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Delaying Seeking Treatment

As I mentioned on a Facebook post, I have been preparing to attack this topic for a while now.  It always amazes me when people come into the office and say that they have been living with an ailment for a couple of years without getting it treated, or even worse, fearing they have a problem, they don’t seek a diagnosis.  Not only is this unnecessary, but it is also very dangerous.

Let’s talk about the people who don’t seek treatment first.  I have seen a lot of these patients, who give me a laundry list of reasons that they haven’t given any treatment a chance to take effect before giving up on it.  The thing to remember about these problems is that they didn’t set in overnight, and most of the time, they aren’t going to disappear overnight either.  Whether the course of treatment we are talking about is antibiotics or a manual treatment (like the ones that are offered in our clinic), you must continue the treatment to see the results.  If you don’t seen ANY results in two weeks, then your problem should be re-evaluated and a different type of treatment tried.  You definitely shouldn’t give up on treatment until you see significant improvement or you have literally exhausted your options.

One of the most common complaints I get from this group is “the cost of treatment is too high”.  I understand that medical costs aren’t cheap, but when you put things into perspective, they really are reasonable.  The quality of life you have when you are healthy is worth much more than the quality you lack when you are ailing.  A couple hundred dollars in the short-term to save thousands of dollars in the future (either through loss of productivity, surgeries or a variety of other related expenses) is a good investment.  You DO NOT have to live in pain.

On a separate note, we also have people who are afraid they have a problem and they don’t want to get confirmation of it.  This is an especially dangerous game to play.  I have had multiple patients in my office that fear that they are diabetic, but don’t want to spend the money to have the testing performed.  What these patients fail to realize is that diabetes (along with heart disease and a variety of other chronic illnesses) don’t just affect one thing; they affect multiple systems.

For example, diabetes mellitus can lead to the loss of digits, blindness, kidney problems, etc…  I don’t understand why people are reluctant to get a diagnosis like this.  Yes, it is life changing and emotionally it can be difficult, but both of those problems can be handled.  The life changes of NOT getting diagnosed are much more difficult to deal with.

Do yourselves a favor, if you or anyone else you know are dealing with, or fearing they have, some sort of illness/pain, please get it looked at.  The benefits of treatment far outweigh the downfalls.

Prescription Medications

Today I want to talk about something that not enough people put any thought into.  I will admit that there have been times when I have been in that same mindset (the doctor wouldn’t prescribe this and not tell me about important side effects).  The truth of the matter is doctors want you to get better, so they prescribe something that is designed to fix whatever your problem is.  They often think that the pharmacist will cover side effects with you, or you will take the time to read them on your own.

A patient of mine really got me thinking about this.  We have been working on his back for a couple weeks and although we make a lot of progress while he is in here, as soon as he wakes up the next morning he is back in pain.  Y’all have no idea how frustrating that is for me, and how frustrating it has to be for him.  I am very confident in my abilities, I have taken this guy out of pain and the next thing I know he is telling me that he is still in the same boat.  I feel terrible for him, and because of that I have been going over all the material I can find on lower back pain.

Research is never fun, but there are a lot of times that you remember things when you get into it.  My research took me into my nutrition book (because we have tried all physical therapies that are reasonable for this condition).  Magnesium is a nutrient that I thought may do him a lot of good, so I was looking through the chapter on it.  As I got to the last page I came across a note that I remember writing as if it were yesterday (unfortunately I didn’t remember it until I re-read it).  It was an important little note.

For some reason we got side-tracked on the topic of magnesium.  We were talking about muscle pain and spasms and they can be related to magnesium deficiencies.  For some reason Dr. Grabowski got off subject and said that CoQ10 deficiencies can also lead to muscle pains.  The kicker is that statin medications, which a very large portion of the public is on, can cause these deficiencies.

Needless to say, I am excited about the prospects of getting this patient back to health, and I have a little reminder that it is important to know the side effects of your medications.  Obviously the list wouldn’t have “magnesium deficiency” listed, but muscle pain is probably on the list.

It is also important to know what the long-term benefits of your medication are.  I found out in school that synthroid can lead to kidney failure when taken for long durations.  This is good information to have, as I will have to be on synthroid the rest of my life.  This information will allow me to take counter measures against the damages these medications can do.

I’m sorry to get long winded, but please remember, next time the doctor gives you a medication please ask what the long-term implications are.  If they can’t answer the question for you, your pharmacist should be able to.  If your pharmacist can’t answer it for you, give me a call, and I will talk to some of my sources and find an answer for you.  Personal responsibility is the only way to ensure your health.

—I know y’all have been waiting till I got to a dessert recipe.  I am not going to say that the recipe that I am posting today is GOOD for you, but it isn’t near as bad as the original recipe.  The substitutes that have been made have greatly changed the shape of this dessert.  Just remember what a serving size really is, it is VERY easy to go over the recommended serving size on desserts like this.

