Posts

Cardiovascular Disease

/in /by

Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiovascular disease is a scary disease as it’s also known as the “silent killer” and often presents with no symptoms, it is just in routine check ups that a problem may become apparent. It is something we all need to be aware of, as it is the number one killer in Australia, with 45,600 deaths in 2011. Heart disease is more common in men in the earlier years, however once a woman has gone through menopause and she doesn’t have the protective effects of oestrogen, her risk for cardiovascular disease increases.

It’s never too early to start looking after your cardiovascular health as atherosclerotic plaque has been found in children’s arteries! This definitely should not be happening, so it’s important to ensure you are educating your children on the importance of a healthful diet and exercise, as well as leading by example.

 

Risk Factors.

  • Smoking
  • Stress, anger, depression and anxiety
  • Sedentary lifestyle
  • Diet high in trans fats and sugar
  • Obesity
  • Social isolation
  • Hypertension
  • Abnormal lipids and/or homocysteine
  • Diabetes
  • Family history
  • Insomnia, sleep deprivation and sleep apnoea

A lot of these risk factors are preventable, so you can make positive changes by adjusting your diet and lifestyle accordingly. Cardiovascular disease risks may be higher in certain families due to genetics, this doesn’t mean you are destined to have heart disease, but it’s imperative you make the positive changes in your life. If you are not seeing positive results it may be worth talking to your Doctor/Naturopath about medication/supplementation.

 

What can you do that’s good for your heart?

  • Quit smoking. Now
  • Manage stress and mood disorders with meditation, exercise and/or herbal remedies
  • Minimum of 30 minutes exercise most days, with a mix of cardio, strength and stretching
  • Cut out all trans fats from your diet and minimise sugar or find sugar alternatives
  • Consume lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats
  • Maintain a healthy weight through diet and exercise, if this doesn’t work you may need to look at other reasons for weight gain (your Naturopath can help you with this)
  • Work on your social relationships and interact with people other than immediate family on a regular basis
  • Have routine check ups with your Doctor
  • Reduce caffeine and alcohol consumption

If you have tried these methods and not had any success, or would like a little guidance then it might be time to consult a Naturopath.  A Naturopath with talk in detail about your current health and future health goals, and support you in making the necessary dietary and lifestyle changes with appropriate herbal and/or nutritional supplementation.

 

Fractures, Sprains and Chiropractic

/in /by

chiropractic sprains fracturesCan Chiropractic help with a fracture (the medical term for any broken bone)? No, of course not! But Chiropractic can help if you’ve had a fracture, it has healed, but it still just doesn’t feel right.

Obviously the first thing you need to do if you suspect a fracture is go to the hospital and have it treated. Once it has healed and you are able to use it again, you may notice that it is can be painful or uncomfortable at times, or it just doesn’t feel right. If it doesn’t improve then thats when seeing a Chiropractor can be helpful.

When you have a fractured bone it is usually due to a fall. So when you fall and land with enough force to break your bone, it is obviously quite a large force. It is not only the bone that will be injured by this degree of force, there would be a number of surrounding joints and ligaments, tendons and muscles affected by the impact.

These muscles and tendons will very likely be strained, while the joints can be jarred, inflamed and possibly in slight misalignment. This will result in the joints in the area not moving freely, so when moving that part of your body, it will feel tight and restricted, and even painful. The muscles would also feel sore and possibly spasmed.

Similarly, spraining a joint can impact on surrounding joints, muscles and ligaments. Seeing a Chiropractor soon after having such an injury is important as it can improve the rate of healing, as well as reduce the level of pain. A sprain is essentially due to overstretching of a joint and hence the ligament crossing that joint will be strained, sprained or in extreme cases, torn. This overstretching of the joint will impact the alignment of that joint, and then this misalignment will continue to put some strain on the ligament. This ongoing strain can reduce the ability of the ligament to heal.

The misalignment of the joint can also produce pain, so treating the misalignment will reduce the pain, and improve the overall function. This is particularly the case when its an ankle that has been sprained (which is very common) as there are so many bones around the ankle there is potential for many joints to become affected. Then as a secondary problem, if there is some changes in the alignment of the foot joints, then the body will be compensating because of pain and also poor biomechanics, which can result in pain and inflammation in the knees or back.

Chiropractic care can be very effective in correcting these joint misalignments and so it makes sense to have some Chiropractic care at some stage after an injury such as a fracture or sprain to improve healing, decrease pain and improve overall function.