4  Important Things to know about auto Accidents.

1.  You can see the medical provider of your choice, including acupuncturists.  In Oregon, all drivers carry $15,000 of medical coverage to be used in your recovery.  Even if the accident was your fault you still have this coverage.  Be wary of clinics that bill too much too fast, they can exhaust your benefits too quickly.

2.  Your bills are paid by your insurance company.  You are not responsible for any out of pocket expenses.  All of the treatments that you receive are completely covered by your insurance company.  The clinic will verify your benefits and the status of your claim before beginning treatment.

3.  The insurance company may want you to see one of their doctors for a second opinion.  If this happens it is important that you talk with a experienced personal injury attorney before attending the exam.  We have several personal injury lawyers who are both experienced and reputable that we can refer you to.

4.  The important thing to remember is these benefits are yours.  You pay a lot of money for your insurance and you have the right to use these benefits to heal from your injuries.  Don’t let insurance people or adjustors frighten you away from getting better.

Today, I witnessed an auto accident at the corner of Lombard and Denver. A pickup truck didn’t see the red light and hit a stopped minivan at about 25 mph. It was messy, but could have been much worse. All of the people involved we moving and no one was in need of an ambulance. As I turned the corner, and the accident faded in my rear view mirror, I wondered if the people involved understand their rights? I wondered if they knew how to get treatment, contact attorneys, and recover completely.

Acupuncture is an amazing modality for healing damaged soft tissue. Acupuncture promotes blood circulation, reduces inflammation, and relaxes muscles.

Injuries such as whiplash can be insidious, showing up days and sometimes weeks after the accident and take months and even years before they completely resolve. Many of us know people who have chronic pain, bad backs or damaged necks as a result of auto accident injuries years in the past.

In Oregon, drivers have $15,000 of medical coverage for recovery from auto accidents.
Some clinics burn through this money too fast
3 months later and your money could be gone and your pain still around
Inner Gate Acupuncture has reasonable rates to make sure your money will go farther

It is so important to get treatment for these injuries soon after the accident. Years later after scar tissue, muscle compensation and degenerative changes getting relief can be hard. Many people seek treatment from their primary doctors and end up only with pain medications that do little to heal the tissue traumatized by the accident.

With the tobacco problem on the back burner, diet and obesity are coming into the cross hairs as a focus for public health. Controlling the rise in obesity, promoting quality of life, whilst saving on public healthcare costs is clearly an admirable goal. It is unfortunate that the body’s genetic makeup from our prehistoric existence urges it to store large amounts of fat, but the ramifications for health and subsequent health care costs are clear.

Research from Duke University, RTI International and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that an additional 32 million more obese people are likely to become a burden not only to themselves but to the heathcare system. The study is entitled Obesity and Severe Obesity Forecasts through 2030 and is available online at: www.ajpmonline.org

Written by Rupert Shepherd
Copyright: Medical News Today

Lead author Eric Finkelstein, PhD, associate research professor in the Duke Global Health Institute, as well as deputy director in the Health Services Research Program at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore summarizes the study by stating that :

“Keeping obesity rates level could yield a savings of nearly $550 billion in medical expenditures over the next two decades.”

Even more shocking is the prediction that nearly half of the US population will be obese by 2030, with those severely obese making up over ten percent of the population. Perhaps the Wall-E cartoon from Pixar is not a work of science fiction after all.

Senior author Justin Trogdon, PhD, of RTI, points out that :

“Should these forecasts prove accurate, the adverse health and cost consequences of obesity are likely to continue to escalate without a significant intervention.”

The study which was released today, May 7th at CDC’s Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, D.C., provides a focus and urgency to the fight against obesity.

William H. Dietz, MD, PhD, director of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity says:

“We know more than ever about the most successful strategies that will help Americans live healthier, more active lives and reduce obesity rates and medical costs … People need to make healthy choices, but the healthy choices must first be available and accessible in order to make them.”

“In the coming days at our Weight of the Nation conference, CDC and its partners will emphasize the proven, effective strategies and solutions that must continue to be applied to help make the healthy choice the easy choice.”

On Tuesday 8th May the CDC will follow up the report with a set of proposals named: “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation.”, as well as reviewing known obesity prevention methods, the report will give step by step strategies that ought to have the greatest impact in speeding up the rate of progress in combating obesity.

Written by Rupert Shepherd
Copyright: Medical News Today

The highly regarded Mayo clinic in Minnesota is now using acupuncture to treat a variety of different patients.

