Betweeen 1995 and 2001, FDA tested 24 samples of diet soda for benzene in its Total Diet Study: Nineteen (79 percent) were contaminated with benzene above the federal tap water standard of 5 parts per billion (ppb). The average benzene level was 19 ppb, nearly four times the tap water standard. The maximum detection was 55 ppb, 11 times the tap water limit. Each test result is from a composite of three individual soda purchases in three different cities that are blended together to make one sample. Go to http://www.ewg.org/ for more information.
Test results for other drinks also revealed the presence of highly elevated benzene levels. One cola drink the FDA tested was contaminated at 138 ppb, 27 times the 5 ppb tap water limit, and a fruit drink had 95 ppb. Orange and grapefruit juice also had benzene at levels well above FDA's 5 ppb level of concern.
"These results confirm our suspicions that there are highly elevated benzene levels in some very popular drinks," said Richard Wiles, EWG's senior vice president. "Once again, FDA has sided with big food companies and misled consumers about the problem of benzene in beverages, withholding data and issuing public reassurances that are contradicted by their own test results."
Benzene's toxicity is not in dispute. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Benzene is carcinogenic to humans and no safe level of exposure can be recommended." It is directly linked to leukemia and crosses the placenta to the fetus at levels greater than or equal to the amount in the mother's blood. The chemical is frequently detected in the food supply as a result of industrial pollution, making additional and avoidable exposures of even greater concern.
Environmental Working Groups (http://www.ewg.org/)
On February 24 and February 27, 2006, EWG purchased the following drinks at four major retail outlets in Washington, DC. They all contained ascorbic acid and either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate—the ingredients that the FDA and the beverage industry have said can mix together to form benzene, a known human carcinogen.
Country Time Lemonade
Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange
Diet Pepsi Twist
Diet Pepsi Vanilla
Diet RockStar Energy Drink
Fanta Orange
Fanta Pineapple
Fruit20 Plus 10 Natural Apple
Giant Fruity Punch Cooler
Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red
Hawaiian Punch Lemonade
Hi-C Blast, Orange Supernova
Kool-Aid Jammers Blue-Raspberry
Kool-Aid Jammers Cherry
Kool-Aid Jammers Grape
Kool-Aid Jammers Orange
Lo-Carb Monster Energy
Monster Energy
Pepsi Twist Lemon
RockStar Energy Drink
Sierra Mist
Sunkist
Sunny D
Sunny D Baja Sunny D Intense Sport Cool Punch
Sunny D Orange-Fused Strawberry
Sunny D Smooth
Sunny D Smooth + Calcium
Tampico Citrus PunchTampico Grape Punch
Tampico Tropical Punch
Tropicana Twister Diet Soda (Diet Orange)
Tropicana Twister Soda Grape
Tropicana Twister Soda Orange
Tropicana Twister Soda Strawberry
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Shoulder Pain Can Be One of the First Signs of Cervical Disk Disease
(Cervical Roots as Origin of Pain in the Neck or Scapular Regions
Spine, Volume 31 Number 17, August 1, 2006, pp E568-E573
Tanaka, Yasuhisa MD; Kokubun, Shoichi MD; Sato, Tetsuro MD; Ozawa, Hiroshi MD)
Tanaka and his fellow researchers found that “Pain in the neck or scapular region is one of the most frequent symptoms in
cervical radiculopathy, which is commonly caused by a degenerative process in the spine.” Neck or scapular pain usually precedes the radicular symptoms of arm-finger
pain, numbness, and motor weakness. “When the pain originates from an intervertebral disc or joint, it will not be relieved with surgery that simply decompresses the root without fusion.” When pain originates from a compressed nerve root, it may be perceived at a site referable to the root. The subjects of this study were 50 consecutive patients (42 males and 8 females) with radiculopathy who complained of neck or scapular pain as well as symptoms in an arm or fingers. Surgeries were indicated after ineffective conservative treatment for at least 4 months. [Important: this indicates that it is acceptable for patients with radiculopathy to undergo 4 months of conservative management / Chiropractic treatment prior to surgical referral.]
