Courtesy of:
John H. Keefe III, D.C.
(918) 663-1111
IN THE NEWS: The Nitric Oxide Dump Do you have three or four minutes, one to three times a day, to devote to your health? By using that time to engage in one of the best high-intensity exercises out there — the Nitric Oxide Dump — you can improve your mitochondrial health, slowing down age-related muscle decline. The fact is, if you live in the U.S. and work full time, you sit an average of 13 hours a day, then sleep for an average of eight.1 This means you're sedentary 21 hours of the day! The Nitric Oxide Dump workout stimulates your body’s release of nitric oxide (NO), improving your mitochondrial health, slowing down age-related muscle decline and boosting heart health. It involves just four movements — squats, alternating arm raises, non-jumping jacks and shoulder presses — which are done in repetitions of 10, with four sets each. The workout takes just three or four minutes and should be repeated three times a day, with a minimum of two hours between sessions. Squats (10) Begin by standing with your feet hip-width apart, feet parallel, toes pointing forward and the weight of your body distributed evenly between your heels and the ball of your foot. Perform 10 squats in rapid sequence, keeping your quadriceps engaged. Your butt should move back as though you're going to sit in a chair while your arms move forward for balance. You can do a shallower squat if you have knee or back pain. Alternating Arm Raises (10) Alternate swinging your arms at a 90-degree angle. Keep your form tight and your muscles controlled, avoiding swinging your arms too high or too low This will work a number of muscles in your deltoids, which are the rounded, triangular-shaped muscles on the uppermost part of your arm and the top of your shoulder. Non-Jumping Jacks (10) Begin standing straight with your arms down, fists touching in front of your pelvis. Use a broad rotation, circle your arms upward on each side to touch your fists over your head. Circle back down to hit your fists at the bottom and repeat 10 times. If you have shoulder problems with your rotator cuffs, try this variation instead: Start with your hands at a prayer position in front of your chest. Keep your hands pressed together lightly as you extend them above your head. Circle your arms out to the sides to release before bringing them back to the prayer position. Repeat 10 times. Shoulder Presses (10) Bring fists above your shoulders on either side of your head, elbows bent. Extend your arms straight above your head. Return to position with fists just over your shoulders and repeat 10 times. When you're done, you should feel your fingertips tingling, and this is a great sign because it means nitric oxide is freely flowing through your body.
WELLNESS: HEALTH BENEFITS OF GRAPE SEED EXTRACT Grape seed extract is a derivative of grape seeds (usually wine grapes), and is mostly made up of proanthocyanidins/procyanidins, vitamin E, flavonoids, and polyphenols . Proanthocyanidin is one of the compounds that make up Green Tea extract, and the benefits of green tea may be somewhat replicated by grape seed extract alone. Proanthocyanidins come from many different fruits, nuts, and plants and have a wide range of effects on the body. 1) Grape Seed Extract Reduces Blood pressure and Promotes Blood Flow 2) Grape Seed Extract Possesses Nootropic and Anti-Stress Activity 3) Grape Seed Extract Protects Cognitive Function 4) Grape Seed Extract May Protect Stomach and Ameliorate IBS 5) Grape Seed Extract Lowers Inflammation 6) Grape Seed Extract May Improve Osteo and Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms 7) Grape Seed Extract Can Ameliorate Asthma, Lung Inflammation and Possesses Anti-Allergenic activity 8) Grape Seed Extract May Protect Against Cancer 9) Grape Seed Extract and Metabolic Syndrome 10) Grape Seed Extract is Anti-Bacterial 11) Grape Seed Extract Increases Antioxidant Activity 12) Grape Seed Extract Protects Male Reproductive Health 13) Grape Seed Extract Protects Skin 14) Grape Seed Extract May Reduce Estrogen and Increase Testostosterone Levels 15) Grape Seed Extract Reduces Swelling 16) Grape Seed Extract May Help Diabetic Symptoms 17) Grape Seed Extract May Reduce Food Intake 18) Grape Seed Extract is Cardio-Protective 19) Grape Seed Extract Interacts With Cytochrome P450 20) Grape Seed Extract Has Kidney Protective Effects 21) Grape Seed Extract Builds Bone Density 23) Grape Seed Extract May Help With Oral Health ASK about grape seed extract on your next visit.
CHIROPRACTIC: ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTALS FOR HEALTH To stay healthy diet, exercise, rest and relaxation are some of the components that are important. To be healthy means your body is functioning properly. Function depends on the nervous system, it’s the nervous system that tell glands to secrete their hormones or enzymes, it’s the nervous system that regulates your immune system, it’s the nervous system that performs the miracle of upright posture and walking. You nervous system can slowly become compromised by misalignments and other structural stresses that you could be completely unaware of as they develop. That’s why most health problems come on slowly over a period of time. When you get adjusted you release the intelligence within the body to better regulate and control. If you are needing more hormones the nervous system will accomplish that or if you needing more enzymes to digest your foods the nervous system regulates that as well. Patients who get regular chiropractic care become stronger and healthier over time. Once the pain is gone or maybe some other symptom doesn’t mean your body doesn’t need to continue chiropractic adjustments. Your spine is stressed from daily activities from improper lifting to improper sitting posture or even sleep posture. When you’re under stress muscles tighten up which put your spine under even more stress. When you nervous system can properly regulate and control your body then you stay in a lot better health. Stay regular with care it pays big dividends.
On my way home from work, I stopped at Taco Bell for a quick bite to eat. In my billfold are a $50 bill and a $2 bill. I figure that with a $2 bill, I can get something to eat and not have to worry about anyone getting irritated at me for trying to break a $50 bill.
Me: "Hi, I'd like one seven-layer burrito please, to go."
Server: "That'll be $1.04. Eat in?"
Me: "No, it's to go." At this point, I open my billfold and hand him the $2 bill. He looks at it kind of funny.
Server: "Uh, hang on a sec, I'll be right back."He goes to talk to his manager, who is still within my earshot. The following conversation occurs between the two of them:
Server: "Hey, you ever see a $2 bill?"
Manager: "No. A what?"
Server: "A $2 bill. This guy just gave it to me."
Manager: "Ask for something else. There's no such thing as a $2 bill."
Server: "Yeah, thought so."
He comes back to me and says, "We don't take these. Do you have anything else?"
Me: "Just this fifty. You don't take $2 bills? Why?"
Server: "I don't know."
Me: "See here where it says legal tender?"
Server: "Yeah."
Me: "So, why won't you take it?"
Server: "Well, hang on a sec."
He goes back to his manager, who has been watching me like I'm a shoplifter, and says to him, "He says I have to take it."
Manager: "Doesn't he have anything else?"
Server: "Yeah, a fifty. I'll get it and you can open the safe and get change."
Manager: "I'm not opening the safe with him in here.
"Server: "What should I do?"
Manager: "Tell him to come back later when he has real money."
Server: "I can't tell him that! You tell him."
Manager: "Just tell him."
Server: "No way! This is weird. I'm going in back."
The manager approaches me and says, "I'm sorry, but we don't take big bills this time of night."
Me: "It's only seven o'clock! Well then, here's a two dollar bill."
Manager: "We don't take those, either."
Me: "Why not?"
Manager: "I think you know why."
Me: "No really... tell me why."
Manager: "Please leave before I call mall security."
Me: "Excuse me?"
Manager: "Please leave before I call mall security."
Me: "What on earth for?"
Manager: "Please, sir."
Me: "Uh, go ahead, call them."
Manager: "Would you please just leave?"
Me: "No."
Manager: "Fine -- have it your way then."
Me: "Hey, that's Burger King, isn't it?"
At this point, he backs away from me and calls mall security on the phone around the corner. I have two people staring at me from the dining area, and I begin laughing out loud, just for effect. A few minutes later this 45-year-oldish guy comes in.
Guard: "Yeah, Mike, what's up?"
Manager (whispering): "This guy is trying to give me some (pause) funny money."
Guard: "No kidding! What?"
Manager: "Get this... a two dollar bill."
Guard (incredulous): "Why would a guy fake a two dollar bill?"
Manager: "I don't know. He's kinda weird. He says the only other thing he has is a fifty."
Guard: "Oh, so the fifty's fake!"
Manager: "No, the two dollar bill is."
Guard: "Why would he fake a two dollar bill?"
Manager: "I don't know! Can you talk to him, and get him out of here?"
Guard: "Yeah."
Security Guard walks over to me and...
Guard: "Mike here tells me you have some fake bills you're trying to use."
Me: "Uh, no."
Guard: "Lemme see 'em."
Me: "Why?"
Guard: "Do you want me to get the cops in here?"
At this point I am ready to say, "Sure, please!" but I want to eat, so I say, "I'm just trying to buy a burrito and pay for it with this two dollar bill."
I put the bill up near his face, and he flinches like I'm taking a swing at him. He takes the bill, turns it over a few times in his hands, and says, "Hey, Mike, what's wrong with this bill?"
Manager: "It's fake."
Guard: "It doesn't look fake to me."
Manager: "But it's a two dollar bill."
Guard: "Yeah... ?"
Manager: "Well, there's no such thing, is there?"
The security guard and I both look at him like he's an idiot, and it dawns on the guy that he has no clue.
So, it turns out that my burrito was free, and he threw in a small drink and some of those cinnamon thingies, too.
This all made me want to get a whole stack of two dollar bills just to see what happens when I try to buy stuff. If I got the right group of people, I could probably end up in jail. You get free food there, too!
Courtesy of:
John H. Keefe III, D.C.
