The Truth About Vitamins

The Truth About Vitamins


During a graduate nutrition course at the University of Minnesota, a professor posed a challenge to the class: Construct a 2000 calorie-per-day diet that at least met the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for vitamins and minerals without the use of supplements. Most of the graduate students thought that this was going to be a simple assignment. After all, we had been told over and over again that people can get all of the nutrients their body needs simply by eating a well-balanced diet. Well, the professor was putting that statement to the test.

To everyone’s surprise, no one was able to come up with a sustainable daily diet that met the minimum RDA requirements. The graduate students discovered that it is impossible to get everything that you need from the food we eat. But how could this be? Certainly people have lived on this planet for a long time and must have been able to get everything they needed from their diet. The answer has to do with modern farming techniques, fertilizers and environmental stresses.

Following the Second World War, chemical manufacturers were sitting on huge stockpiles of phosphates and nitrates that were initially intended for use in explosives. They discovered that when they spread these same phosphates and nitrates on the soil where plants were growing, the plants grew bigger and looked healthier. Thus began the boom of the fertilizer industry.

The problem with modern fertilizers is that they don’t replace soil trace minerals, such as chromium, zinc and copper, as do cow manure and other natural fertilizers. Over time, these trace minerals become more and more depleted from the soil and, consequently, our food supply becomes more depleted as well. The bottom line is that in order to get enough trace minerals in our diet to at least meet the minimum RDAs, it is necessary to take a good quality supplement.



How to Select a Good Multivitamin

All vitamin supplements are not created equal. Supplements are just like anything else— there are some good ones out there and a whole lot of supplements that are not as good. Here a few keys to determining whether a particular vitamin is good:

•In general, supplements sold through a health care professionals are top quality. These are called "Physician Grade". They tend to be a little more expensive than the supplements you find at your discount retailer, local drug store or health food store because the ingredients that go into them tend to be of a higher quality.

•High quality vitamins have chelated minerals. This makes a huge difference in how well the minerals are absorbed by your body. If you have any questions about specific supplements that you are taking, be sure to ask on of the Millar chiropractors.

•Most high quality vitamin formulations require that you take more than one capsule or tablet per day. This is simply because high quality ingredients, such as chelated minerals, take up more space than their cheaper counterparts.

•Most over the counter multivitamins are pressed or compressed into a pill or caplet form. The body has trouble digesting these vitamins and often they pass through and out the body without being absorbed.

•Several recent studies have demonstrated that most of the vitamins we take do not contain the actual quantity of vitamin or mineral on the label. "Physician Grade" vitamins are standardized in that they are certified by an independent lab to contain ALL the ingredients in the proper amounts as listed on the label.

The Bottom Line

Taking supplements as part of your overall daily health regimen is a simple and inexpensive way to ensure that your body has everything it needs to be healthy. When combined with regular chiropractic care, taking a high quality multivitamin will help to slow the aging process and decrease your risk of a number of degenerative diseases. Be sure to talk to your Millar Chiropractor to determine which multivitamin formula best fits your individual needs. Contact us directly at http://www.millarchiro.com/.



Copyright 2010 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.

Sinus Headache or Migraine

Sinus Headache or Migraine

       For anyone who has ever experienced one, a sinus headache is very painful. What is a sinus headache? According to the Mayo Clinic, “Sinus headaches are headaches that may accompany sinusitis, a condition in which the membranes lining your sinuses become swollen and inflamed.” http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sinus-headaches/DS00647  In addition, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMM) states a sinus headache can cause a dull, deep, throbbing pain in the front of the head and face. Often one of the things that can make the pain worse is bending over or leaning over. Other things that can affect a sinus headache are cold and damp weather. http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/sinus-headache-000073.htm One area the Mayo Clinic and UMM agree upon is that sinus headaches can be confused with migraine headaches. Consult a doctor to receive the correct diagnosis.

       Some people may wonder what the differences between sinus headaches and migraine headaches are because many of the symptoms are the same. Although migraine headaches may be made worse by bending over and even have some nasal congestion, they (migraines) will sometimes be made worse by light, loud noise and is accompanied by nausea. Sinus headaches on the other hand rarely respond to light or loud noise.

