the             invader.

If we take medicine to lower the fever we are in essence dampening our own bodies ability to fight off the invader.  It is like taking away the bullets from a gun and expecting the gun to fire.  Sure there are times when a fever is detrimental when it goes too high and can cause damage to sensitive body organs and must be addressed.

Let's look at coughing.   Which lately is looked down upon but a very necessary function of the body for many reasons.

1) shows us that we have properly functioning cilia (little hairs) in our bronchioles (tubes) in the airways and lungs that can feel particles that should not be there and is trying to get them out!!!

2) it also causes vibrations that  in turn help loosen any debris in the airways and lungs to help it make it 's way out or give better access to the immune system to attack it. 

If we didn't cough our lungs would be filled with large amounts of dust, pollen, animal dander, viruses and bacteria just to name a few that would eventually clog them up and cause serious health issues.  Coughing is a sign our bodies are working perfectly.

So,  now you can see how my client's views of health and mine are so drastically different. 

I realize just how important is was the I took the time to explain that misalignments, especially as a puppy, can affect the entire body setting them up for less than optimum health for the rest of their life.   Because the cells of a puppy are so rapidly dividing the stress of the misalignments could affect the expression of the DNA thus influencing how all the cells of the body would mature and function.

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The Effects of Stress on the Immune System

Knowledge and understanding are important to help us make educated and informed decisions regarding ourselves and our animal's health.

https://youtu.be/qUaHzvpZJDk 

 

In these crazy times, I don't now about you, but, I am looking for joy thru my animals. When I take Spike, my 10 yr old Alaskan Husky, out for out jaunts thru the state park and I see his ears perk up, his tail wagging as he gets excited about the prospects of tracking a new bunny or he catches the smell of something interesting in the breeze - This brings me joy!!!!  To see Spike fully engaged in the moment with his entire being, not having a care in the world or about the rest of the world happenings is beautiful and inspiring. 

For many of us the activities that we were previously engaging in with our dogs are either no longer happening or they are occurring with restrictions and in atmospheres surrounded by caution and rooted in fear.

As a result,  not as many opiates are being produced in our brains to make us feel good.  We are not smiling as much which also impacts our brain chemistry.  In a nut shell, we are experiencing decreased fun, decreased joy, decreased smiling, leading to decreased opiates, decreased serotonin, and decreased dopamine.  This directly leads to feelings of depression, sadness, and just blah......

The scary part in all of this, is that it negatively effects our immune systems!!!!!

Did you know that we have opiate receptors on our white blood cells that are very important for keeping our immune system healthy and functioning at peak performance.  When we are experiencing the blah's it will directly lower the opiate levels in our brains and immune systems.  This is the work of Candice Pert PhD, who wrote the book "Molecules of Emotions"  in 1999.

Let's look at some of these chemicals and learn what they are,  what they do and how can we increase them in our body and brain.

Serotonin is a very important neurotransmitter  (nervous system communicator) in the brain and body that is believed to help regulate mood, social behavior, digestion bowel movements, sleep, memory, sexual desire and function.  Serotonin is the key hormone that helps give us the feeling of well being and happiness.

Dopamine is a messenger molecule that plays an important role in the brain for executive function (putting things in order), motor control, attention, motivation, arousal, reinforcement and reward.  Your dog understands this one because every time he/she does something positive they are rewarded with a treat and their dopamine levels go up.  No wonder our animals are happy and smiling at us all the time. Wouldn't it be nice if someone gave us a treat every time we did something good?  The world would sure be a more positive place.  Well, are animals do give us a treat and help raise our dopamine levels because when they are happy we are happy.  Wow, so every time my dog goes out to the bathroom and comes back in and I give him a treat in fact I too am raising my dopamine levels.  Humm..... I see more trips outside to pee are in everyone's future.

Opiates are the molecules that are produced in the brain as a result of exercise.  We all have heard of the saying "runner's high".  I am sure you have experienced aches and pains yet, after exercise, an exciting situation or even a dog class you forget about those aches and pains .  Where did they go?  Well,  this happens because your body /brain was enjoying your activity and produced natural pain killers called endorphins that blocked the pain receptors and miraculously - no pain.  Additionally, these opiate molecules are found on white blood cells (WBC).   This very important because opiates bind to the WBC  and help your immune system function better.  Amazing!!!!!

So,  how might we go about elevating these various neurotransmitters in our bodies naturally -  simply by engaging in activities that make us smile/happy.  Whether it is playing ball with your dog in the back yard,  watching your dog enjoy life to the fullest, weeding your garden, taking a walk,  listening to the birds,  cleaning your closet.........  Give yourself a pat on the back for just getting up in the morning and feel your mood go up.

Heck,  we give our dogs treats for going outside and peeing.  Why not give ourselves a treat/pat on the back.  A treat or pat on the back goes a long way in helping our dogs and us feel better.

