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Diet and Pain Management

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DIET AND PAIN“Changes in the modern diet are largely responsible for the increasing incidence of essential fatty acid (EFA) imbalances and deficiencies.”

“The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats has changed dramatically due to the widespread use of vegetable oils (mostly n-6 fats) in cooking and to the processing of oils to alter omega-3 fats to improve shelf life and eliminate their stronger taste (just think of the distinctive tastes of cod liver or flax oil).”

“Historical estimates place the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 oils at nearly 1:1 for prehistoric humans.”

By the turn of the century (1900), the ratio had increased to about 4:1. The current American ratio is about 25:1.

“The sharp rise is due to increased vegetable oil consumption: from 2 lb. per year in 1909 to 25 lb. per year in 1985!”

“Many of the chronic inflammatory conditions that accompany EFA imbalance are currently treated with symptom-specific pharmaceutical drugs such as steroids, prednisone, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sulfasalazine, and colchicine.”

“The problem with such drug therapies is that they prevent the formation of ‘good’ anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, or they shift the production of one type of eicosanoid to another.”

“For effective, long-term management, eicosanoid production should be modified through dietary changes (balancing dietary intake of specific fats) and controlling insulin levels in the circulation.”

“Maintaining a proper balance between the various families of dietary fats may be one of the most important preventative measures a person can take to reduce the likelihood of developing one of the chronic diseases of modern civilization, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome, and autoimmune disease.”

“And for patients who may already have one of these diseases, EFA testing and therapy has been demonstrated to reduce both morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases.”

Source: American Academy of Pain Management – Weiner’s Pain Management – A Practical Guide for Clinicians


 

Six Very Essential Minerals and Women’s Health

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WOMANMinerals are playing a very important role in a human body. The main goal of these essential elements is to make sure that the body functions properly. If deficiency is ignored for a prolonged period of time a serious health problem can be developed. For instance: women who are menstruating need an extra supplementation of iron till the reach menopause stage. A good source of minerals concentration is in certain types of whole foods. However, it is hard to follow a diet that contains all the necessary nutrients that a woman needs. Taking multivitamin and food-based natural mineral supplements are few ways that can be very beneficial.

Supplements can help improve the body’s absorption of certain other minerals and nutrients – for instance, magnesium is necessary for calcium absorption, selenium is necessary for Vitamin E absorption, Zinc is necessary for Vitamin A absorption. Majority of the females are deficient in minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, iodine and selenium. These minerals are very important fro proper metabolic function, hormone balance and bone strength and many other important health benefits.

Below is the list of six essential minerals and their function:

 

MAGNESIUM:

Key Functions: Energy Metabolism, protein synthesis, bone health, muscle and nerve function

Food Sources: Leafy green vegetables, sea weed or green algae, avocados, raw chocolate, beans, nuts, and grains such as brown rice and millet

Daily Dosage Recommendation: Age 19-30: 310mg    Age 31+: 320mg

 

CALCIUM:

Key Functions: Muscle function, nerve transmission, intracellular signaling, hormonal secretion, support and structure of bones and teeth

Food Sources: Dairy products, nondairy sources (preferable)  include sea vegetables, Chinese cabbage, kale and broccoli, foods: juices, dinks and cereal fortified with calcium.

Daily Dosage Recommendation: Age 19-50: 1000 mg  Age 50+ 1200 mg

 

IRON:

Key Functions: Part of the protein hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the body; also found in the protein myoglobin, which makes oxygen available for muscle contraction

Food Sources: Red meats, fish and poultry, lentils, beans, black-strap mo;ases, dried apricots, raisins.

Daily Dosage Recommendation: Age 19-50: 18mg Age 50+ 8mg

 

ZINC:

Key Functions: Strengthens immune system, increases white blood cells count, helps regulate hormones; supports absorption of calcium.

Food Sources: Oysters, pumpkin and many other seeds, most meat products, beans, nuts, whole grain.

Daily Dosage Recommendation: Age 19+ 8mg  Pregnant: 11mg Lactating 12mg

 

IODINE:

Key Functions: Strongly influences nutrient metabolism, detoxification, nerve and muscle function, nail, hair, skin and tooth condition and mental development.

Food Sources: Seafood, seaweeds such as kelp, clams, lobsters, oysters and sardines

Daily Dosage Recommendation: Age 19+:150mcg  Pregnant: 220mcg  Lactating: 290mcg

 

SELENIUM:

Key Functions: Stimulates glucose uptake and regulates metabolic processes including fatty acid synthesis; acts as an antioxidant against free radicals

Food Sources: Cereals, legumes, Brazil nuts, beef, chicken, eggs and cheese

Daily Dosage Recommendation: Age 19+:55µg  Pregnant: 60µg  Lactating: 70µg

 

If you have anything to add to this post, please feel free to Post a comment or share your thoughts through Facebook, Twitter or comment section below to join the conversation.


