Laurel Acupuncture Clinic of Functional Medicine in San Diego

I Eat Potatoes Therefore I Am Going to Die

2011-10-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, now that I have your attention I will let you off thehook. No, there is no connection betweeneating potatoes and the assurance of death. The reality is that we are all going to die eventually, and there isalso a strong possibility that eating potatoes will be a common occurrencethroughout a person’s life. So would itbe right to say that because a person eats potatoes that it will be a leadingfactor in their demise? Of coursenot. This connection is merely anassociation and the one is not a causation of the other. In order to make a statement like that therewould need to be a controlled study with a non-potato eating control group, anda group of people who eat potatoes. Theywould both have to adhere strictly to their prescribed diets for very longperiods of time, say 20 - 30 years at least and a third party would then needto crunch the data and come up with a statistical relevance of theresults.

Unfortunately this is not always what happens in themainstream world of health and wellness reporting. All too often there will be a headline or astatement made by some agency stating for example, ”Women who take a multivitamin are at an increased risk for all types of death.” This is exactly what happened recently in ajournal article, “Dietary Supplements andMortality Rate in Older Women,” published in the Archives of InternalMedicine, 2011, Volume 171(18):1625-1633.” It would all seem rather legitimate being from a respected MedicalJournal, but if you really look at the study design you will see blatant flawswhich render statements like this to be completely illegitimate and out oftouch with evidence based science. Unfortunately when there is an agenda at hand the powers that be can easilyuse their status to promote whatever statements they want the general public tobelieve. I have attached a review ofthis study and the link here, and I urge you to read what it says. It may shed some light on the things that youoften hear touted on the TV, radio, or in magazines.

http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1103350875728-164/AIM_Study_Rebuttal.pdf

Should you choose not to readthese three pages let me provide for you a quick synopsis of the main points:

This study followed 38,772 women over 18 years with an initial intake and two follow up questioners that were mailed in by the participants. The questionnaires inquired about lifestyle practices, food intake, dietary supplement use, weight, smoking status, hormone replacement therapy, and the presence of diabetes or heart disease.

Although study participants were asked about their intake of dietary supplements, the study did not report how much of any specific nutrient was consumed. Nor was information elicited from the women regarding the chemical form of the supplement (e.g., picolinate versus sulfate) or the quality of the supplements that were taken.

No attempt was made to verify the accuracy of the answers provided in the questionnaires, nor were any of the participating women asked why they were taking supplements, and no attempt was made to determine the impact of taking—or not taking—supplements on any specific individual.

In weighing the study’s findings, however, it must be emphasized that the Iowa Women’s Health Study is a retrospective study of already collected data. It is not a prospective, controlled intervention study, i.e., it is not a “clinical trial,” in which participants would be given a specific dietary supplement or a placebo and then followed closely over time to observe not only the specific outcomes but also the factors possibly contributing to those outcomes.

“…simple association does not reflect causation. “

These were only a few of theflaws in the study’s design, but I believe them to be hugely important inseeing through the claims made in this study and many others like it. In my opinion this is not science, butsomething a bit more devious. Ipersonally expect a great deal more from the authors of this journal articleand from the editors in particular. Weneed to push for true professionalism in journals such as these and biasedmisrepresentation of the findings should not be tolerated! This type of “study” does a great disserviceto both the scientific community and the public at large. Without accurate reporting and properlydesigned studies statements like this can be dangerous and should be scornedand forbidden within a respectable scientific community. I can only hope that when hearing similarclaims out there even form the mouth of your medical doctor, there should belittle warning bells going off in the back of your head. Things are not always as they appear. I urge you to do your research. Obtain a second or third opinion. And make informed decisions. And please allow me to help you become asinformed as you can be. It is my pleasure to be a resource for you in thismixed up and generally confusing health care world.

“My doctor said that everything looked normal…”

2011-10-14T09:53:00.001-07:00

The title of this article is a mantra that I hear repeated over and over again in my clinic which unfortunately more times than not has little merit whatsoever. My patients generally come to me because they either do not want to go to a Medical Doctor for their concerns, or they have been there many times only to have been turned away with the statement that “everything is normal.” “I am sorry that you are not feeling well. Perhaps it is all in your head,” says the good doctor. Why is this? Why are people being turned away time and time again with legitimate health care problems? The focus of this article is to explain just that. My goal is to help you understand how these blood tests are put together and why they can be so misleading. And even more than that, how they can be used as a tool to sell more pharmaceutical drugs.

The first thing that you need to understand when getting a blood test done is the way that a doctor determines if you are sick or not. You will get the blood drawn, they will run the tests on it and you will be given a report (usually only if you ask for a copy) that will detail all of your personal values for each test. These values will be compared against a reference range usually on the right of the report. So for example if you get tested for a fasting blood sugar (seen on the report as “glucose”) you may come back with a value of 78 with the corresponding reference range of 65 - 99. This means that you fit nicely within the reference ranges for this test and the doctor would tell you that everything is normal. “But why doctor am I feeling so tired and jittery throughout my day?” “I don’t know miss… It could be stress. I am seeing a lot of stress in here these days… The economy and all.”

So what went wrong? This woman’s symptoms seem to point to a low blood sugar state, but the report says it is normal. This leads me to my next point. It is very important to understand that the reference ranges that the mainstream medical world uses are designed around an average of all the people who go into hospitals and clinics in a particular geographical area. So these are generally sick and injured people, or even people taking medications which can alter a blood test. These reference ranges are not meant for generally healthy people. In order for a person to be considered “hypoglycemic” or low blood sugar by a doctor their fasting glucose would need to be below 65. If this is the case, you are probably already in one of their hospital beds, not walking around town popping into the clinic for a check up. I can tell you that in my clinical experience, people with fasting blood sugars below 85 begin to feel the symptoms of hypoglycemia. These people are considered “Reactive Hypoglycemia” patients, and it is more common than you know.

I use both the mainstream reference ranges called “Laboratory Ranges,” along with a wellness based model called, “Functional Ranges,” when I work up a blood chemistry panel. The Functional Ranges will be tighter and allow the practitioner to see more clearly, and much earlier, the various mechanisms of disharmony going on before it becomes something more serious. This way of looking at blood chemistry is called “Functional Blood Chemistry,” and it is where I choose to specialize. Waiting for things to progress to full blown pathology is a mistake that mainstream medicine makes every day 100% of the time. It simply is an illness/injury based medicine. Wellness, as much as the Kaiser commercials want you to believe, is not in their repertoire.

If I can now take this one step further… There is one particular marker on a blood test that stands alone from the others. It is your total cholesterol. If you really look into the most current medical literature on the subject, total cholesterol by itself is not a good indicator for heart disease risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 50% of the people who die of vascular disease die with normal or even low total cholesterol! The other 50% have elevated cholesterol. But if you follow what has happened with the Laboratory ranges for this marker you will see that it has consistently gotten lower and lower over time. So if total cholesterol isn’t the true culprit for heart disease then why make the lab range lower? In my opinion, the answer lies in pharmaceutical sales. A doctor will diagnose a Statin class of medication when the total cholesterol is elevated beyond their reference range. So if you can lower the level of what is considered “elevated,” you can prescribe more medication to a greater number of people in the society. This has been done without supportive data or an obvious need besides drug sales. And since doing so and getting more people on these medications the death toll has not improved. So I ask you where is the merit here? I said that this marker stands alone because while all of the other makers on a blood chemistry report have gotten worse over time meaning that they are easier and easier to fit into, total cholesterol is the only one that has gotten harder to fit into. I for one find it rather fishy to say the least especially when Statin medications are among the most prescribed medications world wide and heart disease is still the #1 killer.

So to recap here for you:
• Laboratory Ranges are used by the mainstream medical establishment and are based upon illness and injury. These ranges are taken from an average of a local population who go into hospitals and clinics. There is no absolute consistency between labs on these ranges.
• Functional Ranges are based upon a wellness based system and allows the practitioner to be able to identify mechanisms going on in that patient well before the mainstream will recognize them. Looking at blood this way allows for the practitioner to treat symptoms or medical problems earlier before they reach more serious conditions or when the doctor can’t see them. It will also allow for the practitioner to find mechanisms which are seemingly unrelated at first glance but can actually be contributing factors to other more serious conditions. Blood sugar is a great example of such a marker. It can produce symptoms of its own if out of range Functionally speaking, as well as work as a driving force for other more serious things such as autoimmune disease and hormonal imbalance.

So there you have it. Not all blood work-ups are the same. The next time your doctor gives you the “All Clear,” on your blood test, perhaps it is worth a second opinion. Us Functional Blood Chemistry folks can pick up on some very important things that will routinely go unnoticed in the doctor’s office. My goal is to catch things early so that you don’t end up in the doctor’s office in the first place!

Of Pleasure & Pain: A Personal Experience & Some Gluten Free Food for Thought

2011-06-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

I often write about the science and medical information behind many different kinds of disease states or pathologies we may have in our society, but today I want to write about something a little different. I want to explore with you (and myself) some of the psychology behind how and why we make the health choices that we do. I want to do this because how and why we make decisions plays a major role on the success of the medical experience and the quality of our lives in general. It is safe to say that there is a fair amount of philosophy involved in these decisions. And there is a whole lot of emotion involved as well. I want to share with you a recent discovery about my own health and some of the thoughts that I am struggling with. And while reading this article I would ask you to think about your own life and transpose yourself into a similar situation. What would you decide? How would you feel? I hope that you read this article with an open heart and a willingness to look at how you may be living your life and if that choice is really serving you in a healthy and positive way.

My story starts off pretty much like everyone else’s. I grew up in suburban San Diego. I belong to a very loving family and have had the best care that anyone could ask for. I grew up eating what everyone else ate… Pretty much everything. It was sometime in graduate school when I began to notice an increase in migraine type headaches. I was in school for Chinese Medicine so therapy was free and plentiful and I kept my headaches down to a minimum. But time passes and things tend to get worse. By the time that I moved back to San Diego, started a practice and a family the migraines began to increase in severity and frequency. Now, I have had a fair amount of head trauma in my day. One particular incident was a bicycle accident when I was 14 where I required reconstructive surgery on my face and had suffered a bad concussion. And I can count 4 times total where I have been knocked out cold or at least had my bell rung pretty bad, so headaches seemed appropriate given my history. Right around this time I also started noticing eczema like patches forming around my body. They were small but I noticed them and they itched. And just like the headaches they began to get worse. Something was going on here.

The more that I learned over the years of studying Functional Medicine the more I realized that my symptoms came from something that I was doing every day. Something that I eat probably since the skin usually always reflects the health of the digestive system. But the only thing is that I don’t have any gut symptoms. I decided to run some tests anyway. I never showed up positive for anything in any significant way so I kept on going with what I knew and ate whatever I wanted to eat. I don’t gain weight easily so carbs were of no concern to me. Those rushed morning bagel sandwiches, the occasional pastry and coffee, burritos, burgers… Why not, I am healthy. This was a comforting thing to know that I can eat what I want and not have any health problems. I can grab something out instead of making it myself. But why are my headaches getting worse? I had had enough and decided to pay for a new and much more advanced gluten screen for myself. After all, I teach this stuff and I tell my patents to do it so I should probably do it too.

What I found shook me to the core. All of the more basic gluten tests I have done in the past were all wrong! Not only am I just a little sensitive to gluten, I am very sensitive to the stuff. In fact I showed positive to a couple of other self tissue antibodies associated with gluten sensitivity as well. This means my immune system is attacking my own body as a direct result of the gluten exposure. The results of that blood test provided me with a positive diagnosis of a silent Celiac condition. It is considered silent because it does not come with the generally crippling digestive pains associated with Celiac Disease. But if I continue to eat gluten I run the risk of seriously compromising my health in the future. For me and others like me, gluten exposure equals tissue destruction. And tissue destruction will eventually lead to full blown Autoimmune Disease. I also know that I have two family members with Type I Diabetes and Optic Neuritis which are both Autoimmune Diseases. I can easily go that way too if I let myself. I choose not to. But it does leave me with an uncomfortable feeling about what my family is eating and how it may be contributing to their health.

So where does this leave me? Just two months ago I was living a care free life of eating whatever I choose in the false assumption that I was not hurting myself. After all, my stomach wasn’t hurting or blowing up like a baloon like all my other Celiac patients. Today I am faced with abandoning many of the things in my life that offer joy and happiness. The thought of not eating Chinese Dumplings ever again, or one of those fantastic Mona Lisa Italian Subs in Little Italy, or New York style pizza makes me sad to say the least. Or how about those bagel sandwiches that saved my ass many times on those rushed mornings between dropping my kids off at school and getting to my first patient of the day? I am in a bad spot. I am forced to decide about doing what I know is probably the most important health care decision that I can make for myself by avoiding those foods or I can continue to eat and feed my convenience / temporary happiness until something bad happens. Not a fun predicament.

In talking to many different people recently about this concept I have discovered one thing. People are horrified of the thought of losing gluten. Why? Why would we think this way when we have so much at stake? Many people have stated to me that they simply would not want to know if they are sensitive or not. They would actually rather live in ignorance and feed the reward centers of their brain with the yummy things before taking a more serious look at what may literally be killing them. And they are not shy about stating this outright. There is also just a basic disbelief that something like a food could cause so much trouble. So yes, people do look at me sideways sometimes.

In my readings over the years primarily in Eastern Philosophy I have come to understand that we humans have a very strong force within us. You can consider it the Ego Mind, or that uncomfortable, insecure spirit within us which drives our thoughts and decisions. This Ego Mind is constantly at odds with the outside world. It is constantly at odds even with its own body. For example, it is cold outside and “I” (the spirit mind) am uncomfortable. “I” don’t like the way that guy looked at me. “I” am uncomfortable in this chair. “I” don’t like eating vegetables. Whatever it may be for you, there is an insecure ego which if allowed to, will drive the decision making. This is the case with even the most secure of us humans. At our core we are insecure beings and much of what we see in society supports this concept. In Neurology this can be attributed to a center in the brain called the Limbic System. This is the reward / punishment system and is very powerful. It is where addiction takes hold. When you feel happiness you are feeling the Limbic System. It is the first place that we process our sensory inputs from the outside world. Second to that comes the rationality of it all from our Frontal Lobe. Unfortunately the reward centers are very powerful and can strongly influence the rational part of our brains. Give “Me” (the ego mind) what I want! I won’t be happy unless you do! Think of this part of your mind kind of like a spoiled child who wants his ice cream and will throw a tantrum if he does not get it! This is what I am feeling right now. This is what others hearing my story feel when they think about themselves giving up something like gluten. This is what parents of Autistic children may feel when they are told that their child cannot have gluten or dairy. “It is just too hard!” “That’s all he will eat!” There are all kinds of reasons our Limbic Brains can come up with to get what it wants.

So here I am… I am forced into this philosophical debate between my Fontal Lobe which really knows better, and my Limbic Brain which just wants to be happy and get what it wants. Lucky for me, my knowledge and training keep me on track. I also get the privilege of working with very chronically ill people who suffer worse problems associated with their gluten sensitivity. And please understand that these people have very chronic and serious conditions. I do not want to get to that point. And more than that, I do not want my patients to get to that point either. The reality is that once you make a change like this and begin to feel better, the loss of the yummy things becomes much easier. You find new yummy things. And just feeling well is yummy in of itself! For me I have not had a migraine since stopping the gluten. I consider that yummy. I get to spend more quality time with my family when I don’t have a migraine. The migraines though were just a symptom, or warning light of larger problems going on. And boy am I glad the I finally listened!

So if you are feeling achy, tired, bloated, have chronic headaches, or have ever been diagnosed with an Autoimmune Disease, gluten could be to blame. The quality of your life could dramatically improve by cutting this one thing out of your diet. I am currently working towards building a specialty clinic in Celiac and Autoimmune Disease so stay tuned for this in the next 6 months. Get yourself tested and give yourself a good educated chance to counter the little comments that the Ego Mind is telling you every day. You never know how something like this could change your life for the better!

My Recent Interview on Sexual Energy

2011-05-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

I was honored recently to be interviewed by my friend and colleague Dr. Jenn Gunsaullus, Ph.D. for her weekly video podcast called "In the Den with Dr. Jenn." I was asked to speak on the topic of sexual energy which in my opinion is a much neglected part of our health. It is extremely important to consider our sexual health as not only a mirror into our overall wellness, ie. poor health leads to poor sexual energy, but also as a tool to strengthen our bodies and our spirits.

I will keep this blurb short and let the video speak for itself. Please enjoy the interview and of course if this discussion brings up anything for you please feel free and safe to contact me directly. I am here to help in many different aspects of your health... Sexual health certainly included.

For more videos and information about Dr. Jenn, who offers "a place for open and honest communication around sex, intimacy, sexuality, eroticism, sexual health, and relationships," check out her website. She has over 127 podcasts on many topics. You're sure to find something educational and her fun style is super entertaining. It's the best way to learn!

Radioactive Fallout and Our Misconceptions About Protection

2011-04-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to comment quickly about all the recent concern over the radiation exposure from Japan these days. Our country has had quite a reaction to this news and Americans have been purchasing up all of the Potassium Iodide out there in attempts at protecting themselves from the potential increase in radioactive chemicals in the atmosphere. It is important to understand exactly what you are doing by taking the Potassium Iodide and just how misguided you are in these attempts if you are doing so.

First of all, the reason that people may want to take Potassium Iodide is because it will saturate the Thyroid Gland and prevent any radioactive iodine from lodging itself in that gland which can lead to Thyroid Cancer. That's it. It protects the Thyroid gland and nothing else. It is a little known fact that most all radioactive exposure ends up leading to Lymphoma which is a cancer of the lymphatic system. Taking the Potassium Iodide will do nothing to prevent Lymphoma. So why take it at all unless you are really close to the exposure? The fact is that people have become so scared that they are buying up all the Potassium Iodide in the world and people who really need it can't get it!

If you were to look into the peer reviewed literature on radiation exposure you will find that the most important component involved in a person's ability to survive radioactive exposure is a compound called Glutathione. The studies show that people with healthy levels of Glutathione do not suffer the same fate as those who are Glutathone depleted. The bummer here is that most people, particularly Americans, are low in Glutathione reserves. Aside from radiation protection Glutathione is a major antioxidant in the body and keeps our inflammation under control It is a key component to a well functioning immune system as well. People, you need Glutathione in your body in a big way!

Lastly, there are also some herbs that have shown remarkable protection from radiation exposure. They are in a class of herbs called Adaptogens and include things such as Ginseng, Holybasil, Rhodiolia, and others. This class of herbs also contributes to a well balanced blood sugar system and helps moderate the negative impacts of stress on our bodies.

So having said that, I personally take Adaptogenic herbs and a Glutathione containing product every day to protect myself from not just radiation, but the damaging effects of just being alive. And as a quick side note... You are exposed to more radiation when you fly across the country than you are by living on the West Coast of the US even with the extremely slight increase in radioactive material we are seeing recently. So if you fly, you might want to consider some of the above mentioned things. And if you are interested in optimal wellness you may want to consider them as well. I carry these products and can also drop ship them anywhere in the country. Please feel free to contact me and we can talk more about this or any other concern you may have.

Best of health,

Jim Chialtas, L.Ac.

Group Detox #2 Posting & Discussion

2011-02-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

I have created this blog post so that we can all have a forum for discussion as the detox program goes forward. Please use the comments option at the bottom of this post to leave your questions and comments. I will reply daily and post a little something myself. Please do share your cool food ideas so that we all my benefit from what you are doing.

Also if you go back a few blog entries you can also check out the comments from the detox I helpd last month. And one before that was an article on detoxing. They may be of interest.

Happy cleansing and have fun!

Jim Chialtas, L.Ac.

Hair loss in women: Stress or something more masculine?

