Healthy Living Chiropractic Newsletter
413 South Sixth Street Brainerd, MN 218-828-4418 May 8, 2007
Welcome to our office's Chiropractic newsletter. We'd like to entertain you, inform you (and even inspire you a little). Welcome to our office's Chiropractic newsletter. We'd like to entertain you, inform you (and even inspire you a little).
Miracles do not happen in contradiction to nature, but only in contradiction to what is known to us in nature. – St. Augustine Nature knows no trifling; she is always sincere, always serious, always stern, she is always in the right, and the errors and mistakes are invariably ours. – Goethe
Happy Spring – May all your dreams flower and bloom (just don’t forget the fertilizer).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Why visit a chiropractor? Babies and chiropractic For Over a hundred years… Is Your Doctor Being PAID OFF By The Drug Industry? How Drug Reps Influence Your Doctor Protect yourself from cancer with food Did you know…? Cholesterol myths Beware of back surgery Tylenol™ and liver failure Debating the Health Benefits of Coffee The Latest Obesity Drug Disaster How the Pet Food Disaster Hurts Chickens If You Aren't Using This Type of Exercise You Are Missing Out Big Time The take home message? Critics Deny Teflon's Toxicity Antidepressants Suicide Warning Expanded to Young Adults Another Reason Seniors Need to Avoid Aspirin Exercise: Critical Element of a Long-Term Weight-Loss Solution Almond "Pasteurization" May Be Worse Than Previously Thought Did You Know Your Neighbor's Drugs Wind up in Your Drinking Water? Why You Want to Keep Your Baby Away From the TV! More Proof That Whole Foods Are Better Than Supplements More Proof That Sugar Pills Are Better Than Antidepressants New Evidence That Sun Exposure Prevents Cancer Shift Happens -- Some of the Most Amazing Statistics You Never Knew Words of wisdom Chiropractic and spinal research High blood pressure and chiropractic ADHD and chiropractic What do most asthmatics die from? The placebo (a true story) Humor References
Want to learn how to decrease your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke by over 80%?? Attend the first Paradigm Shift Workshop scheduled for June 4th at 6pm. In this workshop you will learn the real reason for the dramatic increases of all diseases in our country. We are being told genetics is the biggest contributor to our ill health; nothing could be further from the truth. Come sit in on quite possibly the most important 2 hours of your life. Organic vegetarian chili will be provided. Seating is limited so please call the office and reserve your seat today.
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Why visit a chiropractor?
Each year millions of people enjoy the most popular natural, drug-free health care system in the world –chiropractic! Chiropractic helps people function closer to their physical and emotional best; recover from sickness, disease and disability faster and minimize the use of drugs and surgery in their lives! Many chiropractic users report less stress, more vitality and more enjoyment in life! Chiropractic is a system of health care that releases a serious stress from your body: the subluxation, an often painless, tiny distortion in your spine and structural system that can affect your nerves, muscles, internal organs, discs, bones, brain, posture and overall health. Of course, if you presently are ill and suffering, you need your natural healing ability enhanced so you can better fight disease and return yourself to a state of balance and health. That is a fact no matter what disease or condition you may have. By correcting your subluxations, chiropractors help awaken your natural healing ability to function at its optimum; to awaken your “inner doctor.” For millions chiropractic has made the difference between living with pain and living without pain, between living with sickness and living in health, between a fast recovery and a slow recovery and even between life
and
death.
Why live with health problems when you can live without them? Discover chiropractic – discover how natural healing can be.
Babies and chiropractic
You do so many things to ensure your baby's health: during pregnancy you eat right; you avoid cigarettes, alcohol and all drugs (even aspirin, cold, flu and other over-the-counter medications can damage your unborn child or cause problems in pregnancy). You educate yourself so you may have a natural, drugfree birth. After the baby arrives you breast-feed knowing that is the superior form of nutrition; in short, you do everything you can to make sure your baby is healthy. But have you had your baby's spine checked? How do you know if
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your child's spine is healthy? An unhealthy spine can affect your child's health for his/her entire life. Your doctor of chiropractic is specially trained to check your child's spine for areas of distortion causing nerve damage – the vertebral subluxation complex (subluxations). With the birth process becoming more and more an intervening procedure, the chiropractic adjustment becomes even more important to the child's future. – Larry Webster, D.C.
