A different take on high cholesterol

Dr. Mercola's article today clearly explained how sugar (in it's various forms, including low quality grains) cause high cholesterol. I'm pasting the excerpt here. To find the entire article, go to http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/22/one-in-four-americans-over-45-take-this-common-drug-that-causes-diabetes.aspx. (Sorry so long...just copy and paste to your browser.)

This is what Dr. Mercola had to say:

How to Optimize Your Cholesterol Levels Without a Drug

It's truly unfortunate that the drug industry's media- and medical industry manipulation has been so successful in brainwashing both doctors and unsuspecting patients into taking these harmful drugs when so few people actually need them. Not to mention the fact that the most effective way to optimize your cholesterol profile and prevent heart disease is via diet and exercise.

It's actually quite simple too. Seventy-five percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels.

Therefore, if you optimize your insulin level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol and reduce your risk of both diabetes and heart disease. As you've just learned, taking a statin drug can actually increase your risk of both of these diseases. And remember the "number needed to treat" that I mentioned earlier; in order to prevent a cardiovascular event in just one person, 155 people must be treated with the drug—all of them taking the risk of experiencing a potentially serious side effect... So, before you agree to take a statin drug, please evaluate the risks and benefits.

What are the chances you will be in the minority who will benefit? And what are your chances of suffering a potentially devastating side effect? Make a conscious, informed decision, and keep track of any side effects once you start taking the drug!

Also know that there are other ways to improve your cholesterol that do not put your health at risk. My primary recommendations for safely regulating your cholesterol include:

• Reduce, with the plan of eliminating grains and fructose from your diet. This is the number one way to optimize your insulin levels, which will have a positive effect on not just your cholesterol, but also reduces your risk of diabetes and heart disease, and most other chronic diseases. Use my Nutrition Plan to help you determine the ideal diet for you, and consume a good portion of your food raw.
• Get plenty of high quality, animal-based omega 3 fats, such as krill oil, and reduce your consumption of damaged omega-6 fats (trans fats, vegetable oils) to balance out your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.
• Include heart-healthy foods in your diet, such as olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats.
• Exercise daily. Make sure you incorporate peak fitness exercises, which also optimizes your human growth hormone (HGH) production.
• Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.
• Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

Unlike statin drugs, which lower your cholesterol at the expense of your health, these lifestyle strategies represent a holistic approach that will benefit your overall health—which includes optimal insulin levels and a healthy cardiovascular system.

Calcium needs and Osteoporosis

I just got a great biochemistry lesson the other day about bone health and osteoporosis. I will spare you all the details, but the good news is there is an effective calcium supplement that will help increase bone density and a supplement for post menopausal women that will help in bone remodeling to prevent the weakening of bone. I will also tell you why medication like Fosamax and Boniva actually make the problem worse. (This should not come as a big surprise. I think we have all heard of drugs that were FDA approved only to be taken off the market years later because they proved to be dangerous or ineffective. Only by then it's too late for the people that had been taking them.)

Let me briefly and quickly tell you what happens as we age, and especially to women when they begin menopause. Our bones increase in density until about age 22. At this point bone density plateaus, and decreases slightly as we continue to age. (This is true for both men and women.) It is important to build good bone density and maintain it. This can be done through a healthy diet consisting of lots of veggies (especially leafy green vegetables), and weight-bearing exercise. Most of us are lacking in foods that provide enough calcium, and a supplement is highly recommended. Metagenics has a calcium supplement that consists of something called MCHC, which has been shown in controlled studies to increase bone density. Most calcium supplements on the market are not absorbed properly. Dairy is also not an ideal source of calcium. Our bodies do not absorb calcium very well from cow's milk. If osteoporosis runs in your family, you are small-framed, and/or you know you are not getting enough calcium, I would recommend a good calcium/MCHC supplement. If you test positive for low bone density, this is a must, whether you are pre or post-menopause.

Okay, so now the menopause issue complicates things. (Yes, another great thing these lovely hormones do for us women!) When women go through menopause (or if they have had a hysterectomy) it changes the way they remodel bone. So pre-menopause, the cells that build bone actually are produced more than the cells that break down bone. Post-menopause, this process flips. So our bodies produce more cells than break down bone than cells that build bone. It's easy to see how over time, this will weaken and thin the bone, as it is slowly being broken down. Ostera is a supplement that actually balances this process out, so our hormones don't cause our bodies to break down bone. So post-menopausal women should be taking Ostera, and if they already have bone thinning, they can also take the calcium/MCHC and it will re-build and strengthen bone.