If you have some shoulder pain, do not disregard the possible seriousness of your problem. Most cases of shoulder pain come on during normal everyday activities. However, we frequently see cases of shoulder pain following motor vehicle accident.
Spine, Volume 31 Number 17, August 1, 2006, pp E568-E573
Tanaka, Yasuhisa MD; Kokubun, Shoichi MD; Sato, Tetsuro MD; Ozawa, Hiroshi MD)
Tanaka and his fellow researchers found that “Pain in the neck or scapular region is one of the most frequent symptoms in
cervical radiculopathy, which is commonly caused by a degenerative process in the spine.” Neck or scapular pain usually precedes the radicular symptoms of arm-finger
pain, numbness, and motor weakness. “When the pain originates from an intervertebral disc or joint, it will not be relieved with surgery that simply decompresses the root without fusion.” When pain originates from a compressed nerve root, it may be perceived at a site referable to the root. The subjects of this study were 50 consecutive patients (42 males and 8 females) with radiculopathy who complained of neck or scapular pain as well as symptoms in an arm or fingers. Surgeries were indicated after ineffective conservative treatment for at least 4 months. [Important: this indicates that it is acceptable for patients with radiculopathy to undergo 4 months of conservative management / Chiropractic treatment prior to surgical referral.]
If you have some shoulder pain, do not disregard the possible seriousness of your problem. Most cases of shoulder pain come on during normal everyday activities. However, we frequently see cases of shoulder pain following motor vehicle accident.
From all washed up to washboard abs
Today, there are more people than ever in pursuit of a better body, smaller waistline and the ever-elusive washboard stomach. We are constantly inundated with advertisements for pills, potions and powders guaranteed to bring you whatever you desire in terms of better fitness and a better body. Every day I see television advertisements for new scientific breakthroughs for supplements that will help you lose unwanted fat while eating whatever you want. While the promises that these products may appeal to our desire for quick results with little effort, the missing ingredient in the weight loss solution is simple. The best way to achieve washboard abs is to eat smartly and exercise correctly. Now hang in there for a little better description of this never-before-described concept because you may just find this simple concept a bit more complicated than it sounds.
Now I will save any discussion about eating smartly for another time and purely and simply review the basics for a weight loss, body-transforming workout. If you desire to change your physique or transform your body follow this very simple resistance-training workout. But before doing so you will need to temporarily abandon any long duration steady state aerobic activities. This means there is no room in your workout for 45-minute elliptical sessions or 60-minute runs. These aerobic activities performed at a relatively constant level of intensity will confuse your body and slow or prevent the goal of changing your body composition. I will address how certain types of aerobic activity can impede fat loss in another article. So let us move on to the specifics of the workout.
In this workout you will do a few very simple things. They must be done correctly. This workout plan leaves no room for your own ideas or changes. If you do change or alter the workout, do not get upset when you do not see the results. So here we go. The workout is based on the concept of continuously increasing your training volume and weight in a predetermined strictly measured time period. This concept was popularized by Charles Staley, a nationally known strength coach, and he described it as EDT training. You will begin with selecting 3 pairs of exercises to perform with each workout. You will have 3 workouts per week. You will initially utilize single joint movements and the simpler compound joint movements. This means you will use exercises like overhead press, seated row, knee extension, knee flexion, calf raise, bicep curl, bench press and others that fit this description. Do not attempt to use squats or dead lifts with his workout in the beginning. Each pair of exercises will be performed in alternating fashion and in a 15-minute session. Once the exercise is selected you will need to find out the maximum weight you can perform the exercise with for 10 repetitions with (also known as 10 rep max). You will take that 10 rep max weight for each of the exercises in the pair and perform alternating sets (perform 5 reps of one exercise then go to the next exercise in the pair and perform 5 reps) of 5 reps with as little rest as possible in a 15-minute time period. You will record and journal each workout by specifically noting the exercise, weight, reps performed and sets performed. I will give you an example. You may start with a first pair of v-bar seated rows and knee extensions. When you have determined your starting weight take your position at the equipment, set the watch timer for 15 minutes and begin. You will do 5 reps with the seated row at your weight, get up and go to the knee extension machine to perform 5 reps there. Then you will walk right back over to the seated row and start rowing. Continue with this for 15 minutes recording how many repetitions you get with each set. You can rest from 2-5 minutes between each pair of exercises (after the 15 minutes of training is up). After you do this with all 3 pairs and have trained for 45 minutes, you are done.
