Many an athlete has retired prematurely because of bad knees

Your knees take a lot of abuse.  So much so that some say the design of the knees are flawed because there is no way that they can stand up to the years of wear-and-tear that they go through.

Knee pain and injuries are a significant part of my practice and I see a wide variety of different patients with knee problems.  Some are young and have growing pains such as in Osgood-Schlatter’s disease.  Others are older and have various degrees of arthritis and degeneration of the knee joint and may be coming to see what can be done naturally to avoid having knee replacement surgery.

Common conditions I see are related to damage or instability of the connective tissues such as the ligaments or the meniscus.  Also, repetitive strain injuries from sports cause the development of bursitis or tendonitis in the knee.

The good news is that prolotherapy can effectively treatment the vast majority of these conditions.  Prolotherapy is so effective that after courses of successful treatments and healing, I have had several patients who have been able to cancel their previously scheduled knee surgeries.

So before you give up the sports that you enjoy playing or resign yourself to knee surgery, consider prolotherapy as a viable treatment option.

Could toxins around you be triggering allergies?

The sniffles. The itchy, red eyes. The persistent tickle in the back of your throat. Yep, seasonal allergies are here and it seems to be arriving earlier and earlier every year.

The idea of having to carry around tissues and blowing your nose for the next few weeks is extremely aggravating. Come on, you never used to have these allergies! Where did they come from anyway?

Well, a documentary called “Allergy Planet” examines why there are so many more people dealing with asthma, eczema, and hay fever. It’s an interesting, if not scary, look into whether the mountain of toxins all around us are making us sick. In other words, we are becoming allergic to the world that we live in. To check it out, you can find the documentary here.

Visit documentary-log.com for free online documentaries!

In the end, H1N1 was a bad flu virus - that's it

I was surprised to find the addition of a special “V” section when I opened my Globe and Mail newspaper this morning.  The headline of this special insert is “Front Line Medicine” and is  prefaced by a blurb about the proud history of research and development of vaccinations in Canada.

Yep, this special informational supplement is a six-page collection of vaccine advertisements and reports by pharmaceutical companies, advocacy groups, and Dr. David Butler-Jones (Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada).  The message repeated time and again is that immunizations are safe and effective and that not enough Canadians are lining up to get their shots.

It is interesting to see the changes in approach that the government and the pharmaceutical companies are take with the Canadian public depending on the situation.  When the H1N1 paranoia was at its peak, there was a lot of fear-mongering and pressure to get vaccinated not only for one’s own personal health but to also “protect” others around them from getting sick.  Then, when it was clear that there was insufficient amounts of the vaccine, the message changed again to say that only certain portions of the population really actually needed vaccination and the rest would be fine.  Then, in December 2009, demand for H1N1 vaccination bottomed-out after activity of the disease in Canada virutally vanished.  And then Canadians were left to pay the bill for millions of doses of useless surplus vaccines.

The fact is that more Canadians are catching on that maybe vaccinations are not the best answer to public health.  They are not as easily scared and pressured into a form of treatment and are willing to seek out alternatives.  Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, they’re not happy about the “experts” wasting their money and handing it over to the pharmaceutical industry.

The World Health Organization grossly overstated the severity of H1N1 and was largely responsible for creating the paranoia and boosting revenues for vaccine makers.  If there’s any consolation, at least Canadians didn’t over re-act as much as the French.

You'd be shocked to know how food gets to your table

A report tonight on CNN’s AC360 detailed how unsafe slaughterhouse practices which could lead to public health concerns are going unchecked because officials would rather not deal with such problems.  The truth is most people would be shocked to learn about what happens to the food supply before it reaches them.

Do you know what chemicals are used on your fruits and vegetables?  Do you know what drugs are given to the chickens and cows that you end up eating?  Do you ever wonder why you can buy watermelon in the middle of winter?

The fact is the we are completely desensitized and unaware about where our food comes from.  An excellent documentary called Food Inc. by filmmaker Robert Kenner exposes some of these hidden secrets and explains why many of the health issues that are devastating our society these days can be attributed to what is being done to our food supply.  It’s definitely food for thought.

Chronic tennis elbow responds well to prolotherapy

According to Dr. Rodney S. Van Pelt, MD in his article in the Journal Of Prolotherapy, there’s about a 90% success rate using prolotherapy injections in and around the elbow.

Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, results from repetitive forceful extension of the elbow. As the name suggests, this injury occurs very commonly in tennis players who create injury of the extensor tendons by hitting backhand strokes with the racket. The injury is so common, that at least half of all tennis players will experience this injury at some point.

Because tennis “elbow” does not really involve the elbow, but rather the extensor tendons of the forearm, this can be a very chronic injury that is slow to heal. Even resting the arm (which is difficult because the injury almost always involves your dominant arm) often does not help, although supportive athletic straps can redistribute pressure on the affected area.
By using prolotherapy, you can achieve complete tissue repair and eliminate pain that results from chronic tennis elbow.

