What do All Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Have in Common?

What do All Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Have in Common?  And What in the world is this diagram trying to explain?

According to a recently published research paper, from the British Medical Journal in 2011, new data show that all major, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have cardiovascular risks.  Investigators evaluating available evidence report they have found little to suggest that any of the investigated options are safe.

PGAP™

An illustration from philosopher and scientist, Rene Descartes.  The fire displaces the skin, which pulls a tiny thread, which opens a pore in the ventricle (F) allowing the "animal spirit" to flow through a hollow tube, which inflates the muscle of the leg, causing the foot to withdraw.

I do want to return to the topic of inflammation and what I previously referred to as the Other Oil Industry but I just returned from an extraordinary workshop that is worth talking about. 

I just returned from Santa Clara, California, in Silicon Valley, having attended a training program called PGAP™ (Progressive Goal Attainment Program).  PGAP™ is a treatment program for reducing disability due to chronic pain, depression, cancer and other chronic health conditions.  There are very few providers of this service in the United States who currently offer this program.  As for California, until yesterday, there were only a few providers in northern California.  At the conclusion of the training, I join a growing number to offer it in southern California.  I will be working in conjunction with an organization called LifeTEAM, starting in July to offer PGAP™.   

The Worst Diet! It is What I Eat!

 I originally planned to continue a thread on Inflammation and Dietary Fats but recent news caused me to veer off course.  It turns out that US News and World Report has categorized the best to worst 20 diets.  The diet I recommend as the best for managing chronic inflammation and pain, the Paleo Diet, is ranked a lowly 20^th.  I would be embarrassed were it not for the near complete lack of scientific rigor in the article and my disdain for thoughtless conventional wisdom.

Fortunately, Loren Cordain, Ph.D., one of the foremost authorities on the Paleo Diet, has quickly rebutted the journalistic- nonsense with his usual scientific and evidence-based logic.

First read the US News listing of 20 diets.  Next see their criticism of the Paleo Diet.  Finally, take a look at Dr. Cordain’s well researched debunking of the US News analysis and their near total ignorance on the science of nutrition.

Inflammation & the Other Oil Industry

In about 1980, while I was still a student in chiropractic college, I read an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition about a particular type of dietary fat known as partially hydrogenated oil or trans fat.  I found the article quite troubling.  These trans fats were made by taking ordinary grain, seed and bean oils (such as corn, sunflower, soybean, safflower, peanut oils) and chemically altering them in a way that was mainly intended to extend shelf life.  Another perceived benefit of these fats was that they gave baked goods a texture and consistency similar to animal-based fats such as butter and lard.  The trans fats were considered to be a healthier alternative to the saturated animal fat as well as coconut oil, which is also a saturated fat.  For a quick explanation of how oils are partially hydrogenated, read this.

I do not believe there was any evil intent to create an especially unhealthy product when partially hydrogenated oils were invented.  I don’t believe their increased use was intended to cause harm.  However the research article I first read, which is now over 30 years-old, and almost three decades of more of research have proven these to be uniquely unhealthy.  Predictably, commercial food manufacturers and restaurants tried to ignore the damaging effects of these fats and tried to keep the public in the dark.  The edible oil industry (the other oil industry) apparently did not want to lose market share, even with public health at risk.

Inflammation: Friend and Foe

Although I had worked with patients for many years who suffered with pain and inflammation, it was not a text book or journal article that made me think of the problem in a big picture.  It was Time Magazine.  After reading the February 15, 2004 issue of Time, shortly after it appeared on the newsstand, I was taken aback by the many diseases and problems with the common thread of inflammation.  It was obvious to me that we don’t suffer from a deficiency of anti-inflammatory drugs.  But what was the problem?  After I spent considerable time looking into the issue, it became clear that unwanted inflammation is an expected byproduct of having demanding our body’s to perform in a manner biochemically out of step with with our genetic design.  From poor food choices to excess stress, poor sleep and repetitive micro-trauma, many people have shifted into what is now called a pro-inflammatory state.

Inflammation, which should be a beneficial healing process, is making you hurt needlessly and maybe killing you.

CHANGE YOUR BACK, CHANGE YOUR BRAIN?

You may have heard of or read the book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, by psychiatrist Daniel Amen, M.D.   Without getting into specifics, the book deals with what Dr. Amen believes are measurable improvements in brain function and morphology (form and structure) that are possible after a special test (a SPECT scan) and customized treatment.  The treatment is used for addiction, depression, ADHD and many other conditions.   I think most people would find it sensible that treatments tspecifically intended to improve the brain can positively affect many things.  But would you have imagined that successfully treating back pain could also improve brain function?   It might be surprising to you that those with chronic back pain have problems with the ability to think, concentrate, formulate ideas, reason and remember.  They lose brain gray matter in parts of the brain associated with pain processing and the emotional components of pain, like depression and anxiety.  More surprising might be a recent finding that when back pain improves, brain function improves, including thickening previously thinned brain cortex.

Chiropractic Adjustments versus Surgery

Most chiropractic doctors, myself included, use spinal adjustments or manipulation as our primary treatment tool.  We are, however, legally able (in California and other jurisdictions) to examine and treat almost all human illnesses so long as we do not prescribe drugs, perform surgery or otherwise puncture the skin. 

While some seek chiropractic treatment for general health purposes, in my practice, as in the majority, patients seek care for spine and related muscle and joint related pain and injury.  Although I offer treatments other than adjustments, virtually all are focused on managing pain, be it by hands-on treatment or prescribing an anti-inflammatory diet.

As stated on my website, chiropractic adjustments improve spinal joint mobility and increase pain tolerance.  There are also studies that suggest adjustments release chemicals that improve blood flow to the area that is treated, may release pain relieving chemicals and decrease circulating inflammatory chemicals, all without the side-effects of medications. (For more information, there are convenient links to my website, SpinePainSpecialists.com, on the right-hand side of this page as well as at the bottom of the page).

Given the nature of my practice and the reason patients typically consult with me, it makes sense to address one of the most common problems, spinal or back pain associated with disc herniation. 

Exciting new research concludes that chiropractic spinal adjustments are as beneficial as surgery for sciatica.  On top of that, the cost savings of chiropractic treatment versus surgery may be enormous.

If you are curious, keep reading.