The Albany triathlon team has some wonderful leaders who are ready to inspire women to try and achieve. They are Clifton Park’s Kristen Hislop, Niskayuna’s Molly Grygiel, Saratoga Springs’ Aurora Lamperetta, Waterford’s Rachel Knaggs, Scotia’s Paula DeVantier, Cohoes’ Jenn Kendrick and Albany’s Colleen Cahill.

Clifton Park's Kristen Hislop, Niskayuna's Molly Grygiel, Saratoga Springs' Aurora Lamperetta, Waterford's Rachel Knaggs, Scotia's Paula DeVantier and Cohoes' Jenn Kendrick are the leaders of the LUNA Chix Albany Triathlon Team.

The team will work out and support each other while also fundraising for LUNA’s nonprofit partner, the Breast Cancer Fund. You will see the LUNA Chix at events like Southern Saratoga Y’s Anyone Can Try triathlon, the Hudson Crossing triathlon, IronGirl Syracuse and Crystal Lake triathlon.

There are 3 weekly Monday rides in Saratoga County. A 9 a.m. ride leaves from the Saratoga YMCA, a 9:30 ride leaves from Lakeside Farms overflow lot in Ballston Lake, and a 6 p.m. ride leaves from Old Dater Farms.

LUNA Chix Albany Triathlon team will be holding an open to the public open water swim clinic on May 16 from 7-8:30 a.m. at the Southern Saratoga YMCA pool. There will be a chalk talk, wetsuit demos and in-the-water drills. Bring a swimsuit, goggles, cap and towel. Stop at the front desk to sign a waiver, then head to the pool.

Women who attend a LUNA Chix workout or clinic will receive coaching support, camaraderie and LUNA products. The events are free and are open to women of abilities.

To join the LUNA Chix email list, email Kristen Hislop at kphislop@yahoo.com.

For more information:

• LUNA Chix Albany Triathlon Team
• Albany Triathlon Team’s Facebook page

“In my lifetime, food has gone from all natural to non-natural to antinatural to finally going back to natural,” he said. Still, too often food is chosen on the basis of convenience and speed instead of nutrition and health.

But as we approach the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, Loftfield likes the changes he sees as people become more concerned about the health of their bodies and the environment.

Barbara Moore and Björn Loftfield opened The Green Grocer on Route 9 in 1995.

And more people are eating organic foods and purchasing green products. According to a new report by Mintel, a leading market research company, 35% of Americans surveyed said they would pay more for “environmentally friendly” products.

Yet there still are some misconceptions about organic foods.

“There is this misconception that natural foods taste like cardboard,” Loftfield said. “But it’s just not true.”

If customers were to do a taste test of organic versus nonorganic produce, Loftfield predicted they would discover the organic food tastes better. He also said people overestimate the price of organic products.

“I wish people would understand it’s actually cheaper. Natural food is more filling, so you eat less,” he said. “And you’re less likely to end up sick.”

Concerns about sickness is one reason a lot of people are going green. Loftfield said it’s no surprise. He cited a recent Time magazine article that reported the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found traces of 212 environmental chemicals in Americans — including bisphenol A (BPA) in the urine of 93% of surveyed Americans over the age of 6.

“It’s no wonder there has been such a big increase in cancer,” he said.

In fact, it was while he was dealing with sick people that Loftfield decided to open an organic store. While he was working as a certified nuclear medical technician, he became friendly with a cancer patient who was working 2 jobs trying to save up money to buy a hot-dog stand. When Loftfield mentioned he wanted to open an organic foods store, the patient replied it was the way of the future.

“He actually inspired me,” Loftfield said. “I decided I would rather put my efforts into prevention instead of monitoring people’s diseases.”

For more information:

• The Green Grocer, 1505 Route 9, Halfmoon, 383.1613
• Earth Day Network
• “Mintel research shows consumers continue to buy natural, despite difficult economy”
• “The Perils of Plastic — Environmental Toxins,” Time magazine

Let’s go back to the time when you, as a mother, just gave birth to your baby and the hospital staff placed silver nitrate in your baby’s eyes; the assumption is that you have gonorrhea and so the baby can go blind if the eyes are not cleansed with silver nitrate. I have never many any sense of this procedure and find it very insulting to women. Many women don’t even question this practice and even worse, they are not even aware that it’s actually taking place.

