Repetitive Shoulder and Neck Stiffness

This may be the biggest issue I have to deal with in clinic. It's an issue because the stiffness and/or pain constantly reoccur. A patient comes in for an adjustment, and appears to constantly have the same problem over and over again. Pain/stiffness around the shoulders or around T3-T4 (Intrascapular pain).
Does this sound like you? Pain goes away after the adjustment, and within 2 days the pain often returns. Does this sound like you? In this blog we will go over the WHAT is happening, WHY it occurs, WHY it reoccurs, and HOW to prevent it.
(many of these pictures came from Dr. Steve's blog from neck solutions.)

What is happening?
Patient comes into the clinic with pain stiffness in the back of the shoulder or in between the shoulder blades (intrascapular stiffness/pain).

Neck and scapular pain without arm or finger pain can be caused by a pinched nerve.

Intrascapular discomfort or neck pain/stiffness are very common signs of a pinched nerve.

This is usually do to a radiculopathy. Radiculopathy is damage to the spinal roots. The doctor will find out where along that spinal root fits that particular radiculopathy. This is what patients need to know.:

A radiculopathy often appears before any symptoms of pain, numbness or even weakness in the arms and fingers. The pain/tingling/numbness one feels in the fingers is usually delayed weeks (maybe months) after the radiculopathy has begun.  

So, what often happens is  this: People will incorrectly assume that muscles are the cause of the neck stiffness /shoulder stiffness and go for a massage or physio therapy. Many times the patient will point to a "general" area  and it's generally localized pain. Sound like you?

The C5-C6 nerve root starts in the low neck and works it's way to the deltoid muscles. The root is above the C5 and C6 vertebrae.

The C8 Nerve root is located right in between the shoulder blades. Since there is NO C8 vertebrae, the vertebrae responsible for the C8 nerve would be below the C7 vertebrae. C7 and /or T1 adjustments often take care of that radiculopathy. 

Sometimes the pain is DIRECT and the patient

can feel it right on the spinous process. That pain is usually at the levels of T3 and T4. An adjustment below those vertebrae will take care

of that pain.

NECK stiffness and pain also can be due to a radiculopathy.

The most common levels of root involvement are C6 and C7; high cervical radiculopathies are less common, but do occur:(C2-C4)

Many people come to the clinic with these common Signs/Symptoms: Do any of these sound familiar? 

Posterior head ache (Occipital headache/suboccipital), temporal pain.  : C2

Suboccipital Headache/ pain behind the eyes, pain behind the ears:       C3

Traps, upper shoulder pain, Base of the neck :                                        C4

Sides of the Upper arm. (deltoid mm):                                                       C5

Forearm pain, Pain in the Thumb and the Index finger:                            C6

Middle Finger Pain:                                                                                   C7

Last two fingers Pain :                                                                               C8

Hypothenar and Medial side of the arm up to the elbow:                          T1

This is why it is very important that the doctor know exactly what symptoms you are feeling. This will better help him to remove any radiculopathies and to restore your health as quickly as possible.

A cervical radiculopathy= Neurological problems with a loss of neurologic functions.

Patients will experience a combination of  : 

1)sensory loss

2) motor loss (weakness)....... or

3) impaired reflexes( in a segmental distribution).

The sensory disturbances are often in a dermatome pattern. this does not necessarily mean that pain has to be along that dermatomes,  In many occasions the pain responses will mask as either facet syndrome or disc pain....this is what separates RADIATING pain from a radiculopahty.  

Radicular Pain and Radiculopathy Definition

Radicular pain(aka radiating pain) is a type of pain that radiates into the extremities directly along the course of a spinal nerve root. Radicular pain is caused by compression, inflammation and/or injury to a spinal nerve root arising from common conditions including herniated disc, foraminal stenosis and peridural fibrosis. Leg pain can be accompanied by numbness and tingling, muscle weakness and loss of reflexes. The most common symptom of radicular pain is usually called sciatica or sometimes radiculopathy, which is pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve down the back of the thigh and sometimes into the calf and foot.

