Let me tell you, as a health care professional, I have been preaching the gospel of health for over twenty years! I tell my young patients to discover health now before poor eating habits, high in fats and low in nutrition, takes a toll on their body. And, I tell my older patients that it’s never too late to start eating right and getting their health front and center in their life. And, some of my patients, but not all that many of them, take my health care advice seriously. But, then again, I do have the “wrath of God” on my side or the threat of “hellfire and brimstone.” But, there is someone who does and I was excited to read in the New York Times about the Good News this pastor is preaching to the people of Mississippi.

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I is the top-ranking state when it comes to life-threatening health issues like diabetes and heart disease. You could say that if a healthy diet can make it there, it can make it anywhere. And, that is just what Rev. Michael O. Minor, at Oak Hill Baptist in North Mississippi has in mind…God willing! Rev. Minor has not only “risen above” the worldly fact that fried foods taste heavenly, in order to point out that what’s pleasurable to the body is not necessarily good for it, but he’s had to overcome the cultural challenge that such tasty fried and heavily-salted food, and their accompanying age-old family recipes, have been part of the way of life for the people of Mississippi for generations. However, Rev. Minor’s evangelism about health food over the past ten years has not gone unsung by the heavenly hosts of the National Baptist Convention, which represents approximately seven million people in over ten thousand churches. Their goal is to have a “health ambassador” in every member church by September 2012.

So, Rev. Minor, I just want to thank you for putting the “fear of God” into eating healthy. May the goal of the National Baptist Convention be reached at…God-speed!!

Technorati Tags: diet, diet in Mississippi, health, National Baptist Convention and healthy food

As I sit here, sipping my first martini of the day, and pondering once again how culture and ethnic diversity plays such an important role in the way food and drink affects different body types…differently…when it comes to lifelong health, I couldn’t resist commenting on a new study from New York City that found that immigrants from the Indian subcontinent have the highest rates of diabetes in the city. The researchers used data from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The result:  foreign-born South Asians, e.g., people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, have the highest rate of diabetes of any ethnic group in New York, nearly double that of other foreign-born Asians, and this problem has been overlooked do to”one size fits all” medical care! These results indicated that people of South Asian descent should watch their weight especially carefully because the usual body mass index (a ratio of height to weight) may be poor indicators of diabetes risk.

All too often we huddle the masses of various ethnic groups in this country into whatever has become the “norm” for Americans in general, and then try to monitor everyone’s health by a “standard” measure that actually has no real standards with which to measure. This type of healt hcare can’t be done in a country like the U.S., where the wonderfully diverse mixture of cultures and ethnic expression makes standard brand medical treatment invalid. And, apparently this type of medical model doesn’t work world wide either! World Health Organization BMI categories tailored for specific regions and races to define who was overweight and obese indicated that foreign-born South Asians had a higher rate of diabetes at lower BMI levels than all other racial and ethnic groups.

These results, according to the researchers, is important because it demonstrates that standard BMI cutoffs typically used in the U.S. and Europe do not accurately capture the health risks of being overweight or obese for South Asians. An associate investigator not involved in the study added that the findings highlight the importance of understanding the health differences between different Asian sub-populations.

I have to agree… everybody in every body is individual in every way, including the way that their body responds to food, drink and environmental agents, and though there are some things that may seem “groupable,” assumptions in medicine are dangerous!

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I don’t need to make a disclaimer here by telling you that I am a chiropractor who believes strongly in a natural approach to health the advanced chiropractic way, which includes good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, in addition to regular chiropractic care, because even if I were a pill-popping celebrant of full-on medical treatment, this newest potentially tragic faux pas by the pharmaceutical industry speaks for itself…loudly! On Saturday,  Pfizer Inc’s Greenstone LLC unit said that it was “voluntarily” recalling two drugs here in the United States because they may have been labeled incorrectly by a third-party manufacturer. Oh, don’t even get me started on outsourcing!!

