I am going to ask you, the reader, several questions. I will not answer them in this post. What I want you to do is answer them for yourself and ponder the answers that you come up with. Think about the answers and why it is you think 'you' answered them in the way that you did. It should be an interesting exercise in mental processing.
The purpose in asking these questions is to enforce the idea that if we truly use our brains the truth in our lives becomes obvious. Dogma has replaced thinking in far too many instances today. Dogma is merely a statement that someone repeats often enough and loud enough and with such perceived conviction that the weak minded soul believes them without question. I believe it is called brain washing. Only brain washing doesn't work very well on a person who is in the habit of thinking for themselves and questions 'why', what and where did that idea come from? It is called critical thinking and is something we as a society have forgotten to how to do, especially with regard to health care.
An example of the questions I will ask: "What causes pain?" It is an open ended question with thousands of possible answers depending on what the individual 'ideas' of pain might be. Is it emotional pain or physical pain or economic pain..ect. What constitutes pain may vary with the emotional state of the individual at the time. A person with a neutral emotional state may define pain as 'hitting my thumb with a hammer'. A person who is angry at someone may define pain as 'that bleeping so-in-so who just totaled my car.' A person who is going through a bitter divorce may define pain as 'my bleeping, bleeping wife' etc. So the definition of the last word in that sentence may differ depending on your emotional state at the time it is asked.
There will be no wrong answers to the questions as they are meant to stimulate 'your' thought process and to give you and idea of how critical your thinking is. Of course as this is a wellness blog...wellness or your definition of wellness is the overall topic, naturally.
1. What is health?
2. How is health created?
3. What is sickness?
4. What causes sickness?
5. What is wellness?
6. What causes wellness?
7. What is happiness?
8. What causes happiness?
9. What is hate?
10. What causes hate?
11. Are Vaccines safe?
12. What makes a vaccine 'safe' or not safe?
Please respond to this blog with your answers.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
A patients question to me.
So often I'm asked "Doc, why doesn't my Md do anything but give me drugs?" This question is often followed with "And why does he seem to dislike you so much?" I have to be careful how I answer these questions because my answers would otherwise be flippant, obnoxious and egotistic if I wasn't. The answer to these questions lies primarily in a series of events that took place between 1850 and 1910-13 respectively.
In 1850 the American Medical Association (AMA) formed as a trade association to protect the interests of the medical doctor with a stated intention of creating a monopoly in health care. In 1850 this was the accepted business model because the population density of the USA was much less than it is today and there were almost zero regulations for the conduct of business and no way to effectively enforce the regulations that did exist at the time.
Around this period we also have the emergence of pharmaceutical companies who were selling cocaine, opium and morphine out of the backs of wagons in the newly developing populations centers spreading across the land. As mentioned before there were no regulations for the sale of these items and as they were highly addictive narcotics it was an easy seller once you got the population of a town hooked. Their methods of marketing were very similar to the drug dealer today. They'd give free samples of the purest form of their product to get the customer hooked and sell the next batch for whatever they wanted and the customer would come up with the money one way or the other. A very profitable sales tactic if not quite ethical.
Following the Civil war cocaine and opium addiction became a very serious problem for many veterans of the Civil war due to the horrific wounds many of them suffered. Then came the industrial revolution and with it the influx of hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking a better life for themselves in America. Few of these individuals had an education and were of, forgive the terminology, peasant mentality. In which the idea that if and illness didn't kill you it made you stronger, or if a little bit makes you feel better a lot will cure you.
It was the latter thought that lead to the mass overdosing of entire families when they'd come down with an illness due to the close quarters in which they were living, often sharing an apartment with two or three other families to afford the rent. Legislation to control the sale of Cocaine and Opium was first attempted in 1885 but the pharmaceutical lobby...yes they were there then to...were able to defeat that first and subsequent attempts over the next 30 years. Then in 1910 when the problem grew to epidemic proportions the Harrison Act was passed in 1910 making Cocaine and opium controlled substances requiring a prescription to obtain. In 1913 it was amended making cocaine and opium in their original forms illegal for sale.