What about the time when your infant first showed a symptom that his body was fighting something. (I am very careful not to use the wording that your baby is “sick.”) You might have taken your baby to your physician with panic in your heart, and the doctor most likely would have prescribed some sort of medication to alleviate your child’s suffering. This is all done under the guise of being normal and rational. And this ritual is being performed by people who love and care for the child the most — the parents.

These same people are convinced that vaccination is beneficial, so the baby is injected with a foreign, gene-altering substance — no mention is made of the potential lethal and long term consequences of such an action. It’s just a routine thing to do. A mindless action. As this child grows up to be a toddler and perhaps gets an ear infection, the people who love and care for this child the most, agree to give the toddler an antibiotic, as well as pharmaceuticals for fever.

When the child is of school age and has trouble concentrating and sitting still in class, the people who love and care for him the most take him to a physician, on the recommendation of the teacher in most cases, where he is labeled hyperactive and placed on Ritalin or some other psychotropic drug. The child is rewarded by the fact that he has now pleased the people who love and care for him the most with his new chemically-induced behavior.

When this child hits high school and has difficulty or experiences something that upsets him, the people who love and care for him the most take him to the family physician again, who prescribes some sort of antidepressant that will help him “deal” with the upset.

And it goes on — ad nauseum.

Even worse than the side effects of these drugs is the message given to children. From the time they are born, children receive the message that when they feel badly and their body begins to do something uncomfortable, they should take drugs to help them feel better. The message is subtle. Slowly their behavior becomes conditioned to believe this is actually normal. And we wonder where drug problems begin.

Do you remember signs stating “Say No to Drugs”? How can we? We have been brainwashed to believe that they are good for us.

There are other ways for parents to treat their children’s problems. Take chiropractic care for instance. This form of true health care removes interference to the nervous system so the body can function optimally. It’s clean cut, simple and honest.

My spring wish for all my readers is to urge you to have your children checked by a chiropractor, especially one skilled in pediatric analysis and adjusting, not because children have pain, but because it’s s smart thing to do. It will ensure they have the best chance for optimal health.

John Ferguson D.C. is a wellness chiropractor in Clifton Park and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

For more information:

• Ferguson Family Chiropractic, 54 Crossing Blvd. Suite H (behind the clock tower), Clifton Park, 383.5595
• Ferguson Family Chiropractic Facebook page
• International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

The same thing happens to the body after a night of improper sleep posture. When proper bedtime posture isn’t maintained, spinal bones (vertebrae) become misaligned: a condition known as vertebral subluxation.

Back is best

The optimum sleep position is back-to-mattress with the head and neck cradled in a cervical or down-filled pillow.

The goal is to keep the spine as close to its normal alignment as possible. The normal curves are cervical lordosis (c-shaped curve with apex in the anterior or mid-neck), thoracic kyphosis (apex in the posterior of the upper back) and lumbar lordosis (apex in the anterior of the low back).

Sleeping on your back keeps your hips aligned evenly. When the curves are overexaggerated or reversed, you risk vertebral subluxations and related disorders such as arthritis. After all, vertebrae are attached to muscles and other bones via tendons and ligaments. One glance at an anatomical diagram of the back and neck shows that, in one way or another, all the muscles and bones in this region are connected.

A misaligned vertebra disrupts the intricate dance between muscles and bones. This disruption creates a state of imbalance, exerting stress on connecting structures and producing discomfort not to mention more serious stress to your nerves exiting from the spine that control organ function like your sinuses, ears, heart, lungs, stomach, gall bladder, reproductive organs, prostate … I think you get the picture.

It’s no wonder that vertebral subluxations trigger growing pains in little Johnny’s spine, neck, hips, legs or feet that manifest themselves later in life as sciatic pain, digestive issues or infertility problems.