Back to the drug snaffu…it appears that some bottles of the anti-depressant, Citalopram, may have been labeled inaccurately as Finasteride, a drug used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia — and, you guessed it, Finasteride may have been labeled Citalopram.  Greenstone warned that women who are pregnant should not even handle, much less ingest, Finasteride as its risk factors include fetal abnormalities. Talk about a depressing situation no matter which drug a person ended up with!

So, heads up out there: The company has advised patients to return any suspect bottles to their pharmacist. Great idea, but I have a better one. See a chiropractor for all of your health needs!!

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, good health, natural solutions, pharmaceutical mislabeling

It used to be, when I was a kid, my mom would say, “No pop before dinner!” And, of course, no pop with dinner either, but few kids back in the day had anything but milk with dinner. But, ever since I became a chiropractor, I could see Mom’s wisdom about surgery, carbonated drinks not actually being “food” and, therefore, not belonging on the dinner table. But, today’s kids, and teens in particular, face a more significant problem. With American teens chugging energy drinks like there was actually some value in the chugging, fears are growing among health care professionals that the ingredients might be putting some kids (and adults) at risk. These so-called beverages contain a mix-match of caffeine, sugar, and (believe it or not) dietary supplements such as vitamins and herbal extracts. I am a great supporter of vitamin supplementation, but vitamins, like any other non-food addition to the diet, need to be monitored and their  effects well-understood.  But, for the very reason that these beverages are classified as nutritional supplements, they have received much less scrutiny and are under fewer restrictions than both foods and drugs.

In fact, in a  new report issued Monday, Florida pediatricians described cases of seizures, delusions, heart problems and kidney or liver damage in children who had downed one or more non-alcoholic energy drinks.

Common parents, you are the ones who are supposed to know what’s good for your kids. Are you too busy drinking these beverages, and getting the added “zip” from them that could lead to your own health problems that you are not even interested in considering the damage that these energy beverages might be doing to your kids?

The report called for regulatory action, in addition to more research. But, “money talks” and U.S. sales of non-alcoholic energy drinks are expected to hit $9 billion this year, with children and young adults accounting for half the market.
Source: reuters.com

Technorati Tags: childrens health, chiropractor, delusions, energy drinks, heart problems, kidney damage, liver damage, new study, pediatric chiropractic, seizures

There can be no doubt amongst we who have our heads out of the proverbial hole in the ground that global warming is is not only real, but is creating real havoc such as increased winds, higher tides, less snow, more rain, and drought. But many health care providers, and many chiropractors around the world, have noticed a trend that even U.S. intelligence officials are concerned about: People are getting sicker and staying that way longer! In fact, the United States lists the spread of disease as one of their top four climate change-related security concerns! Why? Because according the official research, outbreaks of disease can destabilize foreign countries, especially developing nations, thereby overtaxing the U.S. military and undermining social cohesion and the economy in the United States.

All I can say is that it’s about time the global warming has moved from “colorless” to at least an “orange” security alert. In my opinion, it should have been put on “red alert” years ago!

Source: The Kansas City Star

Technorati Tags: disease outbreak, Global warming, security threat

Sandy called me to tell me about a program that he had heard about. He was interested in the program but was not sure if it was something that he should invest in. He wanted to see if I had heard about an automated Chiropractic Marketing system. He did not want to spend money on software that did not work. I told him that I had not heard about the program, and he should look further into it and see if there were reviews from people who had actually used it. I told him that he should find out how much work it was going to create for him.

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As a chiropractor I am always interested in new scientific research that benefits the spine and nervous system. And, I was about to write a “high five” blog post here about research that is being done using a “silk implant” that “melts” onto the surface of the brain and may aid spinal injuries and epilepsy. But, as it turns out, the research is being done ON CATS. That’s right! Fluffy is being maimed and mutilated in the hopes that kitty’s pain and suffering will one day ameliorate some form of human suffering. So, I’m no longer inspired to send out a “what-what” for animal research.

