Wellness vs Sickness

Professor Gerard Anderson of John Hopkins University states that close to half of the population in North America now suffers from at least one chronic disease, and many more suffer from more than one condition. The rate of increase in incidence of autoimmune and degenerative diseases is alarming, especially when we look at the dramatic rate of increase of these diseases in our children. Allopathic medicine has failed to halt this increase, and can only prescribe drugs with some very serious, and in some cases, life threatening side effects. In fact when we look at cause of death, properly prescribed, properly administered (in hospital) pharmaceutical agents, ranks as No. 4 behind strokes, cancer and heart disease.

Modern medicine or allopathic medicine is now facing the need for a total paradigm shift in its thinking – as deep a shift as the one that occurred when bacteria were first shown to be the agents of infectious diseases, and not ‘bad air’. Years of treating sickness and symptoms rather than promoting wellness and finding causes have led to an urgent need for all of us to take greater responsibility for our health. We need to move from a ‘sickness/curative’ view to a ‘wellness/preventative’ view of what we do.

There is scientific evidence that our health problems are related to a combination of nutritional deficiency and environmental toxicity. There is also a growing appreciation of the body’s natural physiological capabilities to support health and wellness. This movement towards wellness began slowly but is now rapidly gaining momentum as the affluent Baby Boomer generation leads the way with a commitment to retaining their wellness. Their commitment is to be proactive and prevent ill health and degenerative and autoimmune diseases rather than waiting until their onset and then treating the symptoms. Wellness is different to health. ‘Health’ is what we see or feel. We may feel and look healthy but could be harbouring cancer or heart disease. Often the first symptom of heart disease is a heart attack, but the disease has often been developing for many years.

The wellness revolution is based on giving the body what it needs to support optimal health (both seen and unseen) and quality of life.

Toxins, Free Radicals and Anti-oxidants

We all live in a toxic environment. No matter where we live or how careful we are, we can’t avoid environmental toxins. They are in the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink all over the planet. What is particularly worrying is the high levels of pesticides in our homes, considerably higher to levels we are exposed to outdoors.

Free radicals are produced when our cells create energy and when we are exposed to pollutants or toxins such as cigarette smoke, alcohol or pesticides. If allowed to go unquenched, free radicals can cause damage to the body’s cells. The cells that line the arteries, the fat cells in the blood, the immune cells and so on can all be affected by free radicals. And because of this, free radical damage (or oxidation) has been linked to the formation of every degenerative disease known including cancer, cardiovascular disease, cataracts and the ageing process itself.

Free radicals are unstable chemicals formed in the body during normal metabolism or exposure to environmental toxins such as air, food and water pollution. Free radicals help our bodies to generate energy and fight infections, but when we have too many free radicals they attack healthy cells causing them to age prematurely. The action of rust is probably the best analogy of how excess free radicals work in our body.

We are being constantly exposed to increasing amounts of free radicals due to increasing environmental toxins in our living and working environment. At the same time our intake of protective cell pigments is decreasing. Free radicals are known to cause or exacerbate most (and especially chronic) diseases such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, macular degeneration and cataracts.

Free radical damage mutates the body’s future DNA and RNA cell blueprint message by pairing with electrons in the DNA chains, ultimately leading to cellular electronic imbalance. Inevitable blurring of the DNA and RNA blueprint will occur as mutated cells replicate this is aging. In other cases, excess free radical damage can cause DNA messages to accelerate the cell division process into a state of panic whereby DNA are unable to withstand the rate of degeneration – this is cancer.