Dr. David Marcon

Processed Food Vs. Whole Food: A Video Comparison

2012-02-09T17:59:00.009-05:00

Most people have a basic understanding of the differences between Processed food and Whole food. But, most reduce their processed food consumption simply because they don't want to gain weight. The real problem is that processed food contains tons of additives that can increase the risk of disease and dysfunction within the body. Many of these additives are synthesized from traditionally inedible sources like petroleum.

This video gives us a direct view of what happens to both processed and whole food as it passes through the digestive tract.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center

Who Said it Takes 21 Days to Create a Habit

2012-02-08T18:14:00.003-05:00

Nearly 2 months since the first of the year, we should be well on our way to realizing our new year’s resolutions. Are you still exercising regularly, eating better or getting more sleep?
It is routinely stated as “Scientific Evidence” that it requires 21 days to create a new habit. Where is the proof?
This mythical number may have arisen from the 1960 book “Psycho-Cybermetics” by a plastic surgeon, Dr Maxwell Maltz, who noted amputees took, on average, 21 days to adjust to the loss of a limb. From his observations he hypothesized that people took 21 days to adjust to any major life change.
This correlation between adapting to a permanent physical change and altering ones lifestyle choices is a major leap.
Realistically, there are just too many variables in play with most lifestyle changes to think that they all are on a linear path toward the magical 21 days.
A study published in The European Journal of Social Psychology showed that it took participants of the study from 18 to 254 days to create a 95% involuntary habit. This indicated a considerable variation in how long it takes people to reach their limit of automaticity and underscored the fact that it can take a very long time.
Here are some basics to keep in mind when trying to change habits.

1. One habit at a time
2. Start small
3. Give yourself ample time
4. Write out your habit and your goal
5. Tell others of the habit change, be very specific
6. Make sure you define your motivation factor
7. Understand the obstacles to the change and plan how to counter them
8. Missteps happen to everyone, stay persistent

Smartphone Apps That Tell People They Are Unwell?

2012-01-09T16:46:00.007-05:00

"The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is currently conducting the first test of Ginger.io’s technology, a study of teens and young adults suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The chronic condition causes occasional diarrhea, stomach pain, and fever, and is often treated with a two-week course of steroids, which can be harmful when used for too long. The hope is that Ginger.io can detect exactly when an attack ends by, say, noticing when someone leaves the house for the first time after several days at home, and reduce the time patients are on steroids."

Bloomberg Businessweek

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255

Stevens at the point of Turpin attack

2012-01-09T16:26:00.007-05:00

Mitch Stevens is one of our patients and I am proud to be associated with such a determined,positive and hard working young man.

Turpin High School point guard Mitch Stevens is being recruited to play Division III college basketball.

That’s all well and good, but Stevens has his sights on playing at a higher level.

The 5-foot-9 senior has aspirations to play on the Division I stage.

Stevens knows that accomplishing his goal is no easy task, but it’s something he’s willing to continue to work for.

And if history says anything about Stevens, who is sixth in the FAVC east with 15.1 points per game, Division I coaches might be wise to give the scrappy guard some looks.

He was cut from both his seventh- and eighth-grade basketball teams at Nagel Middle School. At 4-feet-10, Stevens believes his height hurt his ability to make an impression at tryouts.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

Dr David Marcon

"Confessions of a Surgeon"

2012-01-03T11:57:00.008-05:00

This excerpt from "Confessions of a Surgeon" appeared in the December 31st, 2011 Wall Street Journal. Dr. Ruggieri's first hand account of the life of a surgeon is very interesting. Underlying some of his strife is the health of the patients and their expectations.

Obese patients create more physical work for a surgeon during any type of procedure. The operations take longer, tie our upper body in knots and leave us with fatigue and frustration. Obese patients also automatically face an increased risk of complications like infection, pneumonia and blood clots during recovery.

Dr David Marcon
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Is HCG Diet Safe?

2011-12-15T10:55:00.004-05:00

Here is the Reference List for the Article published in The Forest Hills Journal,The C3 Company Newsletter and Marcon Chiropractic Email blast.