2011-02-18T16:40:00.000-08:00

It is quite astonishing really the number of women I hear of complaining of hair loss these days. It may not be massive hair loss mind you, but this is something that we tend to pay attention to. It is something that a great many men end up looking forward to if they like it or not, but for women, it is a whole other thing completely. Hair loss in a woman when it is bad can be a significant source of anxiety and poor self image. So what is going on? Why do I hear about it so often these days? Well, like many other medical conditions, hair loss has a lot to do with our lifestyle. It may just be possible that you are contributing directly to your hair loss every day without knowing it.

There are several common reasons for hair loss in women. Stress can certainly do it. I have known women who when stressed actually get bald spots which will eventually re-grow. Low thyroid conditions can certainly lead to hair loss and are particularly common in women. But the big one that I want to talk about today is hair loss due to elevated blood sugar, Insulin and Testosterone.

Yep, when a woman ends up with elevated Testosterone she will lose her hair. But why you ask does a woman get elevated Testosterone in the first place? I suppose that there could be some tumor somewhere producing it, but that is extremely uncommon. The most common reason is elevated blood sugar and/or Insulin. The way it goes is that when we eat sugar, or a lot of simple carbohydrates, our body responds by producing Insulin in an attempt to get that high blood sugar back down. The more sugar the more Insulin. It just so happens that Insulin, besides helping to lower our blood sugar, ends up turning on an enzyme in women called 17, 20 lyase which is found in the Thecal cells of the ovaries. This enzyme produces Testosterone. So the more sugar that is consumed, the more Insulin is produced and therefore the more Testosterone a woman will make. This will lead to not only hair loss, but can also lead to irregular periods, infertility, Polycystic Ovaries, unexplained weight gain, and unwanted hair growth on the face and chest for example. Add to that all of the health concerns with elevated blood sugar by itself as being the leading cause of heart disease and stroke and the fact that this can often times lead to full blown diabetes it becomes really important to pay attention to this hair loss. All cosmetic concerns aside for a moment, this is a sign of some serious stuff here!

At the very beginning of this article I said how astonishing it was to see so many of these complaints. But then when you think of it, how many people (not just women) do you know who head straight for Starbucks or similar establishment for their liquid dessert, first thing in the morning? If you really stop and add up all the sugar that we consume every day either by choice or consequence, it is easy to see how there could be so much hair loss going on. If this is a concern of yours, please, come in and get worked-up and see which one of these mechanisms are at play. You may not only be able to fix your hair, but you could be protecting yourself from much worse things than hair loss.

February is Heart Health Month!

2011-02-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Heart Disease is something that I have written about many times before, but it being Heart Health Month I felt it only appropriate to reintroduce some concepts that we might not otherwise be fed by the mainstream outlets. That’s right folks, there’s more to heart disease than the TV commercials, magazine ads or even our doctors are telling us. I want to provide for you here a list of concerns that can pose serious threats to your heart health. And please take note that I don’t mention cholesterol… Nope, we hear enough about cholesterol already. (By the way, the cholesterol lowering drugs called Statins are some of the most widely prescribed drugs today, yet only 50% of the people who die from heart disease have elevated cholesterol! The other 50% have normal cholesterol. So where is the legitimacy in lowering cholesterol? And if the drugs are so good why doesn’t the ratio shift away from 50/50?) Ok, so that’s my little rant, now on to the good stuff.

Our Guts:

• Pretty much all of the current literature on all the major health problems can be traced back to inflammatory molecules floating around our body wreaking havoc. This is not disputed in either the mainstream or alternative worlds. And where might you ask does this inflammation come from? Not from a swollen ankle that’s for sure! Nope, it primarily comes from our guts. Inflammation along the lining of our stomach and intestines produces systemic inflammation which works to inflame our arteries, making them “sticky,” and more easily susceptible to plaque and vascular disease. An inflamed gut equals inflamed arteries and probably eventual heart disease. It is important to figure out what is inflaming your digestive tract and fix that for any lasting heart health to be had.

Our Guts… Yeah there’s more:

• Besides the inflammation there are often some pretty interesting bugs living in our guts that can leak into our blood and infect the lining of our arteries. This is a really quick route to vascular disease. There is one bacterial infection in particular which is known to infect the lining of our arteries called H. Pylori. It originates in our gut and can be passed by kissing, sharing drinks, food, etc. It is perhaps the most common communicable disease in the world. But finding this bacterial infection and killing it is a really important heart health concept that I assure you goes unchecked in your doctor’s office. And something which no Statin drug can address.

Homocysteine:

• Homo what now? Yes, Homocysteine. This is a little molecule in our bodies that when elevated not only promotes heart disease, but even before that works to injure our brain health. This is not new stuff folks, and it is a wonder to me why it is not part of a routine blood work up for heart health. Somehow our medical system is just stuck on the cholesterol model for heart disease. Let’s leave the 80’s behind us and get with the times. If you haven’t had your Homocysteine levels checked, please get in touch with me and let’s do just that. It is a simple and cheap blood test. Well worth it!

Donuts:

• Ok, not donuts per se, they are just easy to pick on and they bring to mind a guilty pleasure. But what I am talking about here is proper blood sugar control. Donuts of course would work to sabotage this effort so avoid them at all costs! Diabetics usually die of heart disease by the way. But people with poor blood sugar control, either high or low, will have an increase in heart disease risk. Remember inflammation? Well this is one way to be inflamed in a big way. Please people, eat your breakfast. Make it a high protein and/or high fiber content meal. Snack on healthy things every couple of hours and don’t let yourself get too hungry. Avoid too much simple stuff and sugars. This is all basic info, just remember to take it seriously. Oh, and cardio exercise. Please include this in your regimen. It will help your heart in a many number of ways, but will certainly help you balance your blood sugar.

So I think that about covers the most of it for now. I really could go on for hours informing the public about all of the other stuff we aren’t told pertaining to heart health. We don’t hear much about these things because they don’t translate directly into Statin drug sales. Just remember next time you are seeing one of those ads (and that should be in about five minutes or so) that there is much MUCH more to it than what we are told. Remember, if you follow what the mainstream says about heart disease you only have a 50/50 chance to make it out alive! And I for one don’t like those odds. Get in touch and we can have a look and do what your insurance company should be providing for you as a matter of basic health care.

Group Detox Post: A place to stay connected while detoxing together

2011-01-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I am posting this blog entry for all those involved in the group detox that will be starting January 22nd and going through January 28th. We had a great pre-detox meeting last night and I was glad to see most of you there. And I was also glad to see a couple of you doing some networking yourselves! That is one great thing about getting a group of people together for a good cause. Get healthy and get connected!

So now down to business... In your kit you will have all of the products that you will need for the week. And you will also find the booklet with tons of info on how and when to do what. Check pages 22 and 24 for foods and the schedule. We discussed this last night as well, but if you have any questions along the way please feel free to either contact me directly or use the comments function on this blog post. That way we can all see the questions and my answers. And please if you find something cool share it with us here as well! Things like food ideas/recipes are really great. And if you are on Facebook get onto my Fan Page (Jim Chialtas L.Ac., Functional Medicine) and you can read through the posts from last years group under the Discussions tab. Check out the posts by Erin. She shared some recipes that were really great!

Lastly, there are several of you who were wanting to start the first two days of the cleanse with a lemonade fast. This last part of the post is a description on how to do this. For those of you who are not interested in this more advanced detox concept, just keep your first two days totally vegetarian and follow the protocol for the rest of the program...

The Lemonade Fast

During the first two days you will still drink the morning and evening shakes from your kit and will be taking the Alpha Base Foundations Caps. But during these first two days ONLY, you will not be eating any other food. Instead you will be sipping a lemon and/or limeade sweetened with grade B maple syrup. There is really no exact recipe for this drink it is to taste only, just make up a bunch for the whole day.

To make it you will just juice the lemons and/or limes in water or a dilute green tea. Using the green tea can help with appetite control so consider using it. Then add the syrup to taste. It is very important if you go this route to sip the drink every 15 minutes. Just take constant sips all day long. Drink and pee, drink and pee... That will be your day while doing this. Doing this will actually lead to a very stable blood sugar. Just don't get lazy and skip sips! That will lead to a low blood sugar state and you will start to feel bad. If you absolutely must eat something pick one veggie like steamed fresh green beans for example and only eat a few at a time.

After two full days of the morning and evening shakes, Alpha Base Caps, and the lemonade drink you will start the plan of days 3 - 7 where you bring back in the foods on the good list as well as the shakes, Alpha Base & PhytoCore caps twice a day. Oh, and remember to drink a lot of water through this. We want to pee that stuff right on out of us folks! Try to shoot for half of your body weight in ounces. I weigh approximately 160 pounds so I will shoot for 80 ounces of clean (not bottled or tap) water per day.

I think that about does it. Happy cleansing! And keep checking this post for comments.

Sincerely,

Jim Chialtas, L.Ac., MTCM

A Good Time to Detox in an Otherwise Toxic World

2011-01-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

In the last 33 years the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tested for safety only 200 chemicals and banned only 5 of the more than 80,000 chemicals in commerce today. Since the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) became law in 1976, the number of chemicals in commerce has risen from 60,000 to the 80,000 mentioned above. Currently, under TSCA language, chemicals are considered safe until proven otherwise. In my opinion our Government has it backwards. If the health of the people truly came before the profits of the corporations every new chemical put into commerce would need to be proven safe before its widespread use in America and around the world. Wouldn’t you agree?

So how are we Americans being impacted by this chemical exposure? In 2009 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released the findings of their National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) looking at 2500 participant’s blood cells, serum and urine samples. The findings were less than positive. Below are only a few examples of what was reported:

• Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are fire retardants that accumulate in the environment and in human fat tissue. They were found in the serum of all of the NHANES participants.
• Bisphenol-A (BPA) found in plastics and deemed by Canada and other countries to be a clearly toxic substance was found in 90% of the urine samples of the participants.
• Perflorooctanoic acid (PFOA) found in non-stick coatings of cookware was found in most participants.
• Another CDC study found that 97% of Americans contain the chemical oxybenzone found in sunscreens which has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption and cell damage. Approximately 84% of the 910 sunscreen brands contain oxybenzone.

So I ask you this, “Are we living in the same world that our parents lived in? And should we do the same things that our parents or grandparents did to protect their health? Should we do nothing and just hope for the best?” My sincere hunch is no. We need more than ever to take deliberate actions which work to counter the ever increasing exposures and environmental influences that are working to harm us literally with every breath we take and every bite we swallow. The reality is that we have a long way to go to change the politics behind what is happening. But what we can easily do is take better control over what we put into our bodies and how we help our bodies throw out the stuff that does not belong.

Symptoms of such toxicity could be any or all of the following:

• Brain fog / poor memory
• Allergies
• Joint pain
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Ringing in the ears
• Headaches / Migraines
• Autoimmune disorders
• Skin disorders

I will be offering a group Detoxification program in late January to work with some of these concerns. This will be my second annual group program and I am very excited about it. This program will be 7 days long and involve a modified diet while on the program, a hypo-allergenic rice protein based powder packed with anti-oxidants and nutrients, and some nutritional/herbal supplements which all aid in Phase I and Phase II liver detoxification pathways. Included with this program will be an introductory meeting to discuss and solidify the understanding of the program and the reasons why it is important. There will also be an online chat in which all participants can write down their questions and/or experiences while on the program. I will be interacting with the group as a whole in this manner. The more participants the better on things like this and I will be participating as well. There is power in numbers. Let’s all help each other stay healthy!

The program is scheduled to go from January 22nd – January 28th. We will hold the pre-detox meeting on the 19th at 6:30 pm and all interested participants must contact me by January 12th to secure their spot and have plenty of time to get the products ordered. If you have any questions or want to RSVP now please contact me either by phone or email. I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Happy New Year! And be well…

Celiac Disease and Elusive Gluten Sensitivity

2010-12-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

According to statistics from the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, an average of one out of 133 otherwise healthy people in the United States suffer from celiac disease (CD). The trouble with that statistic though is that there are only two requirements set forth by the mainstream medical establishment which qualify a person for a Celiac Disease diagnosis. Those requirements are 1) a positive alpha-Gliadin antibody (Gliadin is a small portion of the gluten molecule) and 2) a complete atrophy of the intestinal micro-villi (very small fingerlike structures on the lining of our intestines) found via an intestinal biopsy.

The important thing to realize here is that Celiac Disease, being a gluten sensitivity condition, means that people with this condition can not have gluten in their diet whatsoever! Doing so will lead to very poor health indeed. But what about all those people who do not qualify for either of the two findings above? What if someone comes back with a negative alpha-Gliadin antibody and a moderate atrophy of intestinal villi? This person would be passed over and disregarded and told that they could continue eating gluten! (Which is what we all want to hear anyway… Or is it?)

Now what if I told you that besides the alpha-Gliadin antibodies that can be found that there were also:
• Beta-Gliadin
• Gamma-Gliadin
• Omega-Gliadin
• Deaminated Gliadins (15, 17, and/or 33) – These are found in processed foods.
• Glutenin
• Wheat Germ Agglutinin
• Gluteomorphin

Any one of these findings is enough to warrant a Celiac Disease diagnosis or at least gluten sensitivity. Now I am not telling you all this to sound really smart by using big words, nor do I expect you to understand what these things all are. But what I want you to take home from this is the fact that there are a lot of indicators for gluten sensitivity that are not being screened for out there. So when we hear that one in 133 people have Celiac Disease based upon only the two parameters tested for, you have to ask yourself what would that number be if ALL of the parameters were screened for? It is a staggering concept to say the least! And scary too when you consider all of the health problems out there which are linked to gluten sensitivity like thyroid problems, neurological decline, ADD/ADHD, autism, auto-immune disorders of all kinds, gastro-intestinal problems, muscular problems, skeletal problems, liver problems, skin problems. In fact there is not one part of the body that does not have a direct link to gluten sensitivity in those individuals with gluten sensitivity problems. Simply put for those people affected, gluten can and will be the fuel for the fire that will work to destroy one’s health.

Only recently has it been possible to screen for all of these parameters I mentioned and really start improving the lives of a great many people. In fact there is a new laboratory with cutting edge technology to finally screen for conditions like these who I am happy to be working with this starting in January of 2011. If you have any difficult medical conditions, auto-immune disorders, or just want to know if you are indeed Gluten intolerant get in touch and we can get you tested. I hope to hear from you real soon.

I Have Low Andro What Now?

2010-12-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

Quite often I get male patients that come in complaining of things like low libido, or trouble in bed, etc. and they are desperately trying to find out solutions for their problem. More times than not they have already gone to their primary doctor only to be told that all their hormones look normal and it gets easily brushed off as, “Well it is probably just stress.” So they might be offered a combination of Viagra and/or some anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs as a remedy. There is only one problem… The sexual dysfunction still does not come back. So what is going wrong for these men that is apparently getting missed?

Well it just so happens that when it comes to hormones like Testosterone there are actually several different forms in a class of hormones called Adnrogens. Testosterone is right in the middle as far as potency and what we think of in cases like this, DHT is the strongest of the three, and then there is a little known hormone called Androstenedione which is the weakest of the bunch. A very common thing to occur in men, particularly in men who have blood sugar imbalances, or high levels of inflammation, is that the Androstenedione levels begin to rise. They rise so high in fact that they begin to outcompete Testosterone and DHT for the binding sites on the cells. Androstenedione being a weak cousin to Testosterone will then only offer a very weak Testosterone like experience vs. what a man is used to with the other more potent forms of the hormones. So for all intensive purposes this man will present with “low testosterone” symptoms. But if you recall, his testosterone was normal. So how then do you figure out his problem?

Well the answer is simple… You test for all of the sex hormones! An easy solution that unfortunately is not being done in the typical doctor’s office. If you run a complete hormone panel and find that the Androstenedione is high then you have to fix the Androstenedione. If you find that Testosterone is low then you find out why and fix that. If you find that Estrogen is high then you go after the Estrogen. All of these scenarios will make for a “low Testosterone” experience. And all may be given replacement hormones or erection producing pills without ever really understanding the mechanisms at hand. Is that good care? Let me just warn you now that if you take replacement Testosterone when your have otherwise normal levels of Testosterone then you are harming yourself! And coming off of the hormone will be really uncomfortable to say the least.

So this is what I do. I help people figure out the exact mechanism of what is going on in their bodies. I then offer step by step plans to get back on track without the use of heavy medications. Give me a call today, and don’t let where you live stop you. I do this kind of work all over the country by phone and email consultations. But until then, be happy, and be healthy. And don’t settle for less than you deserve.

Is Our Low Fat Lifestyle Actually Killing Us?

2010-10-27T13:01:00.002-07:00

If there has ever been a medical dogma that has taken hold so tightly as to actually cause us harm it is the concept of eating low fat foods for better health. The fact is that there is no credible evidence proving this to be true, but came into its own in the 80’s when the cholesterol fighting boom took over healthcare. All of the sudden fatty foods, particularly the saturated fats, became a boogey man for heart health and a massive campaign was launched to stop us from eating the stuff. The idea was that since cholesterol (found in fatty foods) is a major constituent in arterial plaque we should therefore avoid consuming fatty and cholesterol containing foods. And then there is also the misconception that since we are all avoiding fat on our bodies, we should avoid fat in our diets, as if it goes directly from our mouths to our thighs! Hogwash… So what is this low fat diet actually doing for us other than not increasing our overall health or lengthening our life spans? There are quite a few things going on here that perhaps you have not considered. I hope to bring up a few concepts here that might just get you thinking about how to eat for better health.

Probably the most significant mishap through this whole saturated fat scare is the switch from good old saturated fats to hydrogenated vegetable oils. These are things like margarine and Crisco, which are actually just artificially made saturated fats! What they have done here is take a vegetable oil which is normally liquid at room temperature and add some hydrogen atoms to the long carbon chain that makes up its chemical structure. This makes a liquid a solid so that it can be used like a spread, or to make packaged baked goodies with a longer shelf life. The trouble here is that doing so creates trans fats. Losing the natural saturated plant and animal fats and replacing them with factory made trans fats has probably single handedly killed more people than any other factor today, and all in the name of better health. And I can guarantee that a good number of people reading this article now still feel that they should avoid butter over their butter-like spread. In fact butter is one of the most stable of the fats out there and does not turn to trans fat when heated. The same cannot be said for the hydrogenated oils. Once heat is applied, whammo, you get trans fats. Even the ones that claim to be trans fat free, once heated have the potential to turn to trans fat in the pan. Sneaky advertising to say the least. So please be very careful about what you are putting in your mouth! If it was made in a lab it probably isn’t good for you!

The second concept that comes to mind is that in order for us to think clearly and have healthy and powerful cognition we need to have plenty of the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine. In order to make Acetylcholine we need several raw materials in our diets to be present. The main constituent required is Choline. Without adequate intake of Choline containing foods we cannot make Acetylcholine. So where do we get Choline you ask? Well guess what… We get Choline in high fat foods such as fatty pork, cream, cheese, egg yolks, nuts and seeds for example. Besides the nuts and seeds (which need to be raw mind you) the other foods listed are generally on the naughty list by mainstream standards. So an argument could be made that eating a diet void of these fatty foods, or even low in these foods could actually make you less sharp in the long run! But to take it a step further, if you do not stimulate the neurons in your brain with the various hormones and neurotransmitters like Acetylcholine, the brain cells begin to die. The Hippocampus is a structure in the brain that, among other important jobs, is responsible for turning short term memory into long term memory. It happens to be rich in Acetylcholine receptors and when these receptors do not get stimulated by Acetylcholine you get degeneration of the Hippocampus. This is the first structure in the brain to decline in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. It is vital that we keep our Hippocampus and Acetylcholine system primed to avoid the ravages of mental decline as we age. And a diet without Choline (ie. a fat free diet) can be a quicker road to dementia and brain health decline than you think. Remember, our brains are made up primarily of fat and cholesterol. We need these raw materials to keep our brains healthy.