(918) 663-1111
DIET: How to Boost Brain Performance and Prevent Dementia Using No- or Low-Cost Strategies A diet that increases inflammation, such as one that includes high amounts of wheat, refined carbs and sugar is one of the root causes and greatest risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease; diet is also a foundational prevention and treatment strategy. To prevent Alzheimer’s, you need to focus on a diet that powers your brain and body with healthy fats, not net carbs. To shift your body into fat-burning mode, you need to dramatically reduce your net carbs, as your body will typically use whatever glucose is available first. However, that doesn’t mean you can never have large amounts of carbs ever again. In fact, remaining in nutritional ketosis for years on end may be ill advised. Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment is best approached from a holistic perspective. Besides a ketogenic diet, lifestyle factors that come into play include exercise, sleep, stress reduction, sun exposure and social interaction. Sleep can play a significant role in your brain health, as your brain can only detoxify and clean itself out during deep sleep.
IN THE NEWS: EPA Sued for Policy Many people are not aware that, in the U.S., dental offices are the single largest source of mercury at sewage treatment plants. When dentists discharge mercury from amalgam fillings (also known, misleadingly, as “silver” fillings) down the drains in their offices, it accumulates in the environment, including in seafood intended for human consumption. As a neurotoxin, mercury in the environment is dangerous for everyone, but poses a particularly grave risk for pregnant women, babies and children, in whom it can seriously disrupt brain function and harm the nervous system. In December 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that would restrict dentists' mercury discharges by requiring them to install amalgam separators. With the changes in administration, that rule has been rolled back, and the EPA is facing a lawsuit because of it. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) states the EPA rescinded the rule illegally, as it cannot be done without public notice or a comment period.
CONDITION OF THE WEEK: NUMBNESS IN THE ARM AND HAND if you or someone you know suffers from numbness in the arm or hand then you’re most likely dealing with the neck problem. Sometimes you might not have any symptoms in your neck yet the tiny bones in your neck could be pressing on the nerves that go down to your fingertips. Besides nerve pressure an unresolved whiplash can cause compression on the discs in the neck and as they break down put pressure on the nerves to the fingers. Realignment of the neck can resolve this condition along with shoulder problems, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome as well as numbness or swelling in the hand. It’s important to understand you can have nerve pressure without pain. If you or someone you know suffers from this condition have them call 918-663-1111.
FUNNY BONE: Andy has 150 candy bars. He eats 125. What does Andy have now?
Andy has diabetes now.@@ Whenever I’m sad I just read my blood donor ID. It always says “B positive”.@@ Oh, they were laughing when I told them I’m becoming a stand-up comedian. Well, ha! They’re not laughing now!”
Visit our web sites: keefeclinic.com & facebook.com/keefeclinic
Courtesy of:
John H. Keefe III, D.C.
(918) 663-1111
DIET: Foods that trigger headaches For many headache and migraine sufferers, certain foods can act as triggers. Grapes are low in calories and rich in vitamin C and fiber, so they are a nutritional snack. But they also contain a substance called tyramine, a naturally occurring amino acid that forms from the breakdown of protein in food as it ages. Tyramine can cause your blood pressure to rise, which can trigger headaches in some people. If you experience this reaction, you may want to avoid other trigger foods, such as: • Smoked or cured meats• Aged cheeses• Citrus fruits• Sauerkraut• Soy sauce• Red wine • And certain beers. Research shows that tyramine in grapes can have a negative effect on certain antidepressants called MAOIs. Patients taking these medications should talk to their doctor about their diet. Keeping a food diary to see if you may be sensitive to tyramine-rich foods could also help. The bottom line: Learn what your triggers are – so that you can avoid them.
IN THE NEWS: Common Sense Medical Approaches are on the Rise Overall, 34 percent of US adults used a complementary health approach in 2012. Non-vitamin, non-mineral dietary supplements was the most common alternative approach used, with fish oil ranking top on this list. Other commonly used approaches include deep-breathing exercises, yoga, tai chi and qi gong, and chiropractic.
CONDITION OF THE WEEK: Heart disease is a condition that is best treated through natural methods. Studies show that most medical approaches don't extend life as much is reports would indicate. Balloons, stents and bypass surgery come with several complications. Chiropractic adjustments help balance the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system which is crucial to heart health. Targeted nutrients to the blood vessels that surround the heart can cause dramatic improvement in short periods of time. Following your body type diet with emphasis on anti-inflammatory foods and balancing the body's pH can take a surgical heart condition and turn it into a healthy heart in the matter of weeks.
FUNNY BONE: A man walked into the office of the eminent psychiatrist Dr. Heidberg, and sat down to explain his problem. "Doctor, doctor! I've got this problem," the man said. "I keep hallucinating that I'm a dog. It's crazy. I don't know what to do!" "A common canine complex," said the doctor soothingly. "Relax. Come here and lie down on the couch." "Oh no, Doctor," the man said nervously, "I'm not allowed up on the furniture." @@ Q: Why do rednecks' dogs have flat noses? A: From chasing parked cars...@@ My three-year-old daughter stuck out her hand and said, “Look at the fly I killed, Mommy.” Since she was eating a juicy pickle at the time, I thrust her contaminated hands under the faucet and washed them with antibacterial soap. After sitting her down to finish her pickle, I asked, with a touch of awe, “How did you kill that fly all by yourself?” Between bites, she said, “I hit it with my pickle.”
LINK: How to best swallow pills
Visit our web sites: keefeclinic.com & facebook.com/keefeclinic
Statin Myopathy: A Common Cause of Chronic Pain
By James J. Lehman, DC
Statin myopathy is a common dilemma that causes persistent myalgia(1) and chronic pain. Chiropractic physicians should be prepared to evaluate patients with these conditions. This article describes statin myopathy and its differential diagnosis.
While primary care physicians and chiropractic physicians treat more than 90 percent of chronic pain patients in the United States,(2) the treatment approaches vary considerably. Primary care providers, such as allopathic and osteopathic physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants often focus on pharmacological therapeutics, including the use of opioids. Chiropractic physicians focus on nonpharmacological therapeutics to relieve pain due to neuromusculoskeletal conditions, which as of January 2015 are included in the standard of care promulgated by the Joint Commission.(3) As a member of the medical staff for a federally qualified health center, credentialed as a patient-centered medical home, I appreciate the Joint Commission’s new standards. There is a need to revolutionize the treatment of chronic pain in America,(4) and nonpharmacological therapeutics, including chiropractic and acupuncture interventions, are reasonable solutions.
The Community Health Center Inc. of Middletown, Conn. has integrated chiropractic services into nine primary care sites. Chiropractic specialists and chiropractic residents (e.g., nonsurgical orthopedics and neuromusculoskeletal medicine) evaluate and manage chronic pain patients as members of the primary care team. As one of the chiropractic specialists, I have encountered chronic pain patients who do not respond favorably to pharmacological care offered by primary care providers or the nonpharmacological chiropractic treatment. Often these non-responsive patients are taking statins to prevent heart attacks and death.(5) So now I consider statin myopathy as a possible cause of chronic pain. Since my training and scope of practice do not include pharmacological therapeutics, I do not alter the patient’s medications, but as an evidence-based and patient-centered provider, I have a responsibility to the patient and the primary care provider to communicate my diagnosis. Because I’m a member of the medical staff with full access to the electronic health care record, I am able to efficiently communicate my concerns to the prescribing primary care provider.
Since the majority of chiropractic physicians practice as solo practitioners or as associates in chiropractic practices,(6) they face a conundrum when a chronic pain patient presents with the symptoms of statin myopathy. It is common for prescribing physicians to deny drug toxicity and the symptoms of statin myopathy.(7) Although a doctor of chiropractic (DC) is capable of performing focused history and neuromusculoskeletal examination, which is essential when evaluating muscle complaints that may be induced by statins, the diagnosis is complicated for the chiropractic physician because the process usually involves a change in the statin prescription or a “statin holiday,” which is not within the chiropractic scope of practice. However, a DC does have the ability to contact the patient’s medical provider to discuss the statin and work with that provider on behalf of the patient.
Statin Therapy Guidelines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 2010 that 32 million Americans take statin medications. 50 percent of men between 65 and 75 years of age and 39 percent of women ages 75 and older were taking statins from 2005 to 2008. One in four Americans over 45 years of age take statin medications.(8) New guidelines, formulated by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, would increase the use of statins for the older population to 87 percent of men ages 60 to 75 and 54 percent of women in that age range.(9)
The new guidelines recommend statin therapy for the following groups:(10)
• People without cardiovascular disease who are 40 to 75 years old and have a 7.5 percent or higher risk for having a heart attack or stroke within 10 years.
• People with a history of a cardiovascular event (e.g., heart attack, stroke, stable or unstable angina, peripheral artery disease, transient ischemic attack, or coronary or other arterial revascularization).
• People 21 and older who have a very high level of bad cholesterol (i.e., 190 mg/dL or higher).
• People with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes who are 40 to 75 years old.
Incidence of Statin Myopathy
For several reasons, controlled clinical trials underestimate the actual percentage of patients who suffer statin myopathy and suggest that muscle problems are rare.(11) Observational studies in nonselected outpatients show a higher frequency of muscle complaints in the statin groups than in the control groups. Statin myopathy frequency has been reported at 9 to 20 percent with these studies. By some estimates, statin myopathy affects 7 million of the 33 million people taking statins in the United States, or 25 percent of the cases.(12)
In spite of the following warning offered by Consumer Reports regarding the use of statin medications, it appears that prescribing physicians usually reject any possible connection of statins and symptoms supported by evidence in the literature.
If you are taking a statin and have muscle aches, pain or weakness, call your doctor right away. This could be a sign of a dangerous breakdown in the muscle tissue.
