LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Stress

STRESS PASSED FROM THE FATHER?

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Wow!  This article just floored me.  Had to read it several times just to make sure I got it straight.  We know that a pregnant mom’s stress levels actually affect the unborn child’s ability to deal with stress after the baby is born.  But what about dad’s stress levels?

Normally us males run around thinking what we do has no effect on the pregnancy other than what our DNA contributes at the time of conception.  (Ok..maybe that’s not what is typically running through the male mind…)  Drug use, smoking, poor lifestyle habits, environmental chemical exposure, stress.  These are all factors that mom needs to manage or it will affect the baby.

There has always been a feeling that the male’s side was sheltered from this process.  Research is beginning to break down this misconception.

In this particular mouse study, the male and female offspring of fathers who were put under chronic stress had increased stress and anxiety type behaviors as well as elevated levels of stress hormones.  Not good.

Here’s where the story gets VERY interesting.  These changes were not transmitted through IVF.  Basically, if the father’s DNA was taken and used, the changes did not occur.

This means that the transmission is occurring on a much different level, likely one we do not understand yet.

While this is a mouse study, the implications for humans remain striking.  Stress is likely not only transmitted through the mom, but also the father.  Consider this in the context of todays’ stressful lifestyles.

Read more…

WHY DON’T WE REACH FOR THE BROCCOLI WHEN WE’RE STRESSED?

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Let’s face it.  When we’re stressed it goes one of two ways.  We forget to eat and starve ourselves, leading to loss of muscle mass and all the problems that go with it (about 40% of us).  Or, we drive through the Dunkin Donuts drive thru for a 1/2 dozen pack that we have no intention of sharing. (another 40%)

It is becoming increasingly well documented that we have little control over these reactions and that they are hormonally driven.  This particular article looks at the hormone ghrelin, whose role it is to increase our appetite under starvation.  Under periods of stress, this hormone appears to increase our preference for calorie dense, low quality foods (comfort foods). 

The problem is, when we’re stressed is when we need to be taking the absolute best care of our bodies, but the vast majority of us do the exact opposite.  Wouldn’t it be great if we craved exercise, sleep and broccoli when we’re stressed?

Since this is obviously not the case, it boils back down to again stressing just how massively important it is to manage our stress on the front end so the bad things don’t happen.  This means exercise, meditation, biofeedback, deep breathing, etc…  In today’s society we’ve just accepted that stress is a way of life and there is little we can do to change this.  This is absolutely not true.  As much as we think we are stuck in our own little lives of stress and we can’t change it because it is always someone else’s fault, this is never the case.  Stress kills.  Accept that and change.

 http://www.jci.org/articles/view/57660

FORGIVENESS IS DIVINE, AND IMPROVES IMMUNE FUNCTION…

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Several years back, someone discovered that the nervous system had direct inputs into the immune cells surrounding the gut.  It was the first time direct connections had been discretely identified.  Thus was born the field of psychoneuroimmunology (great for Scrabble…).  We’ve always known that the way we think and feel effects our health, but now those scientists wanting the hard connections had it.

I can tell you from strong experience that, if someone does not think they are going to get better, they won’t.  If they are under high levels of stress and feel that their lives are out of their control, these patients will be plagued with varied health concerns.  Sometimes, healing the body begins with the mind.  Many times, healing the body encompasses healing of the mind.  It is a shift in mindset that brings about a whole new set of awareness and ability to live a better live.

Maybe this sounds a little esoteric and non-concrete, but researchers in this study found that those patients infected with HIV who were able to forgive those in the past that had wronged them had improvements in immune function.  So, even in a very compromised immune system we saw improvements in those who chose to put the past behind them.  Think what can happen to those of us not so compromised.  Add to this positive lifestyle changes to include dietary improvements, exercise and stress management (mediation, prayer, biofeedback). 

Many patients ask me how to boost their immune systems.  What they really are asking is can I take something like echinacea or goldenseal or Vitamin C to overcome the rest of the bad things I do to my body that are destroying my immune system.  Of course the answer is NO!!

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/742198