What would you do if you couldn’t get Tylenol at the store?  What if you had to see a medical doctor for all of your pain killers, just for arthritis, headaches, back pain, or your husband.  The idea is being floated by the FDA.  This is serious enough that the pharmaceuticals pet monkey (the FDA) is actually, maybe, growing a backbone.  They put together a 35 person panel to investigate new restrictions to the sale of acetaminophen over the counter or even removing it all together.

Why?

Acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver failure.

What happens is people are combining multiple drugs and not realizing they are getting an unsafe and potentially toxic dose of acetaminophen.

Such as:
Tylenol - pain
Percocet - pain
NyQuil - colds
Theraflu - colds

10% of the deaths involved cold medications.   Since 2 billion dollars is at stake.  Plus, Johnson and Johnson, the makers of Tylenol, are suggesting that if people don’t have Tylenol they will use more non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which can cause intestinal bleeding and fatal kidney injury.
-(6-30-09 AP)

So what to do?  Tough conundrum.

I recognize that there is a time and place for pain killers.  They are most often needed for short term duration.  Where I see the problem is on the long term use of these drugs.  The everyday use is going to catch up with you.  They all have side effect.  Most people think of Tylenol as harmless, right.  Hospitals brag that they use it because it is so mild.  Now we have the FDA talking about yanking it from the counters because it is hurting too many people.  OK.

What to do?

For those short term uses most people are going to probably turn to some kind of pain reliever.  I recognize that.  I order two bottles of our most potent pain killer last week for patients and often don’t think to tell people that it exists.  So here goes.  Mediherb makes “Saligesic”  which is white willow bark, basically Indian aspirin.  The original aspirin that the modern drug was derived from.  As usual “people” screw stuff up.  Turns out that the natural aspirin doesn’t cause stomach bleeding like the drug version.  We use it primarily for low back patients who just can’t wait for some relief.  I don’t advertise or generally start off recommending it because I would prefer the body to heal naturally.  But sometimes the pain is to great.

To give you an example,  the last time I had to use it was a few years ago.  Our patient had never had back pain before and wham, out of the blue she was practically incapacitated with pain.  As fate would have it, one of her good friends was hit with back pain during the same week.  Now, I realize people are different and you can’t compare them, but I will anyway.  Within a week of chiropractic adjustments and “Salegesic” as needed she was about 90% better.  Her friend who didn’t seek any natural help, was still in alot of pain and using MORPHINE.  We still laugh at that.  Her morphine friend could comprehend that she was just getting adjusted and using white willow bark.

Back on topic.  Even with white willow bark it is a short term thing.  What about chronic pain?  This is a problem indeed.  Based on patients in the office here are my top choices.

#1 Chiropractic.
For a lot of people with pain that has been going on a long time it often goes away with 2-6 weeks of adjustments.  Mine did.  A couple things are happening here.  If there is joint damage, a stuck joint hurts, pure and simple.  Joint damage can occur with a big hit in football, a car accident, falling or any kind of sudden impact.  It can also occur with slow repetitive things like carrying kids on the same hip, talking on the phone with your head holding the phone, repetitive jobs, Looking off-center for long periods of time, etc…  A stuck joint sends pain signals to the brain telling your brain there is a problem here.  A healthy joint that has been recently damaged will instantly feel better after an adjustment.  If it has been going on for years, then it can take a few weeks to get enough motion back into the joints.  This is one of the secrets to growing old gracefully and pain-free.

#2 Food allergies or intolerances.  Bruce West first wrote about this last year in a newsletter and the patients who have done it have had excellent success getting rid of pain.  If chiropractic doesn’t give you pain relief you need to look at your diet.  There are actually three parts to this.

Part 1: Omega-3 fatty acids.  Most people don’t get enough, especially if you eat lots of grain products, which the dieticians tell you to eat with the moronic food pyramid.  Grains have lots of omega-6 fatty acids.  These little gems cause pain and inflammation.   So if you eat lots of grains and don’t eat ocean fish or take some kind of fish oil supplement, you need to start here.   Eat more proteins, good fats, and veggies.  Now add some fish oil supplements or my favorite, cod liver oil.