A patient-targeted survey, addressing how physicians responded when patients presented with possible adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to statin medications, demonstrated that physicians usually do not acknowledge patients’ complaints including muscle pain. 87 percent of patients reportedly spoke to their physician about the possible connection between statin use and their symptom. Patients reported that they and not the doctor most commonly initiated the discussion regarding the possible connection of drug to symptom (98% vs 2% cognition survey, 96% vs 4% neuropathy survey, 86% vs 14% muscle survey; p < 10−8 for each). Physicians were reportedly more likely to deny than affirm the possibility of a connection. Rejection of a possible connection was reported to occur even for symptoms with strong literature support for a drug connection, and even in patients for whom the symptom met presumptive literature-based criteria for probable or definite drug-adverse effect causality. Assuming that physicians would not likely report ADRs in these instances, these patient-submitted ADR reports suggest that targeting patients may boost the yield of ADR reporting systems.(13)
Costs
Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs lists a significant variation in costs for statin medications. In 2007, a generic statin costs as little as $12 per month or less, with brand-name statin costs escalating to more than $500 per month.(14) Normally, these medications are prescribed for long-term use, and cost is relevant for patients. Of interest is that up to 60 percent of patients discontinue use of statins within two years of the initial prescription.(15)
Key Points
A panel of four physicians, including three cardiologists and one neuroscientist, claims that statins are effective but under prescribed because of muscle toxicity concerns by physicians. The panel offers the following key points regarding statin myopathy:(16)
• There is little consensus on the definition of stat in-induced myopathy, and it is underdiagnosed.
• Abnormal pharmacokinetic activity contributes to toxicity, but some patients may be predisposed by underlying metabolic muscle disorders.
• A focused history and neuromusculoskeletal examination are important in the evaluation of muscle complaints that may be induced by statins.
• In patients with possible statin-induced myopathy, assessing the risks and benefits of statin therapy is essential.
• For patients who cannot tolerate statin therapy, alternatives include a “statin holiday” followed by a rechallenge with a different statin, intermittent rosuvastatin (Crestor) or resin therapy. Sometimes the best alternative is a compromise between the goal level for low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and the level achievable with alternative therapy.
Pharmacokinetic Activities
In 1997, Lennemas and Fager described the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and pointed out the similarities and differences. They explained the crucial role of hypercholesterolemia and the subsequent development of coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis and its risks of progression with increasing levels of total serum cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
The statins are reversible inhibitors of the microsomal enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which converts HMG-CoA to mevalonate. This is an early rate-limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis. Inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase by statins decreases intracellular cholesterol biosynthesis, which then leads to transcriptionally upregulated production of microsomal HMG-CoA reductase and cell surface LDL receptors.(17)
Adverse Effects
The FDA added a safety warning about associated cognitive impairment (e.g., memory loss, forgetfulness, amnesia, memory impairment and confusion) and the numerous interactions with cardiovascular and other drugs that may increase the toxicity of statins.(18) there are also increased risks of raised blood sugar levels and the development of Type 2 diabetes. Some drugs interact with statins in a way that increases the risk of muscle injury (myopathy), characterized by unexplained muscle weakness and/or pain.
Statin-Associated Muscle-Related Adverse Effects
In one case series involving 354 patients (age range 34-86 years) who self-reported muscle-related problems associated with statin therapy, 93 percent of the patients reported muscle pain, 88 percent fatigue and 85 percent weakness.(19) Patients with persistent muscle pain due to statin myopathy present with symptoms of muscle weakness, soreness, tenderness, stiffness, cramping or aching, either at rest or with exercise.(20) It is common for women taking statins to experience exertional fatigue and loss of energy.(21) In my experience, many patients suffering with chronic pain present with similar nonspecific muscle symptoms. Warren Hammer, DC, claims his patients complain of nonspecific muscle pain, tenderness, weakness, joint pains, peripheral neuropathy, tendinopathy and lupus-like symptoms that may be caused by the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins).(22)
Differential Diagnosis
It is essential that specific definitions differentiate the types of statin myopathy. While myositis and rhabdomyolysis must be recognized and treated immediately, physicians have a tendency to deny a possible drug connection when a patient presents with myalgia or neuropathy.(23) The specific definitions developed by experts in the fields of cardiology, statin myopathy and drug toxicity attempt to clarify three different statin-associated musclerelated adverse effects: myalgia, myositis and rhabdomyolysis.(24)
A case report described two chiropractic patients presenting with chief concerns of neuromusculoskeletal pain complaints while taking statins. The first patient sought relief of pain in the neck, both legs and knees. The other patient presented with a chief concern of lower thoracic paraspinal pain. Both of these patients responded favorably with a statin holiday and a change in statin medications respectively.(25) The chiropractic physician did not advise the patients to discontinue their medications but referred them to their prescribing physicians.
Statin myopathy patients may present for chiropractic care complaining of chronic neuromusculoskeletal pains affecting the spine and/or extremities. Often there is no history of recent trauma. Provocative maneuvers may or may not reproduce the pains of chief concern. Conservative chiropractic treatments may provide only temporary relief or no relief of the persistent muscle or nerve pain. I suggest that whenever a patient presents with persistent muscle pain and a history of statin medications, you consider statin myopathy as a cause of the chronic pain.
Discussion
Patients suffering with musculoskeletal pain frequently present to chiropractic clinicians for evaluation and management.(27) The rising use of statins indicates that an increasing number of patients suffering with muscle pain, neurological symptoms and chronic pain due to statin toxicity will present to primary care providers and chiropractic clinicians. Hence, chiropractic physicians might be better prepared to evaluate patients with statin myopathy if the chiropractic colleges teach that to chiropractic students and graduates.
Chiropractic students, as part of their training, are taught to perform a differential diagnosis in order to determine the cause of the patient’s neuromusculoskeletal pain symptoms. The students determine the pain generator and its cause through the process of differential diagnosis, involving a focused history and physical examination. It is necessary to discuss the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of statins. The need to communicate directly with the prescribing provider and the patient is stressed to the students. I suggest that evidence-based and patient-centered care mandates that when the neuromusculoskeletal complaints are due to statin myopathy, the attending chiropractic physician should advise the patient and the prescribing provider of these clinical concerns.
I suggest that the majority of chiropractic clinicians may not recognize this drug-induced muscle pain. It would be enlightening to receive feedback from chiropractic clinicians. So, I pose the following question collectively to the readers of this manuscript: “Would you recognize a patient with statin myopathy if he or she walked into your office?” Please respond to my email: jlehman@bridgeport.edu.
Endnotes
1. Fernandez G, Spatz ES, Jablecki C, and Phillips PS. Statin myopathy: a common dilemma not reflected in clinical trials. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, Vol 78, Number 6. June 2011.
2. Blondell RD and Ashrafioun L. Treating Opioid Dependency and Coexistent Chronic Nonmalignant Pain.Am Fam Physician. 2008 Nov 15;78(10):1132-1133.
3. Revisions to pain management standard effective January 1, 2015. Standard PC.01.02.07: The [organization] assesses and manages the [patient’s] pain. Joint Commission Online. Nov. 12, 2014. Available from: www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/23/jconline_November_12_14.pdf. [See Jan/Feb ACA News, Page 8]
4. The Mayday Fund. A Call To Revolutionize Chronic Pain Care in America: An Opportunity for Health Care Reform.
5. Baigent C, Keech A, Kearney PM, et al. Efficacy and safety of cholesterol-lowering treatment: prospective meta-analysis of data from 90,056 participants in 14 randomised trials of statins. Lancet 2005; 366:1267–1278.
6. For the Good of the Patient: The Integrative Chiropractor. ACA News. Available from:www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=3298.
7. Golomb BA, McGraw JJ, Evans, MA Dimsdale, JE 2007. “Physician Response to Patient Reports of Drug Adverse Effects: Implications for Patient-Targeted Adverse Effect Surveillance.” Drug Safety; 30(8): 669-675.
8. Wehrwein P. Statin use is up, cholesterol levels are down: Are Americans’ hearts benefiting? Harvard Health Blog. Available from: www.health.harvard.edu/blog/statin-use-is-upcholesterol-levels-are-down-are-americans-hearts-benefiting-201104151518.
9. 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults. J Am Coll Cardiol. Volume 63, Issue 25, Practice Guideline July 2014.
10. Doctor discussion is key for cholesterol treatment. American Heart Association. Blog.heart.org. Available from: http://blog.heart.org/doctor-discussion-is-key-for-cholesterol-treatment.
11. Ganga HV, Slim HB and Thompson PD. A systematic review of statin-induced muscle problems in clinical trials. Am Heart J. 2014 Jul;168(1):6-15. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2014.03.019. Epub 2014 Apr 12.
12. Vladutiu GD. Genetic predisposition to statin myopathy. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2008;20-648-655.
13. Golomb BA, McGraw JJ, Evans, MA Dimsdale, JE 2007. “Physician Response to Patient Reports of Drug Adverse Effects: Implications for Patient-Targeted Adverse Effect Surveillance.” Drug Safety; 30(8): 669-675.
14. Choosing a Statin to Lower Cholesterol. Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs.
15. Jackevicius CA, Mamdani M, Tu JV. Adherence of Statin Therapy in Elderly Patients with and without acute coronary syndromes. JAMA 2002;288:462-467.
16. Fernandez G, Spatz ES, Jablecki C, and Phillips PS. Statin myopathy: a common dilemma not reflected in clinical trials. Cleveland Clin J Med, Vol 78, Number 6. June 2011.
17. Lennemas H, Fager G. Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. Similarities and differences. Clin Pharmacokinet. 1997 May;32(5). 403-425.
18. United States Food and Drug Administration FDA drug safety communication: important safety label changes to cholesterol- lowering statin drugs. Silver Spring (MD): The Food and Drug Administration; 2012. Available from: www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm293101.htm.