Before the Harrison Act was passed the pharmaceutical industry was courting the AMA which was reeling from the fact that their profession was suffering severe economic distress in the shadow of Osteopaths, naturopaths and...yes even that new fangled weirdo...the chiropractor. All three non-medical practices of health care were doing far better than the medical doctor of the era...big time. In fact the medical profession between 1900 and 1910 had the highest suicide rate of any profession of the time, including prostitution. The AMA was eager to ally itself with the deep pockets of the pharmaceutical industry (which had been measuring its profits in the billions in 1900...yes billion with a B) as a result. Since that first alliance was formed the original competitors of the md have taken massive hits and almost went completely extinct over the course of the next century.
The Md is extremely jealous of his top dog status, though it was bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry rather than earned by their own merits. The advent of the internet has created a problem for the md by publishing the fact that the American Md has become the leading cause of preventable death in the USA and beats out heart disease and cancer by a significant margin.
This is why a competent md has no problem with chiropractors and the less than competent Md views anything outside his or her realm of expertise with fear and disdain.
Hope this helps.
In 1850 the American Medical Association (AMA) formed as a trade association to protect the interests of the medical doctor with a stated intention of creating a monopoly in health care. In 1850 this was the accepted business model because the population density of the USA was much less than it is today and there were almost zero regulations for the conduct of business and no way to effectively enforce the regulations that did exist at the time.
Around this period we also have the emergence of pharmaceutical companies who were selling cocaine, opium and morphine out of the backs of wagons in the newly developing populations centers spreading across the land. As mentioned before there were no regulations for the sale of these items and as they were highly addictive narcotics it was an easy seller once you got the population of a town hooked. Their methods of marketing were very similar to the drug dealer today. They'd give free samples of the purest form of their product to get the customer hooked and sell the next batch for whatever they wanted and the customer would come up with the money one way or the other. A very profitable sales tactic if not quite ethical.
Following the Civil war cocaine and opium addiction became a very serious problem for many veterans of the Civil war due to the horrific wounds many of them suffered. Then came the industrial revolution and with it the influx of hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking a better life for themselves in America. Few of these individuals had an education and were of, forgive the terminology, peasant mentality. In which the idea that if and illness didn't kill you it made you stronger, or if a little bit makes you feel better a lot will cure you.
It was the latter thought that lead to the mass overdosing of entire families when they'd come down with an illness due to the close quarters in which they were living, often sharing an apartment with two or three other families to afford the rent. Legislation to control the sale of Cocaine and Opium was first attempted in 1885 but the pharmaceutical lobby...yes they were there then to...were able to defeat that first and subsequent attempts over the next 30 years. Then in 1910 when the problem grew to epidemic proportions the Harrison Act was passed in 1910 making Cocaine and opium controlled substances requiring a prescription to obtain. In 1913 it was amended making cocaine and opium in their original forms illegal for sale.
Before the Harrison Act was passed the pharmaceutical industry was courting the AMA which was reeling from the fact that their profession was suffering severe economic distress in the shadow of Osteopaths, naturopaths and...yes even that new fangled weirdo...the chiropractor. All three non-medical practices of health care were doing far better than the medical doctor of the era...big time. In fact the medical profession between 1900 and 1910 had the highest suicide rate of any profession of the time, including prostitution. The AMA was eager to ally itself with the deep pockets of the pharmaceutical industry (which had been measuring its profits in the billions in 1900...yes billion with a B) as a result. Since that first alliance was formed the original competitors of the md have taken massive hits and almost went completely extinct over the course of the next century.
The Md is extremely jealous of his top dog status, though it was bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industry rather than earned by their own merits. The advent of the internet has created a problem for the md by publishing the fact that the American Md has become the leading cause of preventable death in the USA and beats out heart disease and cancer by a significant margin.
This is why a competent md has no problem with chiropractors and the less than competent Md views anything outside his or her realm of expertise with fear and disdain.
Hope this helps.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Symptoms, Drugs and Side effects
For nearly a century now health care in the United States has focused on symptoms and removing symptoms. This has been an easy sell for the pharmaceutical industry since we make 99.9% of our health care decisions on how we feel. If we have a headache we take one of the many pain relievers available OTC (over the counter). It might interest you to know that your sensory perception is provided by only 10% of your nervous system. So how you feel is only a small part of how your body is functioning.
