The Back Clinic Blog

Michael D. Smithers, B.A., M.T., D.C.

Education:

Chiropractic Orthopedics.  May 1992.  Post-doctorate 120 hours leading to Board Certification.  Logan College of Chiropractic, St. Louis, Missouri.

Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.).  April 1984.  Texas Chiropractic College, Pasadena, Texas. President’s Council for ACU accreditation, awarded University of Texas system, 1984.  Class President 1983-1984.

Medical Technologist M.T. (H.E.W.) December 1973.  Midwestern University. Wichita Falls, Texas.  Medical Laboratory Technician.

Bachelor or Arts (B.A.). May 1970.  Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania.  Major in Creative Writing.  Minor in foreign languages (French, German, Spanish).  ESL Certification.  Mathematics minor.

Appointments:

Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL).  Appointed by Governor to Chiropractic Examining Board.  2010-2014 present term.

Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL).  Chiropractic Professional Standards Review Board, 1994-1996.

Research Award:

Texas Chiropractic Association, 1984.  Laboratory research for Multiple Myeloma using standard urinalysis methodology as screening tool to determine if negative urine protein with positive sulfasalicylic acid is predictive for Multiple Myeloma.

Publications:

D.C. Tracts, Research Abstracts Editor, 1996-2003.  Quarterly Publication.  Reviewed pertinent research articles as per journal’s quarterly topics.  Published abstracts and commentaries on research.  In addition, wrote three lead articles.

Utah College of Chiropractic Orthopedists and American College of Chiropractic Orthopedists Research Abstract Editor, 2002-2008.  Monthly Publication.  Review pertinent research articles as per journals monthly published topics, and publish abstracts and commentaries on research.

Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists, article reviewer for the Academy eJournal

People who have the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, known as Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), often report that they don’t respond to medications that relieve other people’s pain. New research from the University of Michigan Health System helps to explain why.

Patients with fibromyalgia were found to have reduced binding ability of a type of brain receptor that is the target of opioid painkiller drugs such as morphine.  Reduced binding means an increase in the inability for the medication to have any effect at all.

The study subjects included 17 women with and 17 without FMS who had a specialized type of radioisotope imaging called a PET scan (positron emission topography) of their brains. Results showed that the patients with fibromyalgia had reduced muco-opioid receptor (MOR) availability within brain regions that interpret and act upon pain signals.  This area of the brain is called the limbic system, and comprises the thalamus, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, fornix, cingulate gyrus, and amygdala.  The limbic system has been likened to a moody traffic cop that on a good day allows only certain colors and sizes of so many cars and trucks through a busy intersection.  On a bad day, any size, shape, and hue are permitted.

“The reduced availability of the receptor was associated with greater pain among people with FMS,”‘ stated Richard E. Harris, PhD, lead author and research investigator.  “These findings could explain why opioids are anecdotally thought to be ineffective in people with fibromyalgia,” he explained, referring to the findings that recently appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience. “The finding is significant because it has been difficult to determine the causes of pain in patients with fibromyalgia.”  Because the causes have been so elusive, acceptance of FMS by medical practitioners being an actual condition has been slow.

“Opioid painkillers work by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord. In addition to morphine, they include codeine, propoxyphene‑containing medications such as Darvocet, hydrocodone‑containing medications such as Vicodin, and oxycodone‑containing medications such as OxyContin.

The researchers theorize that with the lower availability of MORs in the limbic system of people with fibromyalgia, such painkillers may not bind as well to the receptors as in the brains of people without the condition.  Dr. Harris explained that when the painkillers cannot bind to the receptors, they cannot alleviate the patient’s pain as effectively. The diminished availability of the receptors could be the result of a reduced number of opioid receptors, an enhanced release of our brain’s inherent self-producing opioids, called endorphins and enkephalins, or both.

