Chronic Illness is DEADLY SERIOUS...
In industrialised (western) countries like Australia, the burden of ill-health, particularly chronic illness, has been steadily rising despite significant increases in expenditure from both the private and public purse.
The evidence clearly shows that by far, the highest proportion of this ever-increasing burden is seen in the incidence of chronic illness, chronic disease or pre-cursor ‘syndromes’ that are the warning signs of almost inevitable progression.
The traditional responses of the mainstream medical system – medication, surgery and radiation have not been successful in changing this ever-increasing burden. Despite these approaches, chronic illness has sharply risen over recent history.
If this situation is going to change, our society needs to start doing something differently.
The FIVE physiological 'pillars' of Chronic Illness
Understanding these key ‘pillars’ of chronic illness, and how they interact with each other to drive and maintain this ever growing burden chronic disease, can change how you think about your risks, your likelihood of experiencing, and your capacity to avoid or heal from these major scourges of western society.
This information can also help you understand how chiropractic, health and wellness coaching and lifestyle change can address and/or reverse them. Read on…
One of the first steps is education. Information!
Lifestyle and environmental stressors (a form of toxicity, deficiency or both) in physical, chemical or mental-emotional domains lead to Pillar One:
The cascade of effects from these 'pillars' leads to all Chronic Illness!
Pillar ONE
Chronic production and release of Stress Hormones
(Adrenaline & Cortisol)
This PILLAR is key...
as it initiates the next four pillars which occur as adaptive responses.
Read this separate article on stress physiology – I outline there the fear and protection reaction
(which has historically been called the body in ‘fight or flight’)…
It is this reaction by your brain under stress which causes and then maintains this production and ongoing release of Adrenaline and Cortisol.
Pillar TWO
Insulin Resistance
Due to a decrease of insulin receptors on cell membrane surfaces
Pillar THREE
Chronic Inflammation
(a systemic 'pro-inflammatory' state)
Underlying almost EVERY chronic illness – including pain, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s just to name a few!
Pillar FOUR
Decreased production & release of
Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin
(and other disordered liver function)
Pillar FIVE
Down-regulated Immune Function
What are the combined effects of these 5 pillars?
You can choose to learn about, identify and then reduce, eliminate or counteract the impact of these stressors.
These 5 pillars combined result in profound changes to your internal function – your physiology and internal chemistry.
In turn, changes show up in many of the ‘markers’ you test for in medical assessments (such as blood tests) or indicators of risk for particular disease states.
They create:
- INCREASED Heart Rate
- INCREASED Blood Vessel Tension
- INCREASED Fluid Retention
- INCREASED Blood Pressure
and
- INCREASED Blood Sugar Levels
- INCREASED Blood Fat Levels
-
CHANGES to what fat | cholesterol get made | removed from blood
(↑ LDL, ↓ HDL)
and
-
INCREASED blood clotting components
(more ‘clogging’, thicker blood harder to ‘push’)
and
- INCREASED breakdown of muscle and connective tissue proteins.
- LOSS of Bone
-
CHANGES to muscle fibre type
(muscles less able to work at their best)
and
- INCREASED Sensitivity - including for Pain and other Emotions
and
- DECREASED Serotonin levels
- INCREASED Noradrenaline levels
- INCREASED feelings of Stress, Fear, Anxiety and Depression
- DECREASED short-term memory, ability to concentrate and learn new information
and
- DECREASED Immunity
- Leading to infectious, inflammatory and auto-immune illness
and
-
DECREASED Growth and Repair Hormones
(Growth Hormone, Testosterone, Luteinizing Hormone etc.)
and
-
DECREASED Quality of Sleep
(R.E.M.)
Understanding the effects of this single cascade helps us appreciate the cost on our lives of physical, chemical and mental-emotional stress...
The great news is that understanding the impact of lifestyle and environmental stressors as the cause of these pillars means that you now have choice!