Part 2: Certain foods themselves can trigger pain.  You can do an expensive allergy panel, or take some time and see how food effects you.  Spen 4 days only eating watermelon and zuccini.  They are the least allergenic foods.  After that, evaluate your pain.  If it is better but not gone, keep doing the diet until your pain is gone.  It could be 10 days.  If you are pain-free start adding one new food a day.  If your pain starts to come back you know right there that it isn’t a good food for you.  This is not easy.

Part 3: Drink water:  lack of water alone can cause pain.  Lots of pain, drink 10 glasses a day (~80oz.)

These three tips can keep you pain-free for the rest of your life.  You may need the odd painkiller after being out all night, but that isn’t the problem here.  We don’t want long-term pain killer use.

Doing things the natural way may take longer, but it is much healthier for you, and worth the time.  I am a living example.  I used to be miserable until I fell into chiropractic and a good diet, and I was only 21 y.o. and miserable.  The longer you wait the harder it is.

Get adjusted, eat some good food…til next time.

Alternative medicine, supplements, herbs, and alternative treatments are becoming more common with doctors and even hospitals.  There seems to be a lack of information and communication about quality and uses of medical alternatives.  Interesting article in today’s paper about alternative medicine.  It even lists the University of Maryland Medical Center as using Reiki therapy.  It must be working because “the anesthesia chief Dr. Richard Dutton calls it ‘mystical mumbo jumbo’.  Still he is a fan” -Associated Press 6-8-09

“People are turning to unconventional therapies and herbal remedies for everything from hot flashes and trouble sleeping to cancer and heart disease.  They crave more ‘care’ in their health care.  They distrust drug companies and the government.  They want natural, safer remedies.” -Associated Press 6-8-09

A study was done in 1990 by Dr. Eisenberg that seemed to highlight a sleeping giant.  This study was very eye opening to medical community and those of us in the alternative community.  They estimated visits to unconventional therapy provider at 425 million, while at the same time there were 388 million visits to medical doctors.  The majority of the use was for chronic conditions and not life-threatening thing.  83% were also seeing their medical doctor for the same condition and…

Here is the ringer…

72% of patients never told their medical doctors.  I actually experience this same phenomenon quite often.  I find that people are generally afraid to tell their medical doctors because they feel like they will be yelled at.

As more and more people turn to aternatives there are some integration problems.

One of the main problems we will all face with acceptance is highlighted in the article when medical schools are looking for “evidence-based, non-judgemental care”.  Alternative therapies aren’t cut and dry like medicine.  For example: a drug over rides the body and tells it to do a certain action.  A herb gives the body choices.  It lets the body choose what it wants from the herb.  Therefore doing double blind clinical tests will very difficult.  The medical world thrives on studies.  Alternative therapies are more clinically and history driven.

I know our herbal company, before they formulate a product they look at how it has been historically dosed for thousands of years and take that into account along with scientific studies.

Studying nutrition poses a similar problem.  It is very difficult to keep people locked up and monitor everything they eat.  The two studies I can think of were very dramatic.  One was right here at the U. of Minnesota.  It was a severe calorie restriced and carbohydrate based diet, that drove the participants crazy with many mental and physical problems.  The other was overseas, and looked at the opposite with a high fat diet and the participants had no physical or mental breakdowns.

One other note to keep in your back pocket about alternative therapies.  There are very few studies done.  Why?  Because drug companies have zero interest in studying them.  Government and doctors want supplements to be regualted and in a way I would like that too, but not by the medical community or the governement.  That is like the fox guarding the hen house.

“When it says ‘natural’ the perception is there is no harm.  And that is just not true” -Associated Press 6-8-09

Horse poop…

That’s natural!  By definition it could be in your supplement.  In the supplement industry there is a lot of deception and misguidance.  There should be some manufacturing guidelines and labeling guidelines.  The one thing I have learned over the years is that the labels on products are often wrong and I never buy herbs manufactured in America.  The guidelines are very sloppy and the studies I have seen have not been good, when they analyze the contents it often is less than the label would indicate.  Our herbs comes from Australia, where they have a pharmaceutical grade standard.  So what it says on the label is in the bottle.  Not so in America, where there is a food grade standard.  There are a lot of thing s to know about herb and I will write another post on those later.

This should change but likely won’t. 