Radicular pain, the characteristic symptom of cervical radiculopathy, is often confused with a radiculopathy in clinical practice. Because specific treatments are exclusively indicated for radicular pain, an accurate distinction is important. True radicular pain follows dermatomal patterns and is usually— though not always— unilateral. Onset is often insidious but may also be abrupt, and the pain is frequently aggravated by arm position and extension or lateral rotation of the head.  

RADICULAR PAIN/RADIATING PAIN: is from a specific point or origin and follows a specific path (down the legs, down the arm). Facet syndrome or disc involvement not a radiculopathy. Understand? 

Wow......SUCH A PAIN IN THE NECK !!!

So, how do these radiculopathies occur? One of the reasonis is work ergonomics. What? Yes, your work place. Stress, lack of a head set for those on the phone all day, people on the computer for hours and hours.  Improper positioning of a keyboard, improper keyboards that create ulnar deviation. Positioning of the monitor, how high the chair is set. The type of chair,....and many many more.


SOME INDONESIAN COMPANIES DO PAY FOR CHIROPRACTIC SERVICES
Ergonomic issues have increased due to long work hours, lap top computers, and the amount of stress the job entails. I have many patients from one particular company that always appear to have the same issues. Intrascapular stiffness and pain. Pain in between the shoulder blades and pain below the shoulder.  The issue I have with this is that the patients from this company are "limited" on the amount of chiropractic care  or medical care they can have. The amount is directly dependent upon the amount of salary they make. Does that make a lot of sense to you?...........So, these are the hard working employees who truly don't get to experience the true benefits of chiropractic because they use chiropractic simply as a "pain relief" clinic. Many do no get to experience structural repair, biomechanical repositioning, or long term affects of chiropractic because they are constantly caught in this "rat mill" of insurance limitations. In addition, many of the patients are not motivated enough to do anything outside of the clinic that would promote their wellness or well being. So, it's a double edged sword. 

However, that being said, there is one patient from that particular office that did manage to restructure his spine and create muscular balance. This picture you see,....only took this patient 3 months.

Unfortunately, as I told you prior this patient recently told me that since his " insurance " benefit is up at work, they will not be able to come to clinic for the next 3-4 months. So, we certainly hope this patient continues on this path of success. He certainly worked hard at it.

So,... this comes to the second way radiculopathies occur.... POSTURE....Bad posture leads to bad health. As simple as that.

Let us review the basics to many postural problems.
1) A subluxation occurs in the body and the body recognizes that subluxation, and over a period of time, that "LOAD" or structural mechanical stress becomes too much for the body, so it creates a postural shift. In addition, the musculature changes as well. Your
overbearing one side and therefore will create tight muscles on one side and weak muscles on the other.  Sometimes, I will get people come into my clinic and they will say, "but,...I feel no pain, so I must be okay. THESE people don't wish to understand what their body is truly going through. They are merely looking for justification that "they're alright" so they can continue living the life they have been living, and then they can say,..."but the doctor told me I was alright". Putting the blame or burden on the doctor for THEIR decreased quality of life and not taking on any responsibility themselves. These are the PAIN patients.

I am now going to post a few postural pics, of prospects who never became patients or PAIN patients. The prospects often INSISTED that they were " JUST FINE", the pain patients were looking for a "miracle pill", and chiropractic certainly isn't that.
So,.......You make the call...Do these people look fine to you? If you say "yes",......you need new glasses.

This women has moderate to sever scoliosis. Pain every single day.  She is under 30 years of age. In addition to her scoliosis let's review this posture?
* Left shoulder is high
* High Left hip
* anterior shoulders
* left thoracic rotation (look how the left hand you can no longer see)
* Left posterior pelvic rotation
* Right head lateral flexion (partly due to her scoliosis)

I told this person about the fact that pinched/pressured nerves in her body are throughout her spine. Where there is a decreased amount of nerve flow transmission to that part of the body where the nerves are supposed to go to, will mean she will have issues later on in life.............She didn't believe me........Ignorance is bliss. She will continue to have difficulty throughout her entire life without proper chiropractic care.

Now,...let's look at this guy. His posture is AWFUL.

* Anterior Head Translation
* Bilateral Anterior Shoulders
* Posterior Pelvis
* Right foot flair

"But Doc,...I don't see or feel any pain?".........You will,...you will.