Chocolate Creme Brulee

Dietary Exchanges1 fat-free milk, 1 1/2 other carbohydrate

The recipe that I am posting today is a classic.  It is also something that is healthy if done correctly.  Where most people run into problems on this dish are the side items.  Everybody knows that the classic is served with mashed potatoes and gravy.  If you can substitute that for steamed mixed vegetables or a sweet potato, you will end up way ahead of your table mates.  For more recipes like this you can visit www.cookinglight.com .

SLOW-COOKER BEEF POT ROAST

Some of you may look at this title and be shocked that tequila is in this dish.  Tequila will add some flavor to this, while most of the alcohol content will be cooked out.  Once again I have not tried this dish, so I am merely making my basis off of the ingredient combination.  This recipe came from Food Network’s website.  If you want to look through the actual recipe, hit the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tequila-lemon-chicken-breast-recipe/index.html

TEQUILA LEMON GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST

Ingredients

• 1/2 liter tequila
• 10 lemons
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 10 boneless chicken breasts
• Dried tarragon
• Dried rosemary
• 1 or 2 large plastic containers

Directions

Pour tequila into the plastic containers. Squeeze juice from 10 or more lemons into the containers. Add some olive oil, and salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts in the marinade and let marinate overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, preheat grill to high and place chicken breasts on grill. Prepare bowl of olive oil mixed with tarragon and rosemary, to taste, and brush onto chicken while grilling. Cook each side for about 10 to 15 minutes each.

NEW BLOG FORMAT

I was thinking this morning about the direction I want to take this blog and I came to a realization.  The number one thing that people ask me is how they can fix their diet.  I don’t have a one-size fits all answer to that question, but I thought I could give everyone some recipes that will fit nicely into a healthy diet.  I will be posting a new recipe every couple days most weeks (forgive me if I only get to it once a week other weeks, it all depends on the schedule that week).

Please let me know if you like the recipes that I put up so that I can continue to put up recipes that are similar to that style.  Keep in mind that many of these recipes will not be from my personal file, so I will not be able to guarantee that they taste good (I am going merely off of nutritional information and the synergy of the ingredients.

From time to time I will blog about a topic that is important, so don’t be surprised if some of those still work their way into the system.  Hope you like the new format.  Our first recipe has come from Cooking Light’s website (www.cookinglight.com), and features shrimp.  This recipe can be improved by using whole wheat pasta.

WHY DO LESS NUTRITIOUS FOODS TASTE BETTER AT CERTAIN TIMES?

Have you ever noticed that some days junk food looks so much better than other days?  I have thought about this in the past and had no idea what the link was to it.  Turns out that a hormone may be the thing to blame for this.  Ghrelin, a hormone that may be controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system may be to blame for how good those junk foods look.  Ghrelin has been known to control hunger, and has just recently been attached to an affinity for junk foods.

The good news is that scientists have identified that this may be to blame.  Since they have an idea of what the cause is, something can be developed to try to stop it from having its effect.  Obviously you can’t stop anything you don’t understand without a lot of luck.  Just hope they get this out on the market quickly.

A second reason you may be craving junk food is that you have been eating too much of it.  One of the biggest problems with junk food is that a lot of it has high sugar and fat content.  The sugar wreaks havoc on your blood sugar levels leading to highs and crashes.  The fat also causes the release of other hormones, which may help deter the body’s system of signaling your brain when you are “full”.  This combination can lead to overeating in one sitting, as well as, going back more often to re-energize from the crash the sugar led to.

A final reason these foods may look so good is that you haven’t been exercising enough.  This can have an effect for two reasons.  First, when you are exercising your appetite is suppressed.  This may seem like a misnomer, as many people think they take in more calories when they work out.  Secondly (and this is just my personal experience, no science to back this up), when I decide to take a couple of days off from the gym my attitude changes.  I don’t seem to care as much because I think that a day of rest means a day without self-control.  If I am not working out, I am not going to watch what I eat.

I guess the moral of today’s blog is that you can’t really ever take a day off of watching your diet.  Sure you have to enjoy life, otherwise it isn’t worth living.  If you don’t watch what you eat, though, it will lead to you not enjoying yourself as fully as you would be if you were in better shape.  Moderation in all things is key.

ADDICTION

I don’t want to talk directly about health today.  I want to talk in a more indirect manner.  Since when does everything have to be an addiction?  Reading over the research lately that is all that you hear about.  Obesity is an addiction.  Tiger Woods (among other stars) must go to sex addiction therapy.  Everybody is trying to classify everything as a disease.

