Halloween Survival Guide

You already know what Halloween is all about: costumes, pumpkins, candy and often unhealthy snacks. This year, be prepared so you can help your patients and their families avoid a giant sugar crash on November 1.

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COVID-19 can sometimes overwhelm young and old immune systems and in some cases can result in ‘Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome’ pneumonia and death (CDC (2020). The risk is greater for older people who may simultaneously be dealing with cancers, heart disease, diabetes, emphysema or other health issues.  As we age the immune system deteriorates  (immunosenescence) which reduces the response of the adaptive immune system that needs to respond to the virus infection (Aw, Silva & Palmer, 2007; Osttan, Monti, Gueresi, et al., 2016).

Severity of disease may depend upon initial dose of the virus

In a brilliant article, How does the coronavirus behave inside a patient? We’ve counted the viral spread across peoples; now we need to count it within people, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and cancer physician Siddhartha Mukherjee points out that severity of the disease may be related to the initial dose of the virus.  Namely, if you receive a very small dose (not too many virus particles), they will infect you; however, the body can activate its immune response to cope with the infection.  The low dose exposure act similar to vaccination.  If on the other hand you are exposed to a very high dose then your body is overwhelmed with the infection and is unable to respond effectively.  Think of a forest fire. A small fire can easily be suppressed since there is enough time to upgrade the fire-fighting resources; however, during a fire-storm with multiple fires occurring at the same time, the fire-fighting resources are overwhelmed and there is not enough time to recruit outside fire-fighting resources.

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Because of the Corona virus scare, people have been asking what they can do about it.  In addition to being a doctor of chiropractic, I'm also a certified clinical nutritionist, certified functional medicine practitioner and have been helping chronically ill people for 36 years.

Who is at risk with the Corona virus?  Those whose immune systems are compromised, and people who are malnourished.  Also, older people are more susceptible. If you are not immunocompromised or malnourished, you aren't going to die.  And there is no reason to panic.

Here's some of the things you CAN do:

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In the closing days of World War I, a deadly form of influenza ("flu") appeared. The influenza pandemic of 1917-1918 claimed more lives than the war.

During this crisis, doctors of chiropractic noticed that their patients seemed to have a lower fatality rate than the general population. Although this chiropractic observation remains unpublished in the peer-reviewed literature (since no scholarly journals were willing to publish chiropractic data in those days), a study was published by the osteopathic profession. ¹   Among doctors of osteopathy of the time, it was routine to check patients' spines for "osteopathic lesions" (what we know as "subluxations"), and to correct them with manipulation. Due to this similarity, the osteopathic publication effectively verifies the chiropractic experience.
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One of the most common but least understood triggers for autoimmunity is molecular mimicry, also called cross-reactivity. 

This post will serve as a basic primer on cross-reactivity so you understand how important it is.

When your immune system reacts to a hostile invader, whether it's a virus or an inflammatory food, it tags the antigen with antibodies so it can more quickly recognize it in the future.

Cross-reactivity happens when the immune system confuses tissue in the body with the tagged antigen because they are similar in structure. As a result, it attacks and destroys that tissue as well. This self-attack is called autoimmunity.

For example, if you are sensitive to gluten, your immune system has created antibodies to gluten. These antibodies tag gluten to alert the immune system to destroy it every time you eat it — even if you ingest a tiny amount. This is an inflammatory response.

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September is a month founded on transition. Summer turns to fall, free time is consumed by
school, days get shorter and nights get longer. Even if you weren’t one of the lucky ones who had summer off because of a career in education, summer living is always less stressful. Now with the new, demanding schedules that incorporate your children’s school and sport obligations, you have to become an expert juggler.

September is the starting month for school for many students and the beginning of a tumultuous time for both parents and the kids.

While the hustle and bustle can seem overwhelming, it is easier than you think to raise children healthy and teach them how to make good choices, especially when it comes to nutrition. School lunches always come up as a hot-button issue this time of year as parents do their best to pack a healthy lunch that holds up throughout the day and actually gets your children excited about eating it. This blog post will feature some great lunch box ideas that your kids will love but that also have enough depth and intricate flavors to please adults! Whether it’s in a lunch box in a cafeteria or coming out of the company fridge for your lunch break, the recipes you will see are sure to turn heads and provoke smiles.

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