Why Vitamin D?

In recent years, studies have shown that vitamin D is an important modulator of immune function. Some authorities suggest it has the potential to reduce the risk of life-threatening influenza’s based on the initial observation that influenza normally strikes in countries during colder (winter) months, when vitamin D production in the skin declines. This happens because the most generally available source of vitamin D is sunlight. Reduction in skin production of vitamin D due to reduced or no exposure to daily sunlight is accompanied by a decline in blood levels of vitamin D.

Some vitamin D experts suggest that adults should supplement with 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day (especially during the winter) as a means to maintain more optimal vitamin D status in general, strengthen their immune function and help reduce the risk of influenza and its invasion into the lung cavity. Other experts suggest that dark-skinned individuals should supplement with 5,000 IU of vitamin D per day during the winter months to help ensure they attain blood vitamin D levels (25-hydroxycholecalciferol) at or above 50 ng/ml. (Melanin, the pigment responsible for skin colors, acts as a sunscreen, reducing vitamin D production in the skin upon exposure to solar radiation.)

How Vitamin D Affects Immunity

Most immune cells contain vitamin D receptors that allow vitamin D to enter cells and exerts its effects on immune cell behavior. In this capacity, vitamin D has been shown to dramatically stimulate the expression of potent antimicrobial peptides. These peptides exist in white blood cells such as neutrophils, monocytes and natural killer cells, and the epithelial cells that line the respiratory tract, where they play a significant role in protecting the lung from infection.

Vitamin D influences both innate and adaptive immunity. The cells of the innate system recognize and respond to pathogens (infectious agents or germs) in a generic way, and the adaptive immune cells have the ability to recognize and remember specific pathogens. They, in turn, generate immunity by mounting stronger attacks each time the same pathogen is encountered. In simpler terms, vitamin D appears to make immune cells better to fulfill their primary function-defense.

Adaptive immunity involves lymphocytes (a specific type of white blood cell) that are able to express a vast number of specific antigen receptors on their cell surface. Should the pathogen be reintroduced at a later point in time, these receptors are activated and the lymphocytes launch an assault against the pathogen. In adaptive immunity, all of the offspring of the activated cells inherit genes, encoding the same receptor specificity. These cells include the memory B cells and memory T cells that are the keys to long-lived specific immunity.

Vitamin D receptors are expressed in monocytes and in activated macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and T and B cells. Activation of these receptors by vitamin D have been shown to increase the activity of natural killer cells and enhance the phagocytic activity of macrophages. (Phagocytes are white blood cells that protect the body by, for lack of a better work “eating” harmful foreign particles, bacteria, etc.) Active vitamin D hormone also increases the production of cathelicidin, an antimicrobial peptide that is produced in macrophages. The release of cathelicidin is triggered by the presence of bacteria, viruses and fungi.

All of these influences enable the immune system to work in a highly efficient manner, reducing the risk of infection and reducing the severity of infections should they strike. These immune pathways are also important in preventing cancer. In fact, higher blood levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced risk of breast, prostate, colon and other cancers. Several intervention studies have shown that vitamin D supplementation is associated with a reduction in cancer incidence of approximately 50 percent and that supplementation of 2,000 IU per day slows the progression of localized prostate cancer in a high percentage of male subjects.

Vitamin D Deficiency

While optimum vitamin D status seems to protect against influenza and other conditions, vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased risk of infections, such as influenza and tuberculosis. In one study, volunteers inoculated with live attenuated influenza virus were more likely to develop fever and serological evidence of immune response in the winter. Vitamin D deficiency also has been reported to predispose children to respiratory infections. Ultraviolet radiation (either from artificial sources or from sunlight) has been shown to reduce the incidence of viral respiratory infections. The same holds true for cod liver oil supplementation, which is a rich source of vitamin D.

Think Prevention

I believe it is important for health practitioners to establish patients’ baseline vitamin D blood levels. Evidence strongly suggests that a level above 85 nmol/L is highly protective against osteoporosis, cancer, multiple sclerosis and various infectious processes. Vitamin D toxicity is a concern only when blood levels of vitamin D rise above 200 nmol/L. Recent research indicates that supplementation with 1,400 IU of vitamin D per day appears to be sufficient to raise vitamin D to the 85 nmol/L level in most cases. And at the first sigh of flu-like symptoms, one expert-based on personal experience and that of family members-suggests supplementing with 2,000 IU of vitamin D per kilogram of body weight for three consecutive days.