Now, this person actually became a patient, but was expecting a miracle.  Do you think this posture happened overnight? No way! This took years and years to get this way.

* Left thoracic shift
* High Right shoulder
* Anterior Pelvis
* Right foot flair
* Muscular imbalance

Some of the issues is that the patient thinks chiropractic is merely a "therapy"...not understanding it's a way of life. So,  "GET ME OUT OF PAIN" is their only goal.
That often occurs,..but, as I tell every patient,........that pain will return quite easily after the adjustment. For they haven't done anything structurally to change that. Musculature imbalance,  postural re-training, soft tissue repair, establishing ligament laxity to allow postural re-training,.......Do you think this guy had a lot of shoulder stiffness and low back pain? YOU BET!!!!.......He'll be caught on that proverbial wheel of ointments, medications, massages the rest of his life for impatience and lack of willingness to work at his posture is evident.

Oh,...here is one of my favorites. This young boy is a MESS.  Let's review his posture.

* High right shoulder
* anterior rotation of Left shoulder
* bilateral shoulders have gone anterior and inferior
* valgus knees
* (YOU cannot see) flat feet
* Anterior head translation
* head translation
* widened stance
* hyperlordosis
*anterior pelvis
* Obesity
  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You can see head lateral flexion, spinous rotation, left convexity of  the cervical spine.
Think this patient had intrascapular pain? You betcha!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 You can see hyperlordosis and anterior pelvic rotation









    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

You can see high right shoulder, thoracic re positioning.


With all of these issues, there was ZERO importance of trying to restructure his spine. This teen-ager will have serious difficulty as an adult. His body is speaking to him and his family and he don't see an urgency because he's NOT IN PAIN.




The Posture is the Window to your health. If your posture looks horrific, what do you think the possibility is that your health is not good also? 100%


When you start thinking about whether or not your health is being affected, look at the posture first? What does your posture say to you? If you think standing in an improper fashion is "normal",...then you are kidding yourself, and as long as you cannot admit the truth, you'll never be able to truly improve your health.

Dr. G

Aspartame... A Neurotoxin

Aspartame

A Bitter Sweetener

From Complementary Health: (Such a good article from "Complementary Health". I have interjected comments throughout the article)

Aspartame: "The Quiet Killer"

Aspartame, known to the public as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful, has been the subject of controversy since it first became an ingredient in food products in 1981.  In 1985, Americans used 800 million pounds of Aspartame, with an average intake of 5.8 pounds per person.  They consumed more than 20 billion cans of aspartame-sweetened soft drinks in 1985 alone.

A study of available literature on the subject reveals that over the years more and more indications have arisen that suggest that the public is at great risk through its repeated use.  Serious consideration should be given to discontinuing the ingestion of aspartame until the safety or lack thereof is firmly established.

For this article, the Complementary Medicine Association interviewed authorities George Schwartz, M.D. and Mary Nash Stoddard.  Dr. Schwartz is a trauma surgeon and the author of In Bad Taste: the MSG Syndrome.  Ms. Stoddard, editor of The Deadly Deception, founded the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and the worldwide Pilot's Hotline for reporting adverse reactions to aspartame.  We will also refer to a comprehensive text entitledExcitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, MD.  We are grateful to these individuals for their support.

What does aspartame do?

First, aspartame releases aspartate during digestion.  Aspartate is a neurotransmitter used by the neurons in the brain.  It is a type of excitatory amino acid.  Excitatory amino acids are normal and necessary brain chemicals, and as such, they are allowed to cross the blood-brain barrier.  Aspartate, the principal chemical component of aspartame, is a neurotransmitter and a type of excitatory amino acid.  It is a natural and necessary body chemical.  Neurotransmitters cross the blood-brain barrier.

