thought for the day........
All truth goes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed.
Then it is violently opposed.
Finally it is accepted as self evident."
Schopenhauer
"Karma ran over my Dogma"
Monday, 30 April 2007
heart disease and the spine
According to the distinguished Harley Street Doctor Paul Sherwood, regular back and neck treatment could dramatically lower your risk of a heart attack:
"What is the relationship between neck pain and heart attacks?
Unlike most other muscles the heart is unable to lie down and have a sleep. It has to go on pumping throughout your entire life. Its output varies considerably from a trickle when you are asleep to a flow that would fill an average sized bath in 4 minutes when you run after a bus. To keep up with these demands the heart muscle requires an equally versatile blood supply to cover such a huge range of activity.
This supply is controlled by contracting or relaxing the circular muscles in the artery wall, varying its size. This necessitates a very sophisticated controlling mechanism, with various centres in the body from those in the heart itself, to the sympathetic nervous centres in the brain stem. This responds to the ever-changing requirements from one moment to the next and therefore there is considerable scope for things to go wrong.
The dominant control of the coronaries is muscle causing pain known as angina pectoris (pain in the chest). With advancing age it is normal for the coronary to have patches of disease. These increase the likelihood of blood passing through the artery forming a clot. Fortunately, clots take a while to form so as long as the blood flows reasonably freely they are unlikely.
In a moment of major malfunction the stellate ganglion in the back of the neck closes the artery off completely. This can give time for a clot to form and in our opinion is almost always the final trigger in a coronary thrombosis. If the sympathetic system remains healthy, the stellate ganglion will not cause a cramp in an artery and then, however diseased the artery is, it is unlikely that a clot would form. For people having treatment for neck problems, the risk of an extreme malfunction in the stellate ganglion, will be forewarned by the other signs and symptoms associated with this problem.
The signs and symptoms that together constitute a warning are stiffness or pain in the neck, muscular pains across the shoulders and the sudden increase of excessive tiredness"
see www.drsherwood.co.uk
"What is the relationship between neck pain and heart attacks?
Unlike most other muscles the heart is unable to lie down and have a sleep. It has to go on pumping throughout your entire life. Its output varies considerably from a trickle when you are asleep to a flow that would fill an average sized bath in 4 minutes when you run after a bus. To keep up with these demands the heart muscle requires an equally versatile blood supply to cover such a huge range of activity.
This supply is controlled by contracting or relaxing the circular muscles in the artery wall, varying its size. This necessitates a very sophisticated controlling mechanism, with various centres in the body from those in the heart itself, to the sympathetic nervous centres in the brain stem. This responds to the ever-changing requirements from one moment to the next and therefore there is considerable scope for things to go wrong.
The dominant control of the coronaries is muscle causing pain known as angina pectoris (pain in the chest). With advancing age it is normal for the coronary to have patches of disease. These increase the likelihood of blood passing through the artery forming a clot. Fortunately, clots take a while to form so as long as the blood flows reasonably freely they are unlikely.
In a moment of major malfunction the stellate ganglion in the back of the neck closes the artery off completely. This can give time for a clot to form and in our opinion is almost always the final trigger in a coronary thrombosis. If the sympathetic system remains healthy, the stellate ganglion will not cause a cramp in an artery and then, however diseased the artery is, it is unlikely that a clot would form. For people having treatment for neck problems, the risk of an extreme malfunction in the stellate ganglion, will be forewarned by the other signs and symptoms associated with this problem.
The signs and symptoms that together constitute a warning are stiffness or pain in the neck, muscular pains across the shoulders and the sudden increase of excessive tiredness"
see www.drsherwood.co.uk
Saturday, 28 April 2007
'Dowager's Hump
In 2006 I became one of the first chiropractors in the United Kingdom to study the Koren Specific Technique. I was personally trained by Dr. Tedd Koren, the originator of this remarkable new technique. The seminar, held in Philadelphia, PA was attended by doctors as far away as Hawaii and Norway.
