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(Originally posted on 04/08/2010)

Confused about vaccines?  How is it that an otherwise intelligent healthcare consumer, like you, can read, read, read, ask questions, listen to "experts," read.......and still be confused about vaccines?
Allow me to present my list of

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Make Up Your Mind About Vaccines

1.  The vaccine theory is a sound one.  It is a scientifically sound concept:  to deliver a small amount of a pathogen (a "bug") into the body to elicit an immune system response, thereby conferring future immunity to that "bug."  However, the execution of this theory into practice has been bungled beyond imagination.  Just because the underlying theory is sound doesn't automatically make the reality sound.  Even if a vaccine manages to provide temporary "protection" against a particular pathogen (and it apparently does in many cases), it comes at huge costs.  From suspect and contaminated growth media to toxic chemicals to multi-valent shots ~ it's a mess and it's making us sick in all new ways.

2.  There is no money or political clout in being "anti-vaccine."  It's difficult to keep from sounding like a crazed conspiracy theorist when it comes to uncovering information about the money and the politics of the Big Pharmachine.  Don't just take my word for it.  Do some research for yourself.  Follow the money and go looking for the conflicts of interest in all levels of government where the Big Pharmachine is concerned.

3.  Fear is a powerful motivator.  It is healthy for your kids to be sick once in a while.......and to be good & darned sick every now and then.  Even knowing that, though, doesn't change the fact that some children will get very, very sick from common childhood diseases, and some children will die from them.  This knowledge should motivate us to strive to raise healthier kids rather than to grasp at every new shot that comes along.  Childhood diseases are called childhood diseases for a reason, and every attempt that you make to short circuit the process will cause problems somewhere down the road.

4.  Having sick kids is messy and inconvenient.  One of the selling points of the chicken pox vaccine is that mom & dad won't have to miss work to care for a child who is home sick with the chicken pox.......!  Not good enough.  Occasional illness is part of being human.  It needs to happen.  It needs to be family quiet time.  It needs love and rest and good food and hugs and kisses.  It doesn't need to be forced to conform to a school or work or sports schedule.

5.    You haven't made up your mind and your heart yet about whether you are a mechanist or a vitalist.  Down deep in your dark corners do you believe that your body is equipped with its own innate wisdom?  Does is make sense to you that the same intelligence that grows an entire human being from 2 single cells, mends your skin when you cut or burn it, knits your bones when you break them, digests your food, and beats your heart knows what to do to keep you healthy in all situations and under all circumstances?  Or are you more comfortable with the idea that your health is something that must be given to you from the outside by a doctor, in the form of shots and pills and chemicals.  It's OK with me either way and your decisions will be A LOT easier if you come to terms with this realization about yourself and your philosophy.

And if none of this helps clear your confusion, please keep in mind that nobody in charge of our current vaccine program will take any responsibility for this disaster.  In fact, the folks in charge have so little regard for your well-being that they've actually granted legal immunity to all vaccine manufacturers for any damage caused by vaccine products and their administration.  That's right -- if you or a loved one is damaged by a vaccine your government has decided that you shall have no recourse against the company that manufactured the vaccine.  Unbelievable.  If I attempted to practice chiropractic that way I'd be run out of town on a rail.

(Originally posted on 01/27/2010)

I've had more than 20 years to fully formulate an answer to the question:  "Isn't it true that once you start getting chiropractic care you get addicted and you have to keep going?"
Even though this question comes up fairly often for chiropractors - both young and old - it always catches me a little bit by surprise.  After much thought, here's what I think about that:

In my experience, a person only becomes "addicted" to their chiropractic adjustments in the same way that he or she might become "addicted" to washing their face, or brushing their teeth, or shampooing their hair.  It really has more to do with how a person views the everyday, ongoing management of their body and their health than with the adjustment itself.

SO ~

If you'd truthfully instruct your teenager to take the time to wash their face only after it's broken out.......

