Blog - Dr. Winters at Winters Wellness Center - Chiropractic Redefined - Paducah, KY

Four Keys to Regaining Your Health

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:24:27 GMT

Want to regain your health? Well can you start your car without a key? What I mean is you have a powerful engine that can take you anywhere in the country but you have to access that power with a key. In my model for regaining your health there are four keys or points of access to the power that made the body and can heal the body. Yes I know there are a thousand ways in natural health care that we can deal with x,y.z condition- that's where all the confusion and inconsistency takes place. A thousand ways to treat something But there are really only a few ways to access and change major functions in the body. So we are not talking treatments but a few simple ways to restore function to the body and when function is restored the body has the wisdom to heal itself. You have a nervous system, an immune system, a hormonal system , a digestive system and a detoxification system in your body. If we can help those work better you have a very good chance of significantly improving your health no matter what is going on. I will elaborate further.

Alzheimer's connected with a stomach infection ?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:26:56 GMT

Infectious agents have been proposed as a potential cause for Alzheimer's Dementia. I wanted to bring to your attention some interesting information about the association of one specific infection H. Pylori. While H Pylori is known as the bacteria that causes ulcers some initial studies show it is more common in those with Alzheimers. One paper has even reported some improvement in functioning for those Alzheimer's patients who had it and were treated successfully for it.

Six Patterns of Low Thyroid - Which One Are You?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 01:19:58 GMT

Almost everyone knows somebody with thyroid problems and many times despite medication they still have significant symptoms.Hypothyroidism ( low thyroid function) falls into one of six patterns and several patterns may exist at the same time. Just having an awareness of these different patterns helps one to realize that thyroid medication is only a small part of the answer if in fact it is needed at all. This information can be very helpful for the person who has lab work and is told their thyroid is fine even though they have all of the classic thyroid symptoms.

weak immune system? -where's the cause?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:18:40 GMT

Do you get one infection after another? Maybe you get a sinus infection one month and in a month or two a bladder or prostate infection then back to a sinus infection and the cycle repeats. Obviously there is a bigger picture than a lack of antibiotics in your body but how could this be solved long term? Here are some suggestions I have on where to look and how this could get solved long term.

How are my gut symptoms and adrenals connected ?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:05:57 GMT

You have gas, bloating, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea, fatigued and stressed. How are your gastrointestinal problems and your adrenals connected?

Why fix my adrenals?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:56:50 GMT

When there are so many possible lab tests and areas to work with on a patient; why have we started working on the adrenals first on most people? Well as you will see in the chart below we can impact so many areas such as metabolism, nervous and muscular healing, detoxification capacity, inflammation balance, endocrine function and nearly everybody's concern : weight and fat distribution.

Adrenal Function- All or none- are you serious?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:48:20 GMT

The medical model for adrenal function is that it is totally normal or totally failed- there exists no in between. But in the real world the in between consists of a host of people condemned to multiple prescriptions of sometimes devastating consequence and being told there are no lifestyle changes you can make that will improve your condition at all.

Mayoclinic.com says "Unproven remedies for so-called adrenal fatigue may leave you feeling sicker, while the real cause — such as depression or fibromyalgia — continues to take its toll." What is so funny about this statement is not that they feel adrenal fatigue is not real but that they then refer to conditions which are diagnosed without any tests to validate their existence. There are no tests for fibromyalgia except a collection of symptoms and an accumulation of recognized tender points. Is this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?

Even if the salivary testing for adrenal fatigue was a farce (and I do no think that it is). And it was used to motivate a patient to make nutritional and lifestyle changes which resulted in healing of the body and mind. Would it not be better than saying - "here take this cancer drug for the rest of your life to suppress your immune system because nothing else will do any good " ?

Fortunately we get choices with our health and we can choose which story we wish to believe.

Getting Really Healthy 1,2,3

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:06:10 GMT

Our basic mission is helping people get healthy and stay healthy so they can have the best life possible. In addition to the amazing chiropractic work with Koren Specific Technique we have been studying functional medicine very hard for the last 2 years. Functional medicine does not imply that we practice the profession of medicine but is a generic term for using lab testing to get a road map to help someone improve their health naturally. Within this last month we have been exposed to a model of functional medicine which we are adopting and really is as simple as 1,2,3.

Thanksgiving is Healthy !

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:04:32 GMT

How about a stronger immune system, better hormonal balance and emotional " compounded interest". This is what appreciation does for us and the following chart shows that vividly. There is also a simple daily exercise that will help you have a bit of Thanksgiving everyday.

You can't be healthy !