Anyone who’s suffered through the flu knows that it’s not only potentially dangerous; it can be downright miserable. Ask your doctor to assess your current vitamin D status and discuss the value of vitamin D supplementation, particularly during the flu season. Whatever your strategy, it won’t eliminate your risk altogether, but why not do everything you can do naturally to protect yourself and your loved ones.

James Meschino, MS, DC.

The American Medical Association calls circumcision “non-therapeutic,” and no major medical association in America-not the AMA, not the American Academy of Pediatrics and, so far, not the CDC-recommends circumcision, seeing no medical benefits justifying the painful and risky removal of healthy functional tissue from a baby boy.

“The CDC is moving down a path towards an indefensible recommendation in favor of subjecting newborn baby boys to unnecessary and potentially risky surgery with no medical benefit,” says Georganne Chapin, a healthcare executive who heads Intact America. “Preventing HIV requires use of a condom or other safe sexual practices. Those same African studies that suggest circumcision could help slow female-to-male HIV transmission also found unacceptable levels of male-to-female transmission, because circumcision is not the answer.”

Approximately 75 percent of the men in the world are not circumcised, and remain intact throughout their lives. Even in America, which continues to lead the industrialized world in male circumcision of infant boys, the rate of circumcision has dropped from 85 percent to less than 60 percent as parents learn facts that for years have gone unexamined. Intact America is working to promote awareness about the normal, intact body and the value of the male foreskin as a normal, sensitive, and functional part of the body. The foreskin serves to protect the penis from injury and contamination, and also has a role in sexual pleasure, due to its specialized nerve endings and its natural lubricating tip.

The most common method of circumcision involves the infant being strapped to a board. In some cases, an analgesic is applied to the baby’s pubic area to somewhat lessen the pain, buy many circumcisions are performed with no pain control at all. A metal instrument is used to forcible separate the foreskin from the head of the penis, and the foreskin is then cut off. The surgery takes up to 15 minutes. The open wound it creates is exposed to urine and feces for several days as it heals. In addition to pain, the baby is subjected to the potential complications that accompany any surgery, including, as occurs more than 100 times annually, complications leading to death.

Doctors began routinely circumcising infant boys in the last decades of the nineteenth century, when it was viewed as a means to discourage masturbation, and the evils that were believed to be associated with masturbation. Claims over the years that circumcision prevents various diseases-including, in recent decades, sexually transmitted disease-have been found to be mistaken or exaggerated.

“Infant male circumcision is medically unnecessary, ethically indefensible and, at a time when the country is struggling to reform out healthcare system, adds billions of dollars annually to the cost of that system,” says John W. Travis, M.D., M.P.H., found of the first wellness center in the United States. “It would be unconscionable for the CDC to use African studies of adult men to recommend surgery on infant boys who cannot consent to the removal of healthy bodily tissue, on the change they might engage in unsafe sexual activity twenty years into the future.”

Soraya Mire, a Somali filmmaker who has been a leading global voice against forced female circumcision, argues that male circumcision presents the same ethical and human rights challenges as the banned practice of female circumcision. “The same universal human right to an intact body that I have fought for on behalf of women and girls must apply to boys as well, especially those who are too young to make an informed decision about the integrity of their bodies,” says Mire. “We need to ask ourselves, how can it be wrong to surgically alter the genitals of a baby girl without her consent but okay to surgically alter the genitals of a baby boy.”

Robert Van Howe, M.D., a Michigan pediatrician and professor at the Michigan State University medical school, is one of many doctors who refuses to perform circumcision, seeing it as a violation of his oath to do no harm. “Physicians have an obligation to look after the well-being of their patient’s best interest,” says Dr. Van Howe, nothing that the surgery yields more harm that benefit for the baby boy, who cannot give informed consent. “It is a violation of the child’s most basic human rights, and a violation of a physician’s oath to do no harm.”

To take action and tell the CDC to not recommend the medically and ethically indefensible practice of circumcision as public policy, visit Intact America’s website at intactamerica.org.

