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.
Maybe this will be the news that finally jolts you off the couch and into an exercise program. A new study suggests that being physically active increases the chances of survival after a heart attack.
Researchers compared exercise levels among 1,664 heart attack patients in Denmark, including 425 who died immediately. Those who had been physically active were less likely to die, and the risk of death decreased as exercise levels rose. Patients who had light or moderate/high physical activity levels were 32 percent and 47 percent less likely to die from their heart attack, respectively, than the sedentary patients.
The study was published April 12 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
“We know that exercise protects people against having a heart attack,” said study co-author Eva Prescott, a professor of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation at the University of Copenhagen. “Animal studies suggest that myocardial infarctions [heart attacks] are smaller and less likely to be fatal in animals that exercise. We wanted to see if exercise was linked with less serious myocardial infarctions in people,” she added in a journal news release. “One possible explanation is that people who exercise may develop collateral blood vessels in the heart which ensure the heart continues to get enough blood after a blockage. Exercise may also increase levels of chemical substances that improve blood flow and reduce injury to the heart from a heart attack,” Prescott said.
She added this caveat: “This was an observational study so we cannot conclude that the associations are causal [cause and effect]. The results need to be confirmed before we can make strong recommendations.
“But,” Prescott added, “I think it’s safe to say that we already knew exercise was good for health and this might indicate that continuing to exercise even after developing atherosclerosis [hardening of the arteries] may reduce the seriousness of a heart attack if it does occur.”
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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: What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is an well-known, alternative treatment option utilized to prevent, diagnose and treat a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the spine, primarily subluxations or spinal misalignments. Chiropractic focuses on restoring and maintaining the overall health and wellness of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations, a chiropractor, or doctor of chiropractic, can carefully re-align the spine, improving a patient�s strength, mobility and flexibility.
Wondering exactly how much protein you should be consuming each day?�The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), which is the minimum amount you need to be healthy, is 0.8 grams per kilogram (0.36 grams per pound) of body weight per day�46 grams for an average woman. That equals as little as 10% of daily calories. If you’re not super active, that’s likely adequate, and you’ll hit the target effortlessly if you follow a typical Western diet.
To get your personal protein “RDA,” multiple the number 0.36 by your weight in pounds. (For a sedentary 150-pound woman, that would be 54 grams.) Double it if you’re very active or aiming for “optimal protein,” which can help you maintain muscle as you age and support weight loss.
American women already eat about 68 grams a day, according to the latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. “There’s no reason to go out of your way to get protein,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy. “Just eat a variety of fish, nuts, beans, seeds, and dairy, including yogurt.”�However, increasing your protein well above the RDA may make sense if…
That means getting at least 35 to 40 minutes of moderate exercise four or five days a week, including resistance training two or more times a week. Consider eating 1.2 to 2 grams of dietary protein per kilogram (or about 0.5 to 0.9 grams per pound) of body weight each day, says Nancy Rodriguez, PhD, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Connecticut. That amount is best for rebuilding muscle tissue, especially if you do a lot of high-intensity workouts, research suggests.
Protein takes longer to digest than carbs, helping you feel full, and also pushes your body to secrete the gut hormone peptide YY, which reduces hunger. “When you bring protein to about 30% of your daily calories, you’ll naturally eat less,” says Lauren Slayton, RD, founder of Foodtrainers, a nutrition practice in New York City, and author of The Little Book of Thin. “Protein decreases appetite and also, in my experience, helps you manage cravings.”
While studies are mixed about whether consuming more protein leads to weight loss, research is pretty clear that protein can help you retain more of your lean muscle as you lose fat. One 2011 study suggests amping up protein to as much as 1.8 to 2 grams per kilogram (roughly 0.8 to 0.9 grams per pound) of body weight per day to stave off muscle loss when restricting calories. Cut back on refined carbs to balance out the extra calories from adding protein.
Eating more protein as you get older may help you maintain muscle and ward off osteoporosis, “so you can stay stronger and more functional,” says Rodriguez. In a 2015 study, adults over the age of 50 who roughly doubled the RDA (eating 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram, or 0.68 grams per pound, of body weight) were better able to rebuild and retain muscle after only four days, compared with control groups eating the RDA.
Doubling the RDA gives you “optimal protein,” a concept that Rodriguez and more than 40 nutrition scientists advanced at a recent Protein Summit, the findings from which were published in 2015 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Optimal protein works out to be about 15% to 25% of your daily calories, still below the level recommended by many popular high-protein diets. Over a day, that could look like 20-30 grams per meal and 12 to 15 grams per snack, for a total of 90 to 105 grams daily.
