Duncan Chiropractic Group Newsletter

From Your Howell Michigan Area Chiropractor

KEEP ON LIVING

Dr. David Koivuranta

How old do you want to be? While no one necessarily likes getting older, research shows that our bodies decrease their function by 1% per year each year after the age of 30. Doing the math, 100% of function would be lost by the time we reach 130 years of age. Currently, the average life span for males and females in North America is between 75-85 years of age.

However, scientists predict that with further understanding of health care and disease prevention more people will be living to our theoretical maximum of 130 years of age (give or take a decade).

The question becomes, “What type of quality will our lives have as we approach these later years”? Although health care intervention can expand our lifetime, only health care prevention and investing in our own health can predict the amount of satisfaction we can expect to have in our lives as we age. Living to 130 years of age would mean spending over one-half of our lives in retirement! What type of retirement are you looking forward to?

Even though technologies improve and our own understanding of the human body increases, the basics never change. When it comes to making good health care and lifestyle decisions, most of us know the rules of the game. It’s whether or not we choose to play fairly that becomes the hurdle. Inspiration needs to come from within, but here are a few helpful reminders to get you started:

* Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and drugs (medicinal or illicit) all have detrimental effects on the tissues of the liver, central nervous system and other various organs. Since we’re already losing 1% per year, do you really need to speed that up? Consume in moderation only.
* Sedentary lifestyles versus active lifestyles versus overactive lifestyles. Whether young, old or in between our bodies thrive on use but prefer not to be abused. Finding a happy balance is difficult, but necessary.
* Stress…what else do we need to say. Too much (whether from good or bad times) as well as too little makes our bodies operate at levels outside of optimum.

Doctors of Chiropractic have a unique perspective on preventing illness and disease. At the same time, they can offer you methods to optimize all the essential functions of your body. This type of investment will pay remarkable rewards in the future so that you can keep on keepin’ on!