The blood-brain barrier is designed to protect the brain from the invasion of harmful chemicals.  When normal neurotransmitters such as aspartate and glutamate cross this barrier in excess, they will cause poisoning and lead to the death of the nerve cells within the brain and spinal cord.  The blood-brain barrier cannot discern the amount that is needed from too much.  So these neurotransmitters can build up undetected until a toxic level is reached.  This accumulation seems to be particularly insidious in its effect on the developing brains and nervous systems of children. ( Children do not have a fully developed B-B-B, therefore harmful elements, i.e. Aspartame will cause neurological defects)

"The nervous system is designed to control the concentration of excitatory amino acids in the fluid surrounding the neurons, the extracellular space.  The main ones concerning us are glutamate and aspartate.  The nervous system does this by pumping the excess back into glial cells which surround the neurons and supply them with energy.  While this pumping system is very efficient, it uses enormous amounts of ATP, a high-energy compound that all cells in the body use for energy.

The central nervous system consists of neurons and glial cells.  Neurons constitue about half the volume of the CNS and glial cells make up the rest.  Glial cells provide support and protection for neurons.  They are thus known as the "supporting cells" of the nervous system.  The four main functions of glial cells are: 1) To surround neurons and hold them in place 2)To supply nutrients and oxygen to neurons 3) To insulate one neuron from another 4) To destroy and remove the carcasses of dead neurons (clean up).  The three types of CNS supporting cells are Astrocytes, Oligodendrocytes, and Microglia.  The supporting cells of the PNS are known as Schwann Cells.

"If energy production is reduced in the brain, the protective pumps begin to fail and glutamate begins to accumulate in the space around the neuron, including the area of the synapse.  If the energy is not restored the neurons will burn up;  they are literally excited to death."¹

What are the risks to children who consume excess aspartame?

The protective enzymes in a baby's brain are still immature, and therefore are unable to effectively detoxify the excitotoxins that enter its brain.(Again, this is telling you that children don't have the capacity to fight off these harmful toxins because their Blood Brain Barrier isn't fully developed). This would mean that in the case of a pregnant woman eating meals high in excitotoxin taste enhancers, the baby could be exposed to these high glutamate levels for many hours.  It is not unreasonable to assume that mothers will eat several meals and snacks containing various forms of excitotoxins such as MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and aspartame.  This could produce a high concentration of glutamate exposure in the baby's brain several times a day.  Also significant is the fact that the immature brain is four times more sensitive to the damaging effects of excitotoxins than the adult brain.  Thus, following a dose of MSG, the baby's blood level of glutamate may remain high for many hours.  Since no experimental work can be done on pregnant women or children, we must look to animal research studies for some clues.

"In a study with mice and rats Toth and Lajtha found that, when giving aspartame and glutamate either as single amino acids or as liquid diets over a prolonged time (several hours to days), they could significantly elevate brain levels of these supposedly excluded excitotoxins. Brain tissue levels of aspartic acid rose as high as 61% and glutamate levels rose 35% in brain tissue over prolonged feeding... Humans are exposed to high concentrations of excitatory food additives throughout the day by consuming a variety of processed foods and diet drinks."²

Plasticity of the brain is important in the learning process.  Even when the baby is in the womb, the brain of the infant is being stimulated by sounds, touch, and even light, causing changes in the brain's structure in important ways.  Babies move and play with their toes, suck their thumbs, and react to noises and music after only six weeks in the womb.  All of this stimulation causes the pathways in the brain to change and develop.

At birth the baby's brain chemistry functions homogeneously -- the biochemical reactions occur evenly throughout the brain.  But soon after birth, the brain undergoes a rapid acceleration in growth and function.  During this period the level of glutamine, the precursor of glutamate, rises very rapidly in some of the areas of the brain.  Glutamate helps to regulate the development of the wiring of nerves in the new brain.  As the child grows, even beyond teen years, these developing connections grow as well.

This process of molding the brain continues throughout life, but the majority of growth takes place within 0-7 years of life.  During these critical years, if unborn and young children are fed drinks or food containing aspartame, over-stimulation can occur.

It is important to appreciate that many of the toxic effects of excitatory amino acids occur at a time when no outward symptoms develop.  The child does not become sick or throw up, or have any behavior that would alert the parents that something is wrong.³

How was aspartame approved?

