Man and Machine

Is a computer like a human brain or is a human brain like a computer? When machines allow us to extend our abilities, are we enhancing our humanness or becoming more machine-like? What are the meaningful distinctions between humans and machines and how do these impact our daily pursuits of health, well-being, and happiness?

One primary practical distinction is that humans initiate spontaneous, unique, non-predetermined actions and machines do not. Advanced machines such as military early warning systems may initiate spontaneous activities, but all of these are predetermined and predefined to a greater or lesser degree. And for any machine responses that are not previously designated and programmed as routine, human interaction is required for initiation of the suggested action.


Generally, even the "smartest" machine only has access to a built-in suite of responses. Noted exceptions include computer programs based on simple rules which emulate living systems. The "cellular automata" generated by these programs demonstrate spontaneous emergent behaviors not predictable from the simple rules themselves. The "artificial life" thus observed is exceedingly complex and can even provide optimal solutions to deep scientific problems posed to the system by investigators.


Cellular automata are examples of complex systems, defined as systems which are critically sensitive to small changes in initial conditions. Complex systems achieved fame in Michael Crichton's novel (and the subsequent Stephen Spielberg film), "Jurassic Park". In the book, the paleobotanist Dr. Ian Malcolm uses the weather as an example of the nature of complex systems. In a scene which has achieved iconic status, Malcolm relates how a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rain forest can cause a tornado in the American Midwest. Small changes in a complex system's initial state can lead to substantial unpredictable results in the system as a whole.


The human nervous system is such a complex, dynamic system.1,2,3 Small changes in the nervous system's initial state can result in dramatic outcomes. For example, a spinal misalignment (resulting from an innocuous low back muscle strain) can irritate a spinal nerve (a small change in initial conditions) which can lead to chronic indigestion, allergies, migraine headaches, or even high blood pressure down the road.


Most machines are not complex in this way, but they do require regular maintenance and care. As human beings, we are complex systems by our very nature and the importance of regular maintenance and care is that much greater. A healthy spine and optimally functioning nerve system go very far toward ensuring the health of our body-as-machine and our associated happiness and well-being.

Man as a Machine

The machine metaphor is very useful when we are considering aspects of human health and disease. For example, human machines need tuneups just as much and just as regularly as do mechanical machines.

Human machines that are "out of tune" break down. The nature of the breakdown may be minor or major, but it's never a good thing. Most of the time our health is transparent to us - we don't consciously experience our various body parts doing their job. Pain, however, is a notably conscious experience and one which is almost always unwelcome and unpleasant.


Regular chiropractic care is a convenient, efficient, and highly effective method of maintaining your personal human machine at peak levels of performance and structural integrity. Chiropractic care corrects the spinal misalignments that are common denominators in many, if not most, physical ailments and disorders. Chiropractic care directly addresses mechanical problems and helps ensure optimal functioning - optimal levels of health and well-being.

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Quote of the Week:

“There are lots of people who mistake their imagination for their memory.” ~ Josh Billings

Topic of the Week: Innate Intelligence and its Relation to Chiropractic

Innate Intelligence – a chiropractic principle that supports your overall health and well-being!


When your life began, there were only two cells that came together to be ONE.


That one cell divided, then divided again, and divided again… eventually resulting in the human being that is known as YOU (a collection of about 50-70 TRILLION cells!).


Have you ever wondered how each cell knew where it was supposed to go? How, once a cell divided to become two new cells, that one of them knew it was supposed to differentiate into a heart cell, and the other was destined to become a lung cell? Or, how once all these individual cells grew and divided, that they were able to remain coordinated, with billions of cellular interactions taking place every second? How can all this be accomplished without you needing to be aware of any of it?


The original chiropractor, D.D. Palmer, also wondered about these things. He was fascinated with the human body and human life. From his experience with different healing modalities, he observed how health could be influenced by energy, and energy fields. He posited that all living matter must be guided to grow and evolve by an invisible life force – which he called Universal Intelligence.


It then followed that since we are alive, we must also possess within us a form of this Universal Intelligence – an energy which gives and sustains our lives with ease. He coined this force inside the body Innate Intelligence. As long as this Innate Intelligence is allowed to flow freely through and within us, then the physical matter can be animated and organized into a living, breathing, creative, expressive organism.


How does Innate Intelligence relate to chiropractic?


Universal and Innate Intelligence, in and of themselves, are considered perfect creations. However, once this intelligence has been injected into a physical system, it is unfortunately subject to the imperfect nature of that system. Such is the destiny of Innate Intelligence in the human body. Wherever there is a disruption of this life energy in the body, imperfection is expressed, and dis-ease can result.