 A mother-to-be sits with her laptop against her growing belly, excitedly e-mailing images from her latest ultra sound while she chats with her mom. Next door, a young mother makes plans for her day while her toddler sits in her lap, playing with her cell phone. Neither sees the risks around them.

Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) may be invisible, but as physicians and research scientists around the world are telling us, it certainly isn’t harmless, especially for children, babies, and pregnant women.

Credible studies tell us that this kind of radiation affects every system of the body, causing, among other biological effects, DNA damage, suppression of the immune system, disruption of neurological, cardiovascular and hormonal systems, leakage of the blood-brain barrier, and cognitive impairments.

Studies from two European labs, published in Physics in Medicine and Biology (June 7, 2008) show that young children’s brains absorb twice as much radiation from a cell phone as the brains of adults.

It’s not just mobile phones, though. Every wireless device emits EMR, including PDA’s, wireless internet, and cordless phones, especially those high-power digital ones. Work environments can also have invisible hazards.

Researchers at McGill University, who’d been following the pregnancies of a group of women working in a room full of electric sewing machines, have raised concerns that a mother’s exposure to electro-magnetic radiation during pregnancy, or even just before she conceives, may be putting her child at risk of developing certain types of brain cancer.

In Japan, with its massive concentration of electro-smog from wireless communication, an unusually high number of women are reported to be suffering miscarriages in their last trimester. (Men should know that carrying a powered-on cell phone in a trouser pocket has been shown to reduce fertility.)

Prenatal ultrasound scans can be very helpful in diagnosing whether a fetus is growing normally, and there have been no abnormalities linked direct to diagnostic ultrasound; still, obstetricians in Canada and the U.S. caution that there is a theoretical risk for subtle effects on fetal development, since the scan involved targeted energy exposure to the baby.

 10 Ways to Reduce Radiation Risks

 1. If you are pregnant, avoid the use of cell phones, cordless phones and PDA’s. If you must use one, keep calls very brief, and keep the device turned off as much as possible. You (and your baby) are being exposed even when it’s on standby.

 2. Replace all cordless phones with corded landlines. The base emits high levels 24/7.

 3. Use a hard-wired internet connection rather than wireless.

 4. Don’t use a laptop on your lap-put it on a desk.

 5. Keep wireless devices away from babies and small children, especially in their sleeping areas; this includes baby monitors.

 6. Avoid using a microwave oven. If you must use one, stand back at least 15 feet while it’s on.

 7. Avoid using heating pads, electric blankets, and other wired devices-even clock radios-close to your body. Make your sleeping areas low-electronic sanctuaries.

 8. Discuss the risks and benefits of diagnostic ultrasound with your physician, and only have scans when medically indicated.

 9. Avoid full-body security scanners when you’re pregnant. Inform security staff and request a hand “pat down.” This is done by a female security guard and you avoid the radiation exposure.

 10. Choose digital dental x-rays-these have lower radiation emissions.

 Frequent ultrasound just for the thrill of seeing your baby in not recommended. Some technicians in for-profit clinics have been known to turn up the scan intensity and try to reposition the fetus, to get a better photo.

Some radiologists, including one interviewed by BBC News, are concerned about the potential effects of radiation from full-body security scanners on pregnant women. They urge women who are pregnant, or even think they could be, to use caution while traveling.

There are many skeptical people who feel that we will never abandon, or even modify, our dependency on mobile communication. So convenient. So cool. So everywhere.

Still, I am hopeful that a growing number of pregnant women and families will hear this wireless wake-up call and embrace science based solutions.

Of course, there are no guarantees. However, countless parents, physicians and researchers are pooling their experience to learn what is contributing to autism, and those strategies are bringing about improvements in affected children. We now have a deep well of wisdom, science and common sense from which to draw the following safe, effective, and practical recommendations to preventing autism, right now.

Prior to Conception:

If you are considering becoming pregnant, one of the best things you can do is to spend six months to a year improving your diet and making better lifestyle choices. You should consume organically grown grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and lean sources of protein. Laying the foundation for a healthy pregnancy by putting yourself in optimal shape prior to conceiving will do much to minimize the chance of miscarriage, or developing other complications of pregnancy and deliver.

Many intended mothers reduce or eliminate the “white foods” (sugar, white bread, pasta, pizza, and bagels), along with chemical preservatives and other processed food, before conceiving. Reducing sugar consumption, minimizing the use of antibiotics, taking probiotics and using specific diets and herbs for intestinal pathogens can all be helpful in optimizing your health. These steps increase the likelihood that your child won’t be prone to GI problems.

