A Challenge from Dr. Chris - Couch to 5K in 9 weeks!

A lot of my patients run. For exercise. On purpose. I've never really understood why. Personally, my policy has always been to only run when being chased. I've always thought there were really only two kinds of people on this earth; normal people and people who run. Humor is a great cover if you're in denial. Truth is... I don't run. Because I can't. There, I said it. I can't run.

For as long as I can remember, I've hated running. Hated it. The leg cramps, the crippling side-stitch, the searing lung pain. I just didn't get why anyone would inflict such pain upon themselves. Sure, I was always able to sprint short distances fairly well. I've always been pretty active and played sports, but the long distance running thing just didn't work form me. I figured I just didn't have a "runner's physique". Whatever that is.

Over the past 20 years of practice I've dealt with a lot of athletes. Soccer players, football players, volleyball players, weight lifters, cyclists, swimmers, and of course, runners. In many cases I find it clinically necessary to have a patient rest while they heal, then slowly ease back into their workout. Normal people accept this and comply. People who run, don't. They either laugh at me or just look at me like I'm one of those horrible people who steals money from sweet little old ladies. I do have to admit that I've always admired their dedication. I'll even admit that maybe I'm a little jealous of their mysterious abilities. And I concede that I've always secretly wanted to run, I just couldn't get past that whole pain thing.

Evidently there are 2 schools of thought in training a beginning runner. Either suck it up and run through the pain - which studies have shown that 99.99999999999999999% of people who try this approach quit after 1 day - or, slowly break-in your legs, your lungs, and your liver in a less side-stitch inducing manner. Makes sense to me, but how? This is where the Couch-to-5k program comes in. A patient recently told me about it and I looked it up online at C25k.com. It was developed in the 90's by avid runner Josh Clark. I found several running websites, including coolrunning.com, where the system is recommended and over and over read stories of people like me who hated running that were now able run 30 minutes at a time without stopping or walking. In 9 weeks no less! Besides the websites, there are even iPhone Apps to keep track of times and progress. I'm using one called "Get Running" that incorporates the C25k training regimen into an easy-to-use interface that allows me to listen to my own music while it keeps track of my time. At the correct intervals a voice-over tells me when to walk or run. It also tells me when I'm at the half-way point so I can turn around. Very cool. Of course, you can do it without the App, you'll just need a stopwatch to time your intervals.

So here's my challenge to you. It's January, the perfect time to start an exercise program. If you're like me and hate running it's time to overcome. Get off the couch and do it! I'll be giving updates on my blog and would love to have you join me in my quest to actually enjoy running. Feel free to leave comments and give updates of your progress.

Let's make it an epic year together!

Not Sleeping?...Must be Your iPad.

Here is an excellent article published on CNN.com:

(CNN) -- J.D. Moyer decided recently to conduct a little experiment with artificial light and his sleep cycle.

The sleep-deprived Oakland, California, resident had read that strong light -- whether it's beaming down from the sun or up from the screens of personal electronics -- can reset a person's internal sleep clock.

So, for one month, whenever the sun set, he turned off all the gadgets and lights in his house -- from the bulb hidden in his refrigerator to his laptop computer.

It worked. Instead of falling asleep at midnight, Moyer's head was hitting the pillow as early as 9 p.m. He felt so well-rested during the test, he said, that friends remarked on his unexpected morning perkiness.

"I had the experience, a number of times, just feeling kind of unreasonably happy for no reason. And it was the sleep," he said. "Sure, you can get by with six or seven hours, but sleeping eight or nine hours -- it's a different state of mind."

Moyer may be onto something.

More than ever, consumer electronics -- particularly laptops, smartphones and Apple's new iPad -- are shining bright light into our eyes until just moments before we doze off.

Now there's growing concern that these glowing gadgets may actually fool our brains into thinking it's daytime. Exposure can disturb sleep patterns and exacerbate insomnia, some sleep researchers said in interviews.

