Leading Cause of Death in the USA and a SOLUTION

Today a patient asked me, “So Doc…what’s the biggest health killer in the US now?”

The CDC STATS:

1. Heart disease: 599,413
2. Cancer: 567,628
3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 137,353
4. Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,842

 According to Dr. Ray Strand, “The medical literature has shown us that over 100,000 deaths annually are due to properly prescribed and properly administered prescription drugs. When you combine these numbers with the 80,000 deaths due to improperly prescribed or administered medicines, you have a total of 180,000 deaths each and every year due to adverse drug reactions.”

It is therefore easily seen that PRESCRIBED/IMPROPERLY PRESCRIBED DRUGS is the third cause of death in the US, totaling 180,000 people.

The end of the answer - the beginning of the solution:

In his article, Frank M. Painter, D.C. states:  “Careful analysis will demonstrate that the leading killers are all lifestyle–related, and are preventable. Chronic diseases comprise the three leading causes of death in the United States –– heart disease, cancer, and cerebrovascular disease –– and they account for nearly two thirds of all deaths. Multiple behavioral risk factors such as smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise often become habitual during youth or early adulthood, and contribute to the development of these chronic diseases over long periods of time.”

In an article written by WebMD, titled, "Are Americans Exercising Less?" they state: 

"The Percentage of Americans Getting Regular Exercise Declines, Survey Finds."

"In addition to the 49.6% of Americans who reported that they exercised for at least 30 minutes three days per week, 18.5% said they exercised one or two days per week, and 31.3% reported they did not exercise on any day in the given week."  "The percentage of Americans saying they exercised for at least 30 minutes at least one day per week decreased from an average of 69.1% in 2008 to 68.1% in 2009."

 

Another survey shows exercise is even LESS according to STATISTIC BRAIN.  However, most recently, exercise in the American population shows an increase in 2010 according to GallupWellbeing, which I am encouraged by.

As a chiropractor, however, I tell my patients, that the most unspoken, PREVENTABLE option of daily lifestyle left out is “Postural Improvement”. 
Kenneth O. Logan B.S.,D.C.

Yes, in the past 34 years of practice, posture is behind most every pain and problem that comes through my door. I believe it is because of the increases in computer usage, improper ergonomics of the workstations at work and at home, long texting on the cellular phone (particularly in the developmental stages of the children from 15-25 years of age), computer gaming, lack of exercise and stretching in reverse extension on a balance ball.  Of course, the chiropractic treatment of just PAIN instead of the "Peak Performance" or "Spinal Hygiene". 

The lack of regular chiropractic care is a BIG FACTOR, because we only care for about ten percent of the population.

Let us get down to the "Nitty-Gritty", of this claim.

The most common postural problem is the forward translation of the head.  This results in an increase of the normal kyphosis in the thoracic spine. As illustrated below, it is easily seen that this increase decreases the lung capacity and strains the respiratory system to do proper function leading to chronic inflammatory problems within the lung tissues. 

 This is a lateral x-ray view of the cervical (neck) spine, notice that the chin is lower because the muscles of the neck can't support the head which can cause headaches from the back of the head to the front of the head.

According to Kapandji (Physiology of the Joints, Volume III), for every inch your head moves forwards, it gains 10 pounds in weight, as far as the muscles in your upper back and neck are concerned, because they have to work that much harder to keep the head (chin) from dropping onto your chest.   This also forces the suboccipital muscles (they raise the chin) to remain in constant contraction, putting pressure on the 3 Suboccipital nerves.   This nerve compression may cause headaches at the base of the skull. Pressure on the suboccipital nerves can also mimic sinus (frontal) headaches. 

 

Thanks to AZFamily.com and Erik Dalton, Ph.D. for the use of these pictures!

 

To make matters worse, the lung cavity is pressing around the heart... causing more pressure and strain to the cardiac muscle.  This leads to increased blood pressure to accommodate for the reduced tidal air volume in the lungs and blood oxygen levels needed to support normal muscle activity.

A chest X-ray is a picture of your heart, lungs, and chest bones that's made by using a very small amount radiation. Chest X-rays can be used to look for heart and lung abnormalities. In this image, the bulge seen on the right side is an enlarged left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber.

Rene Cailliet M.D., famous medical author and former director of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Southern California states:

“Head in forward posture can add up to thirty pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment. Forward head posture (FHP) may result in the loss of 30% of vital lung capacity. These breath-related effects are primarily due to the loss of the cervical lordosis, which blocks the action of the hyoid muscles, especially the inferior hyoid responsible for helping lift the first rib during inhalation.”

Frank M. Painter, D.C.  further states:  "Persistent forward head posture (a.k.a “hyperkyphotic posture”) puts compressive loads upon the upper thoracic vertebra, and is also associated with the development of Upper Thoracic Hump, which can devolve into Dowager Hump when the vertebra develop compression fractures (anterior wedging).   A recent study found this hyperkyphotic posture was associated with a 1.44 greater rate of mortality"

This is how they teach this Swiss Ball Back Extension Exercise:

This exercise is for strengthening the back.

HOWEVER…THIS IS NOT WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT.

We don't want to strengthen the forward translation now, do we?

That would be the third stage of correction. 

Second stage of correction is the production of new tissues to remodel the kyphotic spine. 

What is needed is spinal "Remodeling" or reversing the forward translation of the head and resulting abnormally increased kyphosis of the middle back.
 
 I teach my patients how to sit on the ball and roll down in the horizontal position, so the ball is in the center of the back and stretching backwards with the arms stretched straight out from the shoulders. If this is not possible to do, then placing the ball in the corner of a room and extending backwards over the ball backwards reaching towards the wall with the legs spread shoulder width apart, is a good starter point.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHIROPRACTIC CARE during this remodeling procedure: 

By the time this is measurable, there is usually pain, stiffness and other associated problems that the patient presents themselves with when they come in for evaluation.  I CONTINUALLY state to my patients that chiropractors don't put vertebrae in "Place", they gently RELEASE  them to "Motion". This is called, "finding the subluxation in the spine and correcting it". A subluxation is where the vertebra is out of alignment with the segment above it, below it or BOTH causing pressure to the nerve root, spinal cord and surrounding supportive muscles and ligaments. This process usually causes damage to tissues, compression and contraction to these muscles and ligaments reducing the motion necessary for the spine to move normally.

While you can do the above stretches to try to not get worse, without movement and balance in the spine, extremities and associated structures you will only get so far before a plateau is reached. Or worse, AGGRAVATE THE THORACIC KYPHOSIS AND NECK MUSCLES.

Correction of balance and motion usually takes 6-8 weeks of chiropractic adjustments for new tissue production, and 4-6 months for strengthening to occur. 

So, how long have YOU been suffering with or diagnosed with these problems...years, maybe decades? If there was an AFFORDABLE and EFFECTIVE WAY to change your condition in 6 months to a year, would you be willing to try?  The answer lies within you.  My patients are glad they came in to me for a solution to their problem, not just the management of the pain associated WITH the problem.  Check out our Facebook page where patients are commenting on how happy and satisfied they are with the care we provide.  LOGAN CHIROPRACTIC LIFE CENTER OF MARIETTA, GA USA

Yours in Life and Health,

drken