This workout requires that you increase the number of total repetitions performed for each exercise the next time you do it. You will be resting less between sets and working more. More work and less rest mean you are utilizing resistance training to build muscle that will burn calories. This workout will take on an aerobic element because you are not resting long between exercises. Your ability to increase your training intensity is critical and often a missing part of the average persons workout. When you train with increasing intensity each time, your body will not be able to accommodate or get used to your workout. When you have the body continually fooled you can expect to experience changes in your body composition. The more muscle you have greater your calorie burning capacity. You will notice significant changes in your body composition, as you become a fat burning machine.
Now I will save any discussion about eating smartly for another time and purely and simply review the basics for a weight loss, body-transforming workout. If you desire to change your physique or transform your body follow this very simple resistance-training workout. But before doing so you will need to temporarily abandon any long duration steady state aerobic activities. This means there is no room in your workout for 45-minute elliptical sessions or 60-minute runs. These aerobic activities performed at a relatively constant level of intensity will confuse your body and slow or prevent the goal of changing your body composition. I will address how certain types of aerobic activity can impede fat loss in another article. So let us move on to the specifics of the workout.
In this workout you will do a few very simple things. They must be done correctly. This workout plan leaves no room for your own ideas or changes. If you do change or alter the workout, do not get upset when you do not see the results. So here we go. The workout is based on the concept of continuously increasing your training volume and weight in a predetermined strictly measured time period. This concept was popularized by Charles Staley, a nationally known strength coach, and he described it as EDT training. You will begin with selecting 3 pairs of exercises to perform with each workout. You will have 3 workouts per week. You will initially utilize single joint movements and the simpler compound joint movements. This means you will use exercises like overhead press, seated row, knee extension, knee flexion, calf raise, bicep curl, bench press and others that fit this description. Do not attempt to use squats or dead lifts with his workout in the beginning. Each pair of exercises will be performed in alternating fashion and in a 15-minute session. Once the exercise is selected you will need to find out the maximum weight you can perform the exercise with for 10 repetitions with (also known as 10 rep max). You will take that 10 rep max weight for each of the exercises in the pair and perform alternating sets (perform 5 reps of one exercise then go to the next exercise in the pair and perform 5 reps) of 5 reps with as little rest as possible in a 15-minute time period. You will record and journal each workout by specifically noting the exercise, weight, reps performed and sets performed. I will give you an example. You may start with a first pair of v-bar seated rows and knee extensions. When you have determined your starting weight take your position at the equipment, set the watch timer for 15 minutes and begin. You will do 5 reps with the seated row at your weight, get up and go to the knee extension machine to perform 5 reps there. Then you will walk right back over to the seated row and start rowing. Continue with this for 15 minutes recording how many repetitions you get with each set. You can rest from 2-5 minutes between each pair of exercises (after the 15 minutes of training is up). After you do this with all 3 pairs and have trained for 45 minutes, you are done.
This workout requires that you increase the number of total repetitions performed for each exercise the next time you do it. You will be resting less between sets and working more. More work and less rest mean you are utilizing resistance training to build muscle that will burn calories. This workout will take on an aerobic element because you are not resting long between exercises. Your ability to increase your training intensity is critical and often a missing part of the average persons workout. When you train with increasing intensity each time, your body will not be able to accommodate or get used to your workout. When you have the body continually fooled you can expect to experience changes in your body composition. The more muscle you have greater your calorie burning capacity. You will notice significant changes in your body composition, as you become a fat burning machine.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Try this total body workout in 16 minutes...if you can
This workout is not for the just-off-the-couch exerciser. If you do attempt this workout, respect it and make sure to give a 100% effort. Your first and last set should not differ by more than 3-4 repetitions. This is not very complicated so don't make it! If you cannot perform pullups, you will need to put another exercise in there, possibly pull-downs on a lat machine. The pull-up is the only exercise where it is understandable to fall way short on repetitions towards the end. At my peak, I could perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions of pull-ups with about 90 seocnds rest between sets. However, with only a 10 seocnd rest, your pull-up numbers will drop dramatically. You will be soaking wet and panting when finished, I always am. Good luck and train hard. Thank Tabata for this one.
