But I have a small bladder.....

I'm amazed at how often I hear this and that this myth has survived in such an educated society. You never hear anyone say, "I can't do aerobic exercise because I have a small heart." It sounds ridiculous, right? But somehow when people say they have a small bladder, it goes unchallenged.

All species are born with organs of appropriate size for their bodies. My 8# Papillons have very small bladders. But when there has been occasion that I wasn't able to get home for 10 hours, they held it. They are continent through the night. Size is irrelevant; condition is everything.

It is true that the bladder, being a muscle, can atrophy, just like a heart can degenerate into unhealthy condition. The heart degenerated from not exercising and the only way to get it back in shape is to do aerobic exercise. The bladder atrophied from not drinking enough fluids and from urinating too frequently and the only way to get it back in shape is to drink more fluids and to urinate less frequently.

Next time someone laments that they have a small bladder, let them know that there is help for them and direct them here.

Snacks: pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin pie is a great snack especially for this time of year. Both squash and crust are good for Spleen and Stomach, supporting the Earth energies of the digestive system. They are nourishing in preparation for the winter. Pumpkin is often used with dogs to treat diarrhea and solidify the stool. If you can find or make pie that has less sugar in it, all the better. Eating in season is always a good choice.

What is the difference between colds & flu?

So, other than being caused by different viruses, what are the differences between having a cold and having the flu? How can one tell by one's symptoms?

 Colds and flu can present with similar symptoms, but flu is distinguished by body aches and fever. A cold can produce a low-grade fever (under 100*F) but flu will produce the real thing (over 100*F). Both are contagious for about the same amount of time, with variance depending on the particular virus.

From the CDC website:

The period when an infected person is contagious depends on the age and health of the person. Studies show that most healthy adults may be able to infect others from 1 day prior to becoming sick and for 5 days after they first develop symptoms. Some young children with weakened immune systems may be contagious for longer than a week.

And according to Dr. Sears, the famous pediatrician:

In general, a cold is contagious from about 24 hours before onset of symptoms until about 5 days after onset.

Flu vaccine unveiled

The flu vaccine has been poking its ugly head in my field recently in ways both unusual and personal.

The Research

First, a University of Minnesota study was published this fall that shows that the vaccine isn't nearly as effective as researchers and physicians have expounded for so many years. (That is, if you believe they really provide the protection that they boast at all--immune systems do not respond the same to vaccines as they do to getting immunity through illness.)

After reviewing optimal influenza vaccine efficacy and effectiveness studies from 1967 to 2012, the CCIVI research team found that injectable trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines (TIV):

Protects healthy adults 18 to 64 years of age at a rate of approximately 59 percent Lacks consistent evidence of protection in children age 2 to 17 years of age Inconsistent evidence of protection in adults 65 years of age and older

A review of optimal influenza vaccine efficacy and effectiveness studies from 1967 to 2012 found that the nasals spray live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV):

Protects young children 6 months to 7 years of age at a rate of approximately 83 percent Lacks consistent evidence of protection in adults 60 years of age and older Lacks evidence of protection in individuals 8 to 59 years of age

According to CCIVI researchers, these figures are problematic because they demonstrate one of the primary barriers to new influenza vaccine development: perception that current influenza vaccines are already highly effective.

The take away for me is that even according to its proponents the flu vaccine doesn't work as well as they have stated in the past, and even less so for the most vulnerable to the flu, the very young and the elderly. The take away for the researcher is that everyone should still get the flu shot but should also promote giving money to more research on flu vaccines.

Pharmacists' confusion & Fairview Hospital's policy

From a more personal vantage, I have a neighbor, a Caucasian woman, who was diagnosed several years ago with a rare blood disorder that usually only affects African men. It's not cancer but she's gone through multiple rounds of chemo and, most recently, she had a bone marrow transplant. She was at Fairview Hospital recovering. Friends and family were warned not to come visit unless you have had a flu shot, show no signs of having a cold and have not been around snotty kids. If one chooses not to get a flu shot, then one can't see her until mid-January (assuming she lives that long).  So, another neighbor of mine called a pharmacy, explained the situation and asked how long would one have to wait for the vaccine to be effective?  No wait necessary, he assured, it's effective immediately. Not being retarded, my neighbor knew that the idea that the body could develop immunity immediately is ridiculous and called another pharmacist. This one said it takes six weeks to build immunity; that sounded more reasonable. But, she thought, why not ask the nurses at Fairview. She called the ward that our friend is on and asked the head nurse the same question. Again the answer was that there is no need to wait; just come in once you have had the shot. Apparently the vaccine is most effective against liability rather than flu virus.