Or if you're convinced that daily brushing and flossing of your teeth is a fool's errand, designed only to make you a slave to Tom's Of Maine, Colgate, Oral B, and your dentist.......

Or if you think that this whole shampooing thing is just a scam and you'd never shampoo again except that your darned clean hair feels and smells so much better.......

Then the idea of regular chiropractic adjustments as part of an overall healthy lifestyle probably does feel like another time-consuming and expensive conspiracy to you.

I care for patients like you in my practice.  You show up at my office hurting, and angry that you have to tend to your physical body at all.  You get adjusted barely enough to be out of pain.  You disappear until you can't take it anymore....... again. It's a vicious and frustrating cycle for both of us.

I also have the pleasure of caring for patients who see a bigger picture. They've not only achieved relief from their pain -- they've gone on to include chiropractic care (as well as other body work modalities, most likely), into an overall healthier lifestyle. These patients get adjusted regularly no matter how they feel, because they know that the benefits of their adjustments go far beyond symptom to relief -- all the way to the improved quality of their daily existence.  They rest comfortably, eat sensibly, work & play with vigor, and experience fewer visits to their medical doctors.  Their up-front investment of time and money in prevention is more than surpassed by their proactive participation in living.

(Originally posted on 11/19/2008)

I'm in my 20th year of practicing chiropractic.  That's enough time for one's brain to mutate.......and mine has.  Concepts and ideas about wellness and healthcare that now seem second nature to me elicit eye-rolling, head-scratching, furrowed brows, and occasionally downright hostility from others.

I recently attended a 12 hour ICPA (International Pediatric Chiropractic Association, http://www.icpa4kids.com ) seminar on Perinatal Chiropractic Care, presented by Jeanne Ohm, D.C.  During the weekend, Dr. Ohm frequently made reference to the topic of Vitalism vs. Mechanism.  A deeper look has helped me clear up for myself some of the questions I've had for years about why I see healthcare issues differently than most of those around me.

See if you can identify where you fall on this spectrum.

One who believes in or practices Vitalism has an inherent trust in the wisdom of the human body.  A Vitalist understands and believes in the ability of the human body to adapt, to heal, and to regenerate.  Vitalistic care tends to emphasize encouragement and support of the entire human, and focuses on enhancing function so that homeostasis can be regained/maintained.  Having a vitalistic point of view means that you understand that nothing in the human physiology is random, that all dis-ease and disease is a manifestation of an imbalance of the human as a whole ~ and that imbalances of the physical human, the emotional human, and the spiritual human all contribute to dis-ease/disease in that whole human.  A Vitalist tends to regard illness as a signal that something in their life needs to be brought into better balance, and also understands that every illness has a purpose.

One who believes in or practices Mechanism displays an inherent mistrust of the human body.  A Mechanist treats the symptoms of the parts of the human body, rather than the body as a whole.  Mechanistic care tends to emphasize pathology, symptoms, sickness, and fear, and often appears to favor regulating and controlling tactics over the encouragement of balance.  Having a mechanistic point of view appears to mean that such a one believes that health is something that comes from outside of us, and must be delivered to us by someone else who gives us a chemical, or removes an offending organ, or otherwise short-circuits the body's natural processes.  A Mechanist tends to regard both illness and its cure as "outside jobs."  For the Mechanist being ill is always bad, always a mistake.

Obviously these are the extremes of the spectrum.  Even the most vitalistic practitioner will acknowledge that there are times for a mechanistic approach.  However, you most likely relate more easily to one than the other.  And once you've made up your mind about Vitalism vs. Mechanism, other wellness-related decisions are easy!

(Originally posted on 09/28/2008)

Faithful readers will recall that my #1 concern about any form of universal healthcare here will, in all likelihood, end up being an expanded version of our current government-run "healthcare" system ~ Medicare.  I think it'll be a big mistake.  I think that if you are frustrated by the current state of affairs, just wait until we all get caught in this buzzsaw of bureaucrats and red tape.