Simple 16 minute fitness based workout
You do as many pull-ups (or dumbell curls, dumbell presses) as you can in 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then again do as many pull-ups as you can in 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, and so on for 8 repetitions of doing 20 seconds of pull-ups followed by 10 seconds rest. Those 8 repetitions should take a total of 4 minutes.
Without any further rest than the 10 seconds after the eighth 20 seconds of pull-ups, you then start on push-ups - again it is 8 repetitions of as many push-ups as you can in 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds rest. The 8 repetitions of 20 seconds push-ups, 10 seconds rest takes 4 minutes.
Then you do 8 repetitions of 20 seconds of sit-ups, 10 seconds rest, and another 4 minutes have gone by.
Finally, you are on to squats, and (you've guessed it!) it's as many as you can do in 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest and repeat until you've done 8 lots of 20 seconds squats, 10 seconds rest.
*If you do not have the capacity to do pull-ups just do the other 3. If that is too easy, do it twice.
Simple 16 minute fitness based workout
You do as many pull-ups (or dumbell curls, dumbell presses) as you can in 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then again do as many pull-ups as you can in 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, and so on for 8 repetitions of doing 20 seconds of pull-ups followed by 10 seconds rest. Those 8 repetitions should take a total of 4 minutes.
Without any further rest than the 10 seconds after the eighth 20 seconds of pull-ups, you then start on push-ups - again it is 8 repetitions of as many push-ups as you can in 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds rest. The 8 repetitions of 20 seconds push-ups, 10 seconds rest takes 4 minutes.
Then you do 8 repetitions of 20 seconds of sit-ups, 10 seconds rest, and another 4 minutes have gone by.
Finally, you are on to squats, and (you've guessed it!) it's as many as you can do in 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest and repeat until you've done 8 lots of 20 seconds squats, 10 seconds rest.
*If you do not have the capacity to do pull-ups just do the other 3. If that is too easy, do it twice.
A Natural Herbicide
Gardeners’ Corner
Do You Have Weeds? Crabgrass?
Try Vinegar as an Herbicide!
Vinegar is acetic acid which can be used as a natural herbicide. Household vinegar is a 5% acetic acid solution which is effective against young, tender weeds, and annual weeds like crabgrass. Spray it directly on the foliage and try to totally saturate the weed without too much runoff. Within 24 hours the treated foliage will turn brown. However, the roots will not be killed entirely and the weed may reappear within a few weeks. Repeated applications will be necessary to entirely kill the root. Stronger concentrations of acetic acid work more effectively and will work on perennial and more mature weeds with repeated applications. Stronger acetic acid solutions can be found for home canning or organic products such as “Fast Acting Burn Out” can be found at your local garden center. Don’t apply if rain is expected or before watering since water breaks down acetic acid. Avoid spraying on windy days, to prevent drift from hurting other plants.
Carole Henry
The “Potted” Alley
Email: thepottedalley@gmail.com
Do You Have Weeds? Crabgrass?
Try Vinegar as an Herbicide!
Vinegar is acetic acid which can be used as a natural herbicide. Household vinegar is a 5% acetic acid solution which is effective against young, tender weeds, and annual weeds like crabgrass. Spray it directly on the foliage and try to totally saturate the weed without too much runoff. Within 24 hours the treated foliage will turn brown. However, the roots will not be killed entirely and the weed may reappear within a few weeks. Repeated applications will be necessary to entirely kill the root. Stronger concentrations of acetic acid work more effectively and will work on perennial and more mature weeds with repeated applications. Stronger acetic acid solutions can be found for home canning or organic products such as “Fast Acting Burn Out” can be found at your local garden center. Don’t apply if rain is expected or before watering since water breaks down acetic acid. Avoid spraying on windy days, to prevent drift from hurting other plants.