Doesn't Fosamax and Boniva build bone? Well, they claim to. But this is how those medications work. They stop the cells that break down bone from maturing. So these cells indeed cannot do their work to break down the bone. But the pre-cursors to those cells are still made, and deposited in the bone. So basically a whole bunch of useless cells are being deposited in the bones, and even though they are being prevented from actively breaking down bone, they still weaken the bone just by being there and building up. These medications do nothing to rebuild bone. Dentists have figured this out, because their patients that are on these medications often have tooth and jaw fractures as the dentist is doing routine work on their mouths! I will not be surprised when these medications are taken off the market. But until then, unfortunately, doctors will still prescribe them and patients will still take them long-term, to their detriment. I would not personally ever take these medications, nor would I recommend that my family take them.

So there you have it. I do not generally like to use my blog to sell products, but this is an issue I get asked about a lot. I am confident in the quality and research that is behind Metagenics supplements, and would highly recommend them to patients who would benefit from a supplement. Please write or call me if you have any questions!

Can I afford regular chiropractic care?

Finances are probably the biggest reason I hear from patients or potential patients for why they cannot get the chiropractic care they need, or why they drop out of care after one or two visits and do not continue with regular maintenance adjustments. I understand this problem too well. It's always the patient's choice if they want to continue care. I do not twist anybody's arm or try to convince them to do something that will not work for their personal schedule or budget. However, I feel like I would be doing everyone and injustice if I didn't explain why chiropractic care is not only affordable, but will save you money in the long run.

Many of my patients are "cash pay" and do not have health insurance. This, too, I understand. We do not currently have health insurance either. That makes it all the more important to take responsibility for my family's health and do whatever I can to prevent problems from arising. This means I spend more on food, as it is usually more costly to eat healthy than to eat processed, boxed foods that have a long shelf life, are often on sale, and have tons of coupons available. I also buy (and try to consistently take) supplements. We also need to make the time to exercise regularly. Many families join a gym to help achieve this goal, which obviously has it's associated monetary costs. We get regular chiropractic care. Obviously, that part is easier for me, since I am a chiropractor. But it still has tremendous value. I drive a half hour each way every week to get adjusted, so that I have a healthy pregnancy and an easier, quicker labor.

Chiropractic is the most affordable form of health care. I have had many patients who have experienced severe back pain and ended up in the ER before coming to my office. They also end up with a huge bill, more expensive for a few hours one day than their whole chiropractic treatment plan over the course of 1-2 months would cost. And unless you fractured your spine, there is not much that the ER can do except give you drugs for pain. That's a high price to pay for a band-aid solution to the problem. Chiropractic care most often results in immediate pain relief, and correction of the cause of the problem, keeping it from perpetuating or returning weeks or months down the road. It's important to stick with your care plan, as this is the most effective way of correcting a spinal problem completely so that it does not return.

So why do people continue to get adjusted after their problem is resolved? This is called maintenance care, and it has many benefits. First of all, most of the time we return to our activities that cause wear and tear on our bodies and subluxate our spine. Over time, this stress can result in pain again. Regular maintenance adjustments take care of these more minor subluxations before they become a big problem, and require more care. A once a month maintenance adjustment is a lot more cost effective than a more intense care plan to correct a more complicated issue. Also, people under regular chiropractic care get sick less often, miss less school and work, and feel better overall. Sickness costs time and money, so it's better to prevent it, if possible!

Many people seem to be concerned that adjustments are "addicting." Is brushing your teeth addicting? How about showering? You do those things every day. And you might as well not bother eating, because in a few hours you need to start all over again with a whole new meal. Obviously, these arguments are ridiculous. We do these things to maintain health and hygiene. You go to the dentist every six months, get your eyes examined every year, and get regular physical exams at your doctor's office. It's time we take care of our spines and nervous system as well. After all, there is no such thing as a spine transplant.

Why in the world would a baby get adjusted?!?

When I mention to patients that I specialize in pediatrics and adjust babies, I often get a confused look and an "Oh, that's interesting." Or, if they are completely honest about their thoughts, I get "You adjust babies?!? Is that safe? Why would a baby need to be adjusted?" The questions are understandable. Many adults see a chiropractor for back pain, for which chiropractic adjustments are very successful at resolving. But babies don't usually have back pain.