Dr. Schwartz was asked to elaborate on a statement attributed to former Senator Metzenbaum, now of the Consumer Federation of America in Washington, DC who said, "The approval process of aspartame has had a questionable history." ( Questionable history?....doubt it. G.D. Searle's CEO was none other than Donald Rumsfeld....you got it...the one in the same. The very first Act that President Regan did was FIRE the FDA commissioner on advice of Donald Rumsfeld. This allowed puppetry was a politcal triage in order to reinstate ASPATAME. Many toxicoligists were fired, data manipulated, and attorneys "hushed" in order to make sure that this harmful drug was on the market.)

Dr. Schwartz:  "When aspartame was first introduced for approval by the FDA, it was considered to be a sweetener, (It was originally designed by G.D. Searle  to be an anti-ulcer drug! Inadvertently the discovered that this synthetic drug tasted "sweet"), not an additive or a drug, and with a great deal of lobbying, the discussions were propelled through the approval proceedings, and the numerous case reports from individuals with adverse reactions were ignored."

From Dr. Blaylock's book we learn that, "In 1975 the drug enforcement division of the Bureau of Foods investigated the G. D. Searle company as part of an investigation of "apparent irregularities in data collection and reporting practices."  The director of the FDA at that time stated that they found "sloppy" laboratory techniques and "clerical errors, mixed-up animals, animals not getting the drugs they were supposed to get, pathological specimens lost because of improper handling, and a variety of other errors, (which) even if innocent, all conspire to obscure positive findings and produce falsely negative results."

"The drug enforcement division carried out a study under the care of agent Jerome Bressler concerning Searle's laboratory practices and data manipulation.  This important report was buried in a file cabinet, never to be acted on by the FDA. ( G.D. Searle sold this drug to MONSANTO  in 1985,and this company had a monopoly for it owned Equal and NutraSweet.... Why would MONSANTO later sell this sweetener to J.W.Childs and Merisant in 2000 when it was making BILLIONS of dollars? Could they see the foreseeable future because they new this drug would eventually be known to the world as a "KILLER" and they wanted no part of it?....I think so !) 

"Although aspartame-produced tumors in rats do not equal tumors in humans, after aspartame consumption began, there have been more brain tumors.  In the years 1973 to 1990, the number of brain tumors in people over sixty five has increased by 67 percent (National Cancer Institute SEER Program Data)."⁴

Is it proven that people drinking, or eating artificial sweeteners don't lose weight?

Mary Stoddard says, "It's well documented that excitotoxins like aspartame have the reverse affect on weight.  People drinking diet drinks and eating diet food will get more hungry.  The FDA no longer allows manufacturers of diet supplement drinks and foods containing aspartame to label them as weight reduction products, but requires that they be labeled as diet drink or diet food.  A study of 80,000 women who use sweeteners were evaluated through the Centers for Disease Control.  It was found that they gained rather than lost weight using artificial sweeteners."

Why do pilots need to avoid aspartame?

Mary Stoddard explains, "In a letter to the editor and in one article published in the United States Air Force AirMen's News, it was noted that aspartame ingestion causes elevated spiking on the EEG, resulting in grand mal seizures and blackout episodes in the cockpit.  Dozens have lost their jobs due to aspartame-related medical problems."

How does aspartame affect vision?

Dr. Schwartz states, "Diet drinks with aspartame release small amounts of methanol when the aspartame is broken down through digestion in the small intestine.  It is well documented that methanol interrupts the retina and optic nerve transmissions and causes visual problems. (Methanol, when above 30 degrees Celsius will become Formaldehyde, which converts quickly to Formic Acid, which is the primary toxic mechanism in "methanol poisoning")  Even though the FDA has thousands of cases of visual disturbances on record from individuals drinking too many diet drinks with aspartame, there have been no formal, unbiased, scientific studies done.  Vision studies need to be done."

Is there a known connection between increasing consumption of diet drinks and headaches?

In the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Donald R. Johns reported what appeared to be a connection between a case of migraine and the consumption of large amounts of a beverage containing NutraSweet™. A thirty-one-year-old woman with a known history of well-controlled migraine headaches began drinking six to eight 12-ounce cans of diet cola sweetened with NutraSweet, 15 tablets of aspartame, and other foods containing aspartame (approximately 100 to 1500 mg) daily.  About two hours after ingesting the drinks, she noticed stomach upset and a throbbing headache.  When taken off aspartame, she noticed steady improvement and eventually the headaches disappeared altogether.

