Are You Falling Apart?

Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes - These are four of the top six causes of death in the United States today, with heart disease and cancer far and away the top two. Does anything stick out at you when looking at this list? What do these four killers have in common? Not sure? Ok, I'll tell you. Are you ready? They are all Lifestyle Disorders.

What do I mean by "Lifestyle Disorders?" I mean that these diseases, with very few exceptions, are caused by the way we choose to live our lives. The choices of the foods we eat (and the foods we do not eat), the exercise we do (and the exercise we fail to do), the rest we get (or fail to get due to those activities we "have" to do), the attitude we have about ourselves and life in general (both good and bad) determines our overall health and improper lifestyle can and does directly lead to those four killers above.

The good news is that it takes time for those four killers, as well as other deadly diseases to develop. No one goes from 100% optimal health to Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke or Diabetes overnight. It takes time - years to decades in many cases - for our health to degrade to the point where these diseases can manifest. Our body is designed to do the best it can for as long as it can before it succumbs to these diseases.

Another bit of good news is that our body does not just sit by while these things are happening without letting us know. It gives us various warning signs to let us know our health is starting to fall apart. We call these warning signs "symptoms." Did I just say that symptoms are good news? Yes they are, and here is why.

The first thing to realize is symptoms are never "normal." There is no such thing as a normal symptom. Many in this day and age feel symptoms are normal because they are so common. Take headaches for example. Headaches are the #1 health complaint in America today. That means many people out there suffer with headaches. But just because something is common does not mean it is normal. If it were normal absolutely everyone would suffer with headaches and for all the same reasons.

Symptoms are a warning sign, just like the "check engine soon" light coming on in your car. Now let's stick with the car for a minute. If the check engine soon light comes on, you have a few choices. The first choice is to ignore the light and hope it goes out on its own. Sometimes this works, most often not. Sometimes the light will go out for a while, only to come back on in a few weeks. Then it may go out again and come back on in a few days, then it comes on and just stays on. (Does this sound like some of the symptoms you may be experiencing? Bothersome for a while, then goes away, only to come back again more and more frequently and staying for longer periods of time?) Your next choice with the car is to stick a piece of duct tape over the bulb, or pull the bulb out - that takes care of the light (symptom). Problem is that whatever caused the light to come on is still an issue and the car continues to fall apart. (This is what many do when they take medications. With very, very few exceptions, drugs simply cover symptoms but do not correct the underlying cause of the problem. How do I know? Quit taking the meds and the symptom, sooner rather than later, returns.) The final option with the car is to take the car to a mechanic to determine the reason why the light came on to begin with. However, you must choose the right mechanic. You don't want to go to a mechanic where the remedy is "pulling out the lightbulb" and not bothering to fix the car.

If your car falls apart you can always buy a new one. But we only get one body throughout the course of our entire life. So it is vital for the Quality of our life to take proper care of our body, including while we are young. When I was 21, I thought I would never reach 40 years old. It seemed like forever away. Next month I turn 43 and I know 65 is right around the corner. It goes faster than you could ever believe when young.

What symptoms are important? The seven most important early symptoms that your body may be developing a lifestyle disorder include headaches and/or migraines, pain/tension somewhere in the body, difficulty getting to or staying asleep, fatigue or an unexplained lack of energy, allergies or sinus problems, irritability or mood swings, and finally digestive problems that can range from acid reflux/heartburn to nausea, IBS, colitis, diarrhea and constipation. Now do these symptoms mean your body necessarily has a disease? No. But it does mean it could be well on its way to developing one.

Have you suffered with more than one of these symptoms in the last 6 months? Or do you suffer with one that you experience more than once per month? If so, then your body is trying to tell you something, something you should be concerned about and listen to. And you should take action before it is too late. The old saying is "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and this is the absolute truth. It is so much easier to maintain your health than to try and re-gain it after it is lost. And in some cases re-gaining is simply not possible. You don't want to wait for that to happen. Just ask someone who did wait too long.

The concept of Wellness Care is to recommend steps and lifestyle choices to prevent disease and help health issues without the use of drugs, surgery or injections. If you live in the Southeast Louisiana area, I would like to invite you in to my office for a consultation to discuss your health and any health problems you may be experiencing or to discuss any symptoms you may be having. The phone number to my Mandeville, LA clinic is (985)867-8100 and in Metairie, LA (504)846-5044. Please visit my clinic website Advanced Wellness Center

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If you are looking for an effective workout program that you can do at home, please visit my Beachbody Coach's site at http://MyCoachPaul.com As your coach I will gladly offer advice on which programs may be suitable for you and offer weight loss advice. I lost 115lbs in only 200 days back in 2004 and have maintained since. I have also counseled hundreds of patients and others to lose weight in a healthy manner, and coached on the secrets to keeping it off. You do not have to live locally to me to take advantage of this coaching offer.

Remember, if you ignore you health, it will simply go away.

Yours in Great Health,

Dr. Paul Worsham, DC