The definition of vitamins is so loose it considers antioxidants as vitamins, which is not true in the real world.  A recent study by Boston and German researchers found that “when young male exercisers took moderate amounts of vitamins C and E, the vitamins shut down the body’s natural defenses against cellular damage.  The study author Dr. Ristow says ” If you exercise to promote health, you shouldn’t take large amounts of antioxidants”.

To the average researcher and person shopping for supplements on store shelves they aren’t using healthy products or real products for that matter.  That’s why when the researchers studied the C and E supplements they caused harm.  If it is not a whole food supplement it is going to cause you harm.  Look on the label.  Do you see foods listed?  Or a bunch of names you can’t pronounce.   I  don’t buy vitamins off the store shelves because quality matters to me and the chance of finding a high quality vitamin off a store shelf is very, very low.

The researchers tried to nourish the exercisers with banana peels instead of the fruit on the inside.  The Antioxidants as they were used, and listed as vitamins, are like eating banana peels.  They are meant to protect the good fruit on the inside, not to nourish and heal a body after exercising.

Thats why Dr. Ristow recommends fruits and vegetables, “which provide a more moderate dose of vitamins and also contain natural micronutrients that help keep the body in balance.”

Alternative therapies are here to stay, but be smart about using them.

#1 If you are not using any alternative doctors.  The largest group of licensed professionals are chiropractors.  I get adjusted once a week and every time I get adjusted I think about how many people have no clue about how good they can feel.  I went from writhing in pain, unable to walk, to rollerblading in 2 weeks when I started.  Chiropractic is an experience.  Unless you have been, you don’t know.   In a survey we did, 70% of patients preferred to get adjusted once per week or more often if they could come whenever they wanted and had no time or money restrictions.

#2 I take whole food supplements, nothing off the shelf.  There are very few absolutes in health, and this is one of them.  As early as the 1920’s vitamin deficiencies were being documented in the general population.  In the 1940’s -1950’s when food processing began to really take off, vitamin deficiencies soared.  Now, it is even worse.  It was nice to see medical doctors embracing the fact that people need supplements.  The problem is that they don’t understand the difference yet between the current recommendations of mass-produced mega-dose vitamins and whole-food supplements.  This is why I take Standard Process supplements and Mediherb herbals.  I can tell from my own personal experience and my families, they work.  I don’t need a volume of scientific studies to tell me they work or that the foods in there are good for me.

#3 Don’t expect overnight miracles.  People see immediate effects with drugs because they take over the body, sometimes it is necessary.  There is a cost to this and all drugs have side-effects.  Alternative therapies don’t work like that.  For example: Herbs often take 3 months to start taking effect.

#4 Alternatives aren’t meant to be last ditch, life saving alternatives.  It is more about prevention and long-term management of chronic problems.  If you aren’t in a crisis, you might be surprised at how great your health can be with alternative therapies.

#5 The best source of information about alternatives are not medical doctors or the government.  You are obviously on our website (docaltman.com), you can also use mercola.com (the vitamins aren’t as good as Standard Process, but better than the grocery store) and my favorite is westonaprice.org.

Here are the nuts and bolts of what I’d like you to learn from Bruce West’s newest newsletter. If you would like the whole newsletter just click the PDF file below.

Bruce West Newsletter PDF

Flu Shots Do Not Prevent Pneumonia

The facts show that flu shots don’t lower the risk for pneumonia, “whether you get the shot before, during, or after the flu season.

The 2007-2008 season was a complete failure for the flu vaccine.

The Lancet Aug 2, 2008 studied the real numbers of flu cases with an adjusted analysis. This analysis factors in other chronic diseases and impairments. The result: The same number of people got the flu that got the shot and those who didn’t.

If you would like to look at prevention. Immuplex from Standard Process and Cod liver oil are on the front lines. If you happen to fall ill, we add 2 Congaplex every hour. There is a chewable congaplex for kids also.

Estrogen and Breast Cancer

We learned the hard way that estrogen causes cancer-especially breast cancer. That little discovery was made when women STOPPED taking the hormone pills meant to “help” them from their medical doctors.