The neighbors get the flu shot                      

So, I went to get a flu shot, as did my other neighbor. Even waiting the six weeks, we'll be able to see my sick neighbor and give her an imagined protection (her peace of mind is worth it, we figure) about a month earlier than if we didn't get it. Since my health insurance doesn't cover the shot, I was offered it free if I filled out a form. Apparently there are gobs of federal monies slated to cover these pharmaceuticals. Side effects of the shot include pain and inflammation around the site of injection (not for me, however) and "flu-like symptoms". It's not the flu, my pharmacist explained carefully, because you are getting the flu shot which contains dead virus, not live. But you may feel sick for the next week; feel free to take NSAIDS. I flashed to every person I've ever known to get flu shot telling me how they are sick but that they "know it isn't the flu because they just got the flu shot." (Picture me hitting my forehead with my open hand, aghast at the failure to connect the dots.)

Traditional medicines all expound the importance of individual response to environment and pathogens. This was part of the debate when germ theory was in its infancy. But the idea of individual response lost and germ theory chose not to deal with the problem of why one person will get sick and another won't when exposed to a pathogen. Seems to me that this vaccine "side effect" proves traditional medicines' claim.

Now I'm sick

So, now I'm sick--intentionally--when I wouldn't have been otherwise, most likely. And if I had become sick, I would have developed real immunity for much of my life, not a chance at the possibility of immunity for an unknown length of time (a year?? longer?? The CDC website has pages on the subject of flu vaccine effectiveness, but nowhere does it mention for how long the vaccine is supposed to be effective.) My eyes are achy, my sinuses inflamed and I'm fatigued. Could be worse, I suppose, and I'm glad it's not.

Remind me again why we are doing this?!

Snacks: bean dips

I recently received some emails from various sources expounding the benefits of beans, that wonder food of which you can't possibly eat enough.

First, a new study published in JAMA, "Effect of Legumes as Part of a Low Glycemic Index Diet on Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial" [1] concluded that "Incorporation of legumes as part of a low-GI [glycemic index] diet improved both glycemic control and reduced calculated CHD [coronary heart disease] risk score in type 2 DM [diabetes milletus]." They compared the legume dense diet with a high wheat fiber diet which fared more poorly. This is not news, but one more feather in the legume's little cap, confirming its status.

Legumes include beans, lentils, chick peas, peas, peanuts, carob, and soy. They are some of the foods lowest on the Glucose Index. While I never could find this study again, so I can't give the reference, I remember reading a study wherein legumes reduced the overall GI of other foods eaten with them, even foods considered high on the GI.

Legumes are a great source of soluble fiber and eating beans is the only reliable way of keeping your bile clean. [2] [3]

And what of protein combining? Need we worry about consuming the proper amino acids in the same meal? Nope. Research has shown that the amino acids of foods eaten within 24 hours will find each other. [4]

I can't think of a healthier snack than beans, in a dip, with olive oil and bread, with salsa and chips, any ol' way you can.

Self breast massage

The importance of breast massage can not be overstated. It is an essential part of self care in maintaining health and well being, it is important in preventing cysts, clogged lymph and congested tissues that could lead to disease. Self breast massage is important for pregnant and lactating women for maintaining health and preventing or treating mastitis. [x] Breast massage has also been shown to help in treating breast cancer. [v]

Massaging the breasts as well as the areas around the armpits and along the bra line is particularly important for women who wear bras, especially underwire bras. Bras restrict the flow of blood, lymph and Qi through the chest, causing stagnation. Over time, this may result in fibrosis, lumps, pain or other signs or symptoms of undernourished tissues.

Massage your breasts and the tissue near your armpits daily. It can take the place of your monthly breast exam because you are constantly monitoring your tissues. Technique is not as important as just getting movement in the tissues. You can do circles with your fingers or an up-and-down movement. Start more superficial and then get deeper and check for lumps of any kind. You may find clogged lymph nodes or congested tissues; some women find small bits they describe as "sandy" or "gritty". Rub them for several minutes each day. If they don't reduce in size, or resolve, over the course of the month, then see your primary care provider. Give a quick massage to the bra line each time you take off your bra. Never sleep with a bra on; your tissues need time to recover and it is essential for the tissues to have time each day having free flow of blood, lymph & Qi.[y] 

If you skin brush, make sure to give attention to the bra line area and always brush your pits and breasts. Skin brushing does not take the place of breast massage, however. This YouTube video (with a long intro) has good instruction for a thorough breast massage.

Thermography breast cancer screening

Mammograms are dangerous; they subject patients to radiation in tissues that are susceptible to cancers and they are notoriously difficult to read—practitioners will diagnose the same mammogram differently or one practitioner will give a single picture different diagnoses on separate readings. They hurt and they have a relatively higher number of false positives.