Chemicals in the environment can disrupt your hormones

Recent research reported by UC Berkeley molecular toxicologist, Tyrone Hayes, suggests that a popular herbicide, Atrazine, caused alarming effects when frogs were exposed to very low doses. Namely, Atrazine damages the immune system and changes the sex of the frogs from male to female!

Atrazine is a top selling weed killer in the United States and in other parts of the world. It can travel about 600 miles from the site of its use via groundwater.  And, of course, with the way that produce is shipped all around the world, many of us living here are being exposed to Atrazine without even knowing it.

However, endocrine disruptors exist in other chemicals and even foods.  Drugs such as Prozac and birth control pills are eliminated in people’s urine and can be found in fish that people end up eating down the road.  Also, soy and other phytoestrogen-containing foods can affect your endocrine system, not to mention plastics and bis-phenol A.

The best way to reduce your exposure to such damaging chemicals is to buy local produce, buy produce that is in season, and buy organic when possible.

Nutrition during pregnancy is as important for mother as it is for baby

Everyone knows that nutrition during pregnancy is important, but most assume this is to ensure the health of the baby.  The fact is that pregnancy is a very emotionally and physically demanding time.  If you are not focusing on eating well and staying healthy, both you and your baby may suffer the consequences for years to come.

The old idea that you are “eating for two” during pregnancy doesn’t mean pickles and ice cream are OK!  When you are pregnant, it is important to to eat a varied diet that is high in nutrition.  However, there are a number of foods – such as certain raw foods – that you should avoid to ensure the health of your baby.

It is important to remember that any nutritional deficiencies and poor lifestyle habits during pregnancy increase the mother’s risk for health problems such as post-partum depression, anemia, weight gain, and more.  Consult your health practitioner o ensure that both you and your baby are healthy for years to come.

Marketing fake "health foods" is big business

Needless to say, there is a lot of money that goes into marketing “health foods” to people.  You don’t have to look any further than the sponsors of the 2010 Winter Olympics to see the extent that companies will go to convince you that their product is good for you.

Everybody knows that you need to drink plenty of water to stay healthy.  However, many people just have a hard time drinking water because they prefer coffee, juice, or pop.  Lately, however, a number of companies are peddling variations of water – flavoured water, alkaline water, water with vitamins, etc.  While a few products are OK, most are pricey and some are actually not good for your health.  Misleading claims, tricky labeling, and endorsements from celebrities are all meant to hide the truth that you already know: there’s no way around it, you just have to drink water.  Plain old water.

The soft drink company that owns a popular “healthy water” beverage said it best in one of its old slogans: “Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.”

Stress can be motivating or debilitating depending on whether you can handle it

During the Olympics, athletes are being asked to perform under extremely stressful conditions.  In many cases, the stress can be a positive factor that gets the adrenaline

flowing, the heart pumping, and dumps glucose into the bloodstream to fuel the athlete’s muscles towards medal-winning performances.

If you are being subjected to too much stress over a longer period of time, however, there are negative effects on your health. Particularly, your adrenal glands also start to release another hormone called cortisol that cause increased blood pressure, weight gain, and other chronic health problems.

As Hans Selye demonstrated through his research, the mind-body connection is most evident from the wide range of serious physical health problems that can result from mental/emotional stress. How much stress is too much? Well, that is different for every

person. But stress is not a bad thing – it can motivate you to be very productive and achieve greatness. Just make sure that you can handle it.

A number of factors combine to maintain healthy bones

Another gorgeous weekend in Vancouver and a fantastic atmosphere is continuing here as we are half-way through the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The fun is being had by all and you can see flags everywhere from downtown right out to the clinic in Burnaby!  I LOVE IT!!!

The topic of bone health has been cropping up in the clinic a lot as of late.  Most people think that drinking milk and getting adequate calcium is the key to maintaining bone health and preventing osteoporosis.  The truth is that while this has been marketed to the public very effectively, the truth is the bone density is affected more by other factors.

In terms of nutrients, Vitamin D is important.  Particularly in the Greater Vancouver area and the lower mainland, there are significant periods of the winter where there can be very little sunlight.  As a result, your body’s natural production of Vitamin D suffers.  There are many trace minerals that play important roles here too.

Because bones respond to stress, weight-bearing exercise is important to stimulating bone growth.  These types of exercise should be a focus for people at risk for osteoporosis.

Finally, and probably most importantly, the diet plays a vital role in maintaining good bone health.  The benefit comes from alkalinizing the body to prevent calcium and other minerals from being leeched out of your skeleton.  Your bones serve as a reservoir of minerals and they can be depleted if you consume too much pop, coffee, and red meat.  Perhaps your best defense against low bone density doesn’t have to come in the form of a pill, but more like a tasty plate of veggies!