Join Drs. Jason Deitch and Tom Klapp as they lay out the rationale for remaining one of the few�drug-free options for improving health and wellbeing.
Dr. Klapp says there are three drivers for chiropractors who are trying to bring drugs into the profession�all based on false premises:
Schools teaching a medical/allopathic approach instead of the chiropractic approach
Unsuccessful chiropractors who believe drugs would make them more money
�Pied pipers� who claim prescribing drugs would make chiropractic more �advanced�
Bottom line: Americans� declining health is NOT�because we�are suffering from a deficiency of drugs.
Video Transcription
Jason Deitch:��Hello, everyone. Dr. Jason Deitch here, and today I�m excited to be having a great conversation with my great friend Dr. Tom Klapp. Dr. Tom, thanks so much for making some time in your busy schedule to talk about, what I believe, might just be one of, if not the most important conversation in the chiropractic profession, which is asking the question, �Why is the chiropractic profession better off a drug-free profession?� Now before we get into that, a lot of people know you, you�re on the board of Life University, you�ve been very involved in the politics in the state of Michigan, but for those that may not be aware of who you are, recent graduates and so on, before we get into the message, let�s talk about the messenger. Share with us some of your background and why you have really become one of, I�ll say the world�s, most vocal proponents about keeping chiropractic as a drug-free profession.
Tom Klapp: �Well first of all, I�ve been in practice for, it�ll be 37 years next month, and I have a lot of experience in politics, as you mentioned. I�m the past president of the Michigan Chiropractic Association. I�m the past chairman of the Michigan Association of Chiropractors, which was the newly merged association in Michigan that came together 10 years ago now, believe it or not. I am, as you mentioned, on the board of Life University, and I have a long list of low paying jobs in this profession, so for whatever that�s worth, I know my way around the profession. Let�s put it that way.
Jason Deitch:��Right. You�re being facetious about low-paying jobs, but what you�ve done is you�ve volunteered and participated on a lot of levels around the world in this conversation or really about how to elevate our profession, I�ll say, to the stature that it really deserves to be. You were instrumental, I know, in the mergers of the two state associations. You�re being humble and so on, and that�s all well and good. Let�s get into it. For those chiropractors watching, you may have some chiropractors that have been around for decades, others who are in school, let�s have the conversation. There are those within our profession that actively believe that we will be a better profession with drugs. Why is that not true?
Tom Klapp: �Well, the first reason it�s not true is because there are plenty of professions already out there that are willing, ready and able, and in fact eager, to write as many prescriptions as humanly possible. Currently in the United States, the average American, get this, it�s 13 prescriptions written for him or her annually, and 75% of Americans are taking at least one prescription drug.
The first question I would ask a chiropractor thinking this way is what benefit do you bring to a patient above and beyond what all these other providers and physicians that are writing prescriptions for drugs like crazy, what benefit do you bring that they�re not already getting?
That�s the first question. Then on the other side of the coin, what destruction are you doing, are you wreaking, on the world�s only drug-free [healthcare] profession?If you look around the landscape, there�s all kinds of providers, and I would even argue people like homeopaths and naturopaths, in their own way, have a form of prescribing what could be considered drugs. Yet here we are, we are a holdout.
Several years ago, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress did significant market surveys, focus groups, and a variety of other methods of determining what does the public believe about chiropractic? What do they like about us? What do they not like about us?
The number one thing that the public likes and appreciates about the chiropractic profession is that we are drug free. The public loves knowing that there is a doctor out there that they can go to that isn�t standing ready as they walk in the door to write a prescription. We have other ways, magnificent, effective, sometimes even unbelievably effective, ways of healing without the necessity, without the bastardization of bringing drugs into our beautiful profession.
Jason Deitch:��What are some of the claims? Those that do believe this. Maybe just share for those that are new to the conversation, why do they think that it�s a better profession with drugs?
Tom Klapp:��I have looked this over, and I�ve kind of come down to three reasons why the profession wants to go down this path. Let�s call them drivers, if you will.
The first driver is that there�s a lot of colleges out there, chiropractic colleges, that are training their doctors in, what I would call, allopathic practice. They teach them how to diagnose; they teach them how to refer to medical doctors; they teach them how to practice, think, and act like a medical doctor. Then what happens to these graduates is when they graduate and they get their chiropractic license, they realize chiropractic is not allopathic, that all the things that they may have been taught in these allopathic-leaning schools, they can�t do. What that leads to is a lot of frustration, anger, maybe they feel � like they were baited and switched, but in any case, they feel like they�ve been, maybe even defrauded. In my mind, maybe they were defrauded.
