Dr. Rathburn's Blog

Simple care for osteoporosis

This is one of the easiest diseases to prevent!  Follow these steps to make sure you never have to deal with this nasty, ugly, potentially disabling condition.

1.  Exercise in a weight bearing position.  Astronauts get osteoporosis because there is no weight on their skeletons in space.  Walking, jogging, ballroom dancing, and gymnastics are all great to prevent osteoporosis.  Swimming, while being a great cardiovascular exercise, does not prevent osteoporosis because it's not done in a weight bearing (gravitational) environment.  Get active on your feet!

2.  Drink a glass of milk once per day.  Don't like milk?  Try cheese, yogurt, or ice cream.  These foods are full of calcium.

3.  Eat a leafy green vegetable once per day like a salad.  Lettuce, spinach, kale, and cabbage all contain significant amounts of calcium.  Yes, you can cook them and still get plenty of nutritional value out of it.  It's a myth that cooking destroys all of the nutrition.  There's still plenty of calcium in leafy green vegetables that have been cooked. 

4.  I hate to sound like a TV commercial, but drink a glass of orange juice once per day.  Its got a bunch of calcium in it (and a lot of other stuff that's good for you).  Orange juice is too acidic for your tummy?  Just eat an orange instead.  Grapefruit is good also.

5.  Get out in the sun.  Vitamin D is made by the skin when sunlight hits it.  Just don't overdo the sun exposure!

6.  Take a calcium supplement once per day.  Better yet, take a multivitamin daily.  We have these supplements available here at the clinic.     

7.  Don't expect to get calcium from different antacid medications sold over the counter.  Absorption of calcium only happens in an acidic environment (which antacids help to prevent).  Watch the TV commercials carefully!  The ads only say that there is calcium in the antacids, not that you can actually absorb or utilize the calcium once it's in your stomach along with the medication!

8. Smoking will chase the calcium right out of your bones!  Stop that habit!  NOW!  Besides smoking is nasty and makes you stink!

Don't think you have to complete ALL of the above to prevent osteoporosis.  Simply incorporate into your daily routine several points that are fairly convenient.  Osteoporosis is easy to prevent, but can be very, very difficult to treat once it's present.  And whatever you do, don't skip exercising.  That's just being lazy!

NSAIDs, or non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, are medications commonly used to treat headaches, arthritis, sports injuries, and sometimes allergies.  They are also used to avoid and inhibit blood clots and prevent strokes and heart attacks in patients at high risk.  NSAIDs are products containing ibuprofen, naproxen, and ketoprofen (otherwise known as Advil, Motrin, Aleve, and Orudis) aspirin (Bayer and Excedrin), common cold and flu medications (Advil Cold and Sinus, Dimetapp Sinus, Motrin IB Sinus and Aleve Cold and Sinus).  There are also some newer NSAIDs such as meloxicam (Mobic) and COX-2 inhibitors, such as celecoxib (Celebrex), and valdecoxib (Bextra) and rofecoxib (Vioxx).  Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is not an NSAID. 

While NSAIDs reduce pain and swelling, they do not promote soft-tissue healing and may even inhibit bone healing or worsen degenerative joint changes.  They can also cause problems.  One of the most common side effects is stomach and intestinal bleeding and/or ulcers.  At the same time, NSAIDs prevent the body's ability to stop bleeding.  Everyone who takes NSAIDs can be at some risk for developing a stomach problem.  Several factors can increase the risk of developing serious side-effects from the use of NSAIDs: a history of ulcers, regular alcohol consumption, taking several different medications that contain NSAIDs or the prolonged use of NSAIDs, and use by patients over the age of 60.  See your MD if, while taking NSAIDS, you have stomach pain, dark black, tarry, or bloody stools, or vomiting blood or material that looks like coffee grounds.