The research team also found a possible link with depression.  The PET scans showed that the patients with fibromyalgia with more depressive symptoms had reductions of mood opioid receptor binding potential in the amygdala, a region of the limbic system thought to modulate mood and the emotional dimension of pain.

from:

Radiology Today, Nov 5, 07

Source, University of Michigan Health System

Finding our individual synchrony in life is important to a healthy brain.  It is crucial to letting our talents blossom, and important for getting us away from the addictive behaviors that abound in life.

Any activity that gives us a sense of purpose and accomplishment, that makes us feel glad to be alive, can help us care and feed our brain.  Many people put off doing what they love, or what they know they need to do for themselves, until later in life, trying to get the world’s demands out of the way first.  What a grave mistake! It is far better to make sure that part of our lives is consumed with activities that we can put all our hearts, minds, energies, and joys into at once.

Find a mission in your life.  A commitment to a calling, a career, even a hobby focuses the mind and the soul.  Psychotic patients report that they don’t hear “the voices” while they are busy working.  Surely we ordinary people can calm our own internal voices with some intent activities.  Almost any form of work or concentrated effort can quiet the noisy brain.  Work you love is more powerful still because it brings with it a sense of accomplishment, pleasure, and well-being.  Passion heals.

Remember one important point: In pursuing your passion, the actual doing is what matters, not any measure of success.  A diet of constant, stimulating activity is the best prescription for our troubles.  It keeps the brain in a state of constant change, flow, confirmation, and anticipation, thereby reducing the noise, fragility, self-doubt, and stagnation with which we all have to contend.

from:

A User’s Guide to the Brain

John J. Ratey, M.D.

Harvard Professor of Psychiatry

author of six texts on Neuropsychiatry

XV.  Feeling slowed down:

0      I think, speak, and move at my usual rate of speed.

1      I find that my thinking is slowed down or my voice sounds dull or flat.

2      It takes me several seconds to respond to most questions, and I’m sure my thinking is slowed.

3      I am often unable to respond to questions without extreme effort.

XVI.  Feeling restless:

0      I do not feel restless.

1      I’m often fidgety, wringing my hands, or need to shift how 1 am sitting.

2      I have impulses to move about and am quite restless.

3      At times, I am unable to stay seated and need to pace around.

THIS SECTION IS TO BE REVIEWED BY YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER

To Score:

Enter the highest score on any 1 of the 4 sleep items (1-4)                                      __________

Item 5                                                                                                         __________

Enter the highest score on any 1 appetite/weight item (6-9)                             __________

Item 10                                                                                                                                          __________

Item II                                                                                                                                           __________

Item 12                                                                                                                                          __________

Item 13                                                                                                                                          __________

Item 14                                                                                                                                          __________

Enter the highest score on either of the 2 psychomotor items (15 and 16)                      __________

TOTAL SCORE (Range 0-27) __________

Scoring Criteria: Normal 0-5     Mild 6-10     Moderate 11-15     Severe 16-20     Very Severe 21+

Copyright 2000A.John Rush, MD. Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (Self-Report) (QIDS-SR).

Reference: National Institute of Mental Health website. Depression Research at the National Institute of Mental Health Fact Sheet.

Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicatldepresfact.cfm.

Resting caloric burn is properly known as the Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR).  The more you burn while resting, the more weight you may be able to lose.

The formula for RMR for height and weight is metric.  To convert  from American height figures to metric, multiple your inch height by 2.5.  For instance, 60 inches would be 150 centimeters (cm).  For weight, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms (Kg).  A 120 pound person would weigh 55 Kg.

Resting Calories Formulation

Men:                     5 + (6.25 X height) + (10 X weight) – (5 X age in years)  = male RMR

Women:              (6.25 X height) + (10 X weight) – (5 X age in years) – 161 = female RMR

A forty year old man, 70 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds would burn 2699 resting calories.

(5+1094+1800-200 = 2699)

A forty year old female, 65 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds would burn 2055 resting calories.

(1016+1400-200-161  = 2055)

Why is figuring the amount of resting calories so important?