For Over a hundred years…
For over a hundred years doctors of chiropractic have observed the often dramatic responses of infants after chiropractic care. In fact, there seems to be no limit to the conditions that can respond to chiropractic care: colic (1), difficulty breast-feeding (2), Erb's palsy (an arm is limp and undeveloped) (3), torticollis (twisted neck) (4), unbalanced face and skull development (5), foot inversion (6), "nervousness" and ear, nose and throat infections (7), allergies and sleep disorders (8), projectile vomiting (9) and many, many other conditions. Give your baby the best possible chance to have a healthy life. You have your baby's eyes checked, heart checked, hearing checked – bring all your children in for a chiropractic spinal checkup. A simple checkup now might make a BIG difference for your children for the rest of their lives.
Is Your Doctor Being PAID OFF By The Drug Industry?
Despite reports to the contrary, a landmark study in last week's New England Journal of Medicine confirmed what all of us already knew: Drugmakers and medical device manufacturers have bought and paid for relationships with your doctors, ranging from free lunches to lecturing fees. Slightly more than half of some 3,200 physicians, surgeons, internists, pediatricians, cardiologists and anesthesiologists responded to a survey conducted from November 2003 to June 2004 about their ties to the drug industry. One very absurd factoid, among many: Health professionals were sent checks for $20 just for being sent a survey. An amazing 94 percent of the respondents acknowledged some kind of relationship with the drug industry, (80 percent of them primarily accept free food or drug samples). What's more, greater than a third of them were paid by the drug industry to travel to professional meetings or attending medical education classes. No wonder drug companies can exert so much influence with your doctor or specialist, considering visits between most doctors and drug salespeople have risen exponentially, from an average 4.4 visits in 2000 to 16 visits per month for family practitioners during the study.
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Although some physicians interviewed for various articles about these insane study results disputed any differences in their prescribing patterns, I wouldn't take them at their word based on a study I posted last week about the influence drug reps have on convincing your doctor to prescribe Neurontin for off-label uses. Fortunately, a growing number of you have already realized the "shell game" being played with your health. That said, the battle is merely beginning. Free Full Text Study New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 356, No. 17, April 26, 2007: 1742-1750 MSNBC.com April 25, 2007 USA Today April 26, 2007 Washington Post April 29, 2007
How Drug Reps Influence Your Doctor
Granted, there may be a tiny silver lining in the rise of prescription drug sales, but this study about the success of drug sales reps in convincing your doctor to prescribe the drug Neurontin (gabapentin) make you believe otherwise. After tracking more than 100 visits made by drug reps to 97 doctors in hopes of spurring sales of Neurontin, researchers found nearly half of the physicians contacted said they intended to increase their prescribing of the anti-seizure drug or recommend that their colleagues do the same. One way to seal the deal: Sales people gave or promised to give samples to doctors almost 40 percent of the time. Even more insidious, the primary sales pitch during 38 percent of these visits involved at least one off-label use for Neurontin, something I warned you about two years ago. Despite growing public assurances to the contrary, one researcher was amazed "how effective a very brief visit by a drug representative -- most often less than five minutes -- can be in influencing physicians' choices to use a drug for an unapproved indication." Just one more indication of how the fatally flawed health care paradigm, addicted to useless and often toxic pills and procedures, really is, why you should stay far away from it. Public Library of Science, Vol. 4, No. 4, April 2007 Science Blog April 24, 2007
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MSNBC April 23, 2007
Protect yourself from cancer with food
Since ancient times the once rare disease (until the last 100 years) we call cancer was considered a deficiency disease. A major reason why cancer rates are increasing is because many people are living on dead foods such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour, processed oils, denatured (pasteurized/processed) dairy products, bizarre chemicals added to our foods, and fruits and vegetables that are low in essential minerals. In addition, many nutritionists say that people overeat because they are starving for essential nutrients that are lacking in modern packaged foods. At http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/cancer_broch.html (The Weston Price Foundation) you’ll learn which foods may protect us from cancer and which substances in our diet are linked to cancer. This is lifesaving information please share it with others.
