9 steps to a healthier you!

Martine 44, works for Stats Canada. She is married with two children, Samantha 13 and Gordon 11. Both play high level soccer which means that both her husband Graham and her are kept extremely busy ferrying them both to practice sessions and games. This combined with a demanding job and shouldering much of the home work, as her husband works late, Martine has little time for exercise, socializing, or pursuing her hobby of painting. 

Her full life has also meant that her diet has suffered since she has little time in the mornings except to grap her cup of coffee from Tim Hortons and a bagel. Lunches are often a quick sandwich and  while suppers often consist of some form of processed protein and frozen vegetables. By the time supper is finished and cleared away, Martine is usually exhausted and usually collapses in front of the TV with a glass of wine, which can often turn into 2 or 3. She manages to get to bed by about 11.30 most nights but usually takes about an hour before she goes to sleep. She sleep well but getting up for a work day has become increasingly hard as does not feel rested. 

Her energy picks up after her coffee but after lunch she is usually tired. Over the last year she has put on nearly 20lbs, has started to suffer from seasonal allergies and has been catching colds on a regular basis. 

On a recent visit to her doctor, Martine was horrified to find out that she had high blood pressure and cholesterol were high, her fasting blood sugar indicated that she was pre diabetic, and she had blood markers for autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's)

Like thousands in Canadian today, the demands of career and family life has meant that Martine has taken her good health for granted and she has now become part of the alarmingly growing statistics of sick Canadians:

• In 2008/09, almost 2.8 million Canadians (6.8%) were living with diabetes.
• Almost 16,000 Canadians die each year as a result of a heart attack.
• 6 million Canadians (1 in 5) suffer from high blood pressure, representing 19% of the population.
• Obesity among Canadians tripled between 1985 and 2011 and it is estimated that about 21% will be clinically obese by 2019.
• Approximately, 2 million Canadians are affected by an autoimmune disease.

Up until she had started having children Martine had always been extremely fit, and full of energy and life. With this disturbing news she looked and felt 54, not 44, and was determined to get back her health but how?

To understand how Martine can take back her health we need to understand the fundamental reason why her health is failing -  mismatch!

Our bodies have not adapted to the diet and lifestyle we have in the modern world today. When animals are taken out of their natural habitat and caged into a zoo they become less healthy and they have a shorter life span. Zoologists have recognized this for sometime and as such have tried to recreate the animals diet and environment as much as possible. Our bodies are still much adapted to the diet and environment we lived in as hunter gatherers and like animals that are have been caged in a zoo, our bodies are caged by our modern diet and lifestyle.

To help Martine get back her health like in the zoos she needs to recreate, as much as possible, that ancient diet and lifestyle.

Here is a brief outline of the 9 steps Martine needs to take in order to get back her healthier self:

• Just eat real food and avoid food toxins.
• Nourish your body with the right foods.
• Think about the quality of the food and drink you consume.
• Get better sleep.
• Manage your stress.
• Get moving!
• Start enjoying yourself more!
• Get back into nature.
• Spend more time with the people you like and love!

If you can relate to Martine and some or all of her health issues then start to think about the above steps and about how you can begin to integrate them into your life. Over the next 9 weeks, I will write about each in more detail with details on why these steps are so important and practical tips on how to implement them.

Finally

I hope you found these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Why do I feel so achy, cold and tired?

Lets talk about Laura, aged 30. It’s 7 o'clock on a January morning in Orleans and Laura leaves her house, jumps into her car and starts her 45-minute drive to work into Ottawa. 

The mornings are really cold this time of year and although she’s bundled up she is pleased when her car heating begins to kick in. She has become less and less fond of the cold Ottawa winters over the past few years. She also used to bounce out of bed in the mornings, but like the winters, she is less fond of the early mornings and finds it easier to press the snooze button on her alarm clock and go back to sleep. 

Like most Ottawans on the 416 that morning she is sipping on her morning coffee, which she needs to get her ready for the days work at her job at Stats Canada. She had a bit of a headache this morning but by the time she sits down at her desk it is gone. 

Her job involves a lot of sitting in front of a computer which she has found more difficult recently, especially towards the end of a long day due to muscle cramps and tightness in her neck and shoulders, and she is starting to get some right wrist pain from using mouse. 

She is happy this morning, as this evening she goes for her once a fortnight massage with her massage therapist who helps to keep her pain to a manageable level. She also sees a chiropractor once a month, where she gets adjusted and is given stretching exercises to help her increasingly tight muscles. She recently went for her yearly medical with her doctor and mentioned her symptoms but all her blood tests came back normal and her doctor just put her symptoms down to getting older and offered her anti-inflammatories for her pain.