It is one of the surest methods of mathematically determining that excess weight can, indeed, be lost during times when exercise is not possible.  Through balancing caloric intake through foods consumed and the RMR, excess calories can be avoided, and weight may be lost even while simply relaxing!

Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but unlike many others, it is legal and unregulated.  Many consider it a drug of abuse.

The two brain functions most sensitive to caffeine are the neural structures regulating the sleep-wake cycle.  The average daily dose of consumed caffeine is five to ten times higher than is necessary to stimulate the sleep-awake cycle.  The most notable behavioral effects of caffeine occur after consumption of low to moderate doses (50-300 milligrams) and include increased alertness, energy, and ability to concentrate. Moderate caffeine consumption rarely leads to health risks. In contrast, higher doses of caffeine induce negative effects such as anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and rapid heart rate.  After sudden caffeine cessation, withdrawal symptoms may develop for a small portion of the population, but these symptoms are moderate and transient.

Classic psychoactive drugs, such as ampthetamines and cocaine cause dopamine release (a brain stimulator) in a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens (NA).  The nucleus accumbens is where the brain controls reward, motivation, and addiction.  Caffeine at daily doses of human consumption, in contrast to classic drugs, does not induce a release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.  It only increases blood sugar (glucose) usage.  Glucose release stimulates most brain structures and reflects the effects linked to high caffeine ingestion.
Caffeine does cause a release of dopamine in another part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex.  The pre-frontal cortex functions are differentiating conflicting thoughts, future consequences of current activities, and the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially unacceptable outcomes.  Although caffeine fulfills some of the criteria for drug dependence, it does not relate to reward, motivation, and addiction.

Coffee and caffeine consumptionCaffeine is present in a number of dietary sources including tea, coffee, cocoa beverages, candy bars, and soft drinks.  The caffeine content of these food items varies.  Using 150 milliliters as a standard volume (about one cup), caffeine ranges from 71-220 milligrams for coffee, 32-42 milligrams for tea, 32-70 milligrams for cola, and 4 milligrams for cocoa.  The two major coffee types are Arabica and Robusta. In a standard cup, caffeine ranges from 71-120 milligrams for Arabica to nearly double that in Robusta (131-220 milligrams).

Average caffeine consumption from all sources is approximately 76 milligrams per person per day but reaches 210-238 milligrams per person per day in the United States and Canada and more than 400 milligrams per person per day in Sweden and Finland, where 80-100% of the caffeine intake is from coffee alone. In the United Kingdom, the consumption of caffeine is similar to that in Sweden and Finland, but 72% is from tea.  The daily intake of caffeine from all sources in the United States is two thirds coming from coffee consumed by subjects older than 10 years.  In American children, soft drinks represent 55%, chocolate foods and beverages represent 35-40%, and tea represents 6-10% of the total caffeine intake.

Pharmacology of caffeineCaffeine, or 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is related structurally to uric acid.  There is no evidence suggesting that methylxanthines are converted to uric acid or that their ingestion can exacerbate gout.

The rate of bodily elimination of methylxanthines varies by individual due to both genetic and environmental factors, and people may exhibit an astounding four-fold difference in speed of ridding caffeine from one person to then next.  The metabolism (elimination) of methylxanthines is also influenced by other consumed chemicals and even health conditions.  Biochemicals from cigarette smoking and oral contraceptives produce a small increase in methylxanthine elimination.

When a substance is introduced into the body, its speed of delivering its properties to where it is supposed to and then be fifty percent eliminated is called its half-life.  Caffeine has a half-life of three to seven hours.  Methylxanthine’s half life increases up to fourteen hours in women during the later stages of pregnancy or with long-term use of oral contraceptive steroids.