Also reoccurance of cancer rates also go up with high levels of estrogen. That is also despite treatment with Tamoxifen.
In this study, which was not a Big Pharma study, they recommended that women who have been treated for breast cancer they “should reduce blood estrogen by exercising and keeping weight down.”

These are good but not enough. (Dr. Altman-John Lee M.D. first talked about this method of estrogen elimination through diet) Diet… Diet… Diet the primary loss of estrogen is through the liver’s detox mechanisms. The main fuel for this type of detox is kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts and other veggies. These are not main staple veggies in most households. If that is your case, Standard Process makes Cruciferous Complete, which is the whole vegetable processed without heat, chemicals, or freezing to maintain the natural life force of the plant. Don’t be fooled by other whole food supplements.

A study at Metametrix confirmed the estrogen removal of Cruciferous Complete with 3-4 daily at 500% greater than normal. Bonus: No nasty side-effects

Comprehensive Spine Care

“Your spine is critically important to you. It holds your head up, and protects your nervouse system.”

This came from an ad for a spine center of “experts” who truly understand spine and spine care. The commercial went on to talk about how comprehensive their treatment was.

(Dr. Altman- BULL, after thousands of back pain patients, I can tell you that you will never get a comprehensive look at back pain until you see a chiropractor. Medical “experts” don’t look at misalignments as a problem or do they know how to see them on x-rays or feel them on a patient. I was at a seminar last week with a fabulous neurosurgeon speaking about the latest and greatest in surgery and all the “medical” stuff they do. He made a draumatic mistake. He admitted that he had on / off again back pain. One of the other seminar attendee’s said “why don’t you go tho your wife’s chiropractor?” His answer was he doesn’t have time because he has kids. He had never been to a chiropractor and he was considered “friendly” to chiros. There is definitely no one right solution for all types of back pain, but unless you go and see a chiropractor “more than once” you haven’t got a comprehensive picture of your back pain.)

Back to Bruce West…”More than half of all spine problems result from a vertebra or a rib being knocked out of place, which requires an adjustment to put it back.”

Drug for back-pain are a dead end
Surgery fares not much better

Pain = problem (pure and simple) The longer it goes on the longer it can take to resolve.

Cholesterol Drugs For Kids

Pure lunacy has started. It is hard to bite my tongue on this one. This alone qualifies Drug companies as evil and sinister, preying on children. Instead of pumping kids full of useless drugs it would be nice if they supported parents in education and feeding kids real food. The typical American-kid diet is filled with artery-clogging processed food, including bad fats. Kids need healthy fats for brain and hormone development. Taking a statin drug will disrupt that process. If any “doctor” recommends cholesterol drugs for your kid, read the full PDF version of this newsletter.

The Evil Trans Fats

Early Puberty For All
Artificial exposure to chemicals and fake hormones are creating chaos with our kids.
-Hormones in food
-Pesticides
-BPA in Plastics (Yale School of Medicine, “there is a concern that BPA can cause developmental problems in the brain and hormonal systems of infants and children”
-Soy foods
-Dental sealants
-Milk with RBGH (hormones)

Avoid Food Irradiation

Irradiated foods only benefit the growers and packers, NOT YOU. It encourages poor quality standards that irradiation can cover up. It destroys even more precious vitamins that Americans need.

Speaking English can Kill You.
Very funny end to the newsletter that I’ll let you discover on your own.

Enjoy,
Dr. Altman (bonuses at the bottom)

Bruce West Newsletter PDF

Unique Hand-made Gift

My wife has one if you want to see one. Still available for Christmas

Designer fabric Tote-bags for the ladies.

· The Designer Tote Bag 18w x 19h–lined with inner pockets and decorative trim

· The Designer Business Tote Bag 19w x 11h–lined with inner pockets, removable divider, perfect for file folders

· The Designer Diaper Tote Bag: either size–lined with inner and outer pockets, includes a changing pad

http://www.monadesigns.com/Totebag.html

Two Quick Notes:

Next week we will cover more detoxification methods

1. For those of you already familiar with the Purification Program it will be one sale in January and if you would like to start your New Year off right, with a healthier and cleaner body, you can pre-order the products. It will make it easier for our inventory management if I know you want a kit.

If you haven’t done any detox programs before, just wait until next weeks email. Lots of cool things can happen. If the estrogen article above was interesting then make sure to read next weeks article.