Did you know…? Cholesterol myths
Did you know that cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals? Your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat? This production increases when you eat only small amounts of cholesterol and decreases when you eat large amounts? Many of the cholesterol-lowering drugs are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life? (10)
Beware of back surgery
Back surgery has such a high failure rate it should be outlawed. In a University of Cincinnati study of Ohio workers’ compensation claimants with low back pain, 725 workers opted for lumbar spinal fusion surgery as treatment for back pain. A full 64% were still off work more than a year later! Only 6% had gone back to work and stayed for a full year. Approximately 20% had significant complications and 27% were in such pain that they needed another operation. Some 90% were in such pain they were still taking narcotics at follow-up. (11) A similar 1994 study of Washington State workers also found high rates of postoperative disability, high re-operation rates, and inadequate relief of back pain. (12) A study by Nicholas Ahn, MD, et al found that after single-level fusion,
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the total disability rate approaches 25% while for those who had two- and three-level fusions, the postoperative disability was 70% and 100%, respectively. (13) Before anyone ever considers spinal surgery they should check out the non-medical, non-surgical chiropractic alternative. (14)
Tylenol™ and liver failure
Why are so many people dependent on painkillers to relieve their symptoms when there is chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy and so many other safer alternatives? No one should be living on synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, many of which are very dangerous. In one study of 662 cases of acute liver failure the researchers discovered that poisoning with acetaminophen (Tylenol) far exceeded any other cause of acute liver failure. Of those cases resulting from acetaminophen poisoning, 29% died. (15)
Debating the Health Benefits of Coffee
Despite what you may have heard in the news recently about the health benefits of drinking coffee, not surprisingly, the evidence isn't nearly as convincing as the experts have assumed, based on the debate during a "controversy session" at a scientific conference this week. True, there's been studies attesting to coffee's contribution in cutting a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, preventing liver cancer and beating diabetes. (Some speculate cholorogenic acid may be the antioxidant responsible for reducing the absorption of glucose in a patient's intestines.) But I believe this is only because coffee may supply a minimal amount of anti-oxidants that are almost totally devoid in the typical American diet. Conversely, coffee drinkers may also be increasing their risks of stomach cancer and leukemia, prompting some experts to suggest that pregnant women and children limit their intake. It's very interesting and a bit strange to see that science is becoming more aware about the risks and advantages of consuming coffee at the very same time patients are leaving Starbucks behind for soft drinks, among the most toxic things anyone could consume and a major contributor to the epidemic of obesity that currently plagues our planet. Yahoo News May 1, 2007
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The Latest Obesity Drug Disaster
In just another of a seemingly non-stop slew of "sure-fire cures" for obesity that often do more harm than good, you may have heard about scientists at The Salk Institute developing a weight-loss drug that acts by accelerating a patient's metabolism like the body would do naturally during physical activity. The drug is formulated to turn on a genetic switch that activates PPAR-d, the key regulator that controls the ability of cells to burn fat. When tested on mice, the drug turned on PPAR-d, even when the animals weren't active. And, when they did exercise, mice could do it twice as long as before. Before you begin a mad rush to your doctor for a prescription, however, this "fat pill" is a long way away from ever seeing the light of day, much less a pharmacy. For one, what works on mice -- these animals far similar to each other than are humans -- in a laboratory setting probably won't work as well, if at all, for human patients. The other reason? The answer can be found in this question: What pill could you ever take to combat not exercising? Yes, that is correct. NONE! Yahoo News April 30, 2007 Senior Journal.com April 30, 2007
How the Pet Food Disaster Hurts Chickens
Many folks, including me, have wondered and worried about the ongoing disaster that has tainted many pet foods spreading to other food sources in America. Unfortunately, a frightening possibility became a toxic reality earlier this week with the announcement that some 2.5 million broiler chickens raised in Indiana had been fed pet foods contaminated with melamine. That's just the tip of the iceberg, folks. Apparently, hundreds more poultry producers may have sold an undetermined amount of chickens that were fed melamine, not to mention a small number of pigs. In an attempt to head off concerns over the lack of oversight displayed at the federal level, FDA Commissioner Andrew Von Eschenbach, appointed chief medical officer David Acheson, the agency's new assistant commissioner for "food protection."