Clinical trails on caffeine and central nervous system arousal  In a Dutch study of subjects instructed to respond to stimuli that were either red or blue, reaction times revealed faster responses in subjects who had been administered caffeine.  This study suggested that caffeine results in a higher overall arousal level, more profound processing of both attended and unattended information, and acceleration of motor processes (actively doing something).
The United Kingdom conducted two caffeine studies.  Caffeine level was manipulated by preparing tea and coffee at different strengths.  Beverage volume and temperature (55 degrees Celsius) were constant. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, electrical skin conductance, and mood were monitored over three hour study sessions.

In study number one, tea and coffee produced mild stimulation and mood elevation. Effects were not related to tea versus coffee or caffeine dose, despite a fourfold variation in the strength of caffeine.  Increasing beverage strength was associated with greater increases in diastolic blood pressure and significant arousal.  In study number two, caffeinated beverages increased systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and skin conductance, but lowered heart rate and skin temperature.  Caffeine had significant effects on arousal but no exact dosage could be found that would give clear response effects. The authors concluded that caffeinated beverages acutely stimulate the autonomic nervous system (the “fight or flight” system ) and increase alertness.

Another research study gave 200 milligrams caffeine or placebo to young truck drivers.  Caffeine significantly reduced sleep incidents for the first 30 minutes and reduced subjective (perceived) sleepiness for an hour. This caffeine dose (via coffee) effectively reduced early morning driver sleepiness for about 30 minutes following sleep deprivation and for approximately 2 hours after sleep restriction.

Single exposure to caffeine can produce cerebral stimulant effects. This is especially true in the areas that control locomotor activity (skeletal-muscle) and in the sleep-wake cycle.  In humans, sleep seems to be the physiological function most sensitive to the effects of caffeine. In general, more than 200 mg of caffeine is required to significantly affect sleep. Caffeine prolongs sleep  latency (the length of time it takes from full wakefulness to sleep, normally to the lightest sleep stage) and shorten total sleep duration with preservation of the dream phases of sleep.  Evidence of tolerance to caffeine-related sleep disturbance exists, since heavy coffee drinkers appear to be less sensitive to caffeine-induced sleep disturbances than light coffee drinkers

Caffeine and dependence / withdrawalDrug dependence is defined as a pattern of behavior focused on the repetitive and compulsive seeking and taking of a psychoactive drug.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms most often reported are headaches, fatigue, weakness, drowsiness, impaired concentration, work difficulty, depression, anxiety, irritability, increased muscle tension, and occasionally tremor, nausea, and vomiting. Withdrawal symptoms generally begin 12-24 hours after sudden cessation of caffeine and reach a peak after 20-48 hours.  In some individuals, however, these symptoms can appear within 3-6 hours and can last for one week.  Interestingly, withdrawal symptoms and its length do not relate to the quantity of caffeine routinely ingested.

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms disappear shortly after ingestion of caffeine. This effect is linked strongly to the psychological satisfaction related to the ingestion of caffeine; this is especially true for the first cup of the day. The reversal of a caffeine withdrawal-induced headache and other withdrawal symptoms has been known for more than 50 years.  The beneficial effects of caffeine consumption on mood or alertness seem to encourage the consumption of coffee or caffeine-containing beverages.

Tolerance to caffeineTolerance to a drug refers to an acquired change in responsiveness after repeated exposure to the drug. Tolerance can be considered in two ways.  First, the dose necessary to achieve the desired euphoria increases with time, thus encouraging increased consumption of the drug. Second, tolerance to the adverse effects of high doses of the drug, also leading to increased consumption of the drug over time since the undesirable side-effects become more easily tolerated.

Human tolerance to caffeine can occur as it affects blood pressure, heart rate, diuresis (increased urine flow) and adrenaline and noradrenaline levels (brain/nervous system neurotransmitters).  Tolerance usually develops within a few days.  Evidence of tolerance through research to caffeine-induced alertness and wakefulness is limited, since acute administration of 10 milligram/kilogram caffeine induced the same brain heightened metabolic increase whether the person was exposed to fifteen days of previous daily consumption of caffeine or salt water.  Tolerance to the enhancement of arithmetic skills by caffeine has been shown, however  – few good things last for long!