You simply have to mention a symptom and there is a medication out there to treat it; fevers, cramps, erectile dysfunction, personality disorders, ADHD, heart burn, constipation, diarrhea, there is even a drug that will give you better orgasms!!! I'm curious to know what the side effects of that drug are.
It seems that whenever we turn on the television there is a commercial telling us of yet another 'new' drug to treat another new malady that nobody has ever heard of before. Then after the butterfly's land and the soft, sweet, in harmony with nature music is finished there is a blurb that goes something like this "If you experience difficulty breathing or have difficulty urinating or your blood pressure spikes or if you encounter dizzy spells or feinting stop taking this medication and call your doctor immediately because you could be having a 'RARE' but serious side effect that may be fatal."
My favorite side effect was for a contraceptive that has since been removed from the market. "Instant death" was set in the middle of the closing blurb as they named the 'many' side effects of this drug the FDA had approved for sale in the United States. Do you think GM could sell you a car that might kill you if you drove it? "Purchase of this new and improved automobile may be hazardous to your health. If your new GM Motorcar begins to smoke or make a sickening whistling noise, pull over, get out of the car and run because your car is about to explode which might be hazardous to your health". I do not believe that GM would have survived much less thrived in the past century if 'any' of their products had that as a 'warning' on any of their truck or car ads.
Listen carefully to the next pharmaceutical ads on television, what you hear may cause you to think twice before taking any medication..and could just save your life.
Dr. B
You simply have to mention a symptom and there is a medication out there to treat it; fevers, cramps, erectile dysfunction, personality disorders, ADHD, heart burn, constipation, diarrhea, there is even a drug that will give you better orgasms!!! I'm curious to know what the side effects of that drug are.
It seems that whenever we turn on the television there is a commercial telling us of yet another 'new' drug to treat another new malady that nobody has ever heard of before. Then after the butterfly's land and the soft, sweet, in harmony with nature music is finished there is a blurb that goes something like this "If you experience difficulty breathing or have difficulty urinating or your blood pressure spikes or if you encounter dizzy spells or feinting stop taking this medication and call your doctor immediately because you could be having a 'RARE' but serious side effect that may be fatal."
My favorite side effect was for a contraceptive that has since been removed from the market. "Instant death" was set in the middle of the closing blurb as they named the 'many' side effects of this drug the FDA had approved for sale in the United States. Do you think GM could sell you a car that might kill you if you drove it? "Purchase of this new and improved automobile may be hazardous to your health. If your new GM Motorcar begins to smoke or make a sickening whistling noise, pull over, get out of the car and run because your car is about to explode which might be hazardous to your health". I do not believe that GM would have survived much less thrived in the past century if 'any' of their products had that as a 'warning' on any of their truck or car ads.
Listen carefully to the next pharmaceutical ads on television, what you hear may cause you to think twice before taking any medication..and could just save your life.
Dr. B
Monday, May 7, 2012
But its diet soda!!!
Several years ago I had a patient with a severe weight problem and I mean severe. Above the belt line she appeared to be the normal average build of a young woman in her mid 20s. Below the belt line was a very different story. Of the 250lbs she carried 180 of it was below the waist. She waddled into my office and had to force herself through the door sideways, mind we were wheel chair capable and she didn't fit through the door without a squeeze...sideways.
Her initial complaint was low back pain caused by carrying such a heavy load. After several visits I began to address her weight. I asked her to make out a diet diary. I was amazed to see that she ate rather light given her weight though I took issue with her use of 'diet' soda which she stated as drinking only 'one' bottle per day. So I assumed it was a regular 16oz bottle of zero calorie diet pepsi. She corrected my assumption when she told me that she was drinking an entire 2 liter bottle of diet pepsi..per day. I do not recommend that anyone drink diet soda...EVER!!!!!! My reason for this is that the sweetener in diet soda when digested becomes formaldehyde. That's right, the stuff used to embalm a dead body and is most definitely NOT recommended as a dietary supplement.
When I suggested that she lay off the diet soda, I was met with a rather harsh response. "But its diet soda!!! It has zero calories. How can it be making me fat?" Upon explaining the process to her she shook her head "No, doctor they wouldn't allow it on the market if it were that bad" She then stormed out of the office, squeezed back through the door again and never returned. We later learned that she began suffering from kidney failure caused by her excessive consumption of diet soda.
