The new place

Today is my first day off since beginning work as a chiropractor. It's exciting to finally be doing what I've been studying to do for the last 12 years (an extended time due to several trips to various parts of the world).

It is with great excitement that I say to all the inhabitants of Reno, Nevada - get ready because we're here! Moving took a lot of time and energy earlier this year, but we're settled and ready to go.

I'm excited to be able to share the expanding truth about human health and potential with members of the community, we've already been to the largest OB/GYN practice in Nevada to tell them about the great benefits pregnant women and newborns can receive from chiropractic and living a wellness lifestyle.

Doctor of the Future (part 2)

Previously we got Thomas Edison's take on health care in America, he discussed the fact that our whole approach to bacteria missed the mark.  I agree.  We may have done some very serious damage to ourselves and our children by disrespecting bacteria.

As previously discussed, medicine has its place for injuries and trauma but wellness doctors ("doctors of the future") will be needed to take care of people at all other times (even when they have NO symptoms).  You see, the sicknesses that we experience, with very few exceptions, are NOT due to our genes, but to an environment that is not in line with the human design.

In my research I am amazed at how far current "expert" recommendations are from what humans actually require in terms of what we eat, how we move, and how we think.

I find it interesting that Edison mentions bacteria.  Bacteria have been advertised to the American public as something we should be afraid of, something we need antibacterials and antibiotics to kill.  The lesser-known fact is that some of these bacteria are actually REQUIRED for us to be healthy.  And medical journals continue to report that indiscriminate use of antibiotics has been and continues to be very damaging to individual as well as public health.  Could it be that our need to use antibiotics is really a symptom of the fact that we are deficient in required beneficial bacteria?

Did you know you have a daily REQUIREMENT for friendly bacteria?  And without this daily need fulfilled your body cannot function as it was designed?

There is a natural balance of bacteria in the healthy human gut which helps us digest food, provides vitamins and other essential nutrients, and prevents overpopulation by harmful bacteria.  Despite all that we do know about them, I'm convinced that we probably will NEVER know the full extent of the beneficial functions these little "bugs" perform for us - and I actually don't really care.  I have seen the evidence that they are necessary and that most people are deficient.

Despite what yogurt advertisements proclaim, our bodies were designed to get a great deal of their bacteria not from dairy but from plants (especially lactobacillus plantarum).  Due to the US's current growing methods of veggies and fruits, the traditional healthful bacteria historically found in our food are killed by pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and soil nutrient depletion.  The sad fact is that in today's industrial food environment it is impossible to have a balance of healthy bacteria without supplementation.

Just like within our own bodies, there was a balance in nature that we changed when we "improved" our growing practices to grow more food more rapidly.  Beneficial bacteria are simply NOT available in modern day United States like they were throughout all of human history.  In fact, living in the United States today it is IMPOSSIBLE to ingest the right amounts and proportions of bacteria from food as our healthy predecessors did.  Proper gut microflora (balance of bacteria) is CRITICAL for proper immune system function.  Knowing this (and more) it is easy to see why Americans suffer so many immune system problems (cold, flu, autoimmune conditions, etc)

Are you supplementing with a high-quality probiotic from non-dairy (plant) sources in order to provide your body with its daily need?

Finding out what our body NEEDS in terms of food, movement, and thoughts is critical in order to fully express health.  As you come to a deeper understanding of what our bodies actually require, you will be amazed at how far off the American way of life is - even those who thought they were eating well (like myself) have a long ways to go.  And as Mr. Edison foresaw, you too will see that we don't need treatments, we need good information and true prevention.

Reconnecting you to the possibility of FULL health through better information - Dr. Steve

The Doctor of the Future (part 1)

Today's post comes courtesy of one of America's all-time greats - Thomas Edison (1847-1931).

Edison is reported as saying:

"Nineteen hundred and three will bring great advances in surgery, in the study of bacteria, in the knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease. Medicine is played out. Every new discovery of bacteria shows us all the more convincingly that we have been wrong and that the million tons of stuff we have taken was all useless. 

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease...There were never so many able, active minds at work on the problems of diseases as now, and all their discoveries are tending to the simple truth — that you can't improve on nature." (emphasis added)

We'd have been wise to follow his advice in 1903.  What amazing foresight he had more than 100 years ago!  Amazingly, this is BEFORE antibiotics ever became available (did he know how devastating they would be?).