And now, from a blog post by Dr. Ronald Hoffman, dated 6/6/08, comes word that more Medicare is not better Medicare.  Specifically:  "Hospitals that treated patients more intensively and spent more Medicare dollars did not get better results.  Aggressive care was not better care.  More tests, more medications, and more doctors actually worsened the prognosis of many patients and accentuated their suffering at astronomical costs to the system.  At this rate, Medicare will become unsustainable in a few years, much less universal care."

Isn't it finally time to put significant money and man-power behind the use, or at least the research of the use of lower cost, natural health care techniques and modalities as part of the answer to our ailing medical system?

When will our public servants find the spine to stand up to the Big Pharmachine once and for all?  In my opinion, this country's current financial crisis and the greed and entitlement mentality that have been exposed at its top levels will pale when compared with what we will uncover if a similar meltdown of the Big Pharmachine ever occurs.

The bottom line?  Stay off of the Big Pharmachine Merry-Go-Round as long as possible.

(Originally posted on 09/02/2008)

Vaccine education advocates are all familiar with the popular allopathic phrase "herd immunity."  It's the phrase that the allopaths use when they're trying to justify jabbing our children with all manner of toxic brews.

But what is the cost of herd immunity?

It has dawned on me that it's time to reframe my rants about the hazards of our current vaccine culture to focus on what I've come to think of as  "herd diseases" ~ the widespread, mysterious, and alarming increases in chronic, and debilitating diseases.  Diseases and conditions which don't have a clear cause but which are growing in both their incidence and their cost to society.  These are the diseases that stunt our children and us, and make us question our belief in a higher power, when we should really be questioning our enslavement to the big Pharmachine.

Isn't this one possible way to begin to explain the now epidemic occurances of such conditions as food allergies, asthma, autism, ADD/ADHD, and a long list of other auto-immune disorders?

Just a thought...

(Originally posted on 09/06/2007)

The word "doctor" comes from the latin docere, meaning "to teach."

I take this responsibility seriously, and there are days when I feel like I almost never quit talking in my quest to educate patients about their health.  I cover a lot of ground while a patient is in my adjusting room, but I find it increasingly difficult to convey the astonishing breadth of this work that I do in the time it takes to render an adjustment.

Why is the reach of chiropractic care so extensive?...Because it's all about balance.  Joint imbalances (whether in the spine or the peripheral joints) = neurological imbalance = somatic or body dysfunction.  Remove or reduce the joint imbalances = improved neurology = better somatic/body function.

Do you think you know all of the things that chiropractic can do?  I hope that there are some surprises in this list for you!

•Pregnancy ~ everything from the aches and pains of a typical pregnancy to positional problems with the baby respond beautifully to chiropractic adjustments.......and yes, I'm talking about a technique that helps breech babies to turn!
•Labor & Delivery ~ many new moms report that their labors and deliveries are shorter and seem to require fewer medical interventions of all kinds when they've been under chiropractic care during their pregnancy.
•Colic ~ This is a frustrating and confusing diagnosis for any new family.  Many cases of "colic" turn out to be fairly straightforward imbalances of the baby's neck and head.  How does a shiny new baby end up with imbalances of her neck and head?  Think back to watching that birthing video or your own delivery.......I think we can all agree that even the most uncomplicated, normal vaginal delivery is pretty hard on a baby's neck and head.......yes?  And if there has been any kind of medical intervention during labor or delivery the risk to baby's delicate head and neck structures is even higher (this especially includes c-section deliveries).  The neurological irritation caused by labor & delivery is often the source of baby's discomfort.  I do so much of this kind of work that I've written an article about it:  Dr. Julie Says:  "See Jane Nap."
•Ear Infections ~ Read:  "I Am Billy's Middle Ear" for my best explanation of this one.
•Frequent Colds/Getting Sick A Lot ~  Our immune system is hard-wired to our nervous system.  Therefore, anything that improves neurological function also improves immune system function.
•Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
•Plantar Fascitis and Other Foot Pain
•Heartburn/Reflux/Indigestion ~ Your stomach makes acid for a reason.  Acid production is almost its only reason for being, and that purple pill you're taking is turning off the acid pumps.  Does it reduce your acid reflux symptoms?...You bet it does, but it has GOT to be wreaking havoc with your digestion, don'tcha think?  Reduction of irritation of the nerves to the esophagus and stomach can often alleviate even the worst heartburn without short-circuiting the body's normal digestive activities. 
•Tennis Elbow/Tendonitis
•TMJ/Jaw Dysfunction ~ In addition to being affected by conditions of the teeth and mouth, our TMJ (temporomandibular joint) is almost always involved when there is whiplash injury due to vehicle crashes, slips, falls, etc.
•Rib Pain ~ That awful, searing, grabbing pain that knocks you to your knees when you try to take a deep breath sometimes...?  That's a rib that has become misaligned in some way.  These can be stubborn, requiring several adjustments as well as ice applications at home, but it's always worth the effort.
You may have noticed that none of the above items involve neck pain, back pain, headache, or any of the other symptoms for which chiropractic is most often sought as treatment.