2. Thanks for all of you taking the BlueZones and longevity survey. The overall winner was “one email”. Most people preferred one longer email. Since this is a large project, it may take me awhile to put it together as a single email, so be patient,the info is awesome and your life will be improved. Mine has already changed and I plan on more changes.

3. Bonus for those of you reading to the bottom.

To make the Bruce West email mean even more the Cruciferous Complete, Congaplex and Immuplex are on sale until December 24th.

4. Bonus #2 For those who read the section on spinal health I had better have a sale for you too. This is my last-minute holiday gift. If you come in to get adjusted Dec. 19th (Friday) or buy an adjustment for someone else, you get one extra visit free. Buy one- get one free. The only catch is the free visit needs to be used by the end of the year (2008), those darn accountants. You can give your free visit to someone else.

Merry Christmas

There was a potter who needed a pitcher for the milk she poured over her cereal every morning. She went to her studio, chose the clay she thought best and sat at her wheel. She made a shape pleasing to her eyes–after all it was her pitcher. She brushed on her favorite color of glaze, fired it and was delighted with the results–she had created a beautiful pitcher.

She took it home, filled it with milk, put it in the refrigerator and went to bed. The next morning the potter poured a bowl of cereal, opened the refrigerator, and reached for her new pitcher.

The pitcher suddenly shouted, “Oh, no you don’t! Keep your hands off!”
The potter responded, “I was just going to pour some milk on my cereal.”
“No, you’re not!” Replied the pitcher. “I worked hard to get this. I started out with no milk at all, but through hard work and careful stewardship, I am now full of milk. No one’s going to come along and pour out all that I’ve wanted so long to achieve!

“Hmmm,” pondered the potter. “I don’t think you understand the real story here. You see, I created you and I made you for the express purpose of filling you with milk so that I could pour it out each morning on my cereal. You were made to pour not to store!”
“A nice story, but I don’t get it,” said the pitcher.

Well, I see you are in need, and I am a generous pitcher. I will give you two tablespoons of my milk. That should wet the cereal nicely. Everything in Moderation — that is what I think!”

The potter looked deeply into the heart of the pitcher, “You’re afraid,” she said, “If you allow me to pour out the milk you will find yourself empty, that you will then be poor, and that I will throw you out and find another pitcher. You don’t realize that if you allow me to empty you, I will have found you to be a priceless pitcher. Then I will continue to fill you to the top over and over and over again, and we will become partners in emptying and refilling you. Perhaps, if you are willing to be emptied more completely and more often, I will find many other bowls of cereal who are longing to be drowned in the love of your giving.”

“And what if I don’t believe you and want to play it safe and just keep the milk I’ve got?” The pitcher inquired.

“You are free to make that choice,” the potter said with a sad voice. “Then I will make another pitcher who is willing to be my partner. I will have to set you on the back of the refrigerator shelf. You can keep your milk. But after a time, your odor will keep everyone away, and you will have missed the greatest job for which all pitchers are created — the joy of being poured out!”

Keep the sour milk out of your fridge on the next page

Don’t Let Your Milk Stink.

You were made to pour not to store!”

I think we are all inherent givers. It feels good to give. If you don’t give of yourself or work to help others, you start to feel like the old milk in the back of the fridge. I think we all know some stinky milk.

I was in church last Sunday and there was a significant plea for food shelf donations. Nine more families have signed on for help. The need for food is greater than any years past. Sometimes giving falls by the wayside because it is easily forgotten. So I hope to inspire you and reward you for giving.

Most of you have food you don’t need and often times should replace with an organic variety or something of that nature.

 

Bring Food Shelf donations to the office.

You get $1 off for every food item you bring in. Yes, I’ll give you a $1 off adjustments or supplements for each item you bring in by November 26^th, 2008.

As a bonus: If you bring in something you are looking to replace with an organic counterpart, I’ll tell you what to replace it with and where you can buy it.

I really want to make a huge office donation to the food shelf with a card with everyones name on it. I would like them to see how many people are trying to help make the world a little better.

On a side note. Raw, non-pasteurized milk goes sour and is still healthy and used as such throughout the world. Pasteurized milk rots and becomes toxic. Something to ponder?

