ChiroVoice: Protect your Chiropractic Rights!

To help promote chiropractic's position in the debate on national healthcare reform, the NCCA is launching a contest to see which doctors can get the most patients to join ChiroVoice.org.

ChiroVoice.org is the brand-new grassroots advocacy network of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). ChiroVoice helps arm and direct patients' communication to elected officials. Since chiropractic patients form the largest advocacy network for the profession, their participation in ChiroVoice is crucial to helping advance legislative priorities.

ChiroVoice collects patients' contact information and adds it to a secure database. That database may then be utilized when the time arises for a major grassroots effort to help advance and promote chiropractic legislative agendas.

Signing up is free and easy. Visit www.ChiroVoice.org to fill out the short information form. Make sure to designate your CCW Chiropractor as your doctor of choice. (Dr. Darcy Ward, Dr. Jennifer Greenfield, Dr. Thomas Young)

Once enrolled as a member, you will receive special email alerts about advocacy issues and important legislation. Members also receive a monthly eNewsletter.

ChiroVoice: Protect your Chiropractic Rights!

Swine Flu Scare: Natural Healing and Prevention

With the recent Swine Flu Scare and titles such as the following sweeping the news:

Toddler's death is first U.S. swine flu fatality

Swine Flu Death Reinforces CDC's Prior Warnings

Obama Administration: Out With the 'Swine,' In With the 'H1N1 Virus'

Obama on Swine Flu: Urges 'Utmost Precautions' And Advises Schools with Cases to Close

Swine Flu Outbreak Escalates As California Declares State of Emergency

...I found it to be a great lead in to the reason epidemics such as this are so detrimental and wide spread to our seemingly "health progressive" country in the first place. With all our technological and pharmaceutical advancements why do we still remain so fearful of disease and epidemics?

I don't mean to simplify this problem by insenuating that there is only one solution or one aspect to solve, but I do want to address a major cause of our decreasing health in the face of such rapid pharmaceutical advancement...Declining Health Standards.

The CDC is recommending general steps to be taken for preventing the spread of swine flu:

• Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing.


• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and use hand sanitizers when you don't have access to soap and water.


• Avoid spreading germs from your hands to orfices by touching the eyes, nose and mouth.
  

What about using this as a greenlight to REALLY make a difference in our health...from the CORE of the problem? Shouldn't we be trying to increase our natural immunity to disease through proper nutrition, healthy activity, detoxification, and dedication to mental health and well being? OF COURSE! Below i've begun the discussion on some tools we can use to really increase our NATURAL and INNATE defenses. Afterall, while pharmaceuticals have their place, they obviously are being relied on too much these days, and the state of our national health is a direct reflection of that...

Natural and Holistic prevention tools

MIND-BODY CONNECTION: to releasing any fears you may have about the swine flu, or disease in general. Fear and stress can be a direct detriment to your emotional and physical status, so don't let yourself get swept up in the panic. Some good tools to overcome stress and anxiety include:

• Yoga and Stretching


• Deep Breathing


• Neuro-Emotional Technique


• Light Exercise (brisk walk is great, especially with the great Spring Weather!)

Herbal and Whole Food Support: There are many great resources to bolster the immune system and serve as preventative sources for your health. Immune support herbs such as echinacea and goldenseal are popular to ward of the common flu and support the immune system naturally. Just be cautious that echinacea is not recommended for people suffering from seasonal allergies as it can act as an allergen. It is important to work directly with your holistic health care provider directly to make sure that the supplements and herbs you are taking are right for your body. Everyone is deficient in different things and taking 10000's of mg's of Vitamin C is not going to make you immune to everything. You are an individual, both in personality and in physical makeup so treat yourself with respect and get a consultation to decide what supplements will benefit YOU specifically. Make sure that your supplements are whole food or herbal and NOT synthetic, as your body will not process them correctly if they are not natural.

