During this season I see many patients in the throws of colds and their associates - flu, sinus infection, and coughs. I'd like to address some proactive approaches to help prevent these winter woes. Colds and flu are invaders to your body and the proliferation of microbes (bacteria or virus) which attempts to take up residence in your body and hold a party. Your body responds by fighting as best it can, using the defenses in the immune system. In a body with a healthy immune system, this is not a problem. However, if your overall function is stressed, in areas of sleep, diet, emotion, structural alignment and lack of exercise, your body will have difficulty fighting the illness. Get healthier and you can avoid the frequency and/or duration of colds and related maladies.

Keeping your body stress free is one of the best preventative measures countering that inevitable exposure to colds and flu.

In general there are some good things you can do if you feel a cold coming on:

Get an adjustment from your Chiropractor. This allows the nerve impulses from your brain to flow freely-facilitating proper communication on the cold fighting battle front-your immune system.

Nutritionally-eat plenty of veggies, grains and clear broth soups. These are beneficial in cleansing the system and not weighing it down handling needless foods. Increasing water intake will provide the body a way to transport toxins out of the system. Sugar and milk products are a big NO during the cold battle. Sugars feed bacteria-encouraging its growth. Dairy products create increased mucus-one of the things you don't need more of during a cold.

Therapeutic massage helps the lymph glands to eliminate the waste built up in the process of cold fighting.

Fever is one of the body's natural defense systems for burning off infection, and should not be stifled A fever up to 104 degrees should be allowed to run its course. Reducing the fever prior to its spike will generally prolong the infection. At 104.5 degrees I recommend a fever reducer.

These are general cold fighting guidelines. Again, prevention is the best bet for the cold season. So sleep well, get adjusted regularly, eat healthy foods, laugh, love and exercise. You'll be a healthier person all around.

By K. Shane Neifert, D.C.

Both teeth and spines degenerate with age and abuse. Teeth regularly cared for over a lifetime last much longer than those neglected. Many of us have experienced some painful dental work, necessitated by the lack of flossing, brushing, or proper check-ups. The spine works in much the same way. Optimal spinal care includes good posture, regular exercise, proper sleep position, lack of bumps and falls, proper lifting techniques, wise stress management, great nutrition, and periodic spinal check-ups. A healthy spine facilitates overall health because the nerve impulses that communicate from the brain to every organ of the body must pass through the spine in order to reach its destination.

Pain is a signal of trauma or something that has been wrong for a long time. Cavities do not hurt until the damage is severe. For months, in some case years, the process of decay works on the tooth before the pain manifests itself. Novocain covers the pain, but does it correct the problem?  No! Repairing the tooth solves the problem. Pain in the neck or back, numbness in the extremities, and other symptoms similarly are often the sign that subluxation (a vertebrae out of alignment that increases nerve interference) has occurred and that OVER TIME, the nerve interference manifests itself as pain. Trauma from improper lifting or accidents triggers pain in the effected area more quickly. After awhile, the pain may go away, however the subluxation still exists and will eventually manifest itself.

Teeth and spines take time to be moved into a new position. The average duration that orthodontic braces stay on teeth is 1 - 2 years. The Orthodontist adjusts them every month or so, slowly moving the teeth into optimal alignment, while the wire holds the adjustment in place. Wire braces placed on the spine are not practical, but the movement to correct spinal misalignment is essential to optimal nerve flow and, therefore, overall health. Typically, the spinal subluxation must be adjusted frequently at first. This trains the adjusted muscles to support the realignment to allow the vertebrae to return to a healthier position and function.  As the vertebrae become accustomed to the proper placement and motion, pain will subside. Though the pain is gone, the correction is not complete until the area consistently stays in proper alignment and is strengthened. Patients who stay with their treatment plan to the end regain the health lost by the subluxation, while those who go away when the pain goes away often return when the pain returns, only to start the process again.  If lack of pain is not a reliable indicator of spinal health, how do we determine when to get adjusted?

Spines and teeth last longer with preventative care. For years, patients called their Dentists only when there were problems. Dentists felt frustrated by countless teeth that were too damaged to repair. The number of people requiring dentures was high. Proactively, Dentists began to educate the public about preventative care, brushing properly, check-ups and cleanings. Those lessons, well applied, raised the level of dental health nationwide. Along those lines, Chiropractors work to prevent the problems that occur in the spine and nervous system as a result of subluxation. Patients who proactively get checked regularly experience optimal overall spinal health. The more active the patient, the more frequent the check-ups.

Dear Friend,

Many women are concerned about the balance of their hormones. A recent breakthrough book by John Lee, M.D., What your Doctor may not tell you about Menopause, brings new light to estrogen and progesterone balance. These two hormones are essential for multiple functions of the body.