A review of seven similar studies last year concluded that 30 percent of women who get a diagnosis of breast cancer through mammography screening represent "over-diagnosis and over-treatment." [1]

Thermography is a superior alternative, in my opinion. Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) reads the heat emanating from the body. Tumors and pathological tissues radiate more heat than normal tissues. This allows for earlier detection than both manual exams (whether self employed or from a doc) and mammograms. It does not subject patients to harmful radiation and it doesn't hurt. Usually a woman has two initial thermograms done, several months apart, in order to establish a baseline. This makes it much easier to detect abnormal changes from her individual pattern of heat distribution.

Thermography's accuracy and reliability is remarkable, too. In the 1970s and 1980s, a great deal of research was conducted on thermography. In 1981, Michel Gautherie, Ph.D., and his colleagues reported on a 10-year study, which found that an abnormal thermogram was 10 times more significant as a future risk indicator for breast cancer than having a history of breast cancer in your family.[2] 

Thermography detects pathological changes in tissue well before cancer appears so that patients can initiate lifestyle changes and less invasive treatments. It is particularly useful for women with fibrotic or dense breast tissue who experience higher rates of mammogram errors. And, actually, it's not just for breasts. Abdominal/pelvic scans are available as well as more costly and time-consuming whole-body scans.

The most surprising part? It's FDA approved and "recognized as a viable diagnostic tool since 1987 by the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs, the ACA Council on Diagnostic Imaging, the Congress of NeuroSurgeons in 1988 and in 1990 by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation." [3]

So how is it that so many people have never heard of thermography? Learn more about it at Picture My Health.

Contraction

There are two types of muscle movement—concentric and eccentric. Concentric contraction is when the muscle contracts and shortens. Eccentric contraction is when the muscle contracts and lengthens. Both movements work the muscles, but in different ways. Both types of movement are important to muscle development.

In fact, both concentric and eccentric movement are necessary not only for developing the strength of a muscle, but also in developing the neuromuscular control of a muscle. Eccentric movement tends to be more challenging for us and in doing very slow movement, deficits will show up as shakiness or jerkiness.

Informed consent?

We have all lamented over the sad state of affairs in terms of our health care and informed consent. Most often we are not given a full disclosure of our treatment options. This may be because the practitioner doesn't know of other options, doesn't "believe" in the other options (paternalism) or doesn't offer the other options at that facility and they don't want to send business away. Sometimes, informed consent amounts to strong-arming. A friend of mine, recently diagnosed with stage 1 endometrial cancer, asked about her treatment options and she was told, "Surgery. Or you die." (She opted to not have the surgery. She pursued other treatments and six months later she is cancer free, with her hormones intact.) Another friend was fired from her nursing position at a community clinic for spending time with patients getting informed consent. She had been warned twice to "just get signatures".

Informed consent, with all of its supposed good intentions, is paternalistic. It tells the patient, "Here's what you need to know and here's what you need to agree to." The decision making about what was important to communicate and how that communication proceeds was already selected by the practitioner, or the State, or the facility or, most likely, all of the above. The patient just has to listen to it and agree. Sign right here. It's paternalistic and it streamlines patients into ready-made treatment options approved by the powers that be. People who are adamant about licensing and standard of practice are prone to this type of arrangement. Within this paradigm, the patient is the responsibility of the practitioner, the State and the facility. Lawsuits are the remedy of failures of this system and practitioners and facilities organize and operate accordingly. I argue that this is one of the dynamics that has caused our health care crisis.

Informed decision making, on the other hand, is a different process altogether. It allows for communication and healing to be a process in which the patient must take part. The patient must give thought to what is important to her and take action in navigating her decision making. Passivity is not encouraged, relationships are valued over paperwork or mandates and people are truly allowed to make decisions, even decisions that are not popular with the dominant culture (yes, medicine is a culture), yet still be supported. People who are adamant about choice and evidence-based practices prefer this arrangement. Within this paradigm, the practitioner and the facility are the responsibility of the patient and the State is mostly left out of the arrangement. Consumer voting (ie: finding a different practitioner) or mediation are the strategies of dealing with disappointment.

Most people concur that the latter paradigm is superior for managing intimate/marital relationships, parenting and education. But many fail to understand that choosing how one treats one's body through one's health care decisions is as personal as deciding what you eat, who/how you love and how you parent. Only in taking back our responsibility as patients can we reclaim our power and own our bodies; this is critical in rehabilitating our health care system.

Never do sit ups or crunches

No one should ever do sit ups or crunches anywhere, for any reason, ever. Not ever.