So we have a lot of dissatisfied graduates when they get out of school thinking, �Well, when I get out of school, I�m going to be a doctor.� They�re a doctor, but not an allopathic doctor. So it leads to �Maybe we should change the profession to reflect what I was taught.� Okay. I�m deeply opposed to anyone who graduates from a college thinking I�m going to change the profession instead of adapting my practice to the laws that govern chiropractic. Because that�s what this amounts to. We have laws that govern what we do, and the schools should be teaching what those laws allow and not all this other stuff. Okay? That�s one major driver.
I think another driver is, simply, lack of success, that a lot of doctors aren�t as successful as they feel like they want to be or they feel like they should be. They look at the medical profession, they see that they get paid when they send a bill to the insurance company, and they think, �Well, if I could only do what they do, maybe I could get paid like they get paid.� Well, that�s very wrong thinking because you�re still a doctor of chiropractic, and there�s no indication that if you were to, all of a sudden, be able to write a prescription, that somehow you�d get paid more. In fact, I�m going to throw a factoid out there that a lot of people may not have even thought of and it�s this: there�s no CPT code for writing a prescription. It�s part of the E and M code, the evaluation and management code. You can already do that. So where�s the advantage? I�d like to see them pay us now for the E and M that we can already do, instead of trying to add prescriptive rights to something and then try to send that in for payment. There�s no indication we�re going to get paid more.
Jason Deitch:��Right.
Tom Klapp:��It�s a pipe dream. The other drivers are there�s the pied pipers in the profession. There�s a group out of Florida that makes a lot of noise about how much more advanced we could be if we could just write prescriptions. Well, I would argue the opposite. We would be devolving as a profession if all of a sudden we [started] acting like every other profession. What makes us powerful, what makes us different, and especially in the mind of the public, is that we are drug free.
Jason Deitch:��Right.
Tom Klapp:��I�d like to see the pied pipers tone down their rhetoric because in addition to all the other bad ideas out there, to make this happen, politically, would be a nightmare for our profession.
Jason Deitch:��There are some that argue that they want the rights in order to be able to take people off of drugs. Do you believe that as a rational argument? It sounds logical. What do you say to those that say, �That�s why I want these rights�?Tom Klapp:��If you believe that argument, there�s a bridge in Brooklyn that I�d love to sell you because it�s just about as ridiculous. I don�t believe a word that these people are saying when they say, �Well, I want to take my patients off drugs.� Here�s what I do, I ask every patient that I see who is on a lot of medications, and believe me, we all see it, I sit down with the patient and I suggest to them that they go see their medical doctor and ask him or her which of the drugs that they�re taking can they live without. Let the medical doctor do his job. His job is to take people off drugs and put them on drugs and all that. My job is to educate my patients that there�s a better way than just dousing your body in harmful chemicals and toxins in the form of prescription medication.
Jason�Deitch:��Okay, so is that-
Tom Klapp:��That�s a false argument.
Jason Deitch:��So it�s an argument that on the surface seems logical but that may have some underlying ulterior motives behind it.
Tom Klapp:��Right.
Jason Deitch:��What about those in the profession that say, �Hey listen. I don�t want to prescribe drugs. Tom, I agree with you. I think you�re right. It�s our tradition, it�s our history, it�s our unique selling factor. But what�s the harm if some people in our profession would like to do it? I don�t want to do it.� What impact does sort of opening this door or going off that cliff, what impact will it have for those that think that we can sort of live and let live? Let those that want to do it, do it. I don�t choose to do it. I�m just making a living helping people in my community.
Tom Klapp:��I have two historical pieces of evidence that will defeat that argument specifically. The first one is the osteopathic profession, who began very much as the chiropractic profession, as a vitalistic manipulation-oriented profession. That�s what they did. They were vitalistic and they manipulated the joints of the body to increase blood flow, blah blah blah blah. In 1958, they had a movement similar to what we have today in chiropractic that said, �Hey, let�s start prescribing drugs. You folks over here, you just keep doing what you�re doing. We�re going to do this.� And that�s exactly what happened. Today, the people that were left to do manipulation are virtually gone, and I would love for you to find me an osteopath today who even remotely looks like one of those osteopaths from 1958. My point is this, that the minute that one chiropractor gets the right to prescribe, it won�t be long before the rest of us will probably be required to prescribe.
Then my second example from history is simply this, that in the various states where the arguments have been made, the liberal chiropractor would say to the conservative, �Let me do what I want to do, and I�m going to let you keep doing what you�re going to keep doing.� Okay? This has gone on � We have 50 states like this, and in all 50 states, when the final bell was rung and the whistle blew and the gun went off, the conservative chiropractor ended up having to be qualified in the exact same manner, take the exact same courses, get the exact same license as the broader-scope chiropractor. So that argument fails because we know what happens.
