"The only real education comes from what goes counter to you."

Andre Gide

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April 2001

Welcome to April! Get out and enjoy the great outdoors. 

Contents

1. "Doc, I'm feeling good, I'm taking a break from care for a while."
2. Question of the Month
3. Health News
4. Office Happenings

"Doc, I'm feeling good, I'm taking a break from care for a while."

This is a phrase I hear occasionally as a patient's symptoms have subsided. It's great that we have given people relief from some painful and inconvenient circumstances. There is more that chiropractic has to offer you and I you find yourself thinking that, I haven’t done my job communicating that to you. It is my responsibility to broaden your understanding of the benefits of regular, consistent chiropractic care. 

Chiropractors deal with the spine, but most importantly we can improve how well your nervous system works. Your nervous system connects the mind to body by being the relay system for the intelligent messages between the two. The spine can be a great help or it can hinder how well the connection is made. If that communication is off because the spine is out of balance, it is not something you notice right away. 

Most of your nervous system, about 89%, has nothing to do with reporting back to you about pain or symptoms. These parts run some pretty important things like your organs, immune system and muscles. Only a small portion, around 11%, provides you with sensory information (pain, etc.) from these areas. So to judge your overall health and performance by how you feel is not accurate. 

By keeping the spine balanced, there is less tension on the nervous system. This gives you the opportunity to do everything you do better. It is like that BASF commercial, but it would go something like this, "We don't make the body, we make the body do better." How long would you like to be well connected and have the opportunity to be your best? Forever I hope. 

You can choose chiropractic as a treatment of pain and symptoms or you can use it as part of a healthy lifestyle. If you eat well, exercise or drink adequate amounts of water to be healthy, when do you stop doing those things? Do you say to yourself once you get in shape, "I'm feeling pretty good since I have been exercising and eating well, I think I will stop so I can be unhealthy again?" Consider chiropractic care in the same context. 
There is only one way to coast when it comes to your health and that is downhill.

Question of the Month

What do chiropractors treat?

Chiropractic is not a cure or treatment of any particular disease or condition but improves the body’s ability to heal, guide and direct itself. The purpose of chiropractic care is to improve the function of your spine, which reduces the interference on the nervous system. When that interference is removed, called a subluxation, the body operates more efficiently. Inner wisdom or intelligence of the body is then better expressed. This impacts all areas of health and improves your quality of life. Although a number of specific conditions respond well to chiropractic care, the body simply works better with a healthy spine and nervous system. Get your spine checked today for a healthier tomorrow. 

Health News

Health-care Spending Predicted to Double by 2010

The report comes from the U.S. but judging from what is going on politically here, I see us following suit. This article can be referenced at the following: www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500462500-500705444-503858639-0,00.html

What wasn't brought up in the last election was why we continue to re-invest in a system that does not improve our health. It was determined that it wasn't working in the early 90's and now we are pouring money back into that same system. If it was failing to improve our health before, having a bigger, more expensive variety isn't going to change the outcome. It is designed to be there in a crisis and helps you with disease but it doesn't restore and promote health. It’s time we redefine what health is and move away from treating health by going from crisis to crisis.

FDA Probes New Worry About Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Overdose

Another report from the U.S. but applies here as well. Covering pain and symptoms with Tylenol and other pain-relievers and thinking that is a harmless thing to do has great risks. See story: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/03/27/acetaminophen.worry.ap/index.html. It was also in the Red Deer Advocate on April 3.

The report says that people think that the pain-relievers "must be safe and they take it like M & M's" because they are non-prescription. Consider what the body may be trying to tell us rather than automatically covering symptoms we might experience. Consider the dangers of treating symptoms as your primary means of "health care".

Office Happenings

1. Congratulations to Edna Kroetsch, a patient who has made very specific changes in her health, fitness and well being. As a result of those changes, she won a contest at her local fitness center as having made the greatest improvements over a 12 week period. Well done Edna!

2. An article that Dr. Stacy wrote is being featured in the online health magazine called BodyMindSpirit. The magazine, based in Saskatchewan, serves all of Western Canada. It can be view at http://www.saskworld.com/bodymindspirit. Under the article section, click on the article with his name below it.

3. Contact by e-mail. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have a health question or concern. I check my e-mail twice daily and if that is more convenient for you, please do so. I can be reached at docstacy@home.com. 

4. Our 24 Hour Relay Team. This event is rapidly approaching. Again, we are looking for volunteers to walk, run or just move for one hour of the twenty four on June 23 and 24. If you raise some pledge money for the time you are participating, it goes to supporting the youth of our community. You can win prizes, have fun and be part of something good for the community. Contact the office, 340-0278 or chasusan@home.com , for more details. 

5. Science Festival comes to the office. Join us on Saturday, May 5 in the office as we are a part of the Science Festival. We will be demonstrating the computer scans as part of how we apply technology in the office. Bring your kids and have a screening performed on them.

6. Congratulations to Desiree Radcliffe on the birth of her son, Braedon Gerald and to Tanya Robertson on the birth of her daughter, Hope Louise. All the best!