Back from Christmas Holiday

Marty and I hope everyone had a great Holiday. I know I enjoyed having 3 days off-I just vegged out and relaxed most of it. Now time to get working on the holiday weight gain.

Be safe during the New Years Holiday. Not everyone enjoys themselves sensibly and unfortunately drunk drivers are often on the road. Have a happy New Year.

Dr. John Riggs & Marty Riggs

Ovarian Cancer Signs

Researchers from the University of Washington say they may have a way to help find this disease earlier, and potentially save lives. They've identified 6 specific symptoms common in women with ovarian cancer:

• pelvic or abdominal pain
• abdominal bloating
• urinary urgency (needing to get to a bathroom immediately)
• urinary frequency (having to urinate often)
• feeling full
• having difficulty eating
  

"Women with these symptoms should be checked thoroughly for the disease, they write in the online edition of the journal Cancer. Not every woman who has these symptoms will have ovarian cancer, of course. This disease is rare, accounting for just 3% of cancers among women. These symptoms can also signal other more common conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome. "

If symptoms persist more than two weeks or occur daily, it is imperative to get checked.

Christmas WIshes

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all (Gladelig Jule og Godt nytt ar-Norwegian).

Eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise more and keep you stress low to avoid heart problems during the holidays.

10 Warning signs of Alzheimer's

Memory loss
Difficulty performing familiar tasks
Problems with language
Disorientation to time and place
Poor or decreased judgment
Problems with abstract thinking
Misplacing things
Changes in mood or behavior
Changes in personality
Loss of initiative

Manipulation by unlicensed persons

OK. I'm going on a little rant here for a minute. Here's some logic that escapes me totally. I treat a lot of patients with low force manipulation/adjustments because they don't like to be popped. That is totally understandable. When I bought my practice, it was the majority of my patients. Low force techniques are quite successful as well. Yet, many of these same patients will let a massage therapist pop them (a high force technique). So, here's the rub. You will let an untrained person, with no manipulation or diagnostic training perform a procedure that can cause injury if not done correctly, manipulate or adjust you (pop if you will) but you don't want someone who spent 4 years learning how to do it properly and is trained to know when not to do a manipulation.

I'm sorry folks, I'm not picking on anyone but that logic absolutely escapes me. What are you go to do if they injure you? Their malpractice will not cover them for a procedure outside their scope of practice. They are not licensed to manipulate or adjust. They don't know the contraindications for manipulation or how to determine if you are a stroke risk. They have mostly learned manipulation by observation or trial and error. Do you want to be one of the errors? This is as risky as letting uncle Joe pop your neck or your buddy do the bear hug back popping.

I often see these people, and have seen more of them lately, after they've been popped by their local massage therapist-and then they wonder why it takes so long to fix them. They were injured by an incorrectly done and improperly and illegally done procedure. I've also treated many patients who were "popped" by friends with bad results. Here's just a few of the problems I've seen by unlicensed people popping someone: strains, sprains, rotator cuff tear, frozen shoulder, disc injury. This is serious stuff folks. If you have a contraindication, you could be seriously injured.

The only licensed doctors qualified to perform manipulation are doctors of chiropractic and doctors of osteopathy. Occasionally, a MD will have some training. Physical therapists in some states are allowed to perform some manipulations but mostly their training is not as comprehensive and generally consists of weekend seminars and online training for manual therapy (not a bias - just the facts from their program websites). Manipulation can be very safe when done by qualified health care providers; however, it can also be very damaging when not performed by licensed providers. I know they mean well, however. . . . . . .

By the way, the rant is because I just worked on another patient that was injured by a local massage therapist-one of many this month and last month. Hence my rant.

KILLERS IN THE NEWS-the pain type

Naproxen Concerns: "Researchers looking at the safety of various arthritis and headache remedies said on Thursday they had found some more evidence that the popular analgesic naproxen may cause heart problems. The researchers themselves cautioned about reading too much into their findings, and outside experts discounted them. Nonetheless, the researchers said they thought it was important to present their evidence to help experts sort out what the real dangers are." Source Reuters.

NUTRITION NEWS:
New Form of CoQ10, which is up to 8 times more bioavailable, has apparently been developed by a Japanese company. This new form of ubiquinol CoQ10 raises blood levels in human studies more than 8 times what the ubiquinone used was able to accomplish. More coming on this as it is available. I recommend this supplement for heart health and to offset the muscle damage caused by statin drugs for lowering cholesterol (Lipitor, etc.).

Pomegranate may reverse atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), while protecting against cancer. A UCLA study shows it improves blood flow and slows PSA elevation in prostate cancer patients. Juices are expensive and full of sugar. There are several sources available allowing the benefits without the sugars (capsules or extracts). Let me know if interested and I can direct you to sources.

Vitamin K: studies suggest vitamin K (K2 version appears to be absorbed better and more bioactive) which is found in dairy products and fermented soy natto, may help impede atherosclerosis, protect arteries from calcification and reduce arterial disease while helping to prevent osteporosis.

