Natural Pain Care Blog

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

2010-03-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The first symptom if a heart attack in 50% of first time cases is DEATH.

Many in our country want our attention in health care to move toward health promotion and disease prevention.

Health promotion is about teaching people to utilize what they have at hand to stay healthy. Avoiding know disease agents, like guns, smoking, over weight and unprotected sex. Education can only go so far though. In the end health promotion becomes an individual choice, many time driven by socioeconomic constraints.

Disease prevention is about early detection; screenings, annual exams and the active search for early markers of disease. Typically many of these medical disease preventions begin at 50 years of age. Family history of disease is enough reason to push your doctor into earlier screenings if you're under 50.

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a public opinion survey that finds that 71 percent of Americans favor an increased investment in disease prevention and that disease prevention is one of the most popular components of health reform. Forty-four percent of Americans strongly favor investing more in prevention.

http://healthyamericans.org/report/70/prevention-survey-II

For more information on preventive medicine contact us at the link below:
http://www.denverpaincare.com

Health Care Reform: Now What?

2010-03-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

As you know Ive been in health care delivery as an acupuncturist and chiropractor for the past 20 years. Monday we discussed the the Health Care Reform bill that was made into law yesterday. There was a lot to say about it, some negative and some positive. In the end I dont think we can really say until the dust settles.

From Kaiser Health News this article will answer what we know now.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34609984/ns/health-health_care/?GT1=43001

Time for Exercise

2010-03-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

The human body was meant to move. The effects of exercise on the body are well know. These include improved cardiovascular health, lowered blood pressure, improved bone density, improved immunity, improved ability for self repair, maintaining optimal weight, development of lean muscle and its as good for mild to moderate depression as medications.

We all need to find time to move our body and exercise. For many, home work outs will increase compliance and likelihood for success. If you are one of these people there are numerous resources already right in your home that you already pay for.

Cable and Dish both provide exercise videos. These videos come from great sources like the Biggest Loser and other well know fitness experts. They change monthly and offer a nice variety of options from walking, abs, yoga, Pilates, and weight training.

Below is a like for a home exercise program that takes about twenty minutes. Get into exercise and see how good it feels to be strong in body and mind.

http://www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=1277

Health and Healing

2010-03-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Ive been treating people with pain for over twenty years. In that time I have observed some common threads. Health doesn't come from a pill, a needle or a surgery. Health isn't just the lack of disease. Health is not all genetic. Some people are able to heal while others are not. Lifestyle and thought control more of health than we give credit.

I have discovered a simple ways to learn more about how our thoughts and lifestyle influence our health, happiness and life. Please check the contents of a website called Personal Life Media. I am certain you will find something on there you will like. Topics like wight loss, relationships, money and spirituality will provide ideas to help you feel your best.

http://personallifemedia.com/

Vitamin D and Pain

2010-02-25T08:56:00.000-08:00

Ive been out of school 20 plus years and in that time vitamin D research has gone through the roof. Vitamin D has been found to be helpful in back pain, fibromyalgia, depression, balance, cardiovascular health and, bone density.

I recommend it all day long for people who have pain. Studies show that many people who are in pain are low in Vitamin D. Other studies show that pain patients low in Vitamin D typically require twice as many opiates to help manage their pain. Vitamin D has been shown to help low back pain. Physicians at the Mayo Clinic recommend checking Vitamin D levels in people who have pain and treating it appropriately.

In a study of 1500 people used a loading dose of 10,000 iu/day for three months and a maintenance dose of of 5000 iu/day for the remainder of the year resulted in only 46% of the people reached optimal levels of Vitamin D.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE
People in pain may benefit from Vitamin D supplementation. Safe levels appear to be between 5000-10000 iu/day.

Some References:
http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2009/03/20/mayo-clinic-researchers-link-vitamin-d-and-chronic-pain-relief/

J Am Board Fam Med. 2009 Jan-Feb;22(1):69-74.Improvement of chronic back pain or failed back surgery with vitamin D repletion: a case series.

Schwalfenberg G.Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada.

Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2003 Jan 15;28(2):177-9.Vitamin D deficiency and chronic low back pain in Saudi Arabia. Al Faraj S, Al Mutairi K.

Department of Medicine, Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Clin Rheumatol. 2007 Nov;26(11):1895-901. Epub 2007 Mar 22.Hypovitaminosis D in female patients with chronic low back pain.

Lotfi A, Abdel-Nasser AM, Hamdy A, Omran AA, El-Rehany MA. Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, 13 Botros Ghally Street, 11341, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt.

http://www.denverpaincare.com/

Acupuncture; the Brain and Pain

2010-02-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

Acupuncture is well know for affecting pain in the body. Used for centuries medical data continues to support its effectiveness. Several studies have show that acupuncture can deactivate pain sensors in the brain. Functional MRI (fMRI) performed at UC Irvine has shown people with low back pain all had certain parts of the brain that perceive pain deactivated after receiving acupuncture.

Another recent study shows much of the same. Researchers at the University of York and the Hull York Medical School published in Brain Research, indicates that acupuncture has a significant effect on specific neural structures. When a patient receives acupuncture treatment, a sensation called deqi can be obtained; scientific analysis shows that this deactivates areas within the brain that are associated with the processing of pain.

Last summer, following research conducted in York, acupuncture was recommended for the first time by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as a treatment option for NHS patients with lower back pain. NICE guidelines now state that GPs should 'consider offering a course of acupuncture comprising a maximum of 10 sessions over a period of up to 12 weeks' for patients with this common condition.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE
If your back hurts and you have not tried acupuncture you owe it to yourself to undergo a short trial of acupuncture.