Reduce or eliminate your alcohol and caffeine intake, and eliminate tobacco.

Begin an exercise routine.

Prior to conceiving, switch to using green cleaning and personal care products (e.g. shampoo, toothpaste, body lotion, and facial cream). A 2006 report from the CDC found that Americans, on average, tested positively for 116 of 148 synthetic compounds, including dioxin, polycyclic hydrocarbons and organochlorine pesticides. These same substances were also found in human milk, placental tissue, umbilical cord blood, and the blood and body fat of newborns.

If your toxic load has been high (for example, if you’ve taken many prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs), you might want to consider a detoxification or cleansing program, such as those found at BlessedHerbs.com.

If a detox program alone does not relieve fatigue, migraines or other symptoms associated with being toxic, you might want to consult a chiropractor or medical doctor familiar with nutritional and chelation protocols for a more advanced detoxification process.

If you have several mercury-based amalgam dental fillings, consider having them removed by a dentist familiar with a safe procedure for the removal of dental mercury.

Begin taking a comprehensive multivitamin mineral supplement. One of the most comprehensive and easily absorbed prenatal supplements is OptiNatal. Start by taking one, and work up to taking six per day.

Adding a source of animal-based omega-3s is also essential for optimal health. Krill oil is a popular option, as are mercury-free sources of fish oil.

Find a “green” dry cleaner. The chemical used in most dry cleaning facilities, perchlorethylene, is a known carcinogen.

Drink filtered water and use a stainless-steel water bottle. Whether they’re heated or not, soft plastic bottles will release phthalates.

Limit your mercury intake by minimizing the consumption of large fish. For mercury levels of fish, visit gotmercury.org.

To build beneficial microflora, consume more fermented foods and take high quality probiotics. In addition to improving levels of beneficial intestinal flora, these have been shown to decrease intestinal absorption of certain chemicals by facilitating their excretion.

Improve indoor air quality in your home or office by opening the windows and creating cross ventilation.

Test your vitamin D levels, and add additional vitamin D3 if necessary. Many studies support higher levels of vitamin D than what was previously recommended. This boosts your immune system, cardio and neurological function.

Eat a diet rich in colorful, organically grown vegetables. This will provide an adequate intake of antioxidants to fight off the damaging effects of free radicals. Juicing organic vegetables is a great alternative if you find it daunting to consume the daily recommended 4 1/2 cups of veggies and fruits.

If anticipating pregnancy, I would also suggest you avoid the flu shot or any other vaccine for a year prior to conception.

Minimize your exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Computers, TVs, and cell phones emit electromagnetic radiation, so do not sleep with these in your bedroom. Use cell phones only when necessary, and keep your phone in your pocketbook, rather than in your pocket.

Do what is reasonable to green your home and minimize exposure to EMFs and toxins in your food, water and cleaning products. If you’re planning to remodel your house, or are building a new home, try to select no-VOC paints and sustainable wood instead of composites or resin-based products.

Begin regular chiropractic care with a family wellness practitioner. The specific adjustments will begin optimizing your nerve and immune system function and balancing your pelvic muscles and ligaments.

During Pregnancy:

Continue a high-quality organic diet that eliminates, or greatly reduces, sugar and other processed foods.

Continue to take a comprehensive, natural and easily absorbed multivitamin with at least 1,800 milligrams of calcium and 800 mg of folic acid. You might want to consider adding 2,000 IU or more of vitamin D. Continue taking a mercury-free source of omega-3, fish oil, and probiotics.

If possible, avoid dental work while pregnant, especially the removal or insertion of amalgam fillings.

If possible, avoid antibiotics and other over-the-counter and prescription medication. There is no pharmaceutical drug on the market that has been proven safe for pregnancy.

Continue an exercise program to improve circulation and stimulate peristalsis. Intestinal mobility slows as a result of pregnancy hormones, so, in order to continue having good bowel movements, daily exercise is essential. In addition, take good sources of fiber, such as ground flaxseed, psyllium husks, bran, nuts, whole grains, and seeds.

