Monthly Archives: May 2011

May 26.11-Chiropractors Turn Up in Press Much More

Compared to years past, stories depicting individual chiropractors in a positive light are turning up more often than not. Years ago, the only stories the press would publish on chiropractors were attempts to show them as a fringe group well disliked by the medical community. Today very few of those stories arise and more of the positive stories hit the media.
One such story comes from the November 08, 2000 Birmingham News titled, “Chiropractor joins team providing actors’ health care”. This story is about two chiropractors who are brothers and who both take care of the theater performers in two different cities, Boston and Birmingham. The story is about how these two are relied upon by the actors to stay healthy and perform better.
Another article very favorable to chiropractic was from a Washington Post Staff writer. In his Nov. 6, 2000 article he recanted that prior to his back problem he though he would never go to a chiropractor in a thousand years. But after medicine failed him and his life was ruled by his problem, he decided to go. He spent the rest of the article bragging on how great chiropractic is and how it changed his life.
Probably the best part of these recent articles was a description in a newspaper of what chiropractic is by the Chiropractor they interviewed. In it this doctor said, “Chiropractic has a lot to do with the wellness part of peoples lives. After all, your spine protects your nervous system, and that controls your whole body. To be healthy, you want to make sure the nervous system is functioning at 100 percent. The misalignment of the vertebrae known in the profession as subluxation can cause a wide variety of disorders. These include digestive difficulties, sinus problems and allergies, along with the typical aches and pains of the neck or lower back.”
Dr.Bob’s comments:

Oddly enough the first recorded adjustment had nothing to do with neck or back pain.
It was a vessel in the recovery of someone who had lost their hearing.
The medical profession, upon acceptance, found that Chiropractor’s should be labeled as ‘neck and back’ doctors.

Chiropractic is about total body wellness.  The greatest athletes in the world all have a chiropractor on their personal team.
Remember:  You don’t need to add more and more to the body to make it healthier….sometimes you just need to remove the interference !!!

To Download this Article: Chiropractors Show Up in Press More

May 25.11-Wellness Programs Help Companies Save on Health Costs

Wellness Programs Help Companies Save on Health Costs

The above title came from the March 11, 2002 issue of the American Medical News. This story reports on several studies and programs where corporate wellness programs are having a positive effect on reducing health care costs on their employees. “There’s a growing body of data indicating that corporate wellness programs lower medical costs for employees”, said Ron Z. Goetzel, PhD, vice president of consulting and applied research for the Medstat Group, a health care research firm in Ann Arbor, Mich.

A survey done by Medstat, published in the January 2002 issue of the Journal of Occupational Medicine, concluded that medical claims costs for Johnson & Johnson Inc. employees dropped an average of $225 per year after the company started its wellness program in 1995. Additionally, Goetzel reported that a literature review of corporate wellness studies published in the May/June 2001 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion concluded that medical costs dropped for employees in the wellness program for 28 out of 32 of the corporate wellness programs reviewed.

The report claims that about 90% of Johnson & Johnson employees participate in the corporate wellness program. Their program consists of free health risk assessments and physicals. Additionally employees can then join free weight management, smoking cessation or nutrition classes and can use on-site fitness centers. John McKeegan, a Johnson & Johnson spokesman stated that the savings in reduced medical claims total about $5 million a year. When you factor in administrative savings from combining various health services into one program, McKeegan estimates the savings come to about $8.5 million a year.

The Wellness Councils of America, a coalition representing 3,000 corporate wellness programs, estimated that presently 80% to 90% of large U.S. corporations offer some sort of wellness program.

Dr. Bob’s comments:

Chiropractic care is a preventative healthcare option that most people just don’t know about. Unfortunately, people often wait until they are in severe pain before taking a look at the options they have for healthcare.
As a reminder…Pain is the last thing to show up and the first thing to leave. That doesn’t mean you are fixed or healthy. It just means you have ‘patched’ the problem for now.
IF you could save someone’s life without risking your own…would you do it?

Then…tell others about chiropractic !!!

To Download this Article: Wellness Programs Help Companies Save on Health Costs

May 23.11-Alternative Healthcare

Alternative Healthcare
In the November 11th, 1998 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, (JAMA), David Eisenberg, M.D. published his long awaited follow up study on the use of “Alternative Medicine” in the United States. Several years earlier, Dr. Eisenberg published his initial study that rocked the medical community with his findings of how many people were actually going to what he termed “Alternative Providers”.
From inside the medical profession, any other health care profession was known as an alternative. However, the numbers from the Eisenberg study quickly showed that chiropractic and other non-medical forms of health care are not “alternative” in the public’s eye.
This  study, conducted in 1997, illustrated some astounding facts and figures.

