A Penny of Prevention is Worth a Dollar of Cure

I'm borrowing from an old classic saying, but it is absolutely true.  Another saying would be "the best offense is a good defense".  Immunity is vital to our survival.  If you think about it, almost all illnesses can be attributed to an immune problem of one form or another.  Heart disease?  Yes. Diabetes?  That too.  Psychological challenges?  Yup.  Cancer?  You betcha.

There are a few facts about how our bodies work that are important in the determination of immunity.  First, regulation.  How well is every system, every organ, every cell regulating its own function?  The more regulation we have, the healthier we are.  There has been quite a bit of research recently into a concept that has been at the core of natural medicine for centuries.  It is the idea of "up-regulation" of the immune system.  It has become clear to people outside of natural medicine that the view that a weakened and dysregulated immune system is at the root of most illnesses.  It is the reason for the onset of opportunistic infections that take hold due to the body's weakened state from a sustained illness. 

The second fact is resources.  This includes nutritional factors, hormonal factors, chemical factors and the availability of these essential ingredients for the support of the immune system.  Without these, the living pieces of the immune system cannot metabolize, cannot reproduce or synthesize essential immune cells and tissues will atrophy as they age.  It is believed that this is the main reason for weakened immunity with age.  The thymus gland begins to atrophy and lose function while lymph flow is reduced and congestion of tissue becomes the norm with lessened physical activity.  Less circulation and tissue congestion also create blocks to the movement of vital resources, and so a weakened immune system is the result.

The third fact is that we tend to ignore the need for prevention and instead focus on treating illness once it appears.  Somehow we blithefully skip through our days thinking not a minute about the possibility of serious illness.  Then we wake up one day with a symptom and still we think it is nothing, a temporary thing.  The difference between that and serious illness is how many pennies have you spent on prevention.  The more prevention you have incorporated into your life, the easier it is to escape serious illness.

This is the reason for Conscious Body.  Because I have realized in the 30 years I have done this, that being aware of your body and your health, being intimately connected to the quiet systems that power your day, is essential.  Immunity is the place to begin.