The following article was contributed by Richard Moyle, National Awareness Coordinator, Mesothelioma Center:

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining of the lungs, heart and abdomen. The primary cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral that was used in a number of military and industrial applications throughout most of the 20th century. Mesothelioma treatment options are often limited as the cancer is typically diagnosed in its later stages due to the long latency period of the symptoms.

The combination of disease symptoms and treatment side effects can cause mesothelioma patients a great deal of pain. Cancer patients have included chiropractic care in their course of treatment to help control pain and alleviate headaches, tension and stress.

According to the American Chiropractic Association, chiropractic doctors “have a deep respect for the human body’s ability to heal itself without the use of surgery or medication. These doctors devote careful attention to the biomechanics, structure and function of the spine, its effects on the musculoskeletal and neurological systems, and the role played by the proper function of these systems in the preservation and restoration of health. A doctor of chiropractic is one who is involved in the treatment and prevention of disease, as well as the promotion of public health, and a wellness approach to patient healthcare.”

Alleviating severe headaches and movement pains during cancer treatment may make the treatment process more comfortable for cancer patients, including those battling mesothelioma. Two studies published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics examined the cases of two patients combating cancer. A 57-year-old man diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer experienced significant pain relief and was able to reduce the amount of medication needed following chiropractic care. He also reported an increase in his quality of life following a visit to a chiropractor.

A 54-year-old man diagnosed with lung cancer (a cancer often related to asbestos exposure) began seeing a chiropractor after experiencing little pain relief one year after he underwent surgery to combat his cancer. The man experienced pain relief immediately after beginning chiropractic care and discontinued use of all pain medications after two visits to his chiropractor. The Journal noted, “these clinical examples offer two specific instances of how chiropractic may improve the quality of a cancer patients life.”

A recent survey by the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center concluded that about 80 percent of U.S. adults have at some point been bothered by back pain.  This survey of more than 14,000 subscribers who had lower-back pain and did not have surgery, rated doctors of chiropractic as the top practitioner, with respondents noting that they were more likely to be “highly satisfied” with the care received from their doctor of chiropractic than their primary care physician.

The research found that chiropractic manipulation can reduce acute low-back pain. Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents who tried chiropractic manipulation said it helped a lot, and 59 percent were “completely” or “very” satisfied with their chiropractor.  Read full coverage of this survey in The Washington Post.

Here is an interesting debate on vegetarianism and dispelling some of the myths of nutrition (i.e. - all fats are bad for you), which explains that perhaps a well-rounded diet including all types of food may be the best way to go.

Regardless of your views on the subject, these tenets will lead to a healthier you:

1. Don’t eat foods that did not exist 100 years ago (i.e.- cereal existed 100 years ago, but Fruit Loops did not!)   

2. When shopping at the grocery store, try to stick to the perimeter, not the aisles, as all fresh foods like fish, produce and meats are on the outer walls of the store, while boxed processed foods are in the aisles.

3. Fad diets do not work!  If you want to lose weight, don’t change your diet, just eat smaller portions. If you burn more calories than you consume (regardless of whether it’s carbohydrates or protein), you will drop the pounds.

The following article features a great conversation between a golf teaching professional and a chiropractor and speaks my previous blog entry on the benefits of chiropractic for golfers.

I thought the following article recently featured in USA Today would be of interest for parents seeking information on alternative care - Kids find new way to adjust: Chiropractors

Here’s an excerpt of a story AP wrote on how a chiropractor successfully treated Anquan Boldin’s hamstring problem. He was originally not projected to return for this week’s NFC championship game, but after receiving chiropractic treatment he is now slated to play…

“Arizona receiver Anquan Boldin practiced Wednesday, and says he will play in Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.  Boldin, who with Larry Fitzgerald forms arguably the best receiving tandem in football, said a trip to a Dallas chiropractor has greatly improved his strained left hamstring.”

Click here to view this article in its entirety.

Do you ever wonder why the best golfers in the world such as Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk have chiropractors?  To answer that let me first digress…  Every year, at the beginning of the season, thousands of golfers across the U.S. make the vow to play better golf.  How many times have you said, “This is the year I break 100, 90, or 80?”  So you hit the range and bang thousands of balls, maybe take a lesson or two, buy that new driver that promises 30 more yards, and renew your subscription to your favorite golf magazines chock full of all those clever tips. And yet by the end of the season your handicap is pretty much the same - nothing has changed.  Research shows that 80% of golfers cannot break 100, and yet, as most will attest, it’s not from a lack of effort.  To quote Albert Einstein, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  The truth of the matter is that neither the lessons, nor the practice and the new driver are going to help your game if your body cannot execute the correct positions in a golf swing.