 

  • Americans spent $27 billion out-of-pocket for alternative therapies in 1997.
  • Four out of 10 people used alternative healthcare in 1997.
  • Visits to alternative health care providers (mostly chiropractors) increased by almost 50% from 1990.
  • The number of visits to alternative health care providers (629 million) exceeded visits to medical providers (only 386 million) visits in 1997  alone.
  • Less than 40% of patients tell their medical doctors that they seek alternative therapies.

Researchers also found that 42% of the alternative care was for existing illness while 58% was used for prevention and wellness. These numbers look good for the chiropractic profession, which has built its health care delivery future on wellness. “Many people initially enter the chiropractor’s office for a health problem. But many then stay there for the wellness benefits chiropractic has to offer”, says Robert Braile, D.C. President of the International Chiropractor Association.
Study shows more people using “alternative” health care.
According to an article in the May 20 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), more people are turning toward what JAMA terms “Alternative Medicine”. Traditionally, chiropractors do not use the term “Alternative Medicine” when referring to the profession of chiropractic, since chiropractic is a drugless natural approach to health. But it is interesting to note how the medical profession views chiropractic and other health approaches they term “alternative”.
The article says, “Research both in the United States and abroad suggests that significant numbers of people are involved with various forms of alternative medicine. However, the reasons for such use are, at present, poorly understood. Along with being more educated and reporting poorer health status, the majority of alternative medicine users appear to be doing so not so much as a result of being dissatisfied with conventional medicine but largely because they find these health care alternatives to be more congruent with their own values, beliefs, and philosophical orientations toward health and life.” According to John A. Astin, Ph.D., a researcher at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California who surveyed 1,035 randomly selected people, “Alternative medicine users tend to hold a philosophical orientation toward health that can be described as holistic and are more likely to have had some type of transformational experience that changed their world view in a significant way.”

To Download this Article: Alternative Healthcare

May 19.11-Osteopenia and Osteoporosis Drug

Warning! Don’t Take Another Drug Until You Read How You’re Being Conned…
Posted By Dr. Mercola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become thinner, more porous and break more easily. Osteopenia is different from osteoporosis — it is a slight thinning of bones that occurs naturally as women get older and typically doesn’t result in disabling bone breaks.
Osteopenia is a condition that only recently started to be thought of as a problem that required treatment. Until the early 1990’s, only a handful of people had even heard of the word. But osteopenia has transformed from a rarely heard word into a problem that millions of women swallow pills to treat.
The term “osteopenia” was never originally meant to be considered as a disease — it was a research category used mostly because some thought it might be useful for public health researchers who like clear categories for their studies.
But in 1995, a man named Jeremy Allen was approached by the drug company Merck. The pharmaceutical giant had just released a new osteoporosis drug called Fosamax. Since osteoporosis is a serious problem that affects millions of women, the potential market for Fosamax was enormous. But the drug wasn’t selling well.
Allen persuaded Merck to establish a nonprofit called the Bone Measurement Institute. On its board were six of the most respected osteoporosis researchers in the country.
But the institute itself had a rather slim staff: Allen was the only employee.
In 1997 the institute and several other interested organizations successfully lobbied to pass the Bone Mass Measurement Act, a piece of legislation that changed Medicare reimbursement rules to cover bone scans. More and more women got bone density tests (at Merck’s urging), and the very existence of the word “osteopenia” on a medical report had a profound effect.
Millions of women were worried by the diagnosis. And when clinicians saw the word ‘osteopenia’ on a report, they assumed it was a disease. Merck did not disabuse them of the notion.
There are no long-term studies that look at what happens to women with osteopenia who start Fosamax in their 50’s and continue treatment long-term in the hopes of preventing old-age fractures. And none are planned.