"Potentially, yes, if you're using [the iPad or a laptop] close to bedtime ... that light can be sufficiently stimulating to the brain to make it more awake and delay your ability to sleep," said Phyllis Zee, a neuroscience professor at Northwestern University and director of the school's Center for Sleep & Circadian Biology.

"And I think more importantly, it could also be sufficient to affect your circadian rhythm. This is the clock in your brain that determines when you sleep and when you wake up."

Such concerns are not entirely new: One sleep researcher said Thomas Edison created these problems when he invented the light bulb. But they've been revived by the popularity of Apple's new slate computer, the iPad, which many consumers say is good for reading at night in bed, when the brain thinks the environment should be dark.

Unlike paper books or e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle, which does not emit its own light, the iPad's screen shines light directly into the reader's eyes from a relatively close distance.

That makes the iPad and laptops more likely to disrupt sleep patterns than, say, a television sitting across the bedroom or a lamp that illuminates a paper book, both of which shoot far less light straight into the eye, researchers said.

"I wish people would just take a boring book -- an old-fashioned book -- and [read] by a lamp. Make sure that it's not too bright -- just so you can read," said Alon Avidan, associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at UCLA. "And if they do that, I think they'll feel a lot better and they'll be able to relax."

These concerns stem from the fact that people are biologically wired to be awake when the sun is out.

When receptors in our eyes are hit with bright light for an extended period of time, they send a message to the brain saying it's time to be awake. The brain, in turn, stops secreting a hormone called melatonin, which makes people sleepy and helps regulate the internal sleep clock.

Normally, our brains start giving us that hormonal sleep aid at about 9 or 10 p.m. But if bright lights are shining in our eyes, that may not happen as planned. That's what worries some sleep researchers.

To make matters worse, our eyes are particularly sensitive to blue light, which is common during the day, but is less so in the evening. The fact that computer screens and phones tend to put out a lot of blue light could intensify the screen's awakening effects, even if the light isn't all that bright.

There's no exact formula for determining how much light is needed to reset a person's internal clock. Several factors are at play, including how bright the light is, what hues are present, how large the light source is, how far it is from the person's eyes and what that person tends to do during the day.

A farmer who is exposed to sunlight all day long would likely be less sensitive to artificial light at night than a person who works in a dimmer office environment, said Mariana Figueiro, an assistant professor and director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

While there has been research to show that light -- even artificial light -- can affect human melatonin production, no research has been done specifically on whether the iPad and laptops disrupt sleep cycles.

Some researchers are skeptical of the link.

"I don't think it's an area of concern. I think it's an area of personal preference," said Mary Lou Jackson, director of vision rehabilitation at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

People shouldn't be concerned about reading on backlit electronic devices at night unless they're experiencing insomnia, in which case they should dim the screen, Jackson said.

Several iPad owners contacted by CNN said they enjoy reading on the device before bed and haven't noticed sleep problems.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

George Brainard, director of the Light Research Program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said it's more important for people to turn off their computers and gadgets at night -- so they have a dark sleeping environment -- than to worry about reading in bright conditions before bed.

Electronics with glowing screens may create problems for people who are susceptible to insomnia, he said, but that research hasn't shown the link yet.

"Can we jump from [the available research] to an iPad? Not quite yet," he said. "But you can begin to see the potential is there for low levels of light to potentially have a biological effect."

Avidian, from UCLA, said several factors play into how well a person sleeps. It's possible iPads and laptops, when used late at night, may delay sleep because they require more focus and provide more potential distractions than books, he said.

Still, the possible relationship between reading at night on backlit screens and insomnia has led some sleep doctors to prescribe zany solutions for patients.

Figueiro, the professor at RPI, prescribes sunglasses with orange lenses.

"Wearing these orange glasses definitely will take away any of the [blue] light that the circadian system is sensitive to," she said. "Your circadian system would basically be blind."

Zee, the Northwestern doctor, said she has recommended the same. She also says people who have trouble sleeping should keep iPads and laptops out of the bedroom. It's best to stop using them one or two hours before going to bed, she said.

Changing your computer or iPad's screen settings to make the display dimmer or take blue hues out of the display at night may also help, researchers said.

