HUMAN PERFORMANCE
The function of the human body can be compared to a finely tuned high performance gasoline engine. Imagine a $3 million race car that runs on a unique and special high performance fuel and oil mixture. The timing is perfect with superbly designed points and plugs with a positively designed manifold and exhaust system. The fuel burns in the cylinders when ignited by the spark from the electrical system and energy or work is performed allowing the vehicle to travel at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. With this expenditure of energy, the waste products must be eliminated through the exhaust system. Now, if any one of these components is slightly altered, the vehicle’s performance is greatly impaired.
An optimum functioning human body is the same. Here, the fuel is composed of the food we eat, and the liquids we drink. The electrical system is under the direction and control of the nervous system and the energy or the body’s performance is effected through the intracellular metabolism of the ten trillion cells in the body. The resulting metabolic waste products are eliminated as a function of the skin, lungs, and bowels that make up the exhaust mechanism. And similar to the high performance vehicle, the body’s ability to function will be impaired if any of these systems are not working at optimum efficiency. Extended impairment of function eventually results not only in poor performance but in ill health and the generation of chronic degenerative disease.
COPABILITY
The moment we are born we begin to die. It is our ability to cope with the stresses of our environment that determines how long we will live. How difficult it is for our body systems to cope on a day to day basis reflects how good we feel and how much we are able to accomplish. The greater the degree of environmental stress (air pollution, atomic radiation, industrial chemical exposure, viral and bacterial invasion, food and chemical insults, preservatives and emotional stress), the greater the susceptibility to pathological changes and disease. When we can no longer endure, function and cope, we die.
When symptoms first develop they often are due to a simple, elementary problem. If the cause is not identified then the problem usually worsens and additional body functions are impaired, even so slightly. Over time, secondary pathogens may enter because of less than ideal immune function. Perhaps drugs are prescribed. Although the symptoms may be alleviated, the underlying cause persists. The problem is “masked,” much like smelling a mild scent of something burning. We can immediately seek the source of the heat and remedy the problem or we can simply wait and see what develops. If the odor is bothersome we might “stuff” our nostrils with cotton, eliminating the odor. Either way, the cause has not been identified and most likely in time, a major portion of the structure will be engulfed in flames and perhaps, the whole house will be destroyed. Remember, cancer begins with one single cell going wrong. If not destroyed, it can multiply into a small tumor the size of a garden pea containing a colony of one-billion malignant cells. To save lives, disease must be caught and eradicated early!
During the Middle Ages, philosophers divided the body into three systems: body; mind; and spirit. The physician attended to the physical ailment; the psychiatrist cared for the emotions and problems of the mind; and the clergy attended to the needs of the spirit and troubles of the soul. Today it is much more complicated. We have doctors who only treat joints, others who treat stomach trouble, and specialists for the nervous system, heart and blood vessels, the kidney, and nearly every organ. Women have gynecologists to add to the list. And of course, the dentist for the tooth. The problem with all these specialty disciplines is that no one is looking at the “whole” person. This, in itself, by lack of integration, has generated and perpetuated to some degree, a hindrance or curtailment of health and wellness in the patients served.
We must determine our patient’s ability to cope by identifying and measuring the biological organic components of her system. We must take a whole or complete approach. The application of “holistic health care” emphasizes a total integration of symptoms, embracing the psychological, mental, emotional, spiritual and physical aspects of the patient. Unequivocally, disease or sickness is the outcome of a complex interaction of factors derived from social, physical, psychological, and environmental influences.
By Michael Cessna D.C.