Overall, once you get past the scare tactics, the reasons for avoiding fats are few compared to the reasons for including them as a main player in your diet. I only chose a couple of points here to spotlight but there are plenty more. And don’t get me wrong, fat is of course a high energy food and should be respected. Over eating any high energy food is a bad thing to do. But when you factor in good fats like what you might find in raw nuts and seeds, meat, fish, avocados and coconuts (yes you can and should consume coconut oil. It is one saturated fat that actually helps you burn body fat!) you are not only protecting your brain, but you are giving every cell in your body what it needs to carry out the millions of functions that keep you a healthy and thriving person. Keep your fats natural and your body will know exactly what to do with them. It is the new factory made stuff that causes the trouble. So please people, understand that we have come a long way in our understanding of health since the 80’s. I know that we are told by our doctors and by the commercials and ads every day that we should avoid fats. Fat is an easy scapegoat. But one thing to really take to heart is that outdated medical dogmas like this one don’t die easily. But it doesn’t mean that they are correct. If saturated fats were really killers then there would be no more Eskimos. They eat a diet consisting primarily of saturated fats and very little vegetables yet live longer and healthier lives than those of us in the lower states eating the low fat stuff. It isn’t until they come down here that they suffer the same poor health as us average Americans. Go and Google the “Eskimo Paradox,” to see what I am talking about. But above all, do what the elders did. Enjoy your healthy and yummy fats in moderation. Avoid the synthetic stuff and the simple sugars and carbs and you will be way ahead of the mainstream concept of what is considered healthy. And not to mention your food will taste better.

Happy eating, and good health!

The Testosterone - Brain Connection

2010-10-27T13:01:00.001-07:00

We men are often times accused of thinking with our penis and not our brains. Though I admit to such accusations at least on some occasions the fact is that we do indeed think with our brains. But if you consider how testosterone works on our brain the accusation of us thinking with our penis isn’t all that far from the truth. Indeed both our brains and our reproductive organs have a high sensitivity to testosterone. We think like men because our male hormone testosterone has very significant impacts on our brains. In this article I want to explore some of these concepts and hopefully offer the man (or woman) reading this a little more insight into how we men experience the world.

The first thing to understand about a hormone like testosterone is that it is nothing without its hormone receptor. These hormone receptors are located on the surface of the many different cells throughout our body. Think of this interaction like a key and lock scenario. The hormone is the key which turns the mechanism of a lock on a cell in the body to produce some significant result. You can’t have a functioning system without having both the hormone and the receptor functioning well together.

As men, our brains are loaded with testosterone receptors, which is why we experience the world through the stereotypical male point of view. The frontal lobe of our brain in particular is rich with testosterone receptors, and it is this part of our brain where we process much of our sense of reason. So when we see, hear, taste, smell or touch something our brain decides how to respond to the stimulation based upon how well our frontal lobe is firing. If for example we are low in testosterone our frontal lobe will not fire well and we will begin to lose the response of what we have all known as typically male. Included in this concept could be things like low libido and/or poor motivation for other activities such as work or relationships. This could even include wanting to put positive energy towards the children, or how you interact with your wife. Significant stuff! Remember, our hormones greatly effect how we view and respond to our surroundings. We understand things only as much as what comes through the testosterone filtered actions of the frontal lobe.

Low testosterone in men is also a common cause of depression and is mostly associated with the Dopamine pathways. So these men are often on medications like Wellbutrin or Abilify. Depression from a neurological perspective can be described as a low firing rate of the frontal lobe. And without adequate exposure to testosterone the firing rate will decline rapidly. So you must ask yourself if you are taking these medications if you are treating the core problem or just the symptoms. And at what cost? It is an important concept to consider because without working on the core problem you might be required to take the symptom masking medications indefinitely.

Lastly, it has been well reported in the literature that loss of testosterone in men is correlated with brain aging and cognitive decline. This can lead to poor memory, cloudy thinking, dementia and eventually Alzheimer’s. This is not something you want when there are children to be present for and not to mention the enjoyment and quality of your personal life. Other studies show that poor testosterone status in men can hinder the healing and recovery from brain related injuries. Testosterone can therefore be considered neuro-protective in men. From a brain health perspective, it is imperative that men have healthy testosterone status.

So having said all that one might want to run out and get on some testosterone replacement therapy. In fact, your doctor will most certainly recommend it. This may be necessary for some individuals, but please understand that hormones are very strong and I can tell you that I see hormone therapy overdose all the time in my clinic. It is one of the things that I often help people recover from in fact. If you end up with testosterone levels higher than what is normal in a healthy male, you will begin to induce receptor site resistance. Remember the hormone receptors? This means that though there will be elevated hormone present, the person will experience life as though he were low in that hormone. If you are currently taking testosterone and have ever felt the need to increase your dose this is a bad sign. You are probably becoming resistant to your hormones and more is definitely not better! Please contact me if this is the case for you.

Instead of starting out on a replacement model for Testosterone status, I would hope that you would first consider the Functional approach. It is always better to produce your own hormones naturally. This leaves your body stronger and more able to function on its own without the added stress to your system. The replacement model almost always leads to a weakened system that is dependant on hormone replacement for the rest of your life. It also leaves you open to other more serious problems like cancer for example. If you like your prostate, I recommend avoiding artificially elevated male hormone status as you can experience with hormone replacement therapy. Digging out from such a thing is often difficult and uncomfortable to say the least. There are many natural ways out there to stimulate healthy testosterone physiology in your body without the use of such medications. And if you can keep the interplay of testosterone and brain function squarely in mind you can achieve amazing results. And in the end you will be a better man for it.

Healthy Brains Equals Healthy Bodies

2010-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

I had discussed in my last newsletter about the concept of how the brain plays a vital role in physical modalities like acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy and even aromatherapy. I explained that by stimulating particular areas of the body we are actually directly stimulating the brain. The brain then responds to that stimulus which creates immediate and specific affects back out into the body. This is why needling a point on the hand can have positive affects in the abdomen for example. My teaser at the end of that last article brought up the concept of why acupuncture or any of the other modalities might work better for some people and not others, or why they might work better for you on some days more than others. I hope to answer this question here. You will find that the answers are often time quite simple. And reading this article may just allow you to gain more benefit from your particular modality of choice, in which case I will feel that I have done my job. The idea is to extract the most benefit out of what we do and how we choose to heal.

As you all probably know by now I use quite a bit of blood chemistry with my patients. Using blood chemistry as a tool I am able to find many different things that are causing stress to the body. I use much narrower reference ranges than the average MD which are called "Functional Ranges." There are a few factors in a blood chemistry panel that when out of range Functionally speaking, can have dramatic affects on brain function and other bodily functions alike. Blood sugar for example is one factor that is often times overlooked because the mainstream ranges that are used are so very broad and based upon an illness model and not a wellness model. But it is important to understand that blood sugar only needs to be out of range slightly to begin to have negative impacts on the body.

So it is important to consider three major factors when thinking about brain health and optimal brain function. I have listed them here:
The first is stimulation. This is really quite simple... Use it or lose it! People who do not continuously stimulate their brains with new information or challenging tasks tend to suffer mental decline quicker than those who do engage in these activities. It is one thing to be really great at something, but to keep your brain healthy you will need to find new things to learn or ponder. Learn a language for example. Learn to play an instrument. Dance. Exercise. All of these things challenge the brain and help maintain good brain health.

Second is healthy blood sugar. The brain, unlike most other tissues in the body, can only use sugar for it's energy. If the brain tissue is not getting an adequate supply of blood sugar, function declines and so does brain health in general. I see poor blood sugar scenarios in close to 75% of the people that I do blood chemistry work-ups with. So I can tell you that this is one area that is wreaking havoc for a lot of people, brain health or otherwise. I either see reactive hypoglycemia, or sub-clinically low blood sugar, meaning the doctor won't pick up on it. This is a fasting blood sugar under 85. Or elevated blood sugar which is a fasting blood sugar over 99. In this case there will be insulin resistance and the cells simply cannot take in the sugar floating around in the blood. The sugar is there, it just can't be used adequately. So either way the cells of the brain (and body) are not able to get adequate sugar supply and therefore health and function decline. Poor blood sugar equals poor brain function.
Lastly the brain needs a healthy supply of Oxygen. This is an obvious one. Without oxygen to our brains we die! But really what I am talking about here are conditions like anemia where the red blood cells cannot deliver adequate oxygen to the cells of the body, brain included. Or this could be something like poor circulation due to arterioscleroses, or the clogging of the blood vessels. Look for things like cold hands and feet, hair loss on the lower part of the leg which often times gets brushed off as, "my boots rub on that area." Or look for nail fungus. Smokers are also prime suspects for poor circulation. All of these things may be indicators that inadequate oxygen is making it to your brain and is therefore hindering function and supporting mental decline.

So going back now to my original concept of acupuncture working better for some people and not others, or better on one day vs. the next. Considering the above three brain health concepts you can see how some people may have all three of these things out of whack. Knowing that healthy brain function is vital for good acupuncture results you would want to make sure that the above mentioned concepts are in order to maintain the best results from your particular modality of choice. Let's consider a 65 year old man who is overweight and a smoker. He sits around on the recliner chair all day watching Jerry Springer while drinking his 2 liter bottle of Pepsi. How well do you think this guy's brain is working? How well do you think that his acupuncture results for his knee pain would stack up against a 30 year old athlete who eats well and is going through a Ph.D. program in astrophysics for example? But forgetting that for a second, how well do you think that you would respond if all you had for breakfast that morning was a cup of coffee and you roll into your acupuncture appointment at 1pm? Let me tell you... You would get more for your time and money if you squeezed in at least some eggs that morning. Stable blood sugar is the key.

So to reiterate, brain function is everything. Without it we have nothing. Our brains are our link to the outside world. Without healthy brain function we lose our connection with our surroundings and we lose the ability to maximize the benefits of the healing energy around us. I urge you to keep brain health in the forefront of your concerns. Not only will doing so ensure a long and healthy life ahead, but will have dramatic impacts on your life today. You will be happier, healthier, and have the ability to enjoy things more fully. You will be stronger, have better balance, have a better sex life, have better memory and you will maximize the benefits of medical modalities like acupuncture, chiropractic and massage therapy. I work worth people on customizing healthy brain plans. This is the kind of work that I do. To embrace Functional Medicine means to find out what is hindering optimal health. And we all, MD's, acupuncturists, Chiropractors and Massage Therapists alike need to think more about the health of our patient's brains. Without doing so we cannot achieve the superior and lasting results our patients expect from us.

Bone Health 101

2010-08-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

Perhaps one of the most significant and measurable successes that I see in my practice comes in the treatment of bone health. As we get older the risk and incidence of bone related diseases and or fractures increase. And at the age of 65 the medical establishment starts routine bone scan tests to determine bone density and therefore risk of fracture and disability. This is usually when someone will come into my clinic asking about a natural way to protect or heal their bones. My first task is to educate my patients about the particular problem at hand. I feel that this is lacking to a large degree in the standard medical experience. When it comes to bone health there is a lot to know, and once again there is a lot more going on than drugs like Fosamax and Boniva are able to treat. I hope to provide for you here some important facts that you need to know about your bones, and how to go about preserving or even rebuilding any bone loss that you have had already.

The first and most important thing to understand about your bones is that though they are indeed hard like rocks or wood, they are not a static material. By this I mean that they are a living tissue that is constantly changing. A rock is created and then remains basically the same until it is either pulverized or melted again. It is a static material. But bone tissue in contrast is built upon a framework of bone matrix. This matrix is like a cartilage lattice work where minerals are attached to create a hard and strong structure. These minerals and protein lattice structures are constantly being broken down by specialized cells called Osteoclasts. The bone tissue is then rebuilt by cells called Osteoblasts. So there is a constant interplay between bone resorption and formation. You can't build new bone tissue without breaking down the old stuff. This process allows for constantly new bone tissue formation that is healthy and strong. Out with the old and in with the new so to speak. The trick here is to keep things in balance. Too much resroption and you end up with a net loss of bone tissue, weakening and fracture. But remember, some breaking down of bone is essential for healthy bone repair.

When people take one of the many "Osteoporosis drugs," like Fosamax for example the drug is designed to shut down osteoclast activity. This means that the drug is stopping or slowing down the breakdown of bone. This all sounds great, but remember without breakdown of bone tissue there is not going to be any bone rebuilding. So these medications are not stimulating the building of bone. The bones of people who use these medications may remain thicker, but the bone tissue becomes old and brittle over time. And it can easily be said that thick but brittle bone is not much better than thin but strong bone. If it were me I would choose the thinner yet stronger bone. So take this info for what you will. These medications may indeed slow the breakdown of bone, but at what cost. Very little research has shown that these medications have helped to stop fractures in any significant way. And they are very harmful to the digestive tract particularly the esophagus.

On the other hand, there are ways to stimulate production of new healthy bone tissue and decrease bone breakdown at the same time. And what do you know, they are all natural:

· Calcium

· Vitamin K

· Strontium

· Ipriflavone

· Genestein

· Vitamin D

Taking in these compounds on a daily basis is a great way to optimize bone health. But bones also respond to stress. By this I mean weight bearing exercise. When bones experience physical stress they grow stronger. This is really important in your younger years. What you build when you are young directly relates to what you will have when you are older. So young people, get in your weight bearing exercise now! And for those of you out there who are currently experiencing bone loss, now is the time to get in your exercise as well. Walking, jogging, light weights, yoga and tai qi are all good examples of weight bearing exercises. Doing these activities on a regular schedule will help in more areas than just bone health so take them seriously. There is no such thing as a work out in a pill. "Just one pill provides for a whole week of exercise!" No... You have to get out there and do the work!

And as a final note it is important to realize that it isn't really the bone density itself that we are all worried about after all. It is the fall and the bone break that causes the problems. How much is being done to reduce the numbers of falls in the elderly? Do you think that insurance companies are willing to pay for balance training? Or working with a living space to reduce the hazards that lead to falls? I think not. Do not forget this very important part of your concern over bone health. This alone makes activities like yoga or tai qi extremely powerful in reducing bone breaks. Balance and core stability is everything. Find a trainer and regain your balance! Your bones depend upon it.

So putting all of these concepts of supplementation, physical exercise to strengthen bone density and increase balance, and optimizing one's living/work environments will create a powerful and effective strategy for increased bone health and reduced fractures. This goes way beyond taking a pill and hoping for the best. It is something that you need to understand and take action on now. I would be happy to schedule an initial consultation with you to discuss this further and get you on your way to healthier bones!

Morning Wood Vs. Morning Tofu

2010-05-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, I joke a little with the title, but the concept is a valid one. The truth of the matter is that many men today are experiencing less than satisfying erectile function. And for many of those men the first thing that they are greeted with in the morning isn’t the rock hard erection of their earlier years, but rather a penis that would just rather sleep in a while. So what does this all mean? What is our morning erection, or lack thereof, indicating to us about our current health? I hope to explain this topic here and offer a couple of quick tips to help turn things around if this situation is something you experience.

Quite simply put men go through hormonal decline just like women. Our version is called andropause. While women get their symptoms all of the sudden with the hot flashes and the loss of their menstrual cycles, men get their symptoms more gradually. Men might begin to experience lower energy or drive at work, a decline in libido and/or erectile function, or might end up diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or blood sugar disorders. A man might experience any or all of these symptoms but will generally experience them over a number of years. Unlike women who have a well known diagnosis of menopause, men often times have their individual symptoms of anrdopause isolated from one another and the underlying hormonal condition may get missed completely.

But this article is about morning erections in particular. What exactly is going on in our bodies to create such a significant start to our day? The answer is that men have a significant testosterone release in the early morning. This sudden rise in male hormone provides for us our morning erection ans sets the mood for the day. When there is a decline in testosterone there isn’t the same stimulus and erections are not just a strong. The morning erection is generally the first indicator that there is something going on hormonally. Pay attention to how you are in the morning because chances are that if it is lacking, full blown erectile dysfunction is just around the corner. The morning erection is our canary in the coal mine so to speak and is an early indicator of andropause.

So what can be done about these morning erections? If just waking up in the arms of a beautiful woman isn’t enough then you may want to consider a couple of these helpful tips:
• Make sure to eat a high protein breakfast every day and snack on low carb foods throughout the day to stabilize your blood sugar. If you do not have stable blood sugar estrogen levels tend to rise which will alter the ratio of estrogen to testosterone.
• Get in frequent exercise. I suggest that you start from a cardio base and then add in weights. Try and maintain a target heart range of 180 minus your age +/- 5 for 30 minutes at least 3 times per week. This will help to elevate the release of testosterone and stabilize blood sugar.
• Eat foods rich in zinc or supplement with zinc. Many studies show that low zinc status is bad for erections.
• Consider the herb called Peruvian Maca. Research shows that this herb is safe and effective for male sexual function.
• Lastly, go and get your hormones checked out. Most men want nothing to do with this, but please guys, put your ego aside and get checked out for not just testosterone, but estrogen as well. Many MD’s don’t order this as a routine screen, so if you find this to be true for your doctor please contact me and I can order any of the hormone tests that you need.

So in conclusion guys, pay attention to what your penis is telling you. Not only does it offer you joy and happiness in your sex life, but it is also your partner in health. It can be an accurate indicator about your hormone status and your health in general. I strongly urge you to look into your current hormone picture and consider supporting your hormones naturally and without the use of replacement hormones. And of course please consider me a valuable resource for any of your hormonal concerns. I am located in San Diego, CA, but can consult anywhere in the country.

Best of health to you!

Acupuncture... Ancient Medicine or Sophisticated Neurological Therapy?

2010-04-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

"So tell me doc, how does acupuncture work anyway?" This is a question that I get an awful lot as an acupuncturist. I have also written about it in the past from a Traditional Chinese Medical perspective, but there are newer models for the mechanisms at work with acupuncture and other physical medicines that I think need a revisit. Read on and get better acquainted with my thoughts on how this all works.

As acupuncturists we can get very graphic with our detailed descriptions of the meridians, Qi, and the interconnectedness of the energetic organ systems. We will use symbolism adopted from the environment around us like wind, heat, cold, damp or dryness as ways of understanding the pathology in our bodies. I would venture to say that it would be rather foolish in these modern times to believe literally that there is wind blowing around in our bodies. But I will hold firm in the use of this type of symbolism as a tool of defining, understanding, and treating various disharmonies that come up with our health. After all, the system does work for most things. But all this beautiful imagery aside, how does it work? People, including myself, have an innate curiosity to know what mechanism is involved in the insertion of a needle in the hand and the relief of neck pain for example. How that occurs exactly is still a bit uncertain but I would like to offer a very plausible mechanism that I hope will transform the hocus-pocus of acupuncture into something that is easily understood and respected as a valuable and legitimate medical modality.

The first thing to understand about our health is that our brain is everything. Without healthy brain function we could not walk, talk, digest or enjoy our food, appreciate the arts, feel or control our pain, etc. You name it, the brain is everything. Unfortunately in both mainstream and alternative medicines alike we tend to separate the head from the rest of the body. Medicine has ended up getting chopped up into separate systems and rarely, even in alternative medicine, is the whole body, brain included, taken into consideration. This came about from the start of medical thought where all they had was gross anatomy, or what they could see with their eyes. Each system was described and studied as separate concepts and specialists were created in each area. But it was the ancient Chinese that began to really put the pieces together, however archaic their system may seem to some. The Traditional Chinese Medical model does not distinguish between mental, emotional, or physical disharmonies. And they understood that stimulation of points on the hand or foot could have dramatic affects on the head for example. What they did not understand is that by stimulating these points they were actually stimulating pathways in the brain that had positive downstream consequences elsewhere in the body. This has since been shown to be the case in modern brain imaging studies.