Stomach snoozers

Sleeping on your stomach is the worst position for your spine. It torques the spine of the neck, reversing the normal curve, and forces rotation.

And that’s not all. Stomach sleeping can lead to night bruxism — the grinding of teeth while asleep. This condition can be triggered by face pressure against the pillow, which is alleviated by back sleeping.

Bruxism is associated with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). Anything that upsets the normal position or alignment of the jaw can lead to this disorder — including a misaligned neck, an uneven bite, orthodontic work, teeth grinding and sleeping on your side.

Side sleepers

In addition to setting the stage for TMJ, sleeping on your side puts substantial pressure on the hips. A pillow between the knees helps to significantly straighten the spine.

Sleeping like a stone

A 2-year study at the University of California at San Francisco has generated some surprising results: Men who consistently sleep on one side of their body are much more likely to develop kidney stones. Of the 93 patients — all with recurring kidney stones — 75 percent developed kidney stones only on the side they slept on.

Pillow talk

In addition to correct body position, it’s important to ensure proper head position during sleep. And that means the right pillow.

Specialized cervical pillows are often helpful, as they provide optimum support. Old fashioned down pillows are also a wonderful option.

“The ideal pillow should be soft and not too high, should provide neck support and should be allergy-tested and washable. A neck pillow with good shape and consistency and with firm support for cervical lordosis can be recommended as a part of treatment for neck pain.” (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1998;21:237-40.)

Sweet dreams

The best way to ensure sweet dreams is by practicing proper sleep posture and selecting the right pillow and mattress. My best recommendation for spinal support in a mattress is a medium to firm density. (Memory foam is great; I can recommend specifics.)

If you wake up stiff and sore in the morning, that’s a sign that your body is stressed or malfunctioning, so please write or call me about ways to modify your sleep behavior.

John Ferguson D.C. is a wellness chiropractor in Clifton Park and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

For more information:

• Ferguson Family Chiropractic, 54 Crossing Blvd. Suite H (behind the clock tower), Clifton Park, 383.5595
• Ferguson Family Chiropractic Facebook page
• International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

1. Your kids are covered. Starting this year, if you have an adult child who cannot get health insurance from an employer, your child can stay on your insurance policy until he or she is 26 years old.
2. You can’t be dropped. Starting this fall, your health insurance company will no longer be allowed to cancel your policy if you get sick.



3. You can’t be denied insurance. Starting this year your child (or children) cannot be denied coverage simply because they have a pre-existing health condition.
4. You can spend what you need to. Starting this year, companies will be barred from instituting caps on coverage.
5. You don’t have to wait. Starting this fall, if you have pre-existing conditions, you will be able to purchase insurance through a state-run high-risk pool, which will cap your personal out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare. You will not be required to pay more than $5,950 of your own money for medical expenses.
6. You must be insured. Starting in 2014, if your employer does not offer health insurance as a benefit, you will have to purchase health insurance or risk being fined. The lowest fine would be $95 or 1% of a person’s income (whichever is greater) and then increase to a high of $695 or 2.5% of an individual’s taxable income by 2016.
7. You’ll have more options. Starting in 2014, states will operate new insurance marketplaces — called exchanges — that will provide you with more options for buying an individual policy if you can’t get or afford insurance from your workplace and you earn too much income to qualify for Medicaid.
8. Flexible spending accounts will become less flexible. Starting in 2013, flexible spending accounts (FSAs) will have lower contribution limits — meaning you won’t be able to have as much money deducted from your paycheck pretax and deposited into an FSA for medical expenses as is currently allowed. The new maximum amount allowed will be $2,500. In addition, fewer expenses will qualify for FSA spending.
9. If you earn more, you’ll pay more. Starting in 2018, if your combined family income exceeds $250,000 you will have more money deducted from your paycheck to go toward increased Medicare payroll taxes. In addition, you will also have to pay 3.8% tax on any unearned income, which is currently tax-exempt.
10. Medicare might cover more or less of your expenses. Starting this year, if Medicare is your primary form of health insurance you will no longer have to pay for preventive care such as an annual physical, screenings for treatable conditions or routine laboratory work. In addition, you will get a $250 check from the federal government to help pay for prescription drugs currently not covered as a result of the Medicare Part D doughnut hole. But if you are a high-income individual or couple (making more than $85,000 individually or $170,000 jointly), your prescription drug subsidy will be reduced.

