Archive for March, 2010
San Diego Chiropractor Asks: Could Those Extra Pounds Be Putting Your Joints on Overload?
As a San Diego Chiropractor, I counsel many individuals who come to my clinic who want to lose weight. I know how hard it can be, and I also know how important it is to lose those extra pounds. What’s an extra pound or two? Over time, they can add up to a large number of health issues from heart and pulmonary diseases and diabetes to back pain and joint degeneration. Even a few additional pounds put excessive stress on organs, like the heart, as well as on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Sadly,more than half (62%) of men and women in the U.S. are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is an extremely compelling figure and a sizable national health issue (no pun intended).
Though we try to pretend otherwise, most of us know that the human body has not evolved to schlepp around additional poundage in the form of body fat. A mere excess of 20 or 30 pounds can literally overload and encumber the musculoskeletal system. Extra weight in the abdominal region, for example, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This angle puts pressure on the joints of the low back. Joint compression impedes nerve activity and causes painful inflammation. Nearly all people that have a heavy midsectionexperience low back pain as the result of a compressed sciatic nerve or misalignments of the spinal column that restrict nerves as a result of weight-bearing stresses. If not addresses, misaligned vertebra as a rule develop into new arthritic changes in the spine over time, as well as continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have already taken place.
The good news is that chiropractic treatment can help. To begin with the obvious, a moderate body weight is requisite in order for the musculoskeletal system to perform in the way it is meant to. That said, in addition, chiropractic adjustments relieve nerve restrictions in the spinal column and help to get mobility back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, such as in the low back, hips, and knees. And, certainly exercise and physical activity will be a lot easier, and more beneficial for the body, when the spine is in alignment and the joints have good motion. The added benefit of exercise the, in addition to helping with weight reduction, it can actually reduce degenerative changes as the body ages.
It is always best to talk over your diet and exercise options with a healthcare professional, like your chiropractor. In addition to treating individuals suffering from back pain and joint inflammation, chiropractors can provide expert suggestions on the kinds of lifestyle changes that can help a person to stay healthier, more vigorous, and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility due to aging don’t have to be inevitable. The structure of the human body is intended to carry a person through an entire lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if those extra few pounds have started to add up to a lot of pain, as your chiropractor in San Diego and someone who cares deeply about your overall health, I can help. Make an appointment today!
Drugs…Just in Case?
As a chiropractor who believes in the human body’s ability to heal itself, often with the aid of natural, non-invasive, drug-free treatment, I am always dismayed, but never surprised, at some of the pernicious claims and tenacious effrontery of drug companies when it comes to pain killers, in general, and the “treatment” of a number of conditions that don’t get any better with drugs or are made worse by them. And, as a chiropractor who has helped hundreds of headache sufferers not only get temporary, but permanent relief, when I read about a drug study for yet another pain med that will likely keep headache sufferers numbed to their pain, but in the process numb to the rest of their life as well, I feel like shouting from the rooftops: “Try chiropractic first!” But, today, when I read about a study, sponsored by Merck (who also makes the product), I really felt compelled to say that this particular study is shamefully playing to the fears of migraine sufferers when, in fact, the drug itself only offers “less severity” at best when it comes to a migraine headache.
The study, conducted by Dr. X. Henry Hu of Merck & Co.and colleagues, found that one in five migraine sufferers had “avoided” a work-related commitment because they were afraid of getting a migraine, while 27 percent reported canceling a work commitment for this reason, and round 28 percent said they had avoided or canceled social commitments due to fear of migraines.
I have treated many patients who told me how much they’d “feared” the onset of a migraine and limited their activities in life because of that fear, so I do understand how devastating the fear migraines can be. And, yet, the only “solution” this study offered?
This study is “important,” said Dr. Hu, the unpredictability of migraines could contribute to people’s anxiety and fear about them and early treatment with migraine drugs called triptans can help reduce headache severity. “Because of the lack of predictability of future migraine attacks, migraine sufferers may benefit from increased education on the importance of keeping medications available at all times,” they concluded.
My conclusion? If you suffer from migraines, give your chiropractor a call today!
SOURCE: Headache, published online March 25, 2010.
Chiropractic Masters Blog Talk Radio
Chiropractic Masters Blog Talk Radio
Chiropractic News: Chiropractic Marketing internet radio show, Chiropractic Masters on Blog Talk Radio, interviews expert chiropractors around the country. The first episode featured Ventura Chiropractor, Dr. Steven Alff. Dr. Alff talked about spinal decompression and how it benefits his patients.
The Bright Side to Supermarket Fluorescent Lighting
Does your refrigerator light stay on when you close the frig door? No? Well, new research is suggesting that perhaps it should! As a chiropractor, I’m all about “total wellness,” which means that I believe in routine chiropractic care along with a healthy lifestyle that includes good nutrition, regular exercise, drinking plenty of water, and dealing effectively with life stresses. Getting the nutrition we need from fruits and vegetables used to be a “no brainer,” i.e., just buy them fresh. But, with the current trend towards big farm over-planting that has lead to soil depletion in many areas, sadly the fruits and vegetables grown in, and pulled from, soil lacking in nutrients lack much of the health benefits they once offered. We generally need to search for fruit and veggie stands and farmers’ markets to get anything close to the natural nutrition that was once “a given” when we were children because, let’s face it, it’s hard to find healthy produce in our supermarkets anymore. So, I was pleasantly surprised and very interested in a new study that the harsh, unnatural lighting in most supermarkets — the kind of lighting that seems to have no environmental upside — apparently has a bright side: healthier fruits and vegetables.
That’s right! A recent study found that spinach actually gained nutritional value as it sat for days under fluorescent lights! And, not just “minor” value gains. Some vitamins doubled their concentrations. Apparently, fluorescent supermarket lights mimic the spectrum of natural sunlight, and some supermarkets keep them on all the time, 24-hours a day. Continuous light exposure allows plants to maintain photosynthesis and, of course, photosynthesis produces nutrients.
The study’s author, Gene Lester, is a research plant physiologist at the United States Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, MD. He and his colleagues chose to study spinach because it is one of the most nutritionally complete vegetables commonly available, with significant concentrations of vitamins C, A, K, E and folate.
You can read about how the research was done in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry or by going to discovery.com
Bottom line: To boost the nutritional content of spinach and other produce, researchers suggest (counter-intuitively) that consumers select packages from the front of display cases that are kept under continuous light.