Diabetes, Brain Stem and Upper Cervical Care

by restorationspecific at Health Restored Blog

How can Upper Cervical Care help with Diabetes?

“The medulla oblongata is the lowermost portion of the brain, continuous with the spinal cord, that is responsible for respiration, circulation and the body’s autonomic reflexes, including function of the pancreas.”

Recent studies done by Dr. Peter Jannetta, MD the leading advocate and developer of microvascular decompression surgery has discovered a possible link between the vascular compression of the Medulla Oblongata (a portion of the brain stem) to metabolic disease such as Diabetes. Dr. Jannetta, MD has performed more than 6,000 microvascular decompression operations and he believes that inadequate blood flow to the brain stem is vital to insulin resistance and poor autonomic nervous system function. 7 out of 10 patients in Dr. Peter Jannetta’s latest study had improved glucose control without additional lifestyle changes.

When there is a misalignment in the upper cervical (neck) area, vascular compromise of the Brain stem is one of the most devastating possible consequences. Unlike most tissue that would die without proper blood flow, tissues in the central nervous system lie dormant until blood flow can be restored. With upper cervical care, the correction releases the torque on the Brain stem which decompress the vascular network that Dr. Jannetta’s believes contributes to metabolic diseases including Diabetes. In essence, the upper cervical correction reawakens the dormant tissues in the Brain stem area without expensive and invasive surgery. 

Do you know anyone with Diabetes? Please share this information with your friends and family.

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for diabetes or any other condition, disease or symptom.)

Want Balanced Body Chemistry? Try Upper Cervical Care

13 Benefits Of Upper Cervical Care: Part 7

Proper balance to our body chemistry is an important aspect of good health, proper function, and reaching your potential in every area of life. There are a number of things that can upset your body chemistry such as food, alcohol, medications, the environment and pollutants that we take in with our food, water, and air. Proper body chemistry and the production of the right chemicals in the right amounts is vital to almost every activity. Scientists in the health field are realizing that many diseases, in fact, most diseases have at least some imbalance in body chemistry as a cause. Diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are directly related to the improper production of certain chemicals. We are all aware that diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to produce an important chemical called insulin.

Aside from health issues, proper body chemistry is important to overall well-being. You cannot go to sleep at night if your body does not produce the right chemicals or if your body is producing the wrong chemicals. Threading a needle, climbing steps, buttering your bread, laughing, driving a car or just about anything else all require a certain level of balance in your body chemistry.

There are millions of glands and cells in the body that produce chemicals. Every cell in the body produces chemicals for its own use. But many of them also produce chemicals that are responsible for the functions already mentioned and thousands more that the average person does not even know about. Actually it is a pretty wonderful thought, to realize that whether or not we know anything about the thousands of chemical reactions that are taking place right this second in our bodies, they are happening and keeping us alive and well. So what causes an upset or an imbalance of your body chemistry beside the things we mentioned earlier? One thing, the thing that attracts the attention of the upper cervical care, is nerve interference from head/neck misalignment. For these body chemicals to be produced, and released when needed, they must receive the proper messages through the nerve system.

You can imagine how important communication is if there are thousands of glands and cells producing all these chemicals. Any interruption in the communication system and the body just cannot do its job to properly produce chemicals and balance body chemistry. That is what nerve interference can do, it can disrupt communication resulting in an imbalance in body chemistry. Can you live that way? Well sure but not as well as you can with well-balanced body chemistry. Will it eventually lead to problems? Most likely. Will it eventually cause diabetes, or Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s? Well, we do not know that. Everyone is different.

There are obviously other factors beside Head/neck misalignment and the resulting nerve interference that determine whether a person gets sick or not and which disease they manifest, but being under periodic upper cervical care will in all probability increase your chance of staying well. But more important, a more balanced body chemistry will improve the likelihood that you stay healthy just as eating good food, exercising regularly and getting the proper sleep will increase that likelihood. Most important, when your body chemistry is balanced every activity you participate in will be improved.