Let me start by defining the basic premise of chiropractic. Chiropractic corrects subluxations. A subluxation is when the spinal bones misalign and become stuck in that misaligned position, thereby irritating the nerves that exit between those bones. The pain and muscle spasm that result from this is most often what brings an adult in for chiropractic care. But this process can also happen to a baby. If you have ever seen even a "normal" birth, you would understand how the birth process could subluxate a baby's neck. Even positions in utero could start the subluxation process. Let's assume that the baby wasn't born with a subluxation. Even so, 95% of babies fall from some height by age 1, almost always landing on their heads. Then there are the growth spurts, heads cocked to one side in the car seat, learning to walk and falling numerous times, etc. There are a million things in the first year that could cause vertebral subluxation in babies, and the need for them to be checked by a chiropractor and adjusted.

Like I said, subluxations affect the nervous system. The nervous system controls everything in the body. Common symptoms in babies with subluxation are poor sleep, irritability, nursing only from one side, poor latch when breast feeding, frequent illness, reflux, colic, and ear infections. Some babies even have a persistent head tilt to one side by the time they are about three months old. When they are "stuck" like this, it is called torticollis and they absolutely need chiropractic adjustments. I also teach parents how to gently and effectively massage and/or stretch their babies at home to facilitate healing and holding the adjustment.

Adjustments for infants and children are extremely safe and very gentle. The force used to adjust an infant can be compared to the pressure needed to test the ripeness of a tomato. I usually use the Activator, a special adjusting instrument, that is very light. On very young and tiny babies, I use the Activator over my thumb or pinky! Because the instrument is so fast and specific, it gets the job done with almost no force.

The great thing about adjusting babies is that I see chiropractic miracles all the time. It usually only takes one adjustment to see a drastic improvement in a baby's health and contentment. I have had cases where it took several adjustments, but still not as many as an adult usually requires. The longer a problem is present, the harder it is to correct. That's why it is so important to get your baby checked early! Like they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Interesting science behind vaccines (By Dr. Philip Incao)

PHILIP F. INCAO, M.D.

1624 Gilpin Street

Denver, CO 80218-1633

In order to use vaccinations wisely, we need to understand exactly how they work. Until recently, the "mechanism of action" of vaccinations was always understood to be simply that they cause an increase in antibody levels (titers) against a specific disease antigen (bacterium or virus), thus preventing "infection" with that bacterial or viral antigen.

In recent years science has learned that the human immune system is much more complicated than we thought. It is composed of two functional branches or compartments which may work together in a mutually cooperative way or in a mutually antagonistic way depending on the health of the individual.

One branch is the humoral immune system (or Th2 function) which primarily produces antibodies in the blood circulation as a sensing or recognizing function of the immune system to the presence of foreign antigens in the body. The other branch is the cellular or cell-mediated immune system (or Th1 function) which primarily destroys, digests and expels foreign antigens out of the body through the activity of its cells found in the thymus, tonsils, adenoids, spleen, lymph nodes and lymph system throughout the body. This process of destroying, digesting and discharging foreign antigens from the body is known as "the acute inflammatory response" and is often accompanied by the classic signs of inflammation: fever, pain, malaise and discharge of mucus, pus, skin rash or diarrhea.

These two functional branches of the immune system may be compared to the two functions in eating: tasting and recognizing the food on the one hand, and digesting the food and eliminating the food waste on the other hand. In the same way, the humoral or Th2 branch of the immune system "tastes" and recognizes and even remembers foreign antigens and the cellular or Th1 branch of the immune system digests and eliminates the foreign antigens from the body. But just as too much repeated tasting of food will ruin the appetite, so also too much repeated stimulation of the "tasting" humoral immune system by an antigen will inhibit and suppress the digesting and eliminating function of the cellular immune system. In other words, overstimulating antibody production can suppress the acute inflammatory response of the cellular immune system! 1

This explains the polar opposite relationship between acute discharging inflammations on the one hand and allergies and auto-immune inflammations on the other hand. The more a person has of one, the less he or she will have of the other!

A growing number of scientists believe that the increase in America, Europe, Australia and Japan in allergic and auto-immune diseases (which stimulate the humoral or Th2 branch of the immune system) is caused by the lack of stimulation of the cellular or the Th1 branch of the immune system from the lack of acute inflammatory responses and discharges in childhood. 2 3 4 5 We need to identify the factors which cause this shift in the function of the immune system or which cause allergies and auto-immune diseases in childhood to increase!