What Is Five Element Theory
Five Element Theory helps you understand how natural changes within your body and outside environment affect your health. To predict and understand these dynamic changes, ancient doctors studied nature to determine what universal principles existed that could be applied to health and well-being. Five Element Theory is what they came up with.

The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal and water. They were selected based on the observations of ancient oriental philosophers who theorized that the natural world embodied these elemental characteristics. Oriental Medicine uses this time-tested, diagnostic model to analyze how the various parts of a person’s body and mind interact to affect health.

Generating Energy (Chi)
Based on Five Element Theory, each elemental force generates or creates the next element in a creative sequence.

For example:

• Water generates wood. Rain nourishes a tree.
• Wood generates fire. Burning wood generates fire.
• Fire generates earth. Ash is created from the fire.
• Earth generates metal. Metal is mined from the earth.
• Metal generates water. Water condenses on metal.

When applying this “supportive relationship” to the human body, we see that each internal organ embodies the energetic qualities of the element it’s related to. Each organ is responsible for providing the energy needed by the next organ in the generative cycle.

• Kidney (water element) supports the Liver (wood element).
• Liver (wood element) supports the Heart (fire element).
• Heart (fire element) supports the Spleen (earth element).
• Spleen (earth element) supports the Lung (metal element).
• Lung (metal element) supports the Kidney (water element).

Regulating Energy (Chi)
Based on Five Element Theory, each elemental force is also associated with another element which it is responsible for controlling or regulating.

For example:

• Water controls fire. Water puts fire out.
• Wood controls earth. Tree roots hold clods of earth.
• Fire controls metal. Fire can melt metal.
• Earth controls water. A pond holds water.
• Metal controls wood. An ax cuts wood.

Apples  38—low. Baked potato  85–high. Cornflakes  83—high. Donut  76—high. Grapefruit  25—low. Hamburger bun  61—medium.         Hot non-instant oatmeal 49—low. Long grain white rice  50–low. Low fat sweetened yogurt 14—low. Meat filled ravioli  39–low. Peanuts 15—low (most nuts are low).  Peppers  15—low.  Pound cake  54—low. Pretzels  81—high. Rice Krispies  82—high. Soya  beans boiled  16—low.  Sweet potato  54–low. Watermelon  72—high. White pasta  41–low. Yam  51–low. Zucchini  15—low.

An interesting fact of glycemic index.  Almonds (GI of 10) are extremely helpful in lowering the Glycemic Index of other carbohydrates, when the nuts are eaten along with the foods.  For instance, a whole piece of white bread has a GI of 128 (very high).  When the bread is consumed along with 3 ounces of almonds, the glycemic index of the total meal drops to 63 (medium).

Obesity and Insulin: Insulin secreted by the pancreatic Beta (β) cells is the most important hormone in how the body metabolizes glucose.  Insulin cannot raise, but can only lower blood sugar levels.  It is comparable to a bath plug, for it only drains the amount put in the tub.  Insulin’s primary duty is to process blood sugar as it enters our digestive blood system, called portal blood, and almost immediately to process about two thirds of the portal glucose into glycogen, for storage in the liver and muscles.  Glycogen is approximately three times more concentrated energy than glucose, much like honey is to sugar water.  If blood sugar is needed, glycogen converts back to glucose in just a few minutes.  Once liver glycogen has increased about six percent , glycogen synthesis stops.  Insulin then switches from glycogen production to fatty acid (FA) synthesis.  Fatty acids combine with a protein, and travel through the blood as low-density lipoproteins (LDLs). Adipose tissue (fat), through cellular intervention of insulin and glucose, changes LDLs into triglycerides, the principal ingredient of white fat. Approximately eighty five percent of fat is composed of triglycerides.  The higher the concentrations of insulin and plasma glucose, the faster adipose cells can take up and store fatty acids as triglycerides.   The more carbohydrates consumed, the faster we get fatter.

