Fever, runny nose, rash, skin eruption, aches, diarrhea, and many other symptoms we can experience when ill are uncomfortable, yet they serve a purpose. For thousands of years healers have observed that disease symptoms are a necessary part of the healing process; they are the way the body externalizes or gets rid of poisons or toxins. By interfering with symptoms - lowering fever, suppressing skin conditions, drying sinuses, preventing diarrhea or vomiting - we may be interfering with the healing process and driving disease deeper into the body, paving the way for chronic illness.

The "Father of Medicine" Hippocrates - "Diseases are crises of purification, of toxic elimination. Symptoms are the natural defenses of the body. We call them diseases, but in fact they are the cure of diseases."

In more recent times medical authorities have observed the consequences of symptom suppression -

"The greatest part of all chronic disease is created through the suppression of acute disease by means of drug poisons and through the destructive effects of the drugs themselves." Sir William Osler.

"Cancer, TB, Bright's Disease, and all chronic diseases were once innocent colds." J.H. Tilden, M.D.

Childhood diseases have been similarly recognized as having a beneficial effect on the long- term health of children. Harris Coulter, PhD. one of the world's premier medical historian writes: "Contracting and overcoming (childhood) disease are part of a developmental process that actually helps develop a healthy, robust, adult immune system able to meet the challenges that inevitable encounters with viruses and bacteria will present later." Recently British researchers verified Coulter's statement when they found that asthma, hay fever, eczema and other allergies are on the rise in Industrialized nations because children's immune systems aren't challenged enough. Research at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London found that adults given antibiotics when they were children were more likely to suffer from allergic disease.

The life affirming alternative is found in Chiropractic care which permits your body to work efficiently so your symptoms can do their job getting rid of toxins and your (and your children's) immune system may strengthen and mature, protecting you from serious illness throughout your life.