If we now return to the original question of the mechanism of action of vaccinations, we find what I believe is the key to the puzzle. A vaccination consists of introducing a disease agent or disease antigen into an individual’s body without causing the disease. If the disease agent provoked the whole immune system into action it would cause all the symptoms of the disease! The symptoms of a disease are primarily the symptoms (fever, pain, malaise, loss of function) of the acute inflammatory response to the disease.

So the trick of a vaccination is to stimulate the immune system just enough so that it makes antibodies and "remembers" the disease antigen but not so much that it provokes an acute inflammatory response by the cellular immune system and makes us sick with the disease we’re trying to prevent! Thus a vaccination works by stimulating very much the antibody production (Th2) and by stimulating very little or not at all the digesting and discharging function of the cellular immune system (Th1).

Vaccine antigens are designed to be "unprovocative" or "indigestible" for the cellular immune system (Th1) and highly stimulating for the antibody-mediated humoral immune system (Th2).

Perhaps it is not difficult to see then why the repeated use of vaccinations would tend to shift the functional balance of the immune system toward the antibody-producing side (Th2) and away from the acute inflammatory discharging side (the cell-mediated side or Th1). This has been confirmed by observation especially in the case of Gulf War Illness: most vaccinations cause a shift in immune function from the Th1 side (acute inflammatory discharging response) to the Th2 side (chronic auto-immune or allergic response). 6

The outcome of this line of thought is that, contrary to previous belief, vaccinations do not strengthen or "boost" the whole immune system. Instead vaccinations overstimulate the "tasting and remembering" function of the antibody-mediated branch of the immune system (Th2) which simultaneously suppresses the cellular immune system (Th1) thus "preventing" the disease in question.

What in reality is prevented is not the disease but the ability of our cellular immune system to manifest, to respond to and to overcome the disease!

There is no system of the human being, from mind to muscles to immune system, which gets stronger through avoiding challenges, but only through overcoming challenges. The wise use of vaccinations would be to use them selectively, and not on a mass scale. In order for vaccinations to be helpful and not harmful, we must know beforehand in each individual to be vaccinated whether the Th1 function or the Th2 function of the immune system predominates.

In individuals in whom the Th1 function predominates, causing many acute inflammations because the cellular immune system is overreactive, a vaccination could have a balancing effect on the immune system and be helpful for that individual.

In individuals in whom the Th2 function predominates, causing few acute inflammations but rather the tendency to chronic allergic or autoimmune inflammations, a vaccination would cause the Th2 function to predominate even more, aggravating the imbalance of the immune system and harming the health of that individual. This is what happened in Gulf War Illness.

The current use of vaccinations in medicine today is essentially a "shotgun" approach which ignores differences among individuals. In such an approach some individuals may be helped and others may be harmed.

If medicine is to evolve in a healthy direction, we must learn to understand the particular characteristics of each individual and we must learn how to individualize our treatments to be able to heal each unique human being in our care.

Based on the preceding explanation of how vaccinations work, here are my answers to your questions:

Vaccinations are usually effective in preventing an individual from manifesting a particular illness, but they do not improve the overall strength or health of the individual nor of the immune system. Instead, vaccinations modify the reactivity of the immune system, decreasing acute discharging inflammatory reactions and increasing the tendency to chronic allergic and auto-immune reactions.

Epidemiologic studies 7 8 9 have shown that as families improve their living conditions, hygiene, nutrition, literacy and education, the risk of life-threatening acute infectious , inflammatory diseases very much decreases. Families with poor living conditions, hygiene, nutrition and literacy would generally be most likely to benefit from vaccinations. Families with good living conditions, hygiene, nutrition and education probably would benefit from vaccinations very little or not at all. Individuals with a tendency to allergic or auto-immune diseases are likely to be harmed by vaccinations.

Side effects of vaccination are usually allergic or auto-immune inflammatory reactions caused by the shift of the immune system’s reactivity from the Th1 side to the Th2 side. Modern medicine is just beginning to recognize this. 10

Modern medicine has not scientifically measured the risk/benefit ratio of any vaccine. 11 Research into the risks of vaccines is very inadequate, according to two comprehensive reports on vaccines by the U.S. Institute of Medicine in 1991 and 1994.

My preceding explanation of how vaccinations affect the immune system is true also in animals. Vaccinations cannot make animals healthier, but only good handling, environment and nutrition can make animals healthy and resistant to disease. Vaccinating pigs may prevent them from having illness from one particular strain of virus but will not improve their overall resistance to other illnesses nor even to other strains of the same virus.

