Category Archives: Health & Wellness

Doctor…What’s in a Name?

Posted on April 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

In our society the honorary title of Doctor is reserved for those who have completed an accredited program (usually the highest academic degree awarded by a college or university in a specified discipline) and is awarded a Doctorate. Those who earn a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) may also rightfully don the title of Doctor. However, a PhD is not the same as a Doctorate and can be earned in many generic fields (economics, theology, etc.) generally by those who are more interested in the fields of research and education, rather than serving patients.

More often than not though, when we use the term “Doctor” in casual conversation, the majority of us are generally referring to a General Practitioner, Internist, Surgeon, etc. When someone asks, “Did you go to the Doctor,” whether right or wrong it is commonly assumed we are talking about the GP or Internist who diagnoses and prescribes. When referring to other specialized healthcare fields that have also earned the right to be called Doctor, we more commonly call them by their specialized name, such as Dentist, Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, etc.

There is a line in a movie where one character refers to himself as “Doctor so and so” and his friend chimes in to not be fooled, “he’s actually a Dentist not a real Doctor.” This always has made laugh but having graduated with a Doctorate of Chiropractic (D.C.), it has also made me look deeper into the difference between your traditional M.D. and D.C. Both are referred to as Doctors but outside of their methods of practice, what makes them different? Why is there a common perception that one is superior to the other?

I, like most Americans, assumed that M.D.s must go through more training and education than their Chiropractic counterparts. What I found was both surprising and pleasing, and I have provided you with some of it below.

“A recent study described U.S. chiropractic curricula as an average of 4820 classroom and clinical hours, with about 30% spent in the basic sciences and 70% in clinical sciences and internship. Medical school curricula average about 4670 hours with a similar breakdown. Compared with medical students, chiropractic students spend more hours in anatomy and physiology but fewer in public health. Both programs have similar hours in biochemistry, microbiology, and pathology. Chiropractic curricula provide relatively little instruction in pharmacology, critical care, and surgery but emphasize biomechanics, musculoskeletal function, and manual treatment methods. Medical education has 1000 fewer hours in didactic and workshop-like clinical courses. All chiropractic colleges maintain busy training clinics that deliver chiropractic care in settings similar to typical chiropractic practice. Specialty training is available in 2- to 3-year postgraduate residency programs in radiology, orthopedics, neurology, sports, rehabilitation, and pediatrics. Coursework leads to eligibility for accredited specialty board competency examinations, which confer “diplomate” or “certified” status.

Forty-six states (including Florida) either recognize or require passage of examinations (4 parts) administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners in the areas of basic science, clinical science, and clinical competency before granting a graduate a license to practice. Most states (including Florida) also require annual proof of continuing education credits (40 hours every two years) for ongoing license renewal.”

So what does this tell us? Well, education wise we are looking at two healthcare providers who put in similar work to attain the privilege that comes with being a Doctor. One puts more emphasis on anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and manual treatment methods, while the other spends more time focusing on pharmacology, critical care and surgery. Make no mistake; there is a definite need for both in today’s world. However, did you know that either may be hired as your primary care physician?

There are many Chiropractors out there who have made the effort to go beyond the traditional education, utilizing the title of Chiropractor as a vehicle to deliver what is currently considered “alternative” care. Possessing the skill to exercise natural remedies first when applicable and the know how to refer out when necessary.

Open your mind to the world of holistic medicine and to the concept that a Chiropractor, particularly one trained in functional medicine, can go beyond addressing your common back and neck pain. Speak up about all issues even if they seem unrelated. As we know when it comes to our bodies, everything is connected and you may be pleasantly surprised with the results attained through natural methods. On a larger scale, you can play an active role in contributing to the movement of converting these natural delivery systems from alternative to preferred, and maybe one day to the new traditional.

