Another Vote for Barefoot

This is actually an excerpt from Christopher McDougall’s ‘Born to Run’ book.  If you’re a runner, you really should read this book.  If you’re not a runner, you really should read this book.  It makes a very compelling argument for the less-is-best approach when running shoe shopping.  Read the full article here.

Congress Exempt from their own Health Care Plan

Interesting read today from the Investor’s Business Daily.  The editorial brings up the more -than-somewhat curious point that Congress will not be subject to the public health care plan that they are presenting.  Here’s my favorite line of the editorial:

The irony here is that under the health reform he is sponsoring, it is unlikely that Sen. Ted Kennedy would have gotten the treatment he needed for his brain tumor if his case had to be reviewed by some cost-effectiveness board.

The likelihood is that if Ted Kennedy were British and subject to the tender mercies of that nation’s National Health System, he’d be dead by now.

You can read the full editorial here.

True Core Stability?

Great article from the NY Times magazine.  There is new evidence/research out regarding true core strength.  A lot of modalities teach you to ’suck and tuck’ while doing certain (all?) movements, but new research is showing that it might not be as beneficial as once thought.  Egoscue, for one, doesn’t believe in it due to the fact that you’re born with an arch in your lower back, and the ’suck and tuck’ motion eliminates that arch.  Another way to think about it is to flex your biceps.  Now, hold that position for a month….you wouldn’t do it with the muscles in your arm.  Why are you doing it with your abs?  Let ‘em go.  They have a time and place to work, just not ALL the time.

Read the entire article here.  Let me know what you think.  Agree?  Disagree?  Give me your thoughts.

A Great Take on the “Rules”

This is from David Bean, a friend of mine and very accomplished photographer here in Nashville.  David is always thinking outside of the box, as do a lot of creative types.  I loved his take on the rules, and how it’s ok to give yourself permission to bend them every now and then.  Just as we need to work our physical muscles we need to work our creative muscles (as David so creatively calls it).  Enjoy this blog post, and work those creative muscles:

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Rules don’t Rule (& How to teach kids to be creative.)

Photo by Samantha Bean

When I got started in photography, the one thing that crippled me for the longest time was a misconception that there was only 1 or 2 right ways to do things in photography. I had read so much and thought that if I didn’t light “the way” I read in books I was lighting incorrectly, if I didn’t compose the “right” way I was taking bad photos. It really kept me from taking photos that were anything but just plain “average.” It was then that I realized if I was going to be successful, I needed to take what I knew and create my own rules.

I’m all for learning “the rules” of photography. It’s important to learn good composition, lighting, etc., but it’s just as important to go beyond mere rules to genuine creativity. Creating art by merely following rules is a lot like getting married just so you don’t have to be alone. There’s no passion and it will show. Your art will be stale and people will rarely take notice of it.

You may have heard similar thoughts before, but I’ve learned something recently with my 10 year old son that I think will help anyone with children teach them how to think more creatively.

My son and I were playing Jenga the other day when I decided to try something different with him. After the first game I had us turn the pieces on their sides and instead of the 3 x 3 configuration we made a 5 x5 one. That was fun, so then we turned them straight up and down and played another totally different version. Since then we’ve taken games and played them all kinds of fun and interesting ways that were never intended by the manufacturers.

I have started doing this intentionally with him because he really wants to be an inventor someday. I really want him to grow up not feeling confined by the rules of “how things are done.” Taking a game and creating your own version/changing the rules is a small step that I feel builds a foundation of positive rule-breaking and out-of-the-box thinking. Since I’ve realized this I am making it a mission of mine to build a foundation of creativity in his life through small life lessons.

For those of us who aren’t kids anymore, it’s never to late to build and exercise your creative muscles. Make a point this week to do something in a new and different way.

Fleet Feet Nashville Speaking Gig

Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be speaking at Fleet Feet Nashville (in Brentwood) tomorrow night, July 15th at 6:00.  The topic will be “East-West Breathing: The Deep Stabilizing System.”  Come learn how you can impact your core with the 17,000 breaths you take each day, get the most out of your training, and overall improve the function of your body while decreasing the likelihood of injuries.  You can learn more by calling Egoscue Nashville at 615.771.8556 or Fleet Feet Nashville at 615.373.1123.  Hope to see you there!

