“There is no use trying,” said Alice; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.  “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day.  Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – Lewis Carroll.

I never came upon any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking. –  Albert Einstein

Happy Holy Days!!!  May your light shine forth and reveal the illumination within your soul to your loved ones, your community and to the world.  May we all strive to heal each other and repair the world and hasten peace, joy, hope, health, healing and growth. And of course, thank you for honoring us by entrusting your health to our care. 

Keep your Spine Free of Subluxations for Healthier and Happier Holidays

Chiropractors spend thousands of hours learning how to locate and correct vertebral subluxations, areas of severe stress, in your body.  Uncorrected vertebral subluxations weaken your spine, deform your ligaments, cartilage, spinal discs and vertebrae and unbalance and weaken your body structure.  This causes lack of energy and vitality, chronic fatigue and premature aging.

Because of life’s stresses (birth trauma, accidents, chemical stress and others) most people have uncorrected subluxations in their body, affecting their physical and mental health.

Enjoy the holidays – make sure you and your family are well adjusted.

Fight Winter Blues with Chiropractic

Improvement in depression with chiropractic. 15 adults who were clinically depressed and who were found to have an upper cervical subluxation were given chiropractic care in 3 private practice settings in the southern United States. Participants were administered the Beck  Depression Inventory II prior to care and post-care.

All patients showed a significant improvement in depression test scores after chiropractic care. (1)

Back Surgery? Try Chiropractic First

With over 50 million Americans suffering from low back pain, it’s the 2^nd leading workers’ compensation injury and the 2^nd leading cause of doctor visits.  From1993 to 2003 hospitalizations for back problems rose from 528,000 to 658,000 with nearly all being unnecessary.  Patients had spinal-fusion surgery (their spine will never be normal again), bone grafts, implanted rods and wires, injections and pain-killers which have a very high failure rate. 

Why do people go to hospitals for back problems when chiropractic is safer, much less costly and more effective? Please let those you know that the safe, drug-free, non-surgical chiropractic alternative may be literally around the corner.

Words of Wisdom

Life is merely a matter of perspective. For example…

Like most young boys, Timmy always dreamed of being a professional baseball player, playing in the World Series.  One day, he was in his backyard practicing.  One could hear him announcing: "World Series, game 7, two outs, bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, series tied...the home town fans are going wild".

Timmy throws the ball up in the air, quickly grabs the bat with both hands and takes a mighty cut, only to miss. “Strike one,” he says out loud, somewhat dejected.  He again throws the ball up in the air, takes another home run cut at the ball, only to miss again.  “Strike two,” he announces, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.  Again he launches the ball up in the air, grabs his bat, swings with all of his might and misses...strike three.  He hangs his head low, slowly walking away. Suddenly he breaks into a dance, hands held high in the air and announces to the crowd, "I am the greatest pitcher that ever lived".

Chiropractic and Spinal Research

Remember, a person with any health problem needs chiropractic. Feel free to forward these studies to others.

Spinal balance equals better health
The more balanced your spine, the healthier you are; the more unbalanced your spine, the sicker you are.  This was the finding in a study of 752 patients who were evaluated for spinal balance and health status.

The authors of the study found that health status was significantly poorer as spinal deviation off-center increased and the severity of symptoms increased as spinal imbalance increased. Chiropractic’s goal is to correct or adjust your subluxations, releasing deep stress and bringing you back to balance. (2)

Maintenance Care for the Spine Reduces Low Back Pain, Disability Levels
30 patients with chronic low back pain lasting 6 months or more were separated into two groups. The first group received 12 chiropractic adjustments over a one-month period, but no care for the subsequent 9 months. The 2^nd group also received 12 adjustments over a one-month period, along with “maintenance” adjustments every 3 weeks for the following 9 months.

Patients in both groups experienced significant decreases in low back pain scores after the initial care. However the “maintenance” patients’ disability scores were significantly lower after the 10-month period than before the initial care – an average of 16.6 points lower per patient. In the other group, “the mean disability scores went back to their pretreatment level.” (3)

Benefits of Breast-feeding

Breastfeeding is good for mothers as well as babies. Mothers who breast-feed have a lower risk of getting breast cancer and (4) breast-fed babies have a decreased risk of getting breast cancer when they grow up. (5) Infants exclusively breast-fed for 16 weeks or more had 50% less acute otitis media.  (6)

Anyone who reads the ingredients on a can of infant formula will see that it is simply a recipe of cow's milk, sugar and (chlorinated) water. This is not substitute for nature; formula is harmful to a baby's optimal health.

