“Where does it hurt?” This is often the first question caregivers ask. (A caregiver may be a doctor or nurse, a friend or mommy!) We ask because we care; people often – though not always – tell us where it hurts because they are searching for a solution to their pain.

Why we hurt
Pain is a messenger system designed to tell us that something is wrong. As my grandfather used to say, “If your hand hurts, take it off the hot stove!” Pain is often designed to trigger a “withdrawal” response. We withdraw from pain because the pain tells us that we are being injured. This interpretation of pain may seem overly simplistic, especially in our world, where it is not always easy to take your hand off the hot stove, so to speak.

There are a number of different pain sensations. The feeling may seem sharp (superficial pain receptors) or dull (deeper pain receptors). It may seem to throb with your heartbeat or be constant. It may be fixed in one location or migratory – moving around from place to place. The main distinction of pain basically boils down to acute pain versus chronic pain.
Acute pain begins to go away as soon as you remove the trigger. Take your hand off the hot stove, repair the broken tooth or drink pure water to rehydrate the dehydrated brain and acute pain goes away. The message of pain has been received, interpreted and the corrective action taken.


Chronic pain persists after the cause has been removed or because the cause is itself a chronic condition. It is often related to inflammation – inflammation in the tissues of your body, or inflammation in the nervous system, or both. We used to have a saying to help us define inflammation: rubor, tumor, calor and dolor. These four Latin words mean redness, swelling, heat and pain.
Your brain eventually interprets the signals in a way that motivates you to confront the cause of pain. Interestingly, the brain doesn’t feel pain; it merely interprets the nerve and chemical signals as painful.

Understanding the signals
It is important for us to understand why we hurt so that we can take the proper action. The four basic pain triggers are:
Trauma or injury
Toxins or poisons
Emotional distress
Deficiency
As mentioned above, an example of a deficiency that causes pain may be a water deficiency (dehydration) causing a headache. Another extremely common form of painful dehydration is osteoarthritis (OA). In OA the soft tissue of the joint capsule loses water and withers. This may be due to a number of causes, including simply not drinking enough water. More often, joint dehydration associated with OA occurs because there are not enough minerals to hold the water in its proper place and quantity. This is why TriVita’s OptimaFlex® contains both pain/inflammation reducing ingredients and minerals associated with healthy, moist joints.

An example of toxins creating pain may be the way toxins from inside your intestines trigger rheumatoid arthritis and many other “autoimmune” disorders. Typically, a toxin from inside your system escapes into the bloodstream and relocates to the soft tissue of your organs or around your joints. Your immune system attacks both the toxins and the soft tissues. In an attempt to remove the toxin or poison, your system may destroy the tissue in which the toxin resides.

Pain caused by toxins frequently responds to Nopalea™, as the Betalains in Nopalea are both anti-inflammatory and anti-toxin. These two actions help your immune system work smarter, not harder and, ultimately, help you do what you do best: heal. This often results in reduced levels of chronic pain.

The lesson of pain
Dedicated physicians spend decades learning the antecedents, triggers and inflammatory pathways associated with acute and chronic pain. There is simply no way to address all of the particulars of pain in our Wellness Reports; however it is my sincere wish that this report gives you a little more insight into the possible causes – and solutions – for acute and chronic pain.

Have you ever walked down the cleaning aisle at the supermarket? What was your experience? I hate it! In fact, I completely avoid that aisle. If I need something, I hold my breath, quickly get what I need and beat a hasty retreat from that toxic soup.
The soaps, bleaches, softeners and fragrances in the cleaning aisle are all in sealed containers. Yet, they still give off an overwhelming, nauseating stench that may make a person sick for hours. What happens when we bring those containers home? They continue to give off toxins. Only now, the containers are open and the process happens 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Our toxic environment
In North America we are inundated with toxins every moment of every day. Pollution in our air, water and food challenges our ability to detoxify and adapt. Worse still, the place we think of as a haven from stress – our home – is likely the most toxic environment we face in our daily routines. Toxins released from household chemicals, fabric, carpet, fragrances and pesticides seep into our body in tiny amounts even as we sleep.
Toxic waste, like barnacles on the hull of a ship, drags us down. It slows the efficiency of our mitochondria (the energy-producing engines inside our cells). Noxious chemicals create fatigue, headaches, digestive disturbances and moodiness. Eventually, toxins become the focus for inflammation.