Medical organizations and medical professionals have come out against the exercises for reasons dependent on their focus:  Orthopedic and geriatric organizations are concerned about the inordinate pressure exerted on the thoracic spine and the propensity for back injury. OB/Gyn's and professionals interested in child development note the inordinate pressure exerted on the pelvic and abdominal organs and on the pelvic floor (from a direction that promotes prolapse).

Exercise specialists disown the exercises because they don't work and because they recruit the use of and end up working the psoas, a muscle you don't want to work in this way or you run the risk of chronic low back pain. There is a finite number of flexes in your spine before it fatigues, leaving it prone to disc herniation. This is called 'fatigue life'; sit ups and crunches are pronounced flexions.

All abdominal work should be done by engaging the transverse abdominus (by pushing out the TA just above the pubic bone) and moving the legs. This can be done with a person in plank position or on her back.

But never, ever do sit ups or crunches. Your back and your bottom will thank you.

How to do a Kegel

A Kegel is a type of pelvic floor contraction, first described in Western medical literature by Dr. Arnold Kegel in 1948. Contracting the muscles of the pelvic floor (one's bottom) strengthen and tone them and can have beneficial effects for many women experiencing stress incontinence. (Other types of incontinence don't respond so well to these exercises alone.)

To find these muscles and to learn to perform a Kegel, stop the flow of urine while urinating and then allow the flow again. If you are successful, you just did a Kegel; you've located the muscles that you want to work with and you've executed the movement that you want them to do—contract and release. It's okay to do this several times in order to embody your learning.

However, the exercise itself should *not* be done while urinating. Doing the exercise this way runs the risk of creating a detrusor (bladder muscle) dyscoordination and more incontinence or leaking.  And Kegels are most useful if done standing as this is the position in which most women experience incontinence or leaking. Try doing pelvic floor contractions in various positions—lunge to each side, lunge forward, bend in plies. This will enhance neuro-muscular coordination between the large muscles of the thighs and buttocks with the muscles of the pelvic floor.

It's recommended to hold pelvic floor contractions for 10 seconds. This is an arbitrary number that will likely cover the amount of time it takes for a bout of laughing, coughing or sneezing.

To engage the more difficult eccentric movement of the pelvic floor muscles, don't just let go when done with holding a contraction. Slowly and deliberately lower the intensity of the contraction, releasing with control. This is much more difficult than the concentric movement of contracting the muscles and it will garner you much greater reward.

Those injuries do drain.

Last week I was running and I felt so fatigued. I did an inventory of my muscles and there was no one to blame...my lungs ached, but my lungs always ache...I had the faint awareness of a burden on my back, between my shoulder blades. That's when I remembered that several days before I had injured my back while lifting the third five-gallon bucket to the mouth of my fish tank. I felt the crunching sound you hear when you get adjusted at the chiro and I felt it cracking—not good. But afterwards, I forgot about it because it didn't hurt. This was an excellent experiential reminder that injuries impact us even when we don't feel pain afterwards.

Five days after the injury I went to my chiro appointment and was adjusted. I forgot to tell the chiro about my back injury (again because I wasn't feeling pain) but he found it. It made the same sounds and had the same feeling as when I injured it. But now it was back in place and my energy has improved.

Kingfield Community Acupuncture Opening Next Week

We are so excited to announce the opening ofKingfield Community Acupuncture at Solomon's Porch Faith, Health & Wellness Center. Community acupuncture is a business model that strives to keep acupuncture affordable so that patients can receive the frequency of treatments they require to achieve desired results.We do this by offering group acupuncture on a sliding scale.

At Solomon's Porch, our large room of couches and lounge chairs allows patients the feel of their own living rooms and yet a bit more privacy than most community acupuncture clinics can boast. We are starting with a limited schedule, trying to accomodate the early risers.

If you've never tried acupuncture, come to our free days on Tuesday 2 October (7a-10a) or Wednesday 3 October (5:30p-8:30p) to try it out. Have a friend who might be interested? Bring them too. Go to the website for details. Let everyone you know hear about this. See you next week, bright and early!

Colony collapse disorder (CCD)

I just have to share this:

Spring of 2011 I took the weekend beekeeping workshop at the University of Minnesota. On the second day I sat next to a man who told me that back in the 1980s he worked in a lab at the U on bio-assays. He said that the University of Minnesota was the leading institution in the world for running these assays and they would commonly receive samples from around the world for study. One of the ongoing studies in which he worked was to analyze a steady stream of samples from Europe of bee hives' wax, sap, nectar, pollen, and the bees themselves that had died of CCD, a mysterious ailment killing off the bees of Europe. Through chemical assay and other studies, the cause was determined to be common pesticides. Again, this was back in the 1980's—30 years ago.