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:43:14 GMT

The words " You have a chemical imbalance " have condemned so many people to not look further for answers to their depression. I know what that is like because I was told that many years ago. It is usually said in the context of comparing your depression to something like Type 1 diabetes where the person has to be on insulin for the rest of their life. It usually is a subtle way to say this is all we know to do for you- just be quiet, take your medication and try to go on with your life.

Are you wearing a label ?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:47:11 GMT

The other morning when I woke up I noticed a "made in China" label on my face. After thinking about it for a minute I realized this was from the new sleep mask that I wore over my eyes since I was out of town and in a lighted room. If you are wearing a label on your health like fibromyalgia, depression or chronic fatigue I want to challenge you. The challenge is to take the label off for just one hour and see if you can learn what may be causing your state of health. If you learn some causes for the health symptoms you have and decide to work on those you might be able to throw away the label - like I did with the "made in China" label. If you don't learn something in the hour to help you then you can always continue to wear the label. The one hour is at 7pm on Tuesday November 8th at 7 p.m. in the Borders Community Room of Lourdes Hospital. I am being blunt here about labels to catch your attention- I will lovingly show you answers at the talk. It is free, just give us an idea of how to set up the chairs by giving Megan an e-mail at megan@winterswellness.com or calling 270-554-2141.

I'd like to get off my anti-depressant medication

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:56:48 GMT

"I'd like to get off my anti-depressant medication" is something I hear quite frequently. First let me say I do not practice medicine and cannot advise you on prescriptions. I do however know about health and can share with you 10 hidden causes that may be blocking you from the full expression of health. If you were to identify and deal with any of these hidden causes you would have a much better opportunity to reach your health goals.

Vitamin D and sleep

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:38:32 GMT

I want to briefly summarize some very interesting observations by a neurologist regarding vitamin D and sleep. Forward this to someone you know who does not sleep well.

What color are you ? Red, Green or Blue?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:02:03 GMT

What color are you ? Researchers believe genetics hold the key to unlocking many of the mysteries of health and disease. I have recently learned a simple method to broadly categorize people based on their genetics. I am finding it quite interesting and useful. It seems all human beings respond negatively to one of the three primary colors of visible light: red, green and blue. ( These are not the primary colors of pigment which are red, yellow and blue.) By finding out the color you react to you can learn some important things about yourself. Continue reading as we explore this further.

Shopping Bag Syndrome

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:24:19 GMT

Some of the most health conscious individuals actually suffer from Shopping Bag Syndrome. We realize this is occurring when we ask a person to bring in all of the supplements that they are taking and they bring in a big shopping bag full of 10 -20 supplements.

Vitamin D and Chronic Low Back Pain

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:41:15 GMT

Please share this information on Vitamin D and chronic low back pain. Patients who have chronic , non-specific low back pain or have had failed back surgery may have an underlying vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency that plays a role in their chronic pain. Less than $40 of vitamin D may save some people much misery and many thousands of dollars. Continue reading for more information.

boosting vitamin D may help weight loss

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:16:28 GMT

Boosting your vitamin D levels may in turn boost your odds of successful weight ( fat ) loss. Studies are showing those with lower vitamin D levels are more likely to have increased abdominal and subcutaneous fat. Also that those with higher vitamin D may even lose weight easier. Could this be one more reason it is so easy to gain weight in the wintertime. Let's look at this association a little deeper.

New Technology - Heart Rate Variability

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:49:15 GMT

We now have an awesome new technology known called the Pulse Wave Profiler which measures heart rate variability. What it tells us is:
1. your body's total capacity to respond to stress
2. how out of balance you are in terms of too sympathetic dominant ( fight or flight) or too parasympathetic dominant ( rest and restore)

If a person has a heart rate of 60 beats per minute we would think that means one beat per second but that is not so. In a healthy state of being there will be a certain amount of variable between beats for example - one beat may be at .9 sec and another at 1.1 sec and still average 60 beats per minute. Within certain boundaries this variability is healthy and indicates a body's ability to respond to stress. If you watch a tennis player they do not stand flat footed to wait to receive a ball- the bouncing back and forth actually increases their ability to respond to the ball that is going to be hit to them. By measuring this bouncing back and forth the computer software can tell us your total capacity for responding to stress and the dominance of the two halves of the nervous system which control heart rate : ie . sympathetic and parasympathetic.

are you an onion?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:09:24 GMT

Are you an onion? In the sense I am talking about you are ! Like an onion has many layers we all have many layers of physical, chemical and emotional stress.

The more we can peel theses layers of stress the more we can get to our true potential for health and life expression. Look at the white inner part like who we really are. We just have to remove these layers of stress to get to who we really are.