The most plausible mechanism for an acupuncture needle that is placed in the hand to create a change elsewhere in the body can be found in small muscle and nerve bundles called golgi tendon receptors. These nerve-like bundles are located in the areas of the tendons and muscles and fire directly into the brain. The primary function of these receptors are to protect the muscle from over strain. For example if you try to lift a very heavy object the golgi receptors will recognize the strain and send a message to your brain to tell the involved muscle to relax. I first learned of these areas many years ago through my Ju-Jitsu training. It came in handy when immobilizing my opponent's limb. Pressure applied directly to the golgi tendon receptor can render an arm powerless. So when inserting an acupuncture needle in a specific area it is plausible that the acupuncturist is stimulating one or many of these golgi tendon receptor areas and stimulating the part of the brain that controls a specific part or system of the body. This gets much more intricate than what I was doing in martial arts. Acupuncture uses combinations of points to create a specific outcome. These patterns of stimulation to particular areas of the body directly stimulate the brain.

The same concept can be applied to any of the physical medicines like chiropractic, massage therapy, aromatherapy, or even music therapy. You will find that one of these modalities will generally work better for certain people. There are certainly the chiropractic loyalists who want to turn everyone they know onto chiropractic because it works so well for them. The same goes for acupuncture and the rest. Each individual has a unique brain/body connection and therefore will respond to different stimuli. This is why certain people will gravitate to the certain modalities. The bottom line here is that it isn't the particular modality that is more valid than the next. It has all to do with the person's unjique brain/body connection that is receiving the treatment.

But what we do know is that the current literature clearly demonstrates dramatic changes in both brain and organ activity with things like acupuncture which can be easily reproduced. We know that the electrical potential across the skin in the area of the acupuncture points is greater than the area adjacent. That means that there is more potential for electrical conductivity at the acupuncture points vs. the areas where no acupuncture points exist. We have seen the immediate stimulation and contraction of the gall bladder for example by the stimulation of a sole acupuncture point on the lateral part of the knee. We have measured increases in the neurotransmitters of the brain from acupuncture and massage. And we can easily see with real time functional MRI imaging that the firing rate of the brain changes immediately with the stimulation of true acupuncture points that is in contrast to sham acupuncture points. That means that the tester is trying to trick the patient with acupuncture points that are not real. The real ones make the appropriate changes in the brain and the fake ones do not.

I personally find this all to be amazing and fascinating. I do very much appreciate the beauty and imagery that Traditional Chinese Medicine has offered me as a tool to understand and treat a vast complexity of different medical disorders. This type of medicine truly is an art form. But the western scientist in me wants to know, like the rest of us, what I am actually doing to help my patients when I perform acupuncture. The answer appears to be really quite simple. Our bodies are not individual systems separate from one another. Our bodies are complex interconnected working systems that support one another and everything is controlled by our brains. By stimulating key points on the body we are directly stimulating the brain which will tend to have an immediate and positive downstream affect on the various systems of our body. Hence a successful and scientifically realistic acupuncture treatment.

A final thought and a little teaser for the next entry would be to pose the question, "Why do physical modalities like acupuncture, chiropractic or massage work better for some people and not others or work better on certain days and not others?" Could it have to do with the health and firing rate of the individual brains perhaps? Look out for my next newsletter for some explanation of this very important concept. But in the mean time keep coming in for acupuncture. Or if you are not currently doing so, go get some acupuncture for crying out loud! Your body and brain alike will be the better for it.

Vascular Disease: A Holistic Endeavor

2009-12-09T09:15:00.001-08:00

The term Holistic Medicine refers to the view that the whole body system must be analyzed in order to properly address any one particular concern. Much in the mainstream theory of medicine works to cut the focus of treatment down to the one key factor believed to be the major player in the problem. Millions of dollars are spent finding this one key factor. Eventually someone will indeed find what they believe to be the one key factor. Usually they are the ones that have the bigger budget. But our bodies don't really work in that way. Life is complex. It is a mish mash of millions of contributing factors. We can't just look at health as a coexisting bundle of singular systems. I feel that doing so is missing the point of our wonderful complexity. Indeed we need to take account for the many variables involved in any given system and how they interplay and depend on one another. When it comes to vascular disease, we can't just blame the dreaded cholesterol. Just like every other system in our body the vascular system depends upon many different variables to remain healthy. I hope through this short article to describe other players involved in vascular disease and help the reader gain more information to protect both themselves and the people in their lives.

So what goes into creating vascular disease? The basic story goes like this... Plaque begins to build up in along the artery walls which gets to a critical point and then rips off causing a downstream blockage. This leads to death of the blood starved tissues and you have your heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, peripheral vascular disease, or something of the like. This is not good. Major debility and death often result. For the most part the mainstream focus has been on lowering cholesterol since cholesterol in part makes up the plaque in our arteries. (So does Calcium mind you, but we aren't told to lower Calcium intake now are we?) But one thing that they don't really address is why the plaque is building up in the first place! The key here is inflammation of the arterial wall. If the lining of the arteries are smooth and slippery the cholesterol will slip right on by without bothering anything. I really don't care if you have a total cholesterol of 150 or 250. If you are not inflamed you probably will not develop vascular disease.

So what then leads to inflamed arteries? The process usually begins when there is poor blood sugar balance. This sets in motion a large cascade of inflammatory processes which works to inflame not only the arteries, but the entire body. The once slick and smooth artery soon becomes rough and abrasive. At some point a small tear opens in the lining of the artery and a small pocket is formed. It is here where cholesterol begins to collect and form a plaque. But that's not all. This plaque stays there and as it builds it becomes rancid and subject to oxidative stress (damage from free radicals) which weakens it and makes for a very dangerous condition. It isn't long until that clot, or a piece thereof breaks free and blocks something downstream. The more free radical damage, or oxidative stress you have, the more likely that you will end up intimately aware of the fallout of vascular disease. So that's the short story. Heart disease is still the leading cause of death in the U.S. despite the ever increasing amounts of cholesterol lowering medications. Not much is really being done to address the increasing oxidative stress our bodies are being forced to manage, or the raging blood sugar epidemic we are witnessing in our country. Statin therapy, as much as they want you to believe, does not address the inflammation in any significant way. Much better to stick to good old fish oil and a well balanced blood sugar!

So what then can be done? How should we be managing these vascular health concerns if we decide to rethink our "need" for medication? Well to do it right you need to consider all of the factors involved:
• Blood sugar regulation
• Oxidative stress (or free radical damage)
• Inflammation
• Cholesterol (both total cholesterol and ratios)
• Hormone balance
• Poor diet/lifestyle
• Lack of cardio exercise
• And yeah, there's more

Considering all of these different pathways associated with vascular disease together makes for a much more powerful treatment protocol than treating just one alone as is seen with Statin drug therapy. For this I turn to the practitioner only formula Triplichol from a leading Nutraceutical company called Ortho Molecular Products. Triplichol contains different compounds like pharmaceutical grade fish oil, niacin and plant sterols which work to balance the cholesterol. It contains the compounds Quercetin and Grape Seed Extract to address blood vessel health. And it contains the compounds Resveratrol and Green Tea Extract which are powerful antioxidants to address any oxidative damage. You just don't find that kind of broad spectrum therapy in many other products. Along with proper diet and lifestyle modifications as well as a cardio exercise program I am confident that this approach will blow the doors off of the mainstream therapies. Remember, according to the Centers for Disease Control roughly 52% of the people who die of heart disease die with normal to low cholesterol. A lot is getting missed if you ask me. I think the numbers speak for themselves.

So call me today and ask me more about how I can help you manage your cardiovascular health and avoid the harsh medications aimed solely on lowering only one type of cholesterol. There are certainly a lot of alternatives out there for you and I look forward to helping you understand ALL of your options. Remember, you are in charge of your own health. I urge you to gather all the information that you can and make the most educated decisions possible.

Wind Invasions and Other Funny Business

2009-12-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what in the world us acupuncturists are thinking when we tell you that you have some kind damp heat accumulation in your lower jiao, or that your liver qi is attacking your spleen? Well how about a wind invasion?

I hope to help you understand a bit better where we are coming from by talking today about wind invasions. After all, it is the time of year for them. By wind invasion I am really talking about colds and flu. So how does what we do for a cold differ from what you might otherwise accomplish at the drug store? Simply put, the methods and herbs prescribed for these illnesses work to both address the symptom as well as fight off the infection. And it does this with specificity in mind as to the particular type of infection. A cold pill only gets you through the week.

Now we all know the basic symptoms of a cold or flu, but not every infection will present the same. Take for example what we call a wind heat invasion. This is the type of cold that creates hot type symptoms such as fever, cough, red/swollen throat, sweats and perhaps a thick green or yellow mucus. This is in sharp contrast to the type of cold that produces chills, headache, stiff neck, and a clear runny nose as seen in a wind cold invasion. Therapy for the two in our system would be different.

Now the over-the-counter treatment for all this would generally be the same. You might reach for a cold pill containing acetaminophen for a pain killer and fever reducer, a cough suppressant even though you may not even have a cough, an expectorant to clear out the mucus and an antihistamine to help you sleep. Everything here is strictly symptom based, and often treats symptoms that you do not even have.

Now something like a flu shot is designed to build immunity to the influenza virus responsible for giving you the flu. But unless you want to inject mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, and other nasty stuff into yourself when you are trying to stay healthy, I would advise against going that route. There is just too much evidence indicating that flu shots are more dangerous than they are worth. There may be a time for them, but probably not about 95% of the time. But that is really another article.

From the Chinese Medical perspective we reach for herbs that address the particular condition of the patient. For example if there are the cold type symptoms we would prescribe warming herbs like ginger, cinnamon, and some other fun Chinese named herbs that not only warm the system, but have anti-viral properties to address the infection. If there is a heat type infection we would reach for herbs that are cooling in nature like mint for example. We can effectively treat the symptoms by balancing out heat and cold and address the infection by mixing in herbs that have anti viral and/or bacterial properties.

Overall Chinese herbal formulas are a very well balanced and safe way to address many medical conditions. The beauty of such an approach is that it allows the practitioner to take into account not only the patient, but the environment in which the patient is living. The more we can relate to what is affecting us the better we can exist harmoniously with our environment and allow for a healthier experience. Now let me be the first to admit here that it is important to look specifically and scientifically into some issues, but let me also suggest that it is equally as important to be willing and able to take a step back and simplify things a bit. Sometimes it is just easier to call it a wind invasion and treat it with acupuncture points and herbs indicated for wind invasions. There is a lot of wisdom in the Traditional Chinese approach to medicine. The actual science is wrapped up in the symbolism. You would be surprised to know all the things we can treat effectively, even when we do call them something a little odd like "Phlegm Fire Misting the Orifices," for example.

Allow yourself to have an open mind and the world becomes a much bigger place. Allow yourself to contact me and who knows how much better you may feel!

Breakfast: Why The Morning Meal Is So Important

2009-10-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” Really… no kidding. Then why is it that for so many of us breakfast is perhaps the least respected? As our daily life stresses mount with work projects, getting the kids to school, and trying to squeeze in that last minute of sleep the most important meal quickly becomes a questionable meal at best. Yet we still expect the same success out of our days and thedays of our children. So why is this age old adage so accurate and what should we be feeding ourselves and our kids so that we all can get the most out of our day? I hope to answer these questions for you and perhaps inspire you to take breakfast perhaps just a little more seriously.

To understand the importance of breakfast you must first understand that our brains need a steady supply of blood sugar to work optimally. As we fast, such as when we sleep, our brains require a tremendous amount of sugar to keep us going. Since we are not eating in our sleep (hopefully!) we produce the hormone cortisol to keep our blood sugar stable. Cortisol allows us to liberate the stored sugars which we have put away from our daytime eating and use them when we aren’t getting new food. When our cortisol levels are low so is our blood sugar. And when our blood sugar is low so is our energy, and brain power! Just ask any teacher which children she thinks ate a good breakfast that morning. It is usually apparent. Many problems in the classroom (and work place?) can be traced back to the quality of the morning meal. The rub is that if we continue to disregard a stable blood sugar our cortisol levels will decline making the whole business of being awake a real mess! So how can we help to ensure that we start our day off on the right foot?

In the morning our stored sugars are at their lowest and need to be restocked. Certain foods do this better than others. The easy things to reach for are the simple carbs. They are usually quick, easy, and yummy! They can be found in most breakfast cereals, bagels, pancakes and heaven forbid doughnuts! These types of things are BAD for your day. Carbs like this create an immediate spike in the blood sugar which rapidly triggers a spike in the hormone insulin. Insulin then crashes your blood sugar down to very low levels leaving you in a low blood sugar state all over again. Often times this leaves you lower than before the meal. I’m sure you have witnessed a sugar crash. Halloween is coming guys! This kind of thing leaves your brain short on fuel and can have a tiring or foggy headed result. Not at all good for schoolwork or breadwinning!

If on the other hand you serve some ham and eggs with a side of whole grain toast you are allowing for a slow and steady raise in blood sugar with a much longer duration. This gives the brain plenty of blood sugar to work efficiently throughout longer periods of the day. Productivity and attention span go up dramatically. And there have been studies on kids who have eaten protein for breakfast vs. simple carbs having higher test scores. Long term this can lead to better schools and better opportunity for your children. And think of performance in the work place. Will promotions go to the guy who is on top of his game or the guy playing spider solitaire all day? Remember promotions mean more security for your family so this little concept is very important.

The bottom line here is that what we eat can have a dramatic affect on how we behave throughout the day. Take my advice and forget the simple carbs for breakfast. Incorporate higher protein and fiber containing foods first thing and you will be creating favorable conditions for optimum performance. Leave some sweet stuff in the mix for treats and rewards, but not as a mainstay for your morning.

Good luck, good health and happy eating!

Food Sensitivities: Humbling Yet Empowering!

2009-09-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have been in private practice now for more than six years and I can’t avoid it any longer. For a long time now I have been helping people streamline their diets to suit particular disharmonies in their body based upon the nutrition of the foods, but I have done very little to screen for foods that might be contributing to the problem at hand. I have recently teamed up with Immuno-Laboratories who are leaders in food sensitivity testing. I believe this new addition to my spractice will launch me to the next level in patient care. Read on and learn some basic concepts in food sensitivity and how it is an important consideration for all health concerns.

When talking about reacting to a food it is important to understand the difference between food allergy and food sensitivity. I am primarily talking today about sensitivity. A food allergy will produce an immediate reaction which can be mild like numb lips, or mild itchiness to sever as in your throat is closing and you may die without immediate medical intervention. Peanuts and shellfish are known for these types of reactions, and people who are in this category are usually already aware of this personal reality. Sensitivity on the other hand is a much more common problem than you might think. It is thought that up to 95% of the population has some amount of food sensitivity. These types of reactions are delayed. You can literally eat something one day and not notice anything for many days later. But there is a cumulative effect that goes on with sensitivity. The idea is that more you eat of an offending food the more you will notice and suffer chronic and seemingly unrelated medical conditions.

Consider this list of potential symptoms that are directly associated with food sensitivities:

Digestion: nausea, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, belching, passing of gas,
Emotions: mood swings, anxiety, anger, depression, binge eating
Energy: fatigue, sluggishness, drowsiness, apathy, hyperactivity, restlessness
Eyes, Ears & Nose: watery/itchy eyes, ear infections, sinus problems
Heart & Lungs: irregular heartbeat, chest pain, asthma, bronchitis, congestion
Mind: poor memory/concentration, speech problems, learning disability, ADD
Muscles & Joints: general weakness, muscle/joint pain, stiffness
Skin: hives, rashes, dry skin, acne, hair loss, irritation around the eyes
Throat & Mouth: coughing, sore throat, hoarseness, sores on tongue/gums/lips
Other: excess weight, dizziness, water retention, insomnia, headaches, genital itch

Any of these sound familiar? Can you add them up and come up with one or more in each category? If so there is quite easily a food sensitivity concern for you. Finding out which foods you are sensitive to is the first step in feeling much better. If you are suffering any chronic condition I urge you to consider taking the steps to finding out what you are sensitive to in your diet. It could make a huge difference in your quality of life and may just be that one thing that finally gets you over the hump with your pain and suffering.

From my point of view as a clinician I see all kinds of chronic problems where some sort of stress on the body is contributing to the root of the problem. I often write about the interaction of the adrenal glands and the stress hormone cortisol with other systems of the body such as sex hormones. Indeed when the body is stressed all kinds of nasty things can happen with your hormones for example. Chronic pain is another mainstay in an acupuncture clinic and often has its root in chronic stress to the system. It is my obligation as a practitioner of Functional Medicine to find the hidden sources of this underlying stress and fix them so that the hormone problem or the pain can be fixed as well. Without finding the source of the stress success of the therapy will often be diminished and treatment ends up being a matter of chasing the symptoms. That becomes expensive and draining and ultimately leads to failure.

The above title mentions feeling both humbled and empowered through this process. It is humbling to find out that wheat for example may be causing you harm. Our reward centers in our brain kick in and say things like, “But I love my bagels, and my muffins! What will I do without them?” But it is important to know that when we eat these foods we release natural opiates in our brain. The poison is actually rewarding the drug addict within us. So yes, it is humbling to overcome an addiction. We are addicted to the foods that make us sick. How’s that for tough luck? But this process is also empowering because it is important for us to take control of our lives. There is power in that ability. And once you start to feel the benefits there is more enjoyment in life. This is the type of thing that can change your daily experience. You will be more inclined to exercise and spend time with your family, take vacations, etc. All it takes is the courage and follow through to create the change. Allow me to help you through this process and let’s see what changes we can make happen for you!

Swine Flu: Is it really worth the worry? Or is it just a cool name?

2009-09-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well another flu season is coming and we get a whole new opportunity to be told how this will be the year that thousands of people are going to come down with Swine Flu and potentially die from its deleterious effects. It is therefore vital to go and get immunized! Or is it? Haven’t we heard this one before? Could there be better alternatives to this extremely new and untested vaccine? This health care professional thinks so.

If you really look at the numbers of people who are coming down with Swine Flu and how many of those are actually dieing from it, it is all rather unimpressive. The normal flu still kills many more people than the Swine Flu variety of virus. But of course it is new and sounds cool, and makes good news that we could potentially be killed by something that makes pigs sick for heavens sake! But the reality is that Swine Flu is just the flu. And Chinese Medicine has had safe and effective remedies for things like the flu for millennia. These remedies are tried and true and come without the potentially life threatening side effects of the flu vaccines.

New developments have surfaced recently in the UK from their government Health Protection Agency that has strongly link the new Swine Flue Vaccine to a deadly nerve disease called Guillian-Barre Syndrome (GBS). GBS attacks the lining of nerve cells causing problems like paralysis, inability to breathe and death. In fact in 1976 there was a similar Swine Flu scare which resulted in the mass vaccination of the American population. This resulted in more people dying from the vaccine itself than the Swine Flu “epidemic.” There was also an eight fold increase in contracting GBS in those who were vaccinated than in those people who did not get the vaccine.

So what can you do to avoid the Swine Flu? Or any other flu strain for that matter? Follow these simple steps and you will be way ahead of the dangers people are so worried about:

1)Get good rest. Sleep is when we heal ourselves. Poor sleep can lead to many different health concerns including a lowered immune system.

2)Eat well. Stay away from excess sugar. It has been shown that a diet high in sugar and simple carbohydrates results in a lowered immune system.

3)Wash your hands often! This is one of the most important concepts for avoiding infectious diseases. I wash mine at least ten times per day.