There are other safer alternatives to taking these drugs.  Insufficient sleep, mental stressors, and too much or too little exercise can increase inflammation.  To reduce inflammation in your body and decrease your risk of chronic diseases consider maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  (Shameless advertising plug is next!)  Consider chiropractic care instead of the more risky NSAIDs!  Chiropractors are trained to relieve pain and improve joint function through natural therapies, such as chiropractic manipulation and massage techniques.  Applying heat or cold to the affected area may also be very effective.  Chiropractors are also trained to help you plan an individualized exercise program and give you nutritional advice to avoid inflammation.

A typical American diet contains a large amount of omega-6 fatty acids and too few omega-3 fatty acids which increases inflammatory responses with the body.  More omega-3 fatty acids may be found in leafy vegetables, flaxseed oil, canola oil, oily fish, seafood, seaweed and fish oils.  Reducing inflammatory components in your diet by increasing your intake of low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods, such as lean meat, fish, skinless chicken, vegetables, fruit, and nuts.  Some supplements, such as a multivitamin, magnesium, fish oil, vitamin D and probiotics, can also be beneficial.  If you are taking Warfarin or other blood thinners, talk to your MD/pharmacist (not your chiropractor!) before introducing or increasing consumption of your supplements.       

Anyone want to learn how to get rid of unsightly fat and build more lean muscle?  There is a way to do this without compromising your diet very much.  Ladies, firm up that figure!  Men, build up those shoulders.  Get rid of some fat tissue.  All it takes is work. . .pay attention now!

1. Hit the weight room.  Plan four muscle groups to work.  Do not work the same muscle group continuously.  Give each muscle exercised at least 3-4 days to recover.

2. Perform three sets of 10-15 repetitions before muscle failure (that's when you can't do another repetition).  So in the first set of repetitions, let's say you lift enough weight to do all 15 repetitions.  The second set you can only complete 12 repetitions and the third set you can do 10 repetitions.  Well done!  That's probably the right amount of weight to be lifting.  Perform that series of sets for each muscle group.  When you can comfortably finish all 15 repetitions for all three sets, load some more weight on!

3.  Eat protein at each meal (don't forget to eat breakfast!).  High quality protein comes from fish and seafood, poultry, and beef.  Lower quality protein comes from eggs, beans, nuts, and milk.  The sooner you eat after your workout, the better.  Maximum time after a workout to eat should not exceed one hour. 

4. Divide your body into three areas: upper body, lower body, and core (trunk).  At each workout, pick one area to exercise OR one or two muscles from each of the three areas to exercise.  DO NOT continuously work out the same areas or the same muscles.  Alternate the areas or the muscles.

5.  Diversify the way you workout each muscle.  For example, if you did crunches to workout the abdominal muscles on Monday then on Wednesday or Thursday lie on your back and do some leg lifts.  Do not repeat the same exercises to work out the same muscle!

6.  To put lean muscle building on the fast track try this: after your three sets of 10-15 repetitions to muscular failure, drop the weight down and do a fourth set of 10-15 repetitions (not for the faint of heart - this last set is TOUGH!)

7.  Train 2 to 5 times per week for 45 minutes to an hour each time, depending on how fast you want results.  Make sure you give your body time to recuperate, rest, and rebuild.  During recuperation, resting, and rebuilding, EAT!  Do not allow yourself to starve.  Do not skip meals.  Avoid processed sugary foods and alcohol (avoidance does not mean that you can never consume these, just minimize your consumption). 

8.  Use your mind!  It will always be the biggest muscle to train!  You can gain 10 pounds of attractive muscle weight while you lose fat tissue.  That dumbell weight you see in the gym should not defeat you!  Go after that thing and show him who is boss.  (Big time disclaimer here - make sure you get some professional supervision the first time or two you go into a gym.  Proper lifting technique and good form should NEVER, EVER be ignored when lifting weight!  Improper use of weights can cause ugly injuries!)

Want more information?  Come to Diet and Exercise Class at the Rathburn Chiropractic Clinic on Tuesdays at 6 pm.  You'll learn a whole bunch more by attending.  You must call the office and tell us you will attend. 

601 924 4647