Dr. Leslie B. Berman, Chiropractor

Summer is here

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:33:00 +0000

Although we welcome the return of longer days and more plentiful sunshine, some of us must brace ourselves to battle an ever-rising pollen count. To make matters worse, our sped-up, stress-filled world constantly challenges us to rise to the occasion…and to look beautiful as we do it. It can be a daunting task. Of course, the multitude of available inhalers and antihistamines offer some temporary symptomatic relief. But for true relief with no nasty side effects, I favor launching a holistic assault from every possible angle.

How does one prepare for the battle? My battle plan is grounded in the perspective of functional medicine, so I begin with a survey of the areas of the body that may or may not be functioning. For example, defense against allergy attack requires a healthy, functioning immune system with the ability to detoxify the incoming assailants. The body has a wondrous capacity to deal with toxins, but it does have its limits. Take the liver: it’s great at mopping up our internal messes, but think of it as a sponge that eventually, inevitably, needs wringing out. If your liver enters the allergy wars already taxed to near or at its defensive capacity, how can it resist the coming allergenic insurgency? We often overlook the fact that our detoxification system is busy year-round mitigating the damage from antagonistic foods, animal dander, dust mites, and a thousand other belligerents that go bump in the night.

So, let’s set our defenses. I like to start by “opening the drains,” with a ten-day liver detox program. This at least helps level the playing field. Some of my patients experience an improvement just with this. Then, we look at foods and other everyday assailants, and either remove them or desensitize the body to their effects. Add some properly designed supplementation, to shore up weakened systems and reinforce the drainage troops, and “Voila!” — Kleenex count drastically reduced.

What a surprise! — Improving the overall function of the body is the key to resolving many health issues, including allergies. Given half a chance, your body will compete admirably. So, what’s getting in your way? Let’s find out together.

Antioxidants Demystified

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:12:00 +0000

Recently, a collaboration among Norwegian and US scientists released a ranking of foods and their antioxidant content. Now, I want more of these rankings…don’t you? But, do we know WHY we want more? Just what are antioxidants anyway? And, why do we hope to maximize our ingestion of these little organic dynamos.

As a group, antioxidants include several organic compounds, like Vitamins C and A, selenium, and the carotenoids. Let’s take carotenoids. They’re behind the intense colors we see in fruits, vegetables, and other foods. Their somewhat mysterious job is to seek out and deactivate free radicals.

Free radicals? Free radicals sometimes are by-products of normal cell processes — they’re formed from oxidized oxygen molecules. But, they’re also created by environmental toxicities, tobacco smoke, radiation, some foods, and, no doubt, many of the yet-to-be-identified ills our society is persistently creating. More importantly, free radicals are carcinogens. Free radicals damage cell walls.

And that’s where those friendly antioxidants come in. A number of studies have correlated a decrease in certain types of cancer with an increase in antioxidant intake. Other studies show that antioxidants prevent the development of arterial blockages by preventing the oxidation of cholesterol.

Okay, so give me the antioxidant list, already.

Well, spices top the list, with cloves leading the pack, followed by oregano leaf, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric. Moving on to foods, Oregon residents will be thrilled to find blackberries topping the list, followed by walnuts, strawberries, coffee, raspberries, pecans, and blueberries. Grape juice, followed closely by cranberry, led the juices. Bran flakes led the breakfast cereals, while canned chili (Sorry, I’m just reporting!) led the processed foods.

How do we get more of these wonder-foods into our mouths? I sip on cranberry water and walnut tea throughout the day. (Walnuts, by the way, have the highest level of natural serotonin of any food.) Berries, I eat fresh in summer and freeze for the winter. In fact, all fruits and vegetables have antioxidants. Coffee…well, it’s the number one antioxidant consumed in America. Say no more.

But do keep in mind: these are just the top ten on the antioxidant-rich list. If you aren’t eating them consider one of our supplement drinks that include ten servings of fruits and vegetables in one tasty cup. They give a whole new meaning to “big gulp.”

So, steer your kids toward grape juice, nuts, and berries. Consume them yourself. And, OK, yes, if you can bear to, serve up the canned chili.

...and a Side of Suffering

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:24:00 +0000

Today, I’m thinking about how bad we sometimes feel as a result of misguided efforts to get “healthier.” I regularly see patients who come in with “laundry lists” of drugs they’ve been prescribed, and who are suffering from the known and published side effects and interactions of these medications. And, when we take a closer look, I often find myself angry.

Take statins, for example. These cholesterol-lowering drugs — while certainly beneficial for some — can be devastating for many. I’ve seen lots of patients suffering from system-wide trauma (i.e. “It hurts everywhere!”), from peripheral neuropathy, and from “unexplainable” muscular problems. Frequently, these symptoms arise soon after the patient begins taking statins, but sometimes the effects are delayed. It depends in part on how fast and furious is the drug’s depletion of the body’s natural stores of coenzyme Q, and on the overall health of the individual patient.

Muscular problems, for instance, are listed as a “rare” side effect by statin drug manufacturers. But Beatrice Golumb, M.D., has been researching the effects of statin drugs, and she finds this particular “rare” side effect to be quite common. Golumb’s work is very interesting, and an online interview with her is available here.

To me, the most distressing cases are those with borderline cholesterol numbers, which would have improved with simple nutritional and lifestyle changes. If you’re on statins, ask yourself whether you absolutely need them, or whether dropping twenty pounds and walking a half hour each day might achieve the same result. (And don’t forget — this drug-free regimen has an even longer list of known “side effects,” ALL of them beneficial!)