Please find something or make something happen in your life everyday that will make you smile and bring joy which will directly increase your serotonin, dopamine and opiate levels thus improving  your mental outlook, immune system and reduce pain.

My next post will be a 4 part video series titled "Making Lemonade out of Lemons".  It is inspired by my clients who shared with me their struggles around losing many of the things they enjoy doing in life either because they have been cancelled or the way in which they must now participate is surrounded by precautions, restrictions and at the root of it all fear. 

Here are a few of the topic to be discussed:
🔹The effects of stress/fear on the immune system, brain and body.
🔹Ways  you can improve your health to avoid getting sick.
🔹Exercises for the 2 legged to improve balance, stability, agility and eye - hand coordination so you will be better prepared than you were,  to return to your activities.  As a bonus these exercises will also help keep away dementia.

Sweetgum Tree used to treat Flu, MRSA, H1N1/Swine Flu......

Sweetgum seeds pods

Many years ago I was fortunate to be invited to a few meetings of the Anthroposophic Medicine group outside of philadelphia.  I found it very fascinating that they looked at many aspects of a person to determine what part of the person is out of balance.  Then they looked at things in nature and how they compared to the person's personality, structure, dis-ease process to determine the best remedy to help restore health in that person.  Here is an excerpt from the IVAA's website regarding Anthroposophic medicine:

"Anthroposophic medicine is an integrative approach to treatment that extends and enhances health outcomes by looking outside of isolated symptoms towards a more holistic conception of health. This conception includes physical, psychological and spiritual health, as well as the impact of a person's environment and social context.

Anthroposophic medicine focuses on how to keep people healthy rather than on why they fall ill; this is called the "salutogenic" approach.

The anthroposophic medical approach is designed to complement conventional medicine. Anthroposophic medical doctors are qualified physicians who have received additional training to integrate anthroposophic medicine into their conventional practices.

Developed in the 1920s by Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner and Dutch physician Ita Wegman, anthroposophic medicine sought to expand the materialistic understanding of health and disease.

In the view of anthroposophic medicine, human health depends on the physical body; processes covering vitality and regeneration called 'etheric organization' or life forces; the emotional and instinctual part of the human being, called 'astral organization' or soul forces; and finally the capacity for thinking, individuality and sense of self, called 'I-organization'. In other words, anthroposophic medical practitioners see the condition of a person's physical body as only one element of health; the condition of a person's self-healing capacity, soul, and spirit are equally important."

So,  why am I writing about this now?  Well,  it all began the other night when I was thinking, that  usually a treatment exists in nature for illnesses.  A simple example is White Willow Bark which contains Salicylic Acid and is used to lower prostaglandins to reduce inflammation. It is the active ingredient in common day aspirin.  Interestingly enough,  this scenario exists for many plants and trees.    I began to look around to see what might "look like"  Covid-19 and could possibly help slow its ability to replicate in our bodies.   I was out on a walk with my dog Spike and I looked down and there they were - those annoying Prickly Balls on the ground.  As he and I attempted to navigate around them so he didn't hurt his feet, the thought came to me.  Hey!!!!  Prickly Balls look like Covid-19 virus.  That is what led me to thinking about anthroposophic medicine.  When I came home I began to research what tree those prickly balls come from and if there was any known benefit from the tree or it's annoying seeds.   Low and behold, Native Americans have been using the sap to seal barrels, make chewing gum and they make a tincture out of the prickly balls that is effective against the flu and some GI illnesses.  I researched a little more and found that the NIH has done a study on the medicinal benefits of Sweetgum Tree.  

The article is fascinating.  Sweetgum has been proven to effectively treat H1N1/Swine Flu, Flu, MRSA, fungal infections,  anticancer properties and so much more.  The active ingredient in Sweetgum seeds contain the same active ingredient ,Shikimic Acid, as found in Tamiflu. Chinese Star Anise is also known to contain some of the same properties as Sweetgum. 

Here is the link to the NIH study.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4441155/

Here is excerpt from the above publication:

"Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum come from storax as well as essential oils extracted from the leaves. Storax, also referred to as styrax, is produced by damaging the outer bark of sweetgum trees. When the tree is wounded, the inner bark produces a balsam. Boiling the inner bark in water effectively removes the balsam and produces storax. Storax produced from L. orientalis, or Turkish sweetgum, is referred to as Asian storax while storax derived from L. styraciflua is called American storax. Storax has medicinal uses dating back to the Aztec Empire during the Paleo-Indian Period (ca. 10,000-7000 BC). The ancient Aztecs collected the boiled down, grayish-brown, sticky, opaque liquid and used it as a treatment for skin infections and other ailments.[1] Native Americans also used storax for medicinal purposes, including controlling coughs and dysentery and treating sores and wounds.[7] In addition to storax, the sap of the sweetgum tree was burnt as incense or mixed with tobacco leaves as a sedative[1] as well as used in the making of soaps, cosmetics, fixatives in perfumes, adhesives, and lacquers. Recent references from organic websites have noted that the inner bark of sweetgum, boiled with milk, can relieve diarrhea, and oils from the leaves of sweetgum trees have antimicrobial properties against both bacteria and viruses.[8]"

I wonder if it will help slow down the ability of Covid-19 to dock on our cells and replicate?