19. Cham S, Evans MA, Denenberg JO, Golumb BA. Statinassociated muscle-related adverse effects: a case series of 354 patients. Pharmacotherapy. 2010 Jun;30(6):541-53. doi: 10.1592/phco.30.6.541.
20. Linares LA, Golomb BA, Jaojoco JA, Sikand H, Phillips PS. The modern spectrum of rhabdomyolysis: drug toxicity revealed by creatine kinase screening. Curr Drug Saf. 2009 Sep;4(3):181-7. Epub 2009 Sep 1.
21. Golomb BA, Evans MA, Dimsdale JE, White HL. Effects of Statins on Energy and Fatigue With Exertion: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial. Arch Intern Med/Vol 172 (NO. 15), Aug 13/27, 2012: 1180-1182
22. Hammer W. That Persistent Muscle Pain May Be Drug- Induced. Dynamic Chiropractic – Feb. 24, 2003, Vol. 21, Issue 05.
23. Golomb BA, McGraw JJ, Evans, MA Dimsdale, JE 2007. “Physician Response to Patient Reports of Drug Adverse Effects: Implications for Patient-Targeted Adverse Effect Surveillance.” Drug Safety; 30(8): 669-675.
24. Linares LA, Golomb BA, Jaojoco JA, Sikand H, Phillips PS. The modern spectrum of rhabdomyolysis: drug toxicity revealed by creatine kinase screening. Curr Drug Saf. 2009 Sep;4(3):181-7. Epub 2009 Sep 1.
25. Rodine RJ, Tibbles AC, Kim PSY, Alikhan N. Statin induced myopathy presenting as mechanical musculoskeletal pain observed in two chiropractic patients. J Can Chiropr Assoc. Mar 2010; 54(1): 43–51.
26. Cholesterol Lowering Drugs. Cleveland Clinic. Available from:http://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases_conditions/hic_Cholesterol/hic_About_Cholesterol-Lowering_Drugs.
27. Chiropractic: An Introduction. National Center for Complementary and Integative Health (NCCIH).http://nccam.nih.gov/health/chiropractic/introduction.htm.
28. Kumar A and Cannon CP. Acute Coronary Syndromes: Diagnosis and Management, Part I. Mayo Clin Proc. Oct 2009; 84(10): 917–938.
29. Linares LA, Golomb BA, Jaojoco JA, Sikand H, Phillips PS. The modern spectrum of rhabdomyolysis: drug toxicity revealed by creatine kinase screening. Curr Drug Saf. 2009 Sep;4(3):181-7. Epub 2009 Sep 1.
Dr. James J. Lehman is an associate professor of clinical sciences and director of health sciences postgraduate education at the University of Bridgeport. He is a board-certified chiropractic orthopedist and neuromusculoskeletal medicine specialist at the Community Health Center Inc., in Waterbury, Conn., a federally qualified health center and a patientcentered medical home. Dr. Lehman teaches non-surgical orthopedics, neurosciences, neuromusculoskeletal medicine, evidence-based practice and health care reform classes for the University of Bridgeport. He also serves as the team chiropractor for the Bridgeport Bluefish pro baseball team and mentors fourth-year chiropractic clerks and chiropractic residents in orthopedics/ neuromusculoskeletal medicine. He can be contacted at jlehman@bridgeport.edu.
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John H. Keefe III, D.C.
(918) 663-1111
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IN THE NEWS: Hookah smoke contains cancer-causing chemical People who smoke a hookah or inhale secondhand hookah smoke may be breathing in the chemical benzene, a substance that previous research has linked with an increased risk of leukemia, according to a new study. In the study, researchers collected urine samples from 105 hookah smokers before and after they smoked from a hookah, a pipe that's used to smoke flavored tobacco. They also collected urine samples from 103 people who didn't smoke hookah tobacco but attended events where they'd be exposed to hookah smoke, to test the effect of secondhand hookah smoke on these people's bodies. The researchers found that urine levels of a compound called S-phenylmercapturic acid (SPMA), which forms when benzene is broken down in the body, increased more than fourfold in the hookah smokers who smoked at a hookah lounge, and increased almost twofold in the people who smoked hookah tobacco at home.
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WELLNESS: Surprising Finding: Gut Microbes Make Dark Chocolate Healthy Dark chocolate, especially raw cacao powder, has pronounced health benefits, provided you eat it in moderation Bacteria in your gut break down and ferment the components in dark chocolate and cacao, turning them into absorbable anti-inflammatory compounds that benefit your health One meta-analysis8 published in 2011 found that those who ate the highest amounts of dark chocolate had a 37 percent reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and a 29 percent lower risk for stroke, compared to those who consumed the least. Besides antioxidants, chocolate also contains other potent plant compounds, including anandamide, named after the Sanskrit word for "bliss," which is a neurotransmitter in the brain that temporarily blocks feelings of pain and anxiety. Caffeine and theobromine in chocolate have been shown to produce higher levels of physical energy and mental alertness, and there are likely many more healthy chocolate compounds that have yet to be discovered. Best if above 85% cocoa, most labels will tell.
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CONDITION OF THE WEEK: Blood sugar problems Both hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia particularly type II diabetes respond well to a combination of chiropractic adjustments to restore function to the pancreas, liver and adrenals and nutritional therapy and diet to reestablish proper chemical balance. If you or somebody you know suffers from blood sugar imbalances call for appointment and get on the road to better health.
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FUNNY BONE:Calling Collect My mother was away all weekend at a business conference. During a break, she decided to call home collect. My six-year-old brother picked up the phone and heard a stranger's voice say, "We have a Marcia on the line. Will you accept the charges?" Frantic, he dropped the receiver and came charging outside screaming, "Dad! They've got Mom! And they want money!"
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John H. Keefe III, D.C.
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IN THE NEWS: LOW-LEVEL PESTICIDE EXPOSURE LINKED TO PARKINSON'S DISEASE The risk of Parkinson’s disease clearly increases with exposure to certain environmental toxins, such as pesticides. Pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are potent toxicants that may cause disruptions or damage to the neurological system, including your brain. What is perhaps most concerning is that even ambient exposure to pesticides has been found to increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease considerably,and this was further confirmed by new research linking the disease to extremely low-level pesticide exposure.
CHIROPRACTIC: THE CHIROPRACTIC APPROACH TO PAIN. As Americans we have grown up in a drug culture. Some people don't think twice about putting artificial pharmaceuticals in their mouth because they have this assumption that it must be safe. But when it comes to pain medication this is a dangerous assumption to make. There are certain pain situations that medication might be necessary, temporarily. But the chiropractic/natural healthcare approach to pain is to understand its root cause. Pain can be your friend. It might be the only way you know something is wrong in your body so turning pain off with some dangerous medication makes as much sense as clip in the wire to the oil light when it comes in your car. The oil light is not your enemy; the condition that caused the oil light to come on is what needs to be fixed. When it comes to pain there can be structural causes (subluxation), internal organ or visceral causes, chemical or toxicity causes or emotional/neurotransmitter (brain chemistry) causes. As a chiropractic physician we will search for the root cause and through chiropractic realignment, diet and detoxification, acupuncture and physical therapy, we will correct the cause and the pain will take care of itself. If you or a family member suffers from some pain disorder seek a solution and not a cover-up. More than 2000 people a week die from medications and a high percent of those are from pain medication. Visit our web sites: keefeclinic.com & facebook.com/keefeclinic
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As we discuss inflammatory and anti-inflammatory foods we must understand the difference in body types. There were four body types that require slightly different blends of carbohydrates fat, and proteins. These can be divided into two basic groups one the high complex carbohydrate low-fat and the other being high-protein low carbohydrate. If you’re in a high complex carbohydrate low-fat group then foods like eggs, butter, salt, redmeat and some spices could be a problem. If you’re in the high protein low carb group than refined carbohydrates sugars grains could be a problem. So it’s important to know what body type you have as you review the following list of anti-inflammatory foods. Also any food that you’re allergic to can be pro-inflammatory even on the list of anti-inflammatory foods. For instance the nightshade family can be pro-inflammatory if you’re allergic to them. They include: potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum), many species of sweet and hot peppers (all species of Capsicum, including Capsicum annum), and eggplant (Solanum melongena). Less well know, but equally genuine nightshade foods include ground cherries (all species of Physalis), tomatillos (Physallis ixocapra), garden huckleberry (Solanum melanocerasum), tamarillos (Cyphomandra betacea), pepinos (Solanum muricatum), and naranjillas (Solanum quitoense). Pimentos (also called pimientos) belong to the nightshade family, and usually come from the pepper plant Capsicum annum. Pimento cheese and pimento-stuffed olives are therefore examples of foods that should be classified as containing nightshade components. Although the sweet potato, whose scientific name is Ipomoea batatas, belongs to the same plant order as the nightshades (Polemoniales), it does not belong to the Solanaceae family found in this order, but to a different plant family called Convolvulaceae.
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So as you read the list of anti-inflammatory foods keep in mind that your body type might preclude some of these foods as well as your food allergies.
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Inflammation is one of the body's defense mechanisms. Inflammation results in increased blood flow in response to infection and certain chronic conditions. Symptoms of inflammation include redness, swelling, pain, and heat.
But when inflammation becomes uncontrolled then it becomes the soil for chronic disease. Besides foods, stress, obesity, toxicity and an acidic chemistry help produce uncontrolled inflammation in the body.
Diseases that arise from inflammatory chemistry can be the following: Autoimmune disorders, Obesity, allergies, Alzheimer's, anemia, ankylosing spondylitis, asthma, autism, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, celiac, Crohn's disease, congestive heart failure, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, eczema, fibromyalgia, fibrosis, gallbladder disease, Gerd, Guillain-Barré , Hashimoto's thyroiditis, heart attack, kidney failure, lupus, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, pancreatitis, psoriasis, polymyalgia rheumatica, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, stroke, surgical complications, many other pain disorders.
