Migraines

Cluster headaches (also used in singular: headache), also nicknamed suicide headaches, occur several times a day, they come on unexpectedly, do not last long, and are generally very painful. The pain is usually intense, and sometimes only on one side of the head. Frequently, the sufferer also feels pain around the eye. A cluster-headache sufferer can wake up during the night because of the pain. Often, this occurs at the same time each night.

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Angst could be more than a rite of passage for insecure teenagers, according to a study published in The Journal of Pain. Researchers from the Université de Montréal, the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center and McGill University have discovered that insecure adolescents experience more intense pain in the form of frequent headaches, abdominal pain and joint pain. These teens are also more likely to be depressed than peers with secure attachments. Dr.

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Pooling results from 21 studies, involving 622,381 men and women, researchers at Johns Hopkins have affirmed that migraine headaches are associated with more than twofold higher chances of the most common kind of stroke: those occurring when blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off by the buildup of plaque or a blood clot. The risk for those with migraines is 2.3 times those without, according to calculations from the Johns Hopkins team, to be presented Nov.

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Being an informed patient is an empowering concept.1 In the modern healthcare marketplace, the doctor-patient relationship has become a two-way street. It is no longer a situation in which the doctor tells the patient what to do. Today, patients can be full partners in managing their care and well-being.2

What does it take to be an informed patient? An informed patient is one who can participate in a meaningful way and not be merely the passive recipient of the doctor’s instructions and recommendations.

The first key is to identify a doctor - a chiropractor or family physician, depending on the circumstances - in whom you have confidence. Here are a few essential points to consider:

The doctor has spent time with you on the first visit. The doctor has focused on you, and has not been distracted by all the other things happening in the office. The doctor has satisfactorily answered all your questions. The doctor’s recommendations are clear, and you understand what the next steps are going to be.

The questions you ask are not just to keep talking and capture more of the doctor’s time spent with you. An informed patient does some preparation before the actual office visit. The Internet offers a lot of valuable information on both chiropractic and medical treatment. And, it’s important to remember that not all information is accurate and authoritative - consider the source of the “information”.

You should consider the author’s background and affiliations. Consider the potential for bias. Is the site itself up-to-date - for example, are there “dead links” on the site.

Do your best to evaluate your doctor’s recommendations. First, what are the expected results? How quickly should you begin to feel better? Are there potential side-effects of the recommended treatment? What are the alternatives?

Alternatives may include other forms of therapy within the doctor’s office. It may also include consultation with another specialist. The main point is not to be left with a confusing array of choices, but to have enough information to go forward with a treatment plan that makes the most sense, both to your doctor and to you.

If a prescription is involved, make sure you write down the exact spelling of the medication and the exact dosage and frequency. Prescriptions are usually scribbled, and both doctors and pharmacists can make a mistake. Don’t let your doctor simply hand you an illegible piece of paper. Insist on ensuring that you understand what is being prescribed, and be sure to ask your doctor about potential side effects, risks, and interactions with any other medicines you may be taking.

As in all your relationships, the doctor-patient relationship is based on clear communication and mutual trust and understanding. You can help your doctor help you by being informed and participating in the decision-making process.

1Informed Consent. “Ethics in Medicine”. University of Washington School of Medicine. http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/consent.html#ques1 2″Be an active healthcare consumer”. Agency for Healthcard Research and Quality. http://www.ahrq.gov/path/beactive.htm

For additional information on wellness feel free to contactDr. Jason Fowler www.lakestlouisdc.com

It is the rare child who actually wants to eat fruits and vegetables. Kids are bombarded by television and radio ads for cereals, candy, and chips that contain huge amounts of sugar and large quantities of saturated fat. The sugar craving begins in childhood - kids quickly develop a taste for sweets. To a child’s sugar-sensitized palette, the complex sugars contained in fruits and vegetables are a poor substitute.

We carry these habits into adulthood and our long-term health suffers as a result. Twenty-four hours is not enough time in the day for most of us, and many consistently choose fast foods as a means of satisfying our need for food and a method for limiting the amount of precious time we spend on meal preparation.

But fast foods are not really food in the sense that the nutrition they provide is minimal. Fast foods are essentially empty calories.