This amazing method of analysis and correction has made a huge impact with some of my most difficult cases, and because the technique is so gentle, our newborn patients as well as our great-great grandparents can benefit from it.
One of the features of this technique is that it can correct the 'hump' (also called Dowagers Hump, Hump Back, Hyperkyphosis)
This is very important as the following resarch published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society makes clear:
'Hyperkyphotic Posture Predicts Mortality in Older Community-Dwelling Men and Women: A Prospective Study'.
Objectives: To determine the association between hyperkyphotic (Dowagers Hump, hump back) posture and rate of death and cause-specific death in older persons.
Participants: There were 1,353 participants from the Rancho Bernardo Study who had measurements of kyphotic posture made at an osteoporosis visit between 1988 and 1991.
Measures: Kyphotic posture was measured as the number of _ inch blocks that needed to be placed under the participant's head to achieve patient’s head position when lying supine on a radiology table. Participants were followed for an average of 4.2 years, with mortality and cause of death confirmed using review of death certificates.
Results: Hyperkyphotic posture, defined as requiring one or more blocks under the head to achieve a neutral head position while lying on their back, was more common in men than women (44% in men, 22% of women). In age and gender adjusted analyses, persons with hyperkyphotic posture had a 44% greater rate of mortality. The increased rate of death associated with hyperkyphotic posture remained significant. The hyperkyphotic posture was specifically associated with an increased rate of death due to heart disease.
Men were more likely to be hyperkyphotic than were women. Patient had difficulty in bending, walking and climbing, measured grip strength, and ability to rise from a chair. For example, the odds ratio of having to use the arms to stand up from a chair increased by 60% for individuals defined as hyperkyphotic by 1 block to 190% for individuals defined as hyperkyphotic by 2 blocks to 270% for individuals defined as hyperkyphotic by 3 blocks compared to those who were not hyperkyphotic.
Conclusion: Older men and women with hyperkyphotic posture have higher death rates. Postural imbalance affects your spinal nerve function and thereby your Health (Vol. 52 Issue 10 Pp. 1662 - October 2004)
We have acquired the technique and the equipment to CORRECT Dowagers Hump with Koren’s Specific Technique.
Our goal is to ELIMINATE the hump, improve your posture and restore your health!
This amazing method of analysis and correction has made a huge impact with some of my most difficult cases, and because the technique is so gentle, our newborn patients as well as our great-great grandparents can benefit from it.
One of the features of this technique is that it can correct the 'hump' (also called Dowagers Hump, Hump Back, Hyperkyphosis)
This is very important as the following resarch published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society makes clear:
'Hyperkyphotic Posture Predicts Mortality in Older Community-Dwelling Men and Women: A Prospective Study'.
Objectives: To determine the association between hyperkyphotic (Dowagers Hump, hump back) posture and rate of death and cause-specific death in older persons.
Participants: There were 1,353 participants from the Rancho Bernardo Study who had measurements of kyphotic posture made at an osteoporosis visit between 1988 and 1991.
Measures: Kyphotic posture was measured as the number of _ inch blocks that needed to be placed under the participant's head to achieve patient’s head position when lying supine on a radiology table. Participants were followed for an average of 4.2 years, with mortality and cause of death confirmed using review of death certificates.
Results: Hyperkyphotic posture, defined as requiring one or more blocks under the head to achieve a neutral head position while lying on their back, was more common in men than women (44% in men, 22% of women). In age and gender adjusted analyses, persons with hyperkyphotic posture had a 44% greater rate of mortality. The increased rate of death associated with hyperkyphotic posture remained significant. The hyperkyphotic posture was specifically associated with an increased rate of death due to heart disease.
Men were more likely to be hyperkyphotic than were women. Patient had difficulty in bending, walking and climbing, measured grip strength, and ability to rise from a chair. For example, the odds ratio of having to use the arms to stand up from a chair increased by 60% for individuals defined as hyperkyphotic by 1 block to 190% for individuals defined as hyperkyphotic by 2 blocks to 270% for individuals defined as hyperkyphotic by 3 blocks compared to those who were not hyperkyphotic.