GETTING A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP:
I frequently get questions on the best type of bed to buy. A lot of patients get tired of waking up hurting. They try another bed while on vacation and don't hurt and suddenly realize it may be the mattress they are using. Personally, I find memory foam mattresses or a good orthopedic support mattress with a memory foam topper to work the best. Pillow tops in my opinion are worthless. They feel good for a month or two and then begin to "hammock" as the cotton fibers compress and lose their air spaces. I don't know of any good method to restore a pillow top. Memory foam, on the other hand, is viscoelastic. That means it restores to its normal shape.

Salvaging an existing mattress could be as simple as putting a piece of plywood under your existing non-pillow top mattress (if you should be so lucky) and adding a memory foam topper. These are available at several places. Tempur Pedics are great mattresses but can be expensive.

NSAIDs and more

NSAIDs-non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (aspirin, ibuprofen) can increase blood pressure by 3-5 mmHg which can significantly increase the frequency of cardiovascular events such as: congestive heart failure, stroke, and angina.

Whiplash Associated Disorders: motor vehicle trauma results in a number of musculoskeletal injuries every year. Proper healing generally requires treatment intervention. Doctors of Chiropractic are frequently the best choice of providers due to their training and experience in dealing with joint problems and soft tissue trauma. Improper and delayed treatment can lead to long term pain and dysfunction and early onset of degenerative changes. The chiropractic approach of joint manipulation/mobilization, soft tissue therapy/scar tissue therapy, pain control therapy and rehabilitation are successful approaches to most cases of whiplash injuries.

Please drive carefully over the holidays.

More on Cranberries

Cranberries have other benefits as well, according to researchers at Rutgers University. They are full of anti0xidants which protect against free radical damage. The NIH is researching its potential in heart disease, yeast infections, cancer, stroke and viral infections. So far, research has found:

• drinking cranberry juice can block urinary infections by preventing bacterial from binding to cell walls
• proanthocyanidine in cranberries prevents plaque formation on teeth and mouthwashes are being developed.
• regular consumption of cranberry juice for months in some people can kill the H. pylori bacteria which can cause ulcers and stomach cancer.
• drinking cranberry juice daily may increase HDLs (good cholesterol) and lower LDLs (bad cholesterol).
• cranberries may prevent tumors from growing rapidly or starting in the first place.
• chemicals in cranberries prevent breast cancer cells from multiplying in test tubes-it is unkown whether it will work in women.

News from Nutrition and Pain Management

News From Nutrition:

Fish Oil Tops Defibrillators in Preventing Cardiac Death: a recent report suggests that Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils is associated with reduced risk of fatal heart rhythms (arrythmias). Supplementation is estimated to reduce deaths by about 6.4%.

Promoting Stomach Health Naturally: statistics show tens of millions of Americans are infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) , the culprit in the majority of stoach ulcers. Nutritional and herbal agents can help support stomach health by relieving inflammation, promotion healing and defending against H. pylori. A combination of zinc and L-carnosine inhibits H. pylori. This complex is available as a supplement and is biochemically identical to the Japanese drug polaprenzinc used for ulcers. This combination enhances healing of the stomach lining due to its anti-inflammatory properties and promotes tissue repair and healing. Licorice extract also heals the stomach lining and blocks H. pylori growth. Cranberry may also retard H. pylori growth by preventing bacterial adhesion to the gastric cells, disrupting the H. pyloric membrane, inhibiting a bacterial enzyme and disrupting energy production as well as via its anti-oxidant properties.

Dr. Riggs’ Comment: Please check on the side effects of any nutritional supplement and its possible drug interactions, especially for licorice. Also, bismuth which is found in pepto bismol has been found to help kill off the H. pylori bacteria and aid in healing.

News from pain management:
Carpal Tunnel Pain: A recent study by the Mayo Clinic suggests the carpal tunnel syndrome disease process begins with a shearing injury. The resulting scar tissue from healing impedes the sliding motion of the tendon, compresses the median nerve, cuts off the nerve’s blood supply and eventually leads to the pressure buildup characteristic of carpal tunnel syndrome. It results in the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms of hand pain, numbness and tingling. The study may lead to new treatments for the syndrome.
Dr. Riggs’ comments: deep tissue myofascial release will often help mild to moderate cases that have been present for a short time. I personally feel the instrument assisted version of deep tissue work to release scar tissue adhesions gives my patients the best results. If the scar tissue can be reached with the deep tissue work, it generally will improve.

Pain Management: A recent evaluation by the University of Wisconsin shows Michigan and Virginia to be the better states for pain management. Texas was in the bottom category and got an average rating. The past 3 studies show Texas did not improve over several years.

Welcome to my blog site

For anyone out there interested, I'll will try to post periodically my observations and thoughts about some of my favorite topics: alternative health, nutrition, future studies, alternative energy/greening/global warming, and martial arts (particularly Aikido).