Mercury Toxicity-what you should know and how we can help

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:01:43 GMT

Mercury toxicity is serious health threat and needs at least consideration in most neurological illness, depression etc. We all have different exposure levels and different abilities to detoxify mercury so each person has to be considered individually. To keep this article short here I am going to reference a good article by Dr. Mark Hyman on what you should know about mercury toxicity.http://bit.ly/pmSyqj Even his article is long so if you want the short attention span version scroll to the bottom of the article for the '10 truths and tips about mercury toxicity'.

How do we approach this issue at Winters Wellness Center? First each person that see us fills out an online functional assessment that consists of 300 different questions that places your answers to the symptom questions into different categories such as heavy metal (mercury etc. ), nutrient deficiencies, adrenal, thyroid etc. From this questionnaire we can determine how the body is being impacted and if metal toxicty is a priority or if something else could be the priority. If we determine from this and your health history that mercury or other metals metals may be a priority issue then we can test.

The tests involve testing if the immune system is reacting to metals thru a blood test called MELISA. The second test involves taking a substance DMSA which binds to mercury and other metals and measuring the metals that are excreted into the urine over the next 6 hours. If either of these tests show a problem we have very safe and gentle ways to help the body rid itself of this toxic burden and lay the groundwork for health restoratrion to occur.Again mercury toxicity is a serious problem - get more details in this article http://bit.ly/pmSyqj If you want to see if mercury and metal toxicity maybe impacting your health we have the tools and experience at Winters Wellness Center to help you.

Why do we adjust the way we do?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:02:52 GMT

First of all there is not a bad chiropractic technique. There are however techniques possibly more suited for one individual or another and their health goals. Quite simply patients have preferences and doctors have preferences. All techniques are designed to normalize the nervous system so that the inborn or innate intelligence of the body can be better expressed and the person can heal better. Some doctors accomplish that with high velocity adjustments by hand where the joint surfaces seperate slightly- in doing so a temporary vacumn is created with in the joint fluid and a pop occurs.Since the goal is a nervous system effect the goal can be reached with or without the popping noise. Other doctors such as myself prefer instrument adjusting which does not create a pop because it does not open the joint space to the same degree- it does however create a similiar neurological effect.

Why do we adjust the way we do? 1. Personally I observe that it seems easier to assist long term health changes as evidenced by the technology we use in our office with the instrument adjusting vs the manual adjusting. 2. There is a large segment of the population which is very uncomfortable having their spine popped or twisted and we can easily serve that population 3. It is also less stressful on the doctor over a 40 year or more career.

The biggest challenge for patients is if they are used to getting manual (popping) type of adjustments and they switch to getting instrument adjustments they will at first feel like not as much has been done because they do not get the initial endorphin rush that can occur with some manual ( by hand ) adjustments. Many people if they are open to change and patient they will actually prefer the instrument adjusting.

Know someone tired all the time and with hormone issues?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:16:52 GMT

We just finished a 6 month nutrition program with a 31 year old female who upon starting with us was so tired she could barely put one foot in front of another. Much of her work day is spent driving and she had to frequently pull over on the road and take a nap. She also experienced bloating and a number of hormonal symptoms. One year previously she had a Mirena IUD inserted which releases small amounts of hormones. Prior to the Mirena she rated her health an 8 or 9/10. After getting the Mirena her health declined to a 4 or 5/10. She was afraid to continue with the Mirena but also afraid to have it removed for fear she would crash in her energy and health as she had read about occurring for some women. The fatigue she had though was a big issue for her.

After looking at her functional asessment questionnaire which helps us identify imbalances we decided to further look at her adrenal function. To do this we ordered an Adrenal Stress Index which is a collection of saliva that the patient does at home four times during a single day. From this we saw an up and down cortisol pattern telling us she had blood sugar disturbances. Her DHEA levels were low telling us this was a chronic stress response. Her insulin levels were low, the hormone her body makes cortisol from was low and her immune system was depressed. We learned all of that from this single test and it became our roadmap to restore her back to balance.

We developed a nutrition plan for her which included an anti-inflamatory diet and specific targeted supplements to restore adrenal balance, improve blood sugar regulation, strengthen her immune system and reset the hypothalmus/pituitary area of the brain which directs hormone production. One of the problems with the synthetic hormones is that they were essentially confusing her body in regard to it's natural hormone production. We used Hypothalmex from Standard Process to support the hypothalmus and pituitary areas so that this critical area could be less confused and more effecient. We used Chaste Tree to support her body's own production of progesterone. Symplex F helped provide rebuilding blueprint factors for the pituitary, thyroid, adrenals and ovaries. And Gymnema helped reset blood sugar regulation. There we other supplements used during the 6 months and her schedule fine tuned every month. She was also adjusted with Koren Specific Technique during this 6 month period.