I don't have an answer.  However, I have reached out to many areas of the health care industry and have not gotten a response.  Honestly, I don't expect to. I do feel that it is my duty as a doctor to attempt to share my thoughts in hopes this idea might be a viable resource.

In the mean time,  I and I hope you have a new found appreciation for the Sweetgum tree and it's prickly ball seed pods.  I know I will be making a tincture as soon at the green balls appear.  

Sweetgum Bark

Sweetgum Leaves

Why Can't My Dog Hear Me When He is Sniffing ?

The following is a presentation I made on the canine nose anatomy and mechanism of smell.  A dog's sense of smell can be as much as 100,000 times better than ours.  Their brains are bombarded with information with every sniff which activates the limbic area of the brain responsible for arousal, motivation, fears ......  So, no wonder they can't hear us when their brain is filled with overwhelming information coming from their environment.  This information can be neutral, positive or even signal danger.  When your dog suddenly will not continue in a direction when out for a walk  I am sure he knows something you don't.  Think about heading his warning. 

Power to heal

We are being bombarded by statistics and videos of horrible scenarios.  We are being told to isolate ourselves from family, loved ones, support networks.  We are being told that if we do these things we won't get sick.  What is sickness?   As a chiropractor, we believe that the body has the ability to heal itself. Health is not the absence of disease or symptoms.

There are a number of different definitions out there trying to define “health.” Here are two of those quotes that seem to approach the fullness of what chiropractic has been speaking about for so long.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” World Health Organization – Definition of Health

“Health is a dynamic tension towards physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony, and not only the absence of illness, which gives man the ability to fulfill the mission which has been entrusted to him, according to the state of life in which he finds himself.” The Vatican – Pope John Paul, Definition of Health

I wish that we could get the history of each of the people that have died from this virus so that we could examine what their diet was (or was not ) comprised of,  sleeping habits,  exercise (or lack there of),  amount of time they spent outside in a day or week,  life stresses,   genetic predispostions, medications and preexisting conditions known and unknown or ignored.  This would give us the real truth.

We know that a person's state of health is impart due to genetics, enviroment,  diet, and many other factors.

Everyday our bodies successfully ward off potential harmful bacteria, viruses, fungus, mold, parasites and other potential invaders.   Our amazing immune systems seamlessly identify, locate, isolate, destroy and discard of these unwanted intruders.  Sometimes we are aware of this process and most of the time we are not.  Fevers are our bodies way of destroying invaders.  Therefore fevers are not necessary a bad thing.  Fatigue can be telling us that our body is overextended maybe trying to fight off an intruder which is requiring more of the body's resources and we need to slow down to  allow this to happen.  A cough or sneeze is our body's way of trying to expel a foreign object whether that be a pathogen or simply pollen.  The point is that our bodies are designed to keep us healthy from invaders.  However,  we need to provide it with the correct amount of resources to do so.  We need to get enough good sleep,  fresh air,  sunshine, exercise,  stimulation,  rest, food/nutrients......  so it can do it's job.

This new virus is giving us all a reality check of where we are out of balance.

Fear and anxiety stimulate the sympathetic nervous system.  This system is designed to help us escape a short term danger like running from a Tiger that is chasing us.  It is not designed to be turned on every day.  If it is activated for long periods of time it causes unwanted and harmful changes in our bodies making us more susceptible to illness.  Continuous stress (fear, sadness, anxiety, mental, emotional)  causes our immune system to malfunction.  First it causes and increase in cortisol which is produced by the adrenal glands that will go to the pancreas resulting in insulin/sugar changes, digestion changes,   increased inflammation,  and lowered white blood cells which are needed to fight off infections and intruders.   In some people this can even lead to an over stimulated immune system that does not know when to turn off and it  produces too much inflammation and /or begins to attack certain cells of your body by mistake.

Please check out this video about alternate nostril breathing.  Alternate nostril breathing provides equal amounts of oxygen to both sides of the brain.  This helps to balance the brain and the autonomic nervous system which is made up of the sympathetic and parasympathetic.

Also,  check out an older blog post I wrote on Breathing by going to https://www.donnagigliotti.com//  and go down to the BLOG and click on Older Post Contents.

Many of those that have successfully overcome this new virus  have done so using nutrition, supplements,  exercise,  breathing,  and rest to name a few. 

We must go back to the basics of healthy living.  This is a wakeup call for us all.  The nervous system is at the front line of control so having a nervous system free of interferences (nerve pinch,  pain, stiffness,  irritation.....)  is very important.  Movement, breathing , and rest will help your body to correct itself when getting a chiropractic adjustment might not be possible.  All of these points also hold true for our 4 legged companions.