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Taking into account their dubious record when it comes to overseeing the poor excuse for drug safety in America, I can't imagine the actions of the FDA's new "food czar" will make much of a dent in the problem. Your best bet, as always, is to take matters into your own hands by choosing safer sources, meaning locally grown, organic foods. Washington Post May 2, 2007 USA Today May 1, 2007
If You Aren't Using This Type of Exercise You Are Missing Out Big Time
Conventional medicine is jumping on the bandwagon too, as so graphically described in a small Canadian study about the beneficial effect seven high-interval training sessions had on eight women in their early 20s, and after only two weeks. During those sessions, women did 10 sets of hard riding for four minutes, each of which were separated by two minutes of rest. No matter how fit these exercising patients were or weren't before the study, the health of all seven improved greatly. For one, the average rate of cardiovascular fitness among patients increased by 13 percent. What's more, after stopping those interval training sessions, the amount of body fat burned by patients after an hour of continuous, moderate cycling rose by an amazing 36 percent. For most of my life, I focused on endurance cardio training. When I was competing in college, I used to do interval training but, since I haven't competed for over 15 years, I long ago stopped those workouts. However, there is abundant new scientific evidence, like this study, that clearly demonstrates that there are enormous benefits to interval training.
The take home message?
Don't rely on cardio. You will need to incorporate interval-type training, along with strength training, to develop a far more rounded and comprehensive exercise program. New York Times May 3, 2007 Registration Required The Ledger May 3, 2007 Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 102, No. 4, April 2007: 1439-1447
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Critics Deny Teflon's Toxicity
As compelling as the evidence is against PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), the key ingredient used in manufacturing Teflon, and the fact the EPA has called for a ban on it -- albeit a voluntary one -- hasn't stopped folks from defending it anyway. The case in point is yesterday's ridiculous attack by the Statistical Assessment Service at George Mason University (STATS) who claimed a piece in the most recent issue of Mother Jones on Teflon was more of a "scientifically illterate" Chicken Little tale than anything else. Among their "stronger" claims: PFOA may be a persistent chemical, but it has a half-life of four years in humans and is highly unreactive. If that's the case, why has the presence of PFOA been linked as of late to lower birth weights among newborn babies, who've probably never had contact with coated frying pans or popcorn bags? At the heart of this attack, in their minds, is the lack of evidence -- for now -- regarding Teflon toxicity, no doubt a product of the might a huge corporation like DuPont has exerted on the federal government, and the EPA in particular. There's no lack of evidence for me, however, considering the health problems several patients had experienced that suddenly vanished after getting rid of their Teflon-coated cookware. Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) May 2, 2007
Antidepressants Suicide Warning Expanded to Young Adults
Just two weeks after a Journal of the American Medical Association argued against them, the FDA has proposed stiffer changes on the warning labels of antidepressants once again. This latest advisory would expand the current black box warning to include young adults (ages 18-24) among those at a greater risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior. But this newly expanded warning would come with caveats. These proposed labels would point out that studies had shown adults older than age 24 were not at the same increased risk of suicidal behaviors and adults older than age 64 had a decreased risk of the same. And, the emphasis would be on depression and other psychiatric issues being the primary cause of suicides, not the drugs. Even though some "experts" are concerned raising the bar on could prevent patients who "need" those harmful antidepressants from seeking them out, others believe, as I do, they're long
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overdue. Drugmakers Eli Lilly (Prozac) and Pfizer (Zoloft) have said they will comply with the FDA decision that affects all other antidepressants including Paxil and Lexapro. It's interesting that these stronger warnings are coming a year after reports surfaced about far many more side effects associated with antidepressants besides the increased risk of suicide, for example, the harm these drugs can do to your immune system. No doubt, negative emotions left untreated can harm your body in countless ways, but there are far safer, healthier ways to handle them without having to rely on a toxic drug either. MSNBC May 2, 2007 USA Today May 2, 2007
Another Reason Seniors Need to Avoid Aspirin