Eat a diet that contains at least 80 grams of protein per day. High-quality, organic, lean sources of protein include turkey, chicken, meat, eggs, nuts, and whey protein powder for smoothies. Divide them up into five 2-ounce servings.

Always have a protein-rich snack on hand for any dips in blood sugar.

Avoid the flu vaccine or any other immunizations. If you’re RH negative and require Rhogam, ask to see the package insert to make sure there is no thimerosal in the vaccine.

If you get sick, rest. Drink lots of hot water with lemon; take extra vitamin C, and possibly use Echinacea drops. (Do not use goldenseal during pregnancy).

Interview midwives and or obstetricians until you find one who can make you feel comfortable and empowered.

Avoid unnecessary ultrasounds-which may include all ultrasounds. There are no conclusive studies showing that ultrasounds are safe in pregnancy. Of greater concern are the studies showing how prenatal ultrasound affects brain development. Even standard, routine ultrasounds are not medically necessary and have not been shown to improve birth outcomes.

Minimize intrusive produces during labor (such as induction with Pitocin, pain meds, epidurals, forceps, C-sections and early cord clamping) by research them and discussing with your midwife or doctor which procedures you wish to avoid, if possible, and which ones you wish to have be part of labor and birth experience.

Choose your birth care providers wisely. Rather than selecting a provider or place of birth because of insurance coverage, select providers who will support your philosophical core beliefs about birth.

There is a higher risk of autism in cesarean-delivered babies. So, although it’s tempting to think of skipping labor, labor is actually Mother Nature’s way of preparing the child for life outside the womb. The baby’s neurological function is enhanced by naturally passing through the birth canal and through cranial molding.

Walk during labor, and stay in an upright position or on all fours for pushing and delivery. This will greatly maximize your pelvis’ ability to easily open and birth, minimizing the need for doctor assistant pulling, the forceful use of forceps, and vacuum extraction. Any form of pulling and rotation to the baby’s delicate spine in labor may have a lasting effect on her future nervous system function.

Interview several pediatricians during your pregnancy to find one who accepts your views on health and is open to discussing and giving careful consideration to invasive care with drugs and vaccines. Today, many parents are seeking providers outside of the typical allopathic model, choosing instead holistic practices that offer safer, more natural options to achieve health and well-being.

Continue regular chiropractic care on a weekly basis with a doctor who caters to pregnant women. This will optimize both your nervous system function and your pelvic biomechanics in preparation for an easier, safer birth.

During the newborn and infant stages:

Bond with your baby as much as possible. You will need your sleep, so rest when you can. But be sure to hold and talk to your infant as much as possible. Co-sleeping is an option many parents are adopting to ensure continued contact with their babies.

Breastfeeding is one of the best ways to not only provide optimal nutrition, but to ensure there is a good amount of bonding time between mother and child. While breastfeeding, keep up your excellent dietary habits of 6 to 9 servings of colorful, antioxidant-rich veggies and fruit, 80 to 100 grams of high-quality protein sources and plenty of filter water.

Wear your baby as often as possible, utilizing various baby carriers. Having your baby held close allows them comfort, emotional ease and, very importantly, constant motion. These factors all strengthen and enhance neurological development in your baby.

Because birth is strenuous on both the mother and the baby, you should both be check by a qualified chiropractor shortly after birth. Spinal alignment is essential for your healthy recovery and continued stamina. Your baby’s cranial and spinal development will affect her nervous system function for the rest of her life. Early care supports strong nerve and immune system function.

Consume extra fiber to ensure a good bowel movement each day.

Purchase an organic crib and or bed mattress. Be aware of bedding and clothing treated with flame retardants, as they contain high levels of antimony and other toxic substances.

Continue taking multivitamin and fish-oil supplements with extra vitamin D if your blood work shows a deficiency.

Unless you are positive for hepatitis B, there is no need for your newborn to receive the hep B vaccine in the nursery or within the first few months of life.

I would suggest you avoid all vaccines until the child is older and then make an informed decision about each one based on its potential affects to your child’s immune, digestive and neurological systems.

To minimize the possibility that your child will develop food allergies, postpone the introduction of solids until at least 6 months. When it is time to introduce solids, only use organic vegetables. Steam them and puree them in a blender. You can make batches and freeze them in ice cube trays. Introduce each new food no sooner than 4 days apart to make sure there is no reaction. After a few weeks, you can begin introducing fruits. Grains should not be introduced until the baby has teeth. Before teeth appear, babies do not have the digestive enzyme to assimilate grains. If you have a history of eczema, food allergies, celiac or autism, avoid dairy, soy and gluten grains.

