LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

prediabetic

4 Hours Less Sleep = Prediabetes

by

SLEEP RESTRICTION LEADS TO COMMON DISEASE.

OK…I have to say that I practice everything that I preach, but my only weakness is getting enough sleep.  Being an information junkie, it’s hard to shut the brain off and get to bed at a decent hour.  But looking at this article it really makes me reconsider an earlier bedtime.  One single night of sleep restriction (4 hours) induced prediabetic traits in the liver.  A single night!!  If this happens to be a pattern for you, we can see how much this greatly increases your risk for diabetes over the long run (and do NOT forget that prediabetes in itself is incredibly dangerous to our health).  Of course, sleep problems in general can also be a sign that someone is already on their way to diabetes from elevated cortical at night.  Sleep prescription medication, by the way, do NOTHING to fix the actual problem…

Read More

Think You’re NOT Prediabetic? Better Think Again

by

It’s pretty clear that the percentage of the US population that is prediabetic is startlingly high. But of course, this does not apply to you, right?  Better rethink that.

I won’t repeat my belief that the diabetic spectrum is the worst thing that the human physiology experiences (oops…I guess I just did).  But this article isn’t about the horrendously high risk to your long term health that the diabetic spectrum produces, but rather just how common it is.

With my depth of understand into diabetes, it doesn’t take much time for me to decide if someone is headed towards diabetes.  Looking at a new patient’s health history, family history and the patient’s body type is usually enough.  Rarely, an additional tidbit from the patient is needed (very poor dietary habits despite a lean body type, high stress, etc..).  Labwork usually just confirms what I was already suspecting.

Labs are an interesting phenomena.  I’ve had patients over the years (usually male) who are genuinely afraid of having labs drawn.  I think this stems from the environment we have created in medicine.  In medicine today labs are run to find something wrong.  It’s just a matter of time before something on them is going to come back abnormal.  In our office, if we run labs, we’re trying to find out just how well that patient is living for his or her genetic structure.

When I look to evaluate the diabetic spectrum, I am not merely looking at blood glucose or HbA1c.  Rather, I’m looking at liver enzymes (AST, ALT), GGT, the entire lipid panel, urinary microalbuminuria levels and uric acid levels.  It’s about stepping back and looking at the whole picture.

When your doctor is able to understand how all of these lab values create a picture that combines with your body type, heritage and family history–this is when the true picture of whether or not you are headed to diabetes or not and just how fast you’re moving on that path.

So why the diatribe?  Of course, it relates to this particular article.

In this article, the CDC looks at the problem with prediabetes.  In 2010, a whopping ONE-THIRD of the US population was prediabetic.  All of this is ok, because once someone realizes that they are on the path to diabetes, he or she can make the lifestyle changes needed to divert the diabetic diagnosis (which can be read in my free downloadable ebook, Dr. Bogash’ Lifestyle Recommendations).

But how many of you walking around fall into this 1/3 statistic but don’t know it?

Are you sitting down?

89%.  Yes—only a mere 11% of the prediabetic population were even aware that they were prediabetic.

On the bright side, this is up from 7% in 2005.  What a mess.

This is like having all the risks of being a smoker, but not knowing that you’re a smoker.  That is the problem.  It’s not like this unaware population is doing ok, and it’s merely a fact that, at some point in the future, they are likely to become diabetic.

Being prediabetic is in no way, shape or form a benign process.  It is just as bad for you as diabetes, maybe even more so because the vast majority of people who are prediabetic are not aware of it.

Maybe it’s time to take a very hard look at yourself.  Carrying even a little too much weight around the middle?  Cholesterol or triglycerides too high?  Skip breakfast on a regular basis?  Stressed out all the time?  Have’t had your heart rate over 120 in years?

Don’t rely on your doctor to tell you.  I’ve seen way too many cases over the years where patients were clearly on their way to diabetes but the primary care doctor did not inform the patient that this was the case.

If any of this even might fit you, it’s time to make some changes.  Today.  With the massive increase in heart attacks, cancer and stroke, tomorrow may be too late.

WHY DOESN’T CHOLESTEROL MATTER TO MY HEART?

by

MY DOCTOR TELLS ME MY CHOLESTEROL IS HIGH…WHY DOESN’T THIS MATTER TO MY HEART?  To really understand this, you need to understand how the body processes fats through the liver.  Basically, our body uses proteins to carry fats around the body.

In general, the more protein (thus more dense) one of these carrier molecules has, the safer it is for our blood vessels and heart.  The more fat (and less dense) in the molecule the more it can damage the vessels.  In someone who is prediabetic (and has high triglycerides), the liver makes more of the less dense molecules (VLDL attached to Apo C III).  It is a bad shift from dense HDL to very light VLDL and the use of the protein Apo C III.

Total cholesterol is merely one single value in a sea of these molecules, and what types of molecules we have floating in our blood is more of a reflection of how healthy we are rather than having a single value (like total cholesterol) as an indicator.

So, to REALLY get an idea of what our risk of heart disease is, we need an overall total picture of these molecules.  Looking at the single marker (total cholesterol) is the equivalent of looking through a telescope at the ground in front of you as you walk.  Really kind of pointless….

Read entire article here

DO I HAVE TO HAVE MY GALLBLADDER OUT?

by

DO I HAVE TO HAVE MY GALLBLADDER OUT?  There are times that we seem far too quick to remove those organs Mother Nature has so graciously given us.  In this particular study, the majority of gallbladder surgeries were done on patients with no or mild symptoms (59%), and even those with severe symptoms who do not have surgery, only 31% will continue to have problems.  “No big deal” you say–who needs it anyway?

Well…first off, those who have a cholecystectomy have an increased risk of chronic diarrhea, malabsorption of fat soluble vitamins / phytonutrients and colon cancer.  Oops.  Worse, the vast majority of patients with gallbladder issues actually are prediabetic and this is NEVER discussed with the patient.  So, instead of having it unnecessarily cut out, consider a gall bladder flush combined with an anti-diabetes lifestyle.

ALZHEIMERS IS NOT GENETIC–IT IS ENVIRONMENTAL

by

ALZHEIMERS IS NOT GENETIC–IT IS ENVIRONMENTAL.  The problem is that there may be a genetic link, which means that the children of those with AD or Parkinson’s need to be educated on how to protect their brain.  And it’s not being done by neurologists at this point.  That means we are probably a generation or two away from lowering the tide of incidence.  We know that being prediabetic drastically increases your risk (to the point where AD and PD are being considered “type 3 diabetes) as does inflammation.

Basically, anything that is going to prevent your brain from generating the energy it needs (ATP from the mitochondria) is going to increase your risk, and anything that protects the mitochondria is going to lower your risk.