So, satisfy yourself that any prescription drugs you take are necessary and are doing more good than harm. And don’t dismiss the potential of any drugs you’re taking to produce unwelcome side effects.

Drop-dead Clean?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:08:00 +0000

Are we too clean? Are we covering our bodies and filling the air around us with “scents” that are harming us? A recent study, published October 24, 2006 in Environmental Science and Technology, found triclosan — a chemical commonly used in toothpastes and antibacterial soaps — hastens the transformation of tadpoles into adult frogs.

Okay, why am I so concerned about frog development? Well, I don’t just think frog. I think endocrine disruption. (Triclosan reacts with the free chlorine in tap water to produce compounds that convert into dioxins upon exposure to sunlight; dioxins are extremely toxic, and are very potent endocrine disruptors.) So, I think young girls (dare we call them tadpoles?) getting their periods at increasingly younger ages. Yes, and I think cancer. (Triclosan can combine with chlorine in tap water to form chloroform gas, a probable human carcinogen.)

Our world has become increasingly phobic about deodorizing and sanitizing our bodies and our environments. We plug-in chemicals to “freshen” our air. We lather and slather ourselves, our clothes, and our homes with antibacterial soaps and deodorants and shampoos, washes and scrubs, pastes and creams, detergents and cleansers, and…well, you name it. The result is that we simply prod the bacteria into growing stronger and more resistant, so that we have to use more and stronger and…again, you get the picture.

In our rush to “protect” ourselves we compromise the very systems, inside our amazing bodies, that we depend on for real protection. And all to fill the coffers of mega-companies that focus only on the next profitable drug or plug they can sell a gullible, fearful public.

Please join me, and “Just say no!” to unnecessary and unnatural drugs, plugs, and antibacterial chemicals. Let’s give our livers a break, and let’s live closer and kinder to the earth and to ourselves.

Atkins Absolved, Again

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:52:00 +0000

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has concluded that eating a low-carb, high-fat diet does not raise the risk of heart disease. Too bad Dr. Atkins didn’t live to see his work vindicated.

But guess what else the study found? Women who got their carbohydrates from refined sugar nearly doubled their risk. Unfortunately, the response to the sugar issue from the immediate past president of the American Heart Association was disappointing, to say the least. While noting that the study “certainly raises questions: about the role of refined sugar, he concluded that medical guidelines will not be changed.

Hmmm, let’s see…childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease, all on the rise. Yet all he can say is that it certainly raises questions. Excuse me Mr. Past-AHA-President, but don’t you think you might consider some slightly stronger reaction? Perhaps, a warning to your public? The study certainly does raise some questions, and not just about sugar. For example, the study also found that eating fat from vegetables sources rather than animal sources lowered the risk by 30%.

Of course, no study can answer all our questions, but we can learn something useful if we see each bit of information as just another piece of the Total Wellness puzzle. As always, increase your consumption of fruits and veggies. And realize that eating meat — especially if it’s hormone-free and grass-fed, and is eaten in moderation — won’t increase your risk of heart disease. And, Mr. Past-President, I am willing to go out on the proverbial limb and say “No!” to refined sugar.

Here a Bug, There a Bug

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:57:00 +0000

My, there seem to be a lot of pesky bacteria these days wreaking havoc on the immune systems of unsuspecting humans. Take the recent furor over e.coli-contaminated spinach. It was troubling, but it offers some productive (and non-toxic) food for thought.

Why, for example, did some people exposed to the e.coli bacterium not succumb to its effects? Similarly, when a class of third graders is exposed together to a strep throat infection, why do only some of them get sick?

Let’s begin by acknowledging that “germ theory” is not a fiction. And, yes, bacteria are at the root of many evils. But, we are constantly bombarded with bacteria, with viruses (and with fear about potential bacteria and viruses). We move from e. coli to Ebola to West Nile virus to Avian flu. Not to mention the seasonal “flu from somewhere.” Yet, as the above examples illustrate, the germ theory doesn’t explain everything.

So, why do some people get sick and others skate? Well, to begin with, resistance to disease is, to a certain extent, a product of our genetic inheritance. But there is much we can do on a practical level to be proactive and not simply reactive.

One thing that’s in our control is eating healthily. Think organic. Think fruits and vegetables. Think clean, grass-fed proteins. There are some basic supplements that are a good idea for most of us. Probiotics, for example. Let’s keep those friendly gut bacteria plentiful. A good multivitamin, especially if you’re not doing too well, or too consistently, on the “good foods” track.

And all of us would benefit from a regular “green drink.” We like veggie-based GreensFirst and its berry-based cousin, Red Alert. Both supply much--needed antioxidants. It’s also a good idea to determine to your individual areas of compromise or vulnerability, and to take supplements targeted for those conditions.

Adverse drug reactions in the news, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 01:39:00 +0000

When we look at the drug reaction data more closely, we find that the incidence of adverse reactions is 33% higher in people aged 50-59 than in people aged 40-49. Of course, one reason for that is that, the older we get, the more drugs we tend to “need.” But there’s more to it than that. Let’s take a look at why we young fifty-year-olds may experience more problems with drug interactions than our slightly younger forty-year-old counterparts.

One factor is our tired, overworked livers. Our poor livers just keep trying respond to our demands to do more than they have done and more than they can reasonably do. They never get a vacation. And of course, they get precious little help from us; in fact, they often get active interference. (Hmmm, sounds kind of like being a parent, no?) All of this decreases our bodies’ ability to process alien substances, like…well, drugs.

