In this second of two consecutive installments, Roger L. Price, B.Sc (Pharm) (Hons). Dip. Physiol. Cert. Integrative Medicine focuses on the relationship between airway compromise and dysfunction – culminating in compensation and para-function – and the commonly occurring chronic conditions of malocclusion, sleep, jaw and breathing disorders.
While crooked teeth, poor sleep, upper respiratory infections, chronic fatigue, snoring, asthma, apnea, hypertension – and many other long-term conditions might be common, that does not make them normal. Sadly, they have come to be accepted as ‘inevitable’ by the majority of doctors and patients and in need of ‘treatment,’ which does not address why they occur in the first place.
The human body is designed to be in balance, and to function in a manner that is very different from the Western 21st Century lifestyle to which we subject it. Deviating from this balance causes imbalances, which in turn causes compromise, compensation, para-function and ultimately dysfunction – which is so often regarded as ‘normal’ or inescapable.
Since the late 1950s, the Western medical system has shifted its focus to the ‘identification and management’ of symptoms – which have been turned into ‘diseases’ – to be addressed through drugs, surgery and machine intervention. Precious little attention is paid to the etiology of the problems – as treating symptoms – forever – is an extremely profitable business.
- Crooked teeth
- Inflamed tonsils and adenoids
- Ear and other URT infections
- Snoring
- Sleep Apnea
- TMD
- Craniofacial Pain
- Chronic tiredness
are not ‘diseases’. They are preventable conditions which, if caught early enough, do not even have to develop.
The “trick” is to get them early enough, and this is a major issue, due to the entrenched beliefs inherent in a system committed to post-symptomatic intervention.