When Soft Drink Consumption Rises, So Do The Risks of Cardiovascular Disease

Have you ever taken a good look around the tabletops of a fast food restaurant and observed what people are drinking? A quick survey will probably reveal that a majority of the patrons are enjoying a large, extra-large or super-sized refillable soft drink along with their meal. This is likely quite a change from what you would have seen at a restaurant table 40, 30 or even 20 years ago.

The effects on the population regarding this increased soft drink consumption and the health of individual drinkers was the research topic of a recent study at the Boston University School of Medicine through the Farmingham Heart Study. Researchers found that persons consuming more than one soft drink per day had an increased risk of the factors that are associated with heart disease. Interestingly, both regular and diet soft drinks were seen as equal contributors to these threats to heart health.

These factors of heart disease risk have been clustered into a group of symptoms know as “Metabolic Syndrome.”
This grouping includes excess waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides (fats), elevated glucose levels, and a lower level of the good HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein). According to the researchers, three or more of these factors present in the body indicates a higher risk for heart disease and for diabetes as well.

“We were struck by the fact that it didn’t matter whether it was a diet or regular soda that participants consumed, the association with increased risk was present,” said Ramachandran Vasan, M.D., and professor at Boston University School of Medicine. “In those who drink one or more soft drinks daily, there was an association of an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome.”

The Farmingham Study involved some 9,000 personal observations made in middle-aged men and women at 3 different times over a 4 year period. When this study began, researchers immediately observed that persons consuming more than one soft drink per day had a 48 percent higher presence of metabolic syndrome than those consuming one drink or less a day.

Also interesting was the increased risk noted over the course of the study for persons who had no evidence of a metabolic risk at the start, but who consumed one or more soft drinks per day. At the end of 4 years, those who consumed this amount of soft drink had a 44 percent higher risk of developing new-onset metabolic syndrome. Also noted for this group was a 31 percent greater risk of developing new on-set obesity, a 30 percent increase in developing increased waist size, a 25 percent increase in triglycerides and glucose levels, and a 32 percent risk of having lower HDL levels. These results were published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

With obesity statistics for American adults and children rising each year and with the onset of diabetes also rising, a change in lifestyle and health practices is obviously overdue.

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”
Gautama Siddharta

Speak up and educate others,

Dr. Craig

Flossing Your Spine for Health and Longevity

I see it day in and day out, the difference that exists between people who “get it”… the why’s and how’s of spinal hygiene, and those that don’t. One of the saddest things to witness for me is someone who comes to me for help, but is too far gone to make any significant improvements. In frustration I wonder how could they let things get this bad, how could they ignore the warning signs? Looking at x-ray after x-ray I can’t help but think: this could have been avoided if they just knew better!

Of the many goals we have in this office, awareness of personal choices is perhaps the biggest one. For instance, the concept of good dental hygiene is really just a series of healthy personal choices that we learned to make while we were young. Consider the following basic principle: maintaining healthy teeth and gums to prevent damage and decay requires consistent health practices like brushing, rinsing, and flossing. Most people understand this to be as true as 2+2=4. So, why the mental block when it comes to spinal hygiene? Herein, is both our greatest frustration and challenge in being health care advocates.

One of the major benefits of getting your spine adjusted by a Doctor of Chiropractic is similar in nature to that of flossing your teeth. You have been taught to floss your teeth to ensure that no hidden food particles remain behind that can lead to the formation of a cavity. By the same token, we adjust your spine to ensure that no hidden joint stress remains behind that can lead to disc decay and joint arthritis. As you use a daily brushing and rinsing strategy to promote health in the future, we use exercises, stretches and ergonomic advice to promote health in the future. We all have regular, routine dental checkups. We should all, and I mean everyone, have regular spinal checkups.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are just talking about bones here... the ones in your mouth versus the ones in your back! They will respond favorably to healthy personal choices and practices, just as they will rot and decay from neglect and abuse.

I have seen enough rotting, decaying spines to know that maintenance and prevention is the way to go. I have also seen the quality of life in many people increase dramatically simply because they decided to start “flossing their spine” on a regular basis.

Are you looking for a means by which to ensure a great state of health and function well into the future? Your spine is part of that equation, and there is no way around that fact.

I for one do not want to be on medication when I am older. I do not wish to need the assistance of a cane, walker or wheelchair. I plan on having the strength, mental clarity, and ambition to be as active as any 80, 90, or 100 year old has ever been. I do not have all the answers, but I do know that the only way this is possible is through awareness of my personal choices.

Society did make dentistry a no brainer for me as a kid, but the rest seems up to me to figure out as an adult. In any case, my goal of having a healthy mind and healthy body seems worth the effort. And, I am hoping to educate and motivate as many people as possible to do the same.

“To preserve health is a moral and religious duty, for health is the basis of all social virtues. We can no longer be useful when we are not well.”
Samuel Johnson

Speak up and educate others,


Dr. Craig

University Sets National Example For Reduced Medical Industry Funding

Stanford University is setting the example for others to follow in severely reducing the ability of medical companies to influence the content of continuing medical education programs. The school will no longer accept support from pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturing companies for specific programs in continuing education for practicing physicians.