I don’t believe for a minute that Merck’s motivation for pushing the label “osteopenia” was to make it convenient for the researchers. It’s very clear that Big Pharma has one overriding goal—a handsome sales report at the end of the quarter.
Since 2003, annual sales of osteoporosis drugs have about doubled to $8.3 billion, and $3 billion of that was from Fosamax alone.
Convincing you that you have a disease when you don’t is nothing short of medical molestation. It’s unethical, self-serving, and demonstrates the upside-down priorities of the pharmaceutical giants.
But it isn’t surprising, I’m sorry to say.
as likelihood of falling, bone mass, body weight, and other variables.
What You Risk With Fosamax
Merck tried to hide the fact that Fosamax is causing jawbone death, a disease now known to oral surgeons as Bisphosphate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (BRONJ) or “Fossy Jaw,” a nasty side effect of Fosamax and related drugs that is difficult to treat.
Essentially, the condition causes your jawbone to rot and decay—quite ironic considering the drugs are primarily taken by people looking to strengthen their bones.
In addition to BRONJ, bisphosphate drugs have also been associated with:
·    Serious eye inflammation and possible blindness
·    Liver damage
·    Atrial fibrillation
·    Increased risk of ulcers
·    Esophageal cancer
·    Renal failure
·    Skin reactions
·    Hypocalcemia (blood calcium levels are too low)
With a resume like this, it’s not surprising that Merck may have intentionally tried to keep the side effects of Fosamax under wraps—what drug representative would want to share this information with potential clients?
Merck did the same thing with their tragically dangerous painkiller, Vioxx.

To Download this Article: Osteopenia and Osteoporosis Drug

May 18.11-Mood Boosting Essentials Treat Mild Depression, Anxiety and…

Mood boosting essentials treat mild depression, anxiety and sleeplessness
by Fleur Hupston

The brain is dependent on mood-boosting nutrients. When food lacks these essential nutrients, depression and anxiety can quickly set in. Typically, anti-depressants are prescribed to treat these problems, which in many cases can so easily be remedied by taking the correct nutrients.

This article is for information purposes only. Anyone suffering with severe depression should see a qualified naturopath or homeopath to correctly identify the causes. Self-treating even mild cases of “the blues” with the supplements mentioned here is best undertaken with the help of a medical professional.

Mood boosting minerals

Chromium: This mineral helps to stabilize blood sugar. Individuals experiencing mood swings, who perhaps over-react when it comes to minor issues or feel very tired during the day, may be lacking in this essential mineral. According to Psychology Today, “Duke University scientists found that consuming chromium picolinate, a trace mineral naturally found in whole grains, mushrooms, liver and many other foods, has significant effects on individuals suffering from atypical depression”.

Magnesium: Low levels of magnesium in the human body can result in anxiety, sleeplessness and depression. Simply put, magnesium is the mineral needed to make serotonin, the brain’s “happy chemical”.

Amino acids

Most anti-depressant drugs supposedly work by boosting serotonin levels. Raising serotonin levels naturally can apparently be achieved by supplementing with the amino acid 5-hydroxytryptophan, or 5-HTP. This is sold over the counter in the UK, USA and Canada as a dietary supplement for use as an antidepressant, and it is marketed in many European countries for cases of major depression.
Other amino acids that can make a difference to mood swings include phenylalanine and tyrosine, from which the body makes the neurotransmitter noradrenalin – vital for motivation and drive.

Essential fats and mood

Much has been said on Natural News on the subject of omega 3 fats and the importance of eating oily fish such as wild salmon. Cod liver oil is another rich source of omega 3. Studies have shown that severely depressed individuals consuming a diet high in these fats generally show significant improvement, greater than that reported for antidepressant drugs.

Vitamins B & D

In older people, vitamin B is often missing because this vitamin is not absorbed so well the older one gets. Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid are often recommended for individuals over 50 years of age, particularly with depression or “brain-fog”.
There is a definite correlation between individuals with a vitamin D deficiency and depression. In cold Northern climes, many people feel low, irritable and angry during winter because of the lack of sunshine. Depression levels can be substantially lowered by taking vitamin D supplements or by getting direct sunlight on the skin each day.

Sources:

http://www.moodfoods.com/magnesium-…
http://www.naturalnews.com/030713_o…
http://www.psychologytoday.com/arti…

To Download this Article: Mood Boosting Essentials Treat Mild Depression

May 16.11-Studies show drinking coffee may reduce risk of breast cancer

Studies show drinking coffee may reduce risk of breast cancer
by S. L. Baker, features writer

Breast cancer is a serious concern for women. According to the National Cancer Institute, the disease took about 50,000 lives last year in the U.S. alone. But the mainstream media, as well as mainstream medicine, often treat breast cancer as something that strikes out of the blue — giving women no choice but to hope they are not one of the “unlucky” ones to get breast cancer. At the same time this subjects women to to mammography so a malignancy can be spotted early, despite the fact the actual radiation exposure associated with mammograms is known to raise the risk of breast cancer in some women (http://www.naturalnews.com/024901.html).