Nutrition: continue working on the basics of organic and seasonal nutrition and detoxification to reduce the toxin load of the body so it can be prepared to fight off any illness, including the swine flu.
You can find some excellent recipes both on my healthy recipes blog and on the detoxification blog under "detoxification recipes." Email me for questions on the Standard Process Purification Program.

Other medical modalities used to encourage the body's natural healing mechanisms include:
Acupuncture
Massage
Chiropractic

Please leave your comments on how you are keeping the swine flu and other diseases at bay below with natural remedies and nutrition. As always, I love to hear your feedback.

Swine Flu Scare: Natural Healing and Prevention

WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF LOSING THE CHIROPRACTIC BENEFIT FOR ALL N.C. TEACHERS & STATE EMPLOYEES.

I received this email from the NCCA leg. chair: Michael Estramonte, DC.

If you value your health rights please read and take action!

------------------

To: All North Carolina Chiropractors

From: NCCA Legislative Chairman, Michael Estramonte, DC

Re: State Health Plan

ACT NOW!

WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF LOSING THE CHIROPRACTIC BENEFIT FOR ALL N.C. TEACHERS & STATE EMPLOYEES.

www.ncleg.net to find your local house representative.

Numerous e-mails have already gone out, phone calls have been made, and meetings have occurred. It’s now the Eleventh Hour and our patients are about to be dealt a severe blow to their ability to afford chiropractic care.

The N.C. Senate just last night passed Senate Bill 287, which will raise specialty co-pays within the State Health Plan to $60-$70. Considering the average chiropractic visit costs less than the actual co-pay, if this bill becomes law it will virtually ELIMINATE the chiropractic benefit for all state employees.

Please do not confuse the State Health Plan bill with House Bill 14, which will equalize co-pays to that of a primary care physician. These bills focus on two similar but separate issues and we will notify you when the time arrives to demonstrate your support for HB 14.

RJ Weber, at the NCCA Headquarters, just this morning has e-mailed instructions along with template letters for you and your patients to sign to support the future of chiropractic. Please… Now is the time to e-mail, fax, call – do whatever is necessary to save the chiropractic benefits for our state teachers and employees.

If you don’t think your efforts will make a difference, take note of this: In the original wording for Senate Bill 287, there was a section that was unfavorable to pharmacists. Because pharmacists from all across the state barraged their legislators with phone calls, faxes and emails, an amendment that protected the pharmacists was included before the bill passed through the Senate for vote!

We must do the same to protect our patients and their rights to access affordable chiropractic care. Remember, this bill has already passed through the Senate, so please direct your calls, faxes, and e-mails to your House Representatives.

We have had a decent response from our profession thus far but we need to do better.

www.ncleg.net to find you local house representative. Click here to access the recent NCCA e-mail that has letter templates and instructions.

Let's get to work and rally together now to do what is best for our patients!

Sincerely,

Michael Estramonte, DC

NCCA Legislative Chairman

michael@echiros.com

704-405-7000

WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF LOSING THE CHIROPRACTIC BENEFIT FOR ALL N.C. TEACHERS & STATE EMPLOYEES.

Close the Monsanto GMO/GE Loophole NOW!

I received the below email concerning the legislative loophole for genetically engineered crops today. I urge any and all readers to please take action. This is a very important national health issue. After all Europeans don't allow GE/GMO crops in there food supply, why should Americans? Don't let our intelligence be undermined by Monsanto and similar companies. We deserve to KNOW what we are feeding our bodies!

Friends,

If you care about the environment, human health and sustainable and organic farms:

It’s time to act!

Write to the USDA in these final 24 hours for the comment period to close the loopholes regulating genetically-engineered (GE) crops, also referred to as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Tell the USDA that the loopholes regarding GE crops must be closed and to suspend approval of additional GE crops until truly independent, peer-reviewed testing can be performed.

While supporters claim this technology is safe, thorough testing was never completed before GE crops/GMOs were introduced into our food chain. Already more than 60 percent of packaged foods sold in U.S. supermarkets contain genetically-engineered food that American consumers unknowingly eat everyday.