What profound knowledge to see ahead to a day when doctors would ultimately get back to doctoring (the word doctor comes from latin docere which means to teach).  According to this statement, Edison's formula for getting people well is:

1-No medicine
2-Care for the human frame
3-Discuss what foods humans require to be well
4-Prevention OVER treatment

I would add to Thomas Edison's sentiment the following:  Medicine is good for traumas, accidents, very rare genetic illnesses, and helping people feel better (numbing them) before they die.  For the many Americans who've had their lives saved by medicine or been at peace before they die, we all ought to be extremely grateful, however, we must maintain an understanding that once the life is saved, the ONLY way to get well is to promote an environment conducive to health by Eating Well, Moving Well, and Thinking Well.

Daily, when I review the scientific literature, I am amazed at how far we've gone from the core tenets of natural health here in America.  Americans act as if there needs to be a pill for every ill.

I envision a day when Americans are so healthy that we will look back and wonder why we ever took so many drugs.

Next Thursday - Thomas Edison's genius Reconnects you to something new that's actually very old - Dr. Steve

Right location, wrong treatment

A recent article from FOX News discussed an operation to the brainstem (near the top bones of the spine) in 10 patients with type II diabetes. (A disease that's threatening to cripple the economy of the United States not to mention the suffering of the individuals.)

After the surgery, 7 out of the 10 patients were able to reduce their diabetes medication due to an improvement in their condition and one person even stopped the medication completely.  The results of this surgery were nothing less than amazing and the medical professionals involved have a right to be excited about such impressive results, but what if there were something even better?

Upper Cervical chiropractic deals with the same area of the brainstem and takes care of it with precision in a very gentle manner (no knives in my office).  The purpose of chiropractic is to correct the spine of abnormal movement and/or alignment thus removing interference.  The surgery described above was to "decompress" the nerves in the area.  (Read the details of the surgery here.)

Now for some very important questions:

- What was compressing the nerves?

- What is the cost to hospitalize, anesthetize, and operate on an individual? 

- What is the risk associated with cutting someone open and performing this surgery on the neck and brain? 

Compare this to a very natural, gentle and precise procedure using the hands to accomplish a correction of the alignment and motion of the upper spine without any cutting. 

Should such a surgery be considered before less invasive means?  My question is - did the doctors performing this surgery ever think to ask how the compression got there in the first place?

Not to take anything away from medical advances, I readily admit that the surgery mentioned here is truly amazing, but I find even more amazing that such intelligent people can completely ignore very inexpensive, non-invasive means of relieving interference to this critical area.

Reconnecting the brain to the body and the body to the brain non-invasively - Dr. Steve Perry

For all you anatomy lovers out there, here's a video of the area of the spine we're dealing with.  Enjoy:

Flu - Are you going to let it get you?

It's on its way again. After last year's flop of an H1N1 threat and the accompanying scandal, I hope I stop seeing advertisements of "free" (e.g. paid for using extorted tax dollars) shots for it!

In deciding how one is going to deal with the dreaded "flu season" this year, there is always the decision to vaccinate in the young, the old, and everyone in between.

I find health care and government recommendations to vaccinate every man, woman, and child (over 6 months) in America quite odd in light of the research. A recent review of the literature failed to show that vaccinating children under 5 for flu was any better than placebo and yet we continue the recommendations - who's running this thing?

So, with all the hype and fear-mongering on the news, internet, magazines, etc, how does one decide what to do concerning flu? Let's apply the two most important questions you could ever ask yourself concerning long-term health and wellness:

Question #1 - Why do Americans suffer so much flu-related illness?

Answer #1 - Simple: Toxicity and Deficiency.

Americans by and large are toxic with most or all of the following: sugar, omega-6 fats, refined carbohydrates and trans-fats, gut bacteria imbalance, sedentary lifestyles, subluxation, anger, stress, and more. All of these things are stressors which reduce the short- and long-term immune system function designed to respond to invaders.

Photo from Flickr.com

Americans at the same time also suffer from epidemic levels of deficiency in: fresh, whole vegetables and fruits, high-quality meat, high-quality fish and omega-3 fats, good bacteria in the gut, sun and Vitamin D, exercise, properly functioning spines, feelings of love and appreciation for self and others, feeling of belonging and life purpose, gratitude . . . the list could go on.

How could we possibly expect to be well when all this is the case?

Should we really expect one shot to be able to take away the problems associated with weak immune systems we created by living toxic and deficient lifestyles?

So, how about. . .

Question #2 - How can we get and stay well?

The answer to this one is SO simple! Supply your body with what it requires (sufficiency) and keep your body free from things that harm it (purity). Sufficiency and Purity are the most logical ways to allow your body to express the lifelong health and freedom from illness and disease (including the flu) that you and your children deserve.

If you want to have the health you deserve (and a strong immune system), be sure that you are putting in nutritious things in terms of Eating and Moving and Thinking. This includes adequate vitamin D (which performed better than the flu shot in studies in children), veggies and fruits, high-quality meat and fish, probiotics from plant sources, exercise, chiropractic care (to ensure a properly functioning spine and nervous system), feelings of belonging and contributing to an economy, working towards a life-purpose, unconditional love for yourself and others, gratitude, etc.

