Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Hormone Linking Exercise and Health Benefits Found!.......Now to Make it a Drug"

The following story is a prime example of a ‘good news-bad news’ scenario. An international team of scientists believe they have isolated the natural hormone found in muscle cells responsible for some of the health benefits related to exercise. Senior author Dr Bruce Spiegelman, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues, write about their findings in the 11 January online issue of Nature.

 The authors of this study believe that finding this chemical messenger, named “Irisin” after a Greek goddess, will help them better understand the health benefits of exercise. With the ultimate goal of using the information to treat a myriad of other diseases including; diabetes, obesity and maybe even cancer. 

 For this study, researchers used lab cultures and mice to find that Irisin had a direct effect on white adipose tissue. This tissue also referred to as ‘white fat’ is the subcutaneous deposits that we commonly associate with obesity. In other words, those of us who have a ‘spare tire’ around our guts or ‘saddle bags’ on our hips, have a unhealthy accumulation of white fat in these areas. 

White fat is one way our bodies tend to store and collect excess, unburned calories. In this study, it was discovered that when humans and mice exercise, the levels of Irisin in muscle tissues go up. When this happens, the Irisin triggers a response that helps to convert white fat into a healthier form or ‘brown fat’.

Brown fat is considered healthier because it has the ability to burn off more excess calories than exercise alone. In addition, it was found that Irisin helps to improve our bodies glucose tolerance. Glucose tolerance is actually a good indicator of our overall metabolic health. The better our metabolic health, than the better we are at preventing ailments like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. (For instance, people who suffer from diabetes have poor glucose tolerance)

Now for the ‘bad news’ portion of this story. The potential effect of this discovery for the prevention and treatment of a whole slew of health problems is enormous. From patients who are obese, at risk of strokes or even developing cancers could all benefit from this exercise induced hormone. The researchers intend to develop this discovery into a drug. That’s right, the lead researcher has already expressed interest in beginning clinical trials of a potential drug based on Irisin in the next two years. Basically, researchers want to sell you the natural benefits of exercise in a prescription pill!

The irony should be blatantly obvious here. Science has discovered a possible link between exercise and better health. A natural hormone that may explain why exercise has so many health benefits on the human body and be paramount in the prevention and treatment of many diseases. But now instead of promoting exercise and a healthy lifestyle to the general public, they would instead like you to take yet another pill! I hope everyone can see the folly in this logic. Instead of taking a pill, why not produce the hormone yourself through exercise!

If you have questions about this article, please leave a comment. In the Commercial Drive area of East Vancouver? visit my office or my website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE – EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!


References;
“A PGC1-[alpha]-dependent myokine that drives brown-fat-like development of white fat and thermogenesis”; Pontus Boström, Jun Wu, Mark P. Jedrychowski, Anisha Korde, Li Ye, James C. Lo, Kyle A. Rasbach, Elisabeth Almer Boström, Jang Hyun Choi, Jonathan Z. Long, Shingo Kajimura, Maria Cristina Zingaretti, Birgitte F. Vind, Hua Tu, Saverio Cinti, Kurt Højlund, Steven P. Gygi & Bruce M. Spiegelman; Nature, Published online 11 January 2012; DOI:10.1038/nature10777

 

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - " The Healing Power of Touch......From a Medical Perspective"

I came across this article today and it just underscores something I've seen in practice going on eight years now. Many patients, especially ones suffering from acute or chronic pain, are expressing their dissatisfaction to me regarding their medical care. Many patients are telling me that they felt very rushed, and didn't get a chance to raise their health concerns in depth. Many clinics have a standing policy of only one health concern/question per office visit. This is an obvious problem because most health issues don't occur in isolation. But the most distressing of these complaints is when a patient tells me that their doctor never even touched them! Especially for back complaints or musculoskeletal pain  many people, and rightly so, expect that a doctor will at least examine the area with their hands, if even for a moment. Unfortunately, I wish I could say this was a very rare occurrence, but the reality is different. 

This article written by Julie Chen, MD discusses the benefit of touch and how it can significantly improve a patient's health. She describes how massage and manual therapy, like Chiropractic, can help a patient's condition. Manual therapies have been shown to help reduce stress, improve circulation, relieve pain and speed recovery. All very important effects especially for a patient in pain. 