Jason Deitch:��What I�m hearing you say is that it�s not a live-and-let-live approach. That may seem like that at the moment, however the implications are that in order to prescribe drugs, there�s more education. If there�s more education, there�s more testing. If there�s more testing, higher requirements for licensing, increased malpractice insurance costs because that has to be spread out over everybody basically,-
Tom Klapp:��A big [crosstalk 00:13:58]
Jason Deitch:��-that it sounds good but may not necessarily be the reality when it�s all said and done, [crosstalk 00:14:07]
Tom Klapp:��It sounds good, but it never, ever turns out that way.
Jason Deitch:��Okay. I�m not even sure it sounds good, but it sounds good to some.
Tom Klapp:��Right.
Jason Deitch:��The arguments are that this is a positive step or an advancement of our profession. Others say, �This is who we�ve always been. This is who we should continue to be. It�s what the market is asking for. People are appreciating drug free.� How does this proceed from here? What do people watching, what should they get from it and what should they do? How do they get involved? Do they just watch the potential train wreck happen or is there something they can do to participate, get involved, share their voice, perhaps even inspire others to see it a little bit more clearly, and so on?
Tom Klapp:��Well, that�s a great question because there are a lot of chiropractors sitting on the sidelines of this debate. They�re kind of wondering what�s really wrong with it? Why wouldn�t we do drugs? Then there�s some who know intuitively that they�re against it, and yet they really don�t want to take a stand because taking a stand sometimes can be a problem, can be difficult.
The first recommendation I would make is if you believe that this is a bad idea, going into the path of drugs, if you believe as I do, take a stand. You need to decide within yourself no, this is not what I want to do. When you went to college, Jason, and every other doctor watching this, you didn�t get in it to prescribe drugs. It was never even a discussion. Nobody thought of it. Nobody wanted it. Now all of a sudden it�s a thing. You got into a drug-free profession. From the very get-go, that�s how it was when you got in, and that�s how we should keep it for so many reasons that � We don�t really have all day to enumerate them all but-
Jason Deitch:��That was the deal. We signed up for that deal.
Tom Klapp:��We signed up for it�s drug free.
Jason Deitch:��Right.
Tom Klapp:��Now go with it. The public is getting wise to the drugs. Okay, so what can you do? Stand up, be counted, take a stand against this whole movement, and support the people who are doing the same thing. For example, you and I are involved in a new organization, or a coalition, we call One Chiropractic. We want to unify the profession around one sentence: subluxation-centered, drug-free chiropractic. There you go. How many of us just think it�s that right there? We can create a big, big movement with just that, and there are other organizations out there. My own state of Michigan, the Michigan Association of Chiropractors, to my knowledge, is one of the very few state associations who have passed a resolution that we are drug free, we intend to remain drug free, and it�s not an issue for us.
But if your state association hasn�t done that, get involved. Ask them to take that same position. There are national associations. There are definitely colleges. We know Life University (Life Vision, Today�s Chiropractic Leadership), Life West, there are other colleges that have taken this same position. Those are the folks who need your support. On the other hand, there are colleges, there are individuals, there are associations out there who think that chiropractors should give up their history, give up their philosophy, give up who they are and become allopaths. Well, if you�re supporting them, take your support away. That�s how you can vote with your feet, as they say.
Jason Deitch:��That�s exactly. That�s exactly. It�s a big topic. It�s a big issue. We�ve been close, I think, in New Mexico years ago. It was only by certain individuals, Drs. Guy Riekeman, Gerry Clum, and several others, that we sort of saved it from going over the edge. Is that true? Do you want to give any predictions as to how you think this might play out so that people can sort of be aware of what�s really happening, you know, in today, tomorrow�s time so they can get a sense of the urgency? Is this some theoretical potential problem or how serious is it?
Tom Klapp:��Well, what�s happening even as we�re having this conversation, there are chiropractors, chiropractic associations, who are planning on introducing legislation that would allow chiropractors to prescribe drugs. Now, there are so many problems in passing this kind of legislation. The biggest problem is that other chiropractors don�t agree with it. Okay? We have one state, Wisconsin, where one association decided they were going to go into drugs, and they spawned a completely new association whose intent was it to make sure drugs never came to Wisconsin. What that means in Wisconsin is now you have a divided state. They�re never going to pass a law for drugs there because the legislators look at a divided profession, they�ll never pass it. Yet, the doctors in Wisconsin are being cheated out of a single, powerful, unified association that could be getting good things done.