(1) Simeons ATW. The action of chorionic gonadotropin in the obese. Lancet 2:946-947, 1954.
(2) Asher WL, Harper HW. Effect of human chorionic gonadotrophin on weight loss, hunger and feeling of well-being. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 26:211–218, 1973.
(3) Bosch B and others. Human chorionic gonadotrophin and weight loss. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. South African Medical Journal 77:185–189, 1990.
(4) Carne S. The action of chorionic gonadotrophin in the obese. Lancet 2:1282–1284, 1961.
(5) Craig LS and others. Chorionic gonadotrophin in the treatment of obese women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 12:230–234, 1963.
(6) Frank BW. The use of chorionic gonadotrophin hormone in the treatment of obesity. A double-blind study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 14:133–136, 1964.
(7) Greenway FL, Bray GA. Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity: a critical assessment of the Simeons method. West Journal of Medicine 127:461–463, 1977.
(8) Shetty KR, Kalkhoff RK. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) treatment of obesity. Archives of Internal Medicine 137:151-155, 1977.
(9) Lebon P. Treatment of overweight patients with chorionic gonadotrophin: follow-up study. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 14:116–125, 1966.
(10) Lijesen GK and others. The effect of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity by means of the Simeons therapy: a criteria-based meta-analysis. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 49:237–243, 1995.
(11) Miller R, Schneiderman LJ. A clinical study of the use of human chorionic gonadotrophin in weight reduction. Journal of Family Practice 4:445–448, 1977.
(12) Stein MR and others. Ineffectiveness of human chorionic gonadotrophin in weight reduction: a double-blind study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 29:940–948, 1976.
(13) Young RL and others. Chorionic gonadotrophin in weight control. A double-blind crossover study. JAMA 236:2495–2497, 1976.
(14) In the matter of Simeon Management Corporation et al. Order, opinion etc., in regard to alleged violation of Secs. 5 and 12 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Docket 8996. Complaint, Oct 15, 1974. Final Order April 29, 1976.

FDA Cracks Down on Fraudulent Diet Pills

2011-12-07T16:14:00.005-05:00

There is no evidence the oral over-the-counter products are effective for weight loss, says Elizabeth Miller, FDA's leader for the Internet and health fraud team. While they may not be dangerous, they're at least "economic fraud," she says.

Not to misrepresent that injectable HCG perscribed by a Physician is any better.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission announced today that they have sent seven warning letters to companies that make the products, notifying them that they are violating federal law by selling drugs that have not been approved and by making unsupported claims for the substances.

There are no FDA-approved HCG products for weight loss, says Elizabeth Miller, the FDA's acting director of the division of non-prescription products and health fraud.

I get faxes, emails and calls requesting that I consider selling this product in my office. I like to make money and would love to help patients lose weight, but not with a product that has no efficacy.

Dr David Marcon

More Opting Out of Mandatory Vaccines

2011-11-28T09:07:00.004-05:00

The AP analysis found more than half of states have seen at least a slight rise in the rate of exemptions over the past five years. States with the highest exemption rates are in the West and Upper Midwest.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Cetner

Pediatricians Drop Families Who Fail to Immunize

2011-11-16T16:04:00.006-05:00

According to a recent study, of the 909 pediatricians were polled 21 percent admitted they had dropped families from their practice for continuing to refuse vaccination or requesting alteration of the vaccination schedule.

The study also found the top three reasons parents choose not to vaccinate is fear of autism, too many shots, and fears about serious side effects.

At first glance, one could become polarized by either the families stupidity/stubbornness or the Pediatricians low tolerance of differing opinions. Neither party is harmed by the dismissal and much can be said for finding Physicians who you philosophically in agreement with.

As far as why families refuse vaccinations or ask for altered vaccination schedules, the suggestion that no relationship between childhood vaccinations and autism exists is somewhat erroneous. Hannah Poling, a vibrant 18 month old who regressed rapidly into an Autistic state after receiving 9 vaccinations on one office visit last year has been awarded $1.5M and an additional $500.00 per year for her care. Though many cases of autism are rejected by the Vaccination Court, this particular case was awarded based upon the existence of a hidden mitochondrial disorder that reacted disastrously with the vaccination cocktail. Being the First-Ever Vaccine-Autism Court Award of any kind does bring up the question of how many other children have hidden medical issues that would be best served with an altered schedule? With one in 58 boys diagnosed with Autism, there must be something causing this staggering number. Could it be strictly environmental? Does the doubling in the number of required childhood vaccinations over the last 10 years have any role in the matter? Genetics is not a plausible cause when given the spike in reported cases.