Continue breastfeeding for at least one year (preferably two). A child’s own immune system does not kick in until they are about 18 months of age, and your breast milk offers the best immune system support available.

It’s that time of the year again — The Dreaded Flu Season!  But I ask you, what makes this time of the year “the flu season”?  Is it the simple transition of seasons that all of a sudden the flu strain begins to rear its ugly head or is it something more than that?  What immediately comes to my mind is the so called germ theory.  We are all familiar with this theory in one way or another.  It is the idea that diseases are due to specific microorganisms, which are capable of transmitting from body to body.  Most of us have fallen for this notion for it is so widely understood to be so.  It maybe time for us to think again.

A pandemic spread though European countries during the middle ages known as the Black Plague.  This pandemic was far worse than any pandemic that we have seen in this era and it took the lives of about 1/3 of the European population (approximately 25 million people).  But what I would like to make light of is not the fact that 1/3 of the population died, but to the fact that the other 2/3 of the population survived.  More often than not, those who survived lived underneath the same households as the victim, shared the same meals across the same family table.  I ask you, why didn’t they “catch” the disease? Why did they live? Maybe, they were just lucky?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that the disease itself did not exist; it is clearly well documented and is seen as one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.  But what I am arguing is the validity of the “germ theory of disease” itself, the overriding ideas in many people’s minds is that the exposure to a germ almost always equals disease, but realistically is that the case?  The germ, be it a virus or bacteria, might very well be the agent of disease, but the underlying cause is more complex than simply that.   If that was indeed the case, as chiropractic developer B.J. Palmer stated, “…there wouldn’t be anybody around to tell you about it!”  If our bodies can be kept whole and healthy, then the germs, which we come into contact with everyday, would have no consequence.

So I ask you, what would you think if the foundation on which the entire medical model stands is flawed?  What if the notion of the “germ theory” is not as black and white as we were once lead to believe?  When this theory was first proposed by famed scientist Louis Pasteur, it was highly controversial yet now it lies to be the cornerstone of modern medicine.  Funny, is the fact that the germ theory is not Pasteur’s last thoughts in regards to the idea of sickness and disease.

Through out the life of Pasteur there was on going debate about this theory between himself and one of his comtemporaries, Claude Bernard.  Bernard’s made claim that it is not the seed (the germ) that was the cause for disease but instead it was the soil (the human body).  Bernard believed that germs are nothing more than opportunistic organism, and if given a compromised environment they will thrive.  This ongoing debate persisted up until Pasteur’s deathbed, and at that time Pasteur finally conceded and admitted that Bernard was indeed right.  In the end, Pasteur came to realize that the germ was not the only element in determining who became sick and who remained well, that indeed the soil is everything and the seed is nothing!

There are many things that can contribute towards sickness and health.  Don’t allow yourself to simply accept the idea that sickness is inevitable–especially now, during the alleged cold and flu season–just because you are around sick people.  With chiropractic care, our goals is to have your body functioning at such a level that you don’t get sick very often–and when you do, your immune system, is stronger because of a more efficient body-brain communication – the nervous system, which allows your body to be able to fight off disease more readily, therefore letting your body recover more effectively and efficiently.

Adapted from the Pathways Issue 3 Fall 09 – A Chiropractic Look at the Germ Theory by Daniel A. Middleton, DC

1. Be sure to get adjusted regularly. Chiropractic care is important to help maintain a healthy skeletal structure and nervous system function throughout a pregnancy and childbirth.

2. Do some gentle exercise each day. Walking, swimming, or stationary cycling are relatively safe cardiovascular exercises for pregnant women. Avoid any activities that involve jerking or bouncing movements. Stop exercise immediately if you notice any unusual symptom, such as nausea, dizziness or weakness.

3. Wear flat shoes with arch supports. Your feet become more susceptible to injury during pregnancy, partially due to a rapidly increasing body weight, but also because the ligaments that support the feet become more lax.

4. When picking up children, bend from the knees, not the waist. Your low back is much more prone to injury during pregnancy.