D.D. Palmer taught us that Innate Intelligence is communicated to every cell in the body via the nervous system. Therefore, as long as the nervous system is free of interference or disruption, the health and wellness of the organism is sustained (considering the natural life-span of every cell).


The importance of the brain and the spinal cord relative to the life of every human being is confirmed by the body’s anatomy – these are the only two tissues in the body completely encased in a hard skeletal shell of protection! However, all this protection does not come without a cost. Bone is not very flexible – and life without movement is rather meaningless. So, in order to facilitate movement, the spine was separated into 26 movable pieces – 24 vertebrae, plus a sacrum and coccyx.


Because the individual parts of the spine can move, they can also become displaced. When a vertebra gets misaligned, restricted and/or dysfunctional, this is called a vertebral subluxation. Not only can this cause painful irritation of the joints and the nerves associated with that vertebra, but it can also disrupt the natural flow of Innate Intelligence, which can then disrupt the function of any tissue in the body, including the immune system – which leaves a person susceptible to illness.


Fortunately, D.D. Palmer recognized the importance of the spine, and the significance of vertebral subluxations with respect to our health. So important, in fact, that in 1895 – Chiropractic was born.


Although chiropractic and chiropractic techniques have evolved considerably over the last 115 years, all chiropractors hold true as their central tenet:


The human body possesses an Innate Intelligence with infinite wisdom – including the ability to maintain and sustain life – and this Innate Intelligence gives the body a natural state of ease, which can also be termed well-being. Innate Intelligence is communicated throughout the body by the nervous system. If the nervous system becomes irritated, then the communication of Innate Intelligence will be disrupted, causing dis-ease. The most common cause of nervous system interference and irritation is the vertebral subluxation.


Chiropractic is the only health care profession that has, as its central purpose, the identification and removal of vertebral subluxations from the spine in order to restore our natural state of ease and well-being. Anyone who has experienced a chiropractic adjustment can attest to the wide range of benefits that chiropractic provides.


Chiropractic adjustments not only ease your pain and suffering by taking the pressure off joints and nerves – they promote wellness by facilitating the flow of Innate Intelligence!


Disclaimer: Information contained in this Wellness Express™ newsletter is for educational and general purposes only and is designed to assist you in making informed decisions about your health. Any information contained herein is not intended to substitute advice from your physician or other healthcare professional. Copyright © Wellness Express™

Exercise of the Week: Abdominal Twists on Exercise Ball

Difficulty: Moderate to Advanced

Start: Assume reverse bridge position with shoulder blades and head resting on exercise ball. Focus on bringing belly button inward, and holding entire body in a straight line – ankles to ears. Arms are positioned straight to the side, palms facing up.

Exercise: Keeping hips elevated, reach one hand to ceiling, creating an upper body twist relative to pelvis. Allow ball to roll slightly underneath you. In ideal finish position, upper body will turn 90o relative to lower body, with only one shoulder touching ball. Pause for 2 counts. Return to starting position, and repeat on opposite side. Repeat 5-10 times per side.

Topic of the Week: Natural Substances Show Promise in Fighting Cancer

New research, much of it released in the last six months, reveals compelling results for natural substances helping in the battle against cancer. While traditional cancer drugs do save lives, many of these medications have serious side effects, which can become so intolerable patients are unable to continue using them. As well, these medications can also destroy healthy cells at the same time they kill cancer cells.

Cheese

It may surprise you to hear that cheese has anti-cancer properties. Although this news was first released in Europe a number of years ago, only recently has the information gained attention in the North American media.

Research from the Netherlands reveals that hard cheeses like Gouda, Emmental and Edam may slash the risk of some cancers. Researchers attribute vitamin K2 found in these types of cheese with an anti-cancer mechanism. While it kills cancer cells, K2 performs another vital function: it stops cancer from creating blood vessels. Without blood vessels to feed it, cancer is prevented from growing and spreading.

Research shows these hard cheeses may help prevent the development of lung, breast and prostate cancer. About 2 slices daily of these cheeses can provide the therapeutic benefits against cancer.

Saffron

This expensive and highly prized spice has been used medicinally in many world cultures for centuries, including as a natural anti-depressant. Saffron is also an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.

Now research published in Hepatology shows saffron may have powerful protective properties against liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma).

In the Hepatology study, rats were injected with chemicals that induced liver cancer and then were given saffron. The spice slowed cancer cells from spreading and stimulated apoptosis (programmed cell death).

The authors of the research remarked: “This study provides evidence that saffron exerts a significant chemopreventive effect against liver cancer through inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis. This report also shows some evidence that saffron protects rat liver from cancer via modulating oxidative damage and suppressing inflammatory response.”