       Sinus headaches can start with allergies, a sinus infection or even a cyst in the sinuses. Both sinus headaches and migraines are painful and must be properly diagnosed by a doctor. Many people will try to self-diagnose their sinus headaches. Thus, they will also try to treat the sinus headache themselves. These people may do more damage to themselves than if they had gone to the doctor and been properly diagnosed and treated.


Sinus Headaches and Chiropractic

       A person may ask, “What does chiropractic have to do with sinus headaches?” The answer comes in the form of relief. Every part of our body connects with our spine through the nervous system and brain. The web site Millar Chiropractic and Nutrition Centers has a 3-D spine simulator in which each vertebra of the spine is shown along with the nerves and body parts innervated by the nerves from that vertebra. http://www.millarchiro.com/3d_spine/nerve_chart/index.htm

       Vertebra C-1 through C-4 is directly linked to the sinuses and sinus cavities. Therefore, sinus headaches may respond to chiropractic treatment. Additionally, chiropractors are uniquely positioned to try natural remedies which may also benefit your condition.

       In conclusion, sinus headaches are very painful and difficult to diagnose by the average person. This is because migraine headaches share some of the same symptoms. The best advice to follow is this; have your headache symptoms diagnosed properly by a chiropractor. Finally, empirical evidence from thousands of satisfied patients just like me is that chiropractic adjustments are an effective treatment for sinus headaches and migraine headaches.


References:

Mayo Clinic, Sinus Headaches, definition, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sinus-headaches/DS00647 retrieved July 17, 2010

University of Maryland Medical Center, Sinus Headache, http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/sinus-headache-000073.htm retrieved July 17, 2010

Millar Chiropractic and Nutrition Center, 3-D spine simulator, http://www.millarchiro.com/3d_spine/nerve_chart/index.htm retrieved August 7, 2010


Testimonial

     At Millar Chiropractic and Nutrition Centers – Danville Rd, Decatur, Alabama, Dr. Greg Millar DC treats a female patient who has had severe sinus headaches and migraine headaches for 40 years. The treatment has brought major relief to this patient. She no longer suffers the debilitating pain of sinus or migraine headaches. I know because that patient is me. Kathy R.

Copyright 2010 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.

Putting Out The Pain Fire

I see many patients that come to me every day with pain and lots of it. Often they have pain in several similar global areas. These seem to occur in groups like neck, upper back and shoulder pain some with arm pain some without; or low back, sacrum and hip pain as a group some with leg and some without leg involvement just to name a few. I have talked in the past to Drs. Spurlock, Matz and Hadley of the UAB Dept of Neurosurgery, as well as our doctors about this phenomena. They too have seen this in their practices. Over the years I have concluded that Pain is often not of a single source genesis or origin. Meaning that pain often comes from more than one cause. Further pain seems to begot pain. In that once the body is in pain the second or third pain seems to combine with the other pains to make the global area painful.

We the patients, want our pain to be from a single origin or cause as we feel that in someway it might be easier to stop or turn off the pain. However, I now believe in the multi genesis pain origin theory. This theory says that pain is often cumulative in the body. I often compare this to lighting a book of matches. If one were to light one match, one would have a small fire. Light the whole book and you get a much bigger fire composed of many smaller fires.

I find the same is true for the body. Let us take the low back pain for example. The origin of low back pain can often be traced to several pain generators. Say for example, a patient presents with low back pain radiating into the hip. How many times have we found that the patient did indeed have a disc problem, a same side facet problem, sacroiliacs, and bursitis of the hip or similar findings. This perhaps, is part of the reason for so many failed low back surgeries. Yes the surgeon dutifully decompresses the disc but does nothing to treat the co-concomitant conditions(other problems).

I often tell my doctors that if you can't find the problems you can't fix the problems. This can only be done through examination, treatment, re-examination and continued treatment. I often find it necessary to bring in other doctors or specialist in their respective areas to confirm diagnosis or treat. I find by accurately diagnosing the multi genesis pain and its several pain generators we can often separate and treat the overall pain putting out several of the pain fires and then determining the extent of the core problem. Kind of like turn off the background noise and see what is left.

Patients like this kind of treatment as they feel the progress. This progress gives them hope that their pain may be treatable. Surprisingly it is. Often the average doctor does not take the time or have the inclination to tease out the many pain generators. It is far easier to just say you have a bulging or herniated disc and treat only that problem. We encourage our doctors to look globally at our patients, diagnosing multi genesis pain generators and then treat them all.
Dr Greg


Copyright 2009 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.