My question is; since when is it healthy to blame all of your problems on something that you can’t control?  I was always brought up to take some responsibility for my actions, and although I didn’t always end up doing it, the times that I did were the times that I learned and grew the most.  Now, I try to accept all obstacles I encounter as something that I can overcome if I put in enough work.  Not only is it the right thing to do, but it is also empowering.  Your ability to change the situation you are in gives you a unique opportunity to try new things, whereas blaming impedes your progress and growth.  So how is all of this healthy?

Sure, there may be a way to explain some of the things that obese people do the same way that you can classify things that drug addicts do, but I am sure if you look hard enough you could classify a behavior from every living human being in the same category as something a drug addict might experience.  Don’t get me wrong here, I am not picking on obese people.  Some people legitimately have genetic defects that cause them to be overweight.  I am only questioning who we are helping by classifying these problems in this manner.

My theory is that we need to empower and educate these people to take control of their lives.  It is a fact that some of them won’t see the improvement that they want, but what is it going to hurt to have them try?  In all honesty it is probably going to help these people more than anything.  ANY progress they make is a step in the right direction.  It builds confidence, character and pride.  None of which can be described as bad things.

WHEN/HOW TO BUY NEW SHOES

This morning I stumbled across an article that has been at the front of my mind lately.  I was even talking about it at the gym yesterday, so the timing is pretty serendipitous.  How do you know when you need new shoes?  I know people who wear their shoes till they fall apart and I know other people that have to have a new pair of shoes every “x” amount of miles or months.  I don’t think that anybody really knows what the perfect time is to get new shoes.  Every shoe varies on how well it holds up, what kind of abuse you have put it through, even whether or not  you bought the right type of shoe for your feet.  Today, I just want to talk about a few ideas that may help you in shoe selection and save you some pain in the long run.

First of all, what type of shoes should  you buy?  This is a question that I never put much thought into until I started running a few more miles.  I would buy whatever looked the best, with comfort coming in a close second place.  Cross trainers were usually my shoe of choice, because I do a variety of different types of training, and the cross trainer seemed to work pretty well for most of those things.  After looking into the types of shoes I needed to be buying, I found that my thought process was completely flawed (and I found out many times that I shouldn’t go back to my original line of thinking).

When you buy a new pair of shoes, you want to look in the sections of the activity you are going to be doing the most.  If you are a runner, running shoes are the obvious choice (and making this selection will keep you from learning the hard way).  If you are a basketball player, buy basketball shoes.  On the field, cleats are the best idea.  This may sound like common sense, but each of these shoes are specially designed for the impact and forces that are put on your feet, ankles, sometimes even your knees.  I found out that running longer distances in cross trainers is one of the quickest ways to get shin splints.

The second thing that you want to watch for when buying your shoes is the sub-type of the shoe.  Major sub-types include things like motion-control and cushioned.  Before researching this a few years ago, I would have guessed that cushioned shoes were the best for everyone, but this isn’t the case.  You want to look at the type of arch that you have (to be more accurate go to a full-service shoe store like Peak Performance, to see what kind of arch you really have because some people look like they have high arches, but the way the weight is distributed, they have low arches).  Once you have figured out your arch type, you will have a better idea of what sub-type of shoes you will need, although you will have to do one more quick test.  When you run do you run on the outside of your foot, or the inside?  People with high arches often run on the outsides of their feet, while people with low arches often run on the insides of theirs.  If you run on the outside (more high arched people) you need to buy cushioned shoes, if you run on the inside (more low arched people) you need motion control.

So, now that the easy part is over with, how do you know when you need a new pair of shoes?  Pain while running is the first clue.  If you are experiencing things such as arch pain, shin splints or increased knee pain, it is probably time for a new pair of shoes.  As the shoes break down, more and more force are pushed into the body, most of which get absorbed by the foot, ankle and knee.  A lot of times simply switching to a new pair of shoes will help alleviate these pains.

Another common signal it is time for new shoes is any wear and tear on the shoes.  If the shoes are starting to fall apart, it is time to get a new pair.  There is no debate on this.  I like to think that the shoes are a direct depiction of what is happening to your joints.  When the shoe is new, your joints aren’t taking near as much punishment.  As the shoe ages a little bit, your joints get a little bit more abuse.  If you continue working out in shoes that are destroyed, guess what you are doing to your joints?

A final point that I would like to address is new insoles.  I know a few people who think that instead of buying new shoes all you need is new insoles.  This is a dangerous practice.  Although the new insoles will make the shoes feel better initially, they aren’t the real source of cushioning that the shoe provides.  Insoles quickly break down returning you to the dangers of the originally worn out shoes.  I really don’t recommend this practice and hope that you are not one of these people.

I know this has gotten to be a pretty long post, but the type of shoes we wear can affect our lives in so many ways.  It is an important selection that I hope you will take seriously.