Whole Ginger Extract

Like saffron, ginger has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds. It is also one of the most widely used substances in traditional herbal medicine of India and Southeast Asia.

In an article published online in the British Journal of Nutrition, medical researchers looking into the effects of ginger compounds on prostate cancer discovered that whole ginger extract had considerable power to stop cancer cell growth and promote cell death in a variety of prostate cancer cells. The research indicated that consuming 3 ½ ounces of a whole ginger extract daily could deliver this therapeutic effect.

Selenium

This important antioxidant mineral has received a fair amount of study by cancer researchers. For many years, it was believed that selenium played a preventative role against prostate cancer. However, more recent research has disputed selenium’s benefit in this area.

But the journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention released research last year that showed selenium intake was linked to a lower risk of developing bladder cancer. According to the study abstract, the researchers noted “a significant protective effect of selenium, mainly among women, which they believe may result from genderspecific differences in the mineral's accumulation and excretion in women.”

Coffee

We looked at the health benefits of coffee in an earlier edition of Wellness Express™, but new medical research on coffee has just been released in the last few months.

Coffee may reduce the risk of a specific cancer of the breast called anti-estrogen resistant estrogenreceptor (ER) negative breast cancer.

A Swedish study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research revealed postmenopausal women who drank five cups of coffee daily had a lower incidence of ER negative breast cancer compared to women who drank only one cup a day. However, the researchers remarked it is unclear what exact compounds within coffee provide this protective effect. The study showed drinking coffee had no influence on reducing ER positive breast cancer.

There is also good news for male coffee drinkers. The Harvard School of Public Health published a study that indicated men who consumed six or more cups of coffee daily cut their risk of any form of prostate cancer by 20% and they slashed the risk of developing an aggressive type of prostate cancer by a whopping 60%! Now, if you cannot stomach the idea of drinking six cups of coffee a day, you will be happy to hear that even one to three cups of java daily reduces your risk of this aggressive prostate cancer by 30%. The study authors commented the results were identical for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.

Always consult with your chiropractor before using supplements and herbal products.

Disclaimer: Information contained in this Wellness Express™ newsletter is for educational and general purposes only and is designed to assist you in making informed decisions about your health. Any information contained herein is not intended to substitute advice from your physician or other healthcare professional. Copyright © Wellness Express™

Quote of the Week

“The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” - C.C. Scott

Exercies of the Week:Abdominal Crunches on Exercise Ball – Reach for Ceiling

Difficulty:

Start: Lie on back over exercise ball so lower portion of ribcage is positioned over center of ball.  Let head rest on ball, and relax hips.  Keep knees wide apart, and position arms stretched out overhead.

Exercise: Engage inner abdominals first by bringing belly button inwards. Then, curl body forward on ball.  As you curl forward, reach hands for ceiling. Return to starting position. Repeat 5-15 times.Easy to Moderate

Newsletter: Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain

The condition of fibromyalgia creates many challenges for a person with this disorder. These challenges often go far beyond the characteristic chronic pain which alone can be potentially debilitating. Those with fibromyalgia have pain in many locations and the presence of multiple pain sites is often confusing to their doctor or doctors. Family physicians, internists, endocrinologists, and even pain management specialists and rheumatologists often have great difficulty in comprehending the full extent of fibromyalgia and the serious health and well-being issues that are caused by the disorder.

Persons with fibromyalgia have so many symptoms that an uninformed physician may find it easier to refer such patients to a psychologist or psychiatrist. But the physical symptoms of fibromyalgia are real. The sufferers have widespread pain on a chronic basis. Additional symptoms include fatigue, sleep disturbances, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, joint stiffness, and cognitive dysfunction (brain fog). Depression commonly affects those with fibromyalgia.

Owing to the presence of so many chronic symptoms, fibromyalgia is notoriously difficult to treat. Such patients are typically taking multiple medications, prescribed by multiple specialists attempting to combat the problems that fall within their particular branch of medicine - pain management, rheumatology, and psychology/psychiatry.

Despite taking several medications on a long-term basis, most fibromyalgia patients tend not to improve. Depression and chronic pain take a profound toll, and daily living becomes quite burdensome. Many fibromyalgia patients despair of ever finding even a partial solution.

Attempts to address the problems of fibromyalgia by just treating the symptoms often fail. As the physiologic causes of the disorder are unknown, holistic approaches have a much greater likelihood of success. Multidisciplinary treatment is needed to impact this systems-wide disorder, including chiropractic care, nutritional recommendations, psychological counseling, and a gradual return to increased levels of physical activity and exercise.