And let’s not overlook those other vital detoxifying organs, our kidneys. By age 65 our kidneys, on average, have lost nearly 30% of their detoxifying capacity. (You, of course, could be primed to beat the average, if you’re following our Total Wellness philosophy.) To thicken the plot, aging brings less ability to retain and use water. Of course, lots of people of all ages don’t drink enough water. But how can we hope to detoxify all these drugs — not to mention the plethora of other toxins vying for their attention — if we don’t supply our bodily filters the water they need to flush effectively.

Also, as we age, our body composition changes. Yes, you guessed it: more of those worrisome — not to say embarrassing — fat cells. And drugs just love to hang out in our fat cells.

OK, I know, aging is unavoidable. But let’s face it — we could all age a lot more gracefully, by becoming more savvy consumers across the board.
• Question your doctor, do a little research, and say “no” to unnecessary drugs.
• Say “yes” to knowing the potential dangers of drugs you’re offered and the alternatives to any drugs you do take.
• Question the value of drugs that seem to cause more problems than they relieve.
• More importantly, say “yes” to taking better care of yourself, so you’ll have less need for drugs.

It’s your body, it’s your life. Take control of them.

Adverse drug reactions in the news, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 23:11:00 +0000

This week, adverse drug reactions made the headlines. The AP reported a study showing adverse reactions result in more than 700,000 visits to emergency rooms every year. That’s reactions to legit drugs, to prescribed pharmaceuticals — insulin, blood thinners, antibiotics, statins, etc. — and a few over-the-counter medications, like aspirin. Seven hundred thousand. Annually. Sounds like a lot, right?

But wait, as the Ginzu knife infomercial implores, there’s more. The report didn’t mention the more than 100,000 fatalities that make drug reactions one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Nor did the article mention the 1.5 million hospitalizations caused by adverse drug reactions.

And, of course, none of this takes into account the reactions that don’t send folks to the hospital or the morgue, but that do cause serious life-disrupting symptoms — like headache, mood change, loss of libido, and nausea, to name just a few.

And, to add insult to injury, many of these reactions are — you guessed it — preventable. “But how can this be?” you ask. Well, guess what? Many of the drugs involved should never have been prescribed together; some prescribed doses were too high; and some drugs triggered allergies that were already known to the patient, but were never discussed with the prescribing physician, who apparently didn’t get around to the right questions. And they call me a quack.

...and a side of effects

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:59:00 +0000

So, what’s new in the world of scary side effects to widely prescribed medications for women. Well, wouldn’t you know it, just when we think we’ve learned to manage menopause naturally, the powers that be want to take away our bone-density formula.

Yes, we now learn that — in some cases — Fosamex, a commonly prescribed biphosphonate medication for osteoporosis causes bone deterioration in the jaw. Many of these cases are in already compromised patients, but I wonder whether it’s not just a matter of time before other problems are correlated to the biphosphonates. Scary stuff.

I refer you to my prior postings on the disease-mongering pharmaceutical industry and remind you to be a savvy consumer of those beautifully colored, designer-tweaked, seductively marketed pills and capsules.

But what can you do if you are worried about bone density? Well, to name a few safe potential solutions: adding vitamins, minerals, and weight-bearing exercise to your daily regimen. Eating more fruits and vegetables. Increasing your intake of fish oils. Decreasing your intake of wheat. (Gluten intolerance and osteoporosis seem to be linked.) To help cover most of these bases, my patients use a high quality fish oil, Cal Matrix, and take a plant-based supplement (Greens First or Red Alert).

Remember, question drug therapy, and try natural remedies first. It takes some time to rebuild your health, but Total Wellness is achievable — with a little help in the right direction.

On women, hormones, and other things that go bump in the night

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:36:00 +0000

Warning: Ultimately, this will probably turn out to be more a book than a blog, but let’s open that box and let the Pandora in us live again.

As I write this warning note, it occurs to me how many times I’ve referred to Pandora’s box without truly thinking about the story of Pandora. According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. She was endowed with many attributes, including beauty, music, and persuasion; in fact, her name means, “all-gifted.” Prominent among those gifts, of course, was curiosity; thus the opening of the container she had been warned not to open, and the unleashing of multitudes of evil upon the earth. Clearly, recovering our personal Pandora is a valiant pursuit.

But, I learned something new during my recent revisiting of this ancient tale: after the evils departed, something was left in the box. And that something was hope. Evils may surround us, but hope abides.

What — you may well ask — has all of this got to do with my hormones? I believe that maintaining good health requires women (and men, too, but we’ll come back to men in a future posting) to rely on our gift of curiosity. We must educate ourselves on how best to stay healthy through the sometimes seismic effects of raging hormones and aging systems. And, often, it means facing potential evil while maintaining hope. I want to help you discover and understand the hope nestled inside your box, waiting to be discovered.

Let’s start with hormones. As we age, our hormones inevitably shift. A multiplicity of factors contribute to this shift, so let’s examine those areas we can influence. In this first installment, I’d like to focus on diet. (OK, yes, it’s another proverbial box. But, open it I shall.)

First, virtually everyone who talks food and diet agrees on a few things. Vegetables good, white flour and sugar bad. Water? Yes. Soda? No. Meat? Grass-fed only, no hormones, please. Carbs? Depends. OK. Which carbs? Low glycemic index. So far, so good.

But now, it gets more complicated. Many of us are eating too much, not often enough, and too fast. This leads to chronic adrenal stress. We’re poorly nourished and stressed, so we’re tired. We try to deal with our fatigue — and thereby close the vicious circle — through more inappropriate eating. Our adrenals get the message that we need more juju, and bursts of cortisol — our natural stress-response drug — come screaming down the pike.