In the May 1988 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, two letters appeared from the following physicians regarding headaches and aspartame.  In the first, Dr. Richard B. Lipton and coworkers at the Montefiore Headache Unit reported that, in their studies using 171 patients, 8.2 percent of the patients who had headaches were sensitive to aspartame.  They found that stress and tension also trigger migraines and other headaches.  Dr. Lipton concluded that "sufferers of migraines or other vascular headaches should be warned to avoid NutraSweet."  If you are a person who suffers headaches from low blood sugar levels, you also should avoid excitotoxins, including aspartame, because they aggravate hypoglycemia."⁵

A group of headache sufferers who have identified aspartame as the trigger setting off their headaches where given 30 mg/kg/day to study their aspartame sensitivity under double-blind controlled conditions.  Of a total of 32 subjects, randomized to receive aspartame and a placebo in a two-treatment, four-period crossover design, "18 completed the full protocol, and 7 completed part of the protocol before withdrawing due to adverse effects.  Three withdrew for other reasons.  Two were lost to follow-up;  one was withdrawn due to noncompliance, and one withdrew and gave no reason.  Each experimental period lasted 7 days.  Individuals receiving aspartame reported having headaches on 33 percent of the days as compared with 24 percent for the placebo treatment group (p = 0.04)."⁶

Individual subjective evaluation of aspartame versus placebo was shown to be statistically significant.  It appears that some people are particularly susceptible to headaches caused by aspartame and may want to limit their consumption."⁶

Is there an aspartame connection to other health conditions?

In treating stroke victims, researcher Roger Simon has shown that energy-starved neurons are infinitely more vulnerable to excitotoxin damage.  There are a growing number of conditions affecting the nervous system that are related to accumulations of excitotoxins.  Excess excitotoxins can have a devastating effect on the nervous system.

Dr. Blaylock states that a primary concern is the possible effect of these powerful brain cell stimulants on the adult's brain, especially related to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's dementia, Huntington's disease and ALS.  The brain uses excitatory amino acids as normal neurotransmitters, but there exists a delicate balance of excitatory and inhibitory chemicals in the brain.  When this balance is upset, serious disorders of the nervous system can result.⁷

"Those who suffer mood disorders seem to be very vulnerable to the effects of aspartame.  A study required that 40 patients with unipolar depression and a similar number of individuals with a psychiatric history receive 39 mg/kg/day or placebo for 7 days.  The project was halted by the Institutional Review Board of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine after 13 of 40 individuals with a history of depression experienced severe reactions.  There was a significant difference between patients taking aspartame and those taking the placebo in the number and severity of symptoms that these patients with depression reported.  Individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to aspartame, and its use should be discouraged."

Three cases are reported from patients who had episodic movement disorders triggered by foods or other components of their diets.  One of those cases told of rhythmic contractions of the arms and legs that were triggered by aspartame.

Can seizures be triggered by aspartame?

In 1985, Dr. Richard Wurtman reported several cases of seizures brought on by drinking too many diet drinks.  The first case involved a woman with no previous seizure activity who developed seizures after drinking seven liters of NutraSweet-containing beverages per day.

In the second case, a woman 27 years old had a grand mal seizure after drinking 4 to 5 glasses of Crystal Light™ containing NutraSweet.  This patient experienced twitching, trembling, jerking, and hyperventilation.

The last case was a 36-year-old male professor who drank one liter of ice tea sweetened with NutraSweet every day and developed grand mal seizures after several days.  He had no previous history of seizures nor of aspartame consumption."¹⁰

Who else should avoid aspartame?

"Diabetics, people with hypoglycemia, people prone to confusion or memory loss, pregnant women, the elderly, infants, children, patients with epilepsy, liver, kidney disease, and eating disorders, the relatives of those individuals who are sensitive to aspartame, diabetics, and patients with phenylketonuria (PKU)."¹¹

During digestion, aspartame is broken down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.  Those with PKU must restrict their intake of phenylalanine.

Where do we go from here?

Considering what is now known about brain chemistry, as well as the now numerous documented reports of adverse reactions to aspartame, it would be prudent to eliminate aspartame from the diet.

