It’s Not Depression…It’s Stress!

I am amazed at the number of clients that I see who are prescribed anti-depressants these days. I have only been in practice for 6 years, but I have seen these drugs used excessively to treat everything from PMS to stress.

The major problem with these medications is there are no long-term studies on the impact these drugs have on the body. Don’t forget that these medications have side effect profiles that rival the novel “War and Peace.

Aside from the litany of side effects, anti-depressants typically don’t treat the actual problem. And what I’m finding is that it’s not depression…it’s stress.

Sure, there are people out there that undeniably suffer from depression. But most are struggling with overwhelming stress. It is well accepted that 90% of doctor visits today are due to stress or some stress-related condition.

Let’s look at physiology to see how stress affects the body.

Our stress response is a protective mechanism. It is our body’s way to help us run from that tiger or turn and fight that tiger. It is our fight or flight response. Therein lies part of the problem.

We aren’t running from any tigers, at least not on this continent. But our stress level is constant and higher than ever…bills, economy, family. From the time we wake up to the time we go to sleep, we are under stress. The body doesn’t know the differences between types of stress — whether tiger chase or financial pressure — it just responds to the stress.

We cannot discount the impact of stress on the body. The stress response comes from our adrenal glands. Epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and DHEA are the main components of the stress response. Under intense stress, our body releases norepinephrine and epinephrine. These neurotransmitters stimulate cortisol and DHEA release from the adrenal glands. This results in dilated pupils, fast heart rate, edginess…all physical manifestations of the fight or flight response.

It doesn’t stop there. That same long-term elevated cortisol will cause a depletion of the stimulators norepinephrine and an inverse drop in the serotonin levels. And THAT is the cause of depression.

The extended exposure to stress is the problem. And the band-aid solution of treating with anti-depressants is not a good solution.

The alternative? As a metabolic specialist, my approach is to support the the body’s stress response with a customized prescription of vitamins, minerals, bioidentical hormones, amino acids first. Then, we develop a healthy living plan that will help reduce stress and restore the body to normal function so that it is no longer non-functional from extended periods of stress overload.

While exercise and proper nutrition go a long way, the long-term affects of a stress-filled life require customized medical care to reverse their effects. And that’s what we do here at Seasons Wellness Clinic – customized wellness.

Cheers to the pursuit of wellness!

Related articles

• Cortisol and Stress: How Cortisol Affects Your Body, and How To Stay Healthy in the Face of Stress(stress.about.com)
• Stress (room4truth.com)
• Describing the Function of Adrenal Glands: A Study Guide (brighthub.com)

 

From The Doctor’s Desk: Stress Is a Doorway to Disease

Seasons has hosted, on several occasions, Dr. Eldred Taylor, an international expert in bioidentical hormones. During his speaking engagements in Ruston, he talked with men and women about lots of exciting ways to help manage their health. Dr. Taylor is a talented teacher, and I want to share the way he taught our patients about stress and hormones.

Stress elicits a hormonal response, he explained. In fact, 75%-90% of all primary care doctor related visits can be directly attributed to stress according to the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. It makes sense. When you are stressed, you are more prone to illness. That’s one effect of hormones, specifically cortisol.

Stress is a doorway to disease if it’s not treated and corrected.

Here’s what I mean by that. In nature, a zebra or horse running from a predator has acute stress response. Does the stress have a negative effect on the animal’s body? Sure. But the animal is running for its life. Either one of two things happen. The animal will get away, and the stress will end. Or the animal will die… and the stress will end. Either way, the animal is not going to suffer from constant stress.

But in contemporary society, many of us suffer from constant stress. When we experience stress, we too have a surge of hormones to help us fight or run away. You’ve heard of fight or flight. When we are running from a predator, everything works fine. The hormones activated by stress pump us full of energy, and we escape the predator. Or kill it.

But in contemporary society, sometimes we can’t kill our predators or run away from them. Sometimes our predators are coworkers or bosses. We don’t get along with these people, or perhaps we are intensely competitive, and it causes stress. Only we can’t escape these predators in the same way that a zebra can escape a lion. We have to fight with that coworker or boss every day. We experience the stress every day. Our bodies weren’t designed to handle this kind of chronic stress.