Many people will agree that our current health care views need to change. This health care reform might be a step in the right direction; our true health, however, is in our hands.

Often times loss of health is a gradual process resulting from our daily habits. If we lose our health then we will rely upon doctors for care. Do we want the government to assist with this?

Sickness and disease run our economy, not health. Healthy people do not spend money on medications every month or surgeries or doctors visits. Do the health insurance companies really have your best interests in mind? (After all, health insurance companies are merely a business with the goal of making the most money.)

What is my point? My point is that the best offense is a good defense — in other words: prevention. Prevent yourself from sickness and disease by treating your body right. Eat the right foods, move your body with proper ergonomics and exercise and keep a positive mental outlook.

Antonio Marotta D.C. is a Clifton Park chiropractor.

For more information:

• Marotta Health and Wellness Chiropractic, 939 Route 146 Suite 230, Clifton Park, 357.3347
• Dr. Marotta’s Facebook page
• Physicians News Digest

I also mentioned that the medical-pharmaceutical cartel profits from your disease and your symptoms. Think about it: It is very profitable for you to be sick, and there is no profit in you being healthy.

Sobering thought isn’t it? So how do we handle this?

My approach, as a chiropractor, is very different: Instead of putting out your body’s alarm system — your symptoms — would it not make more sense to see if we can correct the interference that caused your nervous system not to function normally in the first place? Would you agree this approach makes more sense?

I mentioned earlier that we call this interference a “vertebral subluxation” — a “misalignment” of one of the vertebrae of the spine that interferes in the manner in which your nervous system transmits information. When a subluxation is in the process of being corrected (and it is a process), you soon notice that your symptoms begin to subside and disappear.

This does not mean that you are healthy or the problem is corrected; it just means that your body is now more able to handle it on its own. This is a very important distinction. So don’t get stuck on the idea that everything is now hunky dory. It is not.

You are in transition. You just feel better. That’s all. The problem is still very much there.

But the other really cool thing is that the malfunction your body has been experiencing starts to subside. In other words, things start to function the way they were actually designed.

You are beginning to follow your program again. The pathology begins to heal and you start on the road to recovery. The disease process actually starts to reverse itself slowly. This is very important and incredibly cool.

Let me illustrate this point using a really clear analogy: You are standing on a hill in the winter, and I hand you a snowball. You fumble it, drop it, and now we are chasing it down the hill. Near the bottom, guess what happens to the size of this snowball?

You’re right — it is huge. We have an avalanche.

At this point, we only have two things that must be accomplished:

1. We need to stop the snowball from rolling down the hill further.
2. Dig our heels in, shoulder this snowball and start to roll it back to the top of the hill.

In other words, see if we can reverse the damage, the end the pathology.

You are probably thinking: “Is that possible?” The answer is an amazing yes.

It is very possible to reverse the damage your body has been experiencing. Is it possible to totally reverse it?

That depends on many factors — the degree of damage, your age, your nutritional habits, your body’s ability to heal, your compliance with my recommendations, ability to follow my suggestions, your perseverance and stubbornness, your determination and the length of time your subluxations has existed — the habit that has been formed.

The rest of it, we have all been plagued with ad nauseum, such as exercise, vitamins, supplements, strange and weird diets, etc., can be viewed as window dressing. Without the above two most important elements that I mentioned, the rest of the plethora of self-help and medications that are available to the public will not be effective. Period.

It is because of these profound principles that chiropractic has set itself apart from allopathic medicine.

Many patients ask me, “Why don’t chiropractors and physicians get along and work together?” I do not honestly know how to answer that question because the 2 professions are so vastly different — like oil and water — and I can never see them mixing together smoothly. The principles of health and life are so vastly different between both of them.