If you or someone you know is sick & tired of being sick & tired all the time....... of just surviving every day only to fall into bed and then get up and do it all over again.......Maybe it's time to think outside the box about chiropractic.

(Originally posted on 7/23/2007)

Try as I might to leave yesterday's post alone, I was bothered all night last night about the fact that I decided not to comment on one of Michael Moore's main characters in SiCKO.  So, in the name of personal responsibility ~ one of my mantras, especially in the area of wellness and healthcare, I find I must say something about the guy who cut off two of his fingertips on a table saw....... and then became a primary player in Moore's diatribe because he had to choose which fingertip to keep and which one to loose.

There are so many things wrong with this guy's story, that I scarcely know where to start...

First, I am married to a woodworker.  At times he has done it for a living and at times (like lately) it's more of a hobby.  He's taught students as young as 5th graders to safely use power tools.  In the middle of a particularly complex carpentry project, I've seen him execute decidely "off label" feats with a table saw ~ free-hand cuts, and solo cuts that would be worthy of medals, if such accomplishments came with medals.  I trust his word when it comes to what is and isn't a smart move when working at a table saw.  After seeing this movie, he was beside himself about the guy who had the table saw incident.  He tells me that one thing he's never ever done while working at a table saw is reach over and across the blade to try to pull a cut through from the wrong side (which is what the guy in the movie did).  The guy broke a cardinal rule of table saw operation ~ an amputation waiting to happen, according to my beloved.

Anyone who has ever purchased a power tool will recall the pages and pages and pages of instructions and cautions and warnings.  Ignore them at your own risk....... Loose your concentration at your own risk.......Hurry at your own risk...

OK ~ so there's that.

Next, it's not really clear to me whether the guy from the movie uses power tools as part of his job, or is just a casual user.  Either way ~ isn't a guy who steps up to a table saw, knowing that he doesn't have insurance coverage, and then pulls a completely boneheaded stunt, causing the amputation of two fingertips fully responsible for the results of his actions?

Yes, it's a terrible thing.  I am a healer down to my bones ~ it hurts me when another human hurts, but I have very little patience for people who make bad choices and do stupid things, and then expect someone else to bail them out.  The emergency personnel who treated him did their jobs when they made sure that he didn't die from his self-inflicted injuries.  What is not their job is making it possible for him to afford to have his fingertips reattached, especially when he wasn't forward-thinking enough to make plans for such matters before he checked his brain at the woodshop door.

Just a couple of final questions:

If this did happen on the job, where is his workers' compensation insurance coverage?

If his was hobby woodworking, why is this guy spending money on power tools and woodworking projects when he can't afford health insurance?  Hmmm.......?

All I'm saying is... use your brain, recognize the risks that you encounter in everyday life, and don't expect anyone else to take up the slack for your ignorance or stupidity.