Laura is getting older but this is no medical reason for the way she feels. She has early signs and symptoms of an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism.

The most common symptoms of hypothyroidism include:
• Fatigue
• Increase in weight, even on a low calorie diet
• Morning headaches that wear off as the day progresses
• Depression
• Constipation
• Hypersensitivity to cold weather
• Poor circulation and numbness in hands and feet
• Muscle cramps and tightness, while at rest
• Catching colds or other bacterial or viral infections easily and having difficulty recovering
• Wounds heal slowly
• Excessive amount of sleep required to function properly
• Chronic digestive problems such as low stomach acid
• Itchy dry skin

Some signs of low thyroid function include:
• Dry or brittle hair
• Your hair falls out easily
• Dry skin
• Low body heat temperature
• Edema especially facial
• Loss of outside portion of eyebrows

The thyroid is a gland that stretches over the Adams Apple of the throat and regulates metabolism.

Hypothyroidism is where the thyroid is consistently under active and a variety of things can cause it.

Hashimotos, a disease that destroys thyroid tissue, is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the Western countries. Because it is an immune disease, Hashimotos often goes undiagnosed, and is largely mismanaged by both conventional and alternative healthcare systems. 

People with Hashimoto's often don't respond well to Thyroid replacement hormones, or they experience symptoms of both an underactive or overactive thyroid.

Symptoms of an overactive thyroid include:
• Fatigue or muscle weakness.
• Hand tremors.
• Mood swings.
• Nervousness or anxiety.
• Rapid heartbeat.
• Heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat.
• Skin dryness.
• Trouble sleeping.

Numerous studies have shown a link between Hashimotos and gluten intolerance. If you have Hashimotos, you should follow a gluten free diet. Gluten can be found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, triticale and oats. The gluten molecule is very similar to the thyroid gland molecule which confuses an overzealous immune system in a gluten intolerant person.

If you suspect you have Hashimotos, you should ask your doctor for a TPO and TGA blood serum antibody test. When testing thyroid function most doctors will only test TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), which is not appropriate for diagnosing Hashimoto’s. A negative test is sometimes false as the immune system often fluctuates. If symptoms strongly suggest Hashimotos, repeat tests should be done. Sometimes, if the person is gluten free, it is necessary to get the person to eat gluten before an antibody test.

Because supplementing with iodine can aggravate Hashimotos, it should be strictly avoided if you have the disease.

Apart for Gluten sensitivity other risk factors for developing Hashimotos include:
• Insulin Resistance and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Estrogen Fluctuations during pregnancy and menopause
• Vitamin D deficiency
• Chronic virus or infections
• Digestive Inflammation
• Immune reaction to heavy metals or environmental pollutants

Finally

I hope you found these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.


Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Never forget you are a Lamborghini not a Honda Civic

The idea that what we put in our mouths can affect us physically is totally alien for many new clients I meet. When I ask people about their various ailments they normally attribute quite logically to something else they are doing or put it down to being that just happens normally. Here are a few examples:

• Having a neck and shoulder tension is due to sitting at the computer too long.
• Losing hair in the shower or during brushing.
• Having dry skin in the winter.
• Having pins and needles in their arms or hands because they sleep on their arm.
• Feeling anxious just because I've always been like that.

These are all plausible explanations but if you are experiencing all of these symptoms then they are signs to the trained medical eye that your thyroid may well be inflamed and as a result is under functioning.

If there is inflammation in your body then in my experience the most common reason for this is that you are eating or drinking something your body does not like. You have a food sensitivity. The way I explain food sensitivities to clients is that when they were born their parents thought they were a Honda Civic. I drive a Honda Civic and it's a tough little car. To fuel my Honda I use Regular or 87. Now the problem is our bodies are way way more sophisticated than a Civic so a much better choice would to say we are all Lamborghini's. Now, if we are ignorant to the fact we are a high performance car and we are still using any old regular gas then it will only be a matter of time until that car will not perform as it should and different mechanically problems will begin to arise. Does this scenario sound familiar? Now you could put peformance down to you're not a good driver but if you take your car into the mechanic they are soon going to say, of course, your car is having problems you're using 87. The sophisticated engine parts of a Lamboghini are not going do well with gas containing ethanol made from genetically modified corn.

So the next time you complain that you are feeling tired, or you have a stiff neck or back or nay symptom try to remember that you are a Lamborghini and think about what grade of gas you are using 87 or 91. I know when I splash out and buy 91 my Honda Civic feels like a sports car.

Finally

I hope you found these ideas useful. More importantly, I hope you do something with them.

Understanding Your Underactive Thyroid

Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, is a very common problem my clients, and there are many reasons for this, including drinking chlorinated and fluoridated water, and eating brominated flour.