4)Take immune building herbs and nutrients. The Chinese Herbal Pharmacopia has a lot of herbs for building the immune system during times of wellness. This is where the preventative medicine concept comes in. We know it is the flu season coming so build your immune system up before the flu season arrives! I carry herbal formulas for this purpose in my clinic and would be happy to ship them to where ever in the country you are located.

The bottom line here is that the media will definitely want to chase this Swine Flu story as long as they can. It is sensational! There are people getting infected by it all the time now, but in general people are not suffering any major health concerns as a result. The people who are actually dying are the very young and very old, and even then they usually have some sort of debilitating condition already. They certainly do not represent the general population. Really, the vast majority of us are going to be just fine even if we do catch the dreaded H1N1 virus. And if taking the basic precautions that I described above the chances of contracting any flu will be minimal.

And when in doubt, please consider me a valuable resource. I am happy to help you in what ever way that I can. Do not hesitate to call or write with your questions or concerns.

The Estrogen / Thyroid Connection

2009-08-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

I want to describe to you a rather obscure tidbit pertaining to estrogen and its relationship to thyroid function. Low thyroid function is something that I talk a lot about because it affects a great many people weather they know it or not. Indeed the thyroid gland is very misunderstood and is certainly mistreated through the mainstream approach. But the thyroid gland itself aside, this article is focused on how thyroid hormone activity (not thyroid hormone production) can be hindered due to imbalances in the sex hormone estrogen.

When looking at thyroid hormones, or any hormones really, it is important to differentiate between the protein bound and free forms of the hormone. When a hormone is created by a gland it is immediately bound up with a carrier protein who's job it is to get that hormone to where it needs to go without being destroyed or lost along the way. Once the hormone is where it needs to be that carrier protein is removed and the hormone is "free" to do its job. That is why these hormones are called "free fraction" or "free hormones."

In the case of thyroid hormones there is a specific carrier protein called Thyroid Binding Globulin. It just so happens that when there are elevated levels of estrogen the amount of Thyroid Binding Globulin in the blood also goes up. This increased number of binding proteins hold onto more of the thyroid hormone which works to hinder them from doing their job. Remember, protein bound hormones can't bind to their receptor. They just float around in the blood. So if you were to do a basic thyroid screen you would usually be looking for the protein bound form (generally due to the lower cost of the test) and everything might look fine. The Thyroid is producing plenty of hormone and the paperwork all looks great. But why then is this woman still having trouble losing weight, losing her hair, struggling with low energy, and not pooping very often? These are all low thyroid symptoms which exist even though the actual hormone levels are normal. "Go home, there is nothing wrong with you." Right? Hmmm....

The reason that these symptoms persist is because the elevated estrogen induces a low thyroid state by stopping the free form of the hormone from binding to the receptor. For all intensive purposes this person is low thyroid. The unfortunate part is that the average blood work up won't account for the interplay between estrogen and thyroid Binding Globulin.

A careful history looking for high estrogen conditions like breast cancer, breast cysts, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or hormone replacement therapy for example should all come into play when considering complaints of low thyroid function. This is thinking outside the box of mainstream medicine. These cases are missed all the time which is unfortunate. It is also of course a great idea to have a look at estrogen levels and there is even a test for Thyroid Binding Globulin. These are tests that I can order if your primary physician is unable or unwilling to order them for you. Be prepared for such a response.

This is just another example of how hormone imbalance can have a negative affect on sexual function and health in general. Let's face it... Someone who is experiencing low thyroid symptoms for any reason is generally low energy. And I think that we all know how great sex can be when one or more of the people involved is, "too tired!" Let's be proactive here. Healthy sexual function can translate into great overall health and lend itself to a positive outlook on life. It is as natural as breathing, sleeping and pooping! And when it comes to thyroid health all of the above can be involved. The solution may be a simple as just looking for the right thing.

Human Sexuality: A TCM Perspective

2009-08-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

The Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) approach to sexual function lends a fascinating perspective on many of the issues facing us today. There are certainly plenty of different problems surrounding sex and reproduction, and a lot of different ways of looking at and treating the problem at hand. Though TCM describes and treats disharmonies in a very different way than we are used to in the mainstream, it can have dramatic benefits when used correctly. I hope through this short article to describe a couple of ways that we can look at sexual dysfunction and offer a few tips on how to strengthen this part of your life naturally.

When looking at any condition in the body the Traditional Chinese approach is to look for disharmony or imbalance in one or more energetic systems. TCM not only considers the problem area, but the entire body qualifying it as a true Holistic modality. But when it comes to anything relating to the reproductive system we generally look towards the kidney energetic system. By now you should be well informed about the concept of Qi flowing through our bodies. Indeed the manipulation of Qi is how acupuncture does what it does. But more specifically a type of Kidney Qi or Jing is where we want to focus our attention here.

Jing is the energy that propels us through life. It blossoms during puberty and wanes in our older age. When our Jing is all used up, so are we. It is natural aging so to speak. It is quite natural when talking about sexual function that some of these energies will weaken as we age. But what about younger people out there who are experiencing declines in sexual energy? What about the ever growing number of young couples who are having trouble conceiving? And what if you are just not happy having good sex over for you in your later years? How does the Traditional Chinese approach address these problems? The first thing to do is to recognize the stressors.

There are some really quick ways of using up Kidney Qi or Jing. The first of which is inadequate nutrition and rest. Both of these are an ever increasing problem in our culture. Our food supply is ever diminishing in nutritional quality, and we are pushing ourselves harder all the time. Our culture's idea of rest is watching television or playing video games. This is not true rest as the body requires. Add to that our addiction to stimulants and sugar and I have detailed a scenario that will gradually tap the Qi of the Kidneys and may lead to a decline in sexual health. The rock star lifestyle just isn't sustainable... nor the life of a couch potato for that matter!

The bottom line here is that you get what you get at birth when it comes to kidney Qi. You cannot build more, but only chip away at your reserves. In order to preserve kidney Qi it is essential that you support a healthy lifestyle to manage your daily Qi needs. If the daily stuff falls short you have no choice than to tap into your reserves which will hinder your sexual energies among other aspects of a healthy life.

The kidney energetic system is only one way to look at sexual dysfunction, and usually relates low function symptoms like low libido, poor erectile function in men, premature ejaculation and low fertility in both sexes. But other disharmonies can of course be involved. For example there could be what we call damp heat conditions which would be indicative of many types of STD's. There could also be blood deficiency or blood stagnation which could affect fertility in women, lubrication, menstrual cycles, etc. Indeed, there are a lot of ways to assess the underlying patterns leading to compromised sexual energy. It is important to sort out which disharmony you may have and address it directly.

The good news is that acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine as a whole can be very effective in helping with many of the conditions I have mentioned. There are some very powerful herbal remedies, and good old acupuncture is always there to help urge your body to thrive. Regaining proper balance within the system is key to enjoying a happy and healthy sex life (and of course an eager and willing partner helps too!). I hope that you will consider acupuncture as a first approach over the more drastic alternatives out there in the medical world. And if you are looking for an understanding, non-judgmental, and truly caring acupuncturist I'm your man. Rest assured I will take the best care of you that I can.

Please do not hesitate to call with your questions or concerns whatever they may be.

The Unheard Thyroid

2009-04-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

More and more I am developing an interest in helping those people who suffer from Thyroid conditions. In particular my interest lies with Hypo-Thyroid or low thyroid conditions. Believe me, these people are everywhere. It is my sincere opinion that these people are not getting their needs met by the mainstream approach. My goal in working with these people is to offer a well rounded approach to understanding the problem at hand as well as offering a scientifically backed treatment regimen. The bulk of this article will detail how mainstream medicine often times misses the intricacies of Hypo-Thyroidism how the condition could be approached to better address the underlying cause.

The Symptoms

Low energy
Difficulty losing weight
Weight gain even with high levels of exercise
Constipation
Hair loss (particularly of the outer third of eyebrow)
Get sick easily and/or often
Low libido (in both men and women)
Infertility
Cold hands and feet (or just plain feeling cold!)
Currently taking Thyroid medications but still feel crummy

Do any of these sound familiar? All of these symptoms can be related to low Thyroid function. Many of these are extremely common complaints in my practice and affect a large portion of the population.

The Problem with the Mainstream Approach

The general ways that a person is diagnosed with a Thyroid condition is through a routine blood screen. There are several particular markers which can indicate either high or low Thyroid function. The most common marker is thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). Typically this has a laboratory reference range of 0.35 - 5.50. If you are out of this reference range you are indeed clinically diagnosable as either Hyper- or Hypo-Thyroid. And chances are that you feel awful! The unfortunate part of working in these reference ranges is that they are extremely broad and do not pick up sub-clinical dis harmonies which might otherwise be causing any or all of the symptoms described above. The message here is that in order to be helped by the mainstream approach you need to have blood work that is way out of normal. As I will describe later I use both the Laboratory ranges and what are called Functional ranges. The Functional range for TSH is 1.8 - 3.0. As you can see, the Functional range is a much smaller range and its use allows the practitioner to detect dis harmonies that may otherwise be hiding or can be addressed before they become serious. But believe me, there are plenty of subjective complaints from people who are just outside of these Functional ranges who slip through the cracks of mainstream medicine. These people need help but are generally not getting it. This is simply due to how the mainstream medical approach looks at illness. The other really important thing that gets missed in a great number of known Hypo-Thyroid patients is the Auto-immune connection. That means that the immune system is actually attacking the Thyroid tissue. The way this gets diagnosed is to look for antibodies against Thyroid tissue. (Antibodies normally help the immune cells target and destroy foreign invaders in the body. In this case the Thyroid is seen as foreign and worthy of destruction.) If there are antibodies against Thyroid it is important to realize that you have an immune disorder first and a Thyroid disorder second. Recently I had two different women come into my clinic with known Hypo-Thyroid conditions. Both have been medicated for many years for these low Thyroid conditions. Neither felt particularly good with their Thyroid medication. I ordered a test for Thyroid antibodies and of a normal reference range of 0 - 40 one woman came up with over 800, and the other came up with over 11,000! Unfortunately, their doctors never thought it necessary to look. Treating an Auto-immune thyroid like a normal Hypo-Thyroid not only doesn't work, it is just not good medical practice. I find this to be really troublesome and scary stuff! I hope that you find this a point of concern as well.

The Good News

The good news is that there is help out there. When I work up a Thyroid patient I make sure to utilize both Functional and Laboratory ranges not only for the Thyroid but for all other markers in the body to look for other contributing factors. Also, knowing that between 50 - 80% of all Hypo-Thyroid patients are actually Auto-Immune Thyroid (Hashimoto's) in nature, I most definitely order an antibody test to rule out this leading cause of low thyroid. If you have Hyper-Thyroid or high Thyroid you definitely have an Auto-Immune problem. The real take home message about Auto-Immune Thyroid is that even though it is the Thyroid symptoms that are making you feel crummy, your primary problem does not reside with the Thyroid itself. The problem is the immune system. Supporting the thyroid itself with pharmaceutical drugs or natural herbal/nutritional formulas simply will not work. And taking some basic thyroid supplements like Iodine will actually make your Auto-Immune Thyroid condition worse! Not until you focus your attempts squarely on balancing out the immune response can you see any significant results with the vast majority of Hypo-thyroid conditions. I will work with you to understand your particular condition and help you successfully treat the core of the problem.

The Unfortunate Reality

Yep, there is an unfortunate reality here... I am an acupuncturist telling you this. Not only do I have to challenge what your doctor might have said, but I have to negotiate the image or expectations of what an acupuncturist knows, or put another way, is allowed to know. I encounter this conundrum all of the time. People generally don't understand my training or ability to manage serious conditions like Auto-Immune Thyroid. And in many instances to do a better job at it than the mainstream approach! Just the other day I was talking with a Pharmacist who after sharing with him about the antibody tests I ran on those two women asked me very sternly, "So once you find that you must immediately refer them to their medical doctor! Right?" It noticeably shook him that I was managing these types of patients. The unfortunate part of this interaction is really two fold. One, my medical degree has been once again misunderstood, disrespected and disregarded. And two, a highly educated person thought it essential to refer back to the very institution which more times than not will miss the true diagnosis, allow for extreme reference ranges to be out of range before treatment, and who's treatment protocol involves replacement hormones (which don't work in Auto-Immune conditions). Or in the case of a known Auto-Immune condition involves either surgically removing or chemically killing Thyroid tissue or chemically suppressing the Immune system which can leave the patient open to much worse illnesses than low thyroid function.

Either way you look at it the mainstream approach is quite severe and in my opinion lacks the sensitivity to manage the core of the condition. But putting my ego aside for a moment, we as medical practitioners must at all times keep the best interest of our patients in mind. I feel very confident in my diagnostic approach and treatment protocols to effectively, and probably for the first time in that person's life, finally address the core of the problem. If people like me don't do it, then who will? It is time that we take a closer look at our options. Just because the mainstream approach is going strong doesn't mean that it is practicing the most up to date medicine. These things that I am handing down here come right out of the very same highly prestigious medical journals that doctors read. Contrary to what my medical degree might imply to the mainstream world, I am only providing information based upon the most cutting edge and up to date research available. And it is my privilege and joy to do so.

Treating The Lab Report And Not The Person

2009-03-05T15:34:00.000-08:00

Interesting concept don’t you think? Perhaps a bit provocative, but it is something that I am becoming increasingly concerned with over time as I pour through more blood chemistry and patient histories. My hope for this article is that it leaves the reader a little uneasy about what they are being told is “normal” about their current state of health. The fact is that you should be uneasy. Don’t be afraid, but be interested in knowing more. Things are going unchecked and you are allowed to feel like you are getting the whole story and that everything is under control. I want to detail for you two different medical problems that I see quite often in my clinic and explain to you exactly what I mean by stating that in many cases people only end up successfully treating their lab report and not their actual medical concern.

Most of the time when I order blood tests for a patient the very first thing they ask about is their cholesterol. Perhaps that is the only part of the test people know anything about. No one has ever taken the time to explain the rest to them. But nevertheless, let’s just say that someone has high total cholesterol of 225. The doctor wants to put them on cholesterol lowering Statin therapy immediately. They do as they are told because if they didn’t they fear death, or worse… A terrible golf game. The follow up test showed a marked improvement in their total cholesterol. It is now 185! Yay!! Problem solved right? By all mainstream thinking heart disease is now under control because the paper showed that the cholesterol is within the “normal” ranges. Well, don’t get too comfortable. That’s not the whole story.

What the doctor didn’t tell you is that not all cholesterol is the same. The “Bad Cholesterol” called LDL is actually made up of different sized particles. The large LDL particles tend to not be dangerous to your arteries/heart in that they do not lead to plaque formation and subsequent poor health. But the small, dense LDL particles tend to be very likely to promote heart disease. The rub here is that Statin drugs are very good at lowering LDL cholesterol, but they lower the wrong kind of LDL. They are great at lowering the large “safe” type and terrible at lowering the small “dangerous” type. So here you have a scenario where someone was told they were in danger without the doctor looking into what size LDL particles there are (any many other important factors such as hsCRP, homocysteine, RLP, Lp(a), and more), and then giving a drug which quite a lot of research has shown to have rather suspect safety records. This then lowers the overall cholesterol by lowering the not-so-dangerous type of LDL while leaving the more dangerous type intact, and leads people to believe that they did the right thing and are now protected!

Well according to the Centers for Disease Control, only 50% of the people who die of heart disease die with high cholesterol. The other 50% have either normal or even low cholesterol! Wouldn’t you, a thinking person, rather compare yourself to the most up to date scientific standards and look into the true markers for heart disease rather than just settling on going the faith based path of doing what you are told by your doctor? And who do you think teaches the doctor? There are several rather large companies behind that one for sure. So the bottom line here is that just making the number smaller on the lab report does nothing to your overall health. This is especially true if you got it that way through the cunning use of medications and not by proper diet and exercise. Aerobic exercise by the way is one of the only things that actually lowers the more dangerous type of cholesterol.

One more concern that I have is pertaining to hormone replacement therapy. I specialize in hormone conditions so I see a significant amount of lab reports and see a lot of hormone replacement therapy going on. This story lends itself to treating a lab report and not the person quite well. It usually goes like this… A person goes into a doctor complaining about various mid-life problems and ends up on hormone replacement. Follow up tests show that the hormone levels are normal and the doctor and patient feel that the proper treatment was given. There is only one thing wrong though. Given six months or so the patient starts feeling the same symptoms returning, but the labs still show normal hormones. When was the last time you heard of anyone on replacement hormone therapy that was actually happy with the results 6 months to a year after starting? What gives?

Quite simply put hormone testing when done in a typical medical office does not look at what are called “free fraction” hormones. These are the ones that are actually doing the work. They are the active form of the hormone. It is much cheaper to look at the “serum” hormones. These are easy to find in the blood and happen to be in the inactive state. Two problems come from this depending upon what hormones were given.

Most commonly synthetic hormones are given. There is currently no test that looks for levels of synthetic hormones in the blood. Synthetic estrogen simply isn’t estrogen. I once asked the Head of Endocrinology (hormones) at the VA hospital in Portland how they monitor synthetic hormone levels and he said quite sharply and with contempt, “we don’t, we monitor symptoms.” If that doesn’t scare the hell out of you it should! So if they do test for hormones they can only test for your own natural hormones which are not representative of what is going on now that there are synthetic hormones in the mix. It is totally bass ackwards thinking!

The other increasingly common thing to see is someone who is tying to do the right thing and take “bio-identical” hormones. Now these are better because they are natural and can be tracked, but for some reason, probably expense, serum hormone levels are what are tested for and not the more expensive free fraction levels. It is important to know that bio-identical hormones are delivered usually through the skin via a cream and enter the blood only in the free fraction state. So looking at serum levels will look normal or even low when in fact the active free fraction levels are usually quite high. This little concept gets missed almost every time. So once again what we see on the report might look great, but the actual state of the person could still be a mess! In fact worse than before starting on the hormones in the first place.

I write this article partly out of anger and frustration I’ll admit. I see so much in the current medical system that is dangerously misguided and unsustainable. Change needs to happen. But I write it more for you, the reader. You deserve to know about your choices. To be fully aware of what you are being told you “need” to do. It is very easy to roll over and submit when it comes to our medical experience. I urge you not to. I urge you to pay attention, to be curious, and to question what you are being told. Hold your doctors accountable for what they say. And above all learn as much as you can about everything that you can. That is what I try to do, and that is what I try to pass along to the people in my life.

Please consider me a powerful resource, and in the mean time, be happy, be empowered and enjoy great health!

I'm officially famous!

2009-02-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

Ok... Not really famous, but I did get a nice video posted on You Tube about my services. A patient and friend of mine started a website last year called SingleDad.com. It is an informational site for fathers who are single for one reason or another. It is a great site full of really good resources. Articles, recipes, tips/hints for good parenting, etc. Basically it is all about supporting each other. Really it is a site that is great for anyone to browse. I have submitted several articles to this site and will continue to be a part as a resource.

So check out my my video at the link below and see first hand what an average acupuncture session looks and fees like. Enjoy!

http://www.singledad.com/health-and-fitness/how-to/Acupuncture_Anyone_1234041647.php

The Misunderstood Prostate

2009-02-10T14:21:00.001-08:00

If there is one thing that us men have to look forward to as we get older it is the fear of our prostate glands swelling up like apples and wreaking havoc on our urination and sex lives. And of course then there is the matter of prostate cancer. But for most old guys it is usually safe to say that there will be at least some discomfort around the concept of peeing freely. We all know about enlarged prostates, but do we really understand why it happens and how to protect ourselves against it? I hope through this article to shed some light on that pondering. And offer some food for thought.

