Just because its the most common does not mean it is the best….I am referring to SYMPTOMS! The majority of people judge their health by the way they feel. If we feel good we believe we are healthy and if we feel bad we believe we are sick. Although this may work in certain situations the majority of the time using symptoms as our barometer of health is not a good decision.
For example it takes 8 years for cancer to be detectable. Imagine if every cell that turned cancerous caused us pain or discomfort…we would stop the behaviors immediately to avoid the pain. Unfortunately none of the big killers (cancer, heart disease, etc..) work this way.
Imagine if each time we ate bad food that caused our arteries to clog we could feel the damage? When we burn ourselves on a hot stove we learn very quickly not to touch it, but we continue to smoke, eat bad food and not exercise because we cannot immediately feel the negative effects of our actions.
The same goes for our spine…when we feel pain in our lower back we think we are “in bad shape” but when the pain is gone we think we are “good to go”….it is time to reevaluate the way we use symptoms….if you are looking to find out if you are truly healthy or sick then you must invest in your health as you would your vehicle. Many patients will take better care of their vehicle than their own body…regular oil changes, car washes, tire rotations, etc… When was the last time you had your homocysteine levels checked or your c-reactive protein? Both of these are better markers of heart disease and inflammation than blood pressure and cholesterol. Take control of your health and stop using symptoms as your barometer of health.