Chlorine, fluoride, and bromine are all in the same family as iodine, and can displace iodine in your thyroid gland.

Dr. Jonathan Wright, a pioneer in natural medicine, recommends that women take about 6 mg of iodine per day, and men about 3 mg per day to protect their thyroid and breast health.

Another principal cause of hypothyroidism is related to elevated reverse T3 levels, which can become elevated in response to heavy metal toxicity. In such cases, successful treatment must include detoxification.

Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) can be successfully and quickly reversed with a treatment protocol using Lugol’s iodine and lithium.

Click here to watch an interview with Dr. Johnathon Wright by Dr Mercola.

Dominick Hussey

Osteopath and Functional Medicine Practitioner

Osteopathy and Functional Medicine

Ottawa Health Wellness Centre

Fatigue: How to tell your thyroid is to blame

Not all fatigue or tiredness is due to thyroid malfunction, so how do you tell the difference?

Thyroid-related fatigue begins to appear when you cannot sustain energy long enough, especially when compared to a past level of fitness or ability. If your thyroid foundation is weak, sustaining energy output is difficult. You will notice you just don’t seem to have the energy to do the things you used to be able to do.

Some of the key symptoms of thyroid fatigue include:

• Feeling like you don’t have the energy to exercise, and typically not exercising on a consistent basis.
• A heavy or tired head, especially in the afternoon, as your head is a very sensitive indicator of thyroid hormone status.
• Falling asleep as soon as you sit down and don’t have to do anything.

If you wake up energized, maintain decent energy throughout the day, are able to maintain mental alertness/sharpness, have energy as needed to meet demands, and your muscles feel fit, you do not have thyroid-related fatigue. However, the more you do not feel like this, the greater chance there is a thyroid-related problem.

Dominick Hussey

Osteopath and Functional Medicine Practitioner

Osteopathy and Functional Medicine

Ottawa Health Wellness Centre

Source: Mercola.com

Shoulder pain and Functional Osteopathy

Are you suffering from shoulder pain?

Have you found, like many, it is difficult to find a solution through traditional physical therapy including chiropractic, traditional osteopathy and physiotherapy?

In my early years of osteopathic practice, I must admit, I also struggled with  many of my clients shoulder issues. No amount of exercises, manipulation or massage gave any truly long lasting relief.

Part of the problem is partly related to the fact that the shoulder joint is naturally very unstable and so the smallest of imbalances can cause a whole lot of trouble. The shoulder joint is stabilized by over 11 different muscles which essentially means 11 different opportunities for a problem to occur. What helped me more than anything to help me unravel this conundrum was Functional Medicine. One of the underlying principles of FM is that health is found by a balance between 3 factors your structure, your chemistry and your emotions. So for example, if you have a muscle weakness in your shoulder then it may be due to a spinal misalignment (Structure), nutritional deficiency (Chemistry) or emotional trauma (Emotions). Each of the muscles in the shoulder are also associated with different organs or glands in your body. One of the most common shoulder muscles weaknesses is the Teres Minor which is associated with your Thyroid gland. So if your thyroid is under active then this will weaken your Teres Minor and so cause an imbalance in your shoulder.

Your thyroid can become under active because of a number of reasons, the most common being:

• Nutritional Deficiencies, including Iodine and Iron.
• Gluten Sensitivity which leads to Thyroid Autoimmune disease.
• Soya which contains goitrogens that effect the thyroid.
• Fluoride and Chlorine, which reduce Iodine uptake.

My most recent client with a shoulder problem had a both a Teres Minor and a Deltoid weakness. Her Teres minor was weak due to an Iodine deficiency, common for people in Ottawa who have fluorinated tap water. Her Deltoid, which is related to her lungs, was weak due to a CoQ10 deficiency. CoQ10 is important for muscle function among other things and it's absorption is most commonly effected by medications. The client in question took a Actonel, a medication prescribed for people with osteoporosis. CoQ10 is also effected by cholesterol medication such as Lipitor and Crestor. By simply supplementing the clients diet with Iodine and CoQ10 her shoulder resolved within 4 weeks.

If you have any questions, queries or comments regarding this article please leave them below.

Muscle pain - An early sign of Autoimmune Disease?

Do you have constant or intermittent episodes of chronic pain?

Do you need regular visits to your local osteopath, chiropractor, physio or massage therapist to help keep these pains at a manageable level?

If the answer is yes, then you could possibly have the early signs of autoimmune disease.

An autoimmune disease occurs when your body's immune system has destroyed part of itself. A familiar autoimmune disease is  Rheumatoid Arthritis, where where your immune system destroys the lining of your joints. Another example is Hashimoto's Disease where your thyroid gland is destroyed.