For healthy older seniors mistakenly still taking a low dose of aspirin every day to ease cardiovascular concerns, that widely accepted "safe" amount may actually be increasing their risk of stroke after all. University of Oxford researchers discovered the problem while crunching numbers on the incidence of intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke among seniors. Even as the number of intracerebral strokes caused by high blood pressure fell by an amazing 65 percent for patients under age 75, the rate among those older than age 75 remained the same over the course of the 25-year study. The culprit: Blood-thinning drugs like Warfarin and aspirin that have increased the incidence of stroke by seven-fold. Fact is, these results prompted researchers to warn that aspirin use may soon exceed elevated blood pressures as the primary cause of stroke in this vulnerable, older age group. Fortunately, there are many other safer ways that are just as effective in treating cardiovascular disease, like eating the right foods based on your body's unique metabolic type and rebalancing your intake of omage-3 fats by taking a high quality fish oil (www.innatechoice.com) daily. The Lancet Neurology May 1, 2007 Registration Required BBC News May 1, 2007
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Exercise: Critical Element of a Long-Term Weight-Loss Solution
When it comes to optimizing your health and losing weight, starting an exercise program -- along with an improved diet that's ideally based on your body's unique metabolic type -- are the key tools you need to be successful. And, exercising over the long term will keep off those extra pounds too, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of North Carolina measured the effect of exercise by dividing some 200 patients into two groups: A control group who were assigned a standard behavioral treatment amounting to 30 minutes of exercise daily or a high activity group prescribed an exercise plan (75 minutes of daily exercise) designed to burn 2,500 calories a week. No surprise, the high activity group lost far more weight than the control group over 12 and 18 months. The interesting twist came, however, after the "official" end of the 18-month study period, when scientists evaluated the health of patients once again at the 30-month mark. Most exercisers in the high activity group let their training slide as did the control group, resulting no differences in weight loss or activity between either group. Nevertheless, a small group of patients in the high activity group who stuck to their exercise regimen after the study's end maintained that high weight loss and their bodies required fewer calories and less fat too. Over the years, the reputation of exercise has grown significantly in beating a wide range of health conditions from Alzheimer's, to colds and cancer. As the study brilliantly shows, the key is treating exercise like a drug that must be precisely prescribed to do the most good. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85, No. 4, April 2007: 954-959 Yahoo News April 30, 2007
Almond "Pasteurization" May Be Worse Than Previously Thought
The solution to the information below? Eat RAW almonds. They are available at the Crow Wing Food Co op! You may recall an article I posted earlier this month regarding the concerns surrounding the relaxed labeling of irradiated foods by the FDA like almonds. Richard Waycott, the president and CEO of the Almond Board of California (ABC), states his organization will not use any heating or radiation to "pasteurize" their
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almonds. He explained that they will instead be using propylene oxide to "pasteurize" the almonds. Mr. Waycott provides the following reassurance: "Pasteurized raw almonds do not differ in any significant way, taste, quality or nutritional value - from untreated almonds. Pasteurization simply reduces the presence of harmful bacteria on those almonds to safe levels while maintaining taste, quality and nutritional value." So now we can relax? Hardly. Apparently, Mr. Waycott believes we are just as gullible as 95 percent of average consumers. He expects us to accept his propaganda without one single reference to support his safety assertion. Even a simple search for proplyene oxide in Wikipedia provides the following information: "Propylene oxide is a highly toxic flammable chemical compound. It was once used as a racing fuel, but that usage is now prohibited under the U.S. National Hot Rod Association rules for safety reasons. It is also used in thermobaric weapons. It is an epoxide." The Almond Board is not using a GRAS human ingestion safe substance unless they are arguing it's flashed off in evaporation or heating, which also mean the almonds are NOT natural and raw. You can see the EPA site for more details. http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/prop-oxi.html The bottom line is that if any process kills bacteria, it has the potential to cause problems in humans OR significantly change the quality of the food.
Did You Know Your Neighbor's Drugs Wind up in Your Drinking Water?
Flushing old medications down the toilet, a step long advised by consumer safety groups as a means of keeping dangerous drugs away from children and pets, is no longer recommended by government agencies and private groups. There is a growing concern that drugs in waterways could pose hazards to fish, plants and possibly humans. While there is no proven cause-and-effect relationship between drug residues and health or environmental harm, common sense and troubling indications, such as the appearance of hermaphroditic fish in some rivers, make keeping water drug-free a sensible precaution. Recent guidelines issued in February by the EPA and other government agencies encourage the following steps: Throw most drugs in the trash after crushing them or dissolving them in water, mixing them with kitty litter, coffee grounds or other unappealing materials, and placing the mixture in a sealed plastic bag.