In the 1950s and 1960s a well-known health-related slogan was “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. This advice represented ancient folk wisdom. Today, decades of research has shown that apples - and all fruits and vegetables - have remarkable health-promoting and disease-fighting properties.

Most fruits and vegetables are packed with magical biochemicals called phytochemicals - “phyto” means plant. Phytochemicals give fruits and vegetables their color, so the more colorful a food, the more phytochemicals it contains.

Ongoing research studies show that phytochemicals, of which there are thousands of varieties, provide protection against the development of many chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and arthritis.1,2

Many phytochemicals are antioxidants and neutralize free radicals in human cells. Others have anti-inflammatory properties, and these help slow the aging process.

Fruits and vegetables are so important for our health and well-being that many national organizations have promoted the “five to stay alive rule” - the recommendation is to eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables each day.3

Portions could include any of these - an apple, an orange, a banana, a cup of grapes, a cup of blueberries, a yam, a couple of carrots, a couple of tomatoes, and a couple of tablespoons of broccoli.

For many of us, “five to stay alive” would be a radical departure from our old habits. It might take a little effort to develop new shopping and eating habits, but once you are in the groove it’s likely you’ll be feeling so much better you’ll wonder why you didn’t start this healthy-eating plan sooner.

Your chiropractor is an expert on nutritional health and will be glad to help you create a food plan that works for you and your family.

1de Kok TM, et al: Mechanisms of combined action of different chemopreventive dietary compounds: a review. Eur J Nutr 47(Suppl 2):59-59, 2008 2Ware WR: Nutrition and the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer: Association of Cytochrome P450 CYP1B1 With the Role of Fruit and Fruit Extracts. Integr Cancer Ther December 2008 3Liu RH: Potential synergy of phytochemicals in cancer prevention: mechanism of action. J Nutr 134(Suppl 12):3479S-3485S, 2004

For additional information on nutrition feel free tocontact Dr. Jason Fowler at www.lakestlouisdc.com

There can be few people who drink alcohol that have never experienced a hangover. The familiar pounding head and the nausea that can accompany hangovers can be bad enough to make you declare that you will never drink alcohol again!! How do I get rid of a hangover is a familiar cry!

That one last drink before I go home, that seemed a better option than going home to bed, you will rue the following day!! When your stomachs turning over at the thought of food and even your eyeballs seem painful. It’s time to put the sunglasses on, even if it’s dark outside and mid-winter. And find the ice pack to quell the pain.

Drinking plenty of water before you go to bed will go a long way to limiting how bad you feel in the morning. Even better to try to drink the same amount of water when you are out as you do alcohol.

Making sure you eat a meal rather than having a snack will help to line the stomach and lessen the effects of over consumption. A meal that contains a lot of carbohydrates is one of the best things to have.

Whilst the idea of eating anything, let alone a greasy breakfast is enough to make you sick, it is the best thing for you. Bacon in particular is very good at easing the hangover as it is so salty it will balance your salt levels.

If you cannot face eating a fry up, then eating little and often to help settle the stomach. Drinking energy drinks that contains good balances of salts and energy giving fluids will aid the hangover quickly.

Ensure that you continue to drink water or juice as the day progresses to make sure you do not dehydrate further. Having diarrhea or vomiting after drinking will contribute to the dehydration that your body experiences and it is this that gives the hungover effect.

Do not take painkillers immediately on getting home after a night out, instead sleep it off and take them first thing in the morning. It is never wise to mix alcohol with medicine.

Find more help to get rid of a hangover with this simple, effective hypnosis hangover remedy.

Like Scylla and Charybdis, the twin sea monsters of Greek mythology, diabetes and obesity are the twin medical monsters confronting America’s children. Diabetes and obesity have even been featured as the story line in a recent episode of Law … Order, a show well-known for focusing on issues that matter.

What’s going on? Diabetes and obesity are twin raging epidemics endangering the health and welfare of our nation’s young people. In New York City, by the age of 4, there is a one in three chance that the child will be obese. More than 40% of children are at an unhealthy weight at ages 2 and 3.1 National statistics are similar.

Type II diabetes, long known as “adult-onset diabetes”, is now being recognized as a significant juvenile disorder. Up to 45% of the children diagnosed with diabetes have the type II form.2 And the numbers keep increasing.