How about instead of going for drugs, how about we start going for access to chiropractic care? That�s the holy grail. If we could just get what we do paid for on a par that the system pays for allopathy, my god, what an amazing win that would be for our profession. There�s always going to be � As long as this movement stays alive, somebody�s going to be out there trying to pass the law, but I�m telling you right here and right now, we are watching. I�m not even going to tell you who we are, but if somebody so much as introduces anything anywhere, we are going to know about it, we are going to oppose it, and we are going to kill it.
Now, there�s another kind of movement that�s sprung up that�s helping our cause, and that�s this whole idea of opioid addiction. Well, all of a sudden this has become a big thing, and the reason it�s a big thing is because MDs are prescribing opioid drugs, people are becoming addicted, then the MD takes them off the prescription, and now they have to go seek the same high with heroine. Now, you take a perfectly normal human being that had a job, had a family, had a life, and all of a sudden they become a street drug addict, and then they die. This is a serious problem. Why would we want to be involved in that?
See, now the chiropractic profession at the highest levels of leadership are all starting to get together and understand that this would be a disaster for chiropractors to even think about getting involved in any kind of prescriptive rights, especially if they involve opioid drugs. Let�s be smart. Let�s present ourselves as the solution to that problem and not simply buy in, sell our souls for a buck, so we can hand out drugs like Halloween candy, like the MDs do. It�s insane.
Jason Deitch:��I�m hearing you say, on a lot of levels, just one, we�re not filling a need that�s not already being filled.
Tom Klapp:��Exactly.
Jason Deitch:��That�s a perfectly great argument. Two, drugs are dangerous. They have risks, and why would we want to increase any risk of somebody�s life and so on. What you cite is not the exception, it is become the rule. It is a problem epidemic that everybody agrees with at the highest levels. What do you see as the solution, Tom? There are some that say let�s, sort of, split the profession into two: those that want, those that don�t. Sort of create them into two professions or tier the profession, I think is the term that�s been used. That doesn�t seem to be a solution because that then, I guess, implies all these regulations that most of the profession doesn�t want to, and may have issues having to, address later on in their careers. There may be new testing for doctors that have been around for decades that all of a sudden are going to have to go back to school to perhaps take new tests and so on.
All of those things are possible, but what is the solution? For those ardent chiropractors that do feel duped, that do feel �Hey listen, maybe they did go to a school where that was part of the agenda from the get-go,� and as far as they�re concerned, they�re saying, �Wait a minute. The deal that they signed up for was that we were going to do what we can to serve patients, and in some cases some of the times, this is a good thing.� What do you tell those doctors? What�s their solution?
Tom Klapp:��That�s a great question. There are any number of professions out there for which a chiropractor is eminently qualified: nursing, physicians assisting. Go back to DO school, I bet they�d take a lot off your credits. If you want to prescribe, I�m in favor of you prescribing, but I�m not in favor of you prescribing with your DC license. I�d like to quote the late Nancy Reagan, �Just say no.� That�s what this profession � We just need to finalize the decision and make a decision once and for all, it�s too dangerous, it�s too divisive, its consequences are too long-lasting for us to consider doing this, and that all of us will be so much better off using our efforts and our resources to getting more patients, and getting access to more patients, as opposed to getting access to prescription rights.
Jason Deitch:��Absolutely. There is a pathway for those that really want it, really believe in it, really in their gut, assuming there are some out there that actually think this is a great solution, for those individuals, they absolutely can get the appropriate degrees to have the ability to do what it is they want to do. The real issue is don�t change the drug-less profession for your individual preference. Get the degrees from those professions that have those rights as it is. That�s what I�m hearing you say, and that�s totally rational.
Tom Klapp:��That�s right. There are drug-dealing professions all over the place.Jason Deitch:��All right.Tom Klapp:��Leave mine alone.
Jason Deitch:��Let�s wrap things up. Let�s conclude in just a few moments. My closing comments, from what I�m hearing you say, Tom, is you�ve got to take a stand, and what that means is just sitting back and hoping a few leaders are going to handle this without supporting them, whether it�s financially, whether it�s showing up at events, participating in movements, organizations, new coalitions, and so on, shouldn�t be an option. That there is a very real and imminent threat, that this could go through because they�re vocal, they�re active, they raise money, who knows what other sources of money they�re getting, but they�re active and the drug-free movement tends not to be so active for a variety of reasons.
So what I�m hearing you say is it�s time to, basically, take a stand; make your opinion heard; support those groups, organizations, and schools; send students to those schools that are very clearly saying we stand for drug-free chiropractic; support those associations, state associations, coalitions that will protect your rights to stay drug-free, and to � I love what you said in terms of what you do in your practice to, in fact, enhance those that think that having this as an option, or that they�re lesser qualified doctors because they can�t, really need to shift that perspective to realize that � As you�ve told me, time and time again, one of the things your patients appreciate most is that you�re actually a doctor who�s looking out for their long-term interests, and almost as an advocate can say, �Go back to the guy who prescribed you the drugs and just ask for only the ones that are life-saving and really required.� That sounds like a phenomenal service that doesn�t happen within the medical profession, for the most part, as a system.