Vertebral subluxation

I would like to expand on those strange words I used earlier — the vertebral subluxation.

In simple terms, it is a misalignment of the spinal vertebrae. These vertebral subluxations are most often painless but do cause interference in the manner in which your nervous system transmits information all over your body.

Deepak Chopra M.D. once stated: “The mysterious breakdowns in the body’s intelligence … may be traceable to a single distortion, a wrong detour …”

A distortion in the function and alignment of your spine will cause your body to malfunction, and this will eventually produce a state of disease.

I have spent years studying how to locate and correct these subluxations of the spine, thereby allowing your nervous system to function normally. This eventually reconnects you to the power that runs your body — all without drugs or surgery. That is absolutely amazing.

Think about it for a moment. Your body is designed to heal all by itself. Incredible!

OK … it all seems so easy. Allow me to delve into this a little further: Most patients do not realize that a subluxation is a habit. It is a habit your nervous system has learned over the years in order to deal with this entity on its own. It is a neurological pattern and a bad one. And you’ve learned it incredibly well in most cases.

Consider this for a moment: If you’ve had a subluxation in your spine for 30 years or so, and it has affected your bowel function, your breathing and the strength in your arms, do you think that a few adjustments will take care of it?

If you or another healthcare professional think so, then you need a reality check.

Some subluxations can take years to be corrected. Yes, I did say years.

Sometimes, only partial correction is possible. It is for this very reason that we place patients on a schedule of corrective and wellness care.

Think of it this way: If I was to ask you to throw a dart at a dartboard 30 feet away, would be better to have you practice throwing the dart once a week or as often as possible. The answer is obvious.

Checkups and referrals

I also wanted to touch on an issue of having your family — and especially your children — checked for those pesky subluxations. I fear that it might appear as some sort of a sales pitch, and I wanted you to know that it is not.

In the last number of issues of this newsletter, I explained the importance of a proper functioning nervous system — and that fact that it controls all of you, every single bit. Any interference to the normal function of your nervous system will absolutely ensure that your body will not function as it should — it will malfunction.

If that malfunction is allowed to remain, your body will undergo a disease process — it will start to get sick. It will develop some sort of pathology — not a good thing.

I also wanted to make you aware that the vast majority of subluxations take place in childhood — most even during the process of birth. And they can persist for a lifetime. And slowly they will affect your children’s health and vitality.

That is why we feel it is so important to make sure your children and everyone in your family are checked. I want to make sure that none of this is taking place. Ever.

So please … make sure your kids are checked. Call me today to schedule a check up for them. We’ll make it fun for them and convenient and easy for you. Simple.

John Ferguson D.C. is a wellness chiropractor in Clifton Park and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

For more information:

• Ferguson Family Chiropractic, 54 Crossing Blvd. Suite H (behind the clock tower), Clifton Park, 383.5595
• Ferguson Family Chiropractic Facebook page
• International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

The congressman said his office will remain open over the weekend and that constituents are welcome to call or email him.

U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy (D-Glens Falls) explains why he will vote in favor of the healthcare reform bill.

Dear Friend,

After many months of public conversation, congressional debate, and changes to legislation, it looks likely that tomorrow I will have the opportunity to vote on health insurance reform legislation.

As I’ve stated since my first day in office, we need true reform of our health care system. Costs have exploded over the last decade, and our nation’s fiscal future will remain in serious peril until we bring skyrocketing costs under control. In the past month alone, we’ve seen double-digit premium increases in New York – highlighting the fact that the status quo system is broken and cannot be sustained. The future of our economy and our families hangs in the balance.

I am thankful for the participation of so many individuals in this discussion– it’s why I’ve held over 100 events and meetings on health care and visited each of the 137 towns in the district. I have truly benefitted from the input of thousands of neighbors, friends, and constituents on this issue.