If dietary carbohydrate and fat levels remain continually elevated, then insulin acts as an obesity hormone.

Obesity and Leptin: Leptin, from Greek leptós, meaning thin, was discovered in 1994.  Leptin is a hormone produced by adipose tissue and released diurnally (during daylight) in an amount proportional to overall body fat.  Leptin communicates with the satiety center of the hypothalamus, an almond sized part of our brain, to inform the brain the person has had enough to eat—satiety—so further eating is unnecessary. In theory, the more the circulating leptin, the less the person is inclined to eat.  Through leptin concentration, the brain has a way to interpret how much total fat is available as stored energy, and from that determination it can regulate appetite and metabolism.

When scientists gave grossly obese, lethargic, insulin-resistant, constantly hungry mice supplements containing leptin, the animals lost 30% of their body weight, became more active, and began responding to insulin.  The researchers found that even a mild decrease in leptin concentration caused a significant increase in obesity.  Up to the discovery of leptin, only insulin was known to stimulate weight gain or weight loss.

The biotech company Amgen was licensed to market leptin as an appetite suppressant weight loss hormone.  They conducted a large and very costly clinical trial, but at research conclusion less than one person demonstrated weight loss for every four who did not.  The company canceled further weight loss studies using the hormone.  They announced they found leptin to have little appetite suppression effect as a means to reduce normal adult obesity.

In general, obese people have high circulating concentrations of leptin, not low, since its density is derived from the total fat available.  The high sustained concentrations of leptin cause the brain to lose sensitivity to leptin’s effects.  It becomes resistant to leptin in much the same way type II diabetics are resistant to insulin.  Amgen succinctly concluded, AObesity is more often a failure to respond to leptin than from an absence of leptin.@

Obesity and Sleep Deprivation: For quite some time researchers have known obesity is also associated with sleep deprivation.  A recently discovered hormone called ghrelin, along with leptin, help explain the connection.

Ghrelin was discovered in 1999 and is produced in the hypothalamus, the stomach and the epsilon (∑) cells of the pancreas.  Ghrelin’s effects are opposite to those of leptin, which stimulates the satiety center of the hypothalamus so the person stops eating.  Ghrelin is secreted in higher concentrations before meals and stimulates the feeling of being hungry and the desire to eat more.  It has emerged as the first identified circulating hunger hormone that increases food intake and increases fat mass by suppressing fat utilization in adipose tissue.  Ghrelin activates the reward center of the brain, which reinforces feelings of self-satisfaction from food and addictive drugs, so increased levels appear to make high-calorie foods look more appealing than low calorie foods.  There is also strong evidence that ghrelin lessens the sensation of satiety by making the stomach less sensitive to food distension, which results in overeating.

Sleep deprivation causes an increase in plasma ghrelin, so those who are sleep deprived feel hungrier and eat more.  At the same time, sleep deprivation causes a decrease in leptin, so the feeling of having had enough to eat is diminished, so we eat more.  If the sleep deprived person is using Melatonin as a sleep aid, it interferes with leptin’s satiety influence, resulting in even more desire to keep eating.

Advice on how to lose weight, in consideration of both ghrelin’s and leptin’s hormonal effects, is not complicated.  Sleep on it!  Sleep well and sleep enough.  Correcting sleep deprivation is another problem altogether.

Tai Chi theory concerns chi, the vital energy or life force of the body.  Proper flow of chi is believed necessary to maintain health. During Tai Chi exercise, this chi energy flows over and through our bodies in a network of 20 meridians or pathways, the same ones used for acupuncture.  When these routes are blocked, chi does not flow properly, health is barred, and illness ensues. Tai Chi stimulates chi throughout the body and all its organs by its movements and breathing.  In a sense, Tai Chi is acupuncture from the inside.

