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THE
ROAD TO BECOMING A WORN OUT WOMAN: A PATH TO AVOID
Stress is a part of daily existence
for most of us—though women seem to be experiencing
more health problems as a result of this stress. Changes
in our society have placed increased demands on women who
not only continue the traditional child rearing
and homemaker roles, but also hold
down a full-time job and succeed professionally.
Women now have less and less time to care for themselves
and by age 35, start to feel this wear and tear. Because
the demands of life never diminish, women
must keep pushing themselves to remain productive. 
Recognizing that many women are experiencing
this progressive decline in their health, The
Carolina Center has named this
condition the Worn Out Woman Syndrome or WOWS.
It is important that we recognize that this syndrome is
actually a continuum from symptoms
that may start out being very mild, causing
minimal interference in daily living, but then progress
to those which are more severe and debilitating. A
woman doesn’t become worn out overnight.
The process starts when they are young and, if unchecked,
will deplete one with age and accelerate the aging process,
contributing to a poor quality of life later.
Various stressors at critical points
in one’s life set the stage for a woman to become
“Worn Out”:
Childhood and Teen
Years:
- Repeated infections and immune system
stress: For many of us, this begins in early childhood
with the onset of problems
such as ear infections, bad upper respiratory infections,
and other illnesses that often lead parents to the pediatrician,
who then typically prescribe antibiotics.
- Overuse of Antibiotics:
Starting in early childhood as a result of these repeated
infections, many of us have become stuck in a revolving
door of getting multiple courses of antibiotics
over the years, and as a result, can experience an increase
in immune system weakness.
- Allergies:
Many children develop environmental allergies to dust,
pollen, mold, and plants, which can lead to asthma and
other respiratory disorders.
College Years and
the 20s:
- College Stress: Going
off to college can mark the start of a series of new health
problems or a return of old ones.
- Transition to
Adulthood:
This is when we make our career choices, when we often
choose a spouse, and begin a family. Coping with these
emotional stressors can definitely set one up to become
more vulnerable to illnesses.
Adulthood:
- Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Parenting:
During pregnancy, the nutrition
and energy demands on a woman’s
body are multiplied many times over. This process
of nutrient depletion continues with nursing and the lack
of sleep that all new mothers experience.
- Professional and Career Stress:
As more and more women continue to work while raising
children, the ultimate result
is the woman who works the “second shift”
after her day at work, having to squeeze
all the typical duties of motherhood into less time, and
often continue to provide all the care for the family.
- Pre-Menopause and Menopause:
As rough as all of the above stressors can be for women,
the majority can push their way through all this and keep
going, though they may feel that life is a chore and they
are walking a tightrope every day. This tenuous stability
is then destroyed for many women when they reach their
early 40s and begin to experience changes
in hormone levels, which actually begin well before a
woman is fully menopausal and ceases menstruation.
- Older Years: Maintenance
of good health as we age is simply a continuation of the
important things we must do when younger: exercise,
eating a healthy diet, controlling stress, and
ensuring that our cellular
nutrient levels are at an optimum state.
Later in life, it is also important that we maintain
healthy levels of vital hormones needed for efficient
and proper functioning of all our cells.
In general, this syndrome is often characterized
by some of the following features:
1. Generally good health throughout most
of one’s life, but with increasing minor health
problems as time progresses.
2. A gradual
compromise of the immune system with increasing incidents
of infections of all kinds.
3. A gradual decline in energy with many
women compensating by increasing consumption of
caffeine and sugar to provide energy to function on a
day-to day-basis.
4. The gradual development of musculoskeletal
problems including muscle soreness and weakness, neck,
shoulder, and back pain, and
chronic muscle tension headaches.
5. The worsening of pre-existing
chronic digestive disorders such as bloating, gas, constipation,
and diarrhea.
6. Worsening
of mood disturbances including anxiety, depression, problems
with sleep, and irritability, often with a loss of motivation
and confidence.
7. A feeling of accelerated aging with
loss of muscle tone, increased wrinkling of the face and
neck, and inability to engage in physical activity without
becoming exhausted.
At a basic level, there are several
things that a woman can do on a day-to-day basis to reduce
the effects of these stressors and improve the
likelihood of remaining healthy and not become “worn
out”:
- Proper diet
- Exercise
- Stress management
- Preventive health
exams with conventional doctors
- Comprehensive prevention with integrative
doctor
- Use of maintenance therapies
including nutritional and colonic support, massage, acupuncture,
and chiropractic
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Dr.
John Pittman received his medical degree from Mercer University in Macon,
Georgia in 1986 and attended the Pediatric Residency Program at NC Baptist
Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with an interest in Preventive
Medicine. In 1994, he established The Carolina Center, a facility where
multiple healing modalities were brought together to help patients with
chronic degenerative illnesses. Dr. Pittman is certified in chelation
therapy, mercury and heavy metal toxicology, and oxidative medicine.