Chiropractic Care Provides Multiple Benefits


Chiropractic care, by its very nature, is a holistic method of healing. By using noninvasive methods which balance function within both the nerve system and the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic care gives your body the best chance to recover from many complicated problems.

Chiropractic care is a key component of the multidisciplinary approach to management of multisystemic disorders such as fibromyalgia. By restoring more normal function to the person's nerve system, chiropractic care unleashes powerful and natural healing forces. The result is a body whose parts are now working together instead of against each other. As the body heals, pain and symptoms will likely naturally begin to reduce and resolve.

Quote of the Week:

“Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.” - Will Rogers

Exercise of the Week: Crunches on Exercise Ball with Oblique Twist

Difficulty: Beginner to Moderate

Start: Lie on back over exercise ball so that lower portion of ribcage is positioned over center of ball. Let head rest on ball and relax hips. Keep knees wide apart and position arms across chest (easy), hands behind head with elbows out (moderate), or arms stretched out overhead (difficult).

Exercise: Engage inner abdominals first by bringing belly button inwards. Then, curl body forward on ball, keeping lower back in contact with ball at all times. As you curl forward, bring one shoulder/elbow across body in the direction of the opposite knee. Return to starting position. Alternate sides. Repeat 5-10 times each side.

Topic of the Week: Depression and Obesity – A Dangerous Combination

In North America, one in 20 people suffer from depression. In the US alone, physicians write 230 million antidepressant prescriptions each year. More women than men are affected by depression, but this fact may be skewed because men are often less likely to seek professional help.


When it comes to obesity, you are probably already familiar with how it negatively affects your physical health - boosting the chances of heart disease, diabetes and arthritis. This week we investigate the health consequences of depression and obesity.

Depression and Obesity – Conjoined Twins?
Does depression cause obesity? Or does obesity cause depression? According to medical researchers, the answer is “both”. One weight study author remarked that when they gain weight, people get depressed, and when they get depressed, these people have more trouble losing weight.


A study of middle-aged women found they were more often depressed if they were obese and more obese if they were depressed. Weight gain is connected to increased caloric intake and less physical activity and these factors contribute to boosting the risk of developing depression.1 In fact, research shows that a woman with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above boosts her chance of developing depression into the range of 50% to 150%.


For many years, physicians were reluctant to place depressed obese patients on a weight loss program because doctors feared this would only make the depression worse. However, medical researchers now believe that fear is misguided. Recent studies show depressed patients can participate in weight loss programs without intensifying their symptoms.


Behavioral Medicine published a research article in 2010 that recommends depressed individuals should not be excluded from weight loss studies. Conducted by the Group Health Research Institute, the study recruited both depressed and nondepressed women with a BMI of 30 or higher to participate in a one year weight loss program.


"We expected women with major depression to lose less weight, attend fewer sessions, eat more calories, and get less exercise than those without depression," commented lead researcher Evette Ludman, Ph.D. "We were surprised to find no significant differences between the women who had depression and those who did not have it. Instead, what made a difference was just showing up. Women who attended at least 12 sessions lost more weight (14 pounds at 6 months, and 11 pounds at 12 months) than did those who attended fewer sessions (4 pounds at both 6 and 12 months), regardless of whether they had depression. Being depressed did not lead them to attend fewer sessions or lose less weight. Because of our findings and the welldocumented health risks of obesity, we think rigorous efforts should be taken to engage and retain all women in need of such services in intensive weight loss programs.”


Anti-Depressant Medication & Weight Problems
One of the side effects of antidepressant drugs is weight gain. When on anti-depressants, about 25% of depression sufferers see their weight increase by at least 10 pounds. Research shows that weight gain can be tied to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), tricylics and MAO inhibitors types of anti-depressant drugs.


Scientists are not sure why antidepressants cause weight to rise. A possible theory is these medications impact the body’s metabolism. Another theory is patients who feel their depression lift find eating is more enjoyable, and subsequently increase their calorie intake.


Can you curb anti-depressant weight gain? There are certainly ways to help reduce the chances of putting on pounds while taking anti-depressants, although these methods do not work for everyone. You can talk to your physician about switching to a different medication, as some anti depressants are more prone to cause weight gain than others. Also boost your amount of exercise and eat more nutritious food to lower the risk of weight increase.


What you should not do is stop taking your anti-depressant medications, try herbal remedies or go on a diet or exercise program without first consulting with a qualified healthcare professional.


Remember, always inform your chiropractic physician of any medications and supplements you use.

Disclaimer: Information contained in this Wellness Express™ newsletter is for educational and general purposes only and is designed to assist you in making informed decisions about your health. Any information contained herein is not intended to substitute advice from your physician or other healthcare professional.