February 22, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

I just sent out my latest issue of the DocAltMed newsletter. If you aren’t a subscriber, click on this link to read it. If you want to subscribe, just register on this blog or at www.docaltmed.com, and we’ll put you on the mailing list.

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February 21, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

My new podcast is up, you can download it here, or even better, subscribe to the podcast by clicking on this feed. Or, as usual, you can always go to iTunes and subscribe there.

For more information about the March 12 Free Digital Foot Scan, go here.

The laboratory website is www.footlevelers.com.

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February 19, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

A reader brought to my attention the growing trend of barefoot running, given fuel recently by this study:

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February 16, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

I’m very happy to be able to do this.

For 15 years, I’ve been putting my patients into custom orthotics for a variety of reasons, most typically chronic low back or knee pain. I have also used them quite frequently on my athlete patients, as the research has found that custom orthotics can curtail the risk of training injuries.

And in the case of at least one sport — golf — there is research that shows that using custom orthotics actually increases performance! Yep, you read it right. Slip these things in your golf cleats and strip a couple of strokes off your game. Can’t beat that with a stick (so to speak).

Having made a short story longer, here’s the point: I’ve arranged for the orthotics lab that I’ve been using for the past 15 years, Foot Levelers, to bring in one of their technicians. She will be spending the day on Friday, March 12, doing digital scans of people’s feet to see if you need orthotics. Did I mention that this is free?If it turns out that you do need orthotics and you order them that day, I’ll give you 15% off.If you order two pairs, you get 30% off. Sweet.

Here’s a linky that takes you to a pretty web page about it.

You can always check out my website to read much of what you’ve read here, only with more formal wording.And, as always, if you have questions, email me, or call me at (860)567-5727.

Do this. It’s free, and it will make you so happy.

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February 3, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

That’s the name of this year’s first podcast, and it is up and available now. The feed for all my podcasts is here.

And, as promised, here are the show notes:

Br J Community Nurs. 2009 Oct;14(10):422, 424-6.
Dietary factors and depression in older people.

Williamson C. British Nutrition Foundation, London. c.williamson@nutrition.org.uk

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental health conditions and can affect people of all ages, but it is becoming more common among the older population with increasing life expectancy. Observational studies have found poor micronutrient status (particularly folate and vitamin B12) to be associated with an increased risk of depression in older people. Supplementation with folic acid has been shown to enhance anti-depressant drug treatment and there is preliminary evidence that supplementation with certain micronutrients may help improve depressive symptoms in older patients. There has also been a lot of interest in the role of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in depression.

Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age.

Akbaraly TN, Brunner EJ, Ferrie JE, Marmot MG, Kivimaki M, Singh-Manoux A. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. tasnime.akbaraly@inserm.fr

 BACKGROUND: Studies of diet and depression have focused primarily on individual nutrients. AIMS: To examine the association between dietary patterns and depression using an overall diet approach. METHOD: Analyses were carried on data from 3486 participants (26.2% women, mean age 55.6 years) from the Whitehall II prospective cohort, in which two dietary patterns were identified: ‘whole food’ (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish) and ‘processed food’ (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products). CONCLUSIONS: In middle-aged participants, a processed food dietary pattern is a risk factor for CES-D depression 5 years later, whereas a whole food pattern is protective. 

If you are interested in more information about diet and depression, contact me by clicking here.

Thanks for listening, and as always, your feedback and comments are very much appreciated!

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January 29, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

One of the things I like about being the type of doctor that I am is that patients feel free to speak their mind to me.

As happened today, while I was performing trigger point therapy (a highly effective but admittedly somewhat painful technique for some muscle problems), my patient said to me:

Patient: “Doc, that #$%^&! hurts!

Me: “Yeah, I know, sorry about that.”

Patient: “That’s your bike out front, right?”

Me: “Yeah. Rode it in this morning.”

Patient: “Yeah, well, when you’re done with me, I’m taking care of it. You’re walking home tonight.”

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January 19, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

There is some very good news today for parents of special needs children in the Litchfield area. I received an email today from Krizta Moon, a very talented musician, music teacher and musical therapist, which said that she will be offering a music therapy program at the Litchfield community center.

If you are unfamiliar with music therapy, it is  “the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program,” according to the American Music Therapy Association website.

Anyone who has fallen in love, lost a loved one, grieved or celebrated — that is, all of us — knows the power that music has to influence our mood and our minds. Amazing, isn’t it, how a few bars from a half-forgotten song bring back to us in 3D living color the gestalt of a period in our lives?

Well, music is capable of far more than that. In the right hands, music therapy can not only help children cope with pain and stress, but also speed their progress in physical therapy programs. Music therapy can reach out and touch the untouchable, engage the unengaged.  In fact, a recent Cochrane Review, largely considered the gold standard of evidence-based medicine, found that “music therapy may help children with autistic spectrum disorder to improve their communicative skills.”

Ms. Moon said that she will be having an introductory “meet and greet” session open to everyone on Sat., January 23 at the Litchfield Community Center.

Music therapy sessions are specifically designed around the child’s age and developmental abilities, Ms. Moon said. Sessions will be held each Saturday between the hours of 9am-1pm. Each session runs for 45 minutes, starting on February 20th and will conclude on April 10th for a total of 8 sessions. Total cost is $150.00. Sign-up for this event will begin at 10am at the Litchfield Community Center. From 11-11:45, be there to participate in a large group session for parents and special needs children ages 4-18.