That’s why it’s so important to relax. Learn to control what you can. Learn to let go of the rest. I highly recommend things like aroma therapy and massages for relaxation. That’s why Seasons has developed a medical spa—because we want to do more than just help people who are not well. We want to help prevent people from getting sick in the first place.

Stress management is a good place to start.

Sweat Yourself to Better Health in our Infrared Sauna

What is an Infrared Sauna?

Infrared Light

Infrared light is the natural radiant heat emitted by the sun. It is 100% safe and even used to warm premature babies. Picture yourself feeling the sun’s rays on a warm day. That is what it is like to be in a Sunlighten Sauna. This comforting heat warms you from the inside, for a deep and detoxifying sweat.

Sunlighten vs. Traditional Saunas
Sunlighten Saunas use infrared heat rays instead of steam, as is used in traditional saunas. Infrared gently heats the body from within instead of heating the air. It has the ability to penetrate the surface of the skin, which gives your body overall radiant warmth. Traditional heaters only heat the air, which can become extremely hot and uncomfortable in which to breathe.

Carbon vs. Ceramic Heaters
Sunlighten’s carbon-based heating technologies emit more infrared energy at a lower surface temperature. This leads to pain relief, better circulation and more effective detoxification, among several other benefits.

Carbon Surround, Solocarbon® and Solocarbon® Custom Spectrum
While Carbon Surround is the best infrared therapy in its class, Solocarbon® is the most advanced and beneficial technology available. In fact, Solocarbon has been clinically shown to raise core body temperature nearly 3o in a 30 min. session. This is important, because raising core body temperature is the catalyst for nearly all of the health benefits associated with infrared therapy. With the introduction of Solocarbon® Custom Spectrum, Sunlighten now offers a heating technology capable of delivering near, mid and far infrared to more precisely target a myriad of personalized health concerns.

What are the benefits of an Infrared Sauna?

Detoxification
Sweating is the body’s safe and natural way to heal, stay healthy and detoxify. In a Sunlighten Sauna, the average person sweats out 20% toxins and 80% water, while in a conventional sauna, the average person only sweats out 3% toxins and 97% water.

Weight Loss
Studies have shown a 30 minute infrared sauna session can burn upwards of 600 calories. As the body works to cool itself while using an infrared sauna, there is a substantial increase in heart rate, cardiac output and metabolic rate.

Relaxation
Sunlighten saunas deliver the ultimate experience in relaxation. With the most therapeutic infrared heat found in Solocarbon® heating technology, our saunas are guaranteed to help you relax in comfort with an invigorating sweat that will have you feeling stress-free with each session.

Pain Relief
Clinical research on pain has shown evidence of heat responsive pain or HRP, which encompasses several common pain conditions that can be specifically treated with the use of our infrared heat therapy.

Blood Pressure Reduction
Sunlighten’s Solocarbon® heaters were shown in a clinical study by the University of Missouri Kansas City in 2005 to lower blood pressure from a 30 minute infrared sauna session three times per week.

To learn more about the Sunlighten Infrared Saunas, visit their website: www.sunlighten.com or stop by our office in Farragut at 10607 Deerbrook Drive. Pricing begins at $15 per session, call 865.675.9355 to schedule your sauna appointment today!

Wrinkles and Hearts

“If wrinkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.” — James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States.

I read that quote by President Garfield the other day and it occurred to me how important his statement was in my practice of medicine. What causes wrinkles? What causes the spirit to grow old? What can damage the heart? The answer is stress. Stress is not something that just exists. Stress is not just a term used to describe forces applied as in engineering. Stress is real and it affects our hearts. Stress kills.

What impact does stress have on the health of our heart?

• 43% of all adults suffer stress related adverse health effects.
• 75-90% of all visits to primary care physicians are stress-related.
• Stress is directly linked to heart disease according to a new study from University College London.

The interesting thing about stress? It’s not just external. Stress is both external and internal. There is stress of day-to-day life. And then there is the silent physiologic stress. The internal stress occurs in the form of obesity, food sensitivity, and inflammation to name a few.

