Regular
chiropractic care is an important component of any lifestyle change you're
planning to implement. Whether you're improving your diet by eating at least
five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each day, engaging in regular
vigorous exercise for at least 30 minutes five times per week, or both, the
benefits you obtain will be enhanced by regular chiropractic
care.
To derive
the most benefit from the healthful food you're eating and the exercise you're
doing, your metabolism must be working properly. Your metabolic systems require
your nerve system to be functioning at peak capacity. Nerve signals must arrive
on time and must be processed properly. Spinal nerve irritation interferes with
these activities. Regular chiropractic care helps make sure your nerve system
is free of interference and, as a result, helps make sure you're getting the
most out of your valuable time and effort spent in implementing your new
lifestyle upgrade.
Many
people have medicine chests in their bathroom, small shelving units filled with
bottles of pills, capsules, and tablets. Others, instead, have first-aid and
personal grooming cabinets in their bathrooms, containing rows of bandages,
tubes of antiseptic, rubbing alcohol, and adhesive tape, as well as dental care
supplies, shaving supplies, and sample-size bottles of shampoo. Of course, we
can't always draw accurate conclusions about a person's lifestyle and level of
health from the contents of his or her bathroom cabinet. But most of us, if we
could choose, would likely want to focus on personal grooming and first aid
rather than prescription medications. The key question is how we can actually
make such a choice.
From the
medicine chest perspective, many people have various disorders that require
them to take prescription medications on a short-term or long-term basis.
Persons with type 2 diabetes need to take regular doses of drugs such as
metformin or glyburide. Persons who have rheumatoid arthritis may be taking
Imuran, Remicade, or glucocorticoids. If you have persistent high blood
pressure, you may be taking a beta-blocker or an ACE inhibitor. If you've just
undergone a root canal procedure, your dentist may have prescribed a two-day
supply of Vicodin.
But
others have medicine chests filled with sleeping pills such as Ambien and
Lunesta, cold and flu medications such as decongestants and antihistamines, and
mood elevators such as Wellbutrin and Prozac. Again, many people have medical
conditions that require prescription medications, but many others have come to
rely on such drugs even though a sound medical reason for taking medication may
no longer exist. In such circumstances, changes in lifestyle may provide more
and longer-lasting benefit than that being obtained via use of no-longer-needed
medication.
For
example, numerous studies have shown that regular vigorous exercise results in
profound adaptations of one's personal physiology and biochemistry. Such
changes consistently improve a person's mood and allow for a full night of
restful sleep. Healthful alterations in diet also result in mood stabilization
and facilitate deeper, more beneficial sleep. Lifestyle changes incorporating
both regular vigorous exercise and healthful diets provide enhanced benefit.
Of
course, one should never
discontinue prescription medications without consulting the doctor who has
prescribed them. Implementing your long-term lifestyle enhancements is one of
two necessary steps. The second step is letting your doctor know what you're
doing and discussing with him or her the possibility of reducing the dose or
even going off one or more of the "lifestyle" drugs you've been
taking. By taking these steps you've begun the journey of converting your
"medicine chest" into something else entirely.
References:
Tragni
E, et al: Prevalence of the prescription of potentially interacting drugs. PLoS
One 2013 Oct 11;8(10):e78827. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078827
Matta
Mello PE, et al: Neuroscience of exercise: from neurobiology mechanisms to
mental health.Neuropsychobiology 68(1):1-14, 2013
Hryhorczuk
C, et al: Metabolic disturbances connecting obesity and depression. Front
Neurosci 7:177, 2013
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