Reading labels on food items is important but not sufficient.  Labeling regulations make it possible to conceal from the public information needed to make good decisions about diet.  For example, there are some circumstances in which a substance like aspartame or glutamate does not have to be shown on the label.  Often it is included under another term like "enhanced flavors or spices."  The public needs to be aware of these problems and demand more information.

NEED TO READ MORE?

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/10/artificial-sweeteners-leading-cause-of-inflammatory-bowel-disease-in-canadians.aspx 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/06/aspartame-most-dangerous-substance-added-to-food.aspx 

References

1. Russell L Blaylock.  Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills.  Health Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1995, p. 39.
2. Ibid, p. 74-75, 78.
3. Ibid, p. 64, 71-72.
4. Ibid, p. 213.
5. Ibid. p. 198-199.
6. S.K. Van den Eeden, et al.  Aspartame Ingestion and Headaches:  A Randomized Crossover Trial Abstracted from Neurology, 44 (10), Oct. 1994, pp. 1787-93.
7. Blaylock, p. 215.
8. Reported by R.G. Walton et al. in "Adverse Reactions to Aspartame: Double-blind challenge in Patients from a Vulnerable Population,"Biological Psychiatry, 34 (1-2) , July 1-15, 1993.
9. International Journal of Neuroscience. 76 (1-2): 61-9, May 1994.
10. Possible Effects on Seizure Susceptibility." Lancet, Nov 9, 1984, p. 1060.
11. H.J. Roberts, MD.  Aspartame (NutraSweet): Is it Safe? Philadelphia: Charles Press, 1989.

Welcome to the New Dr. G's Blog page

I have considered doing this for a while. It appears that NOW is the right time. 


I wish for this blog to be able to help people better understand the meaning of chiropractic, how to better understand their own health, how to recognize when your body is speaking to you, why prevention of problems is so important, ...and many more things.  

What is the nervous system? The Central nervous system is the brain and the spinal cord. It is the "hardware" of your body. It is what makes the body run. It sends out and receives information from the body 24 hours a day. It sends chemical and electrical impulses down the spinal cord and out into every single part of the body. If the body is sending out a decreased amount of nerve impulses to its organs, muscles, cells, etc...,the body will slowly begin to degenerate and those important organs and muscles will not produce the way they should. 


As the nerves exit the spinal cord, the Central Nervous System becomes the Peripheral Nervous System. This is everything outside of the spine. These are the nerves that are carrying the important information that the brain is sending out, so that the body operates "at it's fullest potential". 


I have been asked on many different occasions how the "spine" has anything to do with the heart, lungs, liver, kidney's, urinary system, muscles , sinus issues, sexual dysfunction, vision difficulties, or even gait problems. This is where they are missing the point. They are thinking A+B = C.  Try opening your mind and think C=A (Z).   Here, let me further explain.


Let's take the stomach for example. (Believe it or not, I had an Indonesian Medical Doctor ask me this).... "How does the stomach have anything to do with the spine?" Once you ingest the food, it goes into the stomach. What makes the stomach churn that bolus in the stomach and then properly digest the food? Well, the doctor quickly retorted,..."acid from the intestines". They are correct. But,... what determined the RIGHT amount of fluids and acids so that the stomach would function properly? The doctor said, " It does it automatically." Correct again. But, if the nervous system isn't functioning properly, and their is a lack of nervous impulse or a decreased amount of nervous impulse to those intestines, will the intestines disperse the right amount of acids? will the stomach, if it doesn't have the proper nervous impulse, receive those acids and fluids properly? ....at that point, the doctor smiled,... "I guess not". So, since medical doctors aren't taught this concept of thinking, many times they skip this trend of thought and simply think that chiropractic is merely to temporarily relieve back and neck pain. THAT IS COMPLETELY INCORRECT!


Many times to make things easier to understand, I will use different analogies in clinic to allow the patient to better understand chiropractic, how the body functions, and the role of the chiropractor.  

So, as I start to build up the blogs, I will send my new patients, (as well as existing patients) to this site, so they can review articles, video's, papers, explanations on the importance of chiropractic and  it's true relevance. 


Again,.....welcome to Dr. G's blog. Hope you visit often.


Dr. G