Whether it’s six more weeks of winter or an early
Spring doesn’t really matter because
Punxsutawney Phil only gets it right about 40% of
the time. It’s true, groundhogs don’t make great
meteorologists. In their defense, it isn’t easy to
predict the weather, and honestly, it’s a lot
harder if you’re a groundhog.
Of course there are lots of other differences
between groundhogs and humans. Groundhogs
hibernate all winter. You may think you hibernate
in the winter too, but you are nothing like the
groundhog. While hibernating, a groundhog’s
body temperature can drop from around 99
degrees to as low as 37 degrees. Their heart
rates can slow from about 80 beats per minute to
about 5. Their breaths per minute can go from
about 16 to as few as 2. And while a groundhog
will go about 150 days without eating while
hibernating, it will only lose less than a fourth of
its body weight.
This is thanks to all the above noted,
energy-conserving measures its body can take.
You really can’t do any of that.
You though, are AMAZING and the fact that you
maintain a steady state in all of these
measurements and on an ongoing basis
throughout your entire life, what’s called
homeostasis, is truly AMAZING!!! Homeostasis
refers to your body’s ability to maintain a stable
internal environment despite changes in external
conditions.
If your body temperature dropped even just a
few degrees you would suffer hypothermia. A
drop of 10 degrees would likely be severe
enough to require treatment in a hospital. But
don’t worry!! When you go outside, whether it is
in the bitter cold or in the blazing heat, your body
temperature stays about the same. Your
AMAZING body has an internal thermostat that
maintains you around an average that’s just right
for YOU!!!
If your heart rate dropped even into the 30s, you
might not get enough oxygen to your brain!!!
That could cause memory problems, fainting, or
even worse problems. But nothing to worry
about here either!! Your AMAZING body has an
internal regulator that keeps your heart rate at
just that right pace for YOU. When you sleep,
your heart rate may slow a little, but your body
parts still require oxygen even at rest so your
body ensures a steady heart rate to ensure your
organs function at their best at all times.
Your internal mechanisms that maintain
homeostasis for YOU are controlled by your
nerve system. Your brain sends messages to your
body parts via your spinal cord and nerves, and
then your body parts communicate back via
nerves. Your nerve system is so critical to you
being your most AMAZING self, that most of it is
protected by bone. The brain is protected by the
skull and the spinal cord by the bones of the
spine.
This is why it is so important that your spine be in
good alignment. Misalignment of bones of the
spine can distort the communication within the
nerve system (called vertebral subluxation) and
keep your body from maintaining homeostasis for
YOU as it should. Your family chiropractor checks
your spine for vertebral subluxation and adjusts
you when necessary. This ensures that your nerve/
communication system works more efficiently and
allows you to maintain YOUR AMAZING steady
state. So whether the groundhog sees his shadow
or not, see your chiropractor regularly and stay
AMAZING!!!
—By Judy Nutz Campanale, DC, ACP
