Archive for March, 2010
Drugs…Just in Case?
Posted by: | CommentsAs a chiropractor who believes in the human body’s ability to heal itself, often with the aid of natural, non-invasive, drug-free chiropractic 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 of migraines can be. And, yet, the only “solution” this study offered?
This study is “important,” said Dr. Hu, because 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,” he concluded.
My conclusion? If you suffer from migraines, give your chiropractor a call today!
SOURCE: Headache, published online March 25, 2010.
Will You Have to See Your Oxnard Chiropractor “Forever”?
Posted by: | CommentsAs an Oxnard Chiropractor, a common question I hear asked by those considering chiropractic care is: “If I start going to a chiropractor, will I have to always go?” I often wonder why this particular question doesn’t come up for someone who goes to a general medical practitioner. Think about it: How strange would it be if someone asked, “If I go to Dr. Smith for a general checkup and he gives me a prescription for a temporary condition I might have, will I have to see him ‘forever’?” The answer is “Of course not.” You don’t have to see Dr. Smith again, but you probably will for your yearly or bi-annual checkup and, naturally, in between if you’re not feeling well.
The same is true when you go to see a chiropractor. Most of the time, individuals go to see a chiropractor because they’re in pain (not feeling well). After the chiropractor has treated them and gotten them out of pain (a ‘prescription,’ so to speak, for a temporary condition), the chiropractor will probably suggest maintenance care (a general checkup even when you’re feeling okay). The only difference is that a chiropractor will likely suggest that you come in monthly. Why? Because chiropractors are all about preventative care whenever possible. Maintenance care is like a “tune up” that not only helps your body to maintain the “crisis” treatment you received when you were in pain and keeps you healthier and stronger so that you can avoid future injuries, but during your maintenance visit your chiropractor can make sure that you don’t have a “temporary condition” that needs to be corrected before it becomes “crisis” treatment.
Cumulative effects of awkward sitting posture, bad work habits, incorrect lifting, lack of regular exercise, and other unhealthy lifestyle-related influences can produce pain, often excruciating pain, in your back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, etc. Getting “checked out” and “readjusted” on a regular basis keeps small conditions from becoming big problems.
So, to the question “If I start doing to a chiropractor, will I need to go “forever”? The answer is “No, but you may want to, for your health’s sake!”
The Bright Side to Supermarket Fluorescent Lighting
Posted by: | CommentsDoes 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.
Old Adages and New Ones
Posted by: | CommentsYou probably know that “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” but did you know that “A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories”? As a chiropractor who believes that a healthy lifestyle includes a healthy weight, I believe that the latter equation is just as important as the former when it comes to your health. So does First Lady, Michelle Obama. In announcing a national plan to counter childhood obesity, she indicated that weight loss doesn’t have include an unnatural “minus” intake of food, but slight lifestyle changes, such as replacing soda pop with water or walking to school, are “small changes that add up.” The formula seems simple enough: reducing calorie intake by just 100 calories a day, or burning up that amount, would equal losing a pound every 35 days, or as much as 10 pounds or more a year. And, though individual losses might vary and educating children (and their parents) about nutrition is still very necessary, in my opinion making “small changes” is a healthy place to start for many kids.
Unfortunately, there are those who find such equations “misleading,” like the health blog at NYTimes.com . In it Tara Parker-Pope states that “numerous scientific studies show that small caloric changes have almost no long-term effect on weight. When we skip a cookie or exercise a little more, the body’s biological and behavioral adaptations kick in, significantly reducing the caloric benefits of our effort.”
The question the article poses is “Can small changes in diet and exercise at least keep children from gaining weight?” And it goes on to say that “While some obesity experts think so, mathematical models suggest otherwise.”
To read the blog in its entirety, click the link above. Then you can reach your own conclusions.