Obviously, I haven't offered anything here that will fix our healthcare system, but neither will knee-jerk reactions to an emotionally manipulative movie which, I suspect, is chock-full of inaccuracies and bias and falsehoods.

(Originally posted on 7/22/2007)

I went to see Michael Moore's latest film, SiCKO, mostly because I thought I ought to.......I ought to at least be able to have a conversation about it, I reasoned, as I forked over my $9.75.

I've steered clear of Moore's films in the past because I don't understand or appreciate his way of muck-raking a problem without offering any real suggestion of a solution.  It seems immature and unproductive to bring attention to a problem the way Moore does, without any noticeable attention given to a fix ~ sort of like picking the scab off of a festering lesion without having a bandaid, or at least a tissue handy to help clean up the ensuing mess so that some real healing might take place.  Even if the scab needed to come off (which, in the case of our "healthcare system," it plainly does), I think that the one who picked it should shoulder at least a little of the responsibility of being ready with a few answers, or suggestions, or ideas about the mess they've exposed.

Moore clearly spent a lot of time and energy getting his version of ironic comedy and his sing-song sarcastic narration just right in SiCKO, but it all wraps up without any redeeming "what-ifs" to balance out the snideness of it all.  He can't really be proposing that we adopt the real, everyday Cuban way of practicing medicine, can he?...Or that we start handing over upwards of 50% of our income to the government so that it can provide us with "free" births, and "free" nannies, and "free" extra time off to recover from illness?...Can he?  Do some research, follow the money, don't be naive.

My #1 fear about any form of universal healthcare coming to this country is that "the powers that be" will almost surely take the path of least resistance and adopt a wider version of the system that already exists here.......that's right ~ Medicaid & Medicare (M&M).  Any healthcare system that begins with M&M as its model is unacceptable as far as I'm concerned.  Just imagine a government monopoly on decisions about your health.  It's a recipe for disaster.

The one bright spot that has stayed with me over the week or so since I saw SiCKO is the image of a young doctor who revealed that everytime he helps a patient stop smoking his government gives him a raise.  Talk about walking the talk of preventative wellness care!!  I am entranced by this concept.  Whether or not it is actually happening somewhere at this moment ~ shouldn't it be?  What if the government actually gave your doctors a bonus for helping you change your lifestyle for the better?  What if your doctor's more attractive choice was to interest you in an exercise schedule or better quality food rather than a cholesterol-lowering drug... what if the rewards that she received from the government for practicing true wellness care were greater than the rewards she's currently getting from her pharmaceutical rep for getting you hooked on another medication?  Wow.

I think that the most effective way to cause real change in our current medical model is to stop participating in it as much as possible, thereby rendering it better able to do what it does best ~ caring for the true traumas and the true emergencies and the truly needy.

What if:

You spend more time at the offices of the practitioners who help you/coach you/guide you to safeguard and support your own, inborn health, rather than the ones who cash in on you when you're sick.  It's a lot more fun and cost-effective to stay well than it is to get well.  But go ahead and get well anyway!  Spending time, money, and energy with your preventative and wellness practitioners will pay big, BIG dividends throughout your life.  Be aware, though:  Getting well and being well is a process, not an event.......and it is up to you ~ not your doctor, or your massage therapist, or your acupuncturist, or your spouse.  Your body, your habits, your lifestyle, your health.

Obviously, this idea won't go over very well with your insurance company, which would rather pay $20,000.00 for a spinal surgery once you're crippled with pain than approve $5,000.00 worth of chiropractic adjustments to help you keep your spine (and therefore your nervous system, and therefore your entire being...) healthy.  Nevermind that the spinal surgery is most likely just the beginning of a lifetime of dependence on orthopedic specialists and pain medications, as well as a marked decline in your ability to be active and proactive in your own health.  Welcome to the Medical Merry-Go-Round.