Carole Henry
The “Potted” Alley
Email: thepottedalley@gmail.com
The Risks of Hospitalization
I came across an all too familiar topic this weekend, the risks related to being treated in a Hospital setting. This is something we are all a little familiar with. I have had patient’s tell me that they felt they needed to use a sharpie marker to denote the leg they were getting surgery on. In a simple manner they wrote “this one” and “not this one” on each knee in minimize the chances of having the wrong leg operated on. I always laugh a bit at that. However, it really isn’t a laughing matter. It can mean serious injury or loss of life.
I was still in college when my grandmother, I called her Mom Mom, was taken to the hospital early one weekend morning. I stayed home to watch my sister and my mother made the trip to pick her up and take her to the hospital. My Mom-Mom was an amazing woman. She was in her late 70’s and would cut and care for all of her neighbor’s lawns all through the spring and summer. She had amazing energy and was a volunteer at the elementary school (unpaid of course) and had been for over 18 years until that trip to the hospital.
The first news from my mother that day was that she had passed away while in the care of the hospital. What I later came to find out was that when she was admitted, they kept her waiting and didn’t treat her as an emergency cardiac patient (78 year old woman with chest pains, duh?). They treated her as if it was angina, a basically benign cardiac related condition that is usually self-limiting or treated with simple medications. Well as you can imagine, it wasn’t angina. My Mom-Mom died in a hospital bed without being treated as an acute cardiac case. She died of an MI, myocardial infarction. MI’s are routinely treated when identified properly and people often survive.
Every medical intervention carries a risk. Every decision not to have a medical intervention also carries with it a risk. I have made it a point to continue to educate myself about all things related to healthcare, whether it is about Chiropractic or not. It is about protecting our family for my wife and me.
Below are a few excerpts and links to some more information about this topic.
“The mistakes aren't exactly minor, either. Between 40,000 and 100,000 people die every year because of shoddy handiwork, including surgical mishaps and drug mix-ups. One big problem: Hospital patients may get the wrong drug one time out of five, according to a study by Auburn University. The death toll from mistakes is at least as bad as that from car accidents or breast cancer, and maybe as bad as that from strokes. Another 100,000 people die because of infections from hospital-bred bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the antibiotics doctors use to kill them off, according to the Center for Disease Control. Some of those might be prevented by more hand washing or other precautions.”
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100214300&page=1
There was a paper written by Gary Null and others that attempted to describe the impact that medical interventions had on the health of Americans. You may know Dr. Null from PBS where you can find him selling his products. He can be a bit controversial but worth reading.
“The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936 per year. “ http://www.webdc.com/pdfs/deathbymedicine.pdf
I was still in college when my grandmother, I called her Mom Mom, was taken to the hospital early one weekend morning. I stayed home to watch my sister and my mother made the trip to pick her up and take her to the hospital. My Mom-Mom was an amazing woman. She was in her late 70’s and would cut and care for all of her neighbor’s lawns all through the spring and summer. She had amazing energy and was a volunteer at the elementary school (unpaid of course) and had been for over 18 years until that trip to the hospital.
The first news from my mother that day was that she had passed away while in the care of the hospital. What I later came to find out was that when she was admitted, they kept her waiting and didn’t treat her as an emergency cardiac patient (78 year old woman with chest pains, duh?). They treated her as if it was angina, a basically benign cardiac related condition that is usually self-limiting or treated with simple medications. Well as you can imagine, it wasn’t angina. My Mom-Mom died in a hospital bed without being treated as an acute cardiac case. She died of an MI, myocardial infarction. MI’s are routinely treated when identified properly and people often survive.
Every medical intervention carries a risk. Every decision not to have a medical intervention also carries with it a risk. I have made it a point to continue to educate myself about all things related to healthcare, whether it is about Chiropractic or not. It is about protecting our family for my wife and me.