The primary reason for an enlarged prostate would certainly have to be elevations in the hormone DHT. DHT is an extremely potent form of Testosterone and is what is also responsible for male balding for the most part. When there is an over abundance of DHT the tissues of the prostate become enlarged and give us the problems men either already know and love, or will know at some point in our lives. It is for conditions like this that the herb Saw Palmetto is so well known. Many men already know this and sales for such supplements are soaring! That’s the easy scenario. That’s the one the docs all lean towards. It is the easy diagnosis. Most of the time hormone testing isn’t even done. It is a simple description of symptoms, a finger in the rear end, and wammo, a basic diagnosis is made. But what if there is more to the equation?

And what do you know, there certainly is more to the equation. A little known fact, and one that is never considered in mainstream medicine, is the role that Estrogen plays in prostate health. Why look at Estrogen in a man? We men certainly don’t want to hear about it if there is any female hormone floating around in our bodies! But it just so happens to play a major role in prostate health. Not to mention, breast tissue growth, depression, low sex drive/performance. Hell it can even affect your golf game! Did I get your attention yet?

It works like this… Estrogen acts to lock the DHT hormone into the prostate tissues longer than normal therefore promoting more stimulation to the prostate tissues with less DHT hormone needed. So in essence you can have normal or even low DHT and still have prostate problems! You see, hormones are supposed to bind to receptors in the target tissue, do their thing and then move along. Elevated Estrogen in men stops DHT from leaving the tissue and there is nothing Saw Palmetto can do about that. Perhaps these are the men who end up under the knife because they “have tried everything” without success. If only they were told the whole story perhaps there would be more healthy prostates out there doing what they do best! And if you don’t know what prostates do best… Well, they produce semen! And men would probably prefer to have their ability to produce semen intact if given the opportunity, wouldn’t you say?

The good news is that this is a classic Functional Medicine problem. Considering variables like elevated Estrogen in men and going after the root of the problem is how people get better without the harsh medications, hormone replacement therapy and/or tricky surgeries which very often lead to erectile problems. No knifes near my prostate please! And believe it or not, another female type hormone Progesterone also plays a role here, but that is another article. The bottom line is that prostate health isn’t all that simple. It deserves a lot of care and consideration to get the proper results.

If you or the man in your life is experiencing these discomforts please call and book a free consultation. There really is no time like the present. Seriously, if left too long there is no other option than surgery. Once these tissues get too big there is no turning back. Prevention is your best friend. Don’t let that strong male ego stop you from peeing freely or having the perfect orgasm. Because what is more manly than that? Seek out knowledge and act! Your prostate will thank you.

I'm Leaking From Where Now? - Part 2

2008-12-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

Back in September of last year I wrote an article about Leaky Gut Syndrome. If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading about leaky guts you should do so now. You can find it in the archive section for 2007. Not only is it good fun reading, it is incredibly important for our conversation today… Leaky Brain Syndrome. I don’t necessarily mean that we all have poop for brains, but if left long enough leaky brain syndrome might as well mean poop for brains! Read on and I will explain myself.

Much like the way that it sounds, leaky brain syndrome is a situation where the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) has become compromised and substances that are not meant to cross this barrier are able to pass either in or out unchecked. This barrier was discovered in the 19th century by the bacteriologist Ehrlich. He found that when he injected animals with staining chemicals every part of the animal took the stain but the brain. And subsequently when he injected the stain directly into the central nervous system nothing outside the brain took the color. The scientist therefore demonstrated that there was something that was stopping the transport of chemicals into and out of the brain. And this was for a good reason. The brain is of course a highly important organ for every function in our body and needs a high level of protection from harmful substances. When this barrier system becomes compromised the brain becomes susceptible to damage by invading substances and pathogens. The bottom line is you want a nice and tight, non-leaky blood-brain-barrier!

There is now current research that demonstrates to us the things that can both help and hurt this barrier system. Just several of the ones that harm the barrier should sound familiar to many of you. I see them in my practice all of the time. Increased oxidation due to free radical exposure, elevated Homocysteine (also a heart disease risk), stress of any kind (physical, mental/emotional, chemical), alcohol, and elevated blood sugar all work to destroy the BBB. If there is any one thing that I see the most of it is poor blood sugar regulation. Controlling all of these things as well as taking in Alpha-Lipoic Acid, antioxidants and simply using your brain all work to help maintain and rebuild the BBB.

This all becomes very important when considering the treatment and better yet, the prevention of many of the modern medical problems facing our society today. Loss of BBB integrity has been linked to several disease processes including meningitis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease. These studies can be found in highly respected medical journals like the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Neurotoxicology, Journal of Leukocyte Biology, Brain Research and more.

If you are interested in seeing if you might have a leaky brain condition there is a simple field test that you can perform on yourself. At the health food store you can purchase a supplement called GABA. GABA is a neurotransmitter found in the brain which elicits a relaxed state. People who are low in GABA tend to have anxiety type disorders. This substance should not be able to cross the BBB. (Which makes you wonder why it is being sold at all!) The test is to take 1000mg of GABA and see if you feel any enhanced state of relaxation. If you do then this substance has crossed the BBB and you have a “leaky brain!” Bad news. You need to fix that pronto! Oral GABA should not induce relaxation. If it does I can help you with this.

Believe me, there are a lot of things out there that if they get into your brain can lead to serious damage. Our brains are not supposed to have foreign substances in contact with it so when that happens the response is severe. Quite literally our immune system can go on a killing spree in a last ditch effort to save our brain from damage and in doing so will wipe out everything in its path including brain tissue! Counter productive, yes, but it is what we have, and it is good to know about.

Don’t let this happen to you. There are simple steps that you can take to protect yourself from a leaky brain. I am happy to be your guide in proper brain health. This is seriously one area of medicine both mainstream and alternative alike that is consistently overlooked time and time again. And in the meantime neurological disorders are continuously on the rise. Call to day for a consultation and request a free Brain Health Questioner.

A Body Fighting Against Itself

2008-10-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

Probably one of the most up and coming of serious medical problems facing Americans today is auto-immunity. An auto-immune condition is one in which the immune system works to attack a particular tissue in the body. This problem can lead to a huge variety of disorders including Type I Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s (auto-immune thyroid), and many many more. The title of this article is actually two fold. It points out that not only are our bodies fighting against themselves, but the medical establishment, and the population as a whole is also caught up in a system that is working towards self destruction.

Let me use the example of a recent patient of mine who came in with concerns about “feeling terrible.” She has been on Thyroid medication for a long time but does not feel that it is helping. After a simple blood test we discovered that she was not classically hypothyroid (low thyroid) as her doctors diagnosed her, but auto-immune thyroid. Her immune system is attacking her thyroid gland which of course led to deficiencies in her thyroid output. One particular antibody specific to her thyroid tissue was over 11,000. It should not be above 40! This indicates that her immune system is attacking her thyroid gland in a big way. Her doctors never caught this fact. It took going to an acupuncturist that she was referred to in order to find this information out. And it was an out-of-pocket expense. So in this case, and millions of others, the patient’s needs were not being met by the system. Therefore, the root of the problem is not being treated. Hence a medical system which has mechanisms in place that work to weaken and disable the people it is trying to help. I consider this an auto-immune condition of society at large.

The reason that these tests are not run on a routine basis in the mainstream is that the therapy would not really change either way. The mainstream medical model is very much a “replacement” model. By this I mean that if there is anything wrong with you hormonally they will prescribe for you replacement hormones. End of story. This most often ends up working against us, and usually does not help the symptoms of the problem for very long. When was the last time you heard of anyone taking thyroid medications that felt “great” about it? It just never happens. In fact in cases of auto-immune thyroid the antibodies that attack the thyroid gland also block the thyroid hormone receptors. It is the hormone/receptor interaction that allows hormones to act on our body. Without a good hormone/receptor interaction you have nothing! So this means that even with supplemental hormone therapy the person won’t feel better because the hormones won’t bind and stimulate the receptor like they are supposed to! It is a self defeating concept to give thyroid hormones to an auto-immune thyroid patient. And it beomes an important concept because 50 - 80% of all hypothyroid patients are estimated to be auto-immune thyroid!

Medical doctors do have some methods for treating auto-immune conditions which involves suppressing the immune system either chemically or by removing certain immune system glands. This lends itself to infectious diseases and a lifetime of worry over contracting a serious illness. In fact a common flu could kill you this way. There may be a time for this, but how about looking into safer and more effective alternatives first? Ones which work at the root of the problem. They are out there, and I can help you with them.

One basic concept is important to understand about all auto-immune conditions… No matter what problem you think you have, like the thyroid problem I mentioned above, it is now an immune system problem and not a problem with the particular organ or gland being affected. You can throw all the support that you want toward the effected organ and you will not get anywhere. You will continue to struggle and feel sick until the root of the problem is dealt with. Moderating the immune system is the only way to take back your health from conditions like these. Only once you have the immune system under control can you begin to effectively support the effected organ or gland.

Allow me the opportunity to help you or the people around you with these problems. Treating auto-immune conditions requires very specific analysis of the immune system. These tests simply are not being done in the mainstream medical system. And remember… Don’t let where you live stop you from contacting me. I can work long distance with great success. Call or email me today and set up a consultation. Let’s start the process of getting you back to feeling good again!

Don't Like Fish... Well They Like You!

2008-08-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, perhaps my title is a little misleading since the fish actually have to give up their lives in sacrifice of your good health. But nevertheless, a diet lacking in fish is a great way to spiral headlong into the many depths of poor health. Like fish or not, they are really good for you. More specifically the Omega-3 Fatty Acids found in fish are what I am taking about. You simply must include a diet rich in these fatty acids if you want to avoid illness and injury, and here’s why.

The Omega-3 Fatty Acids found in fish oil (EPA and DHA) are not only an essential part of our cell’s structure, but are extremely anti-inflammatory in nature. Americans are overly inflamed as a general rule due to our over ingestion of grain which are heavy in Omega-6 Fatty Acids and our disturbing addiction to foods that spike our blood sugar. Omega-3’s are anti-inflammatory while Omega-6’s are pro-inflammatory. It is vital to balance out this Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio in order to maintain the stability of our health.

Inflammation can be linked to almost all of the current killers in our society today. Conditions like Heart Disease, Stroke, Alzheimer’s, Depression, Cancer, Arthritis, Chronic Pain, Type II Diabetes, and even Obesity can all be associated with lower than optimal levels of Omega-3 Fatty Acid intake such as those found in fish oils, and subsequent inflammation. Without the anti-inflammatory properties of fish oil these conditions are allowed to run wild and ruin lives.

The basic rundown of how this works is as follows. There are little hormones produced by our bodies called eicosanoids. Unlike most all other hormones which are produced in glands, eicosanoids are produced by every cell in the body and can therefore act on every cell of the body very directly. We have approximately 60 trillion eicosanoid glands in our bodies! Depending upon the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 in our cells, these hormones can go in one of two directions. They can either be pro- or anti-inflammatory. There needs to be a balance of both to maintain proper health. The “good” ones work to prevent clotting, they open blood vessels, reduce pain, decrease cell division (good for fighting tumors), enhance the immune system, and improve brain function. The “bad” eicosanoids do exactly the opposite. They promote clotting, constrict blood vessels, promote pain, promote cell division, depress the immune system, and depress brain function. Which would you prefer? Do you like fish now?

There are two ways in which to improve the ratio of “good” to “bad” eicosanoids in the body. The first way is to improve your blood sugar and therefore produce less of the hormone Insulin. High levels of Insulin work to promote “bad” eicosanoid production. The second way is to take high doses of pharmaceutical grade fish oil. Taking a highly purified pharmaceutical grade fish oil allows you to take higher doses without the stomach upset, fishy burps, and heavy metal threat that are found in other less purified oils. This is one supplement that you want to spend more on to ensure quality. But the more you get your diet in line the less fish oil you have to take to achieve the same goal.

There are several tests that I can order to see exactly how inflamed you really are. I can order these tests anywhere in the country and drop ship you the high quality fish oil to boot. It is time for you to take a different path on your journey towards wellness. Believe me, the current medical model isn’t working. Standard treatment is focused upon subduing symptoms and not at all on fixing the problem. Call or email my clinic any time and let’s help you change your life!

So What Good Is An Erection Anyway?

2008-07-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

As an acupuncturist we were trained to consider the whole person when working on a particular problem. We ask lots of questions and look at rather strange parts of the body, like the tongue for example, in determining a person’s health. In women we ask a lot of questions and can gain a lot of information about their health by inquiring about her menses. But in men, we have the penis--and thank god for that. But in having a penis we have to constantly worry about how well it is functioning. It is true that Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is on the rise, but is it really a problem with our penises themselves, or like a woman’s period, are our penises really just little, or excuse me, large and monolithic health meters that are trying to tell us something about our underlying health? More times than not it is the latter, believe me.

To drive this point home further I will share with you a story that my father told to me. My father recently underwent a liver transplant operation and was surrounded by other men in the same situation. In getting to know one man at the hospital it became known that this man hadn’t had an erection for many years since becoming ill. Sure enough the first thing that this man came to realize when waking up in the recovery room after his transplant was that he had one of the fullest erections of his life. Good for that guy! So, he didn’t have a problem with his penis, but rather a problem with his health. In this case, it was a new liver that did the trick, but most of the time it is much more subtle. This is a concept that we need to embrace. Far too often we try and override the basic necessity of good health by taking little blue pills. They can be good in a pinch, but it is sure no way to live.

Unfortunately, there is no one thing that causes ED. In fact, there are probably too many to count. However, the biggest contributing factor to ED that I see in my practice is due to the side effects of medications. Blood pressure medications can make erections nearly impossible at times. High blood sugar and Diabetes is another quick path to ED. Hormone imbalance due to hormone replacement therapy can eventually lead to ED as well because it hinders the sensitivity between the sex hormone and the receptor. This will eventually lead to "lazy sex hormone receptors," so to speak. Depression is another good example of why a man might come down with ED.

Whatever the reason for the ED, the goal should be to find out how to fix the problem. We as a society need to demand that our bodies remain functional without all the added medication complicating matters further. In doing so we can avoid many of the current health problems, fix many of the health concerns where they start and of course have better erections as a result! The answers are out there. And given the opportunity I would love to tell you about them.

An Interesting Twist on Thyroid Health

2008-06-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

All too often people are walking around “not feeling like they used to,” and wonder, “what happened and how did I get this way.” Perhaps this sounds like you or someone that you know. The answer is not always a simple one, but is a perfect fit for the functional approach to medicine. I want to describe to you through this blog entry one not too well known factor that might contribute to this type of situation. One in fact that you probably will not be told about by your primary care provider but is all too common.

When it comes to energy and your everyday experience, there is nothing much more influential than the Thyroid gland. The thyroid controls the body’s metabolism and when low functioning (hypo-thyroid) there can be many different uncomfortable symptoms including lethargy, weight gain or trouble losing weight, hair loss, constipation, and that’s just to name a few. An overly functioning (hyper-thyroid) can lead to feelings of anxiety, heart palpitations, restlessness and other more serious health concerns.

There are several different conditions in thyroid pathology that are good to differentiate between. You can have primary hypothyroid where the thyroid itself does not work well. You can have secondary hypothyroid where the thyroid is not getting the proper signals from the brain and therefore will not produce adequate amounts of hormone. You can have an overactive thyroid. Or you can have an autoimmune thyroid where the body is attacking itself. But for the sake of this article you can have problems with the proteins that bind to and carry the thyroid hormones in the blood. The reasons for this can vary considerably.

Problems with the binding of thyroid hormones are very often overlooked in mainstream medicine. Depending upon how much of the hormone is bound to these carrier proteins the overall daily experience for the person can be totally different. Quite literally you could have a normal looking blood test for your thyroid but still feel either high or low. T3 is active thyroid hormone and the more of it that there is bound to carrier proteins the less that there is to stimulate the receptors and allow you to feel normal. The clinical pearl that I want to share with you here is that elevations in the hormone Estrogen will work to increase thyroid hormone binding protein and therefore create a situation where less active hormone can do it’s job. This will actually mimic a hypo-thyroid condition. The unfortunate part is that it will not show up on a basic routine thyroid screen. You have to know what other things to look for.

So from a functional medicine perspective it is important to take other hormone influences into account when creating a plan for each patient. In this case there really isn’t a thyroid problem even though the thyroid system is what is being affected. The problem lies with the elevated estrogen. Focus the energy on lowering estrogen and you will not only see an improvement in thyroid function but you will also be helping to avoid certain cancers associated with elevated estrogen. We are currently seeing in this country an alarming increase in elevated estrogen in both men and women. Women are told to take hormone replacement therapy and men are actually creating their own estrogen by being overweight and having high blood sugar & insulin.

The management of thyroid conditions, in my opinion, is unfortunately a misunderstood and therefore mismanaged part of mainstream medicine. Like most other hormonal conditions, treatment is aimed squarely on the prescribing of hormone replacement. Not much care is given to the harmonizing of the body’s various other associated systems. The functional approach allows the patient and practitioner a chance to pick apart each system and determine what is the root cause of the problem. I urge you to take a stand and demand a more thorough look into why you are feeling the way you do these days. Perhaps it is low energy or difficulty losing weight. It is time to figure out and unwind the different stressors keeping you from optimal health and wellbeing.

Call me today or email me and let’s get started!

Much A'Do About Headaches

2008-06-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

As a headache sufferer myself I have personal experience with this particular topic. My contributing factors include head trauma from bike accidents (and 7 years of Ju-Jitsu), sinus problems, and I’ll admit it, stress from starting a practice and raising two children.

From a main stream medical point of view headaches are usually just dosed with over the counter pain medications and allowed to go basically untreated. Covering up the symptoms of the headache is where the treatment is focused. The beauty of Traditional Chinese Medicine is that we have the ability and interest to not only help with the immediate pain of the headache, but the underlying root cause as well. In the following blog entry I want to briefly describe for you some of the ways an acupuncturist looks at a headache.

As with many different problems that acupuncture deals with it is of major importance to observe where on the head the pain is located. Qi, or our body energy, travels along distinct channels and there are several that run along the surface of the head. Any one, or all of these channels traveling over the head can lead to pain causing headaches. For example if your headache is primarily frontal or a sinus type headache it corresponds to the Large Intestine channel. If the pain is more over the temples it can be attributed to the Gall Bladder channel. If the pain is at the back of the head it can be either Urinary or Gall Bladder channels. So the point that I am trying to make here is that depending upon where the pain is on the head the treatment will differ from patient to patient. The channel affected dictates the treatment. This makes for a unique treatment for each individual contrary to the mainstream approach of blasting the body with a broad spectrum of pain killers that everyone can take for any problem.

When there is stagnation some where in any particular channel there is going to be pain or injury. This stagnation can come about for many different reasons. You can be depleted in qi which can lead to a stagnation and therefore pain. This is usually the dull and achy type and comes about with exhaustion or overwork. Or you could have a stagnation of qi due to emotions which will usually be a pounding type headache relating to the temples and back of the head. Or you could have stagnation anywhere on the head due to an old (or new) trauma.

In choosing a proper treatment for each of my patients I will take all of these things into consideration and more to create a personalized treatment plan. Certain acupuncture points will work better for each type of problem. But besides acupuncture, which in our society people are rather limited as to frequency, the use of herbal remedies are important to continue the treatment while at home. Taking a course of herbs can have dramatic effects on the frequency and severity of most headaches and still stay in line with the particular root condition at hand.

So why use acupuncture for headache care? The answer is simply that by doing so you will be getting at the root cause of the headaches and will not suffer from them like you used to. Simply taking pain medications to cover up the symptoms of what is causing the headache only buys you time until your next headache. And for some people who suffer from migraines that next headache might mean more time out of work, and an often crippling experience all around. But besides that, over the counter pain killers have been shown to contribute quite considerably to both liver and kidney failure when taken long term. The number of transplants due to these medications is staggering!