Last November, I voted against the House health care reform legislation because I did not believe it adequately addressed the fundamentally flawed system that has led to skyrocketing health care costs, bankrupt families, and excessive profits for insurance companies. In the months since that vote, I have worked closely with my constituents, my colleagues in Congress, and with President Obama to address many of these concerns and ultimately strengthen this legislation.

Tomorrow, I will have the opportunity to vote on a new bill that is fundamentally different: it will stop the out of control growth of health care costs, protect our local industries and jobs from unfair taxes, and helps small businesses create jobs – while cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse. Because of these changes, I will be voting yes, and want to outline my reasons:

This bill is fiscally conservative and slows the growth of health care cost and spending

As a fiscal conservative, I would only support a bill that will take strong steps towards reducing the deficit. This bill is fundamentally more fiscally conservative and affordable for our nation. It contains new cost cutting measures that will help to slow the health care costs that have been devastating our families and small businesses. This bill represents a major step away from the fee-for-service model that has driven costs upward for far too long. It will result in dramatic savings for the American people by reducing the deficit by $138 billion in the first decade and by $1.2 trillion in the second decade, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Supports Small Businesses and Helps Create Jobs

Small businesses are the economic engine for job creation in our economy. As a small businessman, I am also keenly aware of the impact rising health care costs have on small businesses and New York’s economy. The bill before us makes significant improvements over the House-passed legislation by eliminating the employer mandate for small businesses, providing meaningful tax incentives, as well as creating heath care exchanges that allow businesses to band together to negotiate better prices from insurance companies. Injecting this market competition into our system is critical to driving better outcomes and lower costs, and is something that I wish had existed when I ran small businesses.

Strong steps towards cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse

On an issue where we’ve seen broad bi-partisan support, I’m very happy to announce that this bill will save billions by cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. I worked with the President to include provisions in the bill, as well as administrative changes to save billions in criminal waste from the system that will protect tax payer dollars and I am proud that we will take great steps to drive this criminal waste from the system.

Fought to protect local employers and jobs

I am also pleased to report that, unlike in the old House bill, none of the paper mill manufacturers in our district will be subjected to a special tax. We also fought for significant changes to the proposed tax on medical products we manufacture in our district. Perhaps more importantly, this bill ensures that these good paying jobs will remain in upstate New York and won’t give an edge to foreign competitors or encourage American companies to move jobs overseas. My priority remains creating jobs and getting our economy back on track, and this bill will do just that.

The Need for Reform

These reforms will put health care choices back into the hands of patients and doctors, and out of the profit-driven discretion of insurance companies. Insurance companies will be banned from the predatory practices of capping lifetime benefits, refusing those with preexisting conditions, and eliminating coverage after an individual becomes sick.

This new legislation will allow every American to purchase health care on an exchange, just like Members of Congress, while expanding coverage for over 30 million Americans, including 29,000 in our own district. This plan will strengthen Medicare and protect our seniors, by closing the donut hole and make prescription drugs more affordable during these tough economic times.

Lastly, to put this in very personal terms, I’m here today in Washington with my son Duke, who is 4. This year, our nation will spend over $2.6 trillion on health care, up from $2.3 trillion last year, and the rate of spending is only increasing in the status quo system. If we don’t act today to reign in this out of control system, by the time he graduates high school we will be spending over $7 trillion a year on health care. Its simply unaffordable.

This is why we need reform. This is why I am voting yes.

Sincerely,

Scott Murphy
Member of Congress

PS As always, if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to email or call my office at 202-225-5614 or ScottMurphy.house.gov. Our office will be open throughout the weekend.

For more information:

• Congressman Scott Murphy, 7 Southside Drive Suite 206, Clifton Park

In order for your brain to communicate effectively with your body, however, there must be a connection between the brain and your body. That connection is called the spinal cord — just part of your nervous system.

For those of you who are not very clinically oriented, think of the spinal cord as a telephone cable containing millions of tiny “wires” called nerves. They originate in your brain and travel along your spinal cord to different parts of your body. The body’s longest nerve is the sciatic nerve; it extends into your toes. It can be up to 7 feet long. That’s a lot of nerve.