This also means staying away from sugar, too many omega-6 fats (from vegetable oils, grains, and industrial meat), trans fats, dangerous drugs, processed foods, sedentary living, poor posture, accidents/trauma that damage your spine and joints, perceptions of stress, etc.

Only when we begin to ask ourselves better questions (like WHY we are sick) do we have any chance at coming up with a real solution to the pandemics of suffering that we see in modern America. When I think of the little ones, I say to myself, "It's worth it." I get the motivation to love and care for my body the way it was intended to be - this so that my kids will have a good example to follow. And all of this so they can grow up with healthy bodies and great immune systems, naturally.

Reconnecting you to lifelong wellness and prevention.

Yours in Health, Love, and Freedom through informed choices - Steve Perry

PS - Anyone seen an advertisement for raw eggplant yet? I'm still waiting.

Becoming the Doctor

Classes ... Done!

Clinic ... Checked out this week!

National Board Examinations ... No problem!

Deciding on what location to begin practicing ... To Be Determined!

 

I enjoyed the chiropractic curriculum but am glad to be done.  I learned a ton and will continue to strive for lifelong education and improvement of my knowledge and clinical skills.

Checking out of the Health Center this week has been bitter-sweet.  It is sweet to be done and have finished the multitude of requirements in the Health Center, but it is tough to say, "Goodbye" to all those I've been working with to achieve a new level of health and happiness.

I've completed all the requirements of the Life Chiropractic College West doctoral program and all testing for the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners.  I am free and clear as far as proficiency examinations go!  Next step is to take the licensing and ethics test for the state (or states) I will be practicing in, and then you can officially call me "Doctor Steve"!

There's only one small thing stopping me from helping all those people out there who really want to get and stay well - I don't know where I'm going to open up shop yet.  I'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on the major decisions that lie ahead.

In the meantime, I'll continue posting relevant discussions about the scientific evidence behind Eating, Moving, and Thinking better to obtain a life of Natural Health and Happiness which results in the Freedom to Live with passion!

Yours in Health, Love, and Freedom Naturally - (almost Dr.) Steve

P.S. - if you're thinking you'd like a new Wellness Doctor and Chiropractor to move to your area to put Health back into your "Health Care", add a comment to this post and I'll be sure to consider you :)

How do your beliefs stack up?

Do as I say, not ... You know the rest.  Today we're talking about beliefs and how powerful these little things are.  People have lost their lives for them and nations have gone to war over beliefs.  They are relevant today to each and every one of us as they are the very cause of the current "Health Care" mess.

I was thinking the other day about beliefs and wondered, "Is it possible to know what other people believe?  After all, beliefs happen on the inside and people can say anything they want on the outside."

Gandhi said it this way:  "Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny."

I believe that it IS possible to tell what people believe.  You can SEE what they believe by looking at their actions (choices).  I've heard people say, "I can't hear a word you're saying because your actions are speaking so loudly."  Actions are in fact physical manifestations of the underlying invisible beliefs.

As just one example, let's apply this to food: if people say that they believe eating high quality food will help them be healthy and yet they regularly eat junk (like most people I know), there's one of two things going on:  Either #1 - they don't really want to be healthy, or #2 - they don't believe that eating high quality food actually IS a large determinant of health. The first option -- that people don't want to be healthy -- is an utterly ridiculous concept.  This leaves us with only one option: that people don't really believe that high quality food matters for our health.  If people WANTED to be healthy, and they KNEW high quality food mattered, then they would CHOOSE high quality foods over illness-producing ones every time.

The reason medicine is failing (Health Care Reform anyone?) is because it does not instill the beliefs that personal choice is important for health.  If it did instill this belief and people wanted health, then everyone under medical care would be making healthy choices.  The reality is that people have become convinced that there's some way to well-being other than making good choices, that there's some system that can compensate for their personal shortcomings and that this system is more important than their personal choices as a determinant of their long-term health.  Sounds pretty ridiculous I know, but that's reality.  The reason I know this is based on what people actually DO, not what they say.  Let's take a look:

Currently in America, the number one source of calories is the High Fructose Corn Syrup in soft drinks (soon to be replaced by "real sugar" as if that's any better).  A recent CDC report stated, "In 2009, 67.5 percent of adults ate less than two fruits daily and 73.7 percent ate less than three vegetables daily."  If people are in control of their actions, and if healthy choices result in health, then one could conclude that either people don't want to be healthy or people have some misguided beliefs controlling their actions.