Oh yeah, and it's OK for a healthy person to get sick now and then.......good and darned sick!  Running a fever, vomiting, getting congested, aching & fatigue ~ all of these (and others) are signs of a healthy immune system fighting a foreign invader.  No formal medical intervention is needed in most cases.  Watching & waiting, resting & recouperating have become a lost art.

In fact, I think a pretty compelling argument can be made that the current epidemic of chronic and autoimmune diseases we are experiencing as a society (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, some forms of cancer, and on and on and on), is due in large part to the meddling of medical doctors, clinics, and hospitals with too much technology and pharmaceutical companies with too much political influence who would rather send us home with a new handful of pills than try to encourage us to modify our lifestyle or habits.  Heck, the pharmaceutical geniuses have even started selling their drugs directly to us, haven't they?  Their television and magazine ads tell us what we need, then we go in and badger our medical doctors until they finally relent and give us a diagnosis, followed shortly by a page ripped from their prescription pad.  I remember reading an article several years ago in which 45% of medical doctors interviewed anonymously admitted to writing prescriptions for patients simply to get them to stop complaining and leave the office.  Amazing.

While he fairly adeptly obscures it with 2 hours of shenanigans, I have to say that I have no argument with Michael Moore's fundamental point that healthcare in this country is truly astonishing in its ghastliness.  More than ever, I think that if you're not outraged about the status quo of healthcare here, it's only because neither you nor anyone you care about has ever been caught in the system ~ needing and expecting help, but receiving only BS and COA from their doctors and hospitals (that's "bullshit" and "cover our ass" for those of you are more delicate than me).

While Mr. Moore stops rolling tape just at the time when he could become a true activist for change, I'll step up and say that I happen to think the solution is up to us, you & me, as individuals.  There is not a satisfactory government fix out there.  I think we should stop waiting for it.

(Originally posted on 7/6/2007)

Friends and patients will recall that I've always said that the theory of vaccination is a sound one.  The idea of introducing a small amount of a disease-causing "bug" into the body to initiate an immune system reaction, resulting in antibodies and subsequent immunity to that particular bug is, on its face, an entirely reasonable notion.  It is the execution of the theory that I object to.

As is so often the case with current technology capabilities, I find myself thinking... "Just because we can brew a vaccine for nearly every known pathogen, does that mean that we should?"  Add to that my "follow the money" charge, as well as our societal attitude (wrong-headed as it is) that we can somehow defeat germs and become disease-free, and vaccinations-in-practice becomes a very messy proposition indeed.

An article by Dr. Joseph Mercola has caused me to wonder:  "Was there ever a time that vaccinations-in-practice, made sense?"  Or, even more to the point:  "Do vaccinations-in-practice make sense in any setting today?"

It could be that in countries which are very poor, where basic nutrition is awful and basic hygiene is absent.......where the specter of preventable disease is so overwhelming, that mass vaccination will almost certainly improve the public health from the status quo ~ even if you factor in the poor manufacturing practices and adverse reactions of vaccines.

As I thought about it, I found that I could even allow that maybe the 3rd World country above was us, U.S., decades ago....... but does it still make sense for us today?... Or have we been so bewitched by the promise of the power of vaccines that we can't see any other way, even in the face of pharma-political corruption, epidemic levels of chronic illness, and the pervading fear-as-sales-tactic antics of the vaccine industry?

Dr. Mercola summarizes it this way:  “Epidemiologic studies…have shown that as families improve their living conditions, hygiene, nutrition, literacy and education, the risk of life-threatening acute infectious, inflammatory diseases very much decreases....... Families with good living conditions, hygiene, nutrition and education probably would benefit from vaccinations very little or not at all."  This an extremely damning statement, given the toxicity of the brews that comprise our vaccines.  Damage with no benefit.......flies directly in the face of the Hypocratic Oath, no?

Our needs (and our kids' needs) change as we learn to take better care of ourselves and our families.  Isn't it time that our health care system catch up a little bit?