The function of these nerves is to transmit information and messages between your brain and your body, so that you can execute your program and maintain normal function and health.

This message transmission is referred to as synaptic transmission. The nerve has to fire information across a tiny space — a synapse — located between the nerve and the end organ. This system relies on the release of neurotransmitter chemicals to affect message transmission. Synaptic transmission is the conventional thought when people envision a “pinched nerve.”

Very recent evidence, however, points to a system that utilizes nonsynaptic transmission to cause an effect on body function. This brand-new research deals with the idea of “wave propagation” and tone. It was discovered that messages sent by the nervous system could travel through wave-amplification centers and affect other neighboring centers through resonance. Sounds complicated? Not really.

Imagine holding a tuning fork that is vibrating in the proximity of one that is not. You’ll note that the vibration of one will start to affect the other. Thus information is transmitted throughout the body by nonsynaptic means — in waves.

To complicate matters even more, recent evidence points to a “chaotic construct” and individual cell neuronal synchronization — cell message centers. Now I am getting really complicated, so let’s leave that alone for the time being.

The bottom line is this: If the nervous system is allowed to function normally and transmit information from the brain to the body and from the body to the brain with nothing interfering in this process, then you should have the best health you’ve ever had. We simply call this normal.

Imagine, however, taking a knife and cutting the spinal cord in half between the neck and the shoulders. How many of you suspect that this would not be a good thing to do? You are right. We have just caused a serious breach in communication between the brain and the rest of you. It would mean instant death.

If on the other hand, we caused a small interference in the spinal cord — a tiny nick — making only part of your nervous system inoperative and leaving the rest transmitting information fairly normally, your body would then not function normally. In other words, your body would no longer be able to follow your program. It would malfunction.

Let’s look at this closer. Consider, for example, driving your brand new Lincoln. Instead of having it running on 8 cylinders, as it should, it is now only running on 5. The dashboard warning bells, whistles and lights are all on, there is smoke appearing in the back of the vehicle, and at every stoplight it stalls. But generally it is still drivable. That would be a good example of malfunction.

Your body is similar. It can still function to a degree, but you would not have good health. I call this survival or just simply getting by. It is not OK.

To many of us, though, this seems to be the normal operating state for a human being. We even expect this state of affairs when we “get older,” and over our lifetime we surround ourselves with things we are no longer able to do. It soon becomes a wall so high we are unable to see over it. That is not health.

What would be examples of malfunction in the body? Stiffness of movement (especially in the morning), numbness and tingling in the hands or feet, chronic cough, diarrhea, constipation, wheezing, dribbling in your underwear when you cough or sneeze (yes, the Depends people love you), ear infections, etc. There are thousands of examples of malfunction.

While I’m on this topic, allow me to say a word on the use of Depends or Attends. The simple problem of bladder incontinence affecting millions of people has been transformed into a “disease,” so that a diagnosis can now be made and a drug can now be prescribed.

This is now called “overactive bladder disease.” Have you heard of it? I’ll bet you have.

How bizarre is that concept? Your bladder decided to dribble all by itself? Without your permission? Who is in charge anyway?

I’ll cover how you develop disease, illness and symptoms in my next column — stay with me! I’ve received quite a bit of calls from you to learn more about these topics and your kids so feel free to call me (383.5595) or email me (forlifetimewellness@yahoo.com) with your health questions.

John Ferguson D.C. is a wellness chiropractor in Clifton Park and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

For more information:

• Ferguson Family Chiropractic, 54 Crossing Blvd. Suite H (behind the clock tower), Clifton Park, 383.5595
• Ferguson Family Chiropractic Facebook page
• International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

Maybe the first sign of a problem is that you lift a prescription bottle of your own or a family member and it seems a little light. You look inside and note that the supply is lower than you thought and make a note to get a refill soon.

Maybe the prescription is hydrocodone (Vicodin or Lortab) left over from some dental work or minor surgery, or maybe you have a bottle of over-the-counter cough medicine from a child’s illness last winter.

