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Recent research shows that how we respond to stress - and how we recover- tells more about your health than your age, sex or weight.

We all have a built in alert system to anything that is a threat to our existence. Our 5 senses alert us to danger - Bad smelling food, bumps in the night, movement we sense out of the corner of our eye, substances that taste funny, and pulling our hand back from a flame are all built in warnings.

However, your subconscious is even more sensitive and will often trigger a protection response, such as in increase in heart rate, blood pressure, or breathing,  before your conscious senses pick up on anything.  Your body considers stress to be a threat, and even low levels of stress can over time cause health issues.

Stress is being cited as the cause of illness more and more.  In fact, by1995 nearly 1/2 of the States in the United States allowed worker compensation claims for emotional  disorders and disabilities due to job related stress (1995 Worker Compensation Yearbook, CDC).

At the Allergy and Stress Relief Center, we help with stress reduction using a low level light laser.  Give us a call and let Dr. Jean tell you how it works!

In June 2011, my three year old daughter became seriously ill. She was in chronic, debilitating pain; she would scream in agony until she wet her pants. Before, she had been an energetic, outgoing girl, but the illness sapped her of what made her "her".  She would lay listless in my lap for hours just having her tummy rubbed. We had to sleep together, what little sleep we got. Neither of us were getting more that 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night because of her overwhelming pain. The only two things that helped were ibuprofen and steroids, neither of which you want to take very much of, especially when you are that young. At one point, she was on a rotation of meds that were given every 3 hours around the clock, and even then, her pain was barely tolerable. She went to the emergency room once because the pain was so severe.  The trip did nothing but make her terrified of needles and hospitals. Our doctor was at a complete loss and sent us to the children's hospital in Little Rock after we saw an allergist in northwest Arkansas. None of them were helpful. No one had any answers.

Shortly before her illness, her father and I got divorced, and right before her illness, the place we had lived as a family before the separation (and where her father still lived), was destroyed by the tornado in Joplin. Her dog died in the storm, and she lost everything. Her father survived, but that was about it. After the tornado, she got a very bad stomach virus that we speculate caused very bad damage to her small intestine. The stress made the illness worse and healing almost impossible. But that's all just speculation. Not a single doctor we saw could ever give us an answer.

During this time, my mom (who is also a patient of Dr. Gibson's) told her about what had been happening with my daughter. How much pain she was in, how we were all struggling with it. Honestly, I think my daughter dealt with it the best, and she was the one that was sick. Dr. Gibson offered, without hesitation, to help us. She started treating my daughter almost every day of the week using the laser bio feedback therapy, working us into their busy schedule.

While we were doing this treatment, I was still pursuing traditional medical alternatives as well. I brought her to see a pediatric gastroenterologist who immediately jumped to wanting to do a scope and colonoscopy, under general anesthesia, and take biopsies.

But by this time, after a couple of weeks of treatment with Dr. Gibson and Lisa, my daughter was getting better. I declined the gastroenterologist's procedure.

All of a sudden, after three months that felt like three years of fear and pain, my daughter suddenly felt better. She miraculously went back to being my sweet little princess wild thing. The illness disappeared as fast as it had arrived, overnight.

We don't know what caused it or what the name of her illness was. But you don't need a name to have it shake your life to pieces. And Dr. Gibson did not need a name to treat it.

My daughter was on so many different medicines, none of which she took for long enough to have caused her healing. The allergist didn't give us any answers. The internist didn't help us. The emergency room was a disaster. The only longterm treatment she had was from Dr. Gibson using the biofeedback therapy, and I don't doubt for a second that this is what got my baby back to being a typical, overly energetic three year old. She even stopped having nightmares about the tornado.

I knew it helped with allergies. Both myself and my father had done the treatment. It saved me from seriously debilitating food sensitivities. Now, I can have a normal social life again, eating out with friends and not getting sick every time. My dad was able to move back to his home after having to move away because his allergies to the area were so severe it left him coughing up blood.