A new study has shown that acupuncture not only helps reduce hot flashes, but also improves sex drive of breast cancer patients.

The Henry Ford Hospital study revealed that acupuncture, when compared to drug therapy, has a longer-lasting effect on the reduction of hot flashes and night sweats for women receiving hormone therapy for breast cancer treatment.

Women also report that acupuncture improves their energy and clarity of thought, and improve their sense of well-being.

“Acupuncture offers patients a safe, effective and durable treatment option for hot flashes, something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors. Compared to drug therapy, acupuncture actually has benefits, as opposed to more side effects,” said study lead author Eleanor Walker, M.D., division director of breast services in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital.

During the study, Walker and her research team recruited 50 patients tested the use of acupuncture to combat vasomotor symptoms in breast cancer patients as an alternative to drug therapy.

The patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or venlafaxine treatment for 12 weeks.

At the end of 12 weeks, all patients stopped their therapy and were followed for one year.

The study found that both groups initially experienced a 50 percent decline in hot flashes and depressive symptoms, indicating that acupuncture is as effective as drug therapy.

However, the acupuncture group continued to experience minimal hot flashes, while the drug therapy group had a significant increase in hot flashes.

The acupuncture group did not experience an increase in the frequency of their hot flashes until three months post-treatment.

The study is published online in the Journal of Oncology .

Holistic Medicine Practitioners, Portland, OR

Researchers have discovered that both electrical and manual acupuncture “improve menstrual frequency and decrease circulating androgens in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).” PCOS is a common female endocrine disorder with side-effects including irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, anovulation, infertility, polycystic ovaries and excess quantities of androgenic hormones. Excess androgens may lead to acne, obesity due to insulin resistance, high cholesterol and hirsutism (excess facial and body hair).

The researchers induced PCOS in rats using 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to determine whether or not electrical or manual acupuncture was superior in the regulation of menstruation. The rats received acupuncture five times per week for 4-5 weeks. The electroacupuncture group received 2 Hz stimulation at the acupuncture points. Untreated rats served as the control group.

The manual and electroacupuncture groups showed normalization of estrogen activity and a decrease in androgens. In addition, the electroacupuncture group showed changes in the central opioid receptors of the hypothalamus suggesting that electroacupuncture may be “mediated by central opioid receptors….” The manual acupuncture group showed changes in the steroid receptors of the hypothalamus suggesting that manual acupuncture “may involve regulation of steroid hormone/peptide receptors.”^a

Another study published in the American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology and Metabolism concludes that low frequency electro-acupuncture improved menstrual frequency and balanced sex steroid levels in women with PCOS, polycystic ovarian syndrome.^b This study measured blood changes in human female participants. Hyperandrogenism was measured in this study by determining the total concentration of testosterone, androgens, estrogens, androgen precursors, and glucuronidated androgen metabolites. The study measured that electro-acupuncture improved menstrual regularity in women with PCOS. The sex steroid levels in the electro-acupuncture group improved significantly and acne markedly decreased. The study measured improvements in a wide range of endocrine variables such that the researchers concluded that electro-acupuncture may help induce ovulation in women attempting to conceive since participants showed significant improvement in monthly menstrual frequency.

Acupuncture was applied to CV3, CV6, ST29, SP6, SP9, LI4, and P6. All needles were stimulated manually until a de qi sensation was achieved. Thirty minutes of 2 Hz electro-acupuncture was applied to CV6, CV6, ST29, SP6, and SP9 for each treatment. The intensity was adjusted to induce local muscle contractions while also remaining comfortable. LI4 and P6 were manually stimulated every 10 minutes to evoke sensation. Needle length ranged from 30 to 50mm and the diameter was 0.32mm. Needle depth ranged from 15 to 35mm. Acupuncture was administered twice per week for two weeks, one time per week for six weeks, and once every other week for eight weeks for a grand total of 14 acupuncture treatments over a 16 week period.

