Breastfeeding Is ‘Health, Not Lifestyle’ Choice

New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics presented in the March 2012 issue of the journal Pediatrics say that every infant should begin life with six months of exclusive breastfeeding, followed by a minimum of another six months with other foods being gradually added to the child’s diet.

“Recently, published evidence-based studies have confirmed and quantitated the risks of not breastfeeding,” the authors stated.

“Thus, infant feeding should not be considered as a lifestyle choice, but rather as a basic health issue. As such, the pediatrician’s role in advocating and supporting proper breastfeeding practices is essential and vital for the achievement of this preferred public health goal.”

Estimates have suggested that more than 900 infant deaths per year in the United States could be prevented if 90% of mothers breastfeed exclusively for six months, the authors wrote. Other positive outcomes linked to breastfeeding include: Continue reading “Breastfeeding Is ‘Health, Not Lifestyle’ Choice”

Ear Infections: A Natural Approach

Otitis media (more commonly known as an ear infection) is a generic name for several conditions that can affect the middle ear, including inflammation of the middle ear, ranging from acute to chronic and with or without symptoms.

Acute otitis media (AOM) is characterized by symptoms of pain and fever. Otitis media with effusion (OME) is typified by the presence of fluid in the middle ear without signs or symptoms of infection. Ear infections account for over 35% of all pediatrician visits in the United States. Antibiotics are not always effective and may even lead to a recurrence of ear infections. Continue reading “Ear Infections: A Natural Approach”

Conquering Osteoporosis Naturally

The medical literature defines osteoporosis as a disease characterized by abnormalities in the amount and architectural arrangement of bone tissue that leads to impaired skeletal strength and an undue susceptibility to fractures. Wow. Let’s try that again in plain English: Osteoporosis means “porous bone.”

If you look at healthy bone under a microscope, you will see that it kind of looks like a honeycomb. If you have osteoporosis, the holes and spaces in the honeycomb are much bigger than they are in healthy bone. This means your bones have lost density or mass, which in turn means they have become weaker. Osteoporosis complications (fractures) affect 1.8 million people each year and account for roughly 40 million dollars in health care costs each day.

Shocking Fact II:  Osteoporosis is under your control– it is a LIFESTYLE DISEASE. Sure, there may be a familial tendency, but that just means that if you live your life the same way as your family before you has, you will probably get the same diseases. People often fail to realize the degree of control you have over your health. If you have a genetic disposition to any type of life-threatening condition, fearlessly take the proactive steps to reduce the chance that it will affect your life and live your life to the fullest. With that in mind, here are the 4 steps to defy your heredity and ensure you have strong healthy bones throughout your life: Continue reading “Conquering Osteoporosis Naturally”

“You Can Heal It, We Can Help…”

The Home Depot attributes its success and growth (nearly 2,000 stores in the US, Canada and Mexico) to one simple concept…INDEPENDENCE. Their motto, “You can build it, we can help” celebrates that spirit. They’ve discovered when given the choice to pay someone to do a project or to just ‘do it yourself’ many people choose the latter because of the sense of accomplishment, satisfaction and pride they from completing the job themselves. Not to mention, saving some money in the process!

Our principled, chiropractic philosophy inherently shares the same concept.

True Health comes from the inside out. When given the choice to have a doctor heal you with drugs or surgery from the outside or to ‘heal it yourself’ from the inside, most people would rather choose INDEPENDENCE and heal on their own. When we tell our patients, ‘you can heal it, we can help’ we connect with an, innate truthful understanding that healing is a do-it-yourself job and all we do as chiropractors is open the lines of communication to help get you well. Plus, you can save a lot of money in the process!

 

Are We Medicalizing Normality?

In a commentary published in the October 20, 2011 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, Dr. Eric Hassall cautions that medicine has turned normal function in infants into a disease complete with drug therapy and the resulting list of adverse events.

The problem lies in the fact that many doctors are viewing frequent spitting up, irritability and unexplained crying in infants under the age of one as a medical condition because the symptoms are distressing to parents. This has resulted in an increase in written prescriptions for acid-suppression medication over the last decade. Continue reading “Are We Medicalizing Normality?”