Producing cortisol requires a chemical known as pregnenolone, and producing so much of it drains our pregnenolone supplies. But, guess what? Making hormones requires the same stuff. The adrenals get first dibs. Leaving little or none for production of progesterone, estrogen, or testosterone. Are you beginning to see a pattern? Is it surprising that women — especially those age 38 and above — are tired and that sex has plummeted to the bottom of their priority lists? What to do? Stay tuned…

Yes, I Do That

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:14:00 +0000

Even after twenty years of practice, I regularly get surprised. Sometimes these surprises come in the form of helpful reminders or provocative questions. And sometimes the questions serve as reminders. One patient recently — and kindly — reminded me that part of my job is letting you know how I can help you. And this website and blog help me meet that challenge.

I was treating the patient — who had come to me often, for a variety of complaints — when she casually asked, “Do you do jaws?” Now, you may well wonder what “doing” a jaw entails. But don’t be alarmed, it’s just shorthand for “treat and fix.”

And, yes, I do jaws. Lots of them. That’s because — it may be your turn to be surprised— lots of people suffer from jaw problems. And many of them are completely unaware of the source of their discomfort.

The culprit is a condition called temporomandibular joint dysfunction, or TMJ for short. It manifests itself as a clicking, cracking, popping hinge; in discomfort when chewing…or yawning…or even talking; and it sometimes causes headache and stiff neck and…well, a long list of maladies.

What is that pesky temporomandibular joint? Well, the temporal bone is actually a part of your skull, while the mandible is a part of your jaw. So, once again we’re dealing with a joint and, of course, with the supporting structure of muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

And what goes wrong? Often, TMJ results from tight muscles that prevent the joint from moving properly. If you’re keeping score at home, these muscles include the buccinators, the temporalis, and the pterygoids, and they’re located both inside and outside of the mouth. Sometimes, the neck muscles, especially the anterior ones, are connected to an ongoing jaw problem. And even the shoulder and pectoral muscles can be culprits, as well.

That means a successful TMJ treatment must address not only the jaw itself, but also the surrounding structures. (Hello! Once again, we’re reminded that the body is an interconnected system.) The good news is that TMJ usually responds favorably to simple, short-term treatment. Especially if you don’t wait — and suffer — twenty-or-so years before seeking help.

So, yes, I do jaws. And feet. And hands and heads and so on.

All of this serves as another reminder to me: that my patients have always been, and will continue to be, my best teachers. If I haven’t thanked you who are reading this for the privilege of being your doctor, let me use this opportunity to do so. I’ve been blessed with a diverse and stimulating group of wonderful people who join me in pursuit of a higher level of wellness — Total Wellness, in fact — and who constantly challenge me to learn and grow. For all of this and more, I thank you.

Summer Breeze or Ill Wind?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 01:07:00 +0000

“Checklist for Camp: Bug spray. Sunscreen. Pills.” Thus read a recent headline in the nation’s newspaper, The New York Times (July 16, 2006), and the article following focused on parents, kids, and summer camp…and more.

A newly available service shrink-wraps daily doses of a summer camper’s personal multi-drug regimen. This makes it a breeze — even on a windless day — for camp nurses to dispense the beautifully colored and bountifully prescribed designer drugs our nation’s children now apparently require to live the undisturbed — and undisturbing — life. Even at summer camp.

Such rampant pill dispensing was unheard of a generation ago. But, my, how we’ve progressed; today, between one-quarter and one-half of young summer campers take prescription medications. Among conditions these prescriptions target (or claim to target) are allergies, asthma, and those trendy, nebulous, but epidemic, “behavior management” issues.

Of course, for all of these conditions, incidence is on the rise. Why? One inadvertent clue pops up from this same article’s description of what follows the daily dose of pills. “A quick gulp of water, a greeting from the nurse, and the youngsters move on to the next table for orange juice, Special K, and chocolate chip pancakes.”

Hmm, let’s see — we follow up our meds with a sip of water, then beakers, bowls, and plates of sugar, sugar, and sugar. Throw in a generous portion of processed flour, and away we go. It’s a sure-fire ticket to a blood-sugar rollercoaster.

It’s no wonder those little bodies have trouble dealing with incoming allergens, and struggle to manufacture those neurotransmitters that govern our moods and behaviors. Not to mention the debilitating effects of undetected drug interactions and overworked livers trying to detoxify the whole mess. How many of our pharmaceutical dilemmas have their roots in our poor dietary choices?

Certainly, some kids — just like some adults — need drugs. But here’s the ugly truth: the big drug manufacturers are sitting around their big, round tables discussing how they can get all of us on a few drugs, and I’m sorry to say this “us” includes innocent kids. (See my previous post, "New Diseases, New Drugs, Same Old Record Profits.") And it’s obviously not just the pharmaceuticals. Everyone needs a nutritious diet, with limited simple carbohydrates. As parents, we need to seriously question what our kids are putting into their bodies. (And what we put into our own bodies — like it or not, we’re their role models.)

Health doesn’t just happen. It’s a combination of the choices we make every day, like when we thoughtlessly grab that bag of chips, pop open a soda, flip on the TV, and claim our cozy seat on the mainline to malaise.

Allergy Season Redux, Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 18:39:00 +0000

So, are you STILL SUFFERING from allergies? Please consider the ten-day detox I recommended in my last posting. We’re having great results with the ten-day plan, followed up with specific homeopathic remedies to combat the seasonal pollen parade.

Why does the detox help with seasonal allergies?