Here is an interesting article I found from the British Journal of Nutrition. It appears that eating large late day meals may increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Shiftworkers have a higher risk of CHD and type 2 diabetes. They consume a large proportion of their daily energy and carbohydrate intake in the late evening or night-time, a factor which could be linked to their increase in disease risk. We compared the metabolic effects of varying both dietary glycaemic index (GI) and the time at which most daily energy intake was consumed. We hypothesised that glucose control would be optimal with a low-GI diet, consumed predominantly early in the day. A total of six healthy lean volunteers consumed isoenergetic meals on four occasions, comprising either high- or low-GI foods, with 60 % energy consumed predominantly early (breakfast) or late (supper). Interstitial glucose was measured continuously for 20 h. Insulin, TAG and non-esterified fatty acids were measured for 2 h following every meal. Highest glucose values were observed when large 5021 kJ (1200 kcal) high-GI suppers were consumed. Glucose levels were also significantly higher in predominantly late high- v. low-GI meals (P < 0·01). Using an estimate of postprandial insulin sensitivity throughout the day, we demonstrate that this follows the same trend, with insulin sensitivity being significantly worse in high energy consumed in the evening meal pattern. Both meal timing and GI affected glucose tolerance and insulin secretion. Avoidance of large, high-GI meals in the evening may be particularly beneficial in improving postprandial glucose profiles and may play a role in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes; however, longer-term studies are needed to confirm this.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 25, 2012) — Can organic agriculture feed the world? Although organic techniques may not be able to do the job alone, they do have an important role to play in feeding a growing global population while minimizing environmental damage, according to researchers at McGill University and the University of Minnesota.

A new study published in Nature concludes that crop yields from organic farming are generally lower than from conventional agriculture. That is particularly true for cereals, which are staples of the human diet — yet the yield gap is much less significant for certain crops, and under certain growing conditions, according to the researchers.

The study, which represents a comprehensive analysis of the current scientific literature on organic-to-conventional yield comparisons, aims to shed light on the often heated debate over organic versus conventional farming. Some people point to conventional agriculture as a big environmental threat that undercuts biodiversity and water resources, while releasing greenhouse gases. Others argue that large-scale organic farming would take up more land and make food unaffordable for most of the world’s poor and hungry.

“To achieve sustainable food security we will likely need many different techniques — including organic, conventional, and possible ‘hybrid’ systems — to produce more food at affordable prices, ensure livelihoods to farmers, and reduce the environmental costs of agriculture,” the researchers conclude.

Overall, organic yields are 25% lower than conventional, the study finds. The difference varies widely across crop types and species, however. Yields of legumes and perennials (such as soybeans and fruits), for example, are much closer to those of conventional crops, according to the study, conducted by doctoral student Verena Seufert and Geography professor Navin Ramankutty of McGill and Prof. Jonathan Foley of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment.

What’s more, when best management practices are used for organic crops, overall yields are just 13% lower than conventional levels. “These results suggest that today’s organic systems may nearly rival conventional yields in some cases — with particular crop types, growing conditions and management practices — but often they do not,” the researchers write. Improvements in organic management techniques, or adoption of organic agriculture under environmental conditions where it performs best, may help close the yield gap, they indicate.

“Our study indicates that organically fertilized systems might require higher nitrogen inputs to achieve high yields as organic nitrogen is less readily available to crops. In some cases, organic farmers may therefore benefit by making limited use of chemical fertilizers instead of relying only on manure to supply nitrogen to their crops,” Seufert says. “At the same time, conventional agriculture can learn from successful organic systems and implement practices that have shown environmental benefits, such as increased crop diversity and use of crop residues.”

Yields are only part of a set of economic, social and environmental factors that should be considered when gauging the benefits of different farming systems, the researchers note. “Maybe people are asking the wrong question,” Prof Ramankutty says. “Instead of asking if food is organically grown, maybe we should be asking if it’s sustainably grown.”

The results point to a need to get beyond the black-and-white, ideological debates that often pit advocates of organic and local foods against proponents of conventional agriculture, Prof. Foley adds. “By combining organic and conventional practices in a way that maximizes food production and social good while minimizing adverse environmental impact, we can create a truly sustainable food system.”

This is an article on CNN.  It looks like the mainstream media is starting to understand or at least analyze the impact that sugar is having on our health.

This weekend on “Sanjay Gupta MD,” Dr. Gupta takes a critical look at sugar and the impact it has on our bodies. Don’t miss the in-depth investigation Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on CNN.

(CNN) — Pushing her meal cart into the hospital room, a research assistant hands out tall glasses of reddish-pink liquid, along with a gentle warning: “Remember, you guys have to finish all your Kool-Aid.”

One by one, young volunteers chug down their drinks, each carefully calibrated to contain a mix of water, flavoring and a precisely calibrated solution of high fructose corn syrup: 55% fructose, 45% glucose.