How is stress affecting you? Ask your heart. Focus on keeping your heart healthy by limiting and relieving your stress this Valentine’s Day. While we can’t always eliminate the causes of stress in our life, we can control how we allow it to affect us!

My recommendations?

• Make good food choices to give your body the right kind of energy that lasts and helps you work and feel better.
• Get regular exercise. It boosts your metabolism, fights fatigue, and even elevates your mood helping you to cope with stress more effectively.
• Take time to meditate and pray.
• Take a break and relax whether it’s a soak in the tub or a good book.

Take care of your heart. That’s the best gift you can give those you love!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Marcia G. Yerman: A New Recipe for Heart Health (huffingtonpost.com)
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• Easy Tips for Reducing Stress (dirjournal.com)
• Stress `can cause heart damage’ (telegraph.co.uk)
• Spirituality and Prayer Relieve Stress (psychcentral.com)
• Study: Low levels of vitamin D linked to higher rates of asthma in African-American kids (scienceblog.com)
• Stereotypes About Old Age Can Affect Health (patspapers.com)
• Is the fat acceptance movement bad for our health? (cnn.com)
• Stress `can cause heart damage’ (telegraph.co.uk)

The Seasons Top Five: How to Pursue Wellness

Here are the Seasons top five suggestions for the pursuit of wellness.

1. Evaluate Your Diet. Do you make good food choices? Are you overweight? The latest statistics indicate that 58 million Americans are overweight, 40 million are obese, and 4 million are morbidly obese. The vast majority of illness is caused or complicated by being overweight.

2. Evaluate Your Activity. Do you exercise? Small choices add up to increased physical activity, So park further from the grocery store entry and WALK. Take the stairs. Stop working at the computer for 5 minutes and do 50 situps.

3. Have A Wellness Checkup at Seasons of Farragut. The Seasons approach to wellness is centered around balance and prevention. A few medical tests will reveal where your body is deficient. A wellness regimen tailored to YOUR body will relieve hot flashes, sleep difficulties, mood swings and even weight gain.

4. Make Sure You’re Getting Enough Vitamin D. Studies indicate the importance of Vitamin D in disease prevention. The level of cold and flu increases in the winter largely due to the decrease of Vitamin D in our system. Medical research even suggests that Vitamin D is the BEST prevention for flu–even better than the vaccine. At Seasons, we evaluate your Vitamin D levels and offer medical-grade Vitamin D supplements in capsules, drops, and even injections, if needed.

5. Decrease Stress. Stress is the enemy. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Take time to smell the flowers. Find a de-stresser that works for you, whether it’s weekly Bible Study, a good book, or coloring with your kids.

An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth A Pound of Cure. Benjamin Franklin said it best when he coined the phrase that’s been repeated for generations, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Former Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona echoed Franklin’s advice in an opinion published by the Arizona Daily Star.

“Sadly,” says Dr. Carmona, “in the United States spending to treat preventable chronic diseases accounts for more than 75 percent of the approximately $2 trillion we spend each year on health care. Americans spend more money on health care than any other nation, yet rank 42nd in life expectancy worldwide, down from 11th two decades ago. While our federal and state governments spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on treating diseases, they spend less than $10 per person per year to prevent diseases. We are a treatment-focused society, when the real benefits to health and happiness come from preventing diseases before they ever occur.”

Startling, isn’t it. Reading Dr. Carmona’s words reminds us that pursuing wellness should be the focus of our health care. We need to jump off the bandwagon of a treatment-focused society and jump into the pursuit of wellness.

At Seasons, we help you achieve renewal of the body by finding balance. What kind of balance? It’s that “I-don’t-know-what-it-is-but-something-is-definitely-not-right” kind of feeling that seems to plague women in their post-childbearing years. For some women it means hot flashes, sleep difficulties, mood swings, and even weight gain. For others, it’s more vague – perhaps a feeling of general fatigue or malaise. If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, we can help. For more information, contact our office at (865) 675-WELL (9355).