There has been much more awareness of chronic disease management. It may be due to Internet access or increased pharmaceutical advertising providing public service announcements.
Whatever the reason, it is popular conversation now to compare notes on cholesterol, blood sugar, polyp count and more. With all this awareness why aren't we getting healthier? Why does chronic disease account for more than 75 percent of this country's $1 trillion health care spending as reported by the Centers for Disease Control?
More statistics from the CDC demonstrate this perplexing problem. Twenty million people in the United States have diabetes. Forty-one million have prediabetes. Seven-hundred thousand die of heart disease each year. Cancer is diagnosed in more than 1 million people annually with 36,000 deaths occurring in New York state. According to the American Obesity Association, 65 percent of Americans are obese.
The CDC also reported in 1992 that disease prevention spending is about 3 percent of all health care spending. This is a pitiful amount, but it was more disconcerting to realize after an hour searching the Internet, I couldn't find a more recent statistic. This makes me wonder if there really is any interest in prevention 15 years later.
If you are thinking it is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, the real problem is we have forgotten what “makes us tick.” We hardly give the body what it truly needs to thrive. Modern-day living is detrimental in many ways. Exercise used to be a part of our working lives. Now we do it as a hobby if time permits. Processed food costs less than fresh because they have amazing shelf lives. This doesn't do much for improving our own lives.
The confusion of it all has been frustrating to people who are making significant health changes but still do not notice positive results. People resign themselves to feeling lethargic and unhealthy because they are jaded from trying. The biggest hurdle in dealing with chronic disease is breaking this pattern of learned hopelessness.
Self-healing can occur when the nervous system is able to initiate the responses necessary to do so. But it also becomes “rewired” from continual exposure to stress and forgets how to function normally. Because chiropractic care promotes healing of the nervous system, it can help reverse this trend. Getting over the feeling of learned hopelessness requires the understanding that the body has to relearn how to act healthy again. This needs to be addressed at the spine and nervous system.
When chronic disease compromises health, the spine is also compromised and this perpetuates the problem. If you have begun to remove the stresses in your life such as poor eating habits and sedentary activity, this includes removing the stresses on the spine. Chiropractic uniquely re-educates the healing response so you get more mileage from your new health routine.
The next time you hear the familiar ad that says, “When diet and exercise are not enough,” remember this article and visit your chiropractor.
Lisa Ann Homic, M.Ed. D.C., may be contacted at www.DrHomic.com
More statistics from the CDC demonstrate this perplexing problem. Twenty million people in the United States have diabetes. Forty-one million have prediabetes. Seven-hundred thousand die of heart disease each year. Cancer is diagnosed in more than 1 million people annually with 36,000 deaths occurring in New York state. According to the American Obesity Association, 65 percent of Americans are obese.
The CDC also reported in 1992 that disease prevention spending is about 3 percent of all health care spending. This is a pitiful amount, but it was more disconcerting to realize after an hour searching the Internet, I couldn't find a more recent statistic. This makes me wonder if there really is any interest in prevention 15 years later.
If you are thinking it is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, the real problem is we have forgotten what “makes us tick.” We hardly give the body what it truly needs to thrive. Modern-day living is detrimental in many ways. Exercise used to be a part of our working lives. Now we do it as a hobby if time permits. Processed food costs less than fresh because they have amazing shelf lives. This doesn't do much for improving our own lives.
The confusion of it all has been frustrating to people who are making significant health changes but still do not notice positive results. People resign themselves to feeling lethargic and unhealthy because they are jaded from trying. The biggest hurdle in dealing with chronic disease is breaking this pattern of learned hopelessness.
Self-healing can occur when the nervous system is able to initiate the responses necessary to do so. But it also becomes “rewired” from continual exposure to stress and forgets how to function normally. Because chiropractic care promotes healing of the nervous system, it can help reverse this trend. Getting over the feeling of learned hopelessness requires the understanding that the body has to relearn how to act healthy again. This needs to be addressed at the spine and nervous system.
When chronic disease compromises health, the spine is also compromised and this perpetuates the problem. If you have begun to remove the stresses in your life such as poor eating habits and sedentary activity, this includes removing the stresses on the spine. Chiropractic uniquely re-educates the healing response so you get more mileage from your new health routine.
The next time you hear the familiar ad that says, “When diet and exercise are not enough,” remember this article and visit your chiropractor.
Lisa Ann Homic, M.Ed. D.C., may be contacted at www.DrHomic.com
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