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Specifics vary from diet to diet, but in general anti-inflammatory diets suggest:
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As we get older we can start noticing our bodies more than when we were younger. A lot of times these symptoms are completely reversible. The reason people have more health challenges as they get older is simply due to the fact that time is the friend of disease. Let me explain, if you have a nutritional deficiency or a misaligned vertebrae in your back those are the seeds of disease. Just like in a garden seeds take time to grow. Disease takes time to grow some times 10,15, 20 years etc.
Disease does not have to be a normal part of aging. Yes we might slow down a little bit, maybe we can't run as fast as we used to and maybe your reflexes aren't as fast because we all age. But that doesn't mean that we have to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer etc. chiropractic offers a proactive approach to staying well. When you maintain a better spinal alignment you have less stress on your nervous system. Your nervous system controls and coordinates every other organ in your body. If your body can regulate your digestive system better or your hormonal system better then you will stay in better health. If your diet is supplying you with the building blocks that your body needs to maintain proper chemistry and healthy tissue cells then you're going to stay in a higher level of health.
The facts are these simple principles can have a profound effect on your level of health, your attitude toward life and your ability to stay active and healthy into old age. Most health approaches are designed to wait until you get sick and then focus on suppressing the symptoms of the illness i.e. high blood pressure pills for hypertension etc. I think most of us realize that drugs don't heal in most cases they just manage the disease as we get sicker. Natural health care works with the very foundation of health.
If you want to stay healthy and active then you must take care of your body. Eating right for your genetic makeup, making sure you're taking extra supplements that match your nutritional needs, and keeping your nervous system free of pressure are the most dynamic thing you can do for your health. It beats any annual exam, MRI, blood work or any other test to find disease. I'm not saying testing is not important I'm saying being proactive is the most important. You don't have to spend the last 5, 10+ years in a rest home hooked up to machines and taking 20+ drugs. You can stay active and vital up to the end. Call today for an evaluation. Get and stay on the road to better health. Health is the best health insurance on the market.
If you have high blood pressure you should do the following:
Lose weight if you're overweight.
Quit smoking if you smoke.
Be more active, striving to exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
Eat a healthy diet based on your body type and if you’r salt sensitive stop salt.
Cut back on alcohol to no more than one drink a day for women and two a day for men.
Get your spine in proper alignment. (The “Journal of Human Hypertension” released a study indicating chiropractic neck adjustments lower blood pressure better than two medications given at the same time.)
For some people, this advice (and following through with it) is enough to get their blood pressure back to normal levels.
If the above recommendations don’t seem to correct the problem then there are additional things to consider.
Seeking emotional stability
If you are not handling stress properly we can help outline a program to resolve that.
Isometric exercises and breathing
New studies show that by using isometric gripping exercises you can reduce your blood pressure considerably. Also Controlled breathing, trying to maintain less than 10 breaths a minute can lower blood pressure. I would recommend two websites: zona.com and lowermypressure.com.
Minerals like potassium and magnesium can be the cause for some people’s high blood pressure if your low in them.
Foods that are high in potassium:
Apricots, avocado, bananas, cantaloupe, melons, kiwi, lima beans, milk, oranges and orange juice, potatoes, prunes, spin age, tomatoes, meat, fish, and poultry.
Foods high in magnesium:
Whole grain bread, dark green leafy vegetables, halibut, most kinds of nuts, especially almonds and cashews, soybeans, oatmeal, potatoes, peanut butter, black-eyed peas, and yogurt.
Other nutrients like garlic, Co-q-10, Hawthorne, L- arginine, fish oils, apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper, ginseng and green or oolong tea have all been shown beneficial.
The salt myth
Research shows that for the vast majority of people,natural salt (sea salts) consumption does not raise blood pressure. The truth is avoiding salt can be dangerous to your health.
One study in the “Journal of Human Hypertension” (13:777-80, 1999) concluded that substituting table salt for potassium, magnesium, sodium salt... 9 out of 20 elderly hypertensive patients experienced an 11 point drop in their daytime systolic blood pressure. It turns out that natural sea salt rich in natural potassium, magnesium and sodium helps to normalize healthy blood pressure levels. un less your sodium sensitive, chances are your high blood pressure stems from a lack of the correct ratio of key minerals. Salt is basically sodium chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are necessary for survival for all known living creatures, including humans.
Don’t be afraid of the sun
Vitamin D is plentiful in sunlight, and it is necessary for a healthy immune system. The UV rays from the sun have been found to boost mood, which may lower blood pressure.
Get a good nights sleep
Not getting enough sleep can raise your blood pressure. If you don’t feel like you’re sleeping as well as you should, and especially if your sleeping partner complains that you are snoring more than normal, you might want to get a snore guard from our office to improve your sleep.
Eat more chocolate
A recent study published in the “Archives of Internal Medicine” found that eating or drinking cocoa lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of death in older men. A substance known as flavan-3-ols found in dark chocolate has been shown to lower blood pressure and improve the function of cells lining the blood vessels. Men who ate chocolate regularly over a 15 year study were found to have lower blood pressure than those who didn’t, even when weight, smoking, physical activity and other factors were taken into account. Remember it’s dark chocolate, I recommend finding one that has cocoa content 80% or higher. Don’t eat the whole bar just break off one layer per day.
Drink your water
Dehydration can increase your blood pressure.
Water needs are based on body weight. The formula is half the body weight considered in ounces. For example a 100 pound person’s cleansing dose would be 50 ounces of fluids per day. 80% of that would be the minimum dose, for instance 80% of 50 ounces is 40 ounces. For a hundred pound person they should drink between 40 to 50 ounces a day to keep hydrated otherwise they become dehydrated which can lead to several different health problems, high blood pressure is just one of them.
Many of us have been jaded by the constant onslaught of "the latest" medical news, much of which seems to contradict what we just heard or read about the week before.
But on July 9, millions of us - patients and health care providers alike - paid rapt attention when the federal government's National Institutes of Health released findings from a major clinical trial, warning of the risks associated with a widely used type of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that combines two female hormones, estrogen and progestin.
It's estimated that 6 million postmenopausal American women currently take Prempro or similar combined estrogen-progestin drugs to ease menopause symptoms and to improve their health and well-being.
Risks Outweigh Benefit,
Study Found
The study, called the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), found that the combined drugs caused increases in breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes and blood clots. Although the risk to an individual woman may be small, the number of cases occurring in the population at large can be great, researchers said. And those risks outweigh the drugs' actual benefits - a small decrease in hip fractures and a decrease in cases of colorectal cancer. The study was released four years earlier than expected because of researchers' concerns.
The WHI study is the first-ever long-term randomized controlled clinical trial - considered the gold standard by medical researchers - of hormone replacement therapy. The WHI was established in 1991 by the government to address the most common causes of death, disability and impaired quality of life in postmenopausal women. The Medical College of Wisconsin is one of 40 WHI clinical sites nationwide where study participants are seen and monitored.
The Women's Health Initiative is a 15-year multimillion-dollar endeavor, and one of the largest US prevention studies of its kind. The study was designed to look at the effects not only of HRT, but also diet modification and vitamin and mineral supplements. Some 67,000 women from across the country, ranging in age from 50 to 79, are participating in the WHI clinical trials. In addition to those women, the study is also following the medical history and health habits of an additional 100,000 women to examine the relationship between lifestyle, health and risk factors with specific disease outcomes. Final results are due out in 2006.
More than 16,600 U.S. women are participating in the combined estrogen-progestin portion of the trial, among them 438 women who are in the Medical College of Wisconsin group. They were sent letters telling them to discontinue taking those drugs. The WHI is continuing to study the effects of ERT, or estrogen-alone drugs, used by women who have had a hysterectomy. WHI has not stopped that portion of the study.
Is there a safe alternative?
For years women have found safe alternatives to synthetic hormone replacement therapy. Because these approaches are not patented you don't always hear about them. When a pharmaceutical company can obtain sole rights to a drug they can charge what they want and can usually make millions if not billions of dollars before the patent runs out. Companies that sell natural products are not able to do this and thus are under considerably more competition and have less resources to advertise. That's why most people not only know about drug therapy approaches but assume there are no other choices.
The good news is there are many safe and effective alternatives to hormone replacement therapy. When considering a healthy hormone state one should consider normal lifestyle habits. Diet, exercise, plenty of clean water, sunshine, and sleep are just a few of the important lifestyle habits to maintain a healthy chemistry. Along with these lifestyle habits different nutritional products have been shown to be very effective. Herbs like black cohosh have a very high success rate in controlling many of the symptoms of menopause like hot flashes. Stronger bones, healthier heart, balanced emotions, healthier skin and a normal sexual response can be maintained by properly balancing hormones during this time of life.
Different foods have been shown to be beneficial in this strategy. Foods made from soybean or flax can help a woman maintain a better hormone balance. At Keefe Clinic we have different options in utilizing these particular foods.
Lab work, symptoms survey questionnaires and vega testing can be helpful in developing a nutritional approach to hormone balance. We carry a line of creams and pellets that have natural estrogen and progesterone to help maintain a proper level. The hormones in these products are derived from plants, yet the estrogen is the actual form of one of the estrogens naturally produced in the body. These hormones have been used for over 20 years with no known side effects.
If you would like to be evaluated for hormone balance, be it for symptoms of menopause or premenstrual syndrome, don't hesitate to ask.
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As a physician I like to do blood work, it's a window in to what's going on inside the body. Lab work can lead to effective treatment in returning health or maintaining health. But then it depends on the tools the physician uses. If the tools are toxic or dangerous then maybe it's better not to know what's going on inside the body, it least that's what the latest task force of independent scientists concluded.