But here’s good news. Scientists studying natural compounds in plants are finding many may offer some level of protection against breast cancer. That means women can start taking control of their breast cancer risk by paying attention to what they eat and drink. In detailed research just published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Breast Cancer Research, scientists from Sweden’s prestigious Karolinska Institute present compelling evidence that something in coffee slashes the risk of breast cancer.

The new study concludes that drinking coffee specifically reduces the risk of what researchers call anti-estrogen-resistant estrogen-receptor (ER) negative breast cancer, dubbed ER-negative breast cancer for short.

The Sweden research team compared lifestyle factors and coffee consumption between women with breast cancer and women the same age that did not have any breast malignancies. It turns out that coffee drinkers had a far lower incidence of breast cancer overall than women who rarely drank coffee.

Delving further into the impact of coffee, the scientists looked at several lifestyle factors that affect breast cancer rates, including age at menopause, exercise, weight, education, and a family history of breast cancer. Once they had adjusted their data to account for all of these factors, they found that the protective effect of coffee on breast cancer zeroed on one type of the disease — the ER-negative breast cancer.

Although the evidence appears strong that coffee has beneficial effects in protecting women from ER-negative breast cancer, it’s not clear just what the mechanism and compounds involved are. The researchers noted in a statement to the media that the protection from coffee may be due to way the coffee is prepared, or perhaps the type of coffee bean used.

Bottom line: as NaturalNews has reported previously, the new coffee study is the latest in a growing body of scientific data showing that natural substances are formidable weapons to both prevent various types of breast cancer and even halt cancerous growth once cells are malignant.

For example, in a study published in the journal Crop Science, Colorado State University scientists studied the anti-cancer activity of six kinds of dry legumes and found consumption of every kind of bean reduced the incidence of cancer and tumors in animal models (http://www.naturalnews.com/025614_c…).

In addition, Elaine Hardman, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine, gives this advice to women based on her cancer research: eat more walnuts. Her research strongly suggests those nuts can substantially reduce the risk of breast cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/026115_w…).

For more information:
http://breast-cancer-research.com/
http://www.naturalnews.com/024901.html

To Download this Article: Studies Show Drinking Coffee May Reduce Risk

May 12.11-The Confusing World of Low Back Pain Research

Correcting faulty posture
Posture is essentially the position of the body in space, the relationship of the body parts—head, trunk, and limbs—to each other. Changes in posture occur when any part of the body is moved.
Posture also communicates nonverbal body language, reflecting self-esteem and mental attitude.
Optimal or ideal posture is the state of muscular and skeletal balance that protects the supporting structures of the body against injury or progressive deformity, whether at work or rest. It involves the positioning of the joints to provide minimum stress on the body.

Conversely, faulty posture increases stress on the joints. Increased stress can be compensated for by strong muscles, but if they are weak or the joints lack mobility or are too mobile, joint wear and modification can occur. Damage and changes to the surrounding tissues can also occur.

Posture involves the chain-link concept of body mechanics in which problems anywhere along the body chain can lead to problems above or below that point.

Examples:
· Low back or knee pain can arise from pelvic joint disorders.
· Headaches, eyestrain, and neck and upper back pain can be caused by the head being too far forward or rearward.
The effects of posture can be far reaching, involving respiratory, digestive, and circulatory systems as well as the musculoskeletal system. But how is poor or faulty posture developed?

Causes of poor posture

The causes of faulty posture can be divided into two categories: positional and structural.
Structural causes are basically permanent anatomical deformities that may not amenable to correction by conservative treatments. However, some leg length inequalities and some ankle and foot issues can be corrected conservatively.
Positional causes of poor posture include :

· poor postural habit—for whatever reason, the individual does not maintain a correct posture
· psychological factors, especially self-esteem
· normal developmental and degenerative processes
· pain leading to muscle guarding and avoidance postures
· muscle imbalance, spasm, or contracture
· joint hypermobility or hypomobility
· respiratory conditions
· general weakness
· excess weight
· loss of proprioception—the ability to perceive the position of your body
· over reliance on passive support from a non-ergonomic chair
 
Correcting postural faults

Postural faults must be accurately analyzed before they can be effectively corrected.
Examination should include the following:

· observation of the patient as they sit and move about
· spinal alignment-
· if appropriate: measurement or estimation of the deviation from ideally erect postures using 4 views of X-ray, inclinometry, and posture guides —done in three or all four views
· leg length measurements
· flexibility tests and joint mobility tests
· muscle length and strength tests
· “Mirror-image” Adjustments, Specific traction to remold the spinal alignment and exercises to strengthen the spine are key elements in overall correction.