Cervical Herniated Disc

I had a 36 year old male present with a Cervical herniated disc today. He presented with neck pain rated an 8 on the 0-10 scale and radiating pain into his left arm and hand of one month duration. He felt that his wrist was beginning to get weak. He had been to his primary doctor who sent him for an MRI of the cervical spine. His medical doctor had given him a medrol dose pack and pain meds. His MRI demonstrated two herniated disc, one at C5-6 and one at C6-7. His primary then referred him to a local orthopedist who wanted to do surgery immediately. The surgeon wanted to do a two level fusion. The patient wanted another opinion.

I did a complete history and physical. After examination I concluded that he had NO neurological deficits. He had numerous positive orthopedic and neurological test but non indicated a true neurological deficit. I needed further NCV testing to differentially diagnose between radiculopathy (radiating pain from the neck) vs Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (an entrapment of the Median nerve at the wrist) both of which could produce a pain in the hand. I ordered an NCV the next day. Dr Gary Cohen our Physical Medicine doctor at Millar MultiMedical preformed the test. The test concluded that yes there was a mild radiculopathy (radiating pain) coming from the neck but also there was carpal tunnel syndrome.

I started the patient on daily CMT, Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy with the Activator and DTS - Decompression Traction of the cervical spine at 22lbs at 15 degrees for 20 min a day. I also included in his care e-stim and ultrasound treatment. I told him he would get worse before he got better and indeed he did. But after only a few pulls his pain started going down. We also started treating the carpal tunnel syndrome with e-stim, ultra sound and manipulation. He is now nearly pain free.

I think this case demonstrates always get a second and even a third opinion if surgery is the option and it's not an emergency.
Dr Greg


Copyright 2009 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.

Headache that turns into a Migraine

Problem: Today I had a 39 year old female present with what she described as a sinus headache that turned into a migraine about 1-2 times a month. This problem began several years ago when they moved to Alabama from St. Louis. She is having the sinus headache almost daily. She finds that every spring and fall she has terrible sinus problems. She further stated that the headaches became a full blown sick migraines several times a month. She took allergy shots years ago and knows she is allergic to grass trees and flowers. But she was frustrated as the shots did not help much and besides you cant help the trees and grass there everywhere. She had talked to her primary care physician and he even prescribed Imitrex which made her sicker with nausea, muscle weakness in the neck and back as well as tongue and mouth pain and then he prescribed Topamax which made her legs and feet tingle and feel numb. The Topamax also made her fatigued and she felt like she could not function due to the confusion and fatigue. She had been off all headache medication for 6 months. The day she was seen she rated her headache as a 8 on the 0-10 scale with the night before being a 10/10. Exam: The normal orthopedic, neurological, palpation, spinal exam, range of motion, muscle test, and posture exam was preformed. X-rays of the sinus and cervical and thoracic spine were preformed in our office and the films were sent to Dr Mike Jokich MD radiologist for review. Copyright 2009 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.