First, you give your body a break from foods that may be adding to the toxic load on a system already under assault by the pollens. Many of us have minor food sensitivities that don’t reveal themselves as full-blown allergies. But those little troublemakers that ordinarily pose no serious problem — when dumped into an already overworked detox system — will quickly reveal their dark side.

A second reason to detox is to assist your overburdened liver by optimizing the performance of its congested detoxification pathways. Think, “opening the channels.” Think, “healthy Draino.”

Ultimately, even a healthy body has a limited ability to ward off incoming toxins, including those pesky pollens and problem foods. Identifying your major culprits, reducing your intake of reactive foods, and reinforcing your defenses will help reduce both the ongoing stress on your body and those misery-mmaking stress-reactions that we call allergies.

Allergy Season Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:57:00 +0000

OK, so it’s allergy time again. We can wheeze. We can sneeze. We can itch. We can ooze. Let’s face it: although some of us clearly suffer more than others do, those insidious, often-unseen particles floating through our air are not good for any of us. Is there anything we can do to minimize their effects? Well, yes, fortunately, we’re not completely defenseless.

For starters, this is a great time of year for a simple, 10-day detox program. In just ten days, you’ll simultaneously give your body a well deserved break from foods it may find challenging, while cleaning your liver and opening its drainage pathways so it can successfully break down and flush out those pesky allergens and irritants.

It’s also a great time to haul out Neti and resume (or begin?) that salutary nasal washing. And, its time to reinvigorate your hard-working bodily systems with lymphatic drainage and homeopathic detoxification remedies; they’ll arm your body to attack and eliminate those annoying invading pollens.

Another very effective treatment is allergy elimination treatment, which involves reprogramming your body’s physical and psychological responses to an allergen.

And, of course, it’s again time to think about which areas of your diet, nutritional supplementation, stress levels, or exercise regimen need tweaking. Appropriate tweaking sometimes means less of something, sometimes more. Most of us need a bit more rest and a lot less stress to mount a proper immune response to whatever challenges come our way, including the airborne ones.

If you’re suffering from seasonal allergies, I’d be glad to discuss the detox program and my beloved Neti pot, and to help devise a personally tailored, safe, effective counterattack.

New Diseases, New Drugs, Same Old Record Profits

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:42:00 +0000

A recent AlterNet posting bears a chilling title: “How the Drug Companies Want Us to Be Sick.” Multinational pharmaceutical corporations have a dream, and it isn’t one they gleaned from Martin Luther King.

Their dream: at least one disease and more than one prescription drug for every American. There is so much marketing and selling of sickness that the phrase “disease mongering” has been coined to refer to the marketing of diseases and their matching drug solutions. Dr. Richard Lippin, an occupational health physician, predicts we’ll see the “disease” label applied to anything and everything to do with pain, fatigue, or feeling stressed. He reasons that there will be an attempt to market to the baby boomers desperate to avoid aging and death. Also, thanks to the very real problems we face globally, anxiety and depression will continue to rise. Good news for the antidepressant manufacturers, bad news for unsuspecting consumers.

Recently, “big pharma” was given a green light by the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Communications Commission, and they’ve unleashed a veritable tsunami of drug ads swamping American television screens with the message, “Ask your doctor…,” — and believe me, we’re asking.

With these ads and other complementary marketing techniques, drug makers are redefining the parameters of “normal” health. And they’re convincing more and more of us that we’re in need of drugs to cure or control a rapidly expanding list of pharmaceutically targeted ailments. Suddenly, for example, we learn that what was once an acceptable blood pressure or blood cholesterol level is now in the “unhealthy” range. But, we’re oh-so-relieved to learn, help is available, in the form of drugs whose lists of side effects — even when rattled off at breakneck speed — eat up huge chunks of airtime in their commercials.

These newly revised standards, by the way, are unsupported by independent scientific research. Take the revived barrage of warnings about cholesterol levels. Fact is, tests for homocysteine and C-reactive protein are better indicators of heart disease risk than are measurements of cholesterol, but the former are rarely ordered. And, guess why? Controlling these risk factors doesn’t involve a pharmaceutical solution, but relies instead on vitamin supplementation and lifestyle changes. But, oops, there’s not enough profit down that path.

In reality, many of the diseases — old and new — commonly treated with pharmaceuticals are the compound result of unhealthy lifestyle factors including stress, lack of exercise, processed foods, and an ecosystem out of balance. It’s the sickening of America, and it really is sickening.

So, what do I recommend? By all means, ask your doctor. But not about drugs and diseases. Ask about dietary changes, about exercise, about supplements. Ask how you can change your life and start taking control of your health, your choices, and your dream.

Knees, Knees, Knees — Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:02:00 +0000

Last time, I described the multifaceted approach I employ when treating knee problems. (In fact, I use this same kind of approach when dealing with most conditions, from back pain to digestive problems to fatigue to depression to…well, you name it.) Remember, Total Wellness means holistic health care. Your knees, of course, are no exception.

Often, and surprisingly to most of my patients, pain in the FRONT of the knee joint is actually caused by tightness in the muscles attached in the BACK of the knee. Overstrung hamstrings and a rigid gastrocnemius (the chief flexor muscle in your calf) can cause the quadriceps (the large, four-part extensor muscle in the front of your thigh) to pull antagonistically, causing improper tracking of the patella (kneecap). Result? Ouch!

Hey, remember? “The thigh bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to the calf bone…” It’s more than a classic popular ditty. It’s good old-fashioned folk wisdom.

