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Friday, August 26, 2011

A Sick Health Care System verses Take Charge of Your Health

One of the main goals that I have for this web site is to encourage our readers to learn how to be their own best doctors.

Please don't misunderstand me; I think that there are some wonderfully caring and competent doctors in our world.

But there are also many doctors who don't have each of their patients' best interests at or even near the top of their list of priorities.

Over the years, it's become clear to me that a big part of the problem with our health care system is the system itself; our current health care system doesn't encourage doctors to teach their patients to prevent disease and address health conditions with simple food and lifestyle choices.

Take, for example, the health care system in Canada. I often hear leaders of other countries, most notably, the United States, tout the universal health care system in Canada as being the ideal system - one in which every man, woman, and child has access to free health care.

While on the surface the Canadian system appears to be an effective one, as far as I can tell, it is just as sick as other health care systems throughout the world.

To be more specific, medical doctors in Ontario, Canada, are paid an average of $27 Canadian dollars per routine office visit. Initial visits that involve a thorough physical examination are usually billed at $60 Canadian dollars per visit.

Put another way, for routine office visits, medical doctors in Ontario have no financial motivation to take their time and consider their patients' food and lifestyle choices.

If a patient comes in with a chief complaint of a chronic headache, the doctor could spend an hour gathering critical information on a patient's diet and lifestyle, and then go on to address any changes that could be made to address the chronic headache.

Alternatively, the doctor could spend five minutes going through the motions - pulse, blood pressure, pupillary reflexes, and other quick screening measures to make the patient feel like he or she has been adequately examined by an expert - and then write out a prescription for a pain killer.

Either way, the doctor gets paid $47.

So which route do you think most doctors take?

There's another reason why many doctors have a tendency to deal with most cases with a prescription for a drug: the pharmaceutical industry makes it well worth their while to do so.

Here's how a pharmaceutical sales representative recently summarized his work for me:

"I take the doctor out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, all expenses paid. As dinner winds down, I ask the doctor to recommend my company's brand for certain health conditions among his patients. Sometimes, the doctor will say that his office needs new equipment. I say how much? The doctor says $5,000. I say fine, but only if you write 100 scripts (prescriptions) for a specific drug made by our company each month. The doctor agrees, and we get him his new $5,000 machine."

Out of curiosity, I asked the pharmaceutical sales rep how he and his company can be sure that the doctor will follow through on his word to write out 100 prescriptions of their drug each month. Can't the doctor just take his $5,000 machine and not follow through on his promise?

"No, all pharmaceutical companies pay big money to a huge, global corporation called IMS that tracks this type of data," was the rep's instant reply.

For a fee, IMS can provide date-specific data to pharmaceutical companies that breaks down exactly how many prescriptions of each drug that each licensed doctor has handed out and how many of them have been fulfilled at licensed pharmacies.

In other words, the managers who work for pharmaceutical companies who approve $5,000 gifts have a sure-fire way of verifying that their gifts are properly reciprocated.

And I think that we can all safely assume that this regular exchange of gifts does not amount to a net profit of zero dollars for the pharmaceutical industry. Just in case you don't want to make this assumption, consider that the IMS reports that in 2005, global pharmaceutical sales amounted to 602 billion dollars; mucho dinero, n'est pas?

So let's pretend for a moment that you're a doctor who now has to write 100 prescriptions per month for a specific drug that helps to regulate blood glucose.

When a patient walks into your office and shows a mild to moderately elevated fasting blood glucose level, would you take a half hour to an hour to explain what he or she can do with food and lifestyle choices to have a great shot at lowering blood glucose to a healthy level? Or would you write a quick prescription for a blood glucose-regulating drug to bring your target for the month down to 99 prescriptions?

This is one of the most powerful ways in which big pharmaceutical companies have helped to create a sick health care system; they provide strong financial incentives for doctors to choose drugs over health education for patients.

The bottom line: putting your health entirely in another person's hands, namely, your doctor's, is never as good a choice as learning how to be your own best doctor.

Learn how to choose nutrient-dense foods.

Learn about the critical roles that fresh air, clean water, some exposure to sunlight, physical activity, and proper physical and emotional rest play in determining your health state.

Learn how negative emotions can cause physical damage to your cells.

Most importantly, apply all of this knowledge to your everyday life as soon as possible; be your own best doctor.

Dr Wade has put togther an online resource for doctors and companies to utilize to assist in identifying Health Risks for patients or employees. By identifying Health Risks and providing the tools to help a person reduce those risks, the Wellness Education Foundation is able to assist individuals in reducing their health care expense, be more productive and stay healthier by removing the Risks in motivaed individuals. Look for future articles on how to motivate people to move toward healthier choices! For more information email drwade@wellnesseducationfoundation. or go to the website: http://www.wellnesseducationfoundation.org/.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

How Much Money Are You Wasting?