I am very glad my vaccination days are over. No boosters for my children who, other than some seasonal allergies, are healthy teens. For those facing the Doctor/Patient confrontation over vaccinations, do yourself and the Doctor a service, find a practice that educates constantly, respects your fears and tolerates your differing opinion. Everyone needs less stress in their lives.

Vaccine Wars: Younger Doctors Against Them

Beware of Geneitcally Modified Foods

2011-11-09T15:15:00.005-05:00

RIGGED RESEARCH from NO GMO on Vimeo.

Though I don't eat corn or soy directly, I am sure when I do eat some package product now and then I will be getting a taste of Genetically Modified Corn and Soy. These so called Health Foods are a product of Coporate Agriculture and have been blindly accepted into our food chain with little regard for our Health.
Please read this article by Dr Mercola

Dr David Marcon
Cincinnati, Ohio

HGH: Fountain of Youth or Fraud

2011-10-11T13:17:00.006-04:00

As the Baby Boomer Generation approaches retirement age (approximately 10,000 per day) there has been a greater emphasis placed on Anti-Aging. Experts believe that in the next 2-3 decades Americans will frequently live past their 100th birthday. But what has many Boomers concerned is the quality of life in those added years. With this as the backdrop, many are turning to unconventional programs and products to enhance their health and vitality.
One such product is HGH, Human Growth Hormone. For years it has been prescribed to children & adults with disorders affecting their pituitary gland and Athletes have used natural and synthetic versions to enhance muscular development and performance. Recently the benefits of HGH have been promoted as a potential “Fountain of Youth“for an aging population.

Produced in the Pituitary Gland, HGH’s peak production occurs during adolescence and is associated with growth spurts. As we mature HGH levels gradually reduce to a point where a healthy adult is producing roughly 50% of peak volume. HGH is secreted at various times of the day but the majority is released at night during deep sleep when the body is at its peak of cellular production and repair.

Signs associated with excessively low HGH levels in otherwise healthy adults are loss of bone density and muscle mass, increased body fat (especially in the abdomen) loss of strength and endurance, low energy, depression and loss of libido. With these all too familiar maladies, you can see why many turn to this non-steroidal hormone.
Much of the recent buzz about HGH as it relates to the aging process stems from a study first published in 1990. In that particular study, 12 older men who presented with slightly lower than normal HGH levels got high doses of HGH for approximately six months. The men added some muscle and bone density and they lost some body fat. But their blood pressure and blood sugar levels increased. In addition to these mixed results, no evidence was presented that the changes in their muscle mass and body fat had any effect on their strength, fitness levels, or quality of life. Other studies have found similar results.

HGH is attainable only through a physician and the cost of the therapy is prohibitive for most. Herbal supplements are marketed as safe and inexpensive alternatives, but like their pharmaceutical counterparts, little to no research exists to prove their claims.

Like many hormones, HGH in healthy adults is controlled by a balance of stimulators and inhibitors. With this in mind, in order to maximize your naturally occurring HGH levels without the cost and potential side effects, make it a priority to make these changes.

1. Cut Out the Processed Carbohydrates
Diets high in processed carbohydrates create surges of Insulin which negatively affects HGH release. Avoid white bread, white rice, white potatoes, sugary cereals, pasta and juices. Choose instead brown or wild rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, vegetables, fruits and beans. Keep the servings of even the good carbohydrates to ½ cup or 8 ozs. to maintain stable insulin levels.

2. Alcohol
In any appreciable quantity, alcohol blunts the HGH-releasing effect of amino acids and also suppresses natural HGH release. Using alcohol to induce sleep can dramatically suppress your natural HGH release at night. This includes products such as NightQuil which have alcohol in them.

3. Exercise with Intensity
Short intense bouts of exercise have been shown to stimulate a greater Growth Hormone response. Studies have indicated the correlation between Lactic Acid build-up (Burning Sensation) and HGH response. When we exercise beyond the initial point of lactic acid formation the body responds with sustained secretion of HGH.