Stenosis and Degenerative Facet Disease

Problem: Today I had a 62 year old man present with severe low back and leg pain. On taking his history, he stated that his low back hurt worse first thing in the morning and again late at night. He also stated that his pain was increased with slightly bending over say the sink to wash dishes or shaving. He also stated that his low back and leg pain was decreased by sitting down. On questioning, he stated that when he shops he needs to lean over a shopping cart. And while shopping his pain can be relieved if he sits down for a few minutes. I ask him if his pain immediately goes away while sitting or does it take a few minutes to historically differentially separate vascular claudication from stenosis. He has a past history of MRI study showing 2 bulging disc and has had 2 lumbar epidural injections with little success. You know God gives you the right to have more than one thing going on at a time an I think this patient has taken him up on that idea. After taking his history, I have a theory that he had two primary problems 1) lumbar stenosis and 2) degenerative facet syndrome. I feel that his bulging disc may in fact be a red herring and not causing his problems. I did a complete and thorough examination including posture exam, orthopedic test, neurological test, palpatory exam, spinal exam, range of motion and digital muscle weakness exam. Next I completed a surface NCV and EMG of his spine and lower extremities. I ordered X-rays of his lumbar with obliques at the hospital and compared them to his recent MRI films. Discussion: On imaging he in fact does have both soft tissue and bony stenosis. The lumbar canal was narrowed to 9mm at L4 and L5. Since he did not have any pain with a straight leg raiser or well leg raiser and was able to tandom walk heel/toe with no other neurological deficits, I concluded that his bulging disc were red herrings. Spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal, which places pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots. If the stenosis is located on the lower part of the spinal cord it is called lumbar spinal stenosis. Stenosis in the upper part of the spinal cord is called cervical spinal stenosis. While spinal stenosis can be found in any part of the spine, the lumbar and cervical areas are the most commonly affected. Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis may feel pain, weakness, or numbness in the legs, calves or buttocks. In the lumbar spine, symptoms often increase when walking short distances and decrease when the patient sits, bends forward or lies down. Cervical spinal stenosis may cause similar symptoms in the shoulders and arms. In some patients the pain starts in the legs and moves upward to the buttocks; in other patients the pain begins higher in the body and moves downward. Treatment: I started him on phisotherapy including Interferrential current (IFC) for 15 minutes along with hot pads. I also started him on ultrasound over the lumbar paraspinal muscles and facets. I started him on DTS Decompression Traction; Cox Flexion/Distraction; and chiropractic manipulative therapy. If he does not improve in two weeks then I will send him for lumbar facet injections. I feel he will ultimately need the facet injections. However if he needs facet injections I want them to be done under floro guidance at the hospital or surgery center. I am also talking to him regarding his overall health and his future health goals and life expectancy. If he develops neurological deficits then I will immediately refer him back to the neurosurgeon for surgical decompression.
Dr Greg Millar

Copyright 2009 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.

Interesting Case

Problem: This week I had a 43 year old lady present with chronic fatigue, chronic headaches and pain over all four quadrants of her body. She had yeast overgrowth but did not know it. She had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Interstitial Cystitis, Endometrosis, Allergies, Type II Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sinus Problems and Thyroid disorder. Examination revealed tight and tender points across the body with moderate spasms. Numerous orthopedic tests were positive. She had both sensory and motor loss to the upper and lower extremities. She has a past surgical hx of gallbladder and hysterectomy. She has been in several past major auto accidents. She has had past severe hormone problems with past long and painful menstrual periods, severe mood swings and moderate PMS. She has current hormone problems in that she has hot flashes still and every night she goes to bed cold and wakes up about 3-4am sweating and very hot. She has been to numerous physicians. Her primary care physician tells her her problem is in her head and offers nothing to help. In taking her history, I also discovered that her body temperature is always very low in fact her body temp runs around 97.5 and I suspect Wilson's Temperature syndrome as well. I understand in the endocrinology community especially in the Eastern US that Wilson Temperature Syndrome is an unthinkable and unfounded diagnosis. But I think she has it anyway. By the way, this lady ate NO fish EVER and did not drink water. Instead she drank Mountain Due and Coffee all day long. Test: Her Sed Rate was 28/20. Her EBV IgM, IgG and nuclear antibody were all positive and very high. X-Rays demonstrated a mild to moderate scolosis with a loss of cervical curve and degenerative disc disease, spondylosis and moderate loss of disc space through out the spine. Her Complete Blood Count with Differential demonstrated a mildly elevated white count with elevated eosinophils and basophils both possibly elevated to allergic reactions and possible parasites in the case of eosinophils. Discussion: I have seen many patients in the past with this same sequella of symptoms and problems. The first things we need to do is get them sleeping, get them off Mountain Due and Sugar and ON Water and Fish oil. I have consulted infectious disease just to be on the safe side. I think she may have food allergies as well as a permeable/leaky gut and disbiosis. I think she may have bulging disc and other musculoskeletal problems as well. I also took her off ALL Sugar. NO foods that contain any sugar and started her on probiotics. I want her to start stretching daily for the FMS. This is one of those onion cases. These people have many layers of problems and we'll take them one at a time. I will update you on her progress. PS... She will get worse before she gets better. But I think with God's help we can walk her out of the woods. Dr Greg Millar



Copyright 2009 Millar Chiropractic Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this website including all links to other pages or websites herein including but not limited to text, graphics, images, comments, statements, or information from doctors, host or guest, and other material contained therein (Content) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not use this Content for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Content you have seen, read or heard.