Certainly we all have heard about the mind-body connection. Basically, when talking about this dynamic relationship, we are talking about the mind’s effect on the body and the body’s effect on the mind. It is reciprocal. Some connections are easily understood such as the effect that stress has on the digestive system. Unbridled stress can lead to digestive conditions such as nausea, ulcers, even gastric esophageal reflux.Migraines can be another area where the mind-body connection is easily observed. In these examples, for many people, untreated stress can easily be understood as a cause of physical discomfort medically treatable conditions. To be able to live in a state of balanced wellness, we need to be aware of the inner workings of both our bodies, our mind, and spirit, and how connected they all really are. This is something I call, the “Mind-Body-Faith Phenomenon,” and will expound on that concept in future articles as we will see how hope, the precursor to faith, affects the mind-body connection.On the other side of the mind-body coin, where the physical manifestations may occur first, followed by mental health issues, we see the reverse. Physical conditions such as thyroid dysfunction, cardiac and respiratory conditions, brain tumors, and some neurological and autoimmune conditions, such as MS and fibromyalgia, may just be the catalysts to send a person into a state of acute clinical depression, or chronic depression, anxiety, insomnia, other medically based conditions or disability.To prevent this from happening, we need to try to understand first what helps and what hinders our own, personal mind-body-spirit processes to reach and maintain a state of homeostasis or well-being. We need to carefully monitor our own stress level, to recognize when stress reduction is necessary, and when we are able to live life to the fullest.When there is a disruption in the mind sector of the mind-body connection, it is not hard to see how easy it is to recognize symptoms of depression, nervousness, anxiety, physical pain, discomfort, and insomnia. Stress emotions can be so powerful, in fact, that they can disrupt every part of a person’s life leaving them in physical pain, unable to work, parent, engage in successful relationships, or even to sleep at night.Until we begin to recognize signs and symptoms of mind-body stress present in our thinking, behavior and physical being, we are unable to correct them. The best scenario possible is to encounter stress symptoms early as they occur, and make needed adjustments to alleviate unnecessary stress. By so doing, we may be able to significantly decrease the chance of mind-body dysfunction and subsequently, depression, disease, and ongoing disability.Adele M. Gill | Copyright 2016

Charcot’s foot is one of the many problems which might occur in those with diabetes mellitus. The higher blood sugar levels that stem from all forms of diabetes have an affect on numerous body systems including the eyesight, renal system as well as nerves. In long standing cases, particularly if there has been an unsatisfactory control of the blood sugar levels, you can find problems with the nerves supplying the feet. This will make the feet in danger of issues as if something fails, you don’t know it has gone wrong as you can not really feel it due to the harm to the nerves. This might be something as simple as standing on a rusty nail and that getting contaminated and you are not aware that you’ve stood on the nail. Should it be a blister or ingrown toenail which gets infected and you do not know that it is present on the foot unless you have a look. This is why foot care can be so necessary for those with diabetes and why it will be provided a great deal of emphasis. A Charcot foot is the destruction occurring to the bones and joints if you have an injury and you do not know that the injury has happened.

A way of looking at it could be to consider this way: pretend that you sprain your ankle horribly and you also are not aware that you have simply because you do not experience the pain from it. You then carry on and walk around on it. Picture all of the additional harm which you do by walking about on it. The earliest you may possibly discover that there may be something wrong happens when you take a seat and look at the feet and you observe that one is a great deal more swollen compared to the other foot. This is exactly what occurs in individuals with diabetes who develop a Charcot’s foot. There may be some destruction, such as a sprained ankle or maybe a progressive failure of the arch of the foot and as no pain is sensed they carry on and walk around on it. It should be apparent simply how much more injury that gets done to the original injury prior to the problem is finally observed because of the swelling. At times there is not much swelling, but the Charcot’s foot is picked up from the difference in temperature between the two feet as a result of inflammation related process in the damaged foot that generates more warmth.

The development of a Charcot foot really needs to be dealt with as a bit of an urgent situation since the further it advances the much more serious it’s going to be and the more challenging it can be to handle. The individual definitely needs to quit all weightbearing without delay or at least obtain a walking support so that the damage is protected. For the not too major instances and those conditions which were serious and have improved a really supportive orthotic in the footwear is required to support the feet and the injuries. Sometimes surgical procedures are required to straighten the subluxed and dislocated bones. By far the most critical situations can end up with the foot and/or leg required to be amputated as the trauma has been doing an excessive amount of impairment.