Medicine does a lot of amazing things (heart transplants, morphine to numb pain after car wrecks, etc) but it HASN'T helped people believe that what they do matters for their health.  Medicine as a whole is an utter failure when it comes to helping people live in ways that could result in them actually BEING healthy for a lifetime.  This is the very reason that heart disease, Type II Diabetes (both very nearly 100% preventable), and cancer (highly preventable) are major health threats in America but not in many other countries (until they adopt our way of life).  Why I started blogging was to show people the evidence that what they do matters and they CAN be healthy once they become aware of their actual beliefs.

Here's to believing that what you do matters.

Reconnecting you to Natural health through accurate beliefs.

Yours in Health, Love, and Freedom - Intern Steve

Got depression?

Depression is something that can be severely disabling and something that a great number of Americans suffer with.  It can transform a person's world.  I was reading a recent article comparing three different treatments for people suffering with severe depression - 1) Exercise alone, 2) Medication alone, and 3) Exercise with Medication. 

The findings were astounding!

The Exercise WITHOUT Medication group had better recovery as well as fewer relapses than either of the other two groups.  Just take a look at the chart!

The amazing thing is that not only did exercise beat medication, but exercise alone beat exercise WITH the medication (meaning that the medicine appeared detrimental to the recovery of these people after they began an exercise program). Say "Wow!"

Important - Exercise is NOT a therapy! Adequate movement (especially movement of the spine) is ESSENTIAL for proper functioning of the brain, heart, lungs, muscles, and every other part of the body.

If these depressed people were deficient in exercise causing chemical changes in the brain, how can we possibly think that medication is the rational solution?

If their bodies NEEDED exercise but didn't have it, what is the only way to reestablish a normal level of health?  If we continue to focus on drug-centered solutions to overcome lifestyle-created issues, where is the hope?

A LACK of an essential nutrient allows the possibility of disease. Having this understanding is absolutely critical for optimal health and wellness!

How can we call long-term drugs without exercise a "treatment" for depression and consider ourselves rational and "evidence-based"?

More important is the understanding that within the human body, there's never a time when you have just one cause of any "condition". If you also helped these depressed persons improve what they were putting into their body in terms of NUTRITION and THOUGHTS, imagine what would happen for their ability to express amazing health and vitality!

Where is this understanding in today's "Health Care"? Is this the conversation that goes on between a depressed patient and their doctor? Are these sick people viewing the drug as a REPLACEMENT for exercise (look at the relapse rates in these two groups)? Are depressed patients being told that exercise alone may be their BEST option? These people are NOT going to get this information in a drug commercial on TV - exercise is FREE! Who's going to tell them the truth?

Here's to getting and staying depression-free by supplying the body what it needs in terms of movement, nutrition, and emotion.

Reconnecting you to health and happines, Naturally.

Reference:

http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/short/62/5/633

First Blog

I chose the title of this blog to be "Reconnecting" for multiple reasons:  considering the nature of my profession and its goal to reconnect to the body's ability to heal also considering how disconnected we are as a nation in terms of the very real, long-term consequences of our daily activities and behaviors.

Like the picture below reminds us, nature is amazingly beautiful.
We, as human beings, are part of nature.
We are Natural Beings.
This is why natural forms of health care, like Chiropractic, make complete sense. They remind us that we have the ability to heal within us and if we are not healing, it is because there is something interfering with that natural process.

Chiropractic is really about reconnecting the body's innate (or inborn) healing capacity to the body itself. Sometimes life results in us not feeling quite whole. The problem could be something we are doing to ourselves, or something that has happened to us. Sometimes we need some sort of intervention, other times the body will take care of itself.

How are we to know the difference? I believe this is the purpose of the Health Care Professions.

As a Health Care professional, a chiropractor helps evaluate an individual's state of physiology or state of function to determine how the body can be more healthy.

A chiropractor is like an MD, except backwards. When MDs look at an individual, they look for disease and then try to find ways to take it away. When chiropractors look at the same individual, they see the body as functioning correctly given the circumstances and then look to find ways to increase healing from the inside. You see, these two approaches to the health of an individual are utterly and completely different and they stem from entirely different philosophies on health and healing.  Having access to a chiropractor doesn't mean you will never need an MD and seeing an MD does not mean that you don't need a chiropractor.  Both are great assets to have on your health care team and you should be checked by both regularly - one to look for sickness, the other to turn up your level of health.

I can feel that this topic will come up repeatedly seeing how little the American people understand about what Chiropractors do, but it is my goal to help people understand what we do and why this completely fits in with people's desires to be healthy, NATURALLY.

Look mom, my first blog post!

In Health, Love, and Freedom,

(soon to be) Dr. Steve
Wellness Expert and Chiropractor