For Higher Enlightenment and Good Karma.

Here is where the wheat is separated from the chaff. Can you make a difference in someones life who is suffering from physical ailments.

You get 1 free visit for every person you share chiropractic with and bring into the office as a new patient.

This is what can happen

This Thanksgiving give thanks for your health and follow in the footsteps of local guardian angels and embrace helping others.

One of our patients shops at Barnes & Noble fairly often and has come to know one of their employees. After seeing and hearing about the numerous health problems this employee had, our guardian angel encouraged over and over again for her to come to the office and talk to me. Our patient (guardian angel) didn’t quit after one “I’ll think about it” or “I can’t afford it”. Our guardian angel knew she needed help so she kept on. Many times people with chronic problems have been given the “there is nothing we can do speech” and assume that is true. Our patient knew better. This is what can happens when someone puts their whole heart and faith into getting better.

 

“In a nutshell… Dr. Altman saved my life. When I first came to Dr. Altman 6 weeks ago I felt hopeless. I’m 36 years old and I truly felt that I was dying. I was so deeply entrenched in medical problems and worries since I was 6 years old, but I didn’t care what medications I took just as long as I could temporarily feel better. After all I thought didn’t have much longer to live, even my body support this feeling.

I was lethargic, depressed, forgetful, and had pain everywhere. I was taking 2 to 10 Ibuprofen a day. I was going through a bottle of antacids per week. This was in addition to my prescription. For asthma allergies and high blood pressure, but I was still having health problems.

I was referred to Dr. Altman and after my first adjustment I felt like new and I could actually move around without being stiff or in pain. I was put on a special diet with supplements. Each week that passed, I was able to ween myself off, of different medications and I didn’t have any more problems with heart burn or body aches, and I have more energy and can even work out without using my asthma rescue inhaler. I even lost 10 pounds without even trying.

So, now I am down to one medication and a standby asthma inhaler, which I rarely use. A big triumph was getting off the prednisone, which I have been on for almost a year. It was indeed killing me.

No, it’s not easy avoiding food, I crave, Nor is it a simple thing to force myself to exercise on certain days, but the results are worth it. I still have work to do. But with Dr. Altman’s everlasting kindness and knowledge we’ve accomplished so much in so little time, and we’ll continue to see results. I am hopeful and I feel alive. People have noticed this at work. I’d have at least 10 different people mentioned how good and healthy I look. I am and forever grateful to Dr. Altman for saving my life.”

- Monica Spees ,Mapleton, October 2008

Chiropractors don’t raise stroke risk, study says

A research report published in Spine journal confirms what chiropractors have said for years: chiropractic care does NOT cause an increased risk of strokes due to arterial dissection.

“We didn’t see any increased association between chiropractic care and usual family physician care, and the stroke,” said researcher Frank Silver, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and director of the University Health Network stroke program. “The association occurs because patients tend to seek care when they’re having neck pain or headache, and sometimes they go to a chiropractor, sometimes they go to a physician. But we didn’t see an increased likelihood of them having this type of stroke after seeing a chiropractor.”

During the past several years, chiropractic has come under intense attack by anti-chiropractic organizations, including several that claim to represent chiropractic “victims.” Despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary – including a 2001 study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that the risk of suffering a stroke due to chiropractic adjustments was less than one in nearly 6 million — critics have kept up their attacks and tried to persuade the public that chiropractic adjustments were dangerous.

For this latest project, a Canadian research team studied nine years of patient data and found that, of the 818 cases involving this kind of stroke, patients were just as likely to have visited their family medical doctor as they did a chiropractor. There was no increased risk from having received chiropractic care.

Dr. Silver admitted that he and his team were specifically looking for an increased association between chiropractic care and stroke but found none. According to the report’s conclusion, “The increased risks of VBA stroke associated with chiropractic and PCP visits is likely due to patients with headache and neck pain from VBA dissection seeking care before their stroke. We found no evidence of excess risk of VBA stroke associated chiropractic care compared to primary care.”

Risk of Vertebrobasilar Stroke and Chiropractic Care: Results of a Population-Based Case-Control and Case-Crossover Study. Spine. 33(4S) Neck Pain Task Force Supplement:S176-S183, February 15, 2008. Abstract