Tai Chi Balance and Coordination

One of the major issues in aging, which starts having its effects in the mid-thirties, is progressive loss of balance and coordination.  Each year millions of serious injuries are a direct result of people not realizing they have lost these fine-tuned senses.  Everyday events such as climbing stairs, changing light bulbs, or walking on uneven surfaces become major fractures and concussions.

In Tai Chi, improving balance is achieved through the smooth ballet-like transfer of weight from one leg to the other, while synchronously extending and retracting one’s arms and legs and flexing the major joints (shoulders, elbows, hips, knees).  Tai Chi aids in enhancing coordination by increasing the body’s perception of extremity and core movement, and spatial orientation through our nerves sending signals from the muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons.

Tai Chi Muscle Tone and Strength

At its root, Tai Chi is a form of martial art, without the martial (fighting).  Its opponent is nothing more than one’s slackening mental abilities and deteriorating body.  Tai Chi provides overall toning and strengthening of muscles. Shoulder and arm muscles are used continually.  The back and trunk muscles from the beginning of the Tai Chi exercise to the end are constantly stretched and strengthened.  Gluteal and leg muscles, including the calf muscles, get a thorough work-out using fluid motion, stretch and sustained posture movement.  The weight bearing aspects of Tai Chi have even been shown to stimulate bone growth, which is beneficial for prevention of osteoporosis.

Many of the Tai Chi movements use the spine as a pivot point, gently flexing the spine and trunk muscles (back, flank and abdominals). Through repetition of Tai Chi, these muscles strengthen and become more flexible, which is important in improving posture and reducing back pain.

Tai Chi Stress and Anxiety Release

Deep focused breathing, in conjunction with related movements of the stomach, chest, diaphragm, and extremities, bring the mind into a meditative state. Tai Chi seeks an inner stillness with a clear mind and focus.  This Tai Chi brain, body and breathing action is thought to help release stress and anxiety.  Stress is a factor in exacerbating many forms of pain.

Tai Chi Brain Exercise

Have you ever been to Ballet West?  Were you not in awe seeing the hundreds of smoothly coordinated movements each talented artist performed with seeming effortlessness and in perfect synchrony with the rest of the dancers on stage?  Did you not wonder how on earth they memorized all those thousands of hand, arm, body, leg and foot motions into one smooth body poetry?  Ballet requires a brain that is not only capable of enormous memorization, but more astoundingly, a brain that is able to apply its thousands of memorized movements into an art form that is simply beautiful to observe.

Tai Chi takes a lot of brain work, and it is not uncommon for people to practice it for over a year or more before they have finally memorized the ballet-like martial art motions.  From the beginning Touch Sky, Touch Earth stretches to the final ten minutes of renewed energy movements, Tai Chi is one hour of non-stop body motion and memorization.  The brain is constantly taxed.

Forensic medicine knows that an idle brain is a brain that is losing its capacity to think, to reason, to remember, and to coordinate body movements.  In fact, a brain that is constantly thoroughly stimulated is literally a very, very wrinkly brain.  People who have had no brain taxing for years actually lose their wrinkles and it looks smooth.  It has lost its ability to do what humans do best—use their brains.

Tai Chi is a terrific brain stimulator.

There is not a single person in the civilized western world who has not been advised, either through mass media or health providers, to take commercially produced vitamins and supplements for better living.

Are the claims true?

More than ninety percent (>90%) of the world’s vitamins are manufactured by four huge pharmaceutical corporations, so no matter what brand, what store, what label and what price, nine out of ten choices for vitamin supplements are virtually the same as the others.

Over the past two decades numerous independent research studies have been conducted concerning Vitamins A, C, D and E, along with calcium, to investigate the purported better health through vitamin and calcium supplementation.

Some of the results are disturbing.

Vitamin A

The New England Journal of Medicine, in 1995, reported a study of more than 23,000 women taking synthetic Vitamin A supplementation (4,000 I.U/day is Dietary Reference Intake–RDI).  In females taking  10,000 I.U/day  there were 240% more birth defects.  In women taking taking 20,000 I.U/day there were 400% more birth defects.

