LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Healthy Living in a Toxic World

MEN–IS YOUR WATER BOTTLE GIVING YOU BREASTS?

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So this is not the first time I’ve brought up the toxins in our environment.  However, the label of your bottled water certainly does not indicate that every case comes with a training bra, but maybe it should.

Many chemicals in the environment have an estrogen-like effect.  Most notable of these is plastics and compounds used in plastics such as bisphenol A (BPA).  The estrogenic effects have consequences for both men and women.

The most obvious for women is the increased risk of estrogen related cancers like breast and endometrial cancers.  However, early onset of menses and menstrual problems like endometriosis and PMS are influenced as well.

On the male side of the equation is an increased risk of prostate cancer and enlargement of the prostate.  Loss of libido and lowered sperm counts can contribute to infertility problems in couples.

This particular article puts a scary face on my strong recommendation to ditch the plastic water bottles in favor of water from an RO system into a BPA free water bottle.  The authors find that even many products labelled “BPA free” released high levels of BPA when exposed to UV radiation, high heat or microwaving.

The bottom line is that we need to avoid many of these plastics as much as possible.  Based on this article, maybe stainless steel or glass water bottles are less questionable.  It means letting new plastics like shower curtains fully air out before you leave them in an enclosed room.  It means leaving the windows down in your car to air out the phthalates coming off the dashboard.

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IS YOUR THYROID WORRIED ABOUT BURSTING INTO FLAMES?

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Ok.  I understand that burning to a crisp would not be a fun way to go.  I also do not recall anyone personally who has been killed in any type of fire, although I’m sure there has been someone.  MAYBE this is because we use chemical retardants like Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) to slow the burn rate of things like our furniture padding (this goes for dog beds!!), upholstery, computers and drapes.

The problem is that these chemicals have a negative effect on our health.  So, on one hand, not bursting into flames (rare?), on the other hand birth defects, thyroid problems and neurological problems.

Let’s focus on the thyroid aspect noted above.  It remains a concern for me just how common thyroid problems are.  This includes hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroiditis and thyroid cancer.  It absolutely amazes me how much we take conditions like hypothyroidism with a grain of salt and just through Synthroid at the problem.

The human body is a wonderful, miraculous, incredulous, phenomenal, indescribable wonder.  The brilliance of the orchestration of our physiology defies words.  All higher power stuff.

Oh…except for the thyroid.  That was an afterthought thrown in on day 8 and it sometimes just goes out in our twenties.  No big deal.

See how strange that sounds?  What if our hearts, brains or kidneys started to fail at 25?  No one would take that lying down.  There’d be an uproar.  A demand to find out WHY.  Not so with the thyroid.

I will tell you that study after study of toxic chemicals all seem to affect the thyroid with some degree of consistancey.  This means that ANY thyroid problems needs to be evaluated with a fine tooth comb.  Evaluation of nutrient deficiencies, stress and especially, toxicities and exposures.  Without this, the doctor who just hands out Synthroid without full evaluation is doing a massive disservice, potentially allowing for unchecked chemical toxicities to rage, almost solidifying your progression to obesity, diabetes, Alzheimers or cancer.

At the very least, any thyroid patient should evaluate their toxic exposure (as seen in this article with flame retardants) and go through a nutritionally based detox.

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DID YOU RECEIVE A SCRIPT FOR THIS MED? IF SO, YOUR DOCTOR WAS TRICKED

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I call them the “drug of the week.”  I’ve been in practice long enough to see patterns of patients that come into my office.  There are times when it seems like every other patient coming into my office is on a hot new drug.  Many times the condition they are put on the drug for is not really what the drug was originally approved for.

A pretty strong glaring example that I remember distinctly was Neurontin (gabapentin).  Within a period of a few months, I saw a surprising number of patients who were given this prescription, and none were for the indicated use of the drug (originally seizures, then post-herpetic neuralgia, which is when the boom started).  I remember a particular patient who was put on this by her PCP for sciatic pain.  Two problems…it wasn’t sciatic pain (it was meralgia paresthetica and responded well in a few visits), and, even if it was, this is a very poor use for Neurontin.

So, when the prescriptions go up, I am usually thinking it’s the drug reps doing a great job.  In the particular case of Neurontin, this is a vast understatement.  The entire marketing and study of Neurotonin beyond the approval of its use for post-herpetic neuralgia was a massive scam on a massive scale.  The company netted billions.

Here’s how it worked.  The was a study named the STEPS (Study of Neurontin: Titrate to Effect, Profile of Safety).  This study was what is referred to as a seeding trial (we saw this before on a very large scale with Vioxx and Celebrex).