So...if you are among the dedicated diet soda drinkers and you happen to read this...remember that when you ingest that artificial sweetener...you are ingesting a poison that when consumed is as deadly as any poison known to mankind...consider that as you swallow that sweet, zero calorie toxic sludge known as diet soda!!!
Be responsible...drink water...it has Zero calories...and isn't toxic.
Dr. B
Her initial complaint was low back pain caused by carrying such a heavy load. After several visits I began to address her weight. I asked her to make out a diet diary. I was amazed to see that she ate rather light given her weight though I took issue with her use of 'diet' soda which she stated as drinking only 'one' bottle per day. So I assumed it was a regular 16oz bottle of zero calorie diet pepsi. She corrected my assumption when she told me that she was drinking an entire 2 liter bottle of diet pepsi..per day. I do not recommend that anyone drink diet soda...EVER!!!!!! My reason for this is that the sweetener in diet soda when digested becomes formaldehyde. That's right, the stuff used to embalm a dead body and is most definitely NOT recommended as a dietary supplement.
When I suggested that she lay off the diet soda, I was met with a rather harsh response. "But its diet soda!!! It has zero calories. How can it be making me fat?" Upon explaining the process to her she shook her head "No, doctor they wouldn't allow it on the market if it were that bad" She then stormed out of the office, squeezed back through the door again and never returned. We later learned that she began suffering from kidney failure caused by her excessive consumption of diet soda.
So...if you are among the dedicated diet soda drinkers and you happen to read this...remember that when you ingest that artificial sweetener...you are ingesting a poison that when consumed is as deadly as any poison known to mankind...consider that as you swallow that sweet, zero calorie toxic sludge known as diet soda!!!
Be responsible...drink water...it has Zero calories...and isn't toxic.
Dr. B
Obesity in the USA
Looking back a few decades, say 30 years back, there weren't that many heavily obese people in the world. There were a few but it certainly wasn't an epidemic. What happened in the past 30 years to make our society so excessively obese?
Sadly there isn't any 'one' thing that can be laid at the feet of obesity in the USA. It is a combination of several different influences that have caused this problem. The lack of physical activity, fast food and the fact that the United States is the single most medicated society on the planet. We, the USA, consume 60% of all pharmaceuticals produced on the planet. We are the 'only' nation suffering with a national obesity epidemic, and we are one of only two countries that allow prescription medications to be advertised directly to the public. New Zealand is currently working to end this practice.
How does being medicated cause obesity? Adipose tissue or fat as we call it, has several functions. One function is storing energy. Another function is insulation from toxins. Medication, if it is anything, is toxic. The side effects alone should tell you this. Many anti-depressants cause obesity by destroying the individuals metabolism...shutting it down completely. When a person gains 50lbs in a month and they eat like a bird there is a serious problem.
Pharmaceutical consumption exploded in the United States with the rise of managed care. Since the Pharmaceutical industry owns the lions share of this market it would stand to reason that they would have a vested interest in directing insurance coverage toward their own specialty. It has also been in the past 30 years that profits in this industry have skyrocketed to unprecedented heights. Not only have their profits soared the rate of disease has risen on par with the increase in pharmaceutical consumption. Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, crones disease and a host of other maladies can be laid squarely at the feet of the Pharmaceutical industry.
When was the last time you went to your MD and he/she didn't try to sell you on a new drug? How many people do you know that are 'not' on medication? Of those people who are medicated how many of them are thin? How many of them are what you would define as healthy? These are questions you must ponder if you wish to enter into the wellness life style.
Health and wellness are for those willing to take responsibility for themselves.
Dr. B
Sadly there isn't any 'one' thing that can be laid at the feet of obesity in the USA. It is a combination of several different influences that have caused this problem. The lack of physical activity, fast food and the fact that the United States is the single most medicated society on the planet. We, the USA, consume 60% of all pharmaceuticals produced on the planet. We are the 'only' nation suffering with a national obesity epidemic, and we are one of only two countries that allow prescription medications to be advertised directly to the public. New Zealand is currently working to end this practice.