A free, downloadable program called F.lux will automatically adjust the hues on your computer screen to eliminate blues when the sun starts setting -- and then replace them when it rises again.

The program, which was developed by a computer programmer and an artist, is not scientific. Sleep researchers said they are unsure of its actual impact.

Moyer, the Oakland resident who turned off all of his gadgets and lights at sundown for a month in 2009, said he hasn't kept up the rigid routine.

But he has applied some lessons from his lights-off-at-night experiment.

For one, he uses the computer less at night. And when he needs to use it, he employs F.lux to make the screen more red and less blue.

He says he's happier and more rested for it.

Dr. Musacchio's comments:

This is a topic I deal with everyday in the office. What baffles me is the amount of people that REFUSE to acknowledge the effect technology can be having on our bodies. Or better yet, the "...it never bothered me before..." line of reasoning. The human body is amazing at adapting. It is only when it can no longer adapt that things go wrong. The input or irritant can take months or years to cause a problem. To me, this isn't really about the iPad specifically, it's more about technology in general and the detrimental effects it has on our health. Something to think about.

Is There Dog Poop in Your Brownies?

A dear friend once gave me some excellent parenting advice. She would use this story with her children to illustrate a very important life lesson. The story told of making a batch of yummy brownies then going in the backyard and getting a very, very small sample of Buster's business and mixing it in the brownie batter. Still looks pretty good, probably even still tastes pretty good. But you get the point...a little bit of bad ruins the whole thing. This principle can be applied to many aspects of our lives, but if there is one area that it really shows it's movies. Have you ever watched a potentially great film just to be turned off or disappointed because of one word or one scene? Worse yet, were your children in the room at the time?

I don't normally do product reviews, but I recently came across one of the best family-friendly products I've seen in a long time and it addresses this exact problem. It's called ClearPlay and it's a DVD player with a built-in content filter. It works like this: you install the "filters" from the ClearPlay website onto a USB drive. When you insert the USB drive into the ClearPlay player it recognizes the movie you're playing and applies the filter settings accordingly. Here's the cool part - you can choose the level of filtering desired in multiple categories. So you can filter out all offensive language or just the really bad words. All sexual situations or just flat-out nudity. All bloodshed or just the really gory scenes. The really nice part is that the editing is virtually seamless. Offensive language is simply muted so it's obvious by the temporary loss of audio, but when entire scenes are cut the ClearPlay people really do a great job of splicing things together nicely. On rare occasions, I've noticed a slight blip in the action, but certainly not enough to complain about.

They do this by painstakingly marking every scene and questionable word in the movie. Then, during playback, the DVD player knows to skip a certain section based on the filter for that title. Quite ingenious, if you ask me. New filters are released every day as new movies come to market. And there are thousands of older movies already in the database. You can go to ClearPlay.com to see a list of all the movies available. Prices start at $119 for an HDMI compatible player. Filter updates are done by monthly membership. Again, you can check it all out at their website.

As a parent I'm concerned about what my children see and hear. I am also acutely aware that I set the example to them of what is appropriate behavior. By lowering the standard and letting junk into our homes and childrens' minds are we not being irresponsible? As a healthcare provider I tell my patients that it's no different than telling our kids to "say no to drugs" and then setting the example by medicating every ailment that besets us. Mixed signals, don't you think? This is just one strategy that I think you'll find helpful. I encourage comments, suggestions and similar strategies from fellow parents. Because we can make a difference.

Now, if I can just get ClearPlay for Uncle Eddie's mouth...

A Message from Your Irregular Doctor

It happened again today. In the course of adjusting a patient a certain health concern arose and the question was asked, "...do you think I should go to my regular doctor?". Which of course, makes me wonder if that means they think of me as their irregular doctor. Whatever that is. When I was younger and less experienced in practice I used to get offended by this. I went to school just as long as my regular doctor colleagues. I studied out of the same regular doctor books and took enough state and national board exams to make any doctor, regular or not, question the reason why they got into the healing arts in the first place. I used to feel like Chiropractors were second-class citizens in health care. That we weren't given enough credit for what we knew and did. That we weren't respected enough. That we were somehow less....regular. Then one day one of my patients told me he had gone to his "other" doctor and the drugs and medicines weren't working. After his adjustment and subsequent relief, he asked me if he should've come to me first. I was just glad to be referred to as equal to his "other" doctor. Finally, we've arrived. Yea for Chiropractic!!