Choices, Health And Upper Cervical Care

(Editor's note: Today's post comes from the Atlas of Life November 2010 newsletter. Click on the title below to view the full newsletter.)

YOU LOOK & FEEL HOW YOU CHOOSE TO LOOK & FEEL

By Dr. Brandon Harshe

When my kids do something wrong, such as hit or scream at one of their siblings, or they ignore instructions we give them, they will face some type of consequence. Usually, the perpetrator screams, or cries, or whines when handed his/her sentence. The one thing we almost always tell them is that they chose the consequence. By behaving badly, they reaped a negative result. I do not think they get that concept most of the time, but through repetition, they will grow up understanding it eventually.

In fact, this is something we all need to understand. Including me. I have my moments where things will happen and I get frustrated, wanting to blame some exterior source. But in reality, the true source of my problem came from me.

There is no truer example of this idea than our health. Diabetes does not happen by chance. Heart disease does not happen overnight. Cancer is not a curse of our genetics. These diseases, and really most diseases, are caused by poor lifestyle decisions, point blank. I am not talking congenital heart defects or Down’s syndrome, I am talking about diseases that develop over time.

No one held you down and shoved a Big Mac down your gullet. No one put a gun to your head and told you to eat too much pizza. No one forced me to eat too much Halloween candy out of my kids’ stash. No one tied you down and made you watch football and drink beer all day last Sunday. Those are choices we all make, and the results of those choices are our doing, not someone else’s.

How many healthy, athletic, people eating plant-based diets do you see currently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes? Personally, I have never seen one. How many calm, happy people have you met with high blood pressure? Probably not many.

I know that if I eat at CiCi’s Pizza, I will feel flu-like symptoms and an overall sluggishness the next day… Basically I feel like garbage. That is how my body responds to my choice of eating awful food. Sure it’s a cheap place to take a family of six out to eat, but is it really worth it? Instead of trying to find some kind of medication that will take away my symptoms, I choose not to eat there anymore. Problem solved.

How about contracting a cold virus, or bronchitis, or the flu? Is that not something that happens to us by chance? Sometimes, but how many of us have been stressed with midterms, finals, work deadlines, meager finances, marital issues, or the death of a loved one? Those things put us into a state of stress, and that keeps us in sympathetic mode. The sympathetic nervous system is what controls the fight-or-flight response. Once in a while, it might be needed. But on a long term basis, this is what wears our bodies down, overuses our adrenal glands, and weakens our immune system, along with being sedentary and eating junk all the time, making us more prone to contracting a virus of some sort.

Dealing with that stress properly is what will keep us in parasympathetic state, which is where we want our bodies to be most of the time. I once heard Dr. Wayne Dyer mention that stress is not a physical, tangible thing. We cannot grab it out of the air. It is simply an idea in our mind. Replacing those stressed out thoughts with positive thoughts takes some work, but once you get the hang of it, life starts getting a little better.

Knowing that, and making healthier choices with our diets and activities, maybe, just maybe we can get to that level of optimal health we all want to experience.

It just dawned on me that, outside of (getting upper cervical care), I have not been to any kind of doctor in over 12 years. I have made choices in my life that keep me from needing to go to a medical doctor for anything. I am not perfect by any means… I still have so much to improve upon (ask my wife). But at least I am ahead of the game with my physical health.

You can be too. Quit sitting around, eating junk, and watching too many reality shows. Get up, exercise, eat some fruits and veggies, think positive (and get your nerve system and upper neck checked periodically).

The "Perfect" Diet And Upper Cervical Care

“For every illness, there is a country where it simply does not exists.”