In a seeding trial, the goal is NOT to gather information, but to get patients and providers used to prescribing the drug so it becomes habit.  The providers are frequently paid to participate in the trial, so there is incentive to start the habit.

The problem?  The drug company Pfizer cared little about the science of the study and how the drug may or may not have benefited patients.  They cared little about the side effects.  This trial was developed, in part, through the MARKETING department, not the research department.  This is an exceedingly unethical method of marketing a drug by masquerading it as science.

And the medical community was deceived as well and went for it hook, line and sinker.  This is just one of many documented examples that have come out as a result of lawsuits that put documents of drug companies into the public domain.

This just exemplifies why our society’s heavy reliance on drugs to fix our woes is so problematic.  The entire system is based on weak, questionable and, as in this case, unethical evidence. 

Lifestyle, however, is the way we were designed.  No one needs a study to determine that eating more fruits and vegetables are good for us.

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/171/12/1100

TOO MUCH FAT IN PREGNANCY MAY DAMAGE THE BABY PERMANENTLY

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I know that you have been properly indoctrinated into the understanding that what we do before, during and after pregnancy will preprogram the baby for health or disease for decades to come.  The second a couple decides to become pregnant it is no longer about them–every decision they make influences the developing baby.

This particular study, while a mouse study, reinforces this finding in yet another dimension.  The feeding of a high fat diet to pregnant mice let to a permanently reduced the ability of the baby to produce antioxidants, specifically in the liver.  That means that this little baby, due to no fault of it’s own, will suffer increased liver damage as a result of mom’s behavior during pregnancy.

Add to this being overweight prior to pregnancy and reduced intake of antioxidants during pregnancy and other problems are known to occur.

Probably the scariest in society today is the sheer volume of environmental contaminants that the developing baby is exposed to.  According the the 10 Americans Study performed by http://www.ewg.org/ the average exposure of infants in the womb (from a mere 400 out of some 82,000 chemicals approved by the EPA) was to 287 different chemicals.  Run a search on YouTube for the 10 Americans Study and watch the presentation–a strong eye opener.  The exposure is massive.

Some we can be aware of and control.  BPA.  Teflon.  Flame retardants, phthalates, pesticides, insecticides, weed killers, cigarette smoke.  These are just some of the known exposures.  It’s the unknown ones affecting the developing baby that is scary.  The best we can do is limit the known exposure and counteract the exposures with the highest intake of phytonutrients possible through a plant based diet free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

Your baby will thank you.  When he or she is 50.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/141/7/1254.abstract

DO YOU HAVE LOW TESTOSTERONE?

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The understanding is that mainstream medical research takes about 20 years to make it into clinical practice, specialists included (unless it’s blockbuster drug research, in which case it seems to make it to doctors’ offices overnight…).  That means that current research I comment on won’t be used appropriately for at least another 2 decades.  While I consider this completely inappropriate because, as a physician, it is my responsibility to my patients to stay current to some degree, it is a reality.

However, there is an occasional glimpse of the sun through the clouds when mainstream medical practioners try to apply functional medicine concepts in limited aspects.  Probiotics are a key one–106 years in the medical literature and some docs are starting to recommend Florastor in limited situations.  Unfortunately, Florastor can work great to lower the risk of antibiotic associated diarrhea, but is not considered a probiotic to restore normal flora in the gut.  So, great idea for mainstream medicine, but inappropriate application.

Strangely, I see the same thing with checking testosterone levels.  I’ve seen more and more of this over the years, and some clinics even hang their hats on the idea of testosterone checking and supplementation (usually as pellets implanted under the skin of the glut region).  But it seems so out of context with the rest of the bloodwork checked that I just scratch my head in wonder.

Why?  Several reasons.  First, checking testosterone in the blood is not my favorite method.  Salivary testing is much easier and checks the levels of unbound, active hormone in the body, which blood testing does NOT do (it checks the protein bound, inactive levels). 

Next, if the levels are low, their is never a question as to why they are low; it’s just replacement with creams, pills, injections or pellets.  Which–by the way, can really screw up the way your body works.  It would not be the first time I’ve seen a male patient with low testosterone pushed into sterility from exogenous testosterone use.

In functional medicine, we would ask WHY are the levels low and address that aspect of the issue.  Many times, it can be an adrenal issue.  A chunk of a male’s circulating testosterone is actually derived from the adrenal gland (on the range of 5%) and we need to evaluate and support adrenal function via supplementation, exercise and stress mangement. 