The end result is someone who now has great energy. She has been training for and running half marathons and doing very well. Her mood and energy stays even throughout the day. She is now on a maintenance nutrtion program which consists of a whole food multi-vitamin and whole food vitamin C. Because she still has the Mirena which can eventually confuse her system again I have her taking the Hypothalmex on this maintenace program as well. We are very pleased with her progress and she considers the nutrition program a fantastic investment in her health.

Winters Wellness Center www.winterswellness.com 270-554-2141 info@winterswellness.com

Why do we get depressed?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 03:02:26 GMT

We get depressed because our body isn't working right. What about stress- well that is one thing that when it is continuous causes our body to not work right. Stress can throw off our adrenal function which can contribute to depression. But we could just as easily be depressed because we have a digestive problem and we can't break down and absorb amino acids from which the body makes the nerve messengers called neurotransmitters. And we could also get depressed because toxins in the body are causing some of the neurotransmitters to be overly stimulated. We could also have an issue where a hidden or longstanding infection is affecting the immune system and then in turn it is affecting the neurotransmitters. Think of how you feel when you have the flu- the brain symptoms with the flu are actually coming from the immune system.

One of my favorite tests relative to depression is a test which measures the neurotransmitters in urine. Not only can it tell us how to help a person with their mood, concentration,anxiety etc. without drugs but it gives clues as to the problems in the first place. Just today I looked at a neurotransmitter test on a person who for at least 16 years has been on multiple anti-depressants and they all stop working for her in 3-6 months and she has to be switched to new ones. She has also had multiple hospitalizations for suicidal thoughts. Well 9 out of 12 of her neurotransmitter levels were perfectly normal which is amazing. Histamine which the brain uses as a neurotransmitter was elevated but histamine is only made by the immune system. Another neurotransmitter that was elevated indicates the body is reacting to some kind of toxic issues. All of the neurotransmitters that could be influenced by her medications were entirely normal- then why 16 years of problems?
A toxic issue and an immune issue are affecting her brain. That could never be corrected by anti-depressant drugs no matter how many are tried or how long they are taken or how many dosage changes she has !!! Can this lady get well now- I think so- we certainly have a fighting chance now that we know where to look for the cause of her problems.

After all people are not depressed due to a lack of anti-depressants although they can at times be helpful. They are depressed because their body isn't working right.

What about a " Cleanse'' or "Detox" ?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:20:29 GMT

You hear people talking about doing a cleanse or a detox but what are those? Are they safe? Why do one?

Here is the difference between a cleanse and a detox. Picture a long hallway.... now picture Mr. Janitor sweeping and scrubbing that hallway. This is what a cleanse does- it simply cleans the hallway. Now picture that same hallway lined with doors. Each door gives entrance to a room. This time Mr. Janitor not only sweeps and scrubs the hallway, but he also opens the doors and sweeps/scrubs the rooms that line the hallway. This is what a detox does. A cleanse may not require doctor supervision which is why many people undertake a cleanse themselves but the GI tract is such a delicate system some people inadvertently harm themselves doing a cleanse. Because a detox not only goes to the organ but also to the cellular level doctor supervision is necessary.

When do we use a detox and why? As people continue on their road to recovery sometimes they get stuck with continuing symptoms no matter how healthy they get. This means it is time to begin a functional detoxification protocol guided by a trained healthcare professional such as myself. By eliminating toxins that interfere with healthy function you can begin to assist your body in healing itself.

Our 30 day detoxification protocol consists of a 30 day detoxification diet combined with organically grown professional grade detoxification supplements to support the detoxification process. This is all laid out step by step for our practice members and the results in every case have been fantastic. People report so much more energy and just plain feeling great. One of the pleasant side effectives of the detoxification protocol is many lose a significant amount of weight . This weight loss is particularly pleasing for people since they did it in a healthy way and they felt better in the process. As I write this we have a number of practice members on the detoxification protocol and Debbie and I are doing it ourselves. After a person goes off the protocol they are ready to rebuild areas of the health they never would have accomplished without the cellular level elimination of toxins. Detoxify or Die is the name of a book on my shelf but I would rather say detoxify and live a healthier life.

Why do I feel so bad when my lab work is normal?

info@winterswellness.com (Michael Winters, DC) — Wed, 04 May 2011 05:27:06 GMT

It’s very frustrating when you feel bad but all your lab tests look normal. Worse yet is that it leads to care which at best can only cover up symptoms. First let’s look at why your labs are normal when you feel bad, and then look at what can be done different so the labs are more useful.