REFERENCES

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=474085

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9737032

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Posted in Chiropractic, Health & Wellness

Portrait of a Backwards System

Posted on April 2, 2013 | 4 comments

A couple of weeks back as I was completing my internship I had the pleasure of seeing a man with an intriguing, yet heartbreaking story. Upon speaking with the gentleman I discovered that approximately 10 years ago he began having muscle spasms and trouble sleeping. Like most Americans, this man turned to his trusted Physician for help. Unfortunately this Physician decided to attempt to remedy this man’s issues by prescribing a psychotropic drug in the form of an anti-depressant. If you read that scenario back to yourself, common sense should shoot up a mental red flag and prompt you to ask why the hell would you give someone a side effect carrying drug commonly prescribed for depression if they are not depressed to begin with?

So what happened with our patient? Well, his muscle spasms subsided and he began sleeping well again. So he was kept on the medication as preventative maintenance and life went on. Boom, problem solved. Well done, Doc. If only it were so easy. What happened next with this man is one of the heartbreaking aspects of this story. He developed what is called Tardive Dyskinesia. You would know he has this condition by the involuntary, repetitive tic-like movements, particular in his facial muscles and distal limbs. Depending on the moment, this man can’t help but to smack his lips and puff his cheeks, an issue that he never had in his life prior to consuming the psychotropic drug for a sustained period of time.

After this gentleman developed this condition and received numerous professional opinions that pointed to the use of the psychotropic drug as the cause, he now had a new problem to deal with. Now he sought the help of a neurologist who decided to calm down the constant rocking and twitching by serving up some Valium. While the Valium did indeed lessen the Tardive Dyskinesia symptoms, it also left him fatigued and feeling like a “zombie.” When faced the option, our friend decided he would make due with the spastic movements, in order to retain his energy and mental capacity. Quite a trade off to be forced into.

So how did this man wind up in front of me? Well, he is currently out of work on permanent disability and thankfully his care is covered under his insurance plan. Well, almost all of his care. You see, his neurologist holds some clout with the insurance companies as the “expert.” This Doctor’s recommendations are taken by the insurance company to be appropriate, and therefore are covered financially. While this Valium prescribing neurologist sees it advantageous for this man to receive massages and acupuncture, he does not see Chiropractic as being a potentially beneficial avenue for this man to travel down. Why you ask? He simply does not believe in it.

So again, how then does this man wind up in front of me? Well, nobody knows this man’s body like himself. Despite his neurologist’s “professional opinion,” this man knows and has experienced a lessening of his symptoms after receiving chiropractic adjustments. So much so, that this man is forced to pay out of pocket after coming to the office for the approved and covered massage and acupuncture treatments.

What are the problems that we see with this story? The first glaring issue is that of the reckless administering of pharmaceuticals to the trusting American public. If you haven’t caught on to this yet, we are the guinea pigs in this experiment. Many of these drugs do not have long term studies. Many of these drugs are being prescribed for purposes other than their designed intent, in order to potentially utilize a side effect. Many Doctors are products of Medical Schools that which are heavily funded by Big Pharma and thus are taught to diagnosis and prescribe, prescribe, prescribe. When things go wrong with unsuspecting patients or the when the deceptive backdoor methods used by the pharmaceutical companies come under a microscope, fines are administered. The seemingly hefty fines to us are nothing compared to the profits generated by these companies and sadly can be chalked up as the price of doing business. If you are not on any medications yourself, you no doubt know or love someone who is and it would behoove you to at the very least open your eyes to these issues.

(If you wish to read more eye opening facts on this particular issue, check out: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/02/pharmaceutical-companies-hide-information.aspx)

Another major issue illustrated by this story is that of the neurologist’s bias against the field of Chiropractic. This man clearly experiences benefits from an adjustment. So whose fault is it for this neurologist’s prejudice? Is it due to his own previous experiences with other Chiropractors? Is it because he does indeed realize that Chiropractors possess the ability to directly access the nervous system manually, and selfishly sees this as a threat? Or is it the fault of the Chiropractic profession for not getting the message out there, or even worse not knowing what that message is? Why does this man experience benefits from the treatment?

In this gentleman’s case we clearly have dysfunction taking place in his brain, most likely in a place called the basal ganglia which plays a major role in thought process, emotion and in this man’s case movement. The basil ganglia, like most structures in our brain, is bi-lateral and exists in two opposite hemispheres. If you’ve read any past posts on Functional Neurology, than you know that we can administer treatments to one side of the body to affect the opposite cortical hemisphere, basil ganglia included.

