Stress and Your Health:

Optimum Health's integrative approach to healing can naturally help alleviate the symptoms and physiological damage that prolonged stress can cause. Our doctors may recommend a simple saliva test that can measure your body's response to stress. If you are like alot of Americans, and are stuck in a cycle of stress, you could be suffering from adrenal dysfunction or adrenal "burnout". This can take a toll on your overall health, affect your relationships and quality of life, and should be taken very seriously.

If you suffer from any of the following symptoms, please call for your complimentary consultation.

• Alcohol Intolerance • Chronic Stress • Chronic Fatigue • Fibromyalgia • Hypoglycemia • Immune System Health • Low Body Temperature • Low Sex Drive • Migraine Headaches • Muscle & Joint Pain • Osteoporosis • Poor Memory • Skin Regeneration • Sleep Disturbances • Stress Maladaptation • Thyroid Function • Weight Gain

To take our online stress survey click here.

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Is Stress Affecting Your Health?
ASI (Adrenal Stress Index) Four Saliva Samples are used in the ASI for the following tests:

• Cortisol - Evaluates stress response
• Insulin - Investigates blood sugar control
• DHEA/DHEA-S - Determines stress adaptation
• Secretory IgA - Evaluates the toll on immunity
• 17-OH Progesterone - Determines adrenal reserve
• Gluten Antibodies - Identifies grain intolerance

Once your results are interpreted by our medical staff, our wellness professionals can customize a treatment plan specifically for your health needs. Your treatment plan could include any combination of the following: Customized diet and nutrition, lifestyle coaching, hormones, botanicals, and/or vitamins. Our goal is to help you return to a normal state of health without the side effects of drugs or other pharmaceutical agents. Because we are treating the source of the problem and not simply covering the symptoms our patients see results.

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1. Nervous System: When stressed the body initiates the “fight or flight” response. Then the adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones make the heart beat faster, raise blood pressure, change the digestive process, and boost glucose levels in the bloodstream.

2. Musculoskeletal: Under stress, muscles tense up. The contraction for extended periods of time can trigger tension, headaches, migraines, joint pain, various musculoskeletal conditions, or even fibromyalgia.

3. Respiratory System: Stress can make you breathe harder and cause rapid breathing (hyperventilation) which can bring on panic attacks in some people.

4. Cardiovascular System: Acute stress causes increased heart rate, dilated blood vessels, and an increased amount of blood pumped to the body. Repeated episodes of acute stress can cause inflammation in the coronary arteries, thought to lead to heart attack.

5. Endocrine System: When the body is stressed, it increases production of cortisol and epinephrine causing the body to store extra fat around your waist area.

6. Gastrointestinal System: Stress may prompt you to eat more or less than you usually do. As a result, you may experience heartburn, acid reflux, bloating , and gas. Stress also affects the absorption of nutrients into your intestines, causing diarrhea or constipation.

7. Reproductive System: Men: Excess amounts of cortisol can affect the normal functioning of the reproduction system. Chronic stress can impair testosterone and sperm production and cause erectile dysfunction. Women: Stress can cause irregular menstrual cycles, painful periods, and reduce sexual desire.

SOURCE: American Psychological Association | January 23, 2007

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Optimum Health has many solutions to restore the body back to its original state of health:

We use a form of Ortho-Molecular science which the practice of preventing and treating disease by providing the body with optimal amounts of substances which are natural to the body

Once your results are interpreted by our medical staff, our wellness professionals can customize a treatment plan specifically for your health needs. Your treatment plan could include any combination of the following:

• Customized Diet and Nutrition
• Lifestyle Coaching
• Hormones
• Botanicals and/or Vitamins

Our goal is to help you return to a normal state of health without the side effects of drugs or other pharmaceutical agents. Because we are seeking the source of the problem and not simply covering the symptoms our patients see results. Schedule your appointment today!