According to national surveys, more than 75% of teenage prescription drug abusers say they got their drugs from friends or family. It’s easy enough to slip into the bathroom and lift a few pills from someone’s bottle of OxyContin, Xanax or Valium.

And even if your children would never do this (or you don’t have children), visitors or workmen to your house or your aging mother’s house could check the medicine cabinet while using the bathroom or working on the house. Once someone has your medication (or perhaps the medication of a family member you are caring for) then it’s up for grabs.

About 9% of high school seniors admit to abusing a narcotic drug other than heroin — mostly prescription opiates and opioids like methadone, OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin. Approximately 40% of these students say it is easy or very easy to get their hands on these drugs.

The answer is very simple: lock prescriptions away. It can be as easy as stopping by an office supply store and getting a small locking box. Place your medications in the box, keep it in a drawer and keep the keys well hidden — this will prevent casual theft. You can locate a locking medicine cabinet that are available online for $100 to $200 plus an installation charge if you have a handyman mount it in the bathroom.

If you have prescriptions that are no longer needed, don’t hold onto them. Rather than flushing them down the toilet, which adds them to the water supply, check with local pharmacies to see if they will dispose of them for you or contact your local waste service company and ask about hazardous waste disposal.

A very little bit of work on your part can help keep these drugs out of circulation in your community.

If you find yourself frequently using pain medications (including aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.) you should consider consulting with a chiropractor. Pain is your body’s way of communicating to you that there is a problem. These medications silence that communication.

Think of it this way: You hear a loud, obnoxious noise in your house. You can’t stand the noise, so you call the a friend for help. They come to your house and say, “Here’s your problem: Your smoke detector is going off.” Instead of calling professionals such as the fire department, they take the battery out of the detector.

Problem solved, right? Eventually the problem would get worse — the house burns down — but you ignored it by stopping the signal. Many medications do the same thing.

The point is to get yourself checked.

Often times a problem that has been occurring that has been causing pain for more than 2 weeks is a physical problem. Physical problems require physical medicine (chiropractic care excels with this) not chemical medicine (the problem would return once you stopped the medication).

Chiropractic care is safe, natural and highly effective. Because of its non-invasive nature it should be considered first in any treatment of pain or “neuro-musculo-skeletal” disorders.

Antonio Marotta D.C. is a Clifton Park chiropractor.

For more information:

• Marotta Health and Wellness Chiropractic, 939 Route 146 Suite 230, Clifton Park, 357.3347
• Dr. Marotta’s Facebook page
• Testimony of Stephen J. Pasierf, Abuse of Prescription and Over the Counter Drug, March 1, 2008
• Monitoring the Future Study, 2009
• Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs, October 2009

Someone has to clean that white stuff, right? How else will you get out of the driveway? For those of you who have to clean the snow I have some quick tips for you.

1. Don’t rush. If you rush you are more likely to injure yourself. Take your time and try to avoid quick jerky movements.
2. Stretch a little before and after. Even a 30-second to 1-minute arms, legs and back stretch can avoid muscle strain.
3. Take a break. Don’t try and complete the whole task at once. Take a 2- to 5-minute break, have some water or hot cocoa and then do some more.
4. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. It is better to shovel small amounts at a time than to get a large shovelful and hurt your back.
5. Avoid bending over and twisting with a heavy weight at the end of a long lever. Wait, isn’t this exactly what shoveling is? Yes! That is why you must do it right (the above mentioned steps). This type of action is exactly what causes muscle strain and disc rupture. Keep your stomach tight when doing this to avoid injury.
6. If you use a snowblower, let it do the work. Most snowblowers are self propelled, therefore let the wheels do the moving and try to avoid pushing and turning it yourself. This can cause muscle strains.

If you do end up with aches and pains from this lovely weather pay a visit to a chiropractor. We are specialists when it comes to the treatment of muscle pain, low back pain and strains. Chiropractic care is very safe and effective.

Antonio Marotta D.C. is a Clifton Park chiropractor.

For more information:

• Marotta Health and Wellness Chiropractic, 939 Route 146 Suite 230, Clifton Park, 357.3347