Type II diabetes and obesity are closely related - being overweight is one of the two major risk factors for developing type II diabetes. The other major risk factor, not surprisingly, is lack of exercise - not being physically active.

Why be concerned? Both diabetes and obesity contribute to additional severe health issues. Obesity is the leading cause of pediatric high blood pressure and increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Uncontrolled diabetes, over time, can lead to heart disease, kidney disease, neurologic disorders, and blindness.

We are very concerned for our children’s well-being. The good news - and it is very good news - is both conditions are lifestyle-related. Bad diet and lack of exercise cause both conditions. This is well-known. It is also well-known that maintaining a healthy diet and getting regular exercise prevents obesity and prevents or delays type II diabetes.3,4

As parents, it is up to us to set the standards. If we’re eating healthy, balanced meals, our kids will do the same. If we exercise regularly and keep ourselves fit and trim, our kids will exercise regularly, too.

1″Child obesity picture grim among New York City poor”, The New York Times, April 6, 2006.

2Fagot-Campagna A: Emergence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in children: Epidemiological evidence. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism 13(Suppl 6): S1395-S1402, 2000.

3Hamman RF, et al: Effect of weight loss with lifestyle intervention on risk of diabetes. Diabetes Care 29:2102-2107, 2006.

4Knowler WC, et al: Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. New England Journal of Medicine 346(6):393-403, 2002.

For additional information on health please contact Dr. Jason Fowler Dr. Jason Fowler

Inflammatory response of brain cells - as indicated by a molecular imaging technique - could tell researchers more about why certain neurologic disorders, such as migraine headaches and psychosis in schizophrenic patients, occur and provide insight into how to best treat them, according to two studies published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

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Stress, sleep deprivation and fatigue have been no small component of Dr. Michael Benson’s life. As a fetal surgeon, Dr. Benson is often up for 24- to 36-hour stretches at a time looking after patients. He has little time to rest or eat regular, healthy meals. It’s no wonder he has suffered from migraines for years.

Benson is not alone. It’s estimated that 28 million Americans suffer from migraines. As anyone who experiences these intense headaches can tell you, they can be extremely debilitating. Acute pain, possible visual disturbances and nausea, as well as sensitivity to light, sounds and odors can render a person incapable of going about everyday responsibilities, much less performing complicated tasks like surgery.

In order to cope, Dr. Benson has used Ibuprofen and heat to manage the pain, but sometimes it doesn’t work. “I used to keep a preloaded syringe of Toradol [a strong, anti-inflammatory pain reliever] in my medicine chest,” he admits, “because once my headaches get really bad, I get nauseated and can’t take anything by mouth. It saved having to go to the ER.”

Having trained as an M.D., Benson confessed that chiropractic treatment wasn’t in his knowledgebase or on his immediate list of pain-relieving measures. In fact, if he had not been visiting his brother, a doctor of chiropractic, when a bad migraine hit, he may never have received chiropractic care. “The Ibuprofen didn’t work, so my brother offered to examine me and adjust my neck,” he says. “When you’re in pain, you’re willing to try anything.” Within 10 to 15 minutes of the adjustment, his migraine had disappeared.

It’s likely that Benson’s body reacts to stress by tensing muscles around the cervical joints in the neck, causing nerves in his neck to become impinged and triggering his migraines. Chiropractic adjustment alleviates this pain by relaxing muscles and promoting a full range of motion in the neck, allowing the headache to subside. And Benson’s positive experience isn’t uncommon. Recent studies at Duke University found that spinal manipulation was almost always immediately effective in relieving headaches originating in the neck and provided longer-lasting relief than commonly prescribed pain medications.

Benson’s migraines probably won’t go away completely without substantial lifestyle changes- changes that could be tough to implement with his profession. Once migraines are an established pattern, they are very difficult to get rid of, explains his brother. But he can work to minimize them with chiropractic care- a solution that doesn’t carry the potential side-effects of over-the-counter and prescription pain medication. Whenever a potentially incapacitating migraine hits and Benson gets an adjustment from his brother, “It always works,” he says.

For more information on health and wellness please contact Dr. Jason Fowler www.lakestlouisdc.com

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