Disability

School is out! But we are having a quiz today. What is the leading cause of disability, and what can we do to prevent it? How many of you think it is cardiovascular disease? Arthritis? Respiratory problems? Mental illness?

This can be challenging to sort out,
but it is useful for us to be aware of the factors that can drastically affect our health.

Major Cause of Disability
The Center for Disease Control (a U.S. institution) reports that the leading cause of disability in the United States is arthritis, followed closely by back/spine issues. The World Health Organization (world-wide organization) reports that depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Note that this is not the same as the leading causes of death.

How to help arthritis?
Here in the U.S., what can we do to help prevent the disabling aspect of arthritis? Do exercise and diet sound familiar to you? Well, not only do they help your cardiovascular health (the leading cause of death in the U.S.), but they also help your joints and bones stay healthy. Diet from a Chinese medical perspective is different from the western viewpoint, so it may be something for you to explore.

A number of my patients also report that their joints and bones, especially their knees and their backs, feel much better with regular acupuncture. You can wait until your knees start hurting to come in for help, but why wait? Enjoy the summer and avoid the pain – come in for acupuncture today.

Some references:
[World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/depression/definition/en/ – depression is leading cause of disability worldwide]

[Center for Disease Control:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5816a2.htm – arthritis is leading cause of disability in the U.S.]