In golf, as in all athletic endeavors, the key to success is the ability to have complete control of all muscle groups, as well as having strength and stability without sacrificing flexibility or coordination.  Do you ever wonder why professional golfers swing so easily and controlled and can still hit the ball a mile, but the average golfer’s swing is quick and short, often resulting in a weak slice?  The answer is that they have greater range of motion, or if you will a greater “X-factor” (the difference measured between shoulder and hip turn), which allows them a greater ability to generate more power in their swing.  A larger X-factor also allows the golfer more time to coordinate the intricate movements of the swing, hence making it easier to create tempo and a long, loose, unhurried swing.  The average golfer is aware, perhaps subconsciously, that they have less time to coordinate their movements during the swing. The smaller X-factor causes them to go through a complete pre-shot checklist of every movement they are going to make, which is referred to as “paralysis by analysis,” wherein a golfer will freeze over the ball at address, unable to start the swing. The restricted range of motion in the average golfer also causes them to swing faster, as they are attempting to build up power as a result of the smaller swing length.  This is usually accomplished by incorporating the hand, arm, and chest muscles as opposed to powering the swing correctly with the lower body.  These actions are the “death moves” of the golf swing, and as any teaching professional will tell you make it impossible to strike the ball consistently.  

The fact of the matter is that most average handicappers know the golf swing very well.  The problem is not that your brain isn’t getting the technique down, it’s that your body is incapable of accommodating what the brain is telling it to do.  Think of it this way, do you have to concentrate on which muscles to use when you are writing something down?  Do you need to focus on how to coordinate the process of throwing a baseball?  Of course you don’t, because you have achieved a kind of muscle memory and these are tasks that your body is capable of doing easily.  Now think of all the golf swings you have made in your lifetime, probably millions if you are like me.  Wouldn’t it be fair to say than that your brain has a pretty good idea of how the golf swing works?  To use a simile, it’s like trying to throw that same baseball without being able to bend your arm.

So what is the answer?  How can you increase your X-factor?  First it is important to understand that it is not really muscle tightness in your back, pelvis, and legs that prevent you from making a complete swing, it is actually the joints in your spine and throughout your body that are to blame.  You see, muscles for the most part become stiff and short in response to joints in the body that are restricted or not moving properly.  The way it works is that the brain first senses a specific joint or joints are not moving or working properly. As a protective device it signals the surrounding musculature to become shortened and tight, known as splinting, guarding the joint from being injured.  There are many things that can cause these restrictions such as poor posture, over-exerting ourselves at work or in exercise, or just sitting at a desk all day.  Over time, not only will the stiffness remain, but also degeneration of the joint will occur.  Basically what it comes down to is you can try to stretch these muscles until the cows come home, but unless you unlock the restricted joint, these muscles will not completely relax.  This is a large part of what chiropractic adjustments do; they restore proper motion to joints of the body allowing for lengthening of muscles and in turn greater flexibility.

All this being said, there are other integral elements to improving one’s golf game such as proper fundamentals, good posture, and core strengthening exercises.  The truth of the matter is that if you are going to spend all that time on the range, why not give yourself a real chance of improving.  So go ahead and get the newest over-sized driver and a dozen Pro V’s, but if you really want to hit it like Tiger and Jim, visit a chiropractor…you have nothing to lose but strokes off your game.

ABC’s Good Morning America recently reported on the positive effects that a chiropractic adjustment has on lowering blood pressure.  View this here.

Thought this video is a good example of the concept of preventive medicine.  Real Time with Bill Maher does a great job identifying America’s addiction to prescription drugs to treat symptoms instead of getting to the source of the problem.

I recently was asked by the editors of Opposing Views to share my views on yoga:

As with many questions of this nature there exists a common paradox: can something be beneficial for us and still be harmful?   Perhaps a better question would be can yoga cause harm?   All forms of exercise are beneficial, but risk of injury is always present.   Done properly, yoga provides many of the key elements that create a healthy body.   In my opinion, the diaphragmatic breathing techniques, strengthening, and postural techniques taught to practitioners of yoga are several of the most important benefits.

The negative aspects of yoga lie in the undo stress that it imparts on the spine and joints of the body. Yoga challenges an individual to take specific joints in the body to their “end range” and then push further.   This act puts excessive strain on the ligaments of the joint, which are by nature meant to be inflexible, enabling the specific joint to have stability. The stretching of these ligaments and corresponding instability in these joints makes further injury more likely, as anyone who has had chronic ankle sprains can attest to – it only takes the slightest wrong move and reinjury occurs.   An unstable joint also causes poor biomechanics, which in turn causes destruction of cartilage, thus promoting premature degeneration.

Another element that must be examined is the improper loading of the spine due to the twisting or torquing movements that are often involved in specific yoga positions.   These poses put enormous pressure upon the load-bearing unit of the spine (i.e. the disc) and as spinal biomechanist, Stuart McGill, PhD, sights in his research, this is the most dangerous position the spine can undertake and is the most common cause of disc herniation.   Spinal stability is also due to small ligaments that segmentally connect each contiguous vertebra allowing gross movement of the spine, but limiting it at any specific level, confirming the importance of stability over flexibility of the spine.