Natural Health News

The American Chiropractic Association recently rated the jobs that they concidered to cause the most stress and strain on back muscles. 1) Heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers 2) Construction workers 3) Landscapers 4) Police Officers 5) Farmers 6) Roofers 7) Firefighters/EMTs 8) Delivery Drivers 9) Nursing home workers 10) Auto/truck mechanics. I would like to add one more. 11) House wives. House work and taking care of young children causes lots of problems.

If you work at any of these occupations you have to be very careful to prevent back problems. There are other factors that cause a higher than usual incidence of back problems. These are males- because they do most of the heavy work. Smokers- Smoking reduces blood flow to the muscles and ligaments of the spine and makes them weaker. Obesity- The heavier you are the more stress there is on the spine. Vehicular vibration- When riding in a car or truck for long periods of time the vibration can weaken the back. Wear your seat belt and sit all the way back in your seat. Diabetes- Here again there is a loss of blood flow to the muscles and ligaments of the spine. Menopause- Here there is a weakening of the bones as well as the ligaments and muscles of the spine.

If you are part of either of these lists you should see your Chiropractor regularly.

Four out of five of us will experience debilitating back problems at some time in our lives. With odds like that, we should do everything we can to keep our backs strong and healthy.

When sitting, keep your back straight and your shoulders back. Support your lower back. Stay away from soft, overstuffed furniture.
When standing place one foot slightly ahead of the other with your knees slightly bent. This relaxes the ligaments in the low back and allows you to stand longer without getting tired.
When reaching for things that are high stand on a sturdy stool or ladder.
When lifting, stand with your feet planted squarely, shoulder width apart. Bend at the knees, not the waist. Lift slowly, keep you back straight and let you legs carry the weight.
If you have a choice when moving heavy objects it is better to push rather than pull. When pushing you are using stronger muscles and it will be easier on your back.
Exercise and loose excess fat to get within 10 lbs. of your ideal weight. This will take a lot of stress off your spinal muscles and you'll fell a lot better about your self.
Quit Smoking. The affects of nicotine restrict blood flow to spinal muscles and ligaments and make your back more vulnerable to injury and pain.
Sleep on your side or on your back. This will help to maintain proper spinal alignment. Some patients like a pillow between their legs. Never sleep on your stomach. That's asking for trouble.

If you injure your back, see your Chiropractor right away. By taking care of the problem promptly your back will heal faster, you'll have a lot less pain and you'll miss less work.

Myth of the Month: Cheating ruins your physique

The truth: Cheating--eating many more calories than you normally do one day a week--can actually prevent your metabolism from dropping; that's the great paradox of dieting. When calories decline, levels of thyroid hormone, a major calorie burner, also dip along with leptin and lipase, an enzyme that helps burn body fat. IGF-1, a hormone that supports muscle growth also declines with prolonged dieting.

What to do: Every 7-10 days in a leaning-out diet, double your carbohydrate consumption for one day. The sudden boost reverses the decline in metabolism while driving IGF-1 levels back to normal and sometimes higher. This not only prevents "plateaus" in your diet but ensures you'll maintain your muscle mass.

Obesity and the Amish

A study of an Old Order Amish community found it's members much less likely to be overweight than people living in modern society. The most likely reason: A much higher degree of physical activity, like farming and furniture making.
Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise

If you think all the talk about America's weight problem is overblown, get this. According to a study by the National Institute of public Health in Copenhagen, Denmark, America's teens have a higher rate of obesity and overweight than teens in 14 other industrialized nations. Here is a list of the nations with the highest percentages of overweight teens. Weight calculations were based on body mass index (BMI).

Denmark Boys-13% Girls-24.9% Israel Boys-27% Girls-22%

Greece Boys-40% Girls-21.5% Portugal Boys-19% Girls-28%

Ireland Boys-22% Girls-19% U.S. Boys-42% Girls 46%

Every body is getting on the low carb craze. Frito-Lay will be introducing Tostitos Edge and Doritos Edge. They promise 60% fewer carbohydrates than the present version. The company says, both products will have only 6 grams of net carbs, 10 grams of protein, 7 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber per serving and will be a bit pricier too. Look for them first in Subway stores this spring and later in the corner grocery.

"Alternative" is Relative

by Lonny Brown, PhD

What's in a Name?

Alternative health is big news these days, but the term is misleading. For example, one alternative -- herbology -- is thousands of years old. It only seems alien because societies have short memories. Two generations ago, all medicines came from plants. Now they come from test tubes.

As alternatives become mainstream, the word quickly loses its meaning. An alternative term for "alternative" is "non-traditional," but that's relative, too -- for many of us, traditional medicine means MDs and drugstores; to Native Americans, shamanism is traditional.

I prefer the term "complementary medicine." It implies cooperation -- not competition -- with established methods. The new, holistic overview is like a larger umbrella covering our previous medical knowledge, not excluding it.

A Place for High Tech

What we have come to think of as conventional medicine is high-intervention, bio-analytical allopathy. It relies primarily on synthesized chemical drugs, surgery, and high technology. It excels at symptomology and exacting diagnosis. It is the system of choice for infectious and life-threatening diseases, organ failure, traumatic injuries, acute pain and emergencies. In other words, if you have a broken leg, forget the home remedies and go get it fixed!

But if you suffer from chronic fatigue, hypertension, digestive or immune disorders, colds, headache, back pain and the many other unfortunate consequences of stress, eating junk food, being overweight, substance abuse, lack of exercise, or pollution, chances are neither the hospital nor your doctor will be able to offer much help. First -- you have to do your own health care homework.

A Good Doctor

Eighty percent of today's common medical complaints are preventable lifestyle or stress-related disorders. The holistic practitioner’s job is to educate and encourage people to take care of themselves. He or she does not diagnose, prescribe, or cure. She coaches. An adjunct practitioner takes some of the load off your doctor, who may not have time to review your lifestyle, assess you work environment, analyze your diet, teach you stress management, monitor your fitness program, or direct you to further resources.

Supposing while taking medications to lower your blood pressure, reduce pain, or get to sleep, you discover that you can learn relaxation with biofeedback, a low-risk alternative. Any good doctor would support this worthwhile goal (although not all offer it). In this case an “alternative" makes a good co-therapy, or may just become the treatment of choice.

Whatever Works

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, one-third of all Americans racked up a total 435 million visits to alternative practitioners in 1990, spending nearly 14 billion of their own dollars on health services not covered by medical insurance. The fact that 72 percent of these determined health consumers did not tell their regular physicians of their decision to seek alternatives reveals a crises of confidence in the establishment. The government has recognized the issue by forming a special Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health to investigate the efficacy of homeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, apitherapy, magnetic therapy, and other traditional modalities.

But the surge of acceptance of alternative approaches -- old and new -- need not lead to a turf war between MDs and lay practitioners. In a shrinking world, and a time of information explosion, what will prevail is what works. Twenty-first-century medicine will witness the inevitable and long-overdue reconciliation of science and art -- East, and West; old and new; body, mind and soul. The resulting "cooperative medicine" will naturally allow for all the diverse and mysterious ways in which healing occurs.

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