“Anything Can Cause Anything”

Some years back a well-known doctor wrote a book with the above title.  While his title would lead you to conclude that there is no specific cause of something, a conclusion that most people would reject, there is some truth that we often overlook.  When it comes to the human body and its proper and improper function, the good doctor was not far off track.  He would have been more correct to say “Everything Can Cause Anything” or “Everything Contributes to Anything.”  That may very well be the key.  We do not have single causes to something like disease, we have many factors.  The latest so-called cause among members of the health care community is heredity.  Yet many times members of the same family, even identical twins, do not “get” the disease that is supposed to be hereditary.  There is no doubt that heredity is a factor but it is not the cause.

            Stress is another so-called cause.  Yet two people can work at the same “stressful” job and one ends up with ulcers and the other doesn’t.  Or one has a heart attack the other does not.  Is stress bad?  Sure.  Is it the cause of heart attacks?  No.  At best it is a factor.  No one would say that smoking is not harmful.  Yet, there are heavy smokers who do not get lung cancer and there are those who never smoked a single cigarette that die from the disease.

            Bacteria and viruses are probably most commonly thought to be the cause of disease.  Yet even in epidemics, the vast majority of a population does not manifest the disease.  We say they had a “higher resistance.”  So, it is either a high or low resistance that is the cause and not the germ.  Or is resistance just another factor?  What about the causes of resistance: diet, exercise, and/or rest?  It all tends to be very confusing, especially when you are trying to prevent the cause of disease.  “Don’t do this.”  “Don’t eat that!”  Butter increases cholesterol and cholesterol is supposed to cause heart disease.  Margarine causes cancer.  Choose your disease on your morning toast!

            Perhaps we need a major change in our attitude.  Perhaps we need to focus on what causes health, what causes proper body function, what causes increased performance on a mental, physical, and emotional level.  It’s really rather simple: eating right, getting regular exercise, maintaining a nerve system free of interference (regular visits to your chiropractor) and having a positive mental attitude.  In fact, it is so simple that most people in the health care/scientific community would rather look elsewhere for something they can do.  You see, the “causes” of health are the responsibility of each individual person.  And frankly, a health care provider cannot appear important turning the responsibility of health back over to the person.  So science muddles along trying to find a new cause, one that they can treat.

            Do you want to be healthy?  Do you want to be all you can be in life?  Then you must take the responsibility.  Someone can grow good wholesome food but you must eat it everyday.  Someone can build a health club or gym but you must be disciplined to work out two or three times a week.  Your chiropractor can provide you with the opportunity to have your spine checked regularly and adjusted when necessary but you must bring your spine into the office on a regular basis.  Take control of your life instead of waiting for “Something to Cause Something.”