This researcher was frustrated, though not surprised, by the refusal of the workshop's lead instructor, a University professor, to acknowledge the role of pesticides in CCD. Apparently, even upon his telling his story to her, she refused to budge. Of course the University of Minnesota, like so many institutions of higher education, are funded, in part, by the pesticide/pharmaceutical companies. And now, they get funding to do all of this research over again, only not on the pesticides.

This Huffington Post article (29 March 2012), details the recent research confirming that even levels so low that they are nearly undetectable, and exposures amassed during one single flight, disrupt bees' memory and learning ability.

The state of research is dire, indeed, when Monsanto buys out (2011) the (formerly) independent research company, Beeologics, that was working on solving the CCD "mystery".  Independent research is not allowed.

I remember seeing a documentary on CCD a number of years ago where a Colorado farmer/independent researcher found atrozine to be a significant cause of CCD. I can't find info on him, but in my search I found that the bee-keeping societies, the bee-keepers themselves, seem pretty clear about what is causing CCD.

Sign the petition against Bayer's neoniconitoid pesticides.

Snacks: popcorn

A couple years ago "flavored popcorn" was very popular. It can be a great way to add nutrition to your snacking at home:

*add nutritional yeast for a boost of B12. Watch your urine the next day for the results (deep yellow)

*add black or red peppercorn, cardamon, curry or turmeric for systemic anti-inflammatory properties

Snacks: sunflower seeds

I was delighted to find, while snacking on some sunflower seeds, just how nutritious they are. I have roasted, salted seeds for snacking and raw, unsalted seeds for adding to stir-fries. They are pretty comparable:

one serving is 1/4 cup

Raw, unsalted:  Calories 190,  16g fat (1.5g saturated fat; 0g trans fats),  8g protein

Roasted, salted:  Calories 200,  18g fat (2g saturated fat; 0g trans fats),  7g protein

Both options offer 10% daily value of iron and 61% daily value of vitamin E (anti-oxidant great for hair & skin).

It's difficult to find foods that are high in iron and I think the amount of protein is laudable, especially as compared to the fat content. The high fat content is from the "good fats" and will fill you up so that you don't go after those chips.

Sick preparedness plan

I have been absent from my blog in part because I'm ill--very ill. I'm prone to respiratory and sinus illnesses. When they hit me, they hit hard. Any variant on the theme of my head and lungs filling up with congestion can leave me depleted, in despair and dumb. When my sinuses are overabundant I have a hard time thinking, especially thinking about what to do about my overabundant sinuses. I would call someone, usually someone I know, crying about my ailments and they would ask me if I've done such and such or thus and that. I hadn't; it didn't even occur to me. These were exactly the things I would be suggesting to patients, but I couldn't think of them for myself, not with the bloated blight of my throbbing head.

I recognized this problem several years back and I actually sat down when I recovered from an illness and wrote out my sick preparedness plan. I listed all of the things that I could do for myself when ill. I brainstormed. Even the things that I probably wouldn't do, I listed. I think I only went back to it once, when I was ill the next time. But writing it all out embodied it in me in a way that I now have a better handle on treating myself. And if I need to, I can always pull out that list.

Recipe: Quinoa three bean salad

This is my staple for picnics, potlucks and entertaining larger groups of guests. I think of this as a summer salad. I always get rave reveiws and I'm begged for the recipe. Here it is. You'll notice that the recipe is not exact as the salad has never been the same twice. I use what I have in the house and I use the amounts that make sense to me at the time. So this is more of a general guideline.

Quinoa is an ancient, high-protein seed that is used much like grains. It has a crunchy texture and a buttery taste. I cook it in the rice cooker because, as I always say, "The rice cooker knows." Because the rice cooker knows, I do not. I can't tell you how long to cook the quinoa. Put it in the rice cooker--it knows.

Ingredients:

quinoa

olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and other oils (sesame, flax, etc), enough to make the salad wet

beans: definitely garbanzo. I also like butter beans, kidney beans, navy or white beans.

vegetables: definitely cucumber (I like the combination of the garbanzo beans with the cucumber for a summer salad.) and onions (green & purple), sometimes summer squash, zucchini, green or red peppers, red or green cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, water cress, parsley, cilantro

seeds: black or white sesame, sunflower (really nice for the crunch)

nuts: walnuts, almonds

dried fruit: craberries, apricots

seasoning: sea salt, pepper, rosemary

Mix and go. When you get there, squeeze fresh lemon juice over it. Yum. Enjoy!