Back Clinic Health Team. The level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In humans, it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental, psychological, and social changes in an environment. Dr.Alex Jimenez D.C., C.C.S.T, a clinical pain doctor who uses cutting-edge therapies and rehabilitation procedures focused on total health, strength training, and complete conditioning. We take a global functional fitness treatment approach to regain complete functional health.
Dr. Jimenez presents articles both from his own experience and from a variety of sources that pertain to a healthy lifestyle or general health issues. I have spent over 30+ years researching and testing methods with thousands of patients and understand what truly works. We strive to create fitness and better the body through researched methods and total health programs.
These programs and methods are natural and use the body’s own ability to achieve improvement goals, rather than introducing harmful chemicals, controversial hormone replacement, surgery, or addictive drugs. As a result, individuals live a fulfilled life with more energy, a positive attitude, better sleep, less pain, proper body weight, and education on maintaining this way of life.
Degenerative disk disease (DDD), which could affect any one of us as we age, may be particularly problematic for people who are overweight. To understand why, take a step back and consider the construction and function of your spine.
The spine is made to help support the weight of your body. It’s designed to keep your weight balanced and evenly spread. For example, the vertebrae are positioned from smallest to largest: small in your neck (cervical spine) and greatest in your low back (lumbar spine). They grow in size because the lower parts of the back must support the most weight.
Your intervertebral discs�the cushions between your vertebrae�increase in size, also. Only because they need to absorb and adjust to the most weight, they are thickest in the lumbar spine.
The back must be functioning accordingly in order to ensure all of its structures are healthy. Nonetheless, in degenerative disc disease, their capability to properly operate are altered and often lost. Intervertebral discs gradually become less effective at absorbing and cushioning your motions. Joints, including the facet joints, may subsequently transform as they readjust to changes in the disc; and they may not move as easily, making it harder for your own body to take and distribute weight.
Extra weight puts additional stress on the back. In the event that you are overweight and have DDD, then you’re stressing and straining your vertebrae and discs much more. The excess weight might even accelerate the degenerative processes because the elements of your spine will need to work more to carry the additional weight�and the harder they work, the quicker they may wear out or degenerate.
A diagnosis of degenerative disc disorder might be the motivation you need to become more physically active to get rid of extra weight, stop smoking or make other lifestyle changes to benefit your back and overall health and wellness. Your doctor or alternative healthcare provider can offer helpful suggestions about lowering your body weight and enhancing your general well-being.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .�
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Alexander Jimenez gives insights into selecting a chiropractor.
One of the most common questions I get asked as a doctor is how do I find a great chiropractor in El Paso?� In some cities there are dozens to choose from and it can be difficult to know if the doctor you are considering is right for you.� This article will help to walk you through the steps that I would use to find a great doctor to take care of me.
Most patients choose their chiropractor based on the look of the outside of the office or how nice their website is.� I agree that a doctor that keeps up their office and that has a great website is probably a good choice, but there�s more to it than that.� Chiropractic is a very diverse profession so there are some deeper questions to ask.
To Know If A Chiropractor Is Right For You Is To Talk To Them
Learn about who they are as a person and why they became a chiropractor.� There are many different styles of adjusting and many different philosophies in the chiropractic field.� When you find a passionate doctor you have found what you�re looking for.
Ultimately you need to find someone that really cares about you and your well being.� A doctor that is going to be focused on your health and that has a plan to get you back on track.� If you feel uncomfortable then do your homework and you�ll find the best choice for you.
If you have been struggling with a health condition and it feels like you�re going around in circles, I encourage you to give us a call today.� If for any reason we feel that we cannot help you we will get you pointed in the right direction.� We are here to be a resource for you in any way that we can.
Today Is A Great Day To Improve Your Health
If you live in El Paso we encourage you to give our team�a call today.� Our friendly staff will setup a time for you to come in and learn about who we are and what we can do for you.
Feeling bad about skipping a day? Taking rest days from your workout may actually be healthier for your bones and body than a nonstop fitness streak, according to a small new study.
The preliminary research, presented at the American Physiological Society�s annual meeting, found that women who were Olympic rowers had more signs of inflammation and lower levels of bone-building protein in their blood during their most intense weeks of training, compared to recovery weeks that included days off.