4. Get Your Sleep
HGH production is highest in deep, uninterrupted sleep. Maximize your sleep by getting to bed and waking-up at the same time every day. Avoid external stimulation like bright lights and TVs which even at low levels can alter sleep patterns. Aim for 8-9 hours of good sleep each night.

5. Make Your Last Meal Protein
Proteins are rich in amino acids which help boost HGH production. Avoid Carbohydrates which produce insulin, the HGH suppressor.
I have gotten into the habit of eating 6 eggs before I go to bed. Hard boiled or scrambled, I typically consume 1 whole egg and 5 egg whites. Along with Beverly ZMA, this routine has improved my sleep.

Need help with your diet or training?
Call or email me.
Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
wwww.drdavidmarcon. com

Flu Vaccine Double Talk

2011-09-28T16:09:00.004-04:00

"You may receive questions from patients who were vaccinated last season about whether they still need an annual influenza vaccination because the influenza vaccine virus strains included in the 2011-2012 influenza vaccines are the same as those in last year's vaccines. It's not common for all 3 vaccine virus strains to be unchanged from one season to the next -- this has happened only 8 times since 1969. However, CDC has always recommended that people get vaccinated every year.

Annual influenza vaccination, even when the vaccine strains are unchanged, is important because a person's immune protection from influenza vaccination declines over time. Immunity acquired from vaccine administered last season will have declined and may not be enough to prevent infection this season. So, annual influenza vaccination is recommended for optimal protection."

CDC Influenza Recommendations

The T-dap only produces immunity for 3 years now the flu vaccine isn't even good for a year! Natural immunity is so much stronger that it can even be passed from mother to child. Unless your immune system is practically shot how could you get the antigen and not produce enough antibodies to fight off the same strains the next season? To me this flu vaccination logic reeks of capitalism. Let's recommend that everyone get the vaccine and tell them to get it every year even if it is the same strains as last season.

Personally, I am not at issue with someone getting the flu vaccine; it's your body you can do with it what you want. But if this doesn't sound a little suspicious to you then you have definitely drank the cool-aid. You are probably waiting for the Government to come up with an Anti-Death Vaccine.

Is sprint exercise a leptin signaling mimetic

2011-09-16T09:14:00.009-04:00

"The hormone leptin acts as an appetite suppressor. Some people see Obesity as being a result of leptin resistance - the body no longer reacts to leptin.....appetite is no longer suppressed. So this study suggests that sprinting kicks off the same cascade of signals as does leptin. It signals you to stop eating.... "

In conclusion, this study shows that most of the signaling pathways activated by leptin in rodent skeletal muscle are also activated by sprint exercise in human skeletal muscle, despite a small reduction of leptin serum concentration after the sprint exercise. These findings imply that sprint exercise behave as a leptin mimetic and could be used to stimulate the leptin signaling pathways in human skeletal muscle. This opens the possibility of using sprint exercise to circumvent leptin resistance in obese humans and may lead to increased leptin sensitivity. We provide some evidence to support that the effects of sprint exercise on ERK, STAT3, STAT5, and SOCS3 are not mediated by changes in either serum leptin or IL-6 concentrations, while the expression of SOCS3 and the phosphorylation of STAT5 may have been induced by GH. Importantly, we showed that glucose ingestion 1 h prior to the sprint exercise abolishes or delays some of the exercise-elicited signaling responses, implying that the adaptative responses to sprint exercise training may be modulated by the postabsorp- tive state.

Read more...

I have not digested the whole study as of yet, but if sprinting is effective in triggering leptin the door is open for research on humans using any type of high intensity, short duration activity/exercise. Of course this feeds into the idealogy of OUR TRAINING REGIME!

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdaavidmarcon.com

An Immune System Trained to Kill Cancer

2011-09-15T17:30:00.006-04:00

Doctors removed a billion of his T-cells — a type of white blood cell that fights viruses and tumors — and gave them new genes that would program the cells to attack his cancer. Then the altered cells were dripped back into Mr. Ludwig’s veins.

"At first, nothing happened. But after 10 days, hell broke loose in his hospital room. He began shaking with chills. His temperature shot up. His blood pressure shot down. He became so ill that doctors moved him into intensive care and warned that he might die. His family gathered at the hospital, fearing the worst.