My time with this patient was limited, and my brief neurological exam was somewhat inconclusive. Based on the findings, I decided to adjust his right side (which would stimulate the opposite side of the brain) and monitor the results. When all adjustments were administered to the right side the patient’s tics and rocking temporarily disappeared and he noted feeling relaxed for the remainder of the day. At the next visit, adjustments to the left side did nothing to stop the twitching and the patient actually dropped his glasses twice as I walked him out. From the application of adjustments to opposite sides of the body we were able to demonstrate notable differences. This gives us hope and direction in treatment application due to the favorable changes demonstrated by the therapy applied to the right side of the body, and thus the affecting the left side of the patient’s brain.

This is what Functional Neurology is all about. Utilizing non-invasive, manual exams and therapies to positively identify and correct an imbalance or deficiency. Unfortunately my time was cut short with the patient, but continued therapies to the right side of the patient would be applied, some geared specifically to the basil ganglia (Yes, we can do that). The patient would also receive therapies to do on his own in an attempt to create something called plasticity. It’s great that we are able to create a temporary change in the office. The real trick is to constantly send appropriate stimulation in an attempt to create plastic and lasting changes in the nervous system, enabling the nervous system to adapt to a more favorable route or firing pattern, ultimately diminishing symptoms and improving a life.

This story illuminates numerous breakdowns and problems with the healthcare system. The entire progression of this man’s treatment should be reversed. When he initially experienced muscle spasms and trouble sleeping, extensive investigation into why these symptoms of underlying dysfunction were occurring should’ve been done. Treatment should have been directed towards that and not at silencing the symptoms. These and any symptoms are outward signs from our body attempting to tell us something isn’t right. It is lazy and reckless to simply gag the body with medication. After that, it seems logical that non-invasive, non-side effect carrying, manual methods of therapy should be applied first. I have no problem with medication when appropriate and necessary, but not when it is so haphazardly utilized like it was in this and many other cases.

Don’t be a victim of the current state of affairs. Research. Create a dialogue with those you trust and respect. Find a natural therapy that enables the body to heal itself like it is designed to do. Don’t take the chane of being ravaged by the prescription roulette game and THEN seek the alternative route to clean up the mess.

The other issue here is ignorance. There is ignorance amongst other health care providers and the public in general as to what Chiropractic can do when guided by Functional Neurology. This man clearly benefited from the treatment and his Neurologist clearly didn’t understand why the benefits took place. That’s what these posts are about; getting the information out there, sparking your curiosity and initiating investigation. The treatment is out there. The results are real. You owe it to yourself to check it out and unlock the door to naturally experiencing life on a higher level.

References:

http://www.tardivedyskinesia.com/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/02/pharmaceutical-companies-hide-information.aspx

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Posted in Chiropractic, Health & Wellness

Interval Training: Who Doesn’t Want More for Less???

Posted on March 26, 2013 | 2 comments

What if I told you that there is a way to change up your exercise program that could provide you with more benefits while expending less of your precious time? (Well, I suppose that this would first assume that you are exercising in the first place. Without going too far off topic, exercise on any level is imperative if you are serious about your health.) This is not a gimmick and will not cost you five installments of $19.95. The concept I’m talking about here is interval training.

This form of exercise has a body of evidence to support its benefits that seems to be constantly growing exponentially. (Go to PubMed and type in Interval Training if you’d like to see for yourself.) So what are we talking about here? As the name implies, we are referring to alternating between an activity (running, biking, swimming, push-ups, pull-ups, even weight training) and rest. The difference we are talking about is that you are doing the activity for a shorter amount of time at an elevated intensity, rather than a long, drawn out, time consuming, stint at a lower, steady intensity. This may seem counter-intuitive at first as we usually think more is always better. It’s so ingrained in our heads that the longer we hit the gym or run the greater the gains we’ll realize. However, studies are showing this is not necessarily the case.