These protein fluctuations may be a warning that training without adequate recovery could lead to injury or bone loss, study authors say.
In general, exercise is good for bone health. Bone mineral density, an indicator of bone strength, typically increases with regular physical activity, especially the weight-bearing type. But experts have often wondered if too much exercise could have the opposite effect, especially for female athletes. That can be a difficult thing to measure, says Nigel Kurgan, a graduate student in the Centre for Bone and Muscle Health at Brock University in Canada, because elite athletes may also follow strict dietary patterns that could also negatively affect bone health.
To help account for this, Kurgan decided to study 15 female heavyweight rowers training for the 2016 Olympic games. Rowers have a high incidence of stress fractures and are at increased risk for bone loss�but because these women weren�t competing in the sport�s lightweight category, restrictive eating and low-calorie diets were less likely to play a role.
At several points during the nine-month study, Kurgan took blood samples from the rowers to measure levels of two proteins in their body: osteoprotegerin (OPG), which stops bone mineral loss, and sclerostin (SOST), which inhibits new bone formation. The rowers� training ranged from 12 to 21 hours a week.
Levels of OPG decreased over the course of the study, indicating that the athletes were indeed at risk for bone loss. The highest levels of bone-growth-inhibiting SOST corresponded with the weeks with the highest training volumes, and vice versa. Inflammation in the body also increased during the most intense training periods.
The researchers also tested the rowers� bone mineral density at the beginning and the end of the study, and found no change. But they say that the consequences of intense training may only become evident after longer periods of time.
�We are learning that regardless of whether you eat well or not, the systemic inflammation of intense training�unless you bring it down from time to time�creates an issue for bone cells and all kinds of tissue,� says co-author Panagiota Klentrou, professor and associate dean in the department of kinesiology at Brock University. �When you�re at peak training volume, you also have to incorporate time for the body to recover.�
This theory likely applies to all levels of athletes, not just Olympic hopefuls, Kurgan says.
Recovery is important for other reasons, too: Muscles need time to repair themselves from the stress of hard training, and the body needs rest and adequate fueling to maintain high levels of functioning. A 2016 study in Frontiers in Physiology found that two days in a row of intense, CrossFit-style workouts lowered levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines in the body, suggesting a potential drop in immunity.
With further research, it�s possible that scientists could develop a blood test to let athletes know when they�re overdoing it, says Klentrou. �There may be markers that coaches can monitor to see if they have to adjust their training volume,� she says.
Amateur athletes don�t need to take such elaborate approaches, she says. �If they monitor the symptoms of their body and watch for signs of exhaustion and poor recovery from hard workouts, I think they�ll be pretty safe.�
Whether we�re starting our day with a strong cup of coffee or indulging in a mid-afternoon pick-me-up (preferably of the dark chocolate variety), caffeine is a drug that many of us don�t want to quit. And thankfully, we don�t have to: A new scientific review offers reassurance that, in moderate amounts, caffeine is perfectly healthy.
Specifically, the paper confirms the results of the last big review done on caffeine safety, way back in 2003: that intake levels of up to 400 mg a day, or about four 8-ounce cups of coffee, are not associated with health risks for adults. (Yay!) The results, published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, were presented over the weekend at the Experimental Biology conference in Chicago.
�After decades of research and thousands of papers, we know a lot about caffeine,� says lead author Daniele Wikoff, PhD, health sciences practice leader at ToxStrategies, a private scientific consulting firm. �And what our findings truly confirm is that having caffeine as part of your daily diet is still acceptable and without adverse effects.�
Pregnant Women and Caffeine
The new review also found that existing upper limits for pregnant women (300 mg a day) and children (about 1.1 mg per pound) continue to be supported by scientific data, as well. �This should give pregnant women some comfort that they do not need to eliminate caffeine from their diet,� says Wikoff.
Although there�s no change to the current recommendations, an update was long overdue, says Wikoff. Since the widely-cited 2003 review on caffeine was conducted by Health Canada, more than 10,000 papers have been published on the drug�s effects on various aspects of health.
That’s why the North American branch of International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing the understanding of nutrition and food safety, decided to commission an analysis on more recent literature. To start, the Institute recruited ToxStrategies to comb through more than 700 studies conducted on humans and published between 2001 and 2015.
