You may have read recently or seen on you national news program that the FDA has revealed some new concerns about acetaminophen use.  Acetaminophen is the pain reliever found in Tylenol, Excedrin, and prescription products like Vicodin and Percocet.  Several other over the counter medications besides Tylenol, which is what normally comes to mind, contain acetaminophen.  Many drugs labeled “cold and flu” contain acetaminophen, such as NyQuil and DayQuil.  This is what gives them their pain-relieving and fever-reducing properties.

The concern is that people have been “doubling-up” on acetaminophen by taking it for body aches, head aches and fever-reduction in the form of Tylenol, then taking NyQuil for cough, congestion, and sleep aid.  The result has been devastating.  The FDA reports that 110,000 people visit the emergency room each year due to reactions from high levels of acetaminophen.  Most of these cases are accidental.  Acetaminophen is currently the number one cause of acute liver failure resulting in the necessity of liver transplant, according to Ronald Busuttil of UCLA Medical Center.

An FDA joint advisory committee is looking in to ways to better label drugs containing acetaminophen to warn consumers of the risk of overdose.  They also recommend that the ingredient be removed from certain narcotic drugs.

We here at Collins Chiropractic wish you the very best of health and encourage you to know what you are putting in your body.  We want to make sure this issue is reaching our patients and readers so you know to look for acetaminophen on drug labels, or to avoid it all together when possible because even though it is available over the counter, it is still a drug.  Keep yourself healthy by doing the things you know are good for you.  Eat a diet rich in nutritious whole foods, move your body through exercise that is tolerable to you, engage in activities and practices that lower your level of emotional stress, and get adjusted!  A healthy, functioning nervous system will go a long way toward keeping you well!

In Good Health,

Dr. Collins

There has been some controversy lately about claims that a diet high in soy products is healthy and safe.  While soy has been touted as a viable alternative to milk and cheese, the genetically-modified forms of soy used not only in dairy alternatives, but also as an additive in most processed foods, are overwhelming the human body and affecting its ability to absorb necessary nutrients from whole foods.

We are not suggesting that you stop enjoying your dish of edamame at your next sushi dinner, but that if you are consuming soy milk, soy cheese, and processed, preserved foods regularly (look for soy lecithin on the food label), your body is being bombarded by soy products, all genetically-modified, that have the known side effects listed below.  Infants consuming soy-based formula are at the highest risk of developing unfortunate digestive and endocrine disorders as they are on an ALL-SOY diet!  Humans were made to consume milk.  There is evidence suggesting that babies are never born allergic to milk but that either something toxic the mother is consuming, or a treatable neurological problem is to blame for an infant’s adverse reaction to its mother’s milk.

If you are suffering allergies or intolerance to dairy, talk to Dr. Collins.  Many food and seasonal allergies clear up as normal curvature is returned to the neck.  Be sure to ask Dr. Collins how this change occurs.

Confused About Soy?–Soy Dangers Summarized

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.
• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B12.
• Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.
• Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy
  foods.
• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

 
Interesting fact: the amount of soy in one cup of soy milk is equivalent to one week’s recommended soy consumption!

Looking for more information on soy diets?  Check out www.westonaprice.org.  You will find citations here for the research mentioned above.

Recently we posted an article in our office and our patients responded so enthusiastically that we wanted to share it with even more people. So we chose this topic for our first newsletter post. We thank you for visiting our newsletter and invite you to stay tuned. We will be posting information on pertinent health topics and discussing ways for our patients and readers to maintain good health and well-being.

In a TIME Magazine article, “From Health to Wealth,” author Dan Kadlec presents the idea that staying in better health now vastly increases the amount of money you can put away for retirement. Even with health insurance, the average annual out-of-pocket cost for diabetes care is $454, increasing to $12,000 if your diabetes is not carefully managed and complications arise. Exercising to avoid obesity, one of the leading causes of diabetes, and then investing that money could add up to $700,000 to your retirement funds!

Not buying cigarettes alone and investing that money from the age of 40 to 65 can add tens of thousands of dollars to your nest egg.

Finally, exercise and a healthy diet to avoid high blood pressure and heart disease, the leading killer in America, can add $35,000 to your nest egg over 25 years. The annual average out-of-pocket expense to manage hypertension and cardiovascular disease, traditionally treated with medication for which you pay an out-of-pocket fee even with insurance, is $606.

Imagine having that extra money in your pocket each year! All this is possible by taking good care of your body. As spring approaches and the opportunity to get outside and enjoy fresh air and exercise is upon us, we encourage you to get moving! Enjoy a bike ride or a hike with the family. Fresh, inexpensive local produce will be filling the farmer’s markets before we know it. The chiropractic lifestyle is about wellness. You know the saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” Make your health a priority, especially in these challenging economic times when every bit of extra money helps!

Wishing you great health,

Dr. Collins

Read the cited TIME Magazine article in its entirety at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1840579,00.html