Since then I have come to an even greater understanding of mine and Chiropractic's role in the health and well-being of my patients and the community. I've realized it's actually not about me or Chiropractic, it's about my patients. It's about helping them get the most out of life. It's about inspiring them to make healthy decisions, using reason and logic instead of fear. It's about teaching parents to teach their children that true health comes from within. And it's about trusting the God-given potential within each of us and letting it do the healing and letting it take the credit. It is so very much not about me anymore.

So, now when a patient asks me that inevitable question, I just pause. The fact that they're on my table tells me that they already know the answer. That they came to me first because they know that an adjustment will restore precious nerve function and allow their body to express itself more optimally...even if their condition requires medical attention also. It tells me that they know medicine has it's place, but how much better is it when the body heals itself, without drugs or surgery. That the only thing hindering their body's ability to heal is a lack of nerve flow brought on by the stresses of life and that there's no pill or potion for that. And that the only thing that will restore balance in their body is a chiropractic adjustment, delivered precisely where it's needed, at the correct vector, with the exact amount of force needed at the right moment in time to unleash a symphony of healing from within that knows exactly what to do. Every time.

And for that I am thankful, even if that makes me irregular.

Healthy balance in 2010

It never fails. Every January I'll see it. The generally health-conscious patient who let themselves go over the holidays. What exactly do I mean by "let themselves go"? Consider the 5 pillars of health, in no particular order, diet, exercise, rest, attitude, and nerve function and I think most of us would admit to some areas of weakness.

Let's tackle diet first. Raise your hand if you haven't been eating as healthy for the past 2 months. Enough said. While we're at it, let's get a show of hands for those that were exercising regularly, but haven't lately because of time. Okay that's 2 down. Rest is a funny one because, unlike diet and exercise, your body will force the issue if you don't get enough. Being sick for a few days is all it takes to catch up on weeks of back pay in the rest department. Which contributes to our attitudes. A recent study showed that happiness is more important than even diet or exercise when factored into longevity. Anybody stressed over the holidays?

I saved nerve function for last because it's the one that ties them all together and it's the one that as your Chiropractor I can help you the most with. Since we live our lives through our nerve system it's not difficult to see how it is impacted by our lifestyle. Everything we do, good or bad, has an effect on nerve function. It's the information super highway of the body. The one system that conducts, coordinates, and controls every other function of the body. Without proper nutrients coming in the nerve system is not able to coordinate healing. The result is weakened tissues and a depleted immune system. Without proper exercise there will be accelerated degenerative changes in the muscles and joints. That's right...use it or lose it. Again, the nerve system is impacted because the spine and it's connective tissues will lose significant function with a sedentary lifestyle. The nerve system is the one system in the body that never really rests..it's on the job 24/7. But guess when it's the most efficient at healing...that's right, when you're sleeping. Without proper rest, the nerve system is overwhelmed and all other sytems of the body are negatively impacted. And needless to say...I think we can all agree that a bad attitude will directly affect nerve function. Ever heard someone say you're..."getting on my nerves"?

The 5 pillars of health are just that...equally important essentials for good health. Sure, we may be a little stronger or weaker in some areas. But, flat out neglect any one area and you're setting yourself up for a health crisis. As your Chiropractor my focus is to adjust the spine and nerve system to relieve nerve disturbances. Disturbances that were brought on by the stresses of life and living out of balance. Which brings me back to my original topic. Living out of balance is the effect the holidays brings on many of us. This is the perfect time of year to really make an effort to re balancing your life. So, start that weight loss program. Get back in the gym. Make an effort to get in bed earlier. Look at the positives in life and "exercise" your attitude. And tie it all together with Chiropractic and a healthier nerve system in 2010. It just makes sense.