The researchers narrowed those studies down to 426 for inclusion in the review, all of which focused on how caffeine related to five specific topics: toxicity, bone health and calcium intake, cardiovascular effects (including blood pressure and heart rate), behavioral health (including headaches, mood, and sleep), and reproduction and development (including fertility, miscarriage, and birth defects).
The Effects of Caffeine on Americans
Despite all the new research, the paper�s conclusions remain generally the same as the previous review�s. More than 90% of Americans currently consume less than 400 mg a day of caffeine, the authors wrote, and the findings of the new review “support the safety of standard consumption practices in the United States.�
The authors did note that studies on caffeine in children were limited. While they found no need to recommend a change in current recommendations, they do say that more research on this age group would be valuable. (The American Academy of Pediatrics maintains a long-held position that caffeinated beverages, especially energy drinks, should be avoided in children.)
And because research on the general safety of caffeine is so plentiful, they also recommend that future studies shift their focus to unhealthy populations, sensitive groups, and ways that people may be affected differently on an individual level.
ILSI North America receives funding from the American Beverage Association and the National Coffee Association. Both organizations �received periodic progress reports but did not participate in any aspect of the systematic review,� the authors note in the paper. In addition to scientists from ToxStrategies, the research team consisted of seven scientific advisory board members from academic institutions across the U.S. and Canada, with expertise in the paper�s different areas of focus.
The studies included in the review looked at a variety of caffeine sources, including coffee, tea, chocolate, other beverages, and supplements, but the review did not evaluate the health effects associated with these different sources separately. When considering your caffeine intake, says Health�s medical editor Roshini Raj, MD, it’s important to keep in mind the entire food or drink.
Plain coffee, for example, is rich in antioxidants and may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Soda and fancy coffee concoctions, on the other hand, can be high in calories or contain artificial sweeteners, while energy drinks can contain sugar and other stimulants that have been associated with health risks.
Dr. Raj also says that just because 400 mg a day of caffeine is safe, that doesn�t mean it�s right for everyone. �We don�t all metabolize caffeine the same way: Some people find that even a little cup of coffee or tea can make them restless,� she wrote in a recent column for Health. �Listen to your body, and if you tend to get jittery, try spacing out your caffeinated beverages,� she added.
If you find that you�re becoming dependent on caffeine, make sure you�re getting enough sleep�or talk to your doctor about why else you might be so tired, Dr. Raj adds. You can always try an all-natural energy enhancer, too: A recent study found that 10 minutes of stair-walking provided a better boost than a 50-mg caffeine pill.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
Energy drinks are known for their high caffeine content, which often tops that of soda and even coffee. But they seem to affect people�s hearts and blood pressure differently than other caffeinated beverages, suggests a small new study published in the Journal of the American HeartAssociation.
In the study, researchers divided 18 men and women into two groups. Half were given a 32-ounce commercially available energy drink with 320 mg of caffeine, as well as other ingredients like taurine and ginseng (both dietary supplements). People in the other group were given a soda-like control drink of the same size that contained the same amount of caffeine with a bit of lime juice, cherry syrup and carbonated water. After six days, the groups switched and drank the other beverage.
Results of Consuming Energy Drinks
The researchers measured everyone�s blood pressure at the start of the study and one, two, four, six and 24 hours after drinking the beverage. They also measured everyone�s heart activity using an electrocardiogram.
People who drank the energy drinks had a QT interval�meaning the time it takes the heart�s ventricles to prepare to beat again�10-milliseconds higher than those who drank the caffeinated control beverages. Irregularity in the QT interval can sometimes lead to abnormal heart beats. Fletcher says that the disparity may be important, since some medications that affect the QT interval by 6 milliseconds carry warning labels.
Both groups had higher blood pressure after their drinks, though never out of normal range. The blood pressure of people who had the control drink returned to baseline levels after six hours. But when people drank the energy beverage, their blood pressure remained elevated for more than six hours. The researchers believe that could mean that the other ingredients in energy drinks may alter blood pressure beyond the effects of caffeine alone.
