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We have entered November and some of the hustle and bustle along with the vibrant beauty of New England starts falling away. In this new time of year some become excited about the upcoming holidays and others struggle with feelings of stress, anxiety, and/or depression. For many it’s a combination of both excitement and challenge. During this time self-care is so important.
Be realistic, plan ahead, create healthy boundaries, and seek/except support. Step back and prioritize when you start feeling overwhelmed. Acknowledge your feelings, reach out, volunteer, set aside differences, create a budget, say no sometimes, say yes when it feels right, maintain some of your health habits (sleep schedule, regular activity, healthy snacks, deep breaths, meditation), take a breather, (listen to soothing music, bundle up and take a walk, read an uplifting book) and seek support when you need it. Remember, when you accept praise, help, hugs, and love from family and friends ~ you not only help yourself, you are actually helping them feel great as well. All of these things can help you enjoy the holidays even more than expected.
We will have new offerings in 2023 to make Cranial Sacral and Osteopathic Treatment more accessible to clients who are not part of our membership program.
Osteopathic Medicine is a mindset and a distinct philosophy. Founded by Dr. A.T. Still in 1874, osteopathic medicine branched from conventional allopathic medicine. Osteopathic medicine is holistic in it philosophy and its teaching. An osteopathic doctor believes the body functions as a unit, everything in the body is interconnected.
Structures in the body influence the function so osteopathic treatment seeks to improve structural balance. The goal of osteopathic treatment is to help the body’s own self-healing mechanisms. Osteopathic doctor’s use their knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry to facilitate the patient’s ability to heal which is innate in all of us.
Osteopathic doctors have a unique perspective and draw on conventional medical interventions, sometimes integrative modalities and traditional osteopathic techniques to find health from within in their patients. Osteopathic medicine aims to achieve overall wellness and the treatment of disease by focusing on prevention.
Osteopathic doctors just like allopathic medical doctors attend 4 years of medical school training as well as one year internship and typically a residency of 3-5 years depending on medical specialty. Osteopathic doctors also receive special training in the musculoskeletal and neurological systems and use manual osteopathic manipulation to help the body’s natural healing mechanisms. Osteopathic doctors will move your muscles and joints and apply pressure to specific areas of the body to bring structures into balance . . .
Cancer screening in asymptomatic healthy populations is problematic. We have currently a menu of testing and guidelines for mammograms and colonoscopies, low dose lung CT scans, pap smears but really at the end of the day ~ none of these are perfect at finding early malignancies and of course some of these screenings are invasive and many have a high false positive rate leading to more testing and of course worry. In addition, for many cancers, there are no screening / early detection interventions that are used routinely.
What if there was a simple blood test that could test for 50+ types of cancer and identify if one was present and tell you the organ system in which the cancer was located?
How good is liquid biopsy at solving the problem of finding malignancy early enough to make a difference in morbidity and mortality from cancer? I dove into the state of literature for these tests and will outline for you the current utility of these tests.
The tests we are talking about use something called “methylation signatures” on DNA that is sitting in the blood and not inside of a cell ~ this is called cell free DNA. Some cancer cells die and release DNA into circulation as part of the growth cycle of malignancies. This DNA looks different from normal cell DNA. Our DNA is spun around proteins called histones and our cells will express the parts of the DNA that are unraveled involving methylation. Methylation is a process by which the DNA is tagged with a “methyl group” ~ One Carbon and three Hydrogens which give the cell instruction on what to do and how to act based on where they are in the body. Cancer cells have a specific pattern of methylation on the DNA which triggers them to behave abnormally- and go rogue. This pattern can be tested for in the DNA floating around in your blood. Researchers can now test your blood to see if there are methylation patterns of cancer and if so ~ what type of cell that DNA came from.
These tests can fairly definitively RULE OUT the presence of cancer DNA with over 99% certainty in a population where the incidence will be relatively low- asymptomatic healthy people. So if you have one of these tests and it is negative, we can pretty much say that you do not harbor a malignant tumor.
These tests do pose a conundrum if your test comes back positive. Depending on the type of cancer and stage of the cancer, there is a higher than ideal risk that it is a false positive . . .
Note from Gina Toce, LMT, NH#7888, Reiki Master, Certified IET® Master Instructor, and now CLT
In June 2022, I became a Certified Lymphedema Therapist. Our Lymphatic system is a critical piece of our immune system. When our lymphatic system is sluggish, or compromised, the body will often experience edema (or swelling). With a lymphatic massage or a manual lymphatic drainage session, the goal is to help your body restore normal lymphatic function and reduce any swelling/edema that may be present. Call 603-328-8101 to schedule an appointment.
Cultivating JOY – The research on Joy and Happiness
Led by Dr. Elisa Mercuro, DO
Date: Mon, December 12, 2022
Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM EDT
Cost: Free
Discuss how we can invite more joy and happiness into our lives and the influence of these emotions on health and wellbeing.
Filling the daily prescription of “Vitamin J” or Vitamin JOY is essential for our wellbeing. Discussion of the science of joy and happiness and how it influences not just mental health but also physical health.
November 1 is All Saints’ Day.
November 4 is also Will Rogers Day.
November 5 is Sadie Hawkins Day.
November 6 at 2 A.M. is the end of Daylight-Saving Time.
Set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night at bedtime!
November 8 is Election Day (U.S.). Vote in state and federal elections! Every vote counts.
November 11 is Veterans Day (U.S.) and Remembrance Day (Canada).
If you’re fortunate, you may experience an “Indian Summer” in November; but according to the traditional definition, it can only occur between November 11 and 20!
November 19 is Discovery of Puerto Rico Day.
November 24 is Thanksgiving Day (U.S.).
November 28 is also the First Sunday of Advent.
November is Banana Pudding Lovers Month—who knew?
FUN RECIPES FOR ANY TIME OF YEAR
Nov. 1: National Cook for Your Pets Day
Nov. 6: Zero-Tasking Day
Nov. 9: National Scrapple Day
Nov. 16: National Button Day
Nov. 21: World Hello Day
Nov. 23: Fibonacci Day