So consider trying something a little different if you suffer from headaches. I find through my own personal experience that acupuncture and Chinese herbs have had a dramatic impact on my headache experience. I strongly encourage you to give it a try.

The Cost of Convenience

2008-06-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

There are few things better out there than spontaneous sex with the one that you love. Unfortunately there is often a price to pay for such spontaneity. Birth control pills, shots, patches and rings can often leave you with a lot of trouble on your hands. So I ask those of you currently using the pill, what price are you willing to pay for such convenience?

My goal for this blog entry is not to make anyone feel bad for their choices, but to help you better understand the choices that you have made. As a practitioner who deals quite a lot with hormone related problems, and fertility in particular I feel it is only right to tell you what I see come through my door.

To start I want to go over some basic physiology which describe how birth control pills work. Before a woman actually produces her sex hormones the ovaries must first be stimulated by the pituitary or “master gland.” The major stimulating hormones which are affected here are Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Lutenizing Hormone (LH). Without these two hormones the ovaries would be dysfunctional and there would be no menses, among other problems. In essence, the pill works to shut down these stimulating hormones and replace the hormones which would have otherwise been produced by the ovaries. By controlling exactly what hormones are working on the body the pill can stop the eggs from maturing and a period from occurring.

The first thing that you should know about taking hormones like the pill is that it can work to make a woman’s natural hormone system “lazy” so to speak. Once off of the pill it can take up to 5 years sometimes for her natural cycle to return to normal. And in some women a normal cycle may not return at all, though this is rare. But it isn’t uncommon for true fertility to return a year or so after stopping the pill. This is actually a known syndrome called “Birth Control Syndrome.” It is due to the pituitary gland not being able to recover from being suppressed while on the hormones. Treatment needs to be aimed squarely at stimulating the pituitary to secrete FSH and LH again to stimulate the ovaries to do their job. Once proper pituitary/ovary communication is regained normal periods should start again and fertility is now possible.

Lastly there is a known drug/nutrient interaction with birth control pills and what are called methyl donors. These methyl donors are vital for proper detox pathways to occur in the liver. If there isn’t a clear detoxification pathway all kinds of problems can start such as acne, PMS, painful and erratic periods for example. And then let’s go a step further with increased cancer risk and neurological decline. Breast cancer risk goes up 2% per year while a woman is on birth control pills. So if you have been on the pill for 10 years you can enjoy a 20% increased risk of breast cancer.

If you must use birth control please consider supplementing with methyl donors like folic acid and B-12 for example. These compounds will help keep your detox pathways running smoother while on the hormone.

As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news when it comes to people’s sex lives I feel obligated to do so here. Infertility, cancer, and general ill health are certainly on the rise and we need to be armed with everything that we can to keep healthy. If you are using birth control pills or exogenous hormones of any kind perhaps it is time to reconsider. I would be more than happy to help you detect and/or avoid any risk factors that you are not aware about. Believe me, hormones are powerful things and can make your life a living hell. And if that ends up being the case, you might end up asking yourself if the convenience was worth the cost?

Why Does Sweet Hate Us So Much?

2008-04-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have written quite a bit so far about how dangerous and damaging a high intake of sugar can be which might lead people to reach for the other alternatives to sugar. And the most common artificial sweetener would have to be aspartame. You can find aspartame in sodas, chewing gum, candies, breath mints, and you name it, it’s there. Aspartame is a mainstay in our culture and it appears to be here for good. So it is up to you to make the choice to avoid it.

Aspartame is made up of three different chemicals, and once ingested, these chemicals separate from one another and are then exposed to the tissues of your body.

The first component is Aspartic acid and composes approximately 40% of the aspartame molecule. Aspartic acid leads to high levels of aspartate which acts as a potent neuro-stimulant. These chemicals are known as “exictotoxins” and when exposed to the neurons on the brain can literally stimulate the brain cells to death! No joke.

The second component is phenylalanine which comprises approximately 50% of the total molecule. It has been shown that consuming aspartame raises your blood levels of phenylalanine. If phenylalanine is exposed to your brain serotonin levels begin to decline which can lead to depression and other serious mental disorders.

The last component is methanol otherwise known as good old wood alcohol! This makes up about 10% of the molecule. Wood alcohol is a known deadly poison. This poison can wreak havoc on your nervous system and can cause blindness among other things. This is how people would go blind from drinking moon shine back in the day. Dirty distillation techniques led to methanol production and subsequent poisoning. Well methanol is alive and well today in the form of aspartame. Methanol also has a very slow excretion rate from the body and can begin to build up to serious levels in the body over time. And if the diet soda drinkers that you know are anything like the diet soda drinkers that I know, it is usually a daily intake. And quite often more than one per day too. The Environmental Protection Agency limits the consumption of methanol to 7.8 mg per day, but one large diet soda can contain as much as 50 mg of methanol! You can do the math for yourself to see the dangers involved in drinking diet soda.

For a final closing statement let me just say that feeding your soda addiction is just like feeding any other addiction. It offers you some immediate reward at the cost of your health. I urge you to lose the soda of any kind. It is full of really nasty things that are out to get you. I also recommend that you check out the online video Sweet Misery. This video will tell you much more than what I have had the opportunity to tell you here, and they do a much better job at scaring the holy hell out of you too!

The Cholesterol Misunderstanding

2008-04-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

In diagnosing any disease pattern it is first and foremost important to look for the right things. For example you wouldn’t get very far by examining how best to treat skid marks left on the road from a car accident. The skid marks are of course a symptom of events leading up to the accident. The same holds true with heart disease. Looking at cholesterol is like focusing on the skid marks. Cholesterol acts as a protective layer much like a band-aid which rushes to the site of injury (inflammation) in the arteries, and if left long enough can build up and cause plaque. Well that is the short story at least. But the bottom line with heart disease is that we need to look at what is causing the problem in the first place. The most current medical research states that cholesterol itself only plays a minor role in heart disease. How long do you think it will take the mainstream medical establishment to catch up to the current research? I for one don’t want to wait and find out. I want to do everything in my power to avoid heart disease in the first place!

Very simply put, HDL and LDL are not cholesterol like you have all been taught. Cholesterol is cholesterol. HDL and LDL are proteins that carry cholesterol around the body. HDL carries it from the blood vessels back to the liver to be recycled and LDL carries cholesterol to the blood vessels and tissues to be used in a huge number of very important bodily functions. Without adequate cholesterol we couldn’t make hormones, or have a healthy nervous system. In fact we couldn’t repair our cells effectively and we would grow old really quickly! Now who wants that? We should love our cholesterol! Cholesterol is our friend. It keeps us healthy and happy.

The current cholesterol screens are simply not effective in determining risk because they fail to examine the actual HDL and LDL particles themselves. They do in fact lead to monumental sales of cholesterol lowering medications. That they do quite well. But it is the size and number of the HDL/LDL particles as well as several other factors that determines accurate risk for heart disease. We all know LDL is “bad” cholesterol right? But in fact only the smaller denser type LDL particles wreak havoc on the arteries. The larger ones tend to pass on by without hurting anything. It is also possible and quite common for people to have empty LDL particles and appear to be healthy on a routine cholesterol screen but die of suddenly heart disease. This happens about 50% of the time in fact. If you look closer you would probably see that these people were loaded with a bunch of empty dense type LDL particles. Their cholesterol was low but their risk was high. They have been failed by the system in place to protect them.

For people with PPO insurance we can order these tests for $30.00. For a $30.00 co-pay you can blow away what your doctor ordered for you. You can gain proper insight into your actual heart disease risk. You can see first hand everything that would be on a normal cholesterol screen plus the breakdown of the particle size, as well as a handful of other significant emerging risk factors all noted by current medical research. Call me soon and let’s schedule an appointment and find out for sure where you stand on your heart disease risk.

The Menopause Pathology

2008-04-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

It is unfortunate but true that life’s most natural processes are quickly becoming institutionalized and medically managed. They are being treated as "pathology." There is nothing more natural for example than when a woman’s hormones begin to decline and she enters menopause. It is as natural as puberty. Men also go through a similar process. It is the natural way of things. More and more though we humans feel the need to fight against what is happening naturally. We feel that somehow we might just be able to reverse the millions of years of development through the cunning use of chemicals. Well, let me just say that when you really look at the situation critically, and not blindly, it becomes apparent that women are increasignly being injured by the very system that has pledged an oath to protect them.

The story goes like this… A middle aged woman goes in for her routine medical visit and discusses with her doctor that she is experiencing hot flashes and other various uncomfortable symptoms. Some tests are run and it is determined that she is indeed beginning menopause. She is then given replacement hormones to “fix” her problems.

What the doctor does not explain is that these hormones are doing nothing to actually fix anything but in fact are going to complicate matters in the future. So much of mainstream medicine is focused on the band-aid approach of covering up the symptoms of a root cause. Replacement hormone therapy, given to menopausal women, is often times really good at eliminating the undesirable side effects of menopause, but only prolongs the inevitable. Once on the replacement hormones a woman’s body becomes reliant upon them and eventually becomes weaker in the process. The systems that she will need in place once off of the hormones will by then be sluggish and unresponsive. And once the call is made to get off of the hormones she will experience symptoms like she has never felt before! And in the mean time she has increased her risk of breast cancer, heart attack and stroke considerably. No joke!

Perhaps supporting the woman’s whole body instead of weakening it would be more beneficial. The reality is that the uncomfortable experiences associated with menopause are easily managed naturally without the added threat of cancer, heart disease and strokes!

Perhaps the most beneficial thing to do for a woman entering menopause is to support not the ovaries but the adrenal glands. That’s a little tidbit that I picked up while looking into where female hormones come from after menopause. The whole concept of menopause is that the ovaries stop responding to the signals from the pituitary gland in the brain. The ovaries then no longer produce the sex hormones. The burden now lies upon the adrenal glands. And in this fast paced modern society, adrenal fatigue is at an all time high! It is no wonder why so many women are having a hard time with their midlife changes. Without the proper support they are experiencing full force what hormone withdraw can feel like and then are told that hormone replacement is their only option. Well shame shame to the medical system for pulling the wool over our eyes on this one!

Take it from me, clinically, and in my research I have seen more women on hormone replacement therapy in a dangerously out of balance hormone picture than not. This is especially true of the hormone creams that seem to be all the rage especially in the “alternative medicine” community. Please stay away from any topical hormone cream. And I mean all creams even if they say that they are all natural and bio-identical. If you must take replacement hormones try to take them under your tongue.

The dangers of hormone replacement therapy became very clear to me one day while speaking with a head of Endocrinology at a well respected hospital in Oregon. I asked him about how they monitor hormone levels in the replacement model and he told me that they don't. They don't! They go by symptoms. Does this give you comfort that your health is being valued? Well it scared the hell out of me that's for sure and opened my eyes a little wider than they were before!

But in the mean time please, women, consider the implications of your hormone replacement therapy. Educate yourself about all of your options. Invite me to do a lecture for you with your friends and families. Challenge your doctor with good and educated questions. And for god’s sake, call me for an appointment so that we can get a clear picture of your hormone status. It could very well save your life. Menopause is not a pathology that needs medicating. There are safe, effective and natural alternatives.

Red Meat - To Beware or Not To Beware?

2008-01-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

It is time to dispel yet another medical misconception that is repeated to us time after time and has no actual relevance. I’m talking about the supposed link between red meat and colon cancer. It seems to be a well known fact that the more red meat that you consume, the higher the incidences of colon cancer you can expect. All that you have to do is look at the studies more closely to see that it isn’t the meat itself but the way that you cook it that matters.

Many studies have shown that how you cook your meat can have dramatic effects upon your health. In fact people who like their meat well done have a 29% increase over people who eat the same amount of meat cooked rare. (According to a study of colorectal adenomas conducted at the National Naval Medical Center.) Very little evidence points towards any and all red meat leading to cancer. It is the meat that is cooked well and “burnt” that gives you the problems.

The reason for this difference comes in the nasty chemicals produced when cooking meat at high temperatures. Carcinogenic chemicals called heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are created at high temperatures and can lead to the formation of not only colon cancer but other cancers as well. Unfortunate as it is, grilling and high frying your meat leads to the formation of these nasty chemicals.

The most common come back that I get from people who cook their meat well done is their concern over E. Coli contamination. Though E. Coli can be a serious condition to acquire it is very uncommon in the actual meat of the animal. You might find this bacteria present in ground meat which comes from as many as 100 animals and is subject to less than optimal packing environments, but when talking about a nice porterhouse steak is it very unlikely to get sick from rare cooked meat. Actually more E. Coli infections are transmitted by dirty fruits and veggies than meat. How’s that for irony? Now compare that to the numbers of cancer in today’s society and it is easy to see which you should be more concerned about.

For those of you that might just be sickened by rare meat may I suggest fish instead. In this case there is no room for the squeamish. Take my advice and cook your meat rare or medium rare at best. You might just help keep cancer at bay and enjoy a great steak to boot!

As a quick side note… I want to reiterate that just because rare meat is less cancer causing that is no reason to believe that the meat you are eating isn’t causing you harm! Unless you are buying good grass fed organic meat you are still getting plenty of hormones and antibiotics that have been given to the cattle. These chemicals do end up in your body as well. The bottom line is that when buying meat, be as picky as your budget allows. Stop giving your money to the mega chain coffee houses and give it to back to yourself in the form of good clean food!

Eat well and be happy and healthy!

Why High Blood Sugar is B-A-D...BAD!

2007-11-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

Over the years we are continuously being told different things about how to stay healthy. In the 80’s it was all about carbo loading. In the 90’s it was all about low fat. And now we are hearing about low carb diets as the best way to live. How do you make any sense of this? Do you just listen to your doctor? Do you read everything under the sun and come up with your own conclusions? Or better yet, do you go to school and study nutritional biochemistry for eight years? What ever you decide to do I would hope that you would take a long hard look at how blood sugar plays such an important role in your overall health. In fact, if I were to narrow it down to one major thing to consider about your health it would hands down be blood sugar!

So let’s talk about exactly why that is… If we just look at heart disease which is the number one killer and how it is impacted by high blood sugar you will see that consistently high blood sugar and insulin levels will lead directly to high blood pressure, decreased HDL (“good cholesterol”), increased risk for clotting, and elevated total cholesterol. So is it really the heart disease that is killing us or the blood sugar? Hmmm….

High blood sugar in women leads to the production of Testosterone which then leads to infertility and an obesity viscous cycle. That’s when you try as hard as you can but you still can’t loose the weight! Sound familiar? In men the opposite thing happens. Men with high blood sugar create more Estrogen, grow boobs, have prostate problems, and have trouble with getting erections. None of which is a picnic, wouldn’t you say?

Not only that, but people with high insulin/blood sugars can’t detoxify their livers well and can’t create the proper amounts of anti-inflammatory chemicals in their bodies. Both of which will lead in the long run to pain and illness. There is even evidence that colorectal and breast cancer can be linked to blood sugar imbalance. And all cancers love sugar. So once you do have cancer the more sugar in your system the more the cancer will grow.

If let to continue high blood sugar and high insulin levels will eventually turn into Type II Diabetes. This takes all of the things mentioned above and amplifies them! You DO NOT want diabetes! You may be doomed to a lifetime of hormone injections, vision loss, sores that won’t heal and possible loss of limbs!

Have I scared you enough yet? Well I hope so. Our current American lifestyle is doing wonders to drive us towards these problems. And the politicians sit and debate about how to save money in health care! Perhaps they aren’t thinking about the right concepts? Could it be that our current lifestyle is driving the country towards financial ruin? Do you think that it might be time that the government consider problems like this to be a problem of National Security and not just another way to fund the drug companies? I know what I think. You can make up your own decision.

So if you have an obese patient with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hormone problems, neuropathy in the feet, etc., would you be best to prescribe blood pressure lowering medication, cholesterol medication, hormone replacement, etc., or would you start by managing the blood sugar? I know what I would recommend. One school of thought covers up the effects of the problem and the other actually cures the problem! Once the blood sugar is under control the other problems go away. Fancy that! Unfortunately though people are being given drug regimens like that every day, and the problem is left to persist. The money just isn’t in the cure.

So in closing I want to leave you with a quick checklist of symptoms that you can check in with to see if you might be affected by a blood sugar imbalance. If you do then please call my clinic and lets get you going down the right path and not the wrong one! I don’t care if you live in Maine. Don’t let that stop you. We can do it all long distance.

Do any of these hold true for you?
Fatigue
Cravings for sugar (especially after meals)
Inability to loose weight
Fatigue after meals
Migrating aches and pains
Cranky or irritable between meals
Trouble waking up in the morning without that Vente Mocha Latte

If any of these fit your current situation then let’s get them corrected. There is no time like the present when it comes to saving a life! We could go chat over a yummy apple fritter! ;)

Healthy Backs From A TCM Perspective

2007-10-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

I recently gave a lecture at a Healthy Back Store location here in San Diego to help train the sales staff in ways to understand back pain from a broader perspective. I ended up teaching them about “Red Flags” in back pain. A red flag is some sign/symptom that hints towards a larger medical problem. For example how do you know if you have generalized low back pain due to a muscle strain or a kidney problem? I’ll leave it at that. Come to one of my lectures sometime to find out how.

But what I wanted to explore more with the team members and was short on time for was looking at “Healthy Backs from a TCM Perspective.” What is it in Chinese Medicine that makes for a healthy back? What basic concepts are involved? What types of problems arise from disharmony in the back? Read on to find out.

I think that most of you have seen those acupuncture charts with the man standing with all the lines and points all over his body. That model is the map of the “Meridian System.” The meridians are lines where the Qi flows and where the acupuncture points reside. If you look at the back you will see several lines extending all the way up the back. The most basic reason for there to be pain in the back, or anywhere in the body for that matter, is that there is some sort of stagnation of Qi somewhere along the meridian system. There is an old Chinese Saying which is also the motto of my acupuncture school, “Where there is stagnation there is pain… And where there is pain there will be stagnation.” (In Chinese pinyin: Pu tong su tong… Tong su pu tong.) But why you ask is there stagnation? Read on.

Perhaps the most common type of back pain and one which contributes significantly to the economy in the form of pain killers and muscle relaxants is that of the low grade, nagging low back pain. In the Chinese Medical system we say that the kidneys rule the low back. When the kidneys become deficient in Qi through overwork, stress, poor eating and sleeping habits, drug/alcohol use, and as the Chinese would have you believe too much sex (but I say , "make love not war!"), the low back also becomes weak and prone to injury. In order to avoid injury we need to have strong and flowing Qi coursing through our bodies. In states of deficiency this does not happen and we get sick and injured. The Qi becomes stagnated either slowly in chronic conditions or suddenly in injury states. We unfortunately live in a society where stress and stimulation is at a maximum. Even while “relaxing” on the couch we are playing shooter video games or watching high action violent television with amazing car chases, shouting and torture scenes. It is a far cry from sitting under a cherry blossom tree next to a babbling brook watching the flower petals blowing away in the wind. It is really no wonder why our backs hurt!

So now that we have set the stage for a deficiency in our kidneys and made ourselves prone to injury lets see what else affects our backs. Along with deficiency of Qi, deficiencies of other vital substances in the body like yin which moistens the tissues and tendons, and blood which nourishes the muscles can also leave us prone to injury. So when lifting that 80 pound bag of cement that we used to be able to throw around like it was a bean bag now just pulled something major and put you in bed on a load of soma and vicodin… Or better, in my clinic! Even things like osteoporosis leading to pain or even fractures are considered kidney deficiency cases. Besides ruling the low back, the kidneys are the influential organs of bone. A kidney deficiency leads to weak bones. Weak bones lead to injury and injury leads to pain and stagnation of Qi.