Are you someone that has attempted to exercise to trim up that mid-section, but can’t seem to make a dent? Or maybe you ramp up the duration and frequency of your workouts still to no avail. In keeping with the theme of the last two posts, many times the type of workout you’re doing can actually be contributing to this by way of stress. (I say contributing because when we approach all issues holistically, we know that normally just one factor is not the end all be all. In this case we obviously realize that no matter how much or what type of exercise you may perform, if your diet is subpar you’ll likely never realize desired improvements). Overdoing exercising can actually activate and contribute to the previously discussed HPA axis as you are physically stressing your body. This in turn leads excess cortisol release, the subsequent conversion of muscle to fat, and the deposition of that fat in attractive places like that mid-section.

Benefits of interval training include:

-Provides the same if not better cardiovascular benefits in a fraction of the time, which is music to the ears of patients with coronary artery disease or those undergoing cardiac rehabilitation.

-Improves VO2 max (maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise). Various systems including your cardiac (heart), pulmonary (lung), vascular (blood vessels), muscular, and mitochondrial enzymes (crucial energy powerhouses of your cells) contribute to your VO2 capacity. If one of these systems is off, it lowers your VO2, or bodies ability to use oxygen. Conversely, a lower VO2 can have detrimental effects on any of these systems.
Interval training = improved VO2 max = improved global function.

-Improves capacity and utilization of oxygen which is vital for proper nerve function. In order for any nerve (brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves) to function properly they require fuel, activation by way of stimulation, and oxygen. Improving your body’s ability to utilize oxygen improves function of the overall governing system: your nervous system.

If these reasons don’t do it for you, how about burning more fat and building more muscle:

-Interval training has been shown to more effectively have an effect on something called Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). This means that after a workout your metabolic rate remains raised for anywhere from 1 to 3 days. A higher metabolism means your body is burning more fuel, or energy in the form of oxidizing fat. This same logic applies to stabilizing your blood sugar levels in that if the metabolic rate is raised, more fuel is needed. If you are someone who is diabetic or has issues with high blood sugar, this is one tactic to lower those levels by giving that glucose somewhere to go and be utilized.

-In a fraction of the time interval training has been shown to increase muscle buffering capacity and glycogen content, leading to improvements in muscle structure and performance.

So how can you implement this into your routine? This all depends on what level you are on to begin with. Simply put, doing intervals means doing some work and then resting. Instead of doing the traditional (and somewhat boring) steady state training for a lengthy time period, try switching it up. After doing a warm up (walk or jog for approx. 5 minutes) try stepping up the intensity for anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute, followed by a rest anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute, and repeat. This will add some different flavor to the usual repetitive routine, hopefully reinserting some fun back into your workout. Again, it cannot be overstated that this is all individually based, and you should always consult with your physician before beginning or altering any exercise or diet program.

As stated earlier, this can be implemented with all types of activities and is widely used in popular Cross Fit regimens. One method of this is called TABATA Intervals. After a warm up this is a four minute exercise routine consisting of an alternating cycle of 20 seconds of high intensity and 10 seconds rest, repeated 8 times. Find a healthcare professional or certified trainer who can best advise you on a good starting point as far as times, intensity and weight. It is normal to be laboring through the later ends of the cycle as we are trading time for intensity. If in doubt, always err on the side of caution and start slower, with less weight, and less intensity. When you feel like you can push it a little more, give it a shot, always being aware of and listening to your body. Also remember that in order to reap the benefits here, elevated effort and exertion are required. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you are stepping your game up with some interval training when you are actually just working out at the same pace for less time.

In addition to equal or better benefits and the less taxing effects on the body when compared to prolonged, steady state training, utilizing this type of workout saves maybe our most valuable commodity: time. One of the most common excuses for not exercising is not having enough time. Implementing some degree of interval training as a time efficient alternative SHOULD eliminate that excuse and bring you closer to getting to where you need to be.

REFERENCES:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23470301

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23467903

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22194005

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16825308

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19088769

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Posted in Health & Wellness, Running, Sports, Weight Loss

De-Stress Your Life (Part 2)

Posted on March 19, 2013 | 3 comments

As a continuation of last week’s theme, we will now talk about tackling this issue of stress and the havoc it can wreak on your body and life. Last week we got pretty technical with the explanations, so this week I will attempt to provide you with implementable, practical changes you can make.