A few weeks later, the fevers were gone. And so was the leukemia."

Read More...

I started reading this article because I thought the title was a little redundant. "Of course the immune system is supposed to kill cancer!" But this was a fascinating look into genetic engineering and the possiblities that lie ahead for cancer patients.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, OH
www.drdavidmarcon.com

New York man sues White Castle saying booths too small

2011-09-13T14:24:00.009-04:00

Being 6 ft tall and weighing 290 lbs wasn't embarrassing enough for Martin Kessman He is suing White Castle's for his embarrassment that occurred when he could not fit in a booth at one of the chains franchises in New York.

Personally,everyone deserves to have ample seating but at what point does Martin realize that he is disabled by his own choices and that serious lifestyle changes have to take place. One of those changes would be to not eat a White Castle's or any other fast food restaurant.

It would have been mortifying if this happened to me but I think I would have been more upset with myself not projecting my anger at the restaurant.

As a responsible business, White Castle is remodeling the franchise and increasing the booth dimensions. Not really what Martin needed, just what he wanted.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Study Is Ended as a Stent Fails to Stop Strokes

2011-09-09T12:05:00.009-04:00

"A promising but expensive device to prop open blocked arteries in the brain in the hope of preventing disabling or fatal strokes failed in a rigorous study, researchers reported on Wednesday. Those who got the device actually had so many more strokes than those assigned to control risk factors, like blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, that the study was abruptly terminated."

Read More...

Once again medicine is asked to prove the efficacy of one of its procedures and again the procedure is found to lethal! This is sadly the norm and the sooner the public becomes aware of the failures of invasive allopathic procedures (especially Cardiology)the faster we can all focus ourselves on lifestyle changes that actually improve health and vitality.

Please read or re-read the Newsweek article so you can comprehend the short comings of modern medicine; this is real and deadly.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

NJ Woman Attempting to Become World's Fattest Woman

2011-09-07T12:55:00.009-04:00

I am all for being goal oriented and striving to the be the best but this is very sad.

"A 600 pound New Jersey woman is determined to become the heaviest woman alive.

Donna Simpson is currently the fattest mother alive but she says that isn't good enough.

She's the 43rd heaviest living woman on record, and she's shooting to be number one.

The goal is to reach over 1000 pounds.

And to reach her goal, she's eating loads of junk food and trying to move as little as possible."

Pricey Nuvigil competes with coffee—and has a lot more side effects

2011-09-07T12:29:00.010-04:00

"Roger Greer, a 45-year-old water treatment plant worker from Coatesville, Pa., was surfing the Internet when he discovered that his constant fatigue had a medical name: shift work sleep disorder. The starting time of Greer’s job rotates weekly, leaving him sleepy on the job and ornery at home. The website had an ad suggesting he ask his doctor if an alertness pill made by Cephalon (CEPH), called Nuvigil, is right for him. A year later, “I don’t have those sleepy moments,” says Greer. “Now at 3 in the morning, the absolute worst time for anybody, I no longer have the fear of missing something here at work.”

Workers like Greer are prime targets for a Cephalon marketing campaign—on the Internet and radio, in doctors’ offices, and at community meetings—that aims to educate America’s 15 million shift workers about the disorder. For the drugmaker, it’s a way to build brand recognition and sales for Nuvigil, a newer version of its blockbuster narcolepsy drug, Provigil, which loses patent protection next year. But the campaign has sparked concern by some doctors about whether a pharmaceutical solution is the best way to stay alert on the job. Nuvigil hasn’t been proved more effective than coffee, is classified as possibly addictive, and carries side effects that can be fatal, according to the drug’s label."

The per-pill cost of Nuvigil is six times the cost of a medium Starbucks coffee D. Hurst/Alamy

Read More...

As stated in the body of the Bloomberg Article, Nuvigil is a new version of a narcolepsy drug, Provigil, which loses patent protection next year. So we can see why there is a big push to find a new and bigger audience for this drug. Make no mistake, shift work is life shortening because of its effect on sleep cycles. But does the risk/reward of Nuvigil make sense?