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Remove and destroy any prescription labels before throwing away the containers. In some states, pharmacies can take back medications. When in doubt, you should ask your pharmacist for advice. USA Today April 23, 2007 You may recall a new story about the increasing residues of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) that are being detected in America's waterways. They could create problems so slowly that science may not recognize them until they're too late to stop. However, while some of the new guidelines -- such returning unused drugs to the pharmacy where you bought them or asking a pharmacist what to do with them -- make great sense, others merely move the environmental peril from one place to another -- such as diluting medicines in water and mixing them in garbage that eventually end up in a landfill near you anyway. The best way to reduce environmental drug pollution is also the simplest and most obvious -- cut down the number of drugs you take in the first place, or stop taking them altogether. The vast majority of drugs are dangerous and unnecessary band-aids that treat symptoms without ever addressing underlying health problems. One of the first and best things you can do for your body and the health of our environment is to begin taking better responsibility for both by staying away from the fatally flawed conventional health care paradigm that regularly throws one-pill cures at health issues rather than looking for the real cause of them. However, we obviously want to focus on being practical, and it is very clear our culture is not shifting quickly enough; this problem is going to get FAR worse before it gets better. So what is your action item? Avoid drinking unfiltered tap water whenever possible for this and the many other reasons I have previously mentioned. Many will use this to justify using bottled water. Please understand that although this is reasonable from a health perspective it is not a good choice for the environment and then ultimately for you and the rest of the human race. Please read the lead article in today's issue to find out why bottled water is not cool anymore. Using the five-gallon water bottles is not really the problem. The primary issue is the disposable bottles.
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Why You Want to Keep Your Baby Away From the TV!
Earlier this year, I told you about the work of Dr. Aric Sigman, a noted British psychologist who's gravely concerned as I am about the dire effects TV can have on kids. Dr. Sigman recently addressed the harmful effects of TV can on the health of young ones watching as little as 90 minutes a day. The huge concern, especially for babies up to age 3 exposed to large and harmful doses of TV day after day: The rapidly developing brain of a child forming responses to minute-by-minute exposures to stimuli like TV for long periods of time that could harm their budding social and language skills. Kids don't need a TV to help them get interested in the outside world. As Dr. Sigman so accurately put it, "The world around them [children] gets them interested in the outside world." For the record, Dr. Sigman believes no baby under age 3 should be watching TV at all, and those between ages 3-7 be limited to no more than an hour in front of the tube daily. If you believe these restrictions are too harsh, however, consider all the health issues, including childhood obesity and a lack of exercise that the presence of an always-on TV exacerbates. Begin the process of lessening your reliance on a TV to "babysit" your child today by taking some time to engage them in activities that have nothing at all to do with sitting in front of a glow box. Guardian Unlimited April 24, 2007
More Proof That Whole Foods Are Better Than Supplements
This is a great study, but easily misinterpreted, so let me help. Many would use it to justify eating large amounts of fruits. While fruits are loaded with great nutrients, it is my belief that for large amounts of the population, they do not move your health in the right direction. If you are a carb, and to some extent mixed, metabolic type and healthy, then they are phenomenal for your health. But this group is well under 20 percent of the population. However, the study very elegantly demonstrates that in one of the most commonly used supplements, vitamin C, the whole food source is clearly superior. There are a variety of accessory micronutrients that work synergistically with the primary one. It is very rare where the isolated nutrient will perform better than the whole food version.
