A Doctor's Touch

A Doctor's Touch

One of the most important things in life anyone can have is a caring and competent medical doctor, the likes of Dr. Abraham Verghese, the doctor in this video.

His call for touch, while foreign to medical doctors today, is routine to chiropractors. In fact, it is the origin of the word (from the Greek: cheir- referring to the hand, and praktos, meaning done....ie; done by hand).

As a chiropractor I have always been honored and moved by the doctor-patient relationship; the histories and emotions patients share; the trust they place in me, and that they let me touch them, to examine and treat them.

Sadly, for many people, I may be the only other human contact they have that, or any other, day. And, the importance of caring human touch/contact, in our culture, is way undervalued and poorly understood. I know, and am acutely aware, that I too, benefit from that very human contact and connection with my patients.

In early childhood touch could actually be considered a vital nutrient. ”Failure to thrive is a medical condition where an infant/child fails to grow or gain weight appropriately over a consistent period of time. In orphanages, the number one cause of Failure to Thrive is simply a lack of touch, stimulation and love. A child may even die due to missing these essential requirements for growth.”

I would suggest that older children and adults also fail to thrive without contact and touch. In fact, research indicates that even owning a pet (which implies contact and touch) helps the elderly live longer. That’s how important touch is!.

Recall the rush of holding the hand of someone you love; the healing touch of your mother's hand when you bumped your head or hurt yourself; the energy that passes between two people in a caring embrace.

We are electro-chemical--energy beings and what passes between us in a touch with good intentions, has very nurturing and healing properties.

It is more than obvious that working with patients goes beyond technology and absolutely requires a healing touch. I feel privileged to be licensed to speak with and to touch people in the context of helping them reclaim their lives by reclaiming their health.

The Goal is Health

The Goal Is Health

As a chiropractor and health coach I routinely ask patients a few simple questions

Do you want to be healthy? Or, do you want to be sick?

How much do you value your health?

It’s a no-brainer! Everyone says they want to be healthy, and that they value their health.

And yet, so many of us are so sick; struggling with a host of daily symptoms, aches, pains, fatigue and stress, spending huge sums of money and innumerable hours and days of our lives in doctors' offices, hospitals and pharmacies, and even more time wrestling with insurance companies; living lives propped up on, and clouded by, a multi-pharmacy of lifetime medications. Not to mention, the time, money and effort spent caring for other sick family members. There are many reasons for this which I will expand upon in future blogs, but for now, let’s start at the beginning.

So, if everyone says they want to be healthy, and that they value their health, the real question is why are we so sick?

The bottom line is that we have lost sight, and understanding, of the real goal. How so?

What is your definition of health?

If you are like most of my patients, and the many health professionals I have asked, you are struggling with an answer to this simple, and most basic, question. I encourage you to ask others, especially your doctor.

The most common responses being:

1. the off the cuff answer: “feeling good.”

2. the dictionary answer: “the state of mental, physical and spiritual well being.”

3. the medical answer: “the absence of disease.”

None of these answers, least of all the medical one, define health. If anything, they describe some of the positive 'side-effects' of being healthy.

Lack of a clear definition almost certainly puts the goal out of reach. After all, one can 'feel good,' and be very unhealthy; a ticking time-bomb. The 'absence of disease,'..that merely indicates a sub-clinical condition, without overt symptoms, but not remotely robust health. Again, a ticking time bomb. 'A state of well being;' closer, but really only substitutes the words well being for health, and skirts the definition.

The more clearly a goal is defined and understood, the more likely it will be achieved.

Health is your body's innate capacity to maintain homeostasis (balance), and adapt to chemical, physical and emotional stressors that challenge that balance. Health, in other words, is your genetically hardwired set-point. You do not get healthy. You become sick. Disease is the absence of health!

Understanding this simple truth changes the paradigm. We can move away from our current failed disease-based , sickness care, so-called prevention oriented medical model as providers of health to a wellness model in which we nurture our innate capacity for health through informed and healthy daily lifestyle choices and actions.

After all, what's more important for, and will have a greater impact on, your health; worrying about your blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar and your weight, and taking a lifetime of multiple daily medications? Or, actively living a lifestyle that promotes health?

The question isn't so much; Do you want to be healthy? Or, do you value your health? as it is:

What are you WILLING TO DO, to change your life to nurture health verses create disease?

