LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Hypertension

Common Dental Habit May Up Blood Pressure

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Just when you think we understand everything there is to know about human physiology, we get a subtle reminder that we are not even close.

First, a quick lesson on blood vessel health.  There is a compound called nitric oxide that helps our blood vessels to relax and open up.  This is generally a good thing.  Nitric oxide has an arch enemy called ADMA that keeps it from being able to relax your blood vessels.  Being prediabetic ups your levels of ADMA and is one of the principle reasons why the vast majority of blood pressure problems are actually prediabetes in disguise.

So where does the nitric oxide come from in the first place?  Here’s where the story gets a little circular.

Nitrates that are naturally present in foods (vegetables, in general, are very high in nitrates) are converted by bacteria in our mouth to nitrite. (We have seen studies where antiseptic mouthwash actually stops this process and studies that suggest that stomach acid and nitrite protect the stomach lining)

The nitrite is then acted on by stomach acid to produce nitric oxide, which is a molecule well known to help lower blood pressure.

Based on all this, what do you think might happen to blood pressure if you used an antiseptic mouthwash?  That is exactly what researchers set out to determine in this particular study.

In this small study, 19 participants were given a chlorhexidine-based antiseptic mouthwash for 7 days.  Here’s what they found:

  • The production of oral nitrite production dropped by 90%.
  • Nitrite levels in the blood dropped by 25%.
  • Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased by 2–3 .5 mm Hg, increases correlated to a decrease in circulating nitrite concentrations (r2 = 0.56, p = 0.002).
  • The blood pressure effect appeared within 1 day of disruption of the oral microflora and was sustained during the 7-day mouthwash.

While this small amount of increased blood pressure is not likely to send anyone off into stroke range, it is still important when added to other health-destroying habits.

Overall, this demonstrates just how important it is to have the right blend of bacteria in our bodies and to do everything possible to avoiding destroying our normal bacterial flora that is so common in our sterilized lifestyle.

Insulin Causes Endothelial Dysfunction in Humans – (02-11-02)

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Insulin Causes Endothelial Dysfunction in Humans

Mark this one down…this is another article in the developing saga of the relationship between hyperinsulinemia and hypertension. Many doctors focus on salt reduction in hypertensive patients, and yet education about whole grains vs refined carbs may be time better spent…

Circulation — Abstracts: Arcaro et al. 105 (5): 576

Read entire article here

Childhood Obesity Statistics: Is Your Child 7-11 Years Old?

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Childhood obesity statistics remain a concern even at the Presidential level. We know the answers, but we have to be willing to make the needed changes to our lives.

I have made it very clear where I stand on the childhood obesity epidemic.  The vast majority of the fault lies not with the schools, not with the TV advertisers and not even with McDonald’s.  Rather, it lies squarely in the laps of the parents.  Let me relay a very sad story to illustrate the point.

My son, Keegan, is a 7 year old first grader.  A few weeks ago, before I packed his lunch for the next day, we had an updated discussion about what I was putting into his lunch.  We do this from time to time to make sure he’s eating enough and that he likes what I’m giving him.  I asked him if he would eat some purple cauliflower if I put a few small pieces in his lunch.  He noted concern that the other kids would make fun of him because he would be the only kid at the table eating cauliflower.  With some negotiations he agreed to eat the cauliflower I put in his lunch (I pointed out that none of the other kids would have a square of dark chocolate in his or her lunch either, so he conceded my win).

A few days later I asked him if he ate the cauliflower.  He said that he did, but he held it under the table so the other kids wouldn’t see him eating it.  My heart broke.  The idea that he should be ashamed to eat cauliflower in front of his friends both hurt me and angered me.  What does this say about our collective child health rearing skills that a solitary child eating cauliflower should feel the need to eat this food out of sight?  Shouldn’t the kids eating Doritos for lunch be the ones hiding in the corner in shame because, at some level, that child’s parents are completely oblivious about how much these foods destroy the future health of that child?

Do you think I’m being overly dramatic?  If so, it’s because you haven’t yet read this particular article.

There has always been concern with rapid weight gain in a child leading to the rise in childhood obesity statistics.  This concern extends to the weight gain in the womb due to gestational diabetes, as an infant when the child is on formula instead of breastmilk, as a toddler as they explore new foods or beyond.  In this study, researchers looked broke weight gain into age categories to determine at what ages the rapid growth was the most associated with future health challenges (in this case, high blood pressure).

The age groups were broken down as follows: 3 to 9 months, 9 to 36 months, 3 to 7 years, and 7 to 11 years.  The children’s blood pressure at age 11 was then determined.  Here’s what they found:

  1. Faster childhood linear growth between 7 and 11 years of age (getting taller) in girls led to a 27% higher risk of higher blood pressures.
  2. In boys, this risk was over double the risk – 211%.
  3. At age 11, both boys and girls with the highest BMI had 272% higher risk of having higher blood pressure (Tweet this).

Based on this study, the time bomb of health is ticking at my son’s school.  The fact that Keegan’s friends would make fun of him for eating cauliflower (I have heard him say the same of hummus) speaks volumes as to the foods these kids are exposed to at home.

In your child’s lunchroom, would your child be in Keegan’s shoes, or would your child sneer at the idea of eating foods like cauliflower or hummus?

Lipoprotein(a) Level and Heart Attacks – (03-11-01)

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Lipoprotein(a) Level Linked to Coronary Events in Middle-Aged Men

I really hate to beat a dead horse, but checking only cholesterol levels with the copious amounts of research on other blood-related risk factors is outdated and a disservice. What is interesting about this study is that the degree of risk from lipoprotein(a) is related to the presence of other risk factors. More support of a global approach to disease management.