Great article for any runner

This article give a great explanation as to why you should be shoe shopping for LESS of a shoe rather than more of one.  We at Egoscue say the lesser, the better when it comes to your everyday shoe.  For years we’ve been huge advocates of the Nike Free (I own 6 pair).  Now the new Egoscue “shoe” is the Vibram FiveFinger shoe.  I just got my 2nd pair of these and can’t say enough good things about them.  The article’s author took them for a spin and gives his review of the VFF.

This is my favorite part of the article:

Strong evidence shows that thickly cushioned running shoes have done nothing to prevent injury in the 30-odd years since Nike founder Bill Bowerman invented them, researchers say. Some smaller, earlier studies suggest that running in shoes may increase the risk of ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis and other injuries. Runners who wear cheap running shoes have fewer injuries than those wearing expensive trainers.

Read the rest of the article here.  If you’ve gone for a barefoot run let us know what your experience has been with them!

Ban on Percocet and Vicodin?

This is from the NY Times and came out last week, and I have to admit it was a pretty eye-opening article for me.  This was eye-opening for the simple fact that these two meds (and their generic equivalent) are prescribed over 100 million times per year.  That’s a VERY scary statistic.  If we do the simple math, it means that 1 in 3 Americans have had one of these two meds prescribed to them over the course of 12 short months!  That is extremely alarming to me, as it says we are becoming a society focused on sick-care rather than health-care.  And, do we really wondering why so many people fight pain-killer addictions?  Our society is making it waaaaaaay too easy to pop a pill.  One in three?  ONE in THREE!  Are you kidding me?  Not to mention the liver damage that we’re finding out is caused by Acetaminophin.  Take control of your health–TODAY.  It reminds me of a great quote by Joan Welch, “A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs.”  Call the nearest Egoscue clinic, buy a copy of Pete Egoscue’s book Pain Free, or just walk up the stairs two at a time!  Either way, take control and make a change.  Change from a sick-care mentality to a HEALTH-care mentality.  Take control–You’ll thank yourself for it later!

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Ban Is Advised on 2 Top Pills for Pain Relief

Published: June 30, 2009

ADELPHI, Md. — A federal advisory panel voted narrowly on Tuesday to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin, two of the most popular prescription painkillers in the world, because of their effects on the liver.

The two drugs combine a narcotic with acetaminophen, the ingredient found in popular over-the-counter products like Tylenol and Excedrin. High doses of acetaminophen are a leading cause of liver damage, and the panel noted that patients who take Percocet and Vicodin for long periods often need higher and higher doses to achieve the same effect.

Acetaminophen is combined with different narcotics in at least seven other prescription drugs, and all of these combination pills will be banned if the Food and Drug Administration heeds the advice of its experts. Vicodin and its generic equivalents alone are prescribed more than 100 million times a year in the United States.

Laureen Cassidy, a spokeswoman for Abbott Laboratories, which makes Vicodin, said, “The F.D.A. will make a final determination and Abbott will follow the agency’s guidance.”

The agency is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, but it usually does.

The panel’s 20-17 vote to recommend a ban on the combination drugs was one of 11 it took at a meeting called to advise the F.D.A. on problems arising from the extraordinary popularity of acetaminophen. In 2005, American consumers bought 28 billion doses of products containing the ingredient.

While the medicine is effective in treating headaches and reducing fevers, even recommended doses can cause liver damage in some people. And more than 400 people die and 42,000 are hospitalized every year in the United States from overdoses.

In hopes of reducing some of these accidents, the committee voted 24 to 13 to recommend that the F.D.A. reduce the highest allowed dose of acetaminophen in over-the-counter pills like Tylenol to 325 milligrams, from 500. And members voted 21 to 16 to reduce the maximum daily dosage to less than 4,000 milligrams.

But they voted 20 to 17 against limiting the number of pills allowed in each bottle, with members saying such a limit would probably have little effect and could hurt rural and poor patients. Bottles of 1,000 pills are often sold at discount chains.

“We have no data to show that people who overdose shop at Costco,” said Dr. Edward Covington, a panel member from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Lewis S. Nelson, a toxicologist from the New York University School of Medicine who served as the panel’s acting chairman, said experts had been warning of the dangers of combination painkillers like Percocet, which is made by Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Vicodin for years.

Still, the recommendation is likely to come as a shock to many patients, who may be unaware of the dangers of high doses of acetaminophen — even if they know the drugs contain the ingredient.