“An advantage of music therapy,” Ms. Moon’s email said, “is that it is an inherently nonthreatening and inviting medium. It offers a child a safe haven from which to explore feelings, behaviors and issues ranging from self-esteem to severe emotional dysregulation. Music therapy techniques can be designed to address more complex issues such as grief, abandonment or deeply conflicted emotions. As a medium, music therapy has enormous range and scope in targeting multiple clinical needs across the gamut of childhood developmental stages. It can set the occasion for a child to establish a meaningful relationship with an adult through musical play and interaction. Music therapy can also facilitate the development of pro-social skills, trust and feelings of positive attachment. Developmentally, almost all children respond to music. This greatly assists in laying a strong foundation for engaging in deeper therapeutic work. A child’s natural interest in music is enhanced by the fact that they are occupied in stimulating motor and auditory activities more associated with play or fun than work or therapy. The careful and repetitious orchestration of such multi-sensory experiences, in the context of a skillful and nurturing relationship, has a remarkable range of clinical benefits.”

On a personal note, I would just like to add that Krizta Moon has been my daughter’s singing teacher for several years. I know whereof I speak when I say that she is an extraordinarily talented, caring and skilled teacher, and I am glad that she has extended her talents into the realm of music therapy. I have no doubt that she will be of great benefit to many children here.

If you would like to attend, please call 860-484-9080 to confirm. You can also contact Ms. Moon via email, at lunazsoul (at) hotmail.com.

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January 18, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

In a classic set-up, the Hartford Courant published an online poll asking readers if chiropractic patients should be required to sign special consent forms, as I mentioned in a previous post.

The poll question was placed directly across from a Rick Green anti-chiropractic screed, in which Mr. Green manages to disclose both an appalling lack of understanding of scientific research as well as feeble rabble-rousing skills in his attempts to mislead the public about this topic.

I wouldn’t mind so much about the anti-science bent of his column if Mr. Green was at least able to generate some fire underneath his supporters.

But, alas, he could not even do that. Normally, the placement of a survey as the Courant did in this situation virtually guarantees that the results are skewed in favor of the opinion of the columnist. Not so in this case. Here are the most recent poll results:

I’m sorry, Mr. Green, but it looks like the public has spoken.

And they think you, and the proposed regulation, is wrong.

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January 15, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

That fount of modern female wisdom, Cosmopolitan magazine, inadvertently highlighted the fundamental problem with modern healthcare in its recent online article, Hairstyles Men Love.

Next to this picture of an undeniably-photogenic Anna Faris:

The article notes that “From an evolutionary perspective, guys subconsciously like hair that looks clean and healthy, like Anna Faris’s blond locks. “Hair that’s in top condition shows that you have a balanced diet and good health — signs of an ideal mate,” says biological anthropologist Helen Fisher PhD.”

So far, so good. Sociobiology, or the description of human behavior from a evolutionary perspective, has come a long way since its introduction 40-odd years ago, and is now a widely accepted (if oft-misused) theory. It is quite probable that in matters as fundamental as procreation, we are hard-wired to respond in certain ways just as much as the female Western Tanager will always go for the guy with the big red top.

But then Cosmo blows the lid off of the secret behind looking healthy:

“Work a silicone-based straightening serum through damp hair before blow-drying,” Cosmo advises. “Clip locks in 4-6 sections depending on how thick your hair is. Then tackle one at a time with a paddle brush and a blow-dryer equipped with a nozzle pointed straight down. Finish with a light shine spray.”

Ok, let me see if I’ve got this right. The secret to attracting guys, Cosmo says, is to develop that healthy glow, which presumably indicates a fecund future of healthy, bouncing babies to carry the genetic line forward. And the secret to attaining that health is a silicon-based straightening serum?!?

Not a word about the things that I associate with good health, like, maybe, good nutrition, exercise, sanitation — all that stuff that actually does give a person that healthy glow, instead of simply imitating it.

In the same way, mainstream medicine mistakes appearing healthy for looking healthy. Instead of looking at the person, they look at the numbers:

Cholesterol low?                   Check.

Thyroid hormone normal?     Check.

BMI “normal”?                      Check

All well and good. But the fact of matter is, manipulation of the numbers does very little to change a person’s health. You can have a normal body mass index and still be highly prone to cancer and heart disease. You can have normal thyroid hormone levels, yet still have a thyroid that is dysfunctional. And don’t even get me going on cholesterol. Cholesterol levels are no indicator of any kind of health whatsoever.

So, by manipulating the numbers, the modern MD thinks they are creating health in their patients. But, like the two ounces of straightening serum, they are only creating the appearance of health.

Reducing your cholesterol level has no effect on your overall lifespan. None. Zero. Zip.

Normalizing your thyroid hormones does not mean your “thyroid” symptoms will go away.

A normal BMI does not mean you are fit.

Just like two ounces of straightening serum will give the appearance of health without the reality, the statin drug or the synthetic hormones will make pretty pictures — but, in the long run, won’t change your health for the better.

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January 12, 2010 by Avery Jenkins.

I’ve just been selected as one of the on-line experts at MDinfo.com.

Don’t be confused by the name. There are a lot of smart doctors on there handing out good advice.

If I do say so myself.

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