J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37:434-439 – Perhaps ending a longstanding controversy, a new population-based study connects elevated levels of lipoprotein(a) with increased coronary risk in middle-aged men, especially those with high LDL cholesterol levels, low HDL cholesterol levels, hypertension and/or other risk factors. Dr. Arnold von Eckardstein, from the Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster, Germany, and colleagues collected data on 788 men, 35 to 65 years of age, who participated in the Prospective Cardiovascular Munster study. Over 10 years of follow-up, the researchers evaluated levels of lipoprotein(a) as well as traditional cardiovascular risk factors. During that period, 44 men experienced myocardial infarctions, while the remaining 744 subjects survived without a major coronary event or stroke, according to the research team’s report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology for February. Dr. von Eckardstein’s group found a 2.7 times increased risk for coronary events among men whose lipoprotein(a) levels were 0.2 g/L or more, compared with subjects with lower levels. The risk was especially prominent in men with LDL cholesterol levels of 4.1 mmol/L or more (relative risk 2.6), and men with HDL cholesterol of 0.9 mmol/L or less (relative risk 8.3). The risk was also strongly associated with hypertension (relative risk 3.2). “Because lipoprotein(a) increases the risk of coronary events strongly depending on the presence of additional coronary risk factors, it is imperative to strictly control additional risk factors in individuals with elevated lipoprotein(a),” Dr. von Eckardstein and colleagues conclude.

 

Annual Medical Check Up – Benefit or Waste of Time?

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It’s as accepted as apple pie and baseball. You get your annual medical check up to stay healthy. This way you can catch bad stuff before it gets worse, right?

Wrong.

Wrong?  How can that be wrong??

The same way hormone replacement therapy, statins, 8 glasses of water per day, antibiotics for every sniffle and aspirin to prevent heart attacks were wrong.  They all sounded good until we decided to look beyond opinion and do some research.

This particular study is another review by my favorite group, the Cochrane Collaboration.  They looked at the research to see if the preventative medical check up led to a reduction in the number of deaths or in the overall sickness of the patients getting screened.  What they did NOT look at was changes in surrogate health markers like cholesterol, blood pressure and HbA1c.  This is yet more proof that using surrogate end markers in medicine has created a house of cards that does very little for our health and much benefit to the pharmaceutical companies.  For a better understanding of the surrogate end marker debate, please refer back to a previous post written that covers this important topic that can be read here.

The study had some pretty disturbing findings for those getting a medical check up:

  1. There was no change in overall risk of death, dying of heart disease or dying from cancer (Tweet this).
  2. No beneficial effects morbidity, hospitalisation, disability, worry, additional physician visits, or absence from work.
  3. On reviewed study found a 20% increase in the total number of new diagnoses per participant and an increased number of people with self reported chronic conditions.
  4. Two trials found an increased use of blood pressure medications.

So basically, more patients were medicated and diagnosed with something, but it didn’t really change anything.

Isn’t this so incredibly representative of our current “health care” system?  We aren’t trying to make people healthy, we are trying to determine if they are sick enough to be given a medication.

If anything, these medical check ups should be an opportunity for you to see how well you are living for the genes you’ve been given.  Cholesterol too high?  Make the right changes to lower your cholesterol.  Statins should not even be on the menu.

Blood pressure too high?  Same thing.  Blood sugar and weight up?  You get the idea.

With this information from this study in mind, should insurance no longer pay for your regular medical check ups?

Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome – (07-16-04)

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Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome and Its Relation to All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in Nondiabetic European Men and Women

15%. That is the number this study found in normal, everyday people. I would guarantee that this number is much higher in physicians office’s because they’re there for the signs–hypertension, obesity, heart disease. So why do I yet to EVER have a patient come in that told me their PCP or internists told them they had insulin resistance issues?

(I did have one patient come in, but she had figured it out for herself) I am totally stumped on the incredible lack of attention given to this major risk factor for just about everything. I wish I had an answer, but I don’t.

Arch Intern Med — Abstracts: Hu et al. 164 (10): 1066 –

Read entire article here

THYROID EFFECTS BLOOD PRESSURE AND HYPERTENSION – (05-09-02)

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The Role of Thyroid Hormone in Blood Pressure Homeostasis

I must admit that the evaluation of hypertension and factors associated with it do not generally include evaluating thyroid function. This article suggests that thyroid function can indeed be a factor in high blood pressure and should be added to the list of therapeutic avenues for anyone with hypertension. Add to this lowering insulin resistance, exercise, consuming healthy fats and lots of fruits and veggies and you are well on your way to lowering blood pressure naturally.

JCEM — Abstracts: Fommei and Iervasi 87 (5): 1996 –

Read entire article here

CADMIUM HARMFUL FOR KIDNEYS AND LEADS TO HYPERTENSION – (04-15-02)

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Gradient Between Long-Term Arsenic Exposure & Atherosclerosis

Too many times heavy metals are overlooked as a potential contributor to human disease, and yet many, many times they may play a large factor. A few years back I ran a hair analysis on an elderly patient for some paresthesias that I was not convinced were coming from carpal tunnel syndrome. Her cadmium levels came back markedly elevated (which also matched her hypertension–cadmium is damaging to the kidneys). Despite that large volumes on the negative impact of cadmium on human health, her nurse convinced her that the idea that cadmium being harmful was ridiculous.

Unfortunately, this story is not uncommon as ignorant medical personnel give advice on things that they don’t know anything about.

Circulation — Abstracts: Wang et al. 105 (15): 1804 –

Read entire article here