I’m pretty sure that Fluffy didn’t knowingly volunteer for vivisection any more than any human would no matter how altruistic the goal might be.  And, I doubt very much if Fluffy was induced by a can of tuna. No, Fluffy was probably handed over for experimentation by someone who was no longer interested in a fluffy kitten once it grew into a full grown cat, or else Fluffy was raised in captivity for the purposes of “torture” for the “higher good of humankind.”

It seems to me with all of the “virtual” assistance available today that the archaic practice of using “real” animals as guinea pigs for medical research would have been abandoned.

As a healthcare provider I respect life, all life, animal as well as human.  As the debate continues as to what constitutes torture, perhaps it is time that we define the nature of torture as it pertains to animals as well as to human beings.

Technorati Tags: animal research, animal torture, vivisection

Even though I’m of a “certain age” (a baby boomer who just made it in under the wire on the high end) and it may be assumed that the shine is likely off my love of the avante-gard, I just want to say that I’m still interested in meaningful innovation — like new advances in natural medicine, environmentally-safe ways to end poverty, and healthy, life-enriching foods to feed humanity around the planet. What bugs me to no end, though (as you already know, we seniors can get really cranky) is when great inventive minds fritter away their gifts by coming up with things like “rootbeer-scented” roses. The research is apparently aiming towards “custom-designed flower fragrances and even better smelling, and tasting, fruits and vegetables.” I kid you not!

If we, humans, pulled by our noses by unconscionable scientists, hadn’t been so busy chemical-coating and irradiating natural fruits and vegetables (and at this point and the current growing methods, I use the term “natural” loosely) after growing them in mineral-depleted soil or confining them to artificially-lit greenhouses, fruits and vegetables today would taste fabulous (the way they used to…even before I was born), and it goes without saying that they would be far more healthy for the human body.

Perhaps it would be more advantageous for every living thing on the planet, if scientists would just come up with a way for industrialized human beings to be “tricked” into feeling satiated and satisfied with the naturally diverse and abundant cornucopia that is health, itself, within their reach every day in the industrialized world. Maybe they could just be “zapped” so that they would once again love the smell of roses, appreciate the taste of broccoli, and savor the taste of strawberries to such a degree that the overfed and over-pampered classes wouldn’t continue to crave more and more. Instead of the recurrent chant “give me something I don’t have,” (like a rose that smells like rootbeer!) there would appear a quiet contentment. Then scientists and researchers could focus on  those things that have transformative power, ways to assist the rest of the world’s people who every moment are lacking even the basic necessities of life.

Technorati Tags: health, natural foods, science and research

Check out 411 photography.

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I feel a bit like one of the Beatles, starting out this blog post with “I read the news today, oh boy…” but there is really no other way to put it. The news headline read:  “J.D. Salinger passed away.” Okay, yes he was 91 years old and we all like to say, when the aged pass from us, that it was a good, long life. And, we’d all lost the hope long ago of reading just one more line evolved into crystal clarity in his brilliant mind. Like Garbo, Salinger chose seclusion over adulation and, as with Garbo, our eyes lost a perfectly lovely vivid face.

As the story goes, after “The Catcher in the Rye” sold millions, with Salinger’s picture (such an intriguing, seductive face) looking out from each dust jacket, Salinger became “sick of seeing” himself and demanded that his photo be removed from future editions. I guess you could say that the vivid face he left us with, instead, was not his, but that of Holden Caulfield. No doubt, that teen-aged face is etched differently in the mind of each of us, but even through the veil of diverse gray matter, we’d all recognize him still.

It is strange that we feel such a collective loss of someone whose face we haven’t seen in over half a century. But, I suppose it is because we know that along with the loss of his vivid face, we’ve forever lost his vivid mind as well.

Technorati Tags: Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger, vivid face