DIET

I know it seems like a lot of the recommendations always seem to come back to the diet, but its importance cannot be overlooked. This is truly nature’s medicine and in an ideal world should be all we need to nourish our bodies. However, due to processing resulting in depletion, numerous sources of contamination and an overwhelming list of bad choices readily available, it is imperative that we educate and chose properly. When it comes to stress in particular, any type of food that causes inflammation can trigger or further perpetuate the previously discussed HPA pathway. We know the common culprits of gluten, dairy, soy, corn; but anyone can have an inflammatory reaction to any food. That is why it is a good idea to identify these potentially problematic foods by way of an elimination diet. There is a growing body of literature documenting people whose conditions vastly improved or were essentially eliminated due to something as simple as cutting a particular food out.

A couple of generic remedies to get you started if you think you have an issue would be to supplement with a B-complex and avoid caffeine. If you are over stressed, you have likely burned up your supply of essential B vitamins. And unfortunately for all you coffee addicts, I mean lovers out there; caffeine further activates the sympathetic nervous system and release of cortisol.

One of the products of the HPA pathway that we mentioned was cortisol. This is a necessary chemical in the proper amount, but too much or too little can be devastating to our insides. The number one cause of abnormal cortisol levels is dysglycemia or blood sugar issues. This means cut the junk food and carb heavy foods out of the routine diet. Attempt to, “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” This is almost the exact opposite than most of us do all ready, as we usually go to town on dinner and even top it off with some late night sweets. Again, not what we need to be doing on a regular basis. This sends our blood sugar out of whack and thus our cortisol levels, resulting in HPA dysfunction and leading us to our next issue.

SLEEP

This may be one of the most underrated aspects of our health. Sleep is so essential that a lack of it is considered by many to be a potential carcinogen. Sleep has a relationship with stress similar to that of inflammation and stress. Each can disrupt the other, and once set in motion, their dysfunction feed off each other. It is not only cortisol that is involved in sleep regulation, but melatonin. These two chemicals work opposite each other and maintain what we call our circadian rhythm. This is our day and night, sleep and wake cycle. It is essential to keep this in check in order to minimize our stress. This rhythm can be primed by attaining some natural light exposure during the day. When the retinal cells are exposed to light by way of our eyes, our bodies produce the precursor to melatonin, serotonin. When the light to dark transition is registered by our eyes, an enzyme is activated that is part of the serotonin to melatonin conversion.

Too much cortisol (constant stress) actually inhibits the release of melatonin and thus our attainment of sleep. Other things that deplete our supply of melatonin include a junk food diet, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapies, and bacterial infections (H.Pylori). Ladies (and some of you self-conscious fellas) make sure to check your anti-aging crèmes. Many of these and other anti-inflammatory crèmes contain progesterone or prednisone which actually leads to lower melatonin levels and thus less satisfying sleep.

If possible, try to exercise earlier in the day. Depending on how hard you go at it, exercise will result in a release of cortisol. Our natural circadian rhythm has this high in the morning to get us going and tapering off as we get closer to bed time. This allows melatonin to rise and us to go nighty night. However, if you exercise too late and ramp those cortisol levels up, now you may be tired and wired. Physically tired, but your mind will just not shut up until the cortisol levels come back down. Add a big, carb heavy recovery meal after your p.m. workout and now you have to deal with elevated blood sugar that will keep you up as well.

Quality of sleep is just as important. In order to truly reap the benefits of sleep and provide your body with rest and release of nocturnal growth factor needed to provide repair and prep for the next day, at least 8-9 hours should be obtained. I know this seems quite unrealistic to most of us, but shooting for an extra 30-60 minutes a night may do wonders for you. You also want to make sure you are sleeping in a completely dark room. Turn the TV off, get some dark curtains, and even put your alarm clocks face down. Any type of light can disrupt your quality of sleep. There are actually proteins in your red blood cells that register light, carrying this information to your brain and blocking your night time companion, melatonin.