Let�s close this up with some final thoughts. Please get involved. I�ll just say join us at LIFE Vision Seminars. This is a movement of people just like us who are looking to focus on our unique advantages and bring them to the world as a new force, a new movement, a new group. Send your students to Life University, where it�s very clear that this is a school that stands for, promotes, not just for its own state or for its own protection, but for the entire profession, stands up for the rights to stay drug free. OneChiropractic.org is something to look into. It�s going to spread wildly, I think, once people are aware of what exactly it is and the potential it has. Our future�s only as good as your engagement, as our profession�s engagement. Tom, what am I missing? What other closing comments do you have?
Tom Klapp:��Well, if we sit back and do nothing, if all of us who just assume that chiropractic is and always has been and always will be drug free, and if we sit back and just allow these people to do what they do � And here�s what they do, they very quietly, behind the scenes, do a lot of work. They lay a lot of political groundwork, they acquire political capital, and then they start to quietly move behind the scenes. I would even characterize it as they do it secretly because when people really understand what�s going on behind the scenes, by the time they find out, it�s too late. It�s a done deal. So don�t assume that it�s always going to be the way it�s been. Okay? Don�t get me wrong. We can improve our profession, but putting drugs and prescription rights in our profession is the exact wrong way to do that. In fact, ultimately, that would kill our profession.So be on the lookout. Be vigilant. Keep your eyes open for signs that this movement is gaining traction. Again, support those who support drug-free subluxation-centered chiropractic.
Jason Deitch:��And withdraw your support for those that you think might threaten that.
Tom Klapp:��Absolutely.
Jason Deitch:��Tom, I appreciate your time. We�ll get back to work on all the things that we love, but thanks for joining me here today and really sharing your passion and your expertise with everyone today.
It�s spring and many people will be heading back to the gym in the hope of busting cellulite, a seemingly unshakeable curse for many women. However, cellulite, which has both genetic and hormonal causes, can be improved with a comprehensive long-term strategy. Here are a few facts and fictions about the dreaded �orange-peel effect� before you get started.
Exercise Gets Rid Of Cellulite
FALSE. Unfortunately, exercise alone isn�t enough to shift those lumpy fatty deposits anchored deeply under the skin. This type of fat corresponds to metabolized fat from food and genetic fat stores often found around the buttocks and thighs. However, exercise (walking, running, water biking, skipping) forms part of an overall cellulite-busting strategy, giving a real boost to venous and lymphatic circulation.
Slim women have cellulite too! Losing weight by forcing yourself to follow a drastic and highly restrictive diet won�t solve the problem. (Shutterstock)
Hormonal Balance Affects Cellulite
TRUE. Harmonizing your hormonal balance could help reduce and halt the further development of adipocyte fat cells. A lack of progesterone can often create a cellulite effect. Borage oil and chaste tree are herbal remedies that are recommended for boosting the hormone progesterone. Changing to a contraceptive pill with a different dose of hormones can also be an option. Ask your health care provider for more information.
Cutting Calories Is The Only Way To Get Rid Of Cellulite
FALSE. Slim women have cellulite too! Losing weight by forcing yourself to follow a drastic and highly restrictive diet won�t solve the problem. In fact, it can prove counterproductive, since you also risk losing muscle mass and accentuating any cellulite buildup.
A Mediterranean diet based on foods rich in antioxidants (fruit and vegetables, seeds, nuts, wholegrain cereals) is the best weapon of mass destruction in the fight against lumpy deposits. (Shutterstock)
The Mediterranean Diet Is The Most Effective
TRUE. Cellulite, by definition, is an inflammatory condition. A Mediterranean diet based on foods rich in antioxidants (fruit and vegetables, seeds, nuts, wholegrain cereals) is the best weapon of mass destruction in the fight against lumpy deposits. Foods containing fast-acting sugars, with high glycemic indexes, should generally be avoided because they promote the storage of fat and cause insulin levels to spike. Watch out for hidden salt too, which is often responsible for water retention. Avoid soup in the evening and fill up on protein.
Herbal Remedies Can Help Tackle Cellulite
TRUE. The key active ingredients in certain plants can help the body to eliminate toxins, flushing out tissue that�s full of water and fat. These include dandelion, birch, fennel, artichoke, black radish, fumaria, red vine leaf, witch hazel and ginkgo biloba, which can help boost blood flow back to the heart and aid the lymphatic system. Drinking lots of water will also stimulate digestive transit to help get rid of inflammatory toxins.
