Compass Chiropractic

Romaine lettuce that was sold in 23 states  may be contaminated with dangerous E. coli O145 bacteria and has been recalled.

Authorities have reported 19 cases of E. coli O145  in Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Twelve people have been hospitalized, including three with life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by the bacterium.

Several lines of evidence — including detection of bacteria in an unopened package of Freshway Foods shredded Romaine lettuce — point to Freshway Foods wholesale Romaine lettuce products.

Freshway Foods has recalled all products containing Romaine lettuce with a use-by date of May 12 or earlier. These products were sold wholesale to restaurants and supermarkets under the Freshway or Imperial Sysco brands.

The recall does not include bagged or prepackaged Romaine or lettuce mixes containing Romaine. However, the lettuce may be found in supermarket salad bars and delis.

Freshway Foods is advising consumers not to eat “grab and go” salads sold in store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores.

Symptoms of infection with harmful E. coli may range from none to mild diarrhea to severe complications. The acute symptoms include severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea, which may be bloody. Patients may progress to serious complications, such as kidney damage. The FDA and the CDC encourage anyone with these symptoms to contact his or her health care provider immediately.

The states in which the lettuce was sold are Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin

Not getting enough vitamin D  may make asthma worse, according to a new study.

Researchers found that low vitamin D levels were associated with worse lung function compared to higher vitamin D levels in people with asthma.

In addition, the study showed that people with low vitamin D levels didn’t respond as well to asthma treatment  compared to people with higher vitamin D levels.

“Our findings suggest that vitamin D levels influence a number of important features of asthma, including lung function, bronchospasm, and therapeutic response to steroids,” researcher E. Rand Sutherland, MD, MPH, chief of the pulmonary division at National Jewish Health in Denver, says in a news release. “The next question to answer is whether giving supplemental vitamin D will lead to clinical improvements in patients with asthma.”

Vitamin D is most commonly produced by the skin  in response to exposure to sunlight and is also found in some foods.

To read the rest of the article on WebMD click here

It would be wonderful if all our food could be pesticide-free, but organic food isn’t cheap and we have to be selective with our grocery selections.  In this blog post we will look at the foods that contain the most and least pesticides as they reach your neighborhood grocery store.  The D.C. based non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) ranked 43 of the most commonly consumed fruits and vegetables  from highest to lowest levels of pesticides.  Below is a list of the 12 fruits and veggies  that contain the highest level of pesticides (The Dirty Dozen) and the 12 cleanest (The Consistently Clean).

I’m a big fan of an Indianapolis based organic delivery company that brings fresh produce to your house every two weeks.  You can find out more about this local company by clicking here.

The Dirty Dozen (from lowest to highest)
1. Potatoes
2. Lettuce
3. Spinach
4. Grapes
5. Pears
6. Cherries
7. Strawberries
8. Nectarines
9. Celery
10. Sweet Bell Peppers
11. Apples
12. Peaches

The Consistently Clean (from lowest to highest)

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet corn
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet peas
8. Kiwi
9. Bananas
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12 Papaya

Natural Calm is a isotonic form of Magnesium that is absorbed into the body at a higher rate than tablets.  The body needs a balance between Magnesium and Calcium in order to function properly.  Magnesium’s role is to relax muscles, while Calcium’s role is to contract muscles.  Due to the foods we eat, the majority of us have more Calcium in our system than we do Magnesium which leads to tightening of muscles.

See how important Dr. Hyman MD thinks Magnesium is at huffingtonpost.com

Magnesium is found in a number of food sources, but many of these foods are not in the typical American diet.  To see a list of foods that are high in Magnesium visit this page from the National Institutes of Health.

Magnesium is responsible for muscle relaxation, while calcium is responsible for muscle contraction.  If we become out of balance with a ratio of higher calcium to magnesium, our muscles have a hard time relaxing.  This is common in our diets because calcium is more common in the American diet, not to mention that a number of people take calcium supplements.

I have been using natural calm in my practice for a number of years and found that it has helped my patients with a variety of different conditions including insomnia, anxiety, constipation, migraines and muscles pains.

We carry Natural Calm in the office or you can order it online.  To find out more about Natural Calm you can visit their website.

If you have any questions about the usefulness of this product please contact me on our contact page.

I feel like I have been living under a rock lately.  Some how I have missed all the hype about ASU, which is a supplement used for osteoarthritis (OA).  ASU is an extract from the oils of avocado and soy, which has been shown in studies to decrease pain and regenerate cartilage in patients who have OA.

The studies seem to be substantial and published in respected peer reviewed journals.  Here is a link to a very informative article on ASU with the studies sited.  Also, here is an NIH study from PubMed that demonstrated the efficacy of ASU.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and can cause neck pain, back pain and joint pain.  For more information about how we treat these areas visit our neck pain page and our back pain page.

If anyone has had experience with this product I would be interested in hearing about your experience.

A new study out of Switzerland shows that Pycnogenol (pic-noj-en-all), an extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, reduces ADHD in children.  These findings will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Nutritional Neuroscience.

In this study stress hormones where monitored in the urine of children who took the Pycnogenol and those who were given a placebo for a one month period.  It is believed that these stress hormones cause children to experience excitement, arousal and irritability.  This is the first time that a natural substance has shown to decrease these hormones.

The only isotonic form of Pycnogenol is found in Nutrametrix OPC-3 and can be purchased online by clicking here.

Read more about the study Incredible News_Pycnogenol ADHD.

For more information about Pycnogenol click Medline or Drugs.com.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filled a lawsuit agianst Denny’s restaurant chain for the sodium content in their food.  CSPI had been in negotiations with Denny’s since the end of last year regarding this salt issue.  CSPI is pushing Denny’s to list the sodium content on their menus and label certain foods as “high risk” if they contain a large amount of sodium.  Denny’s claims that there nutritional information is listed on their website and therefore there is no reason to list it on the menus.

For the original article, click here.

I am a big fan of CSPI and their work.  They publish one of the best nutrition newsletters available, Nutrition Action.  They are tirelessly working to better the food supply.  To find out more about the CSPI, click here.

A recent study suggests that there is a link between occupational exposure to pesticides and Alzhiemer’s disease.

At first glance we might think, “I don’t work in the fields, therefore this study does not pertain to me.”  It is true that the people in this study were subjected to more pesticides than the average person, but that is not to say that even small levels of pesticides don’t impact our health.

Pesticide use has dramatically increased over the past 50 years, she says. There are now more than 18,000 pesticides licensed in the U.S., and more than 2 billion pounds are applied each year, says Kathleen M. Hayden, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

People suffering from Alzhiemer’s has also increased over the years with no known direct cause.  Currenly 5.3 million people are suffering from Alzhiemer’s and not all of them worked with pesticides in their past.

There appears to be a number of factors that play into the prevalence of Alzhiemer’s, but this study shows us one factor that we can have direct control over by choosing foods that are organic.

Some foods hold on to pesticides more than others, here is a link with the list of foods that are more pesticide laden and others that have less; Pesticides in food

Alzheimer’s is a disease of the old, but the choiced that we make now affect our health in the future.  Choose your food wisely especially if you have a growing child in your household.

For a more about this study on WebMD click here.

I put together the following video to explain Sciatica, which is often times misdiagnosed.