A holistic chiropractic physician (there MAY just be one nearby) can help you figure out most functional abnormalities in your body and offer alternative (in other words, safe and effective; in other other words, non-pharmaceutical and non- surgical) solutions. Of course, there are situations that ultimately require drugs or surgery. But why start with the heavy guns? Let’s put our energy into looking for more peaceful solutions for our bodies — and our world.

Knees, Knees, Knees — Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:42:00 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about knees lately. Why? you might ask. Perhaps, like many people, you don’t think of knee problems as “chiropractic” problems. Maybe you think chiropractic physicians are limited to just cracking backs and adjusting necks. Recently, one of my patients told me that, when she told a friend she was seeing her chiropractic physician for her knee problem, the response she got was, “Why, would you go to a chiropractor for your knee?”

Why, indeed? Well, would you be surprised to learn that I treat lots of patients with knee problems? It’s not really surprising when you think about it.

The knee is one of the most troublesome components of the often-troublesome human musculoskeletal system. Our evolution from quadruped to biped took eons, but it happened too fast for the poor old knee joint. It’s just not designed to bear the weight and torque of all this upright posture and walking. To say nothing of gardening, running, rock climbing, and the other assorted stresses we add to its daily burdens.

The truth is that I have a lot of success treating knee problems, assuming that the underlying structure isn’t already damaged beyond repair. I employ a variety of modalities, including electrical stimulation, ultrasound, massage, and suction acupuncture, all mixed with a lot of common sense. By understanding your knee’s normal structure and function, we can usually find a way back to a healthier situation.

More to come...

Sense and Nonsense

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 18:27:00 +0000

These days, to rational minds, more and more things don’t make much sense.

For example: Benzene is on the EPA’s list of known carcinogens. So, it’s bad enough that the FDA allows levels of benzene in common soft drinks that exceed federal benzene limits in tap water. (See http://www.ewg.org/issues/toxics/20060404/index.php.) But we then compound the error by underfunding our schools, leading them, in their desperation, to sell the aforementioned toxin to our cherished children. Go figure. I sure can’t.

This brings me to my latest rant. Today, again, I’m shaking my head. From surprise? No. I’m disheartened, yes, but surprised, no.

The New England Journal of Medicine (in its April 13 issue) offers us a new study comparing the fat content of popular fast foods, country-by-country. Suffice it to say, a serving of French fries in Denmark has significantly less fat than a comparable order of “Freedom fries” (Don’t get me started on this one!) in the U.S.

Of course, we can “just say no” to transfats, to sugar, to excessive and often injurious pharmaceuticals. And to sending idiots to Washington. (The members of this noxious quartet are not unrelated. Need a hint? Think big business.)

When a patient comes into my office and doesn’t feel well, one of the first things I have to ask is, “What are you eating and what’s eating you?” (Also not unrelated.) Fortunately, there’s usually an obvious area of weakness to target and correct.

Truth is — with appropriate lifestyle changes and targeted supplementation, and with simple adjustments to our spines and our attitudes — most of us can thrive — sans trans, sans sodas, and sans drugs. Now that makes sense!

Detours Along the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:31:00 +0000

It’s been awhile since I blogged, and I miss talking to you folks in cyberspace. There’s always so much to share as we travel this road to Total Wellness.

Case in point: Exactly why haven’t written anything for a while. It's...well…OK, to put it bluntly, I got sick. Yes, yes, yes. I hate to admit it but I, too, get off track and put my system at the mercy of the many bacteria floating about.

In fact, a recent article (www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/12/13/cold.flu.desk/) enlightens us on just how many little teenie-weenies are fighting to take up residence in our lungs, sinuses, and other unmentionable places. So, it comes down to our ability to ward off these microbes with a strong immune system and an offensive stance.

Which parts of my own advice did I fail to heed? I stopped taking my favorite immune system ally, Xenoforce, something I generally take on a daily basis through the winter. But my biggest mistake was STRESS and not listening to my body when it told me to REST. I plunged ahead like the super-mom, super-doctor, super-wife, super-friend, super-sister, super-daughter…well, you get the point.

And all the while, my body was telling me to curl up in bed with lots of fluids and to be super-careful for just me for just a bit. As we’re learning on all sorts of fronts, it’s not just “not nice to fool Mother Nature.” It’s not even possible.

Journal Coughs Up Some Evidence

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:57:00 +0000

We’ve seen some interesting information circulating lately about the efficacy of over-the-counter cough syrups. The news first surfaced in Chest, the journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). (I know, I know. But it’s a real journal and a real organization. Honest.) It’s a timely discussion, because, as winter deepens, all of us are more vulnerable to flus and colds, and their accompanying coughs.

So. A recent study, published in the January issue of Chest, found that — quite frankly, as the politicians would say, and despite the billions of dollars spent every year on these “remedies” — they do little or nothing to relieve coughs. (It’s shocking! Isn’t it? All right, it’s not.)

The authors sagely recommend skipping the store-bought nostrums and, instead, treating the root cause of the mucous build-up, the resultant post-nasal drip, and the ultimate coughing jag stimulated by the drip. (On a serious note, please be aware that more serious coughs, accompanied by shortness of breath, fever, or chest pains, may indicate a more serious underlying illness such as pertussis or pneumonia, and may require an antibiotic for resolution.)

OK. Cough syrup is out. What’s in? Well, aside from the age-old wisdom of rest, fluids, and chicken soup — there are some other important steps we can take, not just to treat a cough, but also to prevent one. Regarding the latter, my advice about common colds and coughs is simple: Don’t get one in the first place. Of course, that’s easy to say. But what does it mean, in a practical sense.