Complementary and alternative medicine, abbreviated as CAM, is described as a variety of healing medicines and practices which are available outside of conventional treatments. CAM practices are believed to provide a much more natural and holistic treatment approach for the wide array of injuries and conditions that exist today. In fact, back pain is one of the most common complaint people turn to complementary and alternative medicine.
Many individuals have found relief from their spinal complications through the use of complementary and alternative medicine practices.
Complementary and alternative medicine therapies and practices can be utilized on their own to treat back pain as well as other symptoms or these can be combined with conventional medicine. As with any new form of treatment however, it’s essential for the individual to thoroughly discuss the variety of CAM therapies that are available to them with a healthcare professional and determine which of the following would be best for their specific issue.
Common CAM, or complementary and alternative medicine, approaches for back pain include:
Acupuncture: Acupuncture is a part of traditional Chinese medicine and it is commonly utilized to treat a variety of painful conditions and their symptoms. This practice involves the insertion of very thin needles into specific pressure points on the body, ultimately helping to relieve pain and other symptoms. A current research study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or NCCAM, demonstrated that acupuncture can be an effective method for treating chronic pain. The utilization of acupuncture as a form of complementary and alternative treatment has long been controversial where some individuals believe it to be nothing more than a placebo and that patients experience pain relief only because they wish to experience relief. However, the NCCAM study provides evidence that acupuncture is an effective form of treatment.
Stretching and yoga: Yoga combines stretching exercises with breathing techniques and mindful awareness to help focus on the area causing the painful symptoms. Physical activity can help improve strength, flexibility and mobility while improving back pain.
Chiropractic care: Although it is considered a form of complementary and alternative medicine, chiropractic care requires a license for practice in all states. Moreover, chiropractors, or doctors of chiropractic, cannot prescribe medications but they can diagnose and treat back pain using chiropractic techniques and methods, such as spinal adjustments and manual manipulations. Chiropractors may also recommend a series of stretches and exercises according to the patient’s type of injury and/or condition and depending on the severity of their symptoms, to further help treat the individual’s back pain as well as speed up the recovery process.
Massage therapy: A 2011 study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or NCCAM, found that massage therapy can provide short-term benefits for individuals with back pain. When visiting a massage therapist, make sure to inform them about your specific symptoms in order for them to provide you with special treatment.
Herbal medicines: Herbal medications are available as capsules, tablets, teas and essential oils. Remember that herbs can interact with each other and with conventional medications, so be sure to tell your healthcare provider about any herbal remedies you plan to take.
Many people can often find it difficult to know which type of complementary and alternative medicine practice they should begin with, especially for a common complication such as back pain. Make sure to research all CAM specialists carefully, searching specifically for licensed practitioners, and be sure to ask your healthcare specialist for trustworthy recommendations of each. Your health depends on it.
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: What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is an well-known, alternative treatment option utilized to prevent, diagnose and treat a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the spine, primarily subluxations or spinal misalignments. Chiropractic focuses on restoring and maintaining the overall health and wellness of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations, a chiropractor, or doctor of chiropractic, can carefully re-align the spine, improving a patient�s strength, mobility and flexibility.
Walk into any�HIIT�class or CrossFit box and chances are you�ll be asked to do a variation of a plyometric jump. Box jumps, frog leaps and tuck jumps help you improve your�VO2 max�(speed), flexibility and�range of motion. But that�s not all. Their explosive power works your entire body, while getting your heart rate up.
Kat Ellis, head trainer and instructor at�Uplift Studios�in New York City, says, �Plyometrics are a mix of stability and strength, and create a strong foundation for doing explosive�weightlifting�moves like the�clean and jerk�and�snatch.�
But if you�re not nailing down the form of these moves properly, you can risk injuring yourself and cause strain on your joints. That�s where tempo training comes in. Modulating movement based around a tempo allows the body to activate fast twitch muscle fibers and to learn to distinguish the difference between speed and power, Ellis explains. �The body finds a moment of explosive activation. For example if you�re doing a�push-up, concentrate on lowering the chest down for three seconds and pushing back up to a plank in one. The tempo, is 3-2-1, push.�
Plyometrics help develop�core strength�and joint stability, too. �Tempo training forces you to slow things down. You�re regressing the exercise to make sure your whole body is truly engaged,� Ellis explains.