This quote, from a direct mail promotional advertisement, is designed to get you to subscribe to a publication that claims to give you the secrets to preventing cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes and other diseases. They suggest that a natural diet which includes certain substances is responsible for the absence of certain diseases in certain countries. They further suggest that if you take these substances in supplemental form, you will not get these diseases either. There are a number of interesting aspects to this theory. First, independent of diet, people in these countries do not live to advanced age. In fact, they die at just about the same age as people in other countries, just not from these diseases. For example, countries with low mortality rates due to breast cancer have high rates due to bowel cancer or something else. It appears that people in these countries are not any healthier, they just suffer from different diseases.

This bit of information tells us that clearly there are a variety of factors involved in the development of any disease. Eskimos do not ordinarily die from cancers, but they do have an increased incidence of cardiovascular problems. Island populations that do not eat a lot of red meat do not have cholesterol-related conditions, but they often have stomach and bowel cancer from the high fish and seafood diets. The point is that there is no perfect diet just as there is no perfect environment. All have certain advantages and all have certain drawbacks.

This is not to suggest that what you eat is not important. Quite the contrary, everything that you eat is important. Likewise everything you do or do not do has an effect on your health and your longevity. Where you live and how you adapt to where you live are certainly significant factors in your health. Hereditary factors are also important, as is your ability to handle stress. So what is not important? Everything is important. There are literally hundreds of factors and causes. So the next time someone says they have the answer to disease, realize that they may or may not have an answer but they surely do not have the answer. Supplying a nutrient that is lacking in your diet may be an answer to one thing, the lack of that substance, but it is not the answer to all or any disease.

That is one of the great things about upper cervical care. We do not claim to have the cure for all or any disease or even the answer for back problems. We do, however, have the answer to one problem, an interference in the nerve system due to head/neck misalignment which deprives the body of working at its maximum potential in all areas. Upper cervical care is not a substitution for medicine, nutrition, exercise or anything else. It is one thing, only one thing, but this one thing can play a large role in you reaching your potential in every area of life.

We must also realize that since there are so many factors in health and in freedom from disease, it behooves us to focus on what we should be doing for our health rather than trying to prevent the thousands of diseases. No country is free from all disease. If there was such a country, it would be the most crowded spot on earth. Fortunately or unfortunately, the major cause of disease is not within the environment but within the individual and his or her ability to live in and adapt to the unique environment of that country. If you want to take supplements that is up to you, but realize that only addresses one factor relating to your health. Of course, ideally you would develop good enough eating habits that you would not require supplements and you would do a variety of other things necessary for good health and a productive life. Some of these things might include regular exercise, appropriate amounts of rest and a good mental attitude and by all means have your spine and nerve system checked periodically by an upper cervical doctor.

What Can Upper Cervical Care Do For _______?

I don't know about you but I often get questions similar to the ones below and I thought Dr. O'Shea does a great job of answering them. While this post is not written from an Upper Cervical Care perspective directly it illustrates, hopefully, the mindset that many patients start at and where we hope to take them. He has a focus on nutrition which, while not being my focus, I feel is as equally important to a good nerve supply. I like his no nonsense approach and putting the responsibility directly where it should be, with the patient. Not saying we do not have a responsibility but each individual person is ultimately and totally responsible for their own health. Anyway, here is what Dr. O'Shea has to say, enjoy.

From THE LAST RESORT
by Tim O'Shea

(Read the whole article here)

People keep asking me - what can you do for diabetes? What can you give me for arthritis? What do you got for high blood pressure, weight loss, thyroid, hot flashes, cancer, reflux, chronic fatigue... What they're really saying is - what magic bullet can you give me that will allow me to continue my current lifestyle of self abuse? I know where this idea came from. It's how we're raised: solving health problems is not our responsibility. See the doctor. He'll know what to give us.

When it comes to health, we try the easiest stuff first. Doctor appointments, tests, MRI, procedures, drugs, and more drugs - sometimes even surgery. All the things that THEY do - anything that doesn't require our participation. The comforting illusion that we're doing something about our problem by letting somebody else do it.