Continuing medical education programs (CME) are classes that Stanford offers to help practicing physicians stay current in their fields. Legally, doctors must participate in such programs to remain licensed to practice medicine.

In recent years, pharmaceutical and medical device companies have attempted to exert their influence on the content of such courses through the infusion of a huge increase of cash grants to colleges and universities. Between 1998 and 2006, these industries have quadrupled CME program funding from $301 million to $1.2 billion, according to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.

Keeping this commercial influence out of the CME programs at Stanford Medical School is what the decision regarding funding is all about. “We want CME to be unbiased and science-driven, and we don’t want it to be influenced by marketing,” says Dean Philip Pizzo, M.D. “We want our educational activities for whomever we are serving – whether it’s our own faculty or our colleagues in the community, locally or globally – to be true to the science and the evidence, and not be influenced by any kind of financial industry support.”

This Stanford University decision follows on the heels of a 2006 policy change which banned gifts, free meals and industry marketing at the university’s Medical Center. The school began to scrutinize interactions with industry in its educational and clinical areas in 2005. This latest ban on CME monies went into effect on Sept. 1, 2008.

Under the previous approach to CME, the industry often dictated the content of the programs that were frequently held outside of the campus environment in hotels or convention centers. The company sponsors would then be allowed to put up booths and provide advertising and marketing information to doctors in attendance.

The university’s goal for the future will be to bring any CME program presented to the campus environment to a new educational and learning center slated to open in 2010. Industry money will still be accepted into a general CME fund, but not for specific industry-driven programs. The university also plans to seek educational funding from philanthropic organizations. Dean Pizzo said he hopes Stanford’s new approach to physician education will serve as a model for other medical schools around the country.

Dr. Craig’s Comments:

What an outstanding move to make by Stanford University. Did you know how influenced the average medical doctor is by the pharmaceutical industry? It is true. This is has been happening for quite some time now. The “marketing of meds and unnecessary procedures” to medical doctors has got to stop! Science and meaningful purpose should always guide a doctor’s decision making process – not the almighty dollar.


Speak up and educate others,


Dr. Craig

Chirpractic Offers Solutions To A Physically Declining Nation

As a nation, the United States is heading toward a sedentary, obese and very unhealthy condition. Individual sickness, unhealthy eating, pharmaceutical drug intake and personal disability are all on the rise. Lost time at work and even the costs for premature death add up to billions of dollars annually.

The question of where to turn for a healthier lifestyle, one which is based on sound practices, together with the elimination of pain and reduced sickness eludes many, many people. Yet, the solution is staring Americans right in the face daily.

The answer lies in Chiropractic.

A chiropractor, by training and experience, offers a great deal more to the public than merely skeletal system adjustments and increased function of the nervous system of the body. This alone is a tremendous service, but it is only part of a chiropractor’s many skills which could help to put an entire nation back on the track to better health and fitness.

There was a time in the United States, not long ago, that the call went out from President John F. Kennedy to increase the fitness level of America. This occurred in the early 1960s when the President’s Council on Physical Fitness helped to set standards for both the youth and the adults of America to achieve a better state of well-being. Strides were nicely being made in this direction, but that was over 40 years ago, and now the nation has lapsed back into a state of physical apathy and decline.

Chiropractors, by training, know a great deal about physical fitness, in addition to a lifestyle enhanced by wellness and a more healthful living that is free of drugs. A personal visit to a chiropractor may not put an entire nation back on the track to better health, but it would help one person, you, and that is a great start!

Here are just a few of the benefits of getting more fit under the guidance of a chiropractor: A chiropractor will act as a personal counselor on health and wellness. An overall exercise program that fits a person’s lifestyle and interest will be discovered and encouraged. By the way, overall fitness is known to increase a person’s well-being and do wonders for a person’s back, which is often the source of pain for many people. Finally, improving fitness can help to impact a person’s life and society as well through reduced healthcare costs, visits to physicians, dependency on pharmaceutical drugs and even lost time from work.

There is a study that points to how this individual effort on a small scale could impact and entire area. It is reported that if one sedentary person out of 20 in the state of Michigan were to get on a regular exercise program, the filter down cost savings in the state would total over $575 million annually.

How do you turn the fitness of a nation around you ask? The answer is one person at a time. The solution starts with a Chiropractic consultation. It’s a visit that could add years to your life, increase your productivity, make living more fun and help out the physical fitness level of a declining nation – all at the same time.

Speak up and educate others,

Dr. Craig

The Spine-Brain Connection: A New Twist to the "Brain-Body Connection"

With technology advancing and the ability to measure brain activity and health improving each year, studies and theories about the brain-body connection are finding ever-increasing popularity.

Advancements in brain-body research are incredibly important, as the brain is responsible for all body function, thought and social interaction. The more we discover about the functions of the brain and the pathways in which it communicates with cells and the senses, the more likely we can expand our mental, emotional and functional capacities and overcome disease.