Below are a few excerpts and links to some more information about this topic.
“The mistakes aren't exactly minor, either. Between 40,000 and 100,000 people die every year because of shoddy handiwork, including surgical mishaps and drug mix-ups. One big problem: Hospital patients may get the wrong drug one time out of five, according to a study by Auburn University. The death toll from mistakes is at least as bad as that from car accidents or breast cancer, and maybe as bad as that from strokes. Another 100,000 people die because of infections from hospital-bred bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the antibiotics doctors use to kill them off, according to the Center for Disease Control. Some of those might be prevented by more hand washing or other precautions.”
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100214300&page=1
There was a paper written by Gary Null and others that attempted to describe the impact that medical interventions had on the health of Americans. You may know Dr. Null from PBS where you can find him selling his products. He can be a bit controversial but worth reading.
“The most stunning statistic, however, is that the total number of deaths caused by conventional medicine is an astounding 783,936 per year. “ http://www.webdc.com/pdfs/deathbymedicine.pdf
More bad news about medication for Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis, drugs that could harm you & your posture
I was reading the September 7, 2008 N.Y. Times on-line and surfing mindlessly through the website when I came across this article on Osteoporosis. I don’t exactly know how I got there, but if you’ve ever been on the web, you know how this happens. After reading a while I thought this would be a good topic to write about in this issue of our email newsletter.
Drugs that could harm youThere was an article in the July 15th 2008 edition of the on-line Times. It reported that patients taking certain medications to prevent weak bones may not be getting the protection they thought they were. Many physicians were reporting seeing spontaneous fractures in their patients taking the exact medication that is supposed to prevent this. There has been research that proves the long-term use of Fosamax could lead to weak bones. Wow!
I have been aware for years of the dangers of the different prescription medications that have been used to treat osteoporosis. The argument has always seemed to be one of an individual’s ability to maintain adequate lifestyle modification (a healthy lifestyle) versus taking medication. I can understand why a family physician would assume that his/her recommendations of lifestyle modifications and proper diet and exercise would not be widely accepted or should I say diligently adhered to. We all know to some degree what is and what isn’t healthy to eat. However, few can consistently make the correct decisions as to what to eat and when to eat it. This is why they call the standard American diet SAD.
A few years ago one of the most common medical interventions for women was HRT (hormone replacement therapy). A very popular healthcare-related website reported “HRT boosts the risk of stroke by almost one-third and the risk of fatal or disabling stroke by more than half. These conclusions were drawn based on 28 trials involving nearly 40,000 women”. (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/01/26/hrt-strokes.aspx)
Here’s a brief statement about how widespread Osteoporosis is.
“Researchers estimate that about 1 out of 5 American women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis. About half of all women over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra (bones of the spine).” From the N.Y. Times website. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/osteoporosis/overview.html
Osteoporosis & your posture
We commonly see the aging becoming more and more hunched forward. Most assume this is a product of aging and even more think this is caused by Osteoporosis. Both are entirely false. If hunching forward was a part of aging, why wouldn’t everybody creep forward and hunch forward at the same rate? Some simple logic will point out the weakness in the argument that age causes forward hunched posture (we refer to it as Forward Head Posture).
There was research conducted by a Mechanical engineer and published in one of the most prestigious spine-related research journals in the world, Spine. This researcher found that the forward bending posture of the upper back (thoracic) and neck causes Osteoporosis or bone weakening to begin. I have copied and referenced part of the conclusion from that research article. I added some explanation after it in bold italics.