After a while, when all this has failed, a little light goes on - for some. And that's the idea that these guys really don't know what they're doing. And that if you're going to stop this downward spiral, it'll be totally 100% up to you.

Blind luck may suddenly reveal that the cause of most of your health problems is what you're putting in your mouth, both food and drugs.

And now you've come to that point of self-loathing or desperation or confusion or being fed up or whatever where you really want to make a change because you know you have to. Maybe it's a chronic digestive problem. Or a "weak heart." Or diabetes. Or chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, or MS. Or arthritis, or allergies, or asthma. Or a cross reaction from those combinations of medications that all those guys are giving you, without much consideration or concern, after that 5 minute office visit. With a nurse.

Lotta people jumping ship here. And many of you are washing up on my beach. After we start getting the spine in order, you want to know what else you can do. That's when we start looking at detox - cleaning out poisons that are stuck in the colon, the blood, the tract, the arteries. Rotting food, experimental medications, years of over the counter stuff, all those party drugs - it's stuck inside you. Time to clean house. Time to try something - anything, because whatever you've been doing so far just isn't working. You know you're dying, and that's not just an expression.

So here's your last resort - participation . Do-it-yourself health care. Many people find out, some too late, that this is the only thing that was ever going to work in the first place. What particular disease you have doesn't really matter that much. So much of it is just a name game anyway - they're usually just guessing. If your body's going to survive, the same rules of cell nutrition apply in every case. No matter how advanced your particular problem, you're still just flesh and blood like every one else. Your body follows the same physical laws. Every day you're alive, certain fundamental problems occur for your cells. Either these problems get solved or they don't.

It's really very simple once you realize that you're only going to be putting stuff in your mouth that will do one of two things:

cleanse and/or nourish

Couldn't be simpler. No matter what ideas you may have or what physical condition you're trying to solve, or what you've been through, if some of your cells are still alive, this is the basic program, the starting line for everyone.

So give yourself one last break. Whatever you need to do to get the self confidence to win this battle, do it. If this is the hardest thing you've ever had to do, seems like life's been pretty easy so far.

Quoting Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right”.

Can Upper Cervical Care Help?

This list represents just some of the conditions that have improved dramatically or resolved completely under specific Upper Cervical Care. The majority of these cases had also been previously diagnosed and treated by other practitioners. *

Conditions

Allergies, Anemia, Arthritis, Asthma, Back Disorders, Bronchitis, Bursitis, Constipation, Deafness, Diabetes Mellitus, Dizziness, Dyspnea, Emotional Disorders, Epilepsy, Gall Bladder Disorders, General Tension, General Weakness, Goiter, Hay Fever, Headaches (Non-Migraine), Herniated Discs, High Blood Pressure, Indigestion, Insomnia, Kidney Disorders, Liver Disorders, Low Blood Pressure, Lumbago, Meniere's Disease, Menopause Disorders, Menstrual Disorders, Mental Disorders, Migraine Headaches, Multiple Sclerosis, Nausea, Nervousness, Neuralgia, Neuritis, Parkinson's Disease, Pleurisy, Prostate, Rheumatism, Sacro-Iliac Disorders, Sciatica, Sinusitis, Spasmotic Torticollis, Spinal Curvatures, Stiff Necks, Stomach Disorders, Strabismus, Tic Douloureaux, Ulcers, Varicose Veins, and Vertigo

*Upper Cervical Care corrects a primary cause of many health problems so even if you don’t have one of the conditions above you to may benefit from Upper Cervical Care.

Type 2 Diabetes and Upper Cervical Care

Another study about the effects of Upper Cervical Care.