Due to research ethical concerns the study was terminated after four years, even though it was originally planned for seven.

Vitamin C

In Cancer Research, 1999 and 2000, two investigations described their concern that some cancer cells actually contain large amounts of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) which appears to protect them from oxygen damage, and use ascorbic acid as protection from the immune system.

The 40^th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, in San Diego, 2000, reported that the popular dietary supplement chromium picolinate may damage DNA and possibly increase the risk of cancer.  Supplements that combine chromium picolinate with ascorbic acid are the most potentially dangerous for cancer risk.

In the New England Journal of Medicine, 1999, Vitamin C supplementation (ascorbic acid) was reported to promote arterial intima-media thickness (IMT) in a dose-dependent manner.  This is the growth of the lining in artery walls, which is directly associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction and stroke in older adults without a history of cardiovascular disease.  Men who daily took 500 mg of vitamin C had an increase in carotid artery IMT progression that was 250% greater than those who did not use supplements, as measured by ultrasonography.

Vitamin E

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association, 2002 and in 2004, guidelines update, stated, “There is no basis for recommending patients take vitamin C or E supplements or other antioxidants for the express purpose of preventing or treating coronary artery disease.  The scientific data do not justify the use of antioxidant vitamin supplements for cardiovascular disease risk reduction.

In the British Journal of Medicine, 2004, concerning the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers, the authors reviewed all published articles that included randomized participants with the antioxidants Beta-carotene (synthetic Vitamin A), Vitamin C, and selenium either separately or in different combinations, versus placebo.  They reported, “Antioxidants do not prevent gastrointestinal cancers. In fact, in pooled results of high quality studies, antioxidants increased overall mortality (increased all causes of death).

In the Journal of Nutrition, 2007, the French study, Supplementation in Vitamins and Mineral Antioxidants Trial, recruited 7,876 women ages 35-60, and 5,141 men ages 45-60 (13,017 total participants).  Antioxidant use in women produced a statistically significant increase in the risk of skin cancers by 68% and increased the risk of melanoma by 400% (the deadliest of all cancers).

In Stroke, 2004, the Alpha tocoppheral, Beta carotene Cancer Prevention Study, a huge research project of 29,000 participants, reported Beta-carotene (synthetic Vitamin A) increased the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ruptured vessel in brain) by 62%.  The relative risk of cerebral infarction (stroke) was elevated 113% in those who had received Alpha-tocopherol (synthetic vitamin E) supplementation.

Vitamin D

Nutrition Reviews, in 2007, the researchers from the University of California, San Diego complied data from observational studies and wrote that as many as 50% of breast and colon cancer cases could be prevented by increasing intake of vitamin D.

The Archives of Internal Medicine, 2007, analyzed 18 previous studies concerning vitamin D, and wrote “Not only does it promote calcium absorption and bone maintenance, but vitamin D also appears to stimulate the immune system, inhibit cellular proliferation (as in inhibiting cancer) and spur cell differentiation (also as in cancer formation).  Those processes could reduce the aggressiveness of cancer tumors or keep artery-clogging plaques from growing.  Indeed, studies have suggested that low levels of vitamin D may be associated with a higher risk of death from certain cancers, heart disease and diabetes.”

Calcium

American Journal of Medicine, 1988, wrote there was a strong association between sepsis (infections) and hypocalcemia (low serum calcium).  The 44% mortality (death) of hypocalcemic patients was significantly greater than the 17% mortality of the normocalcemic patients (normal serum calcium).  These findings suggest that hypocalcemia is a very common abnormality in acutely ill patients and is associated with a poor prognosis. (Patients who survived their hospitalization had higher mean ionized calcium, total calcium, and albumin values than did nonsurvivors, without any differences in age, serum creatinine, magnesium and phosphate between the two groups.)