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For instance if your doctors is going to use drugs that make your liver sick because he finds your cholesterol elevated then maybe it's best he doesn't know your cholesterol is high. Test study after study indicates drugs for cholesterol not only don't work (save lives), but they lead to other health problems and shorten a person's life. That's a similar finding with the PSA test. Because of the damage to men's health and the lack of extending life from all the expensive and dangerous procedures that are done once a positive PSA is found this task force recommends not doing routine PSA's.
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Sure the urologists are screaming bloody murder but then this finding will substantially reduce their income.
So should a man in his 40s do a PSA? Here's what the task force says: Oct. 7, 2011 -- Men should just say "no" to prostate cancer screening with the common PSA blood test, according to draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
About a third of men over age 40, and about half of men age 65 to 79, get regular blood tests for prostate specific antigen, or PSA.
Rising PSA levels are an early sign of prostate cancer, but the test gives a false cancer signal up to 80% of the time. Moreover, not all PSA-detected prostate cancers are dangerous.
"The common perception that PSA-based early detection of prostate cancer saves lives is simply not supported by the scientific evidence," task force co-vice chair Michael L. LeFevre, MD, MSPH, professor of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri, tells WebMD.
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"In the American Cancer Society's 2010 guidelines, we said we were uncertain: The evidence is not convincing that PSA testing works," Lichtenfeld tells WebMD. "We feel the task force came to a reasonable conclusion."
Just as women once were told that hormone replacement therapy would prevent heart disease -- until scientific studies showed that it did not -- Lichtenfeld says current evidence strongly suggests that doctors were wrong to tell men that PSA testing would protect them from dying from prostate cancer.
"Men need to know the truth," Lichtenfeld says. "We have gone through 20 years where we have had strong voices telling us PSA testing works. So there is a huge component of men who believe PSA testing has saved their lives. Now, when we say it wasn't necessarily so, that becomes a difficult conversation."
The idea of PSA screening is that it will detect early prostate cancers that can be cured. But clinical trials fail to show that PSA screening cuts prostate-cancer death rates.
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"At this point we have had over 370,000 men enrolled in clinical trials, and we still do not see a significant benefit," LeFevre says. "If there is a benefit, it is very small. That is different from zero benefit, but the true benefit is somewhere between small and none."
The harm from a PSA test is that a positive test leads to a biopsy . Biopsy can detect prostate cancer -- but that's where troubles begin.
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"The major problem is that most of the cancers we detect do not need to be treated, but we do not know which ones do need to be treated," LeFevre says. "And these treatments do have significant harms."
Etzioni argues that the Gleason score -- a scale used to evaluate prostate cancer severity -- tells doctors which cancers should be treated and which should not. But Lichtenfeld agrees with LeFevre that "we do not have a test to tell which cancers are indolent and which are aggressive."
Once they learn they have a prostate cancer, most U.S. men want treatment. And LeFevre notes that treatment carries very real risks. "I'm not going to criticize men who believe that their lives have been saved by this test," because that's what doctors have told them, Lichtenfeld said. "If you're sitting there and you wet your pants three times a day, you've got to believe it's worth it, that it saved your life."
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Many men who agree to a PSA test do not understand what it is. Some common misconceptions:
PSA is just a measure of inflammation, and it can be elevated for many reasons besides cancer: normal enlargement of the prostate with age, an infection, even recent sex, a strenuous bike ride or horseback riding.
A recent Johns Hopkins University study found surprisingly high rates of hospitalization after prostate biopsies and a 12-fold greater risk of death in those who develop infections.
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About 90 percent of prostate cancers found through screening are early-stage. Most will grow so slowly they will never threaten a man's life, but there's no good way to tell which ones will. Research suggests that tumors causing symptoms are more likely to warrant treatment than those that are not. Also, finding aggressive prostate tumors early may not affect how lethal they prove to be; the PSA test may just let men learn of them sooner than they otherwise would.
For every 1,000 men who undergo prostate-cancer surgery, five die within a month. Another 10 to 70 men will have complications of surgery. And 200 to 300 of these men will go on to have long-term urinary incontinence, impotence, or both.
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"The net result is that doctors and patients and families are going to have to have very careful conversations with their doctors that really emphasize what the scientific evidence shows," Lichtenfeld says. "And that is not overwhelmingly in favor of PSA testing."So the question is should you have a PSA? What if you had a positive PSA would you run and have a dangerous and ineffective treatments done simply because you're scared? This study, which if you read it carefully, had over 370,000 men. It is a massive study. You would be surprised how small studies there are that release new dangerous drugs on the market or medical surgical procedures that have not been studied fully as this has.
If you have a Chiropractic Physician to do the PSA and follow his recommendations then that would be a completely different story. Working with nutrition and diet and lifestyle to improve your immune system and target the prostate with nutrients that have been shown to improve function makes a lot of sense. This is the best cancer to have. I know that sounds strange to your ears but if you read the study carefully you will realize the vast majority of man with prostate cancer outlive the cancer. Cancer studies show that nutrients from vegetables can stop the progression of cancer at every stage. Do you think improving your diet might help prostate cancer? What about restoring nerve function in your body? The nervous system regulates and controls the immune system, the hormonal system and directly influences the health of prostate. What do you think the effects of improving the nerve supply through chiropractic adjustments would have on your prostate?
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Getting a PSA is a personal decision. The studies indicate that if you are having symptoms related to prostate than getting a PSA might be indicated, it's just what you do with those results once you get them.
Study after study indicates conservative healthcare is the most intelligent approach. You're not going to be left impotent, incontinent or worse with chiropractic and natural healthcare. The choice is yours. You can follow the crowd or you can follow wisdom.
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We have entered the era of chronic disease. From herpes to AIDS, heart disease to cancer, more and more conditions are appearing that we have no wonder drugs to cure. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is another. Although labeled incurable by the medical profession, who are seeking for some wonder drug, this disease is being helped through Chiropractic. It is important to note that most of the new health problems of today are immune system-related.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Chiropractic is the #1 effective way to rebuild a weakened immune system.
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In a three-year study of 107 individuals who had been under chiropractic care for five years or more, Ronald Pero, Ph.D., chief of cancer prevention research at New York's Prevention Institute, found that chiropractic patients had a 200% greater immune competence than people who had not received chiropractic care.
I felt that, rather than boring you with a lot of facts and figures about CFS, I would let a very special patient tell you her story.
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In July of 1985, I was diagnosed as having Chronic Mononucleosis. I was sent home with directions of bed rest, and really thought nothing serious of it. Weeks passed and I was still very ill. I had to quit my job. Months passed, and I was still very ill. I was getting worse, not better.
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Medical expenses started piling up in the desperate search to find "my cure," "my health again," that which had been taken for granted for so many years. I was sent from one doctor to the next until I landed in the hands of an infectious disease specialist only to have him again do more poking and prodding.
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In the end, I was sent home with a pamphlet entitled, "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - How to Live with Your Disease". All I could see before my eves was a picture painted with illness. . I drove home with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome branded in my mind, soul, and body.
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CFS is an illness that is not totally understood. Its cause is unknown and it consists of many different symptoms ranging from severe and debilitating fatigue. muscular aches and pains, neurological problems, flu-like symptoms to a host of different other problems. I found nothing to stop the horrible sickness. Nothing could be done to control the waxing and waning of the illness. The months passed into years.
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I truly began to believe I would have to learn to live with this illness, until I was led to Dr. John Keefe and his practice. After a few weeks of working with Dr. Keefe. I began to start picking up. The sick, flu-like feelings started to subside. Little by little, my energy started coming back. I stopped "living my illness" for the first time in along time. I knew I was pulling out of it!
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Through the incredible Vega testing Dr. Keefe performs, my body has been able to communicate what supplements it needs. Through the spinal adjustments, my immune system is straightening out.
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I have come a long way in the last 6 months. It has taken a lot of serious dedication to Dr. Keefe's program. I know I would still be lying on the couch if I had not kept the faith and hung in there!
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I urge anyone with any illness to go through the program. It has worked for me! I'm back to working full time and feeling better and stronger every day. I no longer "live with.. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
I HAVE MY LIFE BACK.
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is a neurological condition, which affects the nervous system. Epilepsy is also known as a seizure "sudden, excessive discharge of nervous-system electrical activity that usually causes a change in behavior". It is usually diagnosed after a person has had at least two seizures that were not caused by some known medical condition like alcohol withdrawal or extremely low blood sugar.
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The seizures in epilepsy disorder characterized by transient but recurrent disturbances of brain function that may or may not be associated with impairment or loss of consciousness and abnormal movements or behavior. It may be related to a brain injury or a family tendency, but most of the time the cause is unknown. The word "epilepsy" does not indicate anything about the cause of the person's seizures, what type they are, or how severe they are.
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If I have one seizure, does that mean I will get epilepsy?
About half of the people who have one seizure without a clear cause will have another one, usually within 6 months. You are twice as likely to have another seizure if you have a known brain injury or other type of brain abnormality. If you do have two seizures, there's about an 80% chance that you'll have more.
If your first seizure occurred at the time of an injury or infection in the brain, you are more likely to develop epilepsy than if you had not had a seizure in that situation.
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EEG are also likely if your doctor finds abnormalities on a neurological examination; a set of tests of the functioning of your nervous system that is performed in the doctor's office.
Seizures have a beginning, middle, and end. When an individual is aware of the beginning, it may be thought of as a warning or aura. A warning before a seizure; a simple partial seizure occuring within seconds before a complex partial or secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizure, or it may occur alone; also a warning before a migraine headache. On the other hand, an individual may not be aware of the beginning and therefore have no warning.