To learn more or try acupuncture go to:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100204101736.htm
http://www.denverpaincare.com

How Acupuncture Works

2010-02-16T19:31:00.000-08:00

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to help relieve human suffering. The National Institutes of Health recommend acupuncture as safe and effective for many conditions like back pain, arthritis and nausea to name a few. Like much of medicine, new discoveries in acupuncture better explain how it works.

Biomedical acupuncture works from a western premise of anatomy and physiology. It has less to do with meridians and more to do with nerves and blood flow. Most acupuncture points historically are located near nerve bundles. This could account for the success of acupuncture prior to being able to describe how it works. Once a needle is place in the body, signaling to the brain occurs. Studies show that this signaling can decrease pain perception in several parts of the brain. In addition, the body sees the needle as a foreign object and immediately beings to send blood and anti inflammatories to the area. This increase in circulation and release of anti inflammatories eases tight and painful muscles, making them easier to stretch and loosen up.

Twisting the needle causes the muscle fibers and fascia to wrap around the needle shaft. This tugging on these tissues stimulates those tissues to realign, release chemicals that stimulate healing and break down scar tissue. This type of needle manipulation has been done for centuries with exceptional results even though we are just learning how how it works.

Once the needle is removed there are tiny needle holes left in the tissue. There is no bleeding from these small lesions but the body recognizes this as an injury. Studies show that releases of about 12 different healing chemicals are released into the blood to heal the lesions. These healing chemical circulate to all tissues, lasting up to five days helping many ailments.

Acupuncture doesn’t work in a vacuum. The healthier the person is the greater the effects. There is nothing introduced into the body from the needle. Acupuncture stimulates the body’s healing ability. If a body is depleted from a poor lifestyle, diet or repeated injury there may be little left to stimulate.

Biomedical Acupuncture works well for about 60-70% of people. Biomedical Acupuncture works quickly, is reproducible, and reliable. Biomedical Acupuncture is often painless and works in about 4-6 visits.

To learn more or try Biomedical Acupuncture:

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/
http://denverpaincare.com

Multivitamin or Not?

2010-02-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

Bruce Ames, professor, nutrition and aging researcher at UC Berkley developed the triage theory. He believes that our body will select nutrient use for life today in exchange for disease prevention tomorrow. Ames has published over 450 scientific papers and considers this his most important work.

Triage – from the French word trier meaning to sort, separate, or select – works on the battlefield by military doctors prioritizing treatments depending on the probable survival of the wounded.
Professor Ames’ theory works in much the same way: By appreciating that natural selection favors short-term survival over the long-term, Prof Ames’ hypothesized that our short-term survival is achieved by prioritizing the allocation of scarce micro nutrients. In other words, to stop us falling over from a lack of iron in the heart, for example, iron is pulled from non-essential sources.
The triage theory is a way of “measuring the insidious damage going on over time”, he said.
The theory was first proposed in 2006 (PNAS, Vol. 103, Pages 17589-94) to explain why age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer, and dementia may be unintended consequences of mechanisms developed during evolution to protect against episodic vitamin/mineral shortages.

“If this hypothesis is correct, micro nutrient deficiencies that trigger the triage response would accelerate cancer, aging, and neural decay but would leave critical metabolic functions, such as ATP production, intact,” explained Professor Ames in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Eat a well balanced, vegetable rich diet and take a good multivitamin/mineral.

To learn more about Dr. Ames go to:
http://mcb.berkeley.edu/index.php?option=com_mcbfaculty&name=amesb

Bruce Ames, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and senior research scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

Evidence Based Care

2010-02-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Evidence based care (EBC)is health care that is supported by the literature to be the best of what we currently know to work. Knowledge of what works can be useful when creating guidelines for care. Additionally community based care as what is standard in the community, and like evidence based care can be another type of practice guideline. Heath care facilities may practice using EBC, also know as best practices. There is significant amount of literature about what we know works best. Some things just waste time and money and frustrate patients who are looking for a solution.

Health care reform and cost cutting will begin to require doctors to use more EBC and best practices. That seems reasonable. Many doctors and hospital already do with conditions like heart attack and diabetes. Pain on the other hand is a different story. Although we know what works with pain, a lot of things that dont work are routinely done over and over. For example epidural steroid injections for back pain is not indicated as effective treatment. It is for back and leg pain but not just back pain.Back surgery has is own inclusion criteria and when not adhered to can cause a lifetime of pain and disability.

Talk to your doctor about EBC and best practices when they recommend a treatment option. Look up information on the internet. Be informed before agreeing to something. There are no quick fixes that dont come with a risk.

The links below will get you going in the right direction:

http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcix.htm
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDLE-WorkComp/CDLE/1248095315991
http://www.guideline.gov/
http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov/

Another Pain Blog?

2010-02-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, I want to add my experience and perspectives on pain care and health care for others to learn from. Why listen to me?

I have over 20 years in natural health care, specifically pain care. I am also a Masters Candidate in Health Care Administration. I practice with a large medical pain practice and have worked with chronic pain and delayed recovery for many years. I get to see first hand the results of injections, surgery, pain medicine and other alternative pain treatments. I talk to hundred of people per year about what works and what doesn't. I feel like I know who you are.

From my administrator view I will discuss treatments from a renewable and sustainable perspective. Health care reform will mean people need to take better care of themselves, pay for more of their own care, need to be healthy on their own. Health care reform is not free care from the government. Studies show more health care does not make people more healthy. Access alone will never work. Costs will not be controlled by giving everyone access to care. Use of evidence based alternatives that are cost effective with fewer side effects will move to the forefront of health care.

Please join me as I discuss evidence based natural treatment options for pain. Many resources will be available. I will share stories and work to keep this blog light, informative and optimistic.

Keep moving, be happy and come back soon.