The Triad of Health

In natural health care we are concerned with three basic factors that are responsible for health problems. These factors comprise an equilateral triangle in your health picture. If one side of the triangle in your health picture. If one side of the triangle becomes deficient, poor health results.

The doctor of chiropractic using applied kinesiology techniques to evaluate body function has a special interest in this triad. Only by carefully observing all sides of the equilateral triangle can the total person be treated.

1. Structure. Chiropractic is the major healing profession dealing with the triangle's structural base. Structure deals not only with obvious factors such as slipping and twisting an ankle, which causes a certain measure of health loss; more important, it deals with structural instability and consequent joint involvement such as osteoarthritis, joint strain, and irritation on the nerve roots as they exit the spinal column. Since nerves control much of the body's function, their dysfunction can cause a myriad of health problems. Organs might not function correctly, and there could be muscle weakness causing poor structural stability that increases the nerve irritation, completing the vicious circle.

2. Chemical. This side of the triangle has been dominated by the medical profession in its attempt to control body dysfunction via drugs. During this century there has been an increased interest in the chemical side of the triangle by nutritionists and health food providers. Poor health can result from an involvement of the triangle's chemical side in many ways. An obvious one is the fact that poisoning results in health loss. Unfortunately, not all poisoning is dramatic, causing an immediate health problem; consequently, it is not easily found. You may be poisoned insidiously by a small amount of gas leaking from your furnace, by pesticides on the food you eat, or by drugs you take.

Nutritional deficiencies are included in the chemical side of the triangle. Malnutrition is an increasing problem in the United States due to the refining of foods, dietary indiscretion, and the depletion of the soil in which foods are grown. Again, the problem is insidious in nature, often not resulting in a classic malnutrition disease but causing a general health loss. Sometimes the chemical imbalance can be from taking too much of a certain nutritional supplement. Nutritional products should be prescribed and used in keeping with your body's needs. Your chiropractor may have you chew or taste nutritional complexes and test you, using applied kinesiology techniques. This, along with other physical examination procedures and tests, will determine if additional nutrition is necessary. There are also tests that help determine the effects of chemical and drugs on your body.

3. Mental. There is no question that a person's mental attitude affects his/her health. Observe how a headache often goes away when you get involved in something you enjoy! However, there is more involved here than an individual's general "moods". Research has shown that many frank psychiatric conditions are the direct results of physiologic involvements. Continual depression can be the result of low blood sugar. Hyperkinesis in children may be the result of disorganization of the nervous system. Postural changes affect emotions, as shown by the research of F.M. Alexander. The effect of your emotions on your nervous system can be evaluated with applied kinesiology techniques.

The sides of the equilateral triangle interplay with each other. When there is constant structural stain, it may adversely influence an individual's emotions. Emotions affect the digestive system, which interferes with normal digestion of the food a person eats; because of this, the chemical side of the triangle becomes involved and a nutritional deficiency may develop. Muscle weakness may results that increases the structural strain, again completing the vicious circle.

Two unfortunate things have developed in modern health care:

1. Overspecialization of doctors has given us marvelous care for specific entities; however, often the total person is not looked at closely enough and very poor care results for such conditions as "just being sick" and "not being at the peak of health."

2. Different specialties trying to control the other two sides of the triad, as when using muscle relaxants and pain-killing drugs in an attempt to control structural strain causing pain. Structural stain should be corrected and, if possible, the cause treated. With correct evaluation, the cause can usually be found.

In chiropractic, applied kinesiologists use standard diagnostic techniques in combination with applied kinesiology methods to evaluate the sides of the triad and to understand the interplay between them. This helps determine the underlying cause of the health problem so treatment can be properly directed.

In some cases, it may initially appear there is a nutritional deficiency, but further examination reveals ineffective digestive function causing malabsorption of nutrition. The proper treatment in this case is to improve digestion, perhaps by structural correction, rather than supply nutritional supplementation that the body would still not use. On the other hand, in another case it may initially appear there are structural problems. Further examination may reveal there is a lack of a specific nutrient necessary for the nervous system to properly control the muscles important in maintaining structural balance.

The important factor is to find and treat the basic underlying health problem. There is now a better opportunity to accomplish this goal!