Serving the Livingston County area since 1976

We fix just about anything in your home...or business

We have assembled a team of trade professionals that can service heating & cooling, appliance repair, water heaters & softeners, home standby generators along with plumbing and electrical.

Cost Savings HVAC Tips

*  Change your filters. This practice just works. Clean filters allows the central heating and cooling system to breath and saves on the stress of the system. Clean filters promote a more efficient performance.

*  Make sure vents are clean. Venting is key with your clothes dryer. The bathroom vents are another area to check.

*  Think gravity. Heat rises. During the hot summer months, the heat in your home will rise to the ceiling or to the second floor of your home. Either ceiling fans or standing fans help move the air around a room, creating a cooler environment for your family.  Good air circulation helps your home maintain an even temperature, giving your HVAC a chance to work less

Have a great spring; get your chores done so that you can enjoy all great recreation and activities that we have in the Greater Brighton area.

From The Table To The Brain:  How Diet Interacts With Addiction

By Raymond Waller, Director

Brighton Hospital / Brighton Center for Recovery

As a public health professional, my career within the field of addiction treatment began within the city of Detroit. There, I spent a decade leading large-scale drug prevention programs for youth, treatment programs for adults, and supportive service programs for the whole family.  The goal of these programs was to undo the crippling social affects that emanate from a life of addiction. The average adult client my staff and I treated was in their early to mid-forties - generally too late to prevent the cycle of addiction from repeating itself within their children.  At the time, the main approach available to health professionals for solving this cycle of addiction was prevention education (for children) and drug awareness programs (for teens and adults). And having led treatment programs in Texas, Louisiana and South Dakota, I know that the tools we use locally are more or less the same tools being used nationally. Thus, as a society, we now have hundreds of large-scale drug awareness campaigns and thousands of youth prevention programs; both supported by billions of local, state and federal dollars.  Has this investment paid off?

WHERE WE STAND TODAY

While these programs have had some positive impact, the problem of substance abuse has continued to worsen. Hollywood has long popularized binge drinking.  For many high school students, wine coolers - not water or fruit juice - is their beverage of choice. Numerous studies suggest that a large percentage of youth begin drinking alcohol well before the age of twelve.  And now, we are watching a fast growing national addiction to pain killing drugs. We're left to wonder if we have accurately diagnosed the problem, and whether we need new tools in this fight.

NOTABLE RESEARCH

I can recall reading an article in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association addressing the question of alcoholism, its connection with diet, and the root causes behind the explosive growth in addictive behavior.  In this study, two Loma Linda University researchers took laboratory rats, and fed one group a typical diet favored by teenagers:  glazed doughnuts; hot dogs; soft drinks; apple pie; chocolate cake; cookies; and candy bars.  A second group of laboratory rats were given a vegetarian diet that was low in sugar and fats. Both diets were homogenized, freeze-dried and powdered before being fed to the animals. Then, the rats were given the choice of drinking pure water or a 10% alcohol solution.

By the end of the fourth week, nearly 25% of the fluid intake by the rats on the teenage diet was alcohol. When coffee and spices (black pepper, ginger cloves, red pepper, mustard, et cetera) were added, alcohol consumption went up to nearly 60% of fluid intake!  Alcohol intake for the rats on the vegetarian diet was less than 5%. The researchers also found that when they switched the rats that had become heavy (nearly binge) drinkers to a vegetarian diet, they became relative non-drinkers, preferring water again.

ROOT CAUSES

This study - and others like it - underscore statements from a health advocate that had been made over 100 years ago. Namely, that parents can unknowingly place on their dinner tables food which creates a thirst for stronger stimulants, such as alcohol.  And this can be done in such a way as to make the temptation almost impossible to resist.  Ultimately, wrong habits in eating are leading to wrong habits in drinking.

National food companies sell those foods that are the most profitable, and which people will eat.  Clearly, with chronic disease burden in the U.S. placing us near the bottom of developed nations in terms of health status, these foods are contributing to a national health crisis. What's more, these foods may also be contributing to our national addiction crisis.

There are not many clinicians who are sufficiently aroused to understand the inherent connections between diet, disease and addiction.  Eating too much, too frequently, or consuming rich and unwholesome foods destroys the normal action of the digestive system, which in turn affects the brain, clouding the judgment, and preventing calm, rational thoughts and actions. This close sympathy between the physical and moral side of each individual is critically important.

As a Twelve Step program, we believe that spirituality is an essential element in any individual's recovery. This spirituality is backstopped by the restoration of reason, logic and sound judgment. But for addicts, all of this can be undermined without even touching their drug of choice. Anything that diminishes physical strength enfeebles the mind, suppressing its ability to discriminate between right and wrong, and choose what is  right.

Clearly, there are no panaceas for the disease of addiction. However, as a society, we must understand that education and awareness efforts that do not address addiction in broader terms (including diet and health) will not produce a lasting effect.  We need to broaden the discussion.  The work of fighting addiction is obviously not deep and thorough enough. The roots of addiction lie much deeper than mere alcohol and drugs.  When we begin having this broader conversation, we'll begin to make headway in this war on drugs.

Michelle Milliken is the Marketing Director for Paul Davis Restoration. Paul Davis is the nation's leading emergency restoration, reconstruction and remodeling company for residential, commercial and industrial properties, with over 370 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Paul Davis has a proud heritage and enduring commitment to providing extraordinary customer experiences, which has made them an industry leader since 1966.

Michelle serves on the Board of Directors for the Washtenaw Area Apartment Association and the Board of Directors for the Whitmore Lake Chamber. She is also involved in many other local associations and committees and really enjoys the networking aspect of her position. "I really love getting to know people, our community and best of all the great friends I have gained over the past couple of years."

Michelle lives in Hamburg Village with her husband and English Bulldog, "Tank". Michelle loves the outdoors, racquetball and spending time with her husband.