Toxicity from the environment can contribute greatly.  The principal agent are the phthalates, which are well known to produce a feminizing effect on the male.  So avoid things with that “new car” or “new shower curtain” smell as much as possible.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934311002749

LifeCare Chiropractic Mesa AZ Tells the Problem of Bottled Water

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ARE YOU STILL DRINKING BOTTLED WATER?

Somewhere along the way, “they” decided that we should drink 8-10 glasses of water per day.  Americans, as usual, latched onto this with a ferocity.  Maybe because it is an easy application of something to improve our collective health?  Exercise?  Too much effort.  More fruits and vegetables?  Too much work.  But drag around an 8 ounce bottle of water?  Hey!  I can do that!

The problem is that there is very little medical research support on this concept.  I’ve heard it said again and again that drinking water will stimulate detoxification (not true–we use the H2O molecule to detoxify, but water itself will NOT drive an enzymatic reaction and create detoxification).  That it will curb hunger (not true–studies have actually shown that drinking water does not curb hunger).

I’m not saying we should climb Camelback Mountain here in Phoenix at noon in August without bringing water, but this deluded concept of keeping a bottle of water at arm’s reach has created far more harm than good.

First, the environmental negative effects are clear.  Plastic water bottles contain bisphenol A (BPA) that is now clearly linked to diabetes and birth defects.  The negative health effects of the high volume of drinking bottled water laden with BPA are too broad to be imagined. 

I remain a strong advocate of unsweetened, flavored tea (Republic of Tea, China Mist, Tazo, Teavana) instead of water instead of drinking bottled water.  The shift from diabetes causing bottled water to tea can have some substantial health benefits.

This particular study shows just how entrenched dogmatic beliefs about health and wellness become in our society.  Participants believed that bottled water was safer and cleaner than tap water.  Not even close.

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/archpediatrics.2011.83?etoc

UNUSUAL CONTRIBUTOR TO AUTISM

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There has been much discussion over autism in recent years.  One point that has become less and less debatable is that the risk of autism is going up.  The “why,” however, is heavily debated.  Some like to blame single effects like mercury in vaccination.  The answer is almost certainly multifactorial.

The unfortunate aspect is that exposure to environmental chemicals in the womb coupled with poor nutritional status is affecting the genetic expression of the as-yet unborn child.  These changes are called “epigentic” changes because they do not change our actual DNA, but rather the way our genes express themselves.  A famous study looked at exposure of agouti mice to BPA (the chemcial used in clear plastic water bottles).  The exposure completely changed the outcome of the newborn mice–they were born yellow (meaning they had a very high risk of obesity, diabetes and cancer).  However, when folic acid was given to these mices along with the BPA, the mice were born normal.

So, environmental chemicals can unquestionably alter the outcome of the baby if the exposure is during critical times of development.  This particular study looks at a pregnant mother living in close proximity to freeways and the risk of autism.  The ones closer to the freeways had twice the risk of a child being diagnosed with autism.  Living close to a freeway will increase the mom’s potential exposure to particulate matter from exhaust fumes.

Bottom line is that, in pregnancy as well as the rest of our lives, we need to do our best to avoid as manner chemicals as possible on top of eating a diet very high in phytonutrients.

 

THAT “CLEAN FREST SCENT” MAY BE KILLING YOU

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We live in a world that is innudated with chemicals designed to make the world more pleasant.  Clothes don’t smell fresh like a mountain spring?  Add some fragrance to your laundry detergent.  Carpet smells like dog?  Sprinkle some powder and vacuum it up to get rid of (ummmm…I mean “cover up”) that dog smell.  But this constant exposure comes with a price.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are well known to be hazardous to our health.  They can contribute to things like respiratory problems, reproductive problems and cancer.   And we are well aware that we need to reduce our exposure when it comes to paint, copiers, pesticides, correction fluid and glue.  But what about those tricky little VOCs that are present in other everyday items?

Researchers found VOCs were present in air fresheners, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, disinfectants, dish detergents, all-purpose cleaners, soaps, hand sanitizers, lotions, deodorants, and shampoos.  The VOCs released from these products were NOT disclosed on the label of the product.

The bottom line is that you can eradicate every less-than-minimally-pleasant scent in your life or you can be truly healthy, but you can’t have both.  Consider items that use essential oils or are fragrance free.  In the dryer, consider those knobby dryer balls instead of toxic dryer sheets.  You may not smell like you just walked off the set of a Dove commercial, but your body will thank you later.

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