Not only is this a great concern for consumer health, but also for family farmers who must pay exorbitant technology fees for the GE seed, and for the environment and sustainable and organic farmers whose crops can become contaminated due to GE drift.

If you care about food safety, it’s time to make your concern about GE food known! The USDA is accepting public comments on a proposed rule about GE until the close of business March 17th.

Tell the USDA that it must ensure the safety of GE technology for eaters, farmers and the environment!

If you want to learn more about concerns regarding genetically engineered food, watch The Future of Food tonight and this week on DIRECTV Channel 375 and DISH Network Channel 9410. Visit LinkTV for schedule. http://www.linktv.org/programs/future

Please send in your comments now!

Best,
Dave

If you’d like to see Food Democracy Now! grassroots work continue, please consider donating as little as $10 or $25. We need all your support to be able to create the change that is needed at the USDA.

How to Submit Comments to the USDA:

Include “Docket Number APHIS-2008-0023” at the top of your correspondence or in the subject line of your email.

Online Instructions:

1. Click here to send your comments to the USDA electronically or go to:

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=0900006480903a8e

The result with Document ID number "APHIS-2008-0023" is the Interim Final Rule for comments on Importation, Interstate Movement, and Release into the Environment of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms

2. Click on the “Add Comment” icon and follow the instructions on the next screen.

Tell USDA to: 1. Withdraw the proposed rule; 2. Release the EIS for public review and comment and to be used as a basis for further rule-making; and 3. Suspend all new GE crop approvals until the above has been satisfactorily completed and unless and until GE crops are proven safe.

SAMPLE LETTER (Please cut and paste)

To whom it may concern,
Docket No. APHIS-2008-0023
Regulatory Analysis and Development
PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.

Re: Docket No. APHIS-2008-0023, Importation, Interstate Movement, and Release into the Environment of Certain Genetically Engineered Organisms.

I am very concerned about the risks posed by genetically engineered crops. They threaten human health, family farmers, and the environment. I urge USDA to withdraw the proposed rule, publish the Environmental Impact Statement for public review and comment, and suspend all new GE crop approvals in the interim.

After USDA releases the EIS, a comment period of at least 90 days is needed so the public has the opportunity to fully participate in a transparent process on this important issue. This will not only aid in the development of the final EIS but also in the drafting of a new proposed rule. The current proposed rule does little to close the loopholes in the regulations the rule is designed to replace and it creates more gaps than it fills.

Sincerely,

JANE/JOE DOE

Close the Monsanto GMO/GE Loophole NOW!

Save Your Chiropractic benefits!!!!

From: the North Carolina Chiropractic Association

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

Immediate Action is Required to help save the Chiropractic benefit for the N.C. State Teachers & Employees Plan.

There is a bill currently in the N.C. General Assembly to help bail out the failing State Health Plan. Part of the bill would make chiropractic co-pays for state employees, including teachers, upwards of $70 -- virtually eliminating chiropractic coverage for all state employees! This bill is moving through the Senate very quickly, so please I encourage all who are state employees to take the following action steps ASAP!

Action Steps:

• Determine who your local legislators are by visiting www.ncleg.net [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102502385181&e=001hzokzZHxFRFa5fUb-n9o2GBqnMkz4SP2XDNEfSX2XYc4aNrizOLrryb8A_PDtx1Yo1oZt3TQjV-szVrihMj4a1mDzawl6qpaveByZ9sXd9I=] and entering their zip code in the bottom-right of the homepage.
• All teachers or state employee patients should call their legislator's Raleigh office.
• You should explain to them the following: A $70 co-pay for chiropractic is outrageous and that they value chiropractic highly. You should be sure to let them know the primary issue is the co-pay and high deductible for chiropractic.
• This bill is on the fast track and will be voted on next week. Therefore, immediate action is required to save the chiropractic benefit.

Save Your Chiropractic benefits!!!!