HEALTH MOTIVATION

As a lot of the New Year’s resolutions have come to an end, what will it take to get people to refocus on their health?  Every year the gym starts to fill up around Thanksgiving, reaches its peak around New Year’s Day and is back to the same dedicated group it started with by the middle of February.  The funny thing is that people still say things like “I need to get in shape for spring break”, “I need to get in shape for my friend’s wedding” and “I need to get in shape for my vacation”.  The problem is, most of the time, this doesn’t happen.  So where is the line drawn between what we “want” and what we actually do?

I have spent a lot of time reading business books lately.  My motivation is that spending a little time on these things in the short-run could save me a lot of time and money on things in the long-run.  A key principle written into all of these books is motivation.  Why do we do the things we do?  How can we get others to help us reach the things we want?  The short answer in every one of these books is you have to REALLY want whatever you say you want.  As easy as this sounds, it is really hard.

How many people do you know that have said something just to impress someone else?  As bad as this is, we all do this in our own ways.  The things that we say we want to do, but never really achieve are all things that we have said to impress other people.  The fact of the matter is, other things have gotten in the way that we VIEW as more important.  While there is nothing wrong with this, we need to focus on taking the best care of ourselves possible.  If we don’t take care of ourselves, we are going to have trouble doing the things we love to do, especially later on in our lives.

Kenneth Thorpe of Emory University says that an obese person will have an average of $8,315 in medical bills a year in 2018 compared with $5,855 for an adult at a healthy weight. Basically every obese person in the United States (which they estimated could be 40% of the adult population by 2018) is spending an extra $2,460 EVERY year (this is not a cumulative lifetime number).  The American Diabetes Association said that in 2007 the direct and indirect costs of diabetes were $174 BILLION.  The American Heart Association and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute estimated that in 2009 the price of cardiovascular disease and strokes would be approximately $475.3 BILLION.

All of these costs either directly or indirectly affect you, so when will it be time to say enough is enough?  People who develop healthy lifestyles at a younger age are proven to stay healthier in the later stages of their lives.  Take a stand.  Do what you need to do to stay healthy and keep those around you healthy too.  It may mean a couple extra days of being able to play with your grandchildren, it could mean a couple extra rounds of golf, it could mean a little more of whatever you love.  Do yourself a favor and find that reason to change your lifestyle.  You’ll be happy you did.

SODA TAX

Recently a big topic in the health industry has been the fight against the obesity epidemic that America is facing.  Currently a hot topic in this fight is whether or not a “soda tax” should be assessed on beverages that are high in sugar content (note that this tax would not only affect soda).  These beverages are often criticized for their connection to diabetes, obesity and heart disease.  Supporters of this proposal are saying that a tax would make these beverages expensive enough that people would look towards healthier choices, such as water, more often.  Detractors argue that we are already facing enough taxation, and that the poor will bear the brunt of these taxes much as they do on alcohol and tobacco products.

“If the price of regular soda and other sweetened beverages increased by 18%, people would consume an average of 56 fewer calories a day and lose about 5 pounds a year, according to projections in a study out Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. To come to this conclusion, nutrition researchers at the University of North Carolina studied the eating habits of more than 5,000 young adults over a period of 20 years and found associations between higher food costs and lower calorie intake. A $1 increase in soda was associated with a decreased intake of 124 calories a day, and therefore a decrease in body weight,” USA Today writes.

To take a closer look at one of the major product lines affected by this proposed tax, let’s look at what a typical soda does to the body.  Since most sodas contain significant amounts of sugar, artificial sweeteners and phosphoric acid we will target these items.  Consuming large amounts of sugar stimulate the pancreas to release insulin, which takes sugar (glucose) out of the blood and stimulates storage in the liver and muscles through a process called glycogenesis.  Once the liver and muscles have built up to their maximum glycogen (the storage form of glucose) levels, the excess glucose is stored as fat (which is where the obesity and heart disease issues come into play).  With this barrage of sugar, the pancreas is forced to work extra to keep the blood sugar levels down, which can lead to diabetes mellitus.

Unfortunately these aren’t the only harmful effects of soda.  Most sodas also contain phosphoric acid.  This is a substance that is toxic to the body, and therefore, when ingested other things need to be attached to it to neutralize its acidity.  Calcium, magnesium, zinc and even sodium molecules are attached to the phosphoric acid to achieve this neutrality.  All of these nutrients are then excreted in the urine.  These nutrients have a diverse set of functions in the body including heart function, bone density and regulating muscle contractions.

So, you’re thinking that if you just drink diet sodas you will be fine, aren’t you?   Once again, this is not the case.  Although the diet sodas may not contain any real sugars, most are sweetened with sugar alcohols.  These sugar alcohols can not only make you crave sugar, but they can also stimulate the body to store more body fat.  Diet sodas also present the same dangers as regular sodas due to their content of phosphoric acid.

So who is right on this argument?  That’s something you will have to decide, but if you ask me losing 5 pounds sounds like a good idea to me.