Wellness Newsletter 2010

“Fosamax-Boniva Osteoporosis Drugs Cause Broken Bones"

Sandy Potter, 59, of Queens, N.Y., was jumping rope with neighborhood children when she felt her thigh bone snap.

Many users of the popular osteoporosis drug are suffering broken femurs, one of the strongest bones in the body.

"I went up in the air and I came straight down to the ground," Potter said. "The pain was excruciating."

Potter, who was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 48, had been taking the popular osteoporosis drug Fosamax for eight years before breaking her femur.

Patients taking Fosamax, a drug that was designed to help protect against osteoporosis, is increasingly being linked with bone fractures. Two studies presented on March 10, 2010, at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' annual meeting suggest the drugs might adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur, or the main bone in the thigh, when used for four or more years.

There are better ways to build bone strength. Bone is not static like stone as some people think. Bone is constantly breaking down and remodeling. Bone can be weakened in both men and women due to changing hormone levels . Bone can also be weakened in people who have a low body pH, or in other words have systemic acidity. People may have low pH due to poor dietary choices, stress, environmental toxins, and inactivity. Colas will pull calcium from the bone as will all high acid foods like excessive meat, grains, and sugars.

To build healthy bone most people think calcium, especially from dairy. This is not your best choice and especially not from Tums, an antacid that bills itself as a calcium supplement. Calcium is best absorbed in the stomach, which has a normal pH of about 2. That's VERY acid! An anti-acid like Tums is exactly the opposite of what's needed for calcium absorption. Here are four better ways to build bone strength... (click here to continue at our website).

1. Your best bet to maintain healthy bone is to start off with a good bone mass in adulthood. Do this by weight bearing exercise, even walking.
2. Sleep 7 hours a night.
3. Modify your stress.
4. Eliminate sodas and go easy on your consumption of high acid foods. Eat more calcium-building foods. According to Dr. Balch's Prescription for Nutritional Healing eat plenty of dark leafy greens,broccoli, chestnuts, dandelion greens, flounder, hazelnuts, kale, kelp, molasses, oats, salmon, sardines, sesame seeds, tahini, turnip greens, and wheat germ. Be sure to include food high in sulfur content like garlic, onions, and eggs.

Make sure to take a quality supplement with a wide array of mineral, not just calcium. Your supplement/s should include calcium, magnesium, boron, silica, B Vitamins and Vitamins A, C, D, E, K.

Many calcium supplements are nothing more than chalk also known as calcium carbonate (found in Tums along with the neurotoxic aluminum). Stay away from this! We prescribe calcium citrate for patients.

Two excellent products we recommend are Calcifood by Standard Process and Osteo-B-Plus from Biotics Labs. Only available by prescription. Call Pangemanan Chiropractic today, (502) 839-7171 for a personal nutritional consultation today.

Sources: ABCNews Osteoporosis Article, March 2010.

“5 Keys to Happiness”

"The billion-dollar question is, is it possible to become happier?" said psychologist Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, Riverside.

Lyubomirsky spoke at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She and colleagues last year reviewed 51 studies that tested attempts to increase happiness through different types of positive thinking, and found that these practices can significantly enhance well-being. The results were published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Here are five things that research has shown can improve happiness:

1. Be grateful - Some study participants were asked to write letters of gratitude to people who had helped them in some way. The study found that these people reported a lasting increase in happiness - over weeks and even months - after implementing the habit. What's even more surprising: Sending the letter is not necessary. Even when people wrote letters but never delivered them to the addressee, they still reported feeling better afterwards.

2. Be optimistic - Another practice that seems to help is optimistic thinking. Study participants were asked to visualize an ideal future - for example, living with a loving and supportive partner, or finding a job that was fulfilling - and describe the image in a journal entry. After doing this for a few weeks, these people too reported increased feelings of well-being.

3. Count your blessings literally - People who practice writing down three good things that have happened to them every week show significant boosts in happiness, studies have found. It seems the act of focusing on the positive helps people remember reasons to be glad.

4. Use your strengths - Another study asked people to identify their greatest strengths, and then to try to use these strengths in new ways. For example, someone who says they have a good sense of humor could try telling jokes to lighten up business meetings or cheer up sad friends. This habit, too, seems to heighten happiness.

5. Commit acts of kindness - It turns out helping others also helps ourselves. People who donate time or money to charity, or who altruistically assist people in need, report improvements in their own happiness.


Here is a brief summary of the twelve strategies identified by Lyubomirsky:

* Counting your blessings, expressing gratitude for what you have;
* Cultivating optimism, learning to think optimistically;
* Avoiding dwelling on problems and social comparisons;
* Practicing acts of kindness;
* Nurturing relationships;
* Doing more activities that truly engage you;
* Savoring life’s joys;
* Committing to goals;
* Developing strategies for coping;
* Learning to forgive;
* Practicing religion and spirituality; and
* Taking care of your body.

...with that last one, may we add, Get Preventive Chiropractic Care regularly. :)

“Handbook for 2010”

Can These Household Chemicals Destroy Your Son's Masculinity?