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Sometimes, the warning or aura is not followed by any other symptoms. It may be considered a simple partial seizure Simple partial seizure that involves only part of the brain and does not impair consciousness.
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The middle of the seizure may take several different forms. For people who have warnings, the aura may simply continue or it may turn into a complex partial seizure. An epileptic seizure that involves only part of the brain and impairs consciousness; often preceded by a simple partial seizure (aura, or warning).or a convulsion. An older term for a tonic-clonic seizure. For those who do not have a warning, the seizure may continue as a complex partial seizure or it may evolve into a convulsion.
The end to a seizure represents a transition from the seizure back to the individual normal state. This period is referred to as the “post-ictal period (an ictus is a seizure) and signifies the recovery period for the brain. It may last from seconds to minutes to hours, depending on several factors including which part(s) of the brain were affected by the seizure and whether the individual was on anti-seizure medication. If a person has a complex partial seizure or a convulsion, their level of awareness gradually improves during the postictal period, much like a person waking up from anesthesia after an operation.
When are people most likely to get epilepsy?
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New cases of epilepsy are most common among children, especially during the first year of life. The rate of new cases gradually declines until about age 10, and then becomes stable. After age 55 or 60, the rate starts to increase, as people develop strokes, brain tumors, or Alzheimer's disease. (All of these disorders can cause epilepsy.)
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Over the past 30 years I have seen several patients with seizure disorders and the good news is most of them respond to treatment. The response can be anywhere from substantially less seizures to a complete resolution. One common factor that we will see are changes within the skull and upper neck. This can cause irritation on the central nervous system and, in susceptible individuals, produce seizures. Chiropractic physicians are the only ones trained in the detection and correction of vertebral subluxations.
Because of our unique training in these structural, neurological dysfunctions most other physicians will miss this potential cause of epilepsy.
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There are also biochemical components to epilepsy that include toxicity, allergies and specific nutritional deficiencies essential for normal brain function. Again these areas are ones that only doctors in natural healthcare specialize in.
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Because these two important areas are overlooked by most physician types most patients with epilepsy are sentenced to years of taking harmful, suppressive drugs that don't cure the problem. These drugs can affect a person's personality, energy level and quality of life.
It's important to note that not all patients can be helped through natural healthcare. But that's true with any other type of health care that you might try.
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Unlike drug therapy which kills over 2000 people a week in the United States, based on CDC statistics, natural healthcare is the safest of all forms of health care. The worst most patients notice under natural healthcare is they don't respond. The good news is natural healthcare has well over 80% success rate with most health problems. I don't mean successfully suppressing the symptoms. I mean resolving the underlying chemical, biological, structural issues that cause the condition and thus the symptoms disappear.
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Osteoarthritis is rarely appreciated as one of the greatest problems affecting man. This form of arthritis is so universal that it is often regarded as a normal part of aging. Osteoarthritis is usually progressive and often de-forming and disabling. The prevalence in the U.S. for all aged 25-74 is 32.5 percent for the hands (42.4 million persons), 22.2 percent for the feet (29 million), 3.8 percent for the knees (5 million) and 1.3 percent for the hips (men only, 765,000).
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There are many names for Osteoarthritis. The name most used is degenerated joint disease (D.J.D). The classification of Osteoarthritis as a disease has even been questioned by some authorities, who prefer to redefine it as "a mechanism of repair of dense tissue". Osteoarthritis means inflammation of a bony joint, the term is usually applied to the process involved in D.J.D even though it is understood as a noninflammatory process that primarily involves breakdown of joint cartilage. This extremely common arthritis can even cause severe pain and disability, leading to loss of work and independents in the aged population.
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More than 50 different terms have been applied to osteoarthritis. The most common terms including osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis, degenerated arthrosis and degenerative joint disease (D.J.D). The difference between the terms arthrosis and arthritis has come from the fact that the disease process is not always inflammatory. For this reason, D.J.D has gained the most universal acceptance in the literature.
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Articular cartilage provides the joint with a self lubricating surface and works well under normal joint loading conditions. However, cartilage has a limited capacity for repair and re-generation, so damage to cartilage disrupts the normal function of this tissue, thus interfering with a normal lubricating process within the joint. Insufficient lubrication may be a primary factor in the cause of osteoarthritis. The tissues of the synovial joint are inherently susceptible to the development of osteoarthritis if range of motion or the amount of stress on the articular cartilage is excessive. Joints are threatened during normal day-to-day activities, and much of the joint protection is from the dynamic system of coordinated muscle activity. O'Connor et al. defines a protective muscular reflex as a somatic muscular activity that prevents injury to a normal joint, or further damage to the injured joint, by preventing the joint from exceeding its normal range of motion.
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NSAIDs are broad class of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, Voltaren and other similar drugs. NSAIDs continue to be the mainstay of drug therapy for patients with osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, these drugs are over prescribed, readily available and not used judiciously. These drugs are not without side effects; the American College of Rheumatology guidelines suggest that patients receiving long-term NSAID therapy obtained a blood count, urinalysis and chemistry panel every three months. Monitoring cannot wait until the side effects of NSAIDs cause symptoms. Renal failure does not produce symptoms until it becomes severe.
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NSAIDs are the most prescribed drug in the U.S.. Even though this class of drug is widely used and perceived safe, there are serious risks of complications. Among these are gastrointestinal ulcers and hemorrhages that can lead to perforation and death. More than one percent of the population uses these drugs on a daily basis. Adverse effects from these medications as a group, are reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more frequently than any other medication class. In a study of economic effects of gastric ulcers in NSAID users, the per patient cost of hospitalization was $3,450; those in need of hospitalization and surgery cost of 15,700. The incidents in severity of acute mucosal injury are does depend but virtually 100% of subjects developed lesions after a single 650-1300 mg dose of aspirin. NSAID- associated GI problems were estimated to cause 32,000 hospitalizations and 3200 deaths per year in the U.S.. There is little evidence to suggest that NSAIDs have any advantage over sample analgesic's and sample analgesic's are also unsatisfactory. In a study of patience with chronic knee pain and osteoarthritis, treatment with either an anti-inflammatory, and analgesic dose of ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen showed no evidence of superiority of either the anti-inflammatory dose or the lower dose of ibuprofen compared to acetaminophen.
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Rapid deterioration of joints from long-term NSAID treatment has been called analgesic arthropathy and is thought to be caused by loss of protective pain sensation, but it seems more likely that it is a direct effect of the drug on cartilage. In addition, oral administration of aspirin markedly accelerates development of osteoarthritis in C57 black mice, a strain genetically predisposed to the disease. If along with the external evidence that NSAIDs interfere with metabolism of articular cartilage and a repair of bone, clinical experience has shown use of these drugs cause acetabular bone destruction, joint disease and avascular necrosis of the hip. Even though NSAID induced arthritis has been a well-known since the 1960s, in a recent survey, 94 percent of primary care physicians indicated they would prescribed NSAIDs as an initial treatment for elderly patients with uncomplicated hip osteoarthritis.
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Chiropractic adjustments are well-known for establishing proper joint balance and function. By improving the alignment of the body each joint is allowed to move in a more natural and balanced manner. Also chiropractic adjustments are beneficial in establishing normal range of motion and normal muscle reflex function as well as release of beta-endorphins (a natural pain killer).
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Exercise is the next most important factor when it comes to joint health. Research study after research study has shown the beneficial effects in preventing or reversing arthritis with regular exercise. Diet: a number of studies have shown a large number of patients with osteoarthritis are ingesting less than the U.S. recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, C., D., E. ., B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid in the minerals zinc, magnesium, iron and calcium.
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Most of these vitamins are associated with the chronic degenerated disease rampant in our society. Glucosamine sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, fish oils, magnesium, B-3, collagen, curcumin and other specialty nutrients have shown great promise in the controlled and even reversal of this disease. Through proper evaluation Dr. Keefe can establish a treatment program to help you regain your health.
Research into nitric oxide has blossomed. Scientists have found the enzymes with which cells make the short-lived gas and have shown that it plays a role in activities as diverse as memory formation, tumor suppression, and immunity. Some brain cells communicate using the gas, and immune cells let loose bursts of nitric oxide to kill infectious organisms or cancer cells. By increasing blood flow, nitric oxide even plays a role in penile erections; the celebrated drug Viagra amplifies the actions of the gas. In 1998 the Nobel prize winning medicine and physiology award was received for the discovery and understanding of the nitric oxide pathway. According to the announcement by the Nobel Assembly, nitric oxide performs important functions in many systems of the body.
Blood pressure:
Nitric oxide controls blood pressure and prevents formation of blood clots by signaling the muscles that control relaxation and expansion of blood vessels.
Heart:
When arteries become clogged, they produce less nitric oxide than normal. Treatment to increase nitric oxide, widening blood vessels and increasing blood flow.
Infections:
Huge quantities of nitric oxide are produced in white blood cells to kill invading bacteria and parasites.
Lungs:
Inhalation of nitric oxide gas has been effective in treating some intensive care patients and infants with lung problems.
Nervous system:
When nitric oxide is formed in nerve cells, it can stimulate the brain and modulate many functions, from behavior to gastrointestinal activity.
Cancer:
White blood cells use nitric oxide to defend the body against tumors. Scientists are investigating whether it can be used to stop the growth of tumors.