The participants are part of an ongoing study run by Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California, Davis. Volunteers agree to spend several weeks as lab rats: their food carefully measured, their bodies subjected to a steady dose of scans and blood tests. At first, each volunteer receives meals with no added sugars. But then, the sweetened drinks start showing up.

For the final two weeks of the study, volunteers drank three of the sweet concoctions daily — about 500 calories of added sugar, or 25% of all calories for the adult women in the study. Within just two weeks, their blood chemistry was out of whack. In one striking change, the volunteers had elevated levels of LDL cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease.

While force-feeding junk food may sound extreme, this controlled diet is not so far from the real world. A 20-ounce regular soda contains 227 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That single drink is more than 10% of the total calories an adult woman needs to maintain a healthy weight, according to USDA diet guidelines. Meanwhile, about 1 in 4 Americans gets at least 200 calories a day from sugary drinks. These numbers, along with work like Stanhope’s, gives ammunition to doctors and public health officials who say soda should be treated as public health enemy No. 1.

About 1 in 4 Americans gets at least 200 calories a day from sugary drinks.

“Soft drinks and sugar-containing beverages are the low hanging fruit in public health today,” says Dr. David Ludwig, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center, at Children’s Hospital in Boston. “Many children are consuming 300 calories per day or more, just in sugar-containing beverages. Compare the challenge of giving up three glasses of sugary beverages, versus getting them to do two hours of moderate physical activity.”

“If you switch from Coke to water, that’s easy,” says Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, a professor at the University of North Carolina and a recent president of the American Diabetes Association. “You don’t have to make big complicated changes in how you cook, and shop, and all that. And the number of calories you can save, can be substantial.”

Related story: Are sugar substitutes worse than the real thing?

Some in the soft drink business say their product has been unfairly singled out. “Consumption of added sugars is going down,” says Karen Hanretty, Vice-President of Public Affairs for the American Beverage Association. “Soda consumption has declined, even as obesity has increased. To say that sugar is solely responsible for obesity, doesn’t make sense.”

Coca-Cola has adapted to meet consumer demand, says Rhona Applebaum, the company’s Vice President and Chief Scientific Regulatory Officer. More than ever, she says, those consumers choose low-sugar products. Today, Diet Coke and Coke Zero make up 41% of Coke’s soda sales, up from 32% a decade ago. “Our products are part of a balanced, sensible diet, and they can be enjoyed as a valuable part of any meal, including snacks,” says Applebaum.

Buried in the flood of horror stories about America’s obesity crisis, are a few hopeful signs. Not only is sugar consumption going down, but obesity rates among girls and women have actually stayed flat since 1999, according to Cynthia Ogden, a scientist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For boys and men, those levels have increased only modestly since around 2006, Ogden says.

Coincidentally or not, the leveling off of obesity coincides with a drop in the amount of soda that Americans consume. Consumption of soda — both regular and diet — has fallen by 17.3% since 1998, according to Beverage Digest.

Eatocracy: How I kicked my Coke habit

Of course soda isn’t the only concern. An 8-ounce glass of fruit punch or apple juice has nearly 130 calories. The same glass of chocolate milk has more than 200 — a solid 20 percent of all recommended daily calories. Overall, added sugars — which includes both natural sugar, and high fructose corn syrup — make up about a sixth of all calories taken in, according to USDA figures. Somewhat more than a third of those sugars come from soda and other drinks.

That’s why most people who take a hard look at American diets say that cutting out sweetened drinks, is the first step for anyone struggling with weight or diabetes.

“If we create the assumption that doing one thing will reduce the epidemic [of obesity], we’re making a mistake,” says Dr. William Dietz, director of the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. “But within the dietary side, we have to focus on where the biggest action is.”

The action, says Dietz and others, lies with sugar and its close cousin, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Most sweet drinks, including nearly all soda in the United States, use HFCS.

Not everyone agrees they’re equivalent. While most studies show that table sugar and HFCS play an equal role in weight gain, some research suggests that HFCS — which usually contains 10% more fructose than sucrose — is more likely to change the body’s metabolism, in ways that can increase risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

But most scientists say the differences are subtle. That includes even Stanhope, whose work has focused on comparing the effects of fructose and other sugars. In terms of advising patients or making public health policy, she says, there isn’t much difference. “I think we really, at this point, need to treat them all alike.”

“Are sweetened drinks the only reason we have epidemics of obesity and diabetes? No, they’re not,” says Mayer-Davis, the past ADA president. “But sometimes the easy answer, is the answer.”