I recently wrote a blog titled "Shoulder pain, your thyroid and soya". After reading this article, a friend of mine in the UK commented to me on Facebook that he had been diagnosed with Hashimoto's and was now on medication. Previous to the diagnosis he had suffered from a recurrent shoulder problem for many years which since he has been treated for his thyroid has disappeared.

There are three main factors that lead to the development of an autoimmune disease:

1. Genetic predisposition - whether your family suffered from an autoimmune disease.
2. Triggers - food sensitivities, heavy metals, chemical toxins.
3. Intestinal Permeability - "A leaky gut".

One of the main food sensitivity triggers for autoimmune disease is wheat gluten or gliadin. The second most common autoimmune disease triggered by gluten is Hashimotos disease.

The concept of helping peoples chronic pain issues by taking them off gluten or gluten cross reactive foods, such as soya, is not unfamiliar to me. I have helped hundreds of people this way but have not really understood the true mechanism.

As a guide in my diagnosis of clients I use Applied Kinesiology or muscle function testing. With AK I can detect weaknesses in individual muscle groups. I also use it to test for food sensitivities. In AK each muscle in the body is linked to a specific gland or organ. I can therefore test how the muscle for the thyroid which is the Teres Minor and see if it weakens when the person is in contact with a particular food or any other trigger such as gluten. This is just a guide for me that this person needs further lab investigations for the foods I find that weaken that muscle.

Studies have shown that antibodies for autoimmune diseases can be found in the blood 9 years before the person starts exhibits signs and symptoms of the disease. Up until that point it can the person could be happily unaware that anything was happening in their body that was sinister. Chronic persistent muscle problems could be your bodies early warning system like the red light on your dashboard.

There are tests available through Cyrex Labs which can tell you whether you have these autoimmune antibodies in your system.

There are of course many many other mechanisms that could be causing muscle pain but this makes sense to me. I welcome any questions or comments.

Shoulder pain, your Thyroid and Soya

The food we eat has an enormous effect on our bodies. I see this in virtually every patient that walks into my office. I have recently been treating two clients for chronic shoulder pain. Shoulder problems are, speaking from my own experience, notoriously difficult to treat. The same was true for these two clients. In both cases, their pain had started without any particular reason. Treating them using massage and osteopathic manipulation had seen only minor improvements.

There had to be a deeper root cause.

When problems don't respond to physical treatment then if I am looking deeper the first place I look is the persons diet. There are certain foods that I know from experience have caused clients issues in the past. On questioning both these clients both were eating large amounts of soya. The man was having soya based protein powder shakes every morning and the woman had been consuming soya milk as she was intolerant to cows milk.

There is a lot of misinformation about the health benefits of soya.

The main benefit is that it has a positive effect on the incidence of breast cancer in the far east. It is true that there is less breast cancer in far eastern countries like Japan where they eat large amounts of soya, but they eat soya sauce. This is totally different in nature to the highly processed products that we see in the western world which is made primarily from highly toxic genetically modified soya beans.

So how is soya bad?

Soy contains a number of substances that are harmful to your body and in particular the thyroid. The thyroid is the gland found in the base of your neck that controls the rate at which you burn food. One of these substances is soya gluten which is similar in structure to the gluten we find in wheat. Wheat gluten has been shown in research to be linked to the thyroid autoimmune disease, Hashimoto's. This disease occurs when your body mistakes the proteins in your thyroid for the gluten protein and attacks it. Because soy gluten is similar in structure to wheat gluten so the same problem can arise if you eat too much soya.

With your thyroid under attack so this obviously has a negative effect on how well it works.

The medical term for a reduction in the function of your thyroid is hypothyroidism. The typical symptoms for someone with an under active thyroid include fatigue, weight gain, sensitivity to cold, numbness in the fingers, constipation, depression and muscle and aches and pains. Not all these symptoms need to present but the last one on the list is the most relevant for my two clients.

The exact mechanism as to why a person's shoulder should be effected can not be explained using western science.

However there is a connection when you look at at it from the practice of Chinese Acupuncture and Applied Kinesiology which connects different organs and glands to particular muscles. Your thyroid is associated to the Teres Minor muscle in your shoulder. So when the function of thyroid is reduced to this effects the strength of the muscle and so your shoulder is likely to develop a problem.

A simple answer to a chronic problem.

Suffice to say I duly advised both clients to remove soy and a few weeks later their shoulder pain was gone!

If you have been suffering from chronic pain which has been unresponsive to physical treatment then looking at your diet could be the next best step to finding an answer. Let me know if you have any questions or comments below.