The nitric oxide pathway is the basis for penile and clitoral arousal, erection and sensitivity. From a nutritional standpoint Arginine is the key to nitric oxide. The body uses the amino acid L-Arginine to produce nitric oxide. Based on this biochemical fact we offer men and women safe and effective products for sexual libido and a cream targeted to help women achieve orgasms. Studies have shown up to 75 percent of women have had this problem. Over 46 percent of women experience little or no sexual satisfaction from clitoral orgasm and only 25 percent achieve orgasms with intercourse. In fact, countless number of women, between the age of 18 and 80, do not even know what an orgasm is or how it is achieved. Whether you are multi-orgasmic or are among the 46 percent of women who are sexually frustrated, every woman who desires maximum sexual fulfillment, greater intimacy, and enhanced relationships stands to benefit from these products.
If you're reading this pamphlet and identify with either an issue of libido (normal sexual desire) or you have had a problem achieving orgasms then we have products that can help. For libido we recommend our herbal products combined with Arginine. With problems concerning achieving orgasm, particularly in women, we recommend our Arginine based cream. Ask Dr. Keefe about our Arginine products and restore your nitric oxide pathway back to normal.
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FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome) is a widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue disorder for which the cause is still unknown. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons - the soft fibrous tissues in the body.
Most patients with FMS say that they ache all over. Their muscles may feel like they have been pulled or overworked. Sometimes the muscles twitch and at other times they burn. More women than men are afflicted with FMS, and it shows up in people of all ages.
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To help your family and friends relate to your condition, have them think back to the last time they had a bad flu. Every muscle in their body shouted out in pain. In addition, they felt devoid of energy as though someone had unplugged their power supply. While the severity of symptoms fluctuate from person to person, FMS may resemble a post-viral state. This similarity is the reason experts in the field of FMS and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) believe that these two syndromes may be one and the same. Gulf War syndrome also overlaps with FMS/CFS.
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Pain - The pain of FMS has no boundaries. People describe the pain as deep muscular aching, throbbing, shooting, and stabbing. Quite often, the pain and stiffness are worse in the morning and you may hurt more in muscle groups that are used repetitively.
Fatigue - This symptom can be mild in some patients and yet incapacitating in others. The fatigue has been described as "brain fatigue" in which patients feel totally drained of energy.
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Sleep disorder - Most FMS patients have an associated sleep disorder called the alpha-EEG anomaly. Patients appeared to spend the night with one foot in sleep and the other one out of it.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome - Constipation, diarrhea, frequent abdominal pain, abdominal gas, and nausea represent symptoms frequently found in roughly 40 to 70% of FMS patients.
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Chronic headaches - Recurrent migraine or tension-type headaches are seen in about 50% of FMS patients and can pose a major problem in coping for this patient group.
Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome - This syndrome, sometimes referred to as TMJ or TMD, causes tremendous jaw-related face and head pain in one quarter of FMS patients. Typically, the problems are related to the muscles and ligaments surrounding the jaw joint and not necessarily the joint itself.
Other common symptoms - Premenstrual syndrome and painful periods, chest pain, morning stiffness, cognitive or memory impairment, numbness and tingling sensations, muscle twitching, irritable bladder, the feeling of swollen extremities, skin sensitivities, dry eyes and mouth, dizziness, and impaired coordination can occur. Patients are often sensitive to odors, loud noises, bright lights, and sometimes even the medications that they are prescribed.
Aggravating factors - Changes in weather, cold or drafty environments, infections, allergies, hormonal fluctuations (premenstrual and menopausal states), stress, depression, anxiety and over-exertion may all contribute to symptom flare-ups.
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The cause of FMS remains elusive, but there are many triggering events thought to precipitate its onset. A few examples would be an infection (viral or bacterial), an automobile accident or the development of another disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or hypothyroidism. These triggering events probably don't cause FMS, but rather, they may awaken an underlying physiological abnormality that is already present.
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Long term follow-up studies on FMS have shown that it is chronic, but the symptoms may wax and wane. The impact that FMS has on daily living activities, including the ability to work a full-time job, differs among patients. Overall, studies show that FMS may be equally as disabling as rheumatoid arthritis.
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Currently there are no laboratory tests available for diagnosing Fibromyalgia. Doctors must rely on patient histories, self-reported symptoms, a physical examination and an accurate manual tender point examination. Proper implementation of the exam determines the presence of multiple tender points at characteristic locations.
Hope for fibromyalgia.
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Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to help several patients with fibromyalgia. It has been my experience that there is not one cause for this condition so individualizing a patient's treatment program is essential. The immune system appears to be the most common weakness with the patients that I have worked with. Through the use of diagnostic testing like Vega testing we have been able to unravel the underlying cause and develop a treatment program on an individual basis. Not all patients respond as quickly to therapy because not all patients have the same underlying cause. From detoxification to specialized nutrients to rebalance the immune system as well as treating individual nutritional deficiencies, patients have responded extremely well to care. Though not all patients show a complete recovery, many do. Our program consists of developing an individual diet that matches a patients genetic makeup, targeting therapy to balance the immune system through chiropractic adjustments and specialized nutritional formulas. Enhancing a patients neurotransmitters with nutritional products that help enhance sleep and educating patients on the importance of following the five laws of natural health (see our pamphlets on the natural laws of health).
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Each health-care system around the world has an underlying philosophy that it is based on. Medicine is based on an evolutionary/materialistic philosophy whereas Chiropractic is based on a vitalistic philosophy. Philosophies do have an effect on the theory and practice of the health-care system. For instance medicine has looked at the appendix as a residual organ leftover in our evolutionary development. And for years the appendix was routinely removed when surgeons were in the abdomen doing other surgeries. Today we realize that was a mistake because those patients without an appendix have more colon disease and cancer.
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Chiropractic philosophy has always respected the body even before we understood how each organ worked, realizing those organs were there for a purpose. The vitalistic philosophy recognizes that if there is a design or intelligence then there is a designer or universal intelligence. Where as materialistic philosophy would look at design as a curious accident. In a vitalistic framework if one was walking in a forest and found a watch there wouldn't be any questioning about this watch being formed by some marvel of random action. In a vitalistic philosophy man is understood as more than just material or a bag of chemicals. Man has a spiritual component. As we study the effect of attitude upon health we will explore both mental and spiritual attitude.
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First it is important to note that scientific studies have proven the effect of spiritual/religious activities on the health of man. People that exercise regular spiritual disciplines such as prayer or even church attendance have been shown to be healthier than the general population. Since our goal with each of our patients is to help you achieve the highest level of health let's for a minute explore how spiritual and mental attitudes affect our health.
Let's first look at a positive mental attitude.
If you are a patient reading this pamphlet you have been explained how the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord and the billions of nerve fibers) controls and coordinates your body. By definition health is when every organ, part and system of the body is functioning normally and its function is coordinated with the needs, wants, stresses and demands of the body. The basic principle of Chiropractic understands health as the normal expression of the nervous system to each cell in the body and the corresponding feedback from the cells or body to the central nervous system.
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The brain and spinal cord are the key components of the central nervous system and the mind is expressed through these structures. Fortunately for us the unconscious mind or subconscious mind primarily is responsible for keeping track of the hundreds of millions of impulses traveling to and from the central nervous system. Our conscious mind would be overwhelmed since some of us have problems chewing gum and walking at the same time. Fortunately our subconscious mind can effortlessly keeping track of all the incoming information and perfectly devise a plan to maintain normal function. Even so our conscious mind does have an effect on our subconscious mind. Study after study shows the connection between the stress that we deal with on a conscious level and a corresponding affect on our subconscious mind and thus our bodies. So when our mind is at peace that has a positive effect on our bodies.
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How does this spiritual part of man affect the mental part of man and is there a connection between spirit and body?
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There are different disciplines that are considered spiritual in nature. Prayer, meditation, fasting, service to mankind could be considered a short list. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness temperance are considered some of the spiritual attributes. We hear a lot about happiness in our society. Happiness depends on happenings and with a lot of people if good things are happening then they are happy and if bad things are happening then they are sad.
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Joy is more of an inward attitude and does not necessarily depend on what's happening. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones from the writings of Solomon. Many people who have obtained this spiritual attribute can maintain joy even when circumstances would appear adverse. I think if one understands the importance of attitude upon the function of the body one could quickly see how Joy would be better than sadness.
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If one could call upon the resources of their spirit to maintain a constant positive attitude then there would be a corresponding benefit to that person's health. Many scientific studies show this connection. There is a difference between just trying to maintain a positive mental attitude and being able to draw on the resources of one's own spirit. It's much like looking at the conscious mind and subconscious mind. If a person's conscious mind had to maintain all of the bodies' functions than you can see how overwhelmed and impossible that responsibility would be. Our subconscious mind has more than enough resources to accomplish this task. In the same way as we learn to tap into the resources that are available on a spiritual level we can draw upon positive energies to help maintain a healthy attitude even in a world that is not always positive.
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It's interesting to study the effects on individual lifestyles of people who routinely focus on their spiritual side as opposed to individuals who primarily focus on the physical/mental. Individuals focusing on developing a spiritual nature routinely discard many negative lifestyle habits. It seems that those individuals that ignore this component of their lives become involved in lifestyle practices that over stimulate their systems. " Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags" from the writings of Solomon. The spiritual component of man is more at a deeper level, more inward and individuals who ignore this part of their person tend to over stimulate themselves in the mental and physical areas as if in an effort to distract them from their deeper selves. "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings" from the writings of Solomon.
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If you're reading this and are dealing with chronic health problems, issues with stress such as sleep disorders, depression or anxiety consider exploring the possibility of improving your mental and spiritual attitude through spiritual disciplines. Studies have shown simply doing something for someone else and becoming less focused on oneself can have a dramatic positive effect on one's health. The effects that prayer and/or meditation have on improving body function and reducing stress with the corresponding depression and anxiety, are well documented. To ignore this area is very short sighted. Just as it is important to feed your physical body good food you need to properly feed your mental and spiritual bodies. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding" from the writings of Solomon.