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That is why, if you choose to use supplements, it is nearly always better to use whole food concentrates, NOT supplements that contain isolated or, even worse, synthetic equivalents. Also, please understand that this study does NOT prove that drinking juice is healthy. If you choose to consume fruits, clearly the whole fruit is FAR better than the juice. What this study failed to do is analyze one additional group: Those who ate the whole orange, including some of the skin under the peel, which is loaded with healthy bioflavanoids. If they had analyzed that group, I suspect it would have been exponentially better than the fruit juice. So, if you chose to consume fruit, at least consume it in the whole version, NOT the juice as that will minimize some of the impact of all those extra sugars. Nature.com April 20, 2007
More Proof That Sugar Pills Are Better Than Antidepressants
You can add bipolar disorders to the ever growing list of conditions for which antidepressants do nothing, according to today's New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers studied the effect of mood stabilizer drugs combined with an antidepressant or placebo on more than 350 patients at 22 sites around the country for 26 weeks. (In an unusual move, patients participating in this study were recruited from clinical settings where they received treatment for other disorders like anxiety, so the research could have broader applicability.) Giving credit where it's due to the power of the placebo, patients treated with a sugar pill versus Wellbutrin or Paxil were slightly more likely to stay well for at least eight consecutive weeks, the study's established standard for recovery. And, in head-to-head competition, one antidepressant was no more effective than the other. There's certainly far better and safer ways at your disposal than a health-harming antidepressant to manage the pain untreated emotions can have on your mind and body. On the dietary side, rebalance your intake of omega-3 fats by taking a high quality fish oil or daily. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 356, No. 17, April 26, 2007: 1711-1722 Yahoo News April 26, 2007 PsychCentral March 29, 2007
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New Evidence That Sun Exposure Prevents Cancer
After many clashes over countless years, conventional medicine may finally be on the verge of acknowledging the true value of vitamin D and how it can help you reduce our cancer risks. The evidence: An American study scheduled for a June release that compared the health of some 1,200 female patients, some of whom took a vitamin D supplement while others didn't. The number of patients who slashed their risk of cancer by taking a vitamin D supplement -- 60 percent -- was so amazing, some believed it to be a typographical error. Moreover, this discovery may force conventional medicine to re-evaluate its vitamin D recommendations, considering a deficiency in the sunshine vitamin figures into many diseases, in addition to cancer. That led one researcher to point out, "We don't really know what the status of chronic disease is in the North American population, until we normalize vitamin D status." There is a relationship between latitude, sun exposure and mortality rates associated with cancer, of particular importance to folks living in Canada and the Northern United States, hence all the interest paid to this critical health issue in a Toronto-based newspaper. The best and safest way to get the right amount of vitamin D is through exposing your body to the right and safe amount of sunshine. Should you need to take a supplement or cod liver oil to get the vitamin D you need, however, please have the vitamin D levels in your blood checked often to avoid overdosing. Globe and Mail.com April 28, 2007
Shift Happens -- Some of the Most Amazing Statistics You Never Knew
The United States may be the world's leading power in terms of economic, social, political and technological impact, but you might think twice about how long that'll continue. Watching this short and very interesting video from glumbert.com, which compares America to other countries by the numbers, along with huge shifts in technology may change your mind. What follows are just a few of the many amazing statistics that will shock and concern you, especially if you're an American. Then, click the video below to watch the entire list. An American student will have as many as 14 jobs by the time he or she turns age 38. More than 3,000 new books are published in the United States every DAY.
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The amount of new technical information doubles every two years, which means students attending a technical school will learn information that will be outdated by their third year. The number of words in the English language is 540,000 -- that is FIVE times the number of words present during Shakespeare's time.
glumbert.com - Shift Happens
Words of wisdom
A loving heart is the truest wisdom. – Charles Dickens
We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect; we apprehend it just as much by feeling. Therefore, the judgment of the intellect is, at best, only the half of truth, as must, if it be honest, also come an understanding of its inadequacy. – Carl Jung
Chiropractic and spinal research
Everyone, no matter what condition they may have, needs chiropractic care to ensure their body is working without subluxations. If you have any specific questions please feel free to contact us.
High blood pressure and chiropractic
Chiropractic has recently gotten some very positive press. A Chicago-area study of 50 people with a misaligned atlas vertebra and high blood pressure showed that after one chiropractic adjustment, blood pressure decreased significantly. The study’s lead author is George Bakris, M.D., director of the Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medical Center. To read a few of the articles reporting on the study results, go to: http://www.torontodailynews.com/index.php/HealthNews/2007031704high-bloodpressure, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070315161129.htm .