It means taking a look at the bottom line when it comes to staying healthy. I like to ask: How much junk is going in, and how much is coming out? By “junk” going in I mean...well, come on, you know what I mean. I mean: white flour and white sugar; Big Gulps; Red Number x, Blue Number y, and Yellow Number z, and all other artificial colors; too much of anything, even good things; and so on. By going out, I mean: How well is your body utilizing its intake and detoxifying the load? (See my previous postings, Love Your Liver, Parts 1 & 2.)

Too much junk in and too little junk out is typical. Added up, that combination taxes all of our systems, and puts heavy pressure on the immune system, specifically. And, hello! Coughs and colds are the body’s natural responses to a weakened immune system. So, to fend off coughs, we should look at the many ways we weaken our immune systems. Allergies, for example are a major culprit. Allergies to certain foods, allergies to annoying people, to dust, to cats, to cleaning products. (Raise your hand if — like me — you can “taste” the aisle with the laundry detergents, dryer fluffs, and affiliated products.)

Total Wellness is about finding these areas of vulnerability. It’s about increasing our ability to detoxify. It’s about optimizing the body’s ability to utilize foods, by correcting a diet gone awry, including appropriate exercise, incorporating targeted supplements, and eliminating from our lives as many sources of stress as we can identify — including those annoying and upsetting people, especially those that exist only as phantom, negative voices in our heads.

And, let’s not forget a focus on the body itself. Some crucial elements include:
• Chiropractic adjustment. A well-adjusted nervous system can better fend for itself in the world charged with microbes.
• The faithful neti pot, an invaluable, simple tool for sinus cleansing. Think dental floss for the sinus. Just imagine how many bacteria and viruses invade through the nasopharynx and — Voila! — you understand the power of the neti. (More to come on neti, too.)
• Xenoforce, an excellent supplemental addition to your regimen during the dark days of winter.
• Red Alert and-or GREENSFirst, good for everyone, but especially important for those fruit-and vegetable-averse kiddies. If they aren’t already drinking their nutraceuticals, the time to start would be now.
• A homeopathic lymph drainage solution, combined with soft tissue manipulation, especially for those prone to ear infections or colds.

These simple, inexpensive, safe, and effective solutions can put you and yours on the pathway to resolving what may have come to seem like an inevitable part of winter's ritual.

Love Your Liver, Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 17:05:00 +0000

Last posting, we were talking about your hard-working liver and its many contributions to your health and longevity. Take cancer, for example. Many forms of cancer have an environmental component — in other words, they’re caused, in whole or in part, by toxins. That means a functioning liver is an essential part of our built-in cancer-prevention package.

One cancer study, published in Nature (Number 369, 1994), leads us to Turin, Italy, site of the upcoming Winter Olympics. Seriously, I am not making this up. Researchers studied workers in a Turin chemical plant, and found that those with the poorest functioning liver enzyme systems had a higher rate of bladder cancer. So, it behooves us to keep this vital drain-and filter-organ at peak performance.

When it comes to home maintenance, we all want clean water flowing through our pipes, a functioning garbage disposal, and open drainpipes to eliminate the wastes. We have to demand the same for our bodies. And, once again, that pesky diet is crucial to keeping it all working at peak efficiency.

So, you know the drill: fruits, veggies, fiber, water, lean protein, the right oils, and — when called for — some targeted supplements, to tune the liver and assist its many ongoing detoxification projects. And, if you’re among the growing throngs of Americans struggling to lose weight, your liver may need some extra help to reconnect with its inherent loveliness.

How’s your liver lookin’? Let’s talk.

Love Your Liver, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 01:24:00 +0000

Ah, the liver. The lovely liver. The lovely, hard-working liver. The lovely, hard-working, large liver.

How large? Well, the functional unit of the liver is a 1-2 millimeter lobule, and each human liver contains 50,000 to 100,000 individual lobules.

How hard working? Well, aside from filtering 1000 milliliters of blood every minute, the liver plays a key role in carbohydrate metabolism, fat metabolism, protein metabolism, and vitamin storage. And — if that isn’t enough multitasking — the liver also does a lot of our detox heavy lifting, extracting and excreting not only any drugs we take into our bodies, but also the many natural substances produced by our bodies that must be excreted to avoid toxic accumulation.

How lovely? Well...OK, OK. Don’t gag. I’m NOT going there. But I do want you to take just a moment to appreciate your liver. It’s down there on the right side, by the way, tucked up under the ribcage. And while it may not meet everyone’s idea of beauty, there’s no doubt about its value.

Are you sure your liver is up to its many tasks? It’s a question that deserves serious attention, so…stay tuned.

Plumbing and Drainage

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 23:15:00 +0000

With all this water falling out of the sky, sewers backing up, and gutters overflowing into inappropriate areas, I can’t help but mull over some wellness-oriented plumbing and drainage metaphors. I find myself remembering how much of our health is just a matter of keeping the drains open.

Whenever I assess a patient’s total health, it’s essential to find out how well the “plumbing” is working. For example, let’s start today with a look at one of the major components of our digestive system, the large and small intestines. Together, these flexible, serpentining pipelines comprise one of our major organs of nutrient absorption and toxin elimination. But, all too often, I discover a compromised intestinal system.

That, of course, both prevents proper absorption of nutrients and produces toxic build-up. It’s two-faceted recipe for trouble. And, it doesn’t just create the conditions for illness, it also compromises the body’s ability to respond. Because — and I find that many of my patients are unaware of this — the mucosa of our gut is home to key battalions of our immune defense army. When compromised by poor digestion, these minions are disarmed and can’t fight the ongoing battles with the countless xenobiotics we encounter and send their way each and every day.