5. When sleeping, lay on your side with a pillow between your knees to take pressure off your lower back. Full-length “body pillows” or “pregnancy wedges” are very popular and can be helpful.

6. Eat several small meals or snacks every few hours, rather than three large meals per day. This will help alleviate nausea, stabilize blood sugar and allow your body to extract the maximum amount of nutrients from the foods that you eat.

7. Take a prenatal vitamin with at least 400 micrograms of folic acid every day; 800 micrograms is even better. Folic acid has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of neural tube defects in a developing fetus. Be sure to check with your doctor before taking any vitamin or herbal supplement to make sure it’s safe for you and the baby.

Flowers are blooming.  Grass is growing.  Bees are buzzing.  Pollen is EVERYWHERE. WELCOME ALLERGY SEASON.  Year after year, we suffer from seasonal allergies and year after year we do the same thing to deal with our allergies – AVOID THE ALLERGENS! It is time for a change.

What is an allergy?

An allergy is a hypersensitivity to a normally harmless substance.  There are numerous substances, termed allergens, which could plague you and your family; in turn making life unbearable.  Common allergens are pollen, animal dander, house dust, feathers, mites, chemicals, and a variety of foods.  Generally allergies typically cause respiratory symptoms; other can cause such diverse symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, fever, diarrhea, stomachache, and vomiting.

Allergens and YOU?
When your body is exposed to an allergen, the immune system releases histamines and similar chemicals to fight what they perceive to be an invader.  As a result these chemicals cause a string of reactions, including the swelling and congestion of nasal passages and increased mucus production.  This is essentially a hypersensitive or overactive response by a person’s body to an external stimulus.  The strength of one’s immune system is directly correlated to how one’s body is capable of fighting off these infections.

YOUR Immune System

Your immune system keeps you 100% natural, organic, and unadulteratedly YOU!  It recognizes and destroys anything that is not supposed to be in you: bacteria, viruses, pollutants, dust, pollen, drugs, tumors, dead pieces of your own cells, and even artificial hearts and donor organs.  A healthy immune system means a high resistance to stress, to disease and infection, a better ability to deal with stress, and a greater health and well-being.

Your immune system is influenced by your nervous system and hormones, your diet and by emotional stress.  If unhealthy, your immune system may fail to recognize and remove abnormal cells (such as cancers); may not overcome infection; may overreact to foreign substances (bee stings, penicillin, foods, or drugs); become depressed (as in AIDS) or even attack itself.

How we can help YOU!

By releasing the stress on the nervous system, chiropractic allows the immune system to function optimally and more efficiently – a benefit in which allergy sufferers can appreciate.  Recent developments in psychoneuroimmunology reveals that when the nervous system functions better the immune system benefits.

A study performed by Ronald Pero, PhD., measured 107 individuals who had received long-term chiropractic care which revealed that chiropractic patients had 200% greater immune competence than the people who had not received chiropractic care, and 400% greater immune competence than people with cancer or other serious diseases.  The immune-competence did not show any decline with age, it was uniform for the entire group.

The chiropractic approach is to remove vertebral subluxations, a common spinal distortion that puts stress on your nervous system.  A nervous system free of stress allows ones body to work more effectively to neutralize the allergy-causing chemicals in your environment.  Noted health researcher Dr. Kurt Donsback reinforces the opinion of many natural healers by saying: “A healthy body is capable of neutralizing these toxic substances and a body which has malfunctioning defense mechanisms cannot.  The emphasis on allergies must be on building a healthy body, not trying to use evasive tactics by eliminating all the allergens.”

In the end it comes down to this, your nervous system and immune system are interrelated and the health of one affects the health of the other.  For over a hundred years chiropractors have , by reducing the nervous stress caused by vertebral subluxations, helped people adapt better to all the stresses in the environment, including those relating to allergies.

The information that will be delivered will be driven by what we, at KeyStone Chiropractic,  see everyday in our community.  So we will address those health related concerns to help you garner that “Missing Link” which you have been looking for!

We hope that this new resource will prove to be useful for practice members,  potential practice members, and doctors.     We hope that you will add us to your Google Reader or other RSS feed or sign up for regular email updates when we have added new material.

We thank you all for your patience while we were creating this resource.  Please feel free to contact us if there are any particular topics you would like for us to cover.

With Love and Gratitude!!