�What the growing body of evidence is pointing to is that there are effects on the heart that are different than caffeine alone,� says study author Emily Fletcher, a deputy pharmacy flight commander from David Grant U.S.A.F. Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base in California. �Consumers should be aware that drinking an energy drink is not the same as drinking coffee or soda.�
More research is needed. The study was small, and researchers only looked at the effects of the beverages on people who were healthy�and not at the differences over the long term. The American Beverage Association, which represents the non-alcoholic beverage industry, said in a statement that �energy drinks have been extensively studied and confirmed safe for consumption by government safety authorities worldwide including a recent review by the European Food Safety Authority.�
Fletcher says that the findings suggest people should approach energy drinks with some caution, especially those who have risk factors for heart issues. �I would recommend only moderate consumption of energy drinks and particular avoidance in people with underlying cardiac disease or hypertension,� says Fletcher, �or during activities that would also increase your blood pressure and heart rate, such as exercise or sports.�
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Weight Loss Eases Back Pain
Back pain and symptoms of sciatica can affect a majority of the population throughout their lifetime. Research studies have demonstrated that people who are overweight or obese experience more back complications than people with a healthy weight. A proper nutrition along with regular physical fitness can help with weight loss as well as help maintain a healthy weight to eliminate symptoms of back pain and sciatica. Chiropractic care is also another natural form of treatment which treats back pain and sciatica utilizing manual spinal adjustments and manipulations.
In the study, researchers divided 18 men and women into two groups. Half were given a 32-ounce commercially available energy drink with 320 mg of caffeine, as well as other ingredients like taurine and ginseng (both dietary supplements). People in the other group were given a soda-like control drink of the same size that contained the same amount of caffeine with a bit of lime juice, cherry syrup and carbonated water. After six days, the groups switched and drank the other beverage.
The researchers measured everyone�s blood pressure at the start of the study and one, two, four, six and 24 hours after drinking the beverage. They also measured everyone�s heart activity using an electrocardiogram.
People who drank the energy drinks had a QT interval�meaning the time it takes the heart�s ventricles to prepare to beat again�10-milliseconds higher than those who drank the caffeinated control beverages. Irregularity in the QT interval can sometimes lead to abnormal heart beats. Fletcher says that the disparity may be important, since some medications that affect the QT interval by 6 milliseconds carry warning labels.
Both groups had higher blood pressure after their drinks, though never out of normal range. The blood pressure of people who had the control drink returned to baseline levels after six hours. But when people drank the energy beverage, their blood pressure remained elevated for more than six hours. The researchers believe that could mean that the other ingredients in energy drinks may alter blood pressure beyond the effects of caffeine alone.
�What the growing body of evidence is pointing to is that there are effects on the heart that are different than caffeine alone,� says study author Emily Fletcher, a deputy pharmacy flight commander from David Grant U.S.A.F. Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base in California. �Consumers should be aware that drinking an energy drink is not the same as drinking coffee or soda.�
More research is needed. The study was small, and researchers only looked at the effects of the beverages on people who were healthy�and not at the differences over the long term. The American Beverage Association, which represents the non-alcoholic beverage industry, said in a statement that �energy drinks have been extensively studied and confirmed safe for consumption by government safety authorities worldwide including a recent review by the European Food Safety Authority.�
Fletcher says that the findings suggest people should approach energy drinks with some caution, especially those who have risk factors for heart issues. �I would recommend only moderate consumption of energy drinks and particular avoidance in people with underlying cardiac disease or hypertension,� says Fletcher, �or during activities that would also increase your blood pressure and heart rate, such as exercise or sports.�
If you�ve never taken a yoga class before, the numerous poses can be pretty intimidating. Downward facing dog, crow pose, cat and cow, wheel, warrior, the list goes on. And if your first experience is in an overflowing class, the instructor likely won�t have a chance to make sure you�re perfectly positioned in each posture.
Granted, yoga is all about going with what feels right for your body. But doing certain poses incorrectly can lead to muscle imbalances and possibly even injuries down the road. And it�s important to note that newbie yogis aren�t the only ones susceptible to mistakes. Even if you�ve been practicing yoga for years, there�may be room for improvement.
IFM's Find A Practitioner tool is the largest referral network in Functional Medicine, created to help patients locate Functional Medicine practitioners anywhere in the world. IFM Certified Practitioners are listed first in the search results, given their extensive education in Functional Medicine