But the real miracle is the healing of my daughter.  I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to partake of this therapy. I don't know where we would be without it, and I don't want to think about it.

All I think about is what a tremendous blessing it is to finally have my sweet little princess wild thing back.

I know this all sounds too good to be true, but every part of it is. In fact, this is just an abbreviated version of the story. It is impossible to convey the depth of dread you feel when you hear doctors speculating that your child had debilitating diseases that can lead to death, that will plague her for the rest of her life. I am not exaggerating when I say that this has been the single most terrifying and hopeless time of my life.

I can never, ever thank Dr. Gibson and Lisa enough for their kind help. 

With the start of Fall comes push for everyone to get their flu shot.  But do you know ingredients make up a flu shot?

According to the CDC website (click here to see the chart), the following excipients - the inactive ingredients necessary for the production of a finished pharmaceutical - are in the flu shot:

• Egg Albumin
• Bactopeptone
• Beta-propiolactone
• Egg Protein
• Formaldehyde
• Gelatin
• Gentamicin
  
• Hydrocortisone
• Monosodium Glutamate
• Neomycin
• Phosphate buffers (eg. disodium, monosodium, potassium, sodium dihydro-genphosphate)
• Polymyxin B
• Polyoxyethylene9-10 nonylphenol (Triton N-101, octoxynol 9)
• Polyoxyethylated octyl phenol
• Sodium chloride
• Sodium deoxycholate
• Sucrose
• Thimerosal (mercury)
• Tocopheryl hydrogen succinate
• Chick kidney cells
• Chicken embryo (fertilized egg)   
  

Small amounts of Mercury - Thimerosal - can cause nerve damage. Formaldehyde is a major component of embalming fluid and a possible carcinogen. Gentamicin, Polymysin B, and Neomycin are antibiotics.  These antibiotics, as well as the egg albumin, egg protein, chick kidney cells, chicken embryo, and gelatin can cause allergic reactions in some people.

CDC tracking of deaths from the flu for the years 1976-2007 show an average death rate of 6,309 people a year.  The population during that time in the USA averaged 253,727,010, so less than 2/100,000th of the population died from the flu.The NHTSA reports that an average of 41,106 people died in auto accidents during that same time - 2/10,000th of the population.  So you have a better chance of dying while driving your car than you do dying from the flu.

The flu can be avoided through hand washing, covering your mouth when you sneeze, and making sure your immune system is strong.  We can help build your immune system - give us a call and find out how!

Do you have stress?  Of course you do - that's part of living.  But did you know that stress can affect your physical health? When you have a stressful situation, your body releases adrenalin - the "fight or flight" hormone - from your adrenal glands. The walls of the blood vessels then constrict and your blood pressure rises as your body prepares for either fending off the attack or running away.  When the stress stops, the adrenals quit producing adrenalin, your blood pressure lowers, your muscles relax and your body returns to normal.

However, when you are under constant stress, the adrenals never get the signal to shut off, so your body is constantly flooded with adrenalin. This can lead to adrenal insufficiency, where the adrenal gland underproduces adrenalin.  Physical symptoms can include fatigue, joint pain, poor circulation, allergies, and a decreased resistance to viruses and bacterias.

At our clinic, we have ways to help you relieve stress on your nervous system and repair the damage done.  Call us for a consultation and find out how to feel good every day!

Reprinted from New Proof that Bread and Rice Increase Heart Disease By Dr. Mercola

Women who eat a lot of foods high in blood-sugar spiking carbohydrates, such as white bread and rice, are twice as likely to develop heart diseases.

Complex carbohydrates, such as fruit and pasta, were not associated with the increased risk of heart disease. This suggests that the problem is not carbohydrates per se, but rapidly absorbed carbohydrates.

The information comes from a study of about 48,000 people who were asked about their diets in detail. Previous studies have also shown a similar link between simple carbohydrates and heart disease risk.

Sources:
  CNN April 12, 2010
  Archives of Internal Medicine April 12, 2010; 170(7):640-7