Conclusion: Older men and women with hyperkyphotic posture have higher death rates. Postural imbalance affects your spinal nerve function and thereby your Health (Vol. 52 Issue 10 Pp. 1662 - October 2004)
We have acquired the technique and the equipment to CORRECT Dowagers Hump with Koren’s Specific Technique.
Our goal is to ELIMINATE the hump, improve your posture and restore your health!
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
sunscreen
UNDER THE SUN
The quesion is what is worse - moderate sun exposure or sunscreen? - read on - do you want to put this on your skin?
Benzophenone and oxybenzone (benzophene 3) are chemicals used in many sunscreens. They are among the most powerful free radical generators known. Another chemical found in sunscreen, Octy Methoxycinnamate (OMC), may be dangerous if it gets into the bloodstream, according to researchers in Norway, after observing its effects on mice. Scientists from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority believe that human cells could be damaged if this chemical penetrates into the skin. As far back as the 1970s, Professor Howard Maibach discovered that as much as 35% of sunscreen does enter into the bloodstream and the longer it is on the skin the more is absorbed.
Triethanolamine (TEA) is a chemical found in many sunscreens. When applied topically to female mice, an increase in liver tumors was noted, whereas male mice had a smaller increase in liver tumors but also developed kidney tumors. TEA combined with water or nitrates (often used as a preservative but not required by law to be listed) can produce nitrosomines, which are carcinogenic.
In 1997 sunscreen chemicals such as benzophenone and ethylhexyl-p-methoxycinnimate, and PABA esters such as padimate-o and octyl dimethyl PABA were banned by the European community. Light reflecting substances such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide were incorporated into sunscreen as well as avobenzone or Parsol 1789. The latter is a chemical which blocks UVA but is also a free radical generator and skin penetrant. In a study conducted at Queens University in Northern Ireland, scientists found that 2-phenylben zimidazole-5-sulfonic acid (PBSA), an ingredient found in some sunscreens, damaged DNA when exposed to light. It is not known if this happens in humans as this research has been done in test tubes thus far.
see www.kurtgreenberg.com
and www.skinbiology.com/toxicsunscreens.html
The quesion is what is worse - moderate sun exposure or sunscreen? - read on - do you want to put this on your skin?
Benzophenone and oxybenzone (benzophene 3) are chemicals used in many sunscreens. They are among the most powerful free radical generators known. Another chemical found in sunscreen, Octy Methoxycinnamate (OMC), may be dangerous if it gets into the bloodstream, according to researchers in Norway, after observing its effects on mice. Scientists from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority believe that human cells could be damaged if this chemical penetrates into the skin. As far back as the 1970s, Professor Howard Maibach discovered that as much as 35% of sunscreen does enter into the bloodstream and the longer it is on the skin the more is absorbed.
Triethanolamine (TEA) is a chemical found in many sunscreens. When applied topically to female mice, an increase in liver tumors was noted, whereas male mice had a smaller increase in liver tumors but also developed kidney tumors. TEA combined with water or nitrates (often used as a preservative but not required by law to be listed) can produce nitrosomines, which are carcinogenic.
In 1997 sunscreen chemicals such as benzophenone and ethylhexyl-p-methoxycinnimate, and PABA esters such as padimate-o and octyl dimethyl PABA were banned by the European community. Light reflecting substances such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide were incorporated into sunscreen as well as avobenzone or Parsol 1789. The latter is a chemical which blocks UVA but is also a free radical generator and skin penetrant. In a study conducted at Queens University in Northern Ireland, scientists found that 2-phenylben zimidazole-5-sulfonic acid (PBSA), an ingredient found in some sunscreens, damaged DNA when exposed to light. It is not known if this happens in humans as this research has been done in test tubes thus far.
see www.kurtgreenberg.com
and www.skinbiology.com/toxicsunscreens.html
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