Tribute to Jack LaLanne

My Tribute to Jack LaLanne

Jack LaLanne, ‘the founder of the modern fitness movement,’ died at the age of 96. He was a showman and a salesman. He was passionate in his message, and his message was spot on correct. It was a message of health.

In 1936 Jack LaLanne “opened the prototype for the fitness spas to come — a gym, juice bar and health food store — in an old office building in Oakland. The Jack LaLanne Show made its debut in 1951 as a local program in the San Francisco area, and then went nationwide on daytime television in 1959.”

Had Americans heeded his advice back then, and ignored the advice of their doctors and the AMA, we would have been a much healthier nation and tens of millions of lives would have been spared the devastation and death of the chronic lifestyle degenerative diseases of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and more.

According to Jack LaLanne, “the doctors were against me — they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive.” Oops. What an amazing, glaring, costly (in terms of disease, death and money) and self-serving ignorance of health that turned out to be a financial bonanza for the medical-pharmaceutical-insurance industrial complex.

And this was far from the first, or last, time they have been so wrong. In fact, I refer to it as ‘creating the next generation of users’ (of medical/pharmaceutical care and insurance).

“Back in the 1930’s, the AMA played a role in establishing cigarettes as a popular product. The AMA helped develop, and then accepted in its journal, advertisements that made cigarettes appear to be a physician endorsed product.” In fact, in the 1940’s, cigarette makers regularly used ‘science’ and physicians in their ads to sell cigarettes. “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette,” "cool and soothing to the back of the throat"…fueling the rise of lung disease and death from emphysema and cancer. Oops.

The 1950’s brought the cholesterol scare. The combination of food industry and medical science and doctors began to scare people away from eating natural animal fats in favor of the synthetic trans fats vastly contributing to the rise of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and death over the subsequent decades. Oops.

And now, doctors are scaring people out of the sun in favor of the full-body application of chemical sunscreens for life, creating a pandemic of vitamin D deficiency. “Individuals with low levels of vitamin D appear to have a higher risk of death from all causes, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.” Oops.

Why is none of this surprising? What would you expect from an industry that focuses on, and profits from, disease and disease care; generating $2.6 trillion dollars in 2006 ($86,000/second), projected to be $4.3 trillion ($136,000/second) by 2017?

Jack LaLanne was a chiropractor. His message was/is the message of chiropractic health; that health is the innate set-point and possible throughout our lives if we safeguard and nurture it with proper exercise and nutrition…a simple, elegant, and irrefutable message. Why is it so hard for people to believe?

Worth watching. As they say, it harks back to a more innocent time.

Looking at LENS

Looking @ LENS Neurofeedback

I’ve been a chiropractor since 1986. Using the powerful combination of chiropractic and good advice, I have seen, and will continue to see, many wonderful and amazing patient responses and results with a wide range of body aches and pains.

I’ve been a LENS practitioner for about a month. I have never seen anything like it, in terms of how quickly, dramatically, and profoundly results are realized, often starting after the first treatment.

I can’t say it better than the patients themselves.

51 year old female: problem list: ‘post-traumatic stress, anxiety, grief, fibromyalgia, insomnia, vertigo, trouble organizing thoughts.’

Day after treatment: ‘no insomnia, slept through the night.’

Next day: ‘accomplished many errands in the morning, managed to pack for the weekend and leave at 1pm in order to drive an hour to the train station (on time)! This is a huge improvement for me because I’m a procrastinator and always running late. I even stopped in at my mom’s house for a visit.’ That night in NYC: ‘slept soundly all night. Next night in NYC ‘more difficult falling asleep, windows were open and city noises were disturbing. I sat up in bed to read and write—lots of creative ideas to get on paper---then fell asleep for the rest of the night.’

37 year old female: problem list: long term history ‘post-traumatic stress, anxiety, anger outbursts, no energy.’

Day after treatment: ‘less anger-that anger or anxiety knot that was in my stomach all the time seems to have went away….breathe much easier.’

29 year old male: problem list: confusion, general anxiety, being worried a lot to the point of frustration (behavioral outbursts), putting problems off…lifetime anxiety medication.

Day of 1^st treatment: ‘tired/relaxed, calm, more clear thinking.’