With all of these scenarios it is vital to address the underlying deficiencies as well as treat the acute pain affecting you at the moment. If I were to boil down the difference between mainstream medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine very quickly it is that mainstream medicine concerns itself primarily with the management of the manifestations of the problems and not with the problems themselves. It provides “relief” from symptoms while those symptoms reside on their own. It is Medical hand holding so to speak. TCM on the other hand both treats the symptoms and corrects the imbalance that led to the symptoms. After all, wouldn’t you rather not be laid up with back pain again next month? Vicodin and Soma just won’t help you in the long run.

In closing I want to leave you with a bit of clinical wisdom. I see clinically every day people with all kinds of medical problems. Deficiency of Qi, Yin, Yang, or Blood is at the core of most of them. These TCM concepts can lead to everything from low back pain as described here to impotence, to dizziness to high blood pressure. You name it. TCM can sort these patterns out very quickly and start you towards a path of healing the core problem.

A healthy back equals a healthy body. Listen to your body and call your acupuncturist today!

Why You Should Care About Genetically Modified Food

2007-09-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

There has certainly been quite a lot of talk over the last few years about genetically modified food (GMO). Some consumers are all for it, some are totally against the idea (like all of Europe and a lot of South America and Africa), and then there is the rest of us who don’t really know one way from another. After all, how bad could it be right?

From the July 1997 issue of Alive: Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition:”Genetically engineered potatoes and corn now on the market produce their own pesticide. These crops contain a foreign soil bacterial gene called bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, which creates a toxin in the plant to kill insects.”

Let’s look into how those genes are inserted into the crops. Remember I have a degree in Molecular Biology so this is something I am familiar with. In order to get a new gene into an existing strand of DNA you need a vector. A vector is something that you use to cut into the DNA and insert the gene you want. A very common vector is a virus or a bacterial DNA ring called a plasmid. These work so well as vectors because they are used in nature to share DNA between organisms. They already come equipped with the means to cut and splice DNA. Very convenient.

The problem comes when we ingest these newly designed foods. The bacteria that live in our guts (and there are more of them in number than we have cells in our body… By a lot!) have the ability to incorporate some of the DNA from these newly formed genes and take on some of their characteristics. So there is the potential for our gut bacteria to become in essence, billions of little pesticide factories! No kidding. Once our own gut bacteria incorporate the gene mentioned above it could be almost impossible to get rid of it without totally killing off all of the bacteria in our GI tract. And that would come with nasty consequences as well. What do you think are the detriments to our health of billions of cells producing pesticide within our guts 24/7? I shudder to think of the possibilities! It is a nasty thought indeed.
So forgive me if this all seems like scare tactics. But it should be really really scary to you. If more people knew what is going on perhaps we wouldn’t tolerate such bold faced pressure from big industry. In my opinion it is time that we start listening to the rest of the world and stop the use of GMO Foods in America. Believe it or not there are hungry villages in Africa that are currently refusing GMO food. That must mean something. There really is a major health concern here. I only mentioned one such genetic modification. There are many more going on than that. And if you don’t care all that much about your health and the health of your loved ones I urge you to do some research on the environmental impact these foods are having on the world. I highly recommend the documentary, “The Future of Foods.” Grab a bowl of organic popcorn and have a ball with that one. It is a must see for all Americans!

The Basics of Weight Loss

2007-09-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Weight loss is probably one of the most frequently asked questions that I get these days. “Can you help me loose weight?” I will try to answer this question here today by detailing some major factors involved in weight management.

Of course the first and foremost concern that people need to consider when trying to loose weight is to eat a healthy diet and do some regular exercise. Of course… Everyone knows that so I won’t beat that one to death. But really… Eat right and exercise for God’s sake! Now let’s move on.

If I were to focus on just one concept that is working to make people fat it would have to be blood sugar imbalance. I know, this is tied into eating right which I just said that I wouldn’t beat to death, but I think that you need to know more about why. Perhaps if you know why you should eat right you might actually give it a try. High blood sugar really is the root of all evil when it comes to health and longevity and it must be considered with every meal if you want to loose weight.

When blood sugar is not in balance the body goes into an alarm reaction. This is followed by an imbalance in the stress hormone Cortisol which I frequently write about, and then works on a hormone called Leptin. Leptin is the hormone responsible for stimulating hunger. It is also made in the fat cells so the more fat that you have the more potential to produce Leptin. Over time resistance to this hormone develops and this person can no longer mediate their hunger response. They actually loose the ability to realize when they are full so over eating becomes a concern. One key to loosing weight is to understand the blood sugar/Leptin connection.

Aside from Leptin, high blood sugar over time will also lead to insulin resistance. This can also be referred to as “pre-diabetes.” Once insulin resistance has occurred the body is impaired from transporting blood sugar into the cells to make energy. This unfortunate process leads to lack of energy and then to a direct transformation of this excess blood sugar into stored fat! So not only do you feel tired and lazy, but no matter what you will make more fat anyway.

There is also one other phenomenon that is worth mentioning here called pica. Pica occurs when an animal is mineral deficient and they begin to have cravings that can’t seem to be quenched. Remember the potato chip slogan, “You can’t eat just one?” That company is keenly aware that salt and sugar are the main things that people reach for to quench their pica cravings. Junk food! You can see the same thing in horses that chew on their barn doors. They want the salt that the rancher was so kind to leave behind with his sweaty hand. Give that horse minerals and no more chewing. Pregnant women experience this as the fetus uses up a major share of their minerals. Give the woman minerals and she stops with the bizarre cravings. Some women have been known to eat clay from the back yard! No joke!

So is it imperative that anyone wanting to loose weight take in plenty of minerals, be sure to stabilize their blood sugar and exercise frequently. I of course can tell you more about how to accomplish this but you will have to book an appointment for that! ;)

Through all of my education I have gathered so much evidence of the detriments of obesity and how it lends itself to many of the very nasty modern day diseases. Obesity is an epidemic in our society and is responsible for billions of dollars in health care costs annually. The fortunate part is that it is in the hands of the people to make the changes for themselves. If we all just avoided food served to us by the large corporations we would be helping ourselves and also the world at large! Only a very small number of overweight people are that way for genetic reasons. It really does boil down to poor eating and lifestyle choices and perhaps a poor understanding of good and bad. But with the proper guidance and some due diligence, wonderful changes can be made.

Leaky Gut Syndrome... I'm leaking from where now?!

2007-09-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else out there fascinated with the colon… Or is it just me? And why on Earth would I want to talk about “Leaky Gut Syndrome” anyway? It is a rather eloquently named pathology don't you think? Contrary to the graphic image that it hints towards, Leaky Gut Syndrome does not have anything to do with that synthetic fat substitute that came out in the 80’s whiched caused anal leakage. I suppose that would be called "Leaky Butt Symdrome." Leaky Gut Syndrome is much more dangerous than that. And here’s why:

Quite simply put leaky Gut Syndrome is no more than a nasty inflammation problem. In fact it is inflammation in a big way that is located along the lining of the gastro-intestinal system. The lining of the gut is an extremely important part of the body not only in the digestion and absorption of our food but as a barrier to the outside world. Even though it is located within the confines of our skin it really is still technically touching the outside. This being the case it is surrounded with over half of our immune system. And when the immune system is activated we have inflammation.

In a healthy gut the cells are packed tightly together to form the lining of our intestines. Once our food is broken down appropriately the very small particles are then actively transported through the lining and into the blood to be made into energy. (That’s the short story!) Once the lining of the gut has become inflamed due to infection, drugs/medication/alcohol, food allergies, high cortisol, or a myriad of other things, the cells that make up the lining of the intestines begin to swell and separate just a little. Once this has occurred there is no longer a nice tight junction between the cells and slightly larger particles of food can pass through the lining. As I mentioned before the body is only used to very small particles which it chooses. These larger particles are now recognized as foreign invaders and an immune response is launched against them. This response is inflammatory in nature. So from then on you have a viscous cycle taking place. The more inflammation you have the more the cells allow larger particles to pass through and then more inflammation… Do you see the pattern? Very quickly the things that you like to eat most become damaging to your system and you get more and more inflammation. This is bad news! "Does that mean that I can't eat my Hot Pockets anymore?" Well yes, I think it probably does since the four most allergic foods are egg, soy, dairy and grain. So sorry.

Most people think of inflammation as something that leads to pain like in diverticulitis. And it certainly can. But people get into trouble when the inflammation is low grade and goes under the radar. The body recognizes this inflammation as a stressor on the body and sets the person up for big problems like heart disease, stroke, cancers and again, a myriad of other conditions. Leaky Gut Syndrome is often not noticed by the person, but with some basic tests we can screen for this condition and practice true preventative medicine. And from there you can get this condition under control.

If there is one thing that I want you to take home from this blog entry it is this: The surface area of the gut is enormous and has a huge impact on health in general. Take care of your gut. Do not fill it full of poison (even if it tastes like Hot Pockets!) and keep an eye out for inflammation in the body. Just about all chronic diseases have their start in low grade inflammation. Once the GI system is inflamed the disease pathway is well on its way.

Feel free to contact me with your questions or concerns. Geographical location is not a problem. All of these tests can be done long distance.

Open House This Weekend!

2007-08-14T11:42:00.001-07:00

Just a quick plug today. I will be having anopen house this Saturday the 18th of August from 1 - 5pm. This will be a great time to stop by on a casual basis and learn about my services. And hey... If you sign up for an appointment during the open house you will get 50% off of the appointment! Hope to see you there!

You can also come and meet Dalila Thompson who is an Aesthetician here in my clinic. My wife and I have both received facials from Dalila as well as a handful of my patients and we all have nothing but good things to say about her services.

Be well, and have a great day today!

Why should I get acupuncture?

2007-08-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

I get this question a lot... "Why should I get acupuncture? Actually the most frequent question is, "Does it hurt?" I will address the does it hurt question later though. So when deciding if acupuncture is right for you it is important to consider a couple of things.

The first thing to consider is if you are at all tired of the typical medical experience. I already gave an example of that in my previous entries. If you are, then acupuncture might be a good thing for you.

The average acupuncture appointment lasts approximately one hour. The average western medical appointment lasts approximately 12 minutes. People also usually leave the acupuncture appointment feeling better than when they came in. When was the last time that you left your doctors office feeling better than when you walked in?

Next would be to consider your prefrence for natural medicines. Acupuncturists usually use Chinese herbs along with the acupuncture. These herbs are a potent form of medicine that can help treat many different conditions without the need for western drugs. So if you are looking for a possible alternative to prescription drugs then a visit to an acupuncturist might be in order. In my practice I also offer high quality condition specific nutritional formulas to be used where appropriate.

And finally, there is always the curiosity factor. We all know someone who has had a positive experience with acupuncture. Sometimes we need to see that the people around us liked the experience before we will make the plunge ourselves. If that's the case for you, then what are you waiting for? Make the appointment and try something new!

As far as why you should come in... The best way to use Chinese Medicine is for prevention. And when preventing something of course you aren't experiencing it yet. So coming in when you feel good is a great thing to do! Keeping the body well tuned will work to strengthen the body when it does come up against an infection or an injury. You will find that problems won't come up for you as often or as bad if acupuncture is a regular part of your life. You may simply feel better, sleep better, digest better and whatever else.

There is an old Chinese saying that is worth repeating here... "Don't wait until you are thirsty to dig a well!" I couldn't agree more.

The Older Middle Aged Man: Part 3 - The Cholesterol Issue

2007-08-04T11:07:00.001-07:00

In my last blog entry I covered the hormonal issues pertaining to my older middle aged man and how the therapy that he received was not only inadequate for his situation, but actually worked to do him harm. And in keeping with the concept of the Hippocratic Oath as “first do no harm,” I thought it best to now describe how this man was hurt with respect to his moderately high cholesterol.

As you may recall from my first blog entry when describing the older middle aged man I mentioned that his cholesterol was elevated and he was given Lipitor. There was no exit strategy given for this man. Most often people put on this medication are told to take it for the rest of their lives. This is often done without concern for the drug’s damaging effects to the liver or its depleting effects on Co Q-10 levels in the body which can lead to muscle pain and even cardiac abnormalities. Not to mention its questionable use at all with respect to any actual effect on mortality rates. These drugs are among the most widely prescribed medications in the country. So let’s explore this a little further and decide if it is even necessary.

I had mentioned that the cholesterol lowering model for heart disease is outdated and here’s why… Cholesterol is carried around the body contained within small bubbles called lipo-proteins. Namely High Density Lipo-protein (HDL) and Low Density Lipo-protein (LDL). This refers to the bubble carrying cholesterol and not the cholesterol itself. Most people do not realize this. It is the size and number of these carrier bubbles that determines true cardiac risk. Quite often these bubbles will be empty of cholesterol but will still lead to heart disease. That is why approximately 50% of people who die of heart disease have normal cholesterol. Simply looking at cholesterol numbers isn’t adequate to determine risk. So why then is there a multi billion dollar industry based on this model? Why are older middle aged men like the one I have described getting put on these dangerous medications. In fact, why are women, young men, people who have had heart problems, and anyone who has cholesterol over 200 getting put on these medications for life? In my opinion it is profit and profit only. Current research shows that simply lowering your cholesterol does not have any dramatic effect on mortality rates. Don’t just take it from me, look it up yourself and then look at all of the side effects of statin drugs. You will make up your own mind. And when you do, consider the risk to benefit ratios here.

So what can be done then you ask? Now that you have mustered up the nerve to challenge the medical establishment, what will you do then? The answer is plenty. One of the easiest ways to regulate your cholesterol balance is through aerobic exercise. This will work to lower the “bad” types of lipo-proteins and elevate the “good.” Finding the proper form of Niacin will lower the most dangerous type and elevate the good much more effectively than any statin can ever hope to achieve! Fish oils work very effectively to lower Triglycerides and certain types of bad cholesterol. There are also several herbal formulas that can be very helpful as well without the damaging side effects of medications.

The bottom line here is that people are being given medications without regard for their dangerous side effects. As I mentioned before, according to the CDC, MD’s are the fourth leading cause of death in America for people over 65. It is the use of medications like these that can have this effect. In the case of this older middle aged man we went into it knowing of his already depressed liver function. It is a known fact that these medications will stress the liver. So why give them to someone with already depressed liver function? In this way all by itself you have to consider the “first do no harm,” oath of medicine. But not only that, consider the implications of misleading this man into taking a medication that will probably have no effect on his risk factors anyway!

At what point did mainstream medicine loose sight of this promise to the people? Oh the poor older middle aged man!

The Older Middle Aged Man: Part 2 - Oh The Hormones

2007-07-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Ok... So now I have done my best to describe to you one way that a health care scenario can go. I would now like to tell you how I might approach the same problem from a "functional medicine" approach.

The first thing to be done would be to get some tests of our own. I would probably use both blood and salivary hormone tests. I find the ones that are ordered by docs are full of holes and don’t usually offer the whole picture. In this case it is best to do it yourself and avoid the managed system as much as possible. After all, why should an insurance company tell you what is medically necessary? These tests are easy to order, and I would be more than happy to make sense of them for you.

So first I would like to rule out any blood sugar disorders, anemia, adrenal disorders and obvious signs of liver dysfunction. All of which can stop the body from being able to regulate itself. A very likely scenario with this man is that there will be high blood sugar in the mix.

There occurs a nasty cycle with high blood sugar/insulin and the conversion of testosterone into estrogen in men. (The opposite for women) This is well documented and happens more than you want to know. What we are seeing clinically with this older middle aged man is a swelling prostate, weight gain in the hips and breasts, low libido and some mild depression. All of which are symptoms that can occur when the testosterone/estrogen balance is shifted away from testosterone dominance. Afterall, he is a man and should be testosterone doninant. Without correcting the blood sugar problem first there is no way to correct the hormone problem. It simply does not matter how much hormone you give him. The problem will not go away.

In fact, giving that man more testosterone in the form of gels or patches is basically like giving him estrogen, which of course will make the problem even worse. The shift of testosterone to estrogen occurs in the fat tissue. The fatter and higher the blood sugar the man has the more estrogen he will create. This very basic and well documented fact is overlooked on a grand scale in mainstream medicine and men are being given hormones anyway. These men are being injured. And the more estrogen a man has, the more other hormones like DHT are going to end up ‘stuck’ in the prostate, further stimulating it to grow and possibly to develop cancer. So by injured, I really mean injured.

The harm done by exogenous hormone use is really quite staggering, which is why I chose to write about this particular problem with this man's treatment first. Hormone therapy often times makes you feel much better at first but can then give way to a "crash and burn" situation really quickly. And getting off of the stuff can be really uncomfortable.

Stay tuned for my next installment as I discuss the cholesterol problem, and how people are getting outdated information as a cornerstone for their cholesterol management.

Oh that poor older middle aged man....

The Older Middle Aged Man: Part 1

2007-07-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

To begin this blog on “Functional Medicine” I would like to first describe to you an experience of which many of you are probably already well versed.

The story begins with an older middle aged man who has been noticing that he is beginning to gain weight around his midsection and hips and seems to be developing breasts. This might be easy enough for him to ignore, which he has for some time now, but he is also getting tired and depressed and it is starting to affect his golf game. Not to mention that his wife is complaining of his lack of stamina in bed. In fact, let’s just go a step further and say that his wife makes the doctors appointment for him and tells him if he doesn’t go she’ll leave him and take the dog with her! In my experience this is often the way it goes. But nonetheless, an appointment with a doctor has been made and he actually attended though the older middle aged man is filled with dread of what he might be told. After all, his manhood is on the line! The following is a likely scenario of what might occur at the appointment.

Once he is admitted into the exam room he is told to undress and put on this loose gown. He never did like wearing gowns. Meanwhile the man’s eyes are darting left to right, ever scrutinizing each and every drawer looking for some offending instrument that will most definitely occupy his body and feed the ever growing anxiety of what’s to come. In comes the doctor. Blood pressure 155/80, pulse 80, weight 210 lbs, height 5’9”. “Now bend over please.” Oh boy, here we go! Prostate slightly hardened and enlarged. “Any trouble urinating?” The doctor asks a few more questions, glares down his nose a little and decides to order a blood test. He wants to know about this man’s cholesterol, testosterone, and some other stuff. Now for the needle. Two vials should do the trick. At least the nurse is good at taking blood!

Exactly seven minutes after the doctor entered the room he was gone again. Besides a little small talk to break the ice the older middle aged man didn’t know much more than when he walked in and he leaves not feeling any better about himself to say the least.

The tests are in. Total Cholesterol 210. Some slightly decreased liver function. And slightly low testosterone. The doctor prescribed Lipitor, Androgel (a testosterone replacement gel), and what the hell some good old Prozac to fend off the mild depression. Done… Case solved right? As far as the medical establishment is concerned that’s what this older middle aged man needs. He will continue on this course of therapy until death. And if he is a really good patient he won’t ask any questions.

That tends to be the story for a lot of people. The same is also true for women and children. I just used the story of the older middle aged man because I wanted to work in the prostate exam somehow. It is a fun topic! But the bottom line is that this patient’s needs have not been met. Care was not given to find out what was going on “functionally” to lead to these apparently unrelated issues. He has been made yet another victim of “replacement medicine.” And I say victim because in my practice I see people harmed this way all of the time. And by harm I mean that these people are often made dependant of these medicines with no easy way to get off of them. What people need to realize is that these types of medicines work to weaken the body’s natural ability to regulate itself and then they end up weaker than before starting the treatment. Hint: Why do you think there is no exit strategy for a lot of these medications?

So that's my first blog entry... I will follow this entry with a follow up on why this patient's needs were not met, and offer some of my own opinions of how to better address the situation. Please stay tuned for more info on this older middle aged man as I pick apart the problem and explore what the root of the problem really is.

I look forward to starting my blog. I can only see wide open skys for different concepts and interactions with people pertaining to health. I hope to be a great resource for you. Enjoy and learn! And for heaven's sake... comment!