The Real Connection: With so much thought going into the brain and how it keeps the body going, we bet you're wondering what keeps the brain going. The answer is pretty simple: Your body. While the brain keeps the body developing and moving along, it is the nutrients that come from the body through eating, drinking, breathing air and the products of cellular function that keep the brain developing and moving along.

Important nutrients the brain needs for survival such as oxygen, glucose and neurotrophins (nutrients that keep neurons strong) get from the body to the brain through the cerebro-spinal (brain-spine or spine-brain) fluid (CSF) that flows from inside your spinal canal. This fluid gets from the spine to brain with the use of a CSF "pump." This CSF pump doesn't use electricity. The power for the pump is generated by the normal movements of the spine.

For the CSF pump to move effectively, you need a healthy spinal column. Irregular or reduced motion of the spine will lead to an abnormal and reduced flow of oxygen, glucose, neurotrophins and other important nutrients to the brain. That's why the spine-brain connection is so important. A bad back or neck will literally give you a bad brain.

The Damage: News stories concerning tragedies in which oxygen was cut off to the brain for too long a period during near-drowning incidents are very popular. Because of these reports, we all know that the effect of spending too much time without air causes brain damage. A lack of normal nutrient support to the brain will lead to damaged brain tissues and aberrant brain functions resulting in a significant increase in risk of disease process both in the brain and organ systems of the body.

Because many people suffer from undetected spinal imbalance and misalignments called subluxation, they lose the CSF pumping mechanism. As a result, nutrients are not delivered to the brain in the right quantity and quality. A poor spine-brain connection has been the cause of the average brain beginning to atrophy (shrink and deteriorate) by the age of 25.

Additionally, it's important to recognize that, for the brain to do any communicating with the body it must send the signals through the spinal column. Within the spinal column lies the brain stem and spinal cord. Again, misalignment or poor placement of the spine would then traction (abnormally stretch) the brain that could lead to poor development, altered brain function, and potentially reduced output of important glandular chemical hormones.

Off of the spinal cord emanate the spinal nerves. These nerves bring brain signals to all of the organ and muscle functions in the body. If the spinal nerves were to suffer from pressure or damage from the spinal column, it could affect heart, lung and glandular functions. This would, in turn, affect the brain due to abnormal levels of oxygen, blood and chemicals flowing to it.

Good Spine Hygiene: The success of the "brain-body connection" is linked to the health and function of the spinal column. This new twist, however, gives us the "spine-brain connection." Damage, misalignment (subluxation), altered curves and imbalance of the spine will lead to an ineffective "brain-body connection." That's why, regardless of symptoms, people who want their brains to "talk" to their bodies should make sure to establish proper spinal hygiene, which consists of the following criteria:

- Exercises to strengthen the paravertebral musculature (back muscles), abdomen and quadriceps (front of legs) which all become weak or atrophied due to sitting too often.
- Proper stretching of anterior musculature including the pectorals (chest) and anterior deltoids (front of shoulders) as well as calves and hamstrings.
- An evaluation by a chiropractor for proper spinal alignment and correction of spinal curves. (childhood checkups!)

An unhealthy spine-brain connection can lead to almost any disorder of the brain or body. Fortunately, the spine-brain connection can be enhanced by a chiropractor. Certain types of chiropractic can even improve or even completely restore this important connection.

Speak up and educate others,

Dr. Craig

Chiropractic’s Near-Death Experience

Almost 90 years ago, an illness plagued the U.S. that would have made anthrax seem like the hiccups. More than a million people died with what was called the St. Louis Flu in 1918. If you got the St. Louis Flu, you were going to die.

Strangely enough, around that same time, chiropractic, the only American born health care profession, was close to extinction or near-death, only 23 years after its discovery. In the time just after the end of World War I, laws against slander were so lenient that medical doctors were allowed to openly attack the chiropractic profession without any regard to truth, legality or the best interest of the patients.

Because medical doctors were making it so hard to have a practice, chiropractors were making mostly house calls. In 1918, chiropractors in Wisconsin began going door-to-door adjusting anyone who had the St. Louis Flu.

As a result, an amazing thing occurred. Not a single person with the St. Louis Flu who was adjusted by a chiropractor died.

The news about Chiropractic swept across Wisconsin and eventually the whole country. Within a short period of time, chiropractic became so well known as the best defense against the St. Louis flu that it saved the profession. Unfortunately, many of the myths and legends started by medical doctors way back then persist today.

After the St. Louis Flu had come and gone and chiropractic began to take off, the major medical association realized they failed to eliminate the profession. As a last ditch effort, the state medical boards began offering chiropractors medical licenses, figuring if you can't beat them, control them. Not a single chiropractor took their offer!

Chiropractic never pretended to be a cure for St. Louis Flu, anthrax, back pain, headaches, or cancer back in 1918 or today. Chiropractic simply removes pressure, pinching, tension and interference from the brain stem, spinal cord and nerves. This maximizes your body's God-given strength and its ability to heal and protect itself without the use of dangerous drugs or surgery.

Chiropractic allows your body to be as healthy as possible.

For this reason, Chiropractic is alive and well – like never before!

Speak up and educate others,

Dr. Craig