According to Dr. Lee, the hormone progesterone is found lacking on a regular basis. This hormone is complementary to estrogen. Without both hormones being present in the proper ratio, symptoms occur. Most women with hormone imbalances are estrogen dominate, and will display symptoms such as:

See Peggy Run. See Sherry walk. See Julie shopping diligently for organic food to keep her family healthy. See Mary meditate, See Debra doing TaiChi, see everybody, confused, when after years of doing all the right; and healthy things 2 out of 5 women over 50 will be faced with Osteoporosis, that's 40% of the population. And 1 out of 8 women will contract breast cancer or some other form of female cancers. Many of those statistics include conscientious women who have pursued and followed good health practices and the advice of their doctors including the addition of estrogen to their self-care regime. Of course, once diagnosed , a woman is taken off estrogen because it accelerates the spread of cancer. How can we avoid it ? We can do the best we can with the information available.

Genetics will always play a role. It pays to look at your genetic heritage, your mother, grandmother, sisters, aunts etc. If breast cancer has shown up in your family, pay heed. Change your life style, eating habits, exercise routine, and become informed. Don't abandon your power and become dependent on the decisions of any other person, medical or otherwise. After all it is your body and therefore your responsibility to treat it lovingly, gently and with respect and that includes listening to your own inner wisdom and body language. I am of Nordic heritage and I watched with horror as my once tall, slim, straight as arrow aunts, my fathers sisters, became bent into fetal positions as they aged. With interest, I am watching her 2 daughters follow the same pattern, the elder one with more pronounced symptoms. In contrast the younger daughter Betty, has maintained a healthy diet, been an avid tennis player since her college days, playing three to five times a week, hiking, and generally being very physically active throughout her life. At 69, her strong and seemingly healthy physique belies her age, a slightly rounded shoulder is appearing. My mother, at 89 has lost two inches in height. Obviously, these facts have made me aware of my genetic tendencies and perhaps physical frailties. It is my intent, however, to remain 5'6" until laid to rest. Adverse affects of estrogen therapy during my young womanhood caused me enough grief and health problems to scare me sufficiently to change my ways.

When traditional medical procedures multiplied my symptoms, I began a search of alternative methods of balancing my life and hormones. Thus, my interest in researching the other hormone, progesterone. According to John Lee, M.D. , who wrote the book What your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause (which could also be titled Your Doctor Didn't Tell You Because He Didn't Know) the only people benefiting from the mass prescribing of a chemical substitute of estrogen or progesterone are the pharmaceutical companies who manufacture and push its usage through the medical community. If you suspect that the personalized care you are getting is not on the mark, communicate and be a part of the treatment process. New ideas are not always accepted by your mainstream allopathic physician. Their entire formal training focuses on treating the symptoms and the treatment method is most often by writing prescriptions for a variety of chemical substitutes, when an un-invasive natural solution such as nutritional supplements, herbs, homeopathy, etc., may be available. In all fairness I have been aware that many dedicated research physicians in the medical field are now questioning the drugs they prescribe and their effects.

Many are becoming more open to explore alternatives. Then there are the pioneers, such as Dr. Lee, who has spent thirty years in his medical practice and research determining that prescribed estrogen was often detrimental to woman's health and that the other hormone progesterone was really the missing link to vitality, maintaining bone density and improving the anti-cancer properties that slow down cell division, as well as improving other malaise symptoms.

Of course, those in the Chiropractic field, such as my doctor of choice K. Shane Neifert, D.C. of St. Louis Spine and Health are trained to look closely at the patients lifestyle. They examine the body's skeletal structure and nervous system. They evaluate the body's own immune defense mechanisms ability heal itself. If needed they help strengthen the natural body processes through chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, good nutrition and natural supplementation. In the female patient, particularly, Dr. Neifert looks closely at the potential susceptibility of osteoporosis, and the various symptoms such as pre-mature aging, depression, lack of energy, fibro-cystic breasts, foggy thinking, hypoglycemia, irritability, memory loss, PMS , noticeable libido decline, thyroid problems, excess weight gain. All these are possible symptoms of an unbalanced hormonal system. He may then recommend saliva or urine testing, to determine hormone levels. Dr. Neifert also suggests that women over 45 have bone density scans and if bone loss is evident he recommends alternative hormonal treatment. ProgestaCare is the progesterone of choice by Dr. Neifert. It comes in a regulated dosage pump bottle, for exact administration. A little known but important fact in adding any hormone to your system.

If you are interested in learning more about the other hormone, you can reach Dr. Neifert at St. Louis Spine & Health Center, 12401 Olive, Suite 202, Creve Coeur, MO 63141 or Call (314) 576-1495.

If it is true that women are the balancing rods of the world, just think what getting ourselves in total balance could do for the health of the rest of the universe. What I want in the next millennium is to be vigorously healthy, happy , prosperous, and 5' 6". How about you ??