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
wwww.drdavidmarcon.com

As Sports Medicine Surges, Hope and Hype Outpace Proven Treatments

2011-09-06T13:09:00.007-04:00

"The result is therapies that are unproven, possibly worthless or even harmful. There is surgery, like a popular operation that shaves the hip bone to prevent arthritis, that may not work. There are treatments, like steroid injections for injured tendons or taping a sprained ankle, that can slow the healing process. And there are fads, like one of Ms. Basle’s treatments, P.R.P., that soar in popularity while experts debate whether they help."

"All this leads Dr. Andrew Green, a shoulder orthopedist at Brown University, to ask, “Is sports medicine a science, something that really pays attention to evidence? Or is it a boutique industry where you have a product and sell it?”

“For a lot of people it is a boutique business,” he said. “But are you still a doctor if you do that?”

Read More...

This article in yesterday's New York Times has the same tone as the Newsweek article I posted previously. The overwhelming criteria for new treatments, drugs, etc. is being pushed by patients and their desire for instant relief without lifestyle changes. It is hard not to fall into this mindset since everything else in this world seems to be a pill or treatment away.

Mother Nature eventually wins so why not play by her rules to begin with.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Is Sea Salt any Healthier than Table Salt?

2011-09-01T20:34:00.006-04:00

Just today a patient brought in a jar of almonds called MARCONA Almonds which contained sea salt. This got me thinking, is sea salt actually healthier than regular salt or is it all hype? I happened across this blog piece in the NY Times that gives a great synopsis.
Table salt comes from underground salt deposits. Companies that sell it typically add an anti-caking agent to keep it from clumping, as well as iodine, an essential nutrient. During processing, table salt is stripped of many of its natural minerals.

Sea salt, on the other hand, is made from evaporated seawater. With little processing, it retains most of its magnesium, calcium and other minerals, which some cooks say give it a better flavor.

But both contain the same amount of sodium chloride by weight, which means they contribute equally to total sodium consumption and have the same effect on blood pressure.

I have really gotten to a point where salty food is unappetizing so I am really not a good judge on the taste difference between Sea Salt and Table Salt. Either way as the piece states when it comes to heart health salt is salt.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Exercise to activate the core

2011-09-01T08:37:00.007-04:00

"In conclusion, to enhance neuromuscular activation of the superficial core muscles, standing exercises should be used instead of seated exercises, and unilateral exercises should be used instead of bilateral exercises."

Read the Abstract: European Journal of Applied Physiology

Six packs (the abdominal type) are very much "IN". I actually heard a group of tween girls saying that some boy would be even better looking if he had a six-pack? There is no shortage of books, ebooks, infomercials,etc that claim to hold the secret to a slimmer waist and six-pack abs. The truth is everyone has a six pack! What do you think allows you to exist in an upright posture, walk, bend-over, etc... The issue isn't as much building muscle but shedding the fat so you can see them.
Firming up the core muscles (abdominal, obliques, glutes) is important for joint stability including the back and hips. In his book Ultimate Back Fitness And Performance,4th Ed. Stuart McGill, PhD reports that amnesic butt muscles are the key deficiency causing the growing number hip, knee and back surgeries. The primary cause being our Sedentary lifestyles.
How do we go about strengthening our Core? Sit-ups? Nope, even the military has seen the light and eliminated sit-ups from physical training. Should we use a Swiss ball? The only advantage of any implement is diversity which for some increases consistency. Otherwise, bending the spine forward actually increases risk of back pain and doesn't functionally work the core muscles.
There are many ways to increase the strength of the core but as the study found, standing, unilateral movements activated more core musculature than seated and bilateral movements.

I personally have found that resistance training in a slow deliberate manner requires a great amount of core activation. I rarely do any abdominal work but frequently have soreness after my regular training sessions.
To visualize my six-pack or eight pack, my body fat must be 10% or below. To attain that level of BF you must diet.
So, in our quest for the perfect body we can at least cut down or eliminate abdominal exercises from the to-do list.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Self Experiment: Work Smarter Not Harder!

2011-08-29T11:31:00.006-04:00

In the true spirit of "put your money where your mouth is"I have decided to compete in another masters bodybuilding competition. Some will recall that 3 years ago I competed in the Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding show in the Masters +40 division. I lost over 50 lbs. and 14% body fat over a 5 month period. It was hard juggling the workouts, eating, practice and family matters but it was very satisfying to see the end results. Many told me I looked tired and sick in the last 4-6 wks. and in retrospect it was due to over-training.