 

New Orleans Lifestyle for a Health Conscious Individual

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NEW ORLEANSThis post is going to go live on Monday while I will be somewhere in the air flying Southwest Airline back to San Francisco Bay Area. My recent trip to New Orleans had filled my brain cells with lots of great traveling experience. It is definitely a great city to visit with its rich history. French Quarter is an amazing place to hang out. It has a great variety of different tours. To name a few: steam boat ride along the Mississippi River, Bus Tours, Vampire Tours, Swamp Tours, Carriage Ride and many others. The city is intermixed with French, Spanish and American roots. You can see it in architecture of buildings – which are absolutely beautiful and something that you will only be able to see in New Orleans.

During a boat tour along the Mississippi river I found out that Domino Sugar Refinery is producing six millions pounds of sugar a day. The Port of New Orleans is at the center of the world’s busiest port complex – Louisiana’s Lower Mississippi River. Its proximity to the American Midwest via a 14,500-mile inland waterway system, six Class One railroads and the interstate highway system makes New Orleans the port of choice for the movement of cargoes such as steel, rubber, coffee, containers and manufactured goods.

I am not going to bore you any longer with a history and facts. The purpose of this blog post is to describe my experience about health consciousness of this historic town. The number one thing that was really unpleasant that restaurants are allowing smocking inside. It is really unpleasant experience for someone who does not smoke and really a huge turn off for someone who travels with kids, which was in our case. Many Southerners are chain smokers. People are smoking everywhere here, and smoking a lot. Many individuals are overweight. I guess it has to do with too much heat, humidity and unbalanced diet. People just don’t have a chance to get out for a walk during spring and summer time as it is getting really hot in here. When we ate out the menu choices from different restaurants were not very healthy. With few substitutions we were able to manage to get a semi healthy meal. Very famous beignets from Café du Monde were a huge disappointment. After eating one I felt like my organs were shutting down one by one. It is just deep fried flower and covered with a ton of powdered sugar. The place is packed 24 hours a day and is one of the busiest tourist attractions. I guess it is one of the few things a visitor must experience, which I did.

Dinner at Irene’s Cuisine was absolutely fabulous and healthy but was discovered by speaking to a local resident. If you are in French Quarter of NOLA I highly recommend it to you, comes with a price and long wait. That was the lightest and healthiest food I have eaten in the past five days being here. Breakfast at Bistreaux of Maison Dupuy Hotel was another healthy alternative and excellent service.

Overall my family and myself have enjoyed the stay and everything this beautiful city has to offer. I personally think it should be on every ones bucket list. Hopefully you have enjoyed this semi negative review about my trip to NOLA.

 

Personal Injury Case and Arbitration

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PERSONAL INJURYToday’s post is not so much about health but about personal injury case, arbitration and insurance company which does not wish to compensate injured patient after he was involved in a car accident. I had an opportunity to present the case for one of my patients against insurance company which is not willing to compensate him for pain and suffering post motor vehicle accident. Besides my patient and me, the plaintiff attorney was in the room and neurologist who helped to manage the care when the pain level was unbearable for my patient. On the other side was a defense attorney and defense orthopedist (insurance company is using this orthopedist deliberately for reporting purposes only – about this later). The last person was a gentleman who was in the middle of this madness – the Arbitrator.

The arbitration process is not as serious as a deposition or a trial for personal injury cases. The process began by cross examining the patient from defense and plaintiff sides. I was not allowed to be present in the room during this process. The second cross examination was for a neurologist who was co managing the care for this patient. Again I was not allowed to be present in the room during this process. I was a third person to be crossed examined by both sides. Plaintiff attorney began asking me questions about pre and post health condition of this particular patient. The main complaint of the patient was persistent lower back pain which radiated down his left lower extremity. The questions were very specific and were leading to a specific conclusion – that this particular injured individual has never had shooting lower back pain prior to this accident. My thorough documentation has proved that this was the case. When the time came for a defense attorney to cross examine me, that person completely relied on an orthopedist’s report, which was obviously geared towards the benefit of the insurance company. The problem is that the defense orthopedist spent perhaps at the most thirty minutes with this patient and can not possibly know everything about his health history. Some anecdotal studies and examples were included in the report which had no supportive values for defense attorney and insurance company. Orthopedist does not have much of a clinical experience and is specializing in report writing only. This doctor was called for cross examination right after me.

The third party has wasted thousands of dollars on defense work instead of simply compensating the injured person. I am pretty sure that arbitrator will award this man a proper compensation for his pain and suffering.