RELAX

This is easier said than done. However, it is essential to living well. You need to take time out of your day to zone out and put things in perspective. Deep breathing. Try to peel away the layers of thought like an onion. When I was investigating some basic premises of Buddhism in 2005, a couple of tenants stuck with me that directly pertain to the issue at hand. One was to smooth your mind pond out; get rid of all the waves or ripples so that you can see things for how they truly are, including your own reflection. When our minds are clouded by scattered thoughts and worry it creates distortion in our mind or turbulence in our mind pond and a true understanding of reality can never be attained.

Another thought is that worries arise from the mind and that nothing and nobody can make you worry without your permission. This is not to say that you will not have concern or compassion for others, but when it comes to money, job, material things, etc.; these are at the root of our mental stress response. Being constantly worried by these afflictions can trigger, strengthen and sustain the HPA pathway, as well all those lovely side effects we covered last post. Do your best to keep things in perspective, realize how fortunate you are. Be prepared, but don’t worry about hypothetical future events that may or may not take place. Don’t let your thoughts contribute to any physiological destruction. Find something that works for you and make it a point to mediate, zone out, reflect, pray, whatever you want to call it each day. You may find this small amount of time set aside will keep you calm, cool and collected.

MAINTANENCE

Due to all of the complicated factors that can contribute to dysfunction within this system, your best bet is to be checked out by a functional doctor trained and armed with the knowledge and tools to diagnosis and treat any potential dysfunction. What preceded this last recommendation were basic suggestions that will assist in controlling stress and the stress response, but as we all know, each one of us is different. Being different we each have different reasons for dysfunction, and respond differently to various modes of treatment.
Not sure if you may have an issue involving your HPA?

Do you notice yourself having “senior moments” forgetting or losing things or requiring lists and notes to remember things? This could be a direct indication of hippocampal dysfunction, which is broken down due to too much cortisol. Coincidentally this is also the first site of your brain to be affected in Alzheimer’s.

Do you have an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep?

Do you have difficulty waking up in the morning or not feel rested after sleep?

Do you find that you don’t recover well from physical activity?

Do you notice a drop of energy between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day?

Having any of these issues can indicate over activation of your stress induced HPA axis manifesting itself as a dysfunctional circadian rhythm. Sounds complicated. Scary even, but don’t fret. There is help out there and it doesn’t have to come in the form of a prescription. It takes recognizing the potentially serious consequences of this dysfunction and making your health a priority. With all of the potential pitfalls that await us each and every day, it only makes sense to do all you can to stack the deck in your favor. Seeing a functional doctor like myself for these types of issues would entail a thorough history and exam, questionnaires, basic blood work and a salivary cortisol profile. These tools could then point us in the right direction as we attempt to identify and rectify the origin of the dysfunction through therapy, supplementation and lifestyle changes. Issues like this and others can be identified early or outright prevented if we would pay our bodies the respect they deserve. It’s funny. We have no problems making sure we get the latest update on our iphones or taking our cars in for routine service, but not our own bodies. And then we wonder why they break down.

As always feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion at the bottom of the page. Or contact me directly via the contact information also provided at the bottom of the page. You can also click the follow link to the right to receive a notification email each week with a direct link to each new post. For those of you in the Brevard County area, I invite you to stay tuned in to the weekly posts and for upcoming information regarding the opening of Clarke Chiropractic and Wellness. I look forward to working with you in the future.

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Posted in Health & Wellness, Stress & Sleep

De-Stress Your Life (Part 1)

Posted on March 12, 2013 | 9 comments

When attempting to achieve a life of thriving, rather than merely surviving, appropriate attention must be paid to the potential detrimental effects of stress. In our society the term stress generally refers to a negatively heightened emotional state due to a specific event or overload of activities. This is known as mental stress. Physical stress on the body caused by injury, bad posture or sustained over exertion (endurance athletes) can wreak the same havoc. In order to truly understand why we should attempt to de-stress our lives, a brief overview of the physiological mechanism behind stress and its effects should be understood.

