If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know that as your Oxnard Chiropractor I believe that exercise, at any age, is one of the main keys to good health and longevity. You’ve heard me say that “motion is life,” and it becomes all the more critical as people age. Movement slows down degenerative changes and often prevents many of them from occurring at all. In addition, movement enhances blood flow, respiration, and elimination, and keeps every organ stronger and healthier. So, you can imagine my excitement when I read about a “senior’s playground” that opened in London’s Hyde Park recently. The playground was the result of senior residents campaigning for more facilities to help older people to get fit. Brilliant! Talk about an idea whose time has come!

Organizers said that a large group of older people began lining up early in the morning to try the six low-impact fitness machines that included a cross-trainer, a stationary bicycle, and a sit-up bench.

The playground is aimed at people over 60, but the gentle exercise would also be beneficial for patients recovering from operations or injury. Similar play areas for the elderly are already availabe in other European countries. So, why not here in the U.S.? Older people need a “free” friendly outside exercise area where they not only won’t feel intimidated by younger people, but will be able to socialize as they improve their health.

So, got a pen and paper handy? How about a laptop? Even your cell phone will work! Start a campaign in the Oxnard area for a “playground for seniors.” If you don’t personally need one today…you will sometime in the future!

Technorati Tags: age-related health issues, exercise, Where:Oxnard-CA

Let’s look at arthritis, for instance. In point of fact, with the exception of pharmaceuticals, allopathic medicine doesn’t take care of this age-related condition. Why? Because most medical practitioners treat the symptoms of arthritis. The chiropractic method is to discover the cause of the condition and get rid of the pain at its source. For over a hundred years chiropractors, like Dr. Bolt, have been caring for people suffering from back pain and other conditions caused by arthritic changes in the musculoskeletal system.

Arthritic changes take place as your body ages because, over time, wear of certain joints takes place as the result of repetitive stresses, and years of poor gait, improper posture, and insufficient movement. Chiropractic treatment brings back motion into your joints and decreases pain, and it readjusts any vertebral misalignment that may be causing irritation and restriction. In addition to causing arthritic changes in the spine and increasing pain, did you know that misaligned vertebra can also lower your resistance and immunity? It’s an authoritative fact, and this could be one of the reasons why it may seem that as you age you develop more health issues and that it often takes longer for you to feel better again. According to research done on older individuals, those who received regular chiropractic care stayed healthier. To put it another way, as you get older, chiropractic adjustments are good for what ails you!

When it comes to the health of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractors like Dr. Bolt are highly knowledgeable whether it’s the small, growing frame of an infant or the full-grown body of an aging adult. Your Chiropractor in Oxnard understands the aging process and has singular observational and diagnostic skills that assist him in locating spinal misalignments and joint degeneration. In fact, a chiropractic examination can frequently reveal certain age-related conditions before they’ve begun to create noticeable pain. Moreover, Dr. Bolt will evaluate your posture and analyze your gait to identify inappropriate patterns that could generate further arthritic changes.

So, if feeling your age has become a painful experience, make an appointment with Dr. Donald Bolt, your Oxnard Chiropractor.  He can help!

Technorati Tags: age-related health issues, arthritis, chiropractic, chiropractic care, chiropractic treatment, chiropractor, Where:Oxnard-CA

But, before you decide to add an extra cup of coffee to your morning routine, let me add that also on the website, under “Related Stories,” were a couple of articles reporting on studies that demonstrated the negative effects of caffeine, “Morning Jolt of Caffeine May Mask Serious Sleep Problems,” and “Coffee Consumption Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Attack For Persons With Certain Gene Variation.”

It seems to me that there are more than likely studies that will affirm, or at least bolster, any angle of thought, particularly when it has to do with age-related health issues. The “yin-yang” of caffeine benefits-deficits naturally aren’t, of course, the only ones. But, it did get me to thinking about the likelihood that there will not ever be just “one thing” that will with absolute certainty aid we, humans, in living longer, healthier lives. We are dynamic, biological creatures. We aren’t raised in unnatural confinement We are free to engage in life. And, furthermore, though Alzheimer’s disease apparently is on the rise, obviously none of us has been “bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” so caffeine isn’t entirely the “one thing” that will prevent or reverse it.

The human body is an exquisite, complex system that is based on homeostasis, i.e, balance. Consequently good health has more to do with a healthy, balanced approach to living, instead of our jumping on the bandwagon of the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other over-indulgent and unhealthy things we do to our bodies.

I believe, as a doctor of chiropractic, and specifically as your Oxnard Chiropractor, that every single day we have an opportunity to make decisions that will assist us to live longer, healthier lives, healthy choices for our body and mind. We know what genuinely “feels” beneficial and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for our body. So, the next time you reach for that extra cup of coffee or that second glass of red wine, I hope that you’ll think about this. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your age-related health issues.

Technorati Tags: age-related health issues, caffeine, chiropractor, health, longevity, red wine, Where:Oxnard-CA