From this experience I became interested in finding the most efficient form or resistance exercise to not only free up my personal time but to improve my health and well-being (I may have lost alot of fat but I was in pain and chronically tired).
My new goal with this competition is to get even leaner but maintain more muscle while working out 1 hour per week. The standard amount of resistance and cardio training is obviously much greater, but I do believe an hour if done with enough intensity is enough stimulation to produce muscle gains without decompensating.

My current workout plan is to work legs:quads,calves and abs once per week. I have been alternating every two weeks Chest, Shoulders and triceps with Back and biceps. Each workout is about 20 minutes in duration.

Here is the breakdown:
Legs/Calves
Legs: Leg Extension 12-20 reps; 8 to 10 seconds per repetition
Leg Press 12-20 reps; 8 to 10 seconds per rep
Standing Calf Raises 12- 20 reps holding at top for 3 seconds

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Incline dumbbell fly 6-10 reps
Smith Machine Incline 6-10 reps
Machine Chest Press 6-10 reps
Lateral fly/shoulders 6-10 reps (single arm)
Military Press 6-10 reps
Tricep Pushdowns 6-10 reps
Dips 3-5 reps

Back/Biceps
Pull overs 6-10 reps
Pull-downs supinated grip 6-10 reps
Deadlift 6-10 reps
Preacher Curl 6-10 reps
Concentration Curl 6-10 reps.

All sets are done to failure with minimal rest in between exercises. I have tried to go from exercise to exercise with no rest but my form suffered so much I decided that a minute or two to compose myself was not going to adversely effect my training especially since I workout by myself and don't get the benefit of assisted repititions.

I have 2 months before the contest and hope to post some pictures to show the outcome of my experiment.

Dr. Charles C. Edwards, Influential F.D.A. Commissioner, Dies at 87

2011-08-29T10:14:00.003-04:00

By the early 1970s, public alarm over health threats had prompted Congress to pass a barrage of laws requiring the government to ride closer herd on the multibillion-dollar food and drug industries. Dr. Charles C. Edwards, as head of the Food and Drug Administration, led the regulatory charge.

One Word That Will Save Your Life

2011-08-17T17:35:00.009-04:00

We get a lot of magazines at the office, many of which I never even flip the cover open. But, I happened to see the mail two days ago and the Cover Story of Newsweek: "One Word That Will Save Your Life". Sharon Begley wrote a very interesting piece showing how new research on standard Medical tests and treatments reveals the dangers involved in over utilization.

The dilemma, say a growing number of physicians and expert medical panels, is that some of this same health care that helps certain patients can, when offered to everyone else, be useless or even detrimental. Some of the most disturbing examples involve cardiology.

<Last year the American College of Physicians warned that “routine imaging [for low back pain] is not associated with clinically meaningful benefits but can lead to harms.” That’s because the “abnormalities” seen in an MRI often have nothing to do with the back pain (people without pain have them, too), but seeing something on a scan makes a physician feel compelled to get rid of it.

Many doctors don’t seem to be getting the message about useless and harmful health care. Medicare pays them more than $100 million a year for screening colonoscopies; some 40 percent are for people in whom they will almost certainly harm more than help. Arthroscopic knee surgery for osteoarthritis is performed about 650,000 times a year; studies show that it, too, is no more effective than placebo treatment, yet taxpayers and private insurers pay for it. And although several large studies, including the Occluded Artery Trial in 2006, have shown that inserting a stent to prop open a blocked artery more than 24 hours after a heart attack does not improve survival rates or reduce the risk of another coronary compared with drugs alone, the practice continues at a rate of 100,000 such procedures a year, estimate researchers led by Dr. Judith Hochman, a cardiologist at New York University. “We’re killing more people than we’re saving with these procedures,” says UT’s Goodwin. “It’s as simple as that.”