The following is a brief excerpt from her article; 

 "...Many of my patients express their frustration that massage therapy generally is not covered by their health insurance, yet the health benefits seem tremendous for them. I believe that the growing trend of discontent with lack of coverage for massage therapy is not just limited to patients, but from health practitioners as well. 

What is even more unfortunate is that sometimes health care practitioners rarely fully lay hands on patients even for office visits and evaluations anymore. As a part of most healing modalities in the past, the simple touch therapy of examining and treating the patient imparts a level of healing that is now becoming lost in modern day medicine. 

Many of my patients joke that doctors these days don't even put their hands on the patient anymore except for a cursory exam at the first visit or unless absolutely necessary. It is unfortunate that along with declining time allowed with each patient, even the simple but effective practice of laying of hands on patients is slowly becoming lost as well."

Dr. Chen later goes on to speak about the benefits of manual therapies for patient care.

"Even as recent as just a few decades ago, the laying of hands and massage therapy or manual therapy was considered a normal natural part of medicine. In more recent times, massage and manual therapy is seen as more of a luxury rather than a necessary part of healing and wellness."

"This is an unfortunate change in Western healing philosophy since studies show that massage and manual therapy are beneficial for many medical conditions and health concerns, which is likely the reason why manual therapy is still considered an important part of healing in most other parts of the world.

Based on numerous studies as listed below, massage and manual therapy is in my opinion an essential part of health and healing based on improvement of circulation, muscle function and stress reduction, just to name a few."

Now to be fair, I understand the pressures that many family doctors feel. In practice, it's required that a doctor see many patients in order to keep the practice afloat financially. With significant costs going towards overhead, staffing, and insurance, family doctors don't really have much choice but to spend only a few minutes with a patient before having to move on to the next one.

Many I'm sure would love to spend more time with each patient, if they could.

So the onus falls on the patient to try alternatives. As Dr. Chen states in her article, one the best options for patients to try is manual therapies like massage and Chiropractic! If you would like to read Dr. Chen's full article, just click HERE!!! 

If you're by the Commercial Drive neighborhood of East Vancouver, stop by my office or you can visit my website; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN !!!!

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Is Medical Care of Pain Safer than Chiropractic?......You Be the Judge"

Many of you out there that have never tried Chiropractic before may be concerned about safety. Perhaps you have heard 'horror stories' about someone feeling worse after a Chiropractic treatment? Maybe even worse, you have come across stories of Chiropractors causing a stroke in patients. I'd like today to put things into perspective and speak about the relative risks involved with Chiropractic and Medical interventions for pain or specifically back pain.

Estimates of a life threatening event like a stroke occurring due to a Chiropractic treatment vary. Most estimates are in the neighborhood of 1 in every 1-10 million Chiropractic adjustments of the neck. A very low incidence relatively speaking. However, I have come across some sources that claim the incidence can be as high as 1 in every 40,000 treatments. Being fair though, a lot of these studies go on to note that, " While our analysis is consistent with a positive association in young adults, potential sources of bias are also discussed. The rarity of VBAs makes this association difficult to study despite high volumes of chiropractic treatment. Because of the popularity of spinal manipulation, high-quality research on both its risks and benefits is recommended." 

In other words, researchers admit that the incidence of vertebrobasilar accidents (VBA's) or strokes is very rare compared to the number of treatments offered. In addition, many admit that there may be potential sources of bias in reporting, thus skewing the actual numbers reported. 

Now lets turn our attention to a common therapy offered by the medical profession for pain; Prescription pain relievers. This article I came across recently comes directly from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their own research found that currently, more Americans are more likely to die of a drug overdose than in a car accident! Just ponder that fact for a moment. Car accidents probably come to mind if you ask anyone to name a cause of accidental death. But according to the numbers, a drug overdose that leads to death is actually MORE likely! Now to put it another way, if you are not concerned about potentially dying the next time you're in a car, how concerned should you be about being harmed by a Chiropractor, let alone dying?

I know the comparison is stark but many seemingly innocent things in life carry a risk. Crossing the street carries a risk. But if you are taking prescription medication to relieve pain, please reconsider your options and try Chiropractic!

Here's more from the article; "In 2008, poisoning deaths became the number one cause of accidental deaths in the United States and the leading cause of injury death in 30 states, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ninety percent of these poisonings were linked to drugs, with a surge in deaths from prescription painkiller overdoses reported."

Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein, medical director of the Florida Poison Information Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said "we knew this was coming; it shouldn't shock anybody. It's disturbing though."

More attention needs to be devoted to this problem, Bernstein noted. "It needs to be attacked from multiple angles and multiple levels in the way we have made headway in trauma," he said.

"There are newer and better drugs and that's great for treating people's pain, but they come with a price," Bernstein pointed out. "There is addiction and interactions with other drugs, and potential for overdose and misuse."

The number of users and abusers of these drugs is much greater than those who die from them, Warner added. "This is the tip of the iceberg," she said.

By 2010, 12 million Americans said they were using opioid painkillers without a prescription. In 2009, almost 500,000 emergency room visits were for abuse of these painkillers. This costs health insurance companies as much as $72 billion a year in direct costs, the CDC said in a November report.

I hope this article sheds some light on the relative risks between Chiropractic care versus medical treatment of pain. If you're in the Commercial Drive neighborhood of East Vancouver, stop by my office or visit my website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN!!!! 


Sources;
 Margaret Warner, Ph.D., injury epidemiologist, National Center for Health Statistics, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Chris Jones, Pharm.D., M.P.H., health scientist, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jeffrey Bernstein, M.D., medical director, Florida Poison Information Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; Dec. 20, 2011, Drug Poisoning Deaths in the United States, 1980-2008

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Why Chiropractic Can Help Your Overall Health.....and Drugs Can't"

I have come across numerous patients during my years of practice who swear that Chiropractic adjustments leave them feeling light and euphoric. Some have even told me, Chiropractic has helped them with seemingly unrelated complaints, like asthma for instance. Now I know most people associate Chiropractic with just backs but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Chiropractic can actually help the entire body!...let me explain how.

Let's start with a brief anatomy lesson. Your spine and your skull is intimately connected, you can not discuss one without the other. The reason is because of your central nervous system or CNS. Your CNS is made of your brain and your spinal cord. They are connected and essential to life as we know it. The brain and spinal cord together is the main 'control' and 'communication' center for your body. Every process needed for everyday life occurs through the CNS whether you're aware of it or not. (Ever wondered how it is your body keeps breathing while you're asleep at night?....it's because of your nervous system). Now conversely, the CNS being so vital to life, it is apparent what can happen when you damage it. For example, various degrees of damage can occur to your central nervous system from many causes; concussion, strokes, paralysis, fibromyalgia, dementia, meningitis just to name a few. 

So if the tissue and cells that make up your brain and spinal cord are so important to life, ever wondered how they stay healthy? Well a big part of the picture is what's called; Cerebrospinal Fluid or CSF. CSF is the fluid that surrounds your brain and spinal cord. It serves several functions including; protection, chemical stability and nourishment. So let's talk about the last function in depth. 

Your central nervous system is made up of cells just like other tissue in your body. Take for instance, everyone knows your muscles get nutrition and important nutrients through your blood and circulatory system. However, your brain and spinal cord don't get the nutrients they need through your blood, it does so via the Cerebrospinal Fluid! So for your brain and spinal cord to remain healthy it must receive new nutrients and be able to get rid of waste products at the same time. Just like your blood nourishes your muscles by flowing through your vessels, the CSF must also move or 'circulate' to perform it's function. 

This fact may sound complicated but it's really not. For your brain and spinal cord to stay healthy, your body or more correctly, your spine MUST move!......there is no way around it. The movement of your spine is what helps to move or 'circulate' the CSF. This is essential to life and your overall health. 

But think about all the challenges of life nowadays. Stress, fatigue, jobs that chain you to a desk 8 hours per day, lack of exercise, poor nutrition are just some of the things that can lead to poor health and eventual pain. Now think about the overall picture and you can see how Chiropractors can help. Chiropractors are trained to find the cause of musculoskeletal pain in your body. We can restore motion to stiff joints, improve function, educate you on ways to improve overall health, guide you on a proper exercise and diet program and get rid of pain!

The old adage of "use it or lose it!" couldn't be more true. Pain is just one of the last ways your body and brain will tell you there's a problem. Unfortunately, as human beings we tend to ignore the warning signs until the pain becomes unbearable. Don't let this happen to you! Do something about your pain and something good for your body and overall health! Find out how Chiropractic could improve your health today!

Please feel free to leave a comment or visit my office. You can also visit my website here; COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!