ADHD and chiropractic. This is the case of an 8-year-old child with many learning and
behavioral disorders associated with ADHD that began after he had a fall 18 months prior to the visit. Following two months of care his mother noted positive changes in behavior and reduction in his complaints of headaches and neck pain symptoms. His schoolteachers remarked on the positive changes in his behavior and improvements in academic performance. (16)
What do most asthmatics die from?
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Asthma drugs. Researchers from Stanford and Cornell Universities reviewed 19 studies involving nearly 34,000 patients and found that people using popular drug inhalers for asthma (Serevent™, Advair™, Foradil™) were 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for severe asthma attacks and 3.5 times more likely to die than those using different inhalers. Five thousand people die each year from asthma (US) and about 4,000 are caused by these drugs. (17)
The placebo (a true story)
A man brings his asthmatic child to the chiropractor. The child’s breathing improves and the number and severity of attacks begins to diminish almost immediately. The father goes back to his MD. “Why didn’t you tell me chiropractic could help my child’s asthma?” “It’s just placebo,” his MD responded. “Why didn’t you tell me chiropractic was such a good placebo for asthma?” the father said. (Note: Placebo is just another word for our ability to tap the natural healing ability or our inner doctor.)
Humor
Medieval tech support: go to http://www.flixxy.com/medieval-tech-support.htm UP There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is "UP." It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desksized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
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If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so .... Time to shut UP....! Oh...one more thing:! What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U P Bye. See you next month. Don’t forget to stop by for a spinal checkup and an adjustment. And bring in the family too – for a healthier spring! Want hard copies of this newsletter? Click on the send button. Oh, they don’t have email? Well then stop by the office and we’ll give you some for your friends and relatives. If they have e-mail have them write us and we’ll add them to our mailing list. References 1. Klougart N, Nilsson N, Jacobsen J. Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases. JMPT. 1989;12:281-288. 2. Sheader WE. Chiropractic management of an infant experiencing breastfeeding difficulties and colic: a case study. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 1999;4(1):245-247. 3. Harris SL, Wood KW. Resolution of infantile Erb's palsy utilizing chiropractic treatment. JMPT. 1993;16:415-418. 4.Biedermann H. Kinematic imbalances due to suboccipital strain in newborns. J. Manual Medicine.1992;6:151-156. 5.Gutmann G. The atlas fixation syndrome in the baby and infant. Manuelle Medizin.1987;25:510. 6. Ellis WB, Ebrall PS. The resolution of chronic inversion and plantar flexion of the foot: a pediatric case study. Chiropractic Technique. 1991;3(2). 7. Fryman V. Relations of disturbances of cranio-sacral mechanisms to symptomatology of the newborn. JAOA. 1966;65:1059. 8. Munck LK, Hoffman H, Nielsen AA. Treatment of infants in the first year of life by chiropractors: incidents and reasons for seeking treatment. Ugeskr Laeger.1988;150:1841-1844. 9. Van Loon M. Colic with projectile vomiting: a case study. J of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 1998;3(1):207-210. 10. Ravnskov U. The Cholesterol Myths. Washington, DC: New Trends Publishing. 2002. http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm 11. Nguyen T et al. Functional outcomes of lumbar fusion among the Ohio workers’ compensation subjects, presented at the Primary Care Forum VIII, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2006; as yet unpublished. 12. Franklin GM et al. Outcome of lumbar fusion in Washington State workers’ compensation, Spine. 1995;19:1213–1215. 13. Ahn N et al. Rate of total disability after lumbar discogenic fusion in the Workmen’s Compensation population, presented at the annual meeting of the North American Spine Society, Philadelphia, 2004; unpublished.
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14. Legorreta AP, Metz RD et al. Comparative analysis of individuals with and without chiropractic coverage. Patient characteristics, utilization, and costs. Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:1985-1992. 15. Larson AM et al. Acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure: results of a United States multicenter, prospective study. Hepatology. 2005;42(6):1364-1372. 16. Lovett L, Blum C. Behavioral and learning changes secondary to chiropractic care to reduce subluxations in a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a case study. J Vertebral Subluxation Research. October 4, 2006;1-6. 17. Salpeter SR et al. Meta-analysis: effect of long-action B-agonists on severe asthma exacerbations and asthma-related deaths. Ann Internal Medicine. 2006;144:904-912.
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