Inflammation
Your body uses acute inflammation to try to neutralize toxicity. Think of your reaction to a bee sting: redness, swelling, heat and pain. This is not caused by the toxins in the bee venom. It is the reaction of your body as it tries to eliminate the toxicity:
Redness is the increase in blood supply to bring in immune system antibodies and remove the neutralized venom.
Swelling is the lymphatic fluid that dilutes the concentrated poison while providing proteins for repair of the tissue damaged by the toxins.
Heat comes from immune system activity as it battles the invading contaminant.
Pain causes us to guard that area from further damage. Chronic inflammation occurs when the toxins are not completely removed from an area. A good example of this may be found in simple lawn chemicals, like fertilizers and pesticides. Certain fertilizers are potassium-based. Potassium is important for human health. When we are exposed to these fertilizers, our cells may accept the potassium along with the toxic “attachments.” Your immune system will constantly attack these contaminated cells until it destroys them. Clusters of diseases like Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis have been linked to these fertilizers.

Home sweet home – isolate and insulate
Neutralizing toxins in the body begins with isolating ourselves from chemical exposure. We must be diligent if we are to protect our family from toxic overload. Chemicals should be stored out of the living area in a place that is well-ventilated. This is especially true if there are children in the home, as developing brains are up to 10 times more likely to suffer damage from toxins than an adult nervous system.Insulating ourselves against toxic exposure is equally important.
Two nutrient classes shine when it comes to protection from pollution:
Essential fatty acids – Many of the toxins we face are fat-soluble. We need “clean” fats in abundance to displace toxic fats in our brain, liver and other regions of our body.
Antioxidants – Antioxidants neutralize toxins and Betalain antioxidants found in Nopal figs have two added benefits over standard antioxidants:
Betalains drain away the toxin from an affected area
Betalains shore up the cell membrane to help promote healing. Betalains turn out to be our best tool in combating the causes of inflammation: toxins, stress, injury and nutrient deficiency. Use this excellent tool liberally to help you resist the increasing onslaught of toxins both inside and outside of our home sweet home!
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Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is characterized by an inability to stay focused on any task. It may also include impulsive, disruptive and often destructive behavior. These symptoms may begin between the ages of 6 and 12, usually by age 7.

First, it is important to know that most children (and adults) are inattentive and impulsive from time to time. Also, many, many other conditions and circumstances share these same symptoms. For example, Stephen Covey described a man boarding the subway with two disruptive boys in tow. From the description of their behavior a person could easily see the traits of ADHD. What was the real problem? They were leaving the hospital where the mother of the two young boys had just died.

Inattention and impulsive behavior may be signs of ADHD or they may be signs of something else. We cannot be too quick to diagnose without fully investigating the circumstances of the person as a whole.

Brains in pain
One interesting line of exploration in the child with ADHD is the pattern of brain waves. The human brain responds in a similar way to similar circumstances. Most of us have an increase in Delta brain waves when we are concentrating and an increase in Alpha brain waves when we are relaxing.

Theta waves increase and Beta waves decrease when we finish a task and feel a sense of accomplishment. People with ADHD have the exact reverse of this pattern: They demonstrate a decrease in Theta waves and an increase in Beta waves when they are asked to focus on a task.

People in chronic pain have exactly the same brain wave pattern. This may be why it seems so painful for people with ADHD to “sit still” and concentrate!

Sources of help

Proper diagnosis
The most important step in caring for someone with ADHD is ensuring they are properly diagnosed. As mentioned, there are many conditions that trigger inattentiveness and impulsivity. Occasionally, a trial of medication for ADHD may be used by a physician to make the diagnosis. The physician prescribes a drug and if it helps, the child is said to have ADHD. But response to medication is no way to diagnose ADHD.

The most important part of any treatment is proper diagnosis.


Avoiding certain foods
Next, limiting sugar and sweeteners and absolutely eliminating anything with colors and additives will often prove helpful. Avoiding food allergies is imperative. Children with ADHD are often allergic to grains, dairy, corn and soy.


Supplements
Supplements that are helpful include a multiple vitamin/mineral supplement, Vitamin B-12 (I prefer Super Sublingual B-12 because the ratio of folic acid to B-12 is better for ADHD), VitaCal-Mag D as a calcium, magnesium, Vitamin D and zinc supplement and OmegaPrime as a good source of both Omega-3 and Evening Primrose oil. The amino acid GABA (as found in Peaceful Sleep) may also help balance the Beta and Theta brain waves when used consistently.

Conclusion
ADHD is real and it is a serious disorder that will affect a person’s entire life. With proper diagnosis and assessment of the individual learning style of the child there is every possibility for a full and productive life!

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