MDs not vaccinating their own children?

A sign of the future? The journal Pediatrics published a study revealing that, “A relatively large proportion of nonpediatricians do not follow, nor plan to follow, current immunization recommendations for their own children.”

Significant numbers of pediatric (5%) and nonpediatric (10%) physicians were declining vaccines for their own children.  Shots declined include measles, mumps, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b; many MDs also postponed DTP or MMR vaccination.  The doctors expressed the same concerns as the public as to the safety of the vaccines which may cause brain and neurological damage (autism, ADD/ADHD, etc.). (7)

Bird Flu?  Don’t Panic

Every year around flu shot season there’s a scary story that makes $billions for the vaccine industry.  This year it’s about a supposed bird flu epidemic.  A great article to counter the mindless media pronouncements can be read here: http://www.mercola.com/display/router.aspx?docid=31141

Lifelong Friends Make Life Longer

Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia interviewed about 1,500 people aged 70+ asking about family and friends, socioeconomic status, health and lifestyle. The Adelaide team then tracked the participants' survival over the next 10 years. People with a strong network of friends and confidants had a much better chance of survival over the 10-year study period than individuals with relatively fewer friends. This "friendship effect" persisted despite personal losses such as the death of a spouse, or even the relocation of friends to other parts of the country. Friends may also have a significant impact on mood, self-esteem and coping mechanisms during difficult times.  (8)

What if you don’t have people friends?

All is not lost! Take heart! Get a pet! Pet owners have fewer doctor visits, shorter hospital stays and take less medication than those who don’t own pets.  In one study dog owners were eight times more likely to survive for one year after a heart attack than those who didn’t have dogs…stock brokers with high blood pressure were instructed to get a cat or a dog.…Alzheimer’s patients are more positive and alert when animals are present…in a study of nursing homes, when pets were part of the program, mortality rates were 25% lower than at facilities that didn’t include pets. (9)

Humor

These great questions and answers are from the days when "Hollywood Squares" game show responses were spontaneous!  Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions, of course.

Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake!

Q. According to Cosmo, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he's married?
A. Rose Marie: No, wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q. What are "Do It," "I Can Help," and "I Can't Get Enough"?
A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.

Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking
A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.

Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
A. Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.

Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.

Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army

Q. While visiting China, your tour guide starts shouting "Poo! Poo! Poo! "What does this mean?
A. George Gobel: Cattle crossing.

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body- what is it?
A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused but it certainly isn't neglected.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, the rest is up to him.

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet

Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
A. Paul Lynde: Point and Laugh.

Bye – see you next month.  

That is, if I can get out of this chimney (too many holiday cookies).  Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends – give them the healthy life wisdom you’re learning about.  Too many people are taking drugs or contemplating surgery; let them know there’s a drug-free alternative.   Please remember that everyone needs to be free from subluxations, so bring your friends and loved ones for a spinal checkup.

References

1. Genthner GC, Friedman HL, Studley CF. Improvement in depression following reduction of upper cervical vertebral subluxation using orthospinology technique. JVSR. 2005;7(4):1-4.
2. Glassman S, Bridwell K, Dimar J. The impact of positive sagittal balance in adult spinal deformity. Spine. 2005;30(18):2024-2029.
3. Descarreaux M, Blouin JS, Drolet M et al. Efficacy of preventive spinal manipulation for chronic low-back pain and related disabilities: a preliminary study. JMPT. 2004;27(8):509-514.
4. Newcomb P et al.  Lactation and reduced risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer. New England J of Medicine. 1994;330(2):81-87.
5. Freudenheim J et al. Exposure to breast milk in infancy and the risk of breast cancer. Epidemiology. 1994;5:324-331.
6. Sheard NF. Breast-feeding protects against otitis media. Nutrition Reviews. 1993;51(9):275-277.
7. Klara M et al. How do physicians immunize their own children? Differences among pediatricians and nonpediatricians. Pediatrics. 2005;116:e623-e633. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/5/e623
8. Giles LC, Glonek GF, Luszcz MA, Andrews GR. Effect of social networks on 10 year survival in very old Australians: the Australian longitudinal study of aging.  J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005;59(7):574-579.
9. Interview with Bernie Siegel, M.D. Amazing healing power of pets. Bottom Line Personal. August 1, 2005.