According to the�National Academy of Sports Medicine, plyometrics are broken down into three phases: the eccentric phase, the amortization phase and the concentric phase. Take the box jump, for instance. The eccentric phase is when you�re in a half-squat position with your knees bent. When you drive from your heels to jump, that�s the amortization phase. The concentric phase is when you finally land on the box and release the energy and tension in your muscles. With that said, take Ellis�s lead, as she breaks down these three popular jumps.
Progression 1 How to:�Stand with your feet a little wider than hip-distance apart with your toes slightly turned out to the sides. Raise your arms at your sides with your hands overhead and palms facing forward (a). Sit into a deep sumo squat with your butt back and down so your weight is evenly distributed from your arches to your heels (b). Press up from the squat and lift your right leg up to hip height, bending your right knee (c). At the same time, engage your right oblique muscles so you bring your right thigh towards your right elbow (d). Return to the starting position and repeat on the left side. Alternate for five reps on each side.
Progression 2 How to:�Sit back into a deep sump squat position with your hands overhead together and palms facing forward (a). Driving from your heels, jump up, bending your knees so your thighs touch or brush up against your thighs (b). Land softly into a sumo squat before jumping again (c). Do five to eight reps.
Progression 1 How to:�Stand with your feet hip-distance apart with your toes facing forward (a). Sit into a squat with your arms at your sides raised to shoulder height, palms facing each other (b). As you stand up from the squat, lift your right leg to hip height with your right knee bent (c). At the same time, place one palm on top of the other to meet your right knee. Repeat on the left side (d). Alternate for five reps on each side.
Progression 2 How to:�Start in a squat position with your arms at shoulder height and palms facing each other (a). Jump up as high as you can, driving your knees towards your chest, almost touching the palms of your hands (b). Re-extend your legs to land softly on the ground (c). Do five to eight reps.
Progression 1 How to:�Stand behind a box or step with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees (a). Step one foot at a time onto the box, keeping the slight bend in your knees, and then step back down one foot at a time (b). Do five reps.
Progression 2 How to:�Stand behind a box with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees (a). Jump onto the box with both feet, landing with your knees slightly bent (b). Jump back down and repeat for five to eight reps. Note: If you�re doing this move in a CrossFit WOD, standard technique is to straighten your legs at the top of the box, standing tall, before hopping or stepping back down.
GIFs: Tiffany Ayuda / Life by Daily Burn
This article originally appeared on DailyBurn.com.
Chiropractic care may be able to bring about relief for allergy sufferers. Allergy symptoms may be triggered by misalignments in the neck and upper back, which contain nerves important for the body’s respiratory and immune systems. These misalignments are believed to interfere with the communication between these systems and the brain and cause or worsen allergy symptoms. Advanced Chiropractic Wellness offers adjustments which are targeted to reduce the effects of allergies on the body.
Allergies Result When The Body’s Immune System Is Triggered To Action By Substances That Should Be Considered Innocuous
Typically, this results in the release of excess histamine, which causes the characteristic watery and itchy eyes, stuffy nose, and increased sinus pressure. The sinus pressure may cause extremely painful headaches on top of the general discomfort of the other two. In some cases, body parts may also swell. The eye area is most commonly affected by such puffiness.When all of these symptoms are put together, it can cause serious suffering. Many people find that they can’t go outdoors during the height of the seasons in which their allergy triggers are released. Such triggers include the pollen from juniper and elm trees. This pollen is among the first of the allergens to hit in the spring, so Illinois residents will be encountering it soon if they aren’t already.
Later, Flower Pollen, Molds & Dust Take The Place Of The Tree Pollen
“After a full winter, nobody wants to have to stay indoors breathing filtered air. It’s time to go out and have fun! Yet for many, allergy medication isn’t a good solution. Drowsiness is a common side-effect, and even the non-drowsy types have side-effects of their own. What people need is a solution that addresses the problem at its roots,” said Dr. Scott Stratton, a chiropractor at Advanced Chiropractic Wellness.This solution, according to Dr. Stratton, is chiropractic realignment of the vertebrae that contain the nerves that communicate between the brain and the body’s respiratory and immune systems. The theory is that misalignment here causes miscommunication between these systems, resulting in exaggerated bodily responses to allergens.”When the brain and body can’t get a clear signal pathway between each other, only some of the needed information makes it through. Then, both sides have to try to fill in missing information, and this results in bad guesses. Chiropractic realignment clears up the signal and allows the brain and body to make appropriate responses to its environment,” Dr. Stratton explained.About Advanced Chiropractic WellnessThe Advanced Chiropractic Wellness clinic offers chiropractic care, lifestyle counseling, laser treatments, and more. They take a holistic approach that aims to improve a patient’s overall health instead of simply treating specific symptoms.
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Visit their website at www.drscottstratton.com/ for more information.Advanced Chiropractic Wellness
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