Now for the good news. There are some great ways of improving gut function. These include specifically targeted digestive enzymes, high-potency digestive bacteria (good bacteria, also called probiotics), and GreensFirst or Red Alert (natural nutraceutical supplements). We can also repair the gut when leaky gut syndrome is the culprit.

Getting the intestines back in tune — extracting those nutirients and eliminating those toxins — is a major step on the pathway to Total Wellness. Next time, we’ll move down the pipeline and look at another essential and little-understood component of our marvelous human plumbing system — the liver.

What's All the Fizz About?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 20:06:00 +0000

There’s been a lot of media buzz lately about fruit. Not just plain old fruit, of course, far from it. Now, with help from Oregon State University food scientists — you know, the folks that years ago brought us the maraschino cherry — we’re blessed with another innovation in American food lore: fizzy fruit.

What’s up? Basically, a Texas food scientist found a way to insert carbonation into fruit. He then worked with OSU’s Food Innovation Center to commercialize the process. The result is that eating a fizzified grape is more like drinking a grape soda. And all without compromising the nutrient value of that grape.

At first glance, it sounds like a winner. Or at least like fun. The developers’ thought is that fizzy fruit will encourage kids to make healthier choices from school-lunch offerings. And maybe it will.

My hope is that the fizzy fruit discussion will help raise awareness about the crap that we have been offering our children. Too often, when it comes to feeding our kids, we take the line of least resistance; we opt for the easy, cheap, heavily advertised path. And worse, in recent years, we’ve sometimes been driven by our desperation to supplement school budgets, in this case through sales of really unhealthy foods to our own kids.

We need to educate children and parents about good nutrition and the dangers of white flour and sugar, in all their guises. When 10-year-old children are developing adult-onset diabetes and heart disease, we are in serious trouble as a nation.

Is fizzy fruit the answer? Well, the likeliest candidates for fizzification are grapes, apples, cherries, and strawberries. Sounds great. Of course, these guys happen to be among the crops ranked highest in pesticide use (or is that abuse)?

So, we have to ask ourselves: Will encouraging consumption of more sugar — albeit fruit sugar — accompanied by carbonated pesticides yield a great health benefit? Maybe, if the fizzy fruit replaces a big gulp or white bread or a Snickers.

But we can certainly do much, much more. And there are plenty of examples to draw from. I once read about Corvallis’s sister city in Uzhgorod, where the kids all have homemade dark bread and bean soup for lunch — a far cry from what we serve in our schools in the name of food.

Of course, we can’t lay it all off on the schools. We have to begin at home, by feeding our children and ourselves better. My first rule is: If you don’t want your kids to eat it, don’t bring it home. The same should go for school lunches. Is it good for children and other living things? How good? As my wise old father always says, in another context: “When in doubt, throw it out!” Sound advice. We’ll all be healthier — and, believe it or not, happier — if we throw the junk out of our diets. Starting now.

Bon appétit!

The New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Leslie Berman) — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 17:02:00 +0000

Yes, once again, the inevitable New Year’s resolutions are upon us. For many of us, this involves a resolve to take better care of ourselves. And this often involves a vow to increase our exercise regimen. While exercise is by far one of the most important things we can do for our current and future health, there is the tendency to overdo. Sometimes we overdo simply because we forget how long it’s been since we exercised so vigorously or used specific muscle groups. Sometimes just it’s our emotions over-riding our common sense. Sound familiar? Well, I plead guilty to this tendency, too.

Take my Atlantic Ocean boogie boarding adventures this past August. Post-hurricane waves were rolling in…well, in waves. But, no fear. I was boldly banging my way in and out of the surf, one arm or the other leashed to the board and thrashing wildly. Exciting. Exhilarating. Exultant. I loved it.

Next day, of course, I could hardly lift my arms. Excruciating. Exhausting. Exasperating. It was more than a week before they felt even close to normal. What? You think I overdid it?

And then there was the recent bowling-alley incident with my son, Julian. He bowled six games; I bowled one. Next day, Julian’s unfazed, but I’m thinking, “What have I done to my right arm?”

My point here is not that I’m out of shape. (Though I have to admit that being — shall we say? — “not as young as I once was” may be involved.) It’s that each activity we do puts different muscles and combinations of muscles into play. So, we need to take things slowly. Establish our own pace and not try to keep up with the next guy. Or with the twenty-something Olympics coxswain in our head. It means listening to our bodies very carefully. If we do, we’ll usually get some indication when we’re overdoing it. Unfortunately, we’re quite skilled at ignoring or rationalizing these helpful messages.

Sure, sometimes we’ll have to “work through” the pain. But, more often, we need to listen to the pain, and work with it not through it. That can mean a variety of things. Like stretching. Yes, stretching our imaginations, our comfort zones, and our bodies. We can benefit from stretching in more ways and places than any of us realize. Each time I return to my twice-a-week yoga sessions, I’m amazed at how tight I’ve become again.

Let’s face it — keeping healthy and fit requires a fair amount of effort, but it sure beats the alternative. It means getting the right amounts and kinds of exercise for your body type. Stretching and warming up. Staying hydrated. Maintaining a diet that truly feeds your body type and chemistry. Taking supplements targeted to your unique needs. Keeping a positive attitude.

And, need I say, the right chiropractic physician can work with you to design a plan and tune your body. (For example, when increasing your exercise regimen to get into shape, musculoskeletal adjustments can keep you out of trouble and on track.)

Total Wellness. It’s the pathway to achieving all your resolutions for the New Year.