WEBSTER, SK; DICKHOLTZ, M; WOODFIELD, C; BAKRIS, GL; Acute Effect of Nucca Upper Cervical Adjustment on Patients with Diabetes Type II CHIROPRACTIC RESEARCH JOURNAL. 2000 FAL Vol. VII(2) Pgs. 81

ABSTRACT:

Background: Type II diabetes is characterized by elevated post-prandial plasma glucose levels and recurrent fasting hypoglycemia. Progression of cardiovascular and renal disease has been demonstrated to correlate with hypertension and hyperglycemia in patients with type II diabetes.

Objectives: The purpose of this project is to evaluate the acute effects of chiropractic reduction of upper cervical subluxation using the technique established by the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA) on blood pressure, plasma glucose, and the activity of the autonomic nervous system in patients with type II diabetes.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate that reduction of upper-cervical subluxations by NUCCA adjustment resulted in a stabilization of plasma glucose levels during the three-hour fasting period. Further characterization of these patients, as well as additional patients, will be necessary to assess the mechanisms through which this stabilization occurs. Long-term monitoring of these variables in these patients will determine if the beneficial effects of this type of chiropractic care on plasma glucose level are maintained for extended periods of time.

Blood Sugars Levels Improve?

A brief note about one families experience with upper cervical care and what it did for their daughter who had Type 1 Diabetes.

UNCONTROLLED BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS

My daughter has suffered with Type 1 Diabetes for 4 years now. We have tried several types and dosages of insulin. Eventually we had to have an insulin pump put into my daughter, but we have never been able to regulate her blood sugar levels. I myself went to (Upper Cervical Care) because I suffered with severe neck pain and numbness. While there the doctor explained the nerve system function and the importance of clear communication from the brain to the body and visa versa. I decided to have my daughter checked and she began to receive Upper Cervical adjustments. With every adjustment her blood sugar levels would drop dramatically--to me this was a clear indication that my daughter's body was responding and producing insulin!!

The doctor and staff take a personal interest in every patient and they treat you as if you were family. Their professionalism is unsurpassed.

The Mouse That Roared: Connecting the Nervous System to Diabetes

Excerpt from Dynamic Chiropractic, Jul 16, 2007 by Rosner, Anthony L

With a clarion-like pronouncement that would do Gabriel proud and which brings tears to the eyes of basic science researchers seeking their day in the sun with a medical breakthrough, researchers from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto proclaimed a link between the nervous system and diabetes. In a paper published in the basic sciences journal Cell, Razavi and her colleagues stated: "Our observations open new avenues for therapeutic strategies, raising the possibility that sensory nerve dysfunction may contribute to prediabetes initiation and progression in diabetes-prone humans."...

...What does all this mean? A neuropeptide is intimately connected to a hormonal defect leading to diabetes. In addition to suggesting further research leading to a possible new means of treating this debilitating and fatal disease, it tells us in no uncertain terms that the nervous and hormonal systems are intertwined. This obviously leads to the question of neural integrity and chiropractic. It offers more than a modicum of support to the very sparse observations in anything but the established frontline refereed medical journals that manipulation seems to have a palliative effect in diabetic patients:

1. One very preliminary observation tells us that in two patients undergoing a neurovascular technique, such complications as vision deterioration or development of foot ulcers seen in diabetic patients did not occur.

2. In another observation that was only barely more robust, using markers that are far more objective and reliable, Kfoury demonstrated that in a single patient, both glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels returned to normal after chiropractic adjustments.

Granted that these two factoids may be equated by some to reading tea leaves, they still provide food for thought when coupled with the thorough and groundbreaking findings of Razavi and her colleagues. This entire story emphasizes on no uncertain terms how basic research can uncover such key information to understanding the processes of disease and degeneration. It is the only way in which future productive clinical trials can be designed. And even though the chiropractic community can bask in the glory of having its central premise of chiropractic (the connection between neural integrity and health) supported in this research, it must learn from this key investigation to never lose sight of the basic sciences in being able to justify its means of health care delivery.

And of course Upper Cervical Care is targeted at removing, as precisely and completely as possible, the irritation to the most important part, the brain stem!