I had a practice member come in that I hadn’t seen since he had moved to Arizona roughly 4 years before. He looked the just the same as I had remembered him - happy, healthy and exuding the glow that someone who loves life does. I told him how great it was to see him and asked what he had been doing to stay so happy and healthy. He told me he had continued with the healthy lifestyle habits he had started while he was a member of our practice, including getting checked by his chiropractor at least once per week.

I told him how I admired his discipline and dedication to constantly improving his health. That’s when he said something to me that I will never forget. What he said was, “You know Doc, I have often stopped to marvel at how much money people are wasting on health club dues, organic foods, bottled water and everything else they do to be healthy.” I was a little confused by his statement since I knew he did all of these things himself, so I asked him what he meant. Now he was the one who looked confused. He replied, “I’m talking about people who do all of those things but don’t go to their chiropractor every week - or those who don’t see one at all.”

Now I understood what he meant. He was saying that without a properly functioning nerve system, all the good lifestyle habits were limited in their ability to affect the change people were hoping for. This is absolutely vital to understand. What good is eating impeccably if nerve interference prevents you from digesting, assimilating and eliminating foods properly? Is it advantageous for a person with a subluxation that affects the nerves to his heart to undertake a running program that jars his body and furthers the irritation? Does someone who is suffering from exhaustion benefit from extra time trying to sleep if his body is so completely out of balance that deep sleep is not possible?

I have had people ask me in the past, “Do you really want me to come in to get checked every week for the rest of my life?” My answer has been, “No, only as long as you want to continue to work toward fully expressing your purpose and potential in life.” You may have gone a week without needing an adjustment, and if you are fine we’ll celebrate! But you can’t know if you’re clear unless you get checked!

Many people are just fine with the idea of taking an aspirin or some other medication every day for the rest of their lives. But those things at best only prevent you from getting worse and may do nothing more than cover up symptoms. They can do nothing to actually improve the long-term situation. I find it curious that people will spend time and money trying to “not die,” but they have a very hard time investing consistently in something that will actually help them to live more fully.

We in chiropractic see the body as a vehicle and we believe that we were all put here for a reason. Our bodies are the vehicles we have been given through which to express our true selves and manifest our purpose and potential in life. It is each of our responsibility to keep our bodies as whole and healthy as possible by living a healthy lifestyle. But, if your brain and body can’t communicate fully, all of those healthy lifestyle habits may be futile. Chiropractic is the crucial the “missing piece” to the life puzzle that makes all of those other things worth investing in.

Do you know someone who has been wasting his or her money? Refer them to our office by going to http://alpainrelief.com/helpafriend/

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Manipulation or Microdiskectomy for Sciatica?

A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED CLINICAL STUDY


Gordon McMorland, DC,a Esther Suter, PhD,b Steve Casha, MD, PhD, FRCSC,c Stephan J. du Plessis, MD,c and R. John Hurlbert, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACSc

ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of spinal manipulation against microdiskectomy in patients with sciatica secondary to lumbar disk herniation (LDH).

Methods: One hundred twenty patients presenting through elective referral by primary care physicians to neurosurgical spine surgeons were consecutively screened for symptoms of unilateral lumbar radiculopathy secondary to LDH at L3-4, L4-5, or L5-S1. Forty consecutive consenting patients who met inclusion criteria (patients must have failed at least 3 months of nonoperative management including treatment with analgesics, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage therapy, and/or acupuncture) were randomized to either surgical microdiskectomy or standardized chiropractic spinal manipulation. Crossover to the alternate treatment was allowed after 3 months.

Results: Significant improvement in both treatment groups compared to baseline scores over time was observed in all outcome measures. After 1 year, follow-up intent-to-treat analysis did not reveal a difference in outcome based on the original treatment received. However, 3 patients crossed over from surgery to spinal manipulation and failed to gain further improvement. Eight patients crossed from spinal manipulation to surgery and improved to the same degree as their primary surgical counterparts.



Conclusions: Sixty percent of patients with sciatica who had failed other medical management benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention. Of 40% left unsatisfied, subsequent surgical intervention confers excellent outcome. Patients with symptomatic LDH failing medical management should consider spinal manipulation followed by surgery if warranted. (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2010;33:576-584)


CONCLUSIONS

Most of the patients who were considered surgical candidates for the treatment of radiculopathy from LDH improved with standardized spinal manipulative care to the same degree as those who had undergone surgery. Of those who failed spinal manipulation treatment, subsequent surgical intervention provided excellent outcome. In contrast, the 3 patients who failed microdiskectomy did not benefit from further spinal manipulative care.