Some doctors already avoid prescribing pills that combine acetaminophen with narcotics like oxycodone (found in Percocet) and hydrocodone (in Vicodin).

“It ties the doctor’s hands when you put the two drugs together,” said Dr. Scott M. Fishman, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of California, Davis, and a former president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. “There’s no reason you can’t get the same effect by using them separately.”

Dr. Fishman said the combinations were prescribed so often for the sake of convenience, but added, “When you’re using controlled substances, you want to err on the side of safety rather than convenience.”

Still, some doctors predicted that the recommendation would put extra burdens on physicians and patients.

“More people will be suffering from pain,” said Dr. Sean Mackey, chief of pain management at Stanford University Medical School. “More people will be seeing their doctors more frequently and running up health care costs.”

In a statement, Johnson & Johnson, Tylenol’s maker, said it “strongly disagrees” with the proposed restrictions on acetaminophen, adding that they would be likely to “lead to more serious adverse events as consumers shift to other over-the-counter products,” like Advil and aspirin.

Linda A. Suydam, president of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, said the committee had ignored studies showing that doses sold by her members — two pills of 500 milligrams, up to four times a day — were safe. “I think this is a very effective dose and one needed for individuals who experience chronic pain,” she said.

The committee also turned its attention to over-the-counter children’s medicines containing acetaminophen, voting 36 to 1 to limit them to a single formulation. Right now the liquids are sold in two different concentrations, leading to confusion among doctors and parents.

“I don’t think it’s safe to have two formulations out there,” said Dr. Nelson, the acting chairman.

The members were divided over which formula to recommend, the concentrated or the less concentrated one. F.D.A. officials suggested that they would likely settle on the less concentrated formula so that if parents make a mistake, they would be less likely to overdose.

Acetaminophen is included in a vast array of over-the-counter cough and cold products, including Nyquil, Excedrin and many others. A small share of accidental poisonings result when people take two or more of these combination products without understanding the risk.

The F.D.A. asked the committee whether it should ban combination products that include acetaminophen. The vote was 24 to 13 against such a ban, with many members saying consumers saw the products as valuable.

“Based on the data provided, the combination O.T.C. medications really contributed very little to overall poisonings,” said Dr. Osemwota A. Omoigui, a panel member from the Los Angeles Pain Clinic.

A 2005 study found that most poisonings resulted from patients’ taking Vicodin and similar products that combine a narcotic with acetaminophen.

“I think this is the one place where we can engineer in safety,” said Dr. Judith M. Kramer, a panel member and an associate professor of medicine from Duke University Medical Center who voted to ban the combination prescription medicines. “We’re here because there are inadvertent overdoses that are fatal, and this is our one opportunity to have a big impact.”

Consumers need to be better educated about the risks of popular medicines, most panel members agreed.

“If you keep track of what you’re taking, none of this is an issue for you,” Dr. Jan Engle, a panel member and head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Illinois in Chicago, said in an interview after the meeting.

Donald G. McNeil Jr. contributed reporting from New York.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 6, 2009
Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about a federal advisory panel’s recommendation to ban the painkillers Percocet and Vicodin misstated the surname at one point for a professor of anesthesiology who said, “When you’re using controlled substances, you want to err on the side of safety rather than convenience.” As the article correctly noted elsewhere, he is Dr. Scott M. Fishman, not Fisher.

Egoscue Article from our Downtown San Diego clinic

Here’s a great article from our Downtown San Diego Clinic Director Tim George.  Great job, and keep up the great work to all involved!

http://www.energytimes.com/et2/pages/departments/0709/holistic0709.html

Steve McNair Dead

I can’t believe Steve McNair was found dead today at a downtown Nashville condo.  This is a tragic story and a sad day for Nashville.  Steve, at least in the media, seemed to be one of the good guys.  He gave his body to his profession and for 11 out of the 13 years to the Oilers/Titans organization.  Every Sunday you would find him on the field, most times regardless of his physical condition.  I have always said there is a difference between playing ‘hurt’ and playing ‘injured’.  During my 20 some years of playing baseball, I frequently played hurt, but I never played injured.  To me, and many other athletes, there was a huge difference.  Not for Steve.  I saw him play hurt AND injured.  He was a true team-first player.  All the best to his family and friends.  Our prayers are with you today.