Next day: ‘slept well, very energetic all morning and day…accomplished a lot around house/yard, still felt calm and clearer thinking. Wife was sick, so I took care of all the house/kids…played more with them and still was calm, quiet. In a situation late afternoon my friend did something to my wife (grabbed her arm)…in a matter of seconds I got angry..I went from a 1 to a 10 in seconds and back to a 1 and got it under control myself very quickly.

2^nd day: very similar results…calm, quiet, sleeping well, getting more alert.

After 2^nd treatment: as soon as I left Dr. May’s office for about 3-5 hours I felt so much laughter and humor it was unreal…the most I have felt in years. More confidence in self decisions and overall feeling more confident. My worriedness and anxiety have been great. The treatment has given me more confidence and less thinking time about decisions in my life, making it overall easier and much better to handle stressful conditions in work and home life.’

Next day:’My boss at work noticed changes in me…calmer and more focused. My kids have noticed changes.’

After 3^rd treatment: ‘a more balanced lifestyle/mood..also my daily meds have become more stabile…my medication usage is minimal since I have been treated. I feel that my mind and thoughts are normal and balanced.’

60 year old female: problem list: chronic pain, fatigue, forgetfulness, restless leg syndrome

After 1^st treatment: ‘I had decrease overall pain. I felt more aware, brighter.’

After 2^nd treatment: ‘Pain continues to decrease.’

After 3^rd treatment: ‘Pain still improving. Increase energy level.’

42 year old male: problem list: ‘problem falling asleep and sleeping, memory, fatigue, concentrating’

After 1^st treatment: ‘I fell asleep with no problem 6 out of 7 nights. If I woke up, I was able to fall back to sleep with no problems. This has not happened in a very long time. No leg shakes at night.’

50 year old male: problem: Lyme Disease: ‘chronic muscle/joint pain and tightness, especially neck, shoulders and entire left side of body and knees…inconsistent energy levels and sleep patterns.’

After 1^st treatment: ‘first 48 hours less pain and tightness in shoulders/neck….also, my body felt lighter. Muscles have mostly returned to previous patterns. Perhaps over time and with additional sessions, these changes will hold. 80% less pain and inflammation in right knee. This change has held to date.’

16 year old male: problem list: ‘anxiety, nervousness, OCD about appearance.’

After 1^st treatment: ‘I felt more alert, easier to put thoughts together and more apt to do work in school…less rages of anger, but instead, rages of happiness. For some reason I haven’t thought about my neck pain as much and haven’t had any typical things that would put me in a bad mood over almost nothing. I stayed more focused on school work than normal. I woke up feeling alert.’

While there have been a few people with little, to no, response to LENS, these dramatic, life-changing results in most patients is an incredible beginning!

In Doctors We Trust

In Doctors We Trust

A recent survey by The American College of Surgeons reveals:

“While surgical patients spend an average of just one hour researching their surgical procedure or their surgeon, they spend significantly more time researching any of the following:

• Changing jobs (10 hours)
• Buying/leasing a new car (8 hours)
• Buying a big ticket item for their home > $1,000 (5 hours)
• Planning a vacation > $1,000 (4hours)”

Does this reflect:

1. an extraordinary degree blind trust that patients automatically place in doctors?

2. a high degree of difficulty and overwhelming obstacles to access and process the necessary information to accurately assess doctors?

3. unquestioning deference and resignation, on the part of the patient, to the dictates of insurance and the HMO?

4. discomfort, on the part of the patient, in judging a professional such as a doctor?

5. a form of denial and ignorance about their own health, on the part of the patient, creating an 'I don’t want to know, just fix me’ attitude?

6. poor doctor /patient communications creating patient fear and intimidation?

Whatever the cause, it is a sad commentary on our priorities.

We have abdicated our personal responsibility for our health, the most important possession we own, to doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and Big Pharma.

Is it really any wonder why we are so sick?

In a NY Times article: Do Patients Trust Doctors Too Much Dr. Thomas Russell, executive director of the American College of Surgeons, said: “Today, medicine and surgery are really team sports and the patient, as the ultimate decision maker, is the most important member of the team.”

The article’s author, Pauline Chen, MD, concludes: “a healthy doctor-patient relationship does not simply entail good bedside manners and responsible office management on the part of the doctor. It also requires that patients come to the relationship educated about their doctors, their illnesses and their treatment.”

(Note: the comment thread at the end of the NYTimes article, on-line, are fascinating and worth reading)