The main mechanism responsible for our body’s response to stress is called the HPA axis. This stands for Hypothalamus (part of the brain), Pituitary gland (responsible for production/storage and/or secretion of various hormones), and Adrenal glands (sit on top of the kidneys and also secrete hormones). When we become “stressed” or “wound up,” the stressful sensory input is processed in the brain and the HPA axis is activated as our body’s attempt to adapt to this heightened more demanding state. Ultimately the pathway leads to sympathetic nervous system stimulation that then stimulates the medulla of the adrenal glands, secreting nor-epinephrine and epinephrine which are the chief neurotransmitters of the previously discussed sympathetic nervous system. Remember your sympathetic nervous system is your “fight or flight” system, so it is appropriate that it would be activated in what is perceived as a stressful situation. We’ve gone over some of the pitfalls of an overactive sympathetic nervous system in previous posts.

A critical thing happens here from the release of nor-epinephrine and epinephrine from the adrenal medulla. The sympathetic nervous system has been activated along with the release of inflammatory mediators called cytokines. This is a key part to understanding potential hazards. Not only does stress cause an inflammatory response, BUT inflammation (from injury or DIET, see where I’m going with this people? It’s all connected) can actually start the HPA axis and thus prompt and contribute to the stress response.

Now a normal inflammatory response to damage is a function of your immune system and is actually a good thing. The problem arises when there is too much inflammation. Your body knows this and in order to combat the stress induced inflammation releases a substance called cortisol in order to reduce the inflammation. It does this however, by dampening your immune system leaving us much more susceptible to infection and becoming sick. On the flip side to this, if your HPA axis is not functioning properly, this immune suppression that the cortisol is secreted to carry out may be lost. Now we have an individual with growing inflammation and an overzealous, under regulated immune response which can lead us toward numerous chronic and autoimmune diseases. The key here is to stay balanced and find that zone that works best for your particular physiology.

This has struck a particular cord with me as of late as I became frustrated that I was walking around with a runny nose and productive cough. I’ve been eating right and staying active, so what gives? Well, I was forced to look in the mirror and realize that going too hard can be just as damaging as living an overfed, sedentary life to begin with. I know most of you out there know what I’m talking about. Whether it’s a combination of work, school, exercise, kids, social life; something from the day in and day out grind has to give and unfortunately it is usually our health. This is our body trying to scream at us and tell us to ease up before even more serious damage is done.

Our bodies are designed to handle stress, but not at the sustained doses we are exposed to in modern day. Like all processes in the body, the HPA axis demonstrates what we call plasticity. This is basically a form of adaptation that can be utilized in our favor at times, but in this case works against us. Without a break or release, our stress pathway continues to fire, becoming stronger and stronger and easier and easier to be stimulated. You can now find yourself suffering from the effects of stress from normally unstressful stimuli or events, or even worse be in a constant state of HPA firing until fatigue and/or eventual death.

Without going into the actual detailed mechanisms involved in each issue, over activation of the HPA stress pathway and its partners in crime can lead to decreased immune system function, higher blood pressure, breakdown of connective tissue including the collagen in your skin (you ever notice how weathered those habitual marathoners look?), blood sugar and insulin dysfunction similar to that of a diabetic, increased body fat especially deposited around that mid-section, decreased libido and fertility, thyroid dysfunction (one of the most common diagnoses these days. Instead of prescribing synthroid maybe take a look at this pathway as the adrenal glands have been known to work opposite to the thyroid gland. Translation = overactive adrenals = underactive thyroid), osteoporosis (cortisol leaches calcium from your bones) and cardiovascular disease (the calcium leached from your bones has to go somewhere, and some gets deposited in your arteries = atherosclerosis), cortical degeneration leading to a decline in a multitude of higher functions especially memory, even insomnia. I know it seems counter-intuitive and that you should be able to pass right out if you’re constantly going hard, but this is just a perfect example of the complexity of chemical disruption that occurs when non-stop stress reigns.

Well, that was a mouthful. As always, I go into this stuff because I personally don’t sit well with being told what to do without explanation. As you can see, when we do that in today’s world we open ourselves up for all sorts of fun things. If you’re still actually reading at this point, I commend you. Next time, the focus will be on ways to de-stress and getting you closer towards thriving. But for now, take a break. I don’t want you to get all stressed out reading this.

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Posted in Health & Wellness, Stress & Sleep