I have had a first hand look at what people are going through and have spent almost all of my time as a chiropractic physician researching and uncovering the vital things that each person needs to do in order to be healthy.

What I have seen from my research, whether first hand or simply studying the numbers, is that disease is on the rise. There are more people suffering from disease than ever before in the history of our country. Yet how can that be when we are at our peak in research technology and money spent on new and improved treatment programs?

Well the answer lies in many areas. I have listened to many people who told their story of how they have been mishandled. I have spoken to thousands who have told me all the things they have tried and all the doctors they have seen to try to feel better only to be disappointed with no results or worse. I have dealt with insurance companies who told me directly that I could not see a patient because what I was going to do was not "medically necessary" even though they had not ever examined the patient. I have had remarkable results with patients only to find out that because of certain licensing restrictions I was not allowed to tell anyone about it or the regulatory board would take my license to practice away from me. I was not even allowed to show people testimonials that were written by actual patients that got fantastic, life changing results. Once again if I did so and was caught I would be disciplined. So, there are many reasons why the health of Americans is on the decline and these types of suppression keep the answers hidden and keep people in the dark about the real cause of disease and the actual solutions that are available.

Here is an all too common example. A child starts out with colic, and then move on to ear infections, later to develop asthma, and then ulcers, only to end up with a bad case of arthritis as an adult. Other people have multiple problems all at once. Can't sleep, no energy, irritable, headaches, and unable to bear children. Yes, we are on the decline. As of 1997, 33 million Americans suffer from arthritis, 17 million with asthma (4,487 deaths), 15 million with heart disease (700,000 deaths), 30 million adults have high cholesterol, and believe it or not, 6 million women in their child bearing years are unable to bear children. These just give you an idea of how things are going.

Is there any way out of this mess?

Yes. There most certainly is. It lies in the field of what has been called alternative medicine. That name doesn't even make sense because there is no medicine in alternative medicine. It is a drugless approach that uses chiropractic and nutrition and other healing arts that have worked for a long time. The key is handling the body the way you would handle a machine. You just need to make sure all the parts are working correctly and aligned to accomplish their job. If the machine starts to break down you would take it to an expert to find out the real cause and what part is malfunctioning and then fix it. The body is the same. As soon as there is a problem you should take it to an expert and sort it out. Hey, wait a minute. Who is an expert anyway? Well, an expert is a doctor who really understands how the body works, knows the main reasons it breaks down, knows how to accurately test it and then has a program to handle that exact thing. How do you know if someone is an expert or not? Well, it would help if you knew a little about how the body is supposed to work in the first place. If you want to learn about this I can tell you a few places to start.

First of all it helps to know about nutrition. Now, I'm not talking about the "eat from the 5 food groups and you will get all the vitamins and minerals you will ever need" kind of nutrition. We all have seen in newspapers, magazines, on television that and have been told by our doctors that we get all the nutrition we need from our diet. That takes a lot for granted and I have seen that it is not true at all. When I talk about nutrition I'm talking about the state of the art research and information. That is where the health of man is being changed for the better.

Secondly, it would help you if you knew how to test for food allergies or sensitivities. I have seen that knowing what food to eat specifically for yourself is one of the most important things you will ever know regarding causing your health to improve.

Next, when you talk to people about their doctors (primarily a chiropractor could probably help you the most) don't just ask if they like them. Ask what kind of treatment does he or she do. Is there an emphasis on nutrition? What are the results that you have gotten since going there? The idea is make sure that the doctor really gets the kind of results you want. Lastly, and most importantly, you need to take responsibility for your own health and the health of your loved ones. You will see me say this over and over in different publications. It is so important that without it I have never been able to help a person. If you do take responsibility you will be on the right path to doing something about it and you will have a chance to have the kind of health you would like to have. I will continue to do what I can to put out more information that is helpful to you. I will continue to make available helpful aids that are easy to get, understand and use. If we work together on this I know that we will all be better off in the end and we will be the healthiest people around.

My best, Dr. James W Gatza