· ***  WHO DO YOU KNOW THAT CAN BENEFIT FROM  CORRECTIVE CHIROPRACTIC CARE??

TO Download this Article: The Confusing World of Low Back Pain Research

May 11.11-Wellness vs Medical Care

When the body heals and maintains itself well, there is another level of health that goes beyond “asymptomatic” or “pain-free” which reveals an opportunity for vitality.

What’s the main difference between wellness care and standard medical care? Wellness care seeks to turn on the natural healing ability, not by adding something to the system, but by removing anything that might interfere with normal function, trusting that the body would know what to do if nothing were interfering with it. Standard medical care, on the other hand, seeks to treat a symptom by adding something from the outside – a medication, a surgery or procedure.

Inside Out vs. Outside In

If a patient has high blood pressure, a standard medical approach would be to choose a drug that lowers blood pressure, and ask the patient to take the drug. This may serve to lower the blood pressure, but ignores the underlying cause that is making the blood pressure high, and runs the risk of side effects complicating the person’s recovery. Whether it’s a nutritional issue, faulty control by the nerve system or a manifestation of stress, the medication could decrease the blood pressure, leaving the problem causing the symptom of high blood pressure unaddressed.

The Wellness Approach

Wellness is a state of optimal conditions for normal function… and then some. The wellness approach is to look for underlying causes of any disturbance or disruption (which may or may not be causing symptoms at the time) and make whatever interventions and lifestyle adjustments would optimize the conditions for normal function. That environment encourages natural healing, and minimizes the need for invasive treatment, which should be administered only when absolutely necessary. When the body is working properly, it tends to heal effectively, no matter what the condition. When the body heals well and maintains itself well, then there is another level of health that goes beyond “asymptomatic” or “pain-free” which reveals an open-ended opportunity for vitality, vibrant health, and an enhanced experience of life.This is true for mental and emotional health as well as physical health. While some people may suffer psychological disorders, creating an atmosphere of mental and emotional wellness will address all but the most serious problems.

To Download this Article: Wellness VS Medical Care

May 9.11-How to Make Sure You Burn Calories for Hours after Your Workout

How to Make Sure You Burn Calories for Hours after Your Workout

Is there an afterburn effect from a workout? The New York Times reports that a recent paper in the Journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise says that, yes, you do get a good return on vigorous exercise.

The study was small, on just 10 men who spent two periods of 24 hours each in a specially designed metabolic chamber, but it showed amazing results. During one period they did nothing but eat two meals. During the second period they did nothing, with the exception of riding a stationary bike at high intensity for 45 minutes.

The exercise itself burned about 420 calories, but over the next 14 hours, the men burned an extra 190 calories. The New York Times reported:

“We were surprised,” the study author said. “She thought there might be extra calories burned, but she did not expect so many, nor did she expect the effect to last so long.”

Very vigorous, high-intensity exercise is also the type that can help your body increase production of human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is naturally produced by your body in sufficient quantities until you reach the age of 21. After this, production starts to drop.

HGH is the master hormone controlling growth. It helps build muscles, bones, organs and the basic links between the cells. Lower levels of HGH also make it more difficult to lose weight — HGH increases your metabolism, which helps to burn more fat.

According to Fitness Health Zone:

“Thus a person loses weight but not their body muscle. It also helps to increase the levels of HDL the good cholesterol, thus reducing cardiovascular risks too.”

Sources:

  The New York Times April 18, 2011

Fitness Health Zone April 16, 2011

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise February 8, 2011

** Dr.Bob’s Comments: An optimal functioning spine and nervous system is what equals optimal health. You can workout until you are blue in the face but without proper nerve flow you will be hindering your body’s potential more so than helping it !

MOVEMENT IS LIFE !!!

How to Make Sure You Burn Calories