How does being medicated cause obesity? Adipose tissue or fat as we call it, has several functions. One function is storing energy. Another function is insulation from toxins. Medication, if it is anything, is toxic. The side effects alone should tell you this. Many anti-depressants cause obesity by destroying the individuals metabolism...shutting it down completely. When a person gains 50lbs in a month and they eat like a bird there is a serious problem.
Pharmaceutical consumption exploded in the United States with the rise of managed care. Since the Pharmaceutical industry owns the lions share of this market it would stand to reason that they would have a vested interest in directing insurance coverage toward their own specialty. It has also been in the past 30 years that profits in this industry have skyrocketed to unprecedented heights. Not only have their profits soared the rate of disease has risen on par with the increase in pharmaceutical consumption. Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, crones disease and a host of other maladies can be laid squarely at the feet of the Pharmaceutical industry.
When was the last time you went to your MD and he/she didn't try to sell you on a new drug? How many people do you know that are 'not' on medication? Of those people who are medicated how many of them are thin? How many of them are what you would define as healthy? These are questions you must ponder if you wish to enter into the wellness life style.
Health and wellness are for those willing to take responsibility for themselves.
Dr. B
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Chip on Docs Shoulder
As a chiropractor I see the world through a prism. That prism happens to be a crystal shard from the rather large chip on my shoulder. Historically chiropractic has always been a wellness driven profession with prevention of illness the primary rationale for repeated visits and for seeing patients are well in order to keep them that way. This prevention idea was in direct contrast with the newly emerging pharmaceutical based model of medicine which was forming at roughly the same time as chiropractic.
You see the pharmaceutical model was meant to treat symptoms of disease and relieve the symptom 'only', thereby perpetuating the market for newer and better drugs that emerged over the years. It was a business model that required the people buying the drugs to remain in need of their drugs. If patients didn't get sick they couldn't make any money. So chiropractic from the very beginning was in direct competition with medicine.
So where is this 'prism' you speak of doc? The Wellness Prism sees health care as a preventative paradigm in which life style changes are needed to accommodate longer and more enjoyable lives. This requires of the patient active and conscious participation in their own life choices. Which is very likely why the vast majority of chiropractic patients are college educated, self motivated persons seeking a better life for themselves on their own terms. In other words highly disciplined people who know what they want and demand the best for themselves.
The sick care prism is generally one in which the patient is expected to show up only when symptoms present so that they can be prescribed a medication to coat, sooth and relieve their symptoms until they have another flair up. This is so much easier on the patient emotionally because they don't have to really think or take responsibility for their own health care. They just wait until its bad enough then go to their doctor to get a prescription. Then if they don't have a bad reaction to the medication they will 'feel' better for the moment and eventually get another prescription when they feel bad again. Then there are the side effects or reactions to the medication that may require that you see another doctor to address with perhaps another medication and another and another until you die. In essence this is the lazy mans way of dealing with health care.
Are you a take charge wellness patient or are you a let someone else decide my fate patient?
It is your choice.
You see the pharmaceutical model was meant to treat symptoms of disease and relieve the symptom 'only', thereby perpetuating the market for newer and better drugs that emerged over the years. It was a business model that required the people buying the drugs to remain in need of their drugs. If patients didn't get sick they couldn't make any money. So chiropractic from the very beginning was in direct competition with medicine.
So where is this 'prism' you speak of doc? The Wellness Prism sees health care as a preventative paradigm in which life style changes are needed to accommodate longer and more enjoyable lives. This requires of the patient active and conscious participation in their own life choices. Which is very likely why the vast majority of chiropractic patients are college educated, self motivated persons seeking a better life for themselves on their own terms. In other words highly disciplined people who know what they want and demand the best for themselves.
The sick care prism is generally one in which the patient is expected to show up only when symptoms present so that they can be prescribed a medication to coat, sooth and relieve their symptoms until they have another flair up. This is so much easier on the patient emotionally because they don't have to really think or take responsibility for their own health care. They just wait until its bad enough then go to their doctor to get a prescription. Then if they don't have a bad reaction to the medication they will 'feel' better for the moment and eventually get another prescription when they feel bad again. Then there are the side effects or reactions to the medication that may require that you see another doctor to address with perhaps another medication and another and another until you die. In essence this is the lazy mans way of dealing with health care.
Are you a take charge wellness patient or are you a let someone else decide my fate patient?
It is your choice.
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