Therefore, patients with symptomatic LDH failing medical management (failed at least 3 months of nonoperative management including treatment with analgesics, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage therapy, and/or acupuncture) should have considered chiropractic spinal manipulative treatment as a primary treatment, followed by surgery if unsuccessful.






Monday, August 15, 2011

Diet Recommendations for Fibromyalgia


Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition with symptoms which include muscle and tissue pain, fatigue, depression, and sleep disturbances; it often mimics or appears together with other chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), lupus, and arthritis. Recent data suggests that central sensitization, in which neurons in the spinal cord become sensitized by inflammation or cell damage, may be involved in the way fibromyalgia patients process pain. Certain chemicals in the foods patients eat may trigger the release of neurotransmitters that heighten this sensitivity.

Because many fibromyalgia patients have food sensitivities, eating a diet of fresh foods, devoid of preservatives and additives, may ease symptoms triggered by coexisting conditions such as IBS. Several studies have shown improvement of symptoms in fibromyalgia patients who followed vegan and vegetarian diets, although most of the patients in those studies chose to discontinue the diets after the study. Simply cutting back on the amount of red meat in your diet may help as well.

Fibromyalgia is believed to be linked to an imbalance of brain chemicals that control mood, and it is often linked with unrestful sleep and fatigue. Fibro patients may try to ease fatigue with stimulants like caffeine, but they may end up doing more harm than good in the long run.

Caffeine is a loan shark for energy.

Omega-3 fatty acids, found in salmon and a variety of fish, have been touted as a heart-healthy food, but they may help with pain, as well. Fatty acids reduce the inflammation and help brain function. A 2006 survey of arthritis patients found that daily fish oil supplements reduced pain symptoms in 60% of the patients. Omega-3s have not, however, been tested on fibromyalgia patients specifically.

Yeast, along with its partner in crime, gluten, can be found in a variety of baked goods. Consuming yeast may also contribute to the growth of yeast fungus in the body, which can contribute to pain. Fibromyalgia patients may also be more prone to gluten sensitivities. Celiac disease is seen in a subset of patients. Avoiding yeast and gluten can help some patients improve.

Some degree of lactose intolerance affects about 70% of adults worldwide, so it's not surprising that many fibromyalgia patients have trouble digesting milk and dairy products as well. In a 1998 study, researchers tested whether blood samples taken from 40 fibromyalgia patients reacted to substances found in various foods; the blood of 25% of the subjects demonstrated an immune response to cow dairy products. Patients on vegan diets have also been shown to improve symptoms.

A low-carb, low-sugar diet is less stressful on the adrenal glands and the pancreas. About 90% of fibromyalgia patients have low adrenal functioning, from toxicity stressors, which affects the metabolism of carbohydrates and may lead to hypoglycemia. These people crave sugar, but they also experience the crash that follows the initial energy high. If you're hypoglycemic, you want to keep that sugar level as stable as possible. Try to limit carbohydrates to the timed release or smart carbs with a mix of protein and fat.

The artificial sweetener found in diet sodas and many sugar-free sweets is part of a chemical group called excito-toxins, which activate neurons that can increase sensitivity to pain. Though aspartame isn’t dangerous to healthy people when consumed in moderation, fibromyalgia patients are already sensitive to pain, and aspartame may heighten their sensitivity.

Some artificial sweeteners, most notably sorbitol and xylitol, can trigger IBS as well. Since about half of fibromyalgia patients suffer from IBS, foods that irritate your bowel will trigger the body to send a message to the brain that signals fibromyalgia symptoms.

Food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) often cause trouble for pain patients. MSG—a high-sodium flavor enhancer often added to fast food, Chinese food, and processed packaged foods—is a an excitatory neurotransmitter that may stimulate pain receptors; glutamate levels in spinal fluid have been shown to correlate with pain levels in fibromyalgia patients. A 1995 report commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration stated that MSG may cause short-term reactions such as headaches, and a 2007 animal study in the journal Pain suggested that increases in glutamate in muscles may contribute to pain sensitivity.

The National Fibromyalgia Research Association recommends limiting or eliminating refined sugar, caffeine, alcohol, fried foods, red meat, and highly processed foods—in other words, most fast food, candy, and vending-machine products. In addition to contributing to weight gain and the development of unhealthy eating habits, these diet-wreckers may also irritate muscles, disrupt sleep, and compromise the immune system.

Experimenting with an "elimination diet" and cutting these foods out completely for several weeks—either one at a time or all at once—may help you decide whether they affect your fibromyalgia symptoms. It's also smart to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and to keep your weight within healthy ranges: Studies show that losing weight can improve symptoms in overweight individuals.

The Qivana MetaboliQ system is perfect to stimulate healthy lean muscle synthesis which is essential to prepare your body to burn fat naturally.

For more inforation – contact Dr Wade at drdavidwade@gmail.com or go to www.ALPaniRelif.com/fibro.