It is important to remember that an infection with a particular virus or bacterium does not necessarily cause illness unless the resistance of the individual is low. In the case of Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), most infections cause no symptoms and fewer than 0.1% of infected individuals develop severe encephalitis. 12 Individuals living in poor conditions, with poor hygiene, nutrition and education are at higher risk of serious illnesses from JEV or any other infection. In such individuals a vaccination would most likely be helpful.

Each individual should inform himself or herself: just how widespread is the disease outbreak? How many have become seriously ill or died? Does the outbreak affect all levels of society or mainly those in poor living conditions?

Very often the media exaggerate the extent of such outbreaks. Each individual should freely decide, based on knowledge and not on fear and hearsay, whether he or she or a child would benefit from a vaccination.

Philip F. Incao, M.D

1. Parish, C.R. "The Relationship Between Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immunity." Transplant. Rev. 13 (1972):3.

2.Ronne, T. "Measles Virus Infection without Rash in Childhood is Related to Disease in Adult Life." The Lancet Ltd. (1985):1-5.

3. Odent, M.R., Culpin, E.E., Kimmel, T. "Pertussis Vaccination and Asthma: Is There a Link The Journal of the American Medical Association 272(1994):588.

4. Cookson, W.O.C.M., and Moffatt, M.F. "Asthma: An Epidemic in the Absence of Infection?" Science 275(1997):41-42.

5. Martinez, F.D. Role of viral infections in the inception of asthma and allergies during childhood: could they be protective? Thorax 1994;49: 1189-91.

6 Rook, G.A.W., Zumla, A. "Gulf War Syndrome: Is It Due to a Systemic Shift in Cytokine Balance Towards a Th2 Profile?" The Lancet 349 (1997):1831-1833.

7. McKeown, T. The Modern Rise of Population. New York: Academic Press, 1976.

8. McKeown, T. The Role Of Medicine: Dream, Mirage, or Nemesis?New Jersey: Princeton University Press 1979.

9. Sagan, L.A. The Health of Nations. New York: Basic Books,Inc., 1987.

10. Rook, G.A.W., Zumla, A. "Gulf War Syndrome: Is It Due to a Systemic Shift in Cytokine Balance Towards a Th2 Profile?" The Lancet 349 (1997):1831-1833.

11. Robin, Eugene, M.D. "Some Hidden Dimensions of the Risk/Benefit Value of Vaccine" from the First International Public Conference on Vaccination. Alexandria, Virginia September 1997.

12. Solomon, T., Kneen, R., Dung, N.G., Khanh, V.C., Thuy, T.T.N., Ha, D.Q., Day, N.P.J., Nisalak, A., Vaughn, D.W., White, N.J. "Poliomyelitis-like illness due to Japanese encephalitis virus" Lancet 1998; 351: 1094-97

Due Dates

I'm going to start out on a pregnancy/birth kick for a while. This has been on my mind for several reasons, one of which is that I am 21 weeks pregnant. The other reason is that I see many pregnant patients, many of them pregnant with their first babies, and I'd like to share some things I've learned along the way from both my pregnancy/pediatric formal education and my personal experience.

I'm going to get a bumper sticker that says "It's a due date, not an expiration date." Due dates are estimates. So why is it that when a pregnant mom approaches her due date, she feels pressure from all around her, including her doctor, to hurry up and have the baby? I have seen many moms almost start to panic, thinking that their bodies weren't working correctly because they reached their due date and still no baby. When allowed to go into labor naturally, most women will go into labor between the 10 days before or 10 days after their due date. In the majority of cases where women are induced, both baby and mother are doing fine. There is no medical reason to induce. It is simply for convenience.

I have to wonder whose convenience this is for. In too many cases, artificial induction of labor leads to other interventions, like Cesarean. What seemed so convenient for the mother at the time of induction is not very convenient when she is recovering from major abdominal surgery.

I write this to get people researching, and deciding for themselves what is best for them and their baby. Here are some questions you should ask if your doctor wants to induce you:
1. Is my baby healthy right now?
2. Are there any risks to my health if I do not have this baby today?

It's really that simple. If there is no medical reason to induce, wait till the baby wants to come naturally. That is the safest thing for both mom and baby. In defense of many doctors, a lot of women are uncomfortable at the end of pregnancy and ask to be induced. Many doctors don't see a lot of women who choose to go much past their due date. Make sure you choose a provider who respects your wishes for birth, and one that you trust will be honest with you about the real risks involved in any procedure and decision. That will be a future discussion: Choosing a provider for pregnancy and birth.