New Study on Cartilage

It’s widely believed that knee cartilage doesn’t heal itself.  A “when it’s gone it’s gone” type of mentality.  However, Egoscue believes differently.  We believe that the body has an amazing ability to heal itself.  For example, when you break your leg, it doesn’t stay broken, when you cut your arm, it doesn’t stay cut, etc.  We believe that cartilage has the same healing ability and stimulus-response characteristic that the rest of the body has.  The pain in the knee isn’t there because there’s something wrong with the knee or meniscus, rather we need to find the cause of the pain and treat that.  Because Egoscue focuses on the position of the knee rather than the condition, we are able to focus on the misaligned knee capsule as the cause of the pain.  Notice the position of the knee in this picture:

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this person’s knee (or anyone’s knee for that matter), but with the knee being in this position (and their left knee is much more compromised than their right knee) they are headed for trouble at some point in their life.  They could end up with a torn meniscus, “headed for a knee replacement”, or chronic pain that has nothing to do with the knee at all.  The body is a unit, and the knee bone is connected to the hip bone, remember?

So, knowing what we know about the body, that it can and will heal itself, I was ecstatic to read this article.  It might just be the start of proving what Pete Egoscue has said forever: The knee, its makeup, and its design are no different than the rest of the body.  It’s not poorly designed, it just gets into the wrong position, and a compromised knee position is most likely a painful knee position.  If you get the knee in the right position the pain will be eliminated and the knee can start its healing process.  Keep moving and stay healthy!

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Exercise May Improve Cartilage in Arthritic Knees

Written by Rita Jenkins ‘The changes imply that human cartilage responds to physiologic loading in a way similar to that exhibited by muscle and bone, and that previously established positive symptomatic effects of exercise in patients with OA may occur in parallel or even be caused by improved cartilage properties.’Moderate exercise may improve the physical composition of joint cartilage in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a study published inArthritis & Rheumatism. Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of disability among adults. Along with early diagnosis, moderate exercise is one of the most effective ways to reduce pain and improve function in patients with OA of the knee and hip. Yet, more than 60 percent of US adults with arthritis fail to meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity. Because OA results from “wear and tear,” the commonly held belief has been that exercise will not strengthen joint cartilage and may even aggravate cartilage loss. Until recently, investigators were unable to put that belief to the test. Radiographs, the technology typically used to measure OA’s progression, could not assess cartilage damage until it was severe. Now, thanks to advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it is possible to study cartilage changes earlier in the course of OA. GAG Content Two researchers in Sweden, Leif Dahlberg, MD, PhD, and Ewa M. Roos, PT, PhD, used a novel MRI technique to determine the impact of moderate exercise on the knee cartilage of subjects at high risk for developing OA — middle-aged men and women with a history of surgery for a degenerative meniscus tear. Drs. Dahlberg and Roos recruited 29 men and 16 women aged 35-50 who had undergone meniscus repair within the past three to five years. At the study’s onset and follow-up, subjects from both groups underwent MRI scans to evaluate knee cartilage. The technique used focused specifically on the cartilage’s glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, a key component of cartilage strength and elasticity. Subjects also answered a series of questions about their knee pain and stiffness, as well as their general activity level. Subjects were assigned randomly to an exercise group or a control group. The exercise group was enrolled in a supervised program of aerobic and weight-bearing moves, for one hour, three times weekly for four months. Thirty of the original 45 subjects — 16 in the exercise group and 14 in the control group — completed the trial and all post-trial assessments. Compositional Changes in Adult Cartilage Compared to the control group, subjects in the exercise group reported more gains in physical activity and functional performance. Improvements in tests of aerobic capacity and stamina affirmed the self-reported changes. What’s more, MRI measures of the GAG content showed a strong correlation with the increased physical training of the subjects who regularly had participated in moderate, supervised exercise. “This study shows compositional changes in adult joint cartilage as a result of increased exercise, which confirms the observations made in prior animal studies but has not been previously shown in humans,” notes Dr. Dahlberg. “The changes imply that human cartilage responds to physiologic loading in a way similar to that exhibited by muscle and bone, and that previously established positive symptomatic effects of exercise in patients with OA may occur in parallel or even be caused by improved cartilage properties,” he adds. The study does have limitations — its small sample size and narrow focus on meniscectomized knee joints — and makes no claims for predicting the long-term effects of exercise on cartilage. However, the researchers maintain that its conclusion is worthy of serious consideration. “Exercise may have important implications for disease prevention in patients at risk of developing knee OA,” say Drs. Dahlberg and Roos.