“Postural forces are responsible for initiation of osteoporotic spinal deformity in elderly subjects. Vertebral deformities are exacerbated by anterior translation of the upper spinal column, which increases compressive loads in the thoracolumbar region of the spine.”
http://www.spinejournal.com/pt/re/spine/abstract.00007632-200303010-00009.htm;jsessionid=LGQMCNXv5kwwYhy2htkn1v4ysJL342P04PJ1LGtsLQ1XTP2PqNzp!-1004083789!181195629!8091!-1
The researchers concluded that the forward bending posture of the upper back and neck (like the Forward Head Posture I describe to my patient’s that are so afflicted) is an initiating event in the beginning stages of Osteoporosis. To make this a bit clearer, Forward Head Posture is a very important risk factor which can tell us if a person may eventually develop Osteoporosis. Just like smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, having poor posture could eventually lead to Osteoporosis. Every week I am lucky enough to see patient’s improving their Forward Head Posture. They are happy because they feel better, I am happy because I know they are healthier in so many other ways.
I was reading the September 7, 2008 N.Y. Times on-line and surfing mindlessly through the website when I came across this article on Osteoporosis. I don’t exactly know how I got there, but if you’ve ever been on the web, you know how this happens. After reading a while I thought this would be a good topic to write about in this issue of our email newsletter.
Drugs that could harm youThere was an article in the July 15th 2008 edition of the on-line Times. It reported that patients taking certain medications to prevent weak bones may not be getting the protection they thought they were. Many physicians were reporting seeing spontaneous fractures in their patients taking the exact medication that is supposed to prevent this. There has been research that proves the long-term use of Fosamax could lead to weak bones. Wow!
I have been aware for years of the dangers of the different prescription medications that have been used to treat osteoporosis. The argument has always seemed to be one of an individual’s ability to maintain adequate lifestyle modification (a healthy lifestyle) versus taking medication. I can understand why a family physician would assume that his/her recommendations of lifestyle modifications and proper diet and exercise would not be widely accepted or should I say diligently adhered to. We all know to some degree what is and what isn’t healthy to eat. However, few can consistently make the correct decisions as to what to eat and when to eat it. This is why they call the standard American diet SAD.
A few years ago one of the most common medical interventions for women was HRT (hormone replacement therapy). A very popular healthcare-related website reported “HRT boosts the risk of stroke by almost one-third and the risk of fatal or disabling stroke by more than half. These conclusions were drawn based on 28 trials involving nearly 40,000 women”. (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/01/26/hrt-strokes.aspx)
Here’s a brief statement about how widespread Osteoporosis is.
“Researchers estimate that about 1 out of 5 American women over the age of 50 have osteoporosis. About half of all women over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra (bones of the spine).” From the N.Y. Times website. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/osteoporosis/overview.html
Osteoporosis & your posture
We commonly see the aging becoming more and more hunched forward. Most assume this is a product of aging and even more think this is caused by Osteoporosis. Both are entirely false. If hunching forward was a part of aging, why wouldn’t everybody creep forward and hunch forward at the same rate? Some simple logic will point out the weakness in the argument that age causes forward hunched posture (we refer to it as Forward Head Posture).
There was research conducted by a Mechanical engineer and published in one of the most prestigious spine-related research journals in the world, Spine. This researcher found that the forward bending posture of the upper back (thoracic) and neck causes Osteoporosis or bone weakening to begin. I have copied and referenced part of the conclusion from that research article. I added some explanation after it in bold italics.
“Postural forces are responsible for initiation of osteoporotic spinal deformity in elderly subjects. Vertebral deformities are exacerbated by anterior translation of the upper spinal column, which increases compressive loads in the thoracolumbar region of the spine.”
http://www.spinejournal.com/pt/re/spine/abstract.00007632-200303010-00009.htm;jsessionid=LGQMCNXv5kwwYhy2htkn1v4ysJL342P04PJ1LGtsLQ1XTP2PqNzp!-1004083789!181195629!8091!-1
The researchers concluded that the forward bending posture of the upper back and neck (like the Forward Head Posture I describe to my patient’s that are so afflicted) is an initiating event in the beginning stages of Osteoporosis. To make this a bit clearer, Forward Head Posture is a very important risk factor which can tell us if a person may eventually develop Osteoporosis. Just like smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, having poor posture could eventually lead to Osteoporosis. Every week I am lucky enough to see patient’s improving their Forward Head Posture. They are happy because they feel better, I am happy because I know they are healthier in so many other ways.
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