I suggest every person who truly values their health should read this article. It will give you a better perspective on Medical Care and hopefully drive you to do more preventive care, such as diet & exercise, before turning to high risk procedures.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Prayers for Sgt Ron Schaeper

2011-08-17T16:37:00.003-04:00

I just found out that Anderson Township resident and patient, Cincinnati Police Sgt. Ron Schaeper was involved in an auto accident Tuesday morning on Columbia Parkway. Sgt. Schaeper's injuries are very serious and your thoughts and prayers are needed by his wife and two children.

Dr. David Marcon

Which Is Better D2 or D3?

2011-08-10T16:04:00.004-04:00

Traditionally, oral formulations of vitamin D2 and D3 have long been regarded as equivalent in their clinical activity. However, studies indicate that ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) is much less potent and has a shorter duration of action than cholecalcifero

Armas and colleagues[11] administered single oral doses of 50,000 IU of the respective vitamin D preparations to 20 healthy male volunteers, and followed the time course of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels over a period of 28 days. A pharmacokinetic analysis was also done. Both ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol produced similar initial increases in serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D over the first 3 days, indicating equivalent absorption. However, levels continued to increase with cholecalciferol and peaked at day 14, whereas levels decreased rapidly with ergocalciferol and were no different from baseline at day 14. The investigators concluded that ergocalciferol potency is less than 30% of that of cholecalciferol and that it has a markedly shorter duration of action.

Read the Full Article: Medscape Today News

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
wwww.drdavidmarcon.com

Woman Dies After Triathalon

2011-08-08T13:17:00.007-04:00

I will continue to present the down side of cardiovascular prioritized exercise until it finally sinks in that at minimum its importance has been over emphasized and at worst it reduces the lifespan of its over zealous participants.
This weekend two participants of the New York City Triathlon, an Olympic distance Triathlon, were pronounced dead from cardiac arrest. A 64 year old man and a 40 year old woman. The tragedy underscores the dangers of extensive cardiovascular activity and the lack of recuperation that these individuals give their bodies.
Thank goodness cardiac arrest is not as rampant as degenerative knees and hips are to runners. A recent Informational article in Cincinnati Magazine stated that younger, active people are requiring hip and knee replacement surgery. I'll bet my last dollar they are not lifting weights and doing sprints. The fact that despite the incidence of the degenerative changes presented in younger and presumed healthier people, the Experts are still emphasizing cardiovascular fitness! Talk about job security.
The only thing that seperates man from beast is intellect. It is about time we start working smarter not harder.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Healthy Eating a Privillage of the Rich?

2011-08-04T09:58:00.005-04:00

SEATTLE (AP) - A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

A update of what used to be known as a food pyramid in 2010 had called on Americans to eat more foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D and calcium. But if they did that, the journal Health Affairs said, they would add hundreds more dollars to their annual grocery bill.

Inexpensive ways to add these nutrients to a person's diet include potatoes and beans for potassium and dietary fiber. But the study found introducing more potassium in a diet is likely to add $380 per year to the average consumer's food costs, said lead researcher Pablo Monsivais, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and the School of Public Health at the University of Washington.

Personally,I think the study is more than a little flawed and possibly biased as it clearly is directed to those under some form of government entitlement program and the Government food pyramid is mostly billboard space available to the highest bidders. But, if we put that bit aside I think that 31.66 per month of additional spending is not much if it improves our health, lowers our drug use, and increases quality and length of life.
If you are on a budget what would you consider sacrificing in order to feed your family more nutritiously? Cable TV is on average $45 per month; One meal at a casual dining establishment like Olive Garden or La Rosa's would cost a family of four at least $31 and Fast food is not that much cheaper. What about some of the junk food we would cut out of our grocery budget? Let's not forget our sin items: cigs, sodas and alcohol. Cutting out a pack or so a week couldn't hurt our health, water is much cheaper than soda and alcohol despite the resveratrol in both wine and beer is still empty calories and not part of a healthy diet.

Good Nutrition should be a priority in EVERY household regardless of socioeconomic. The difference in quality will always be based upon budgets, education and priorities but making a conscious effort to make good choices is the meat of the issue.

Work Smarter Not Harder!
David Marcon, DC
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Diet soda and weight gain: The connection may be, in a way, what you think

2011-07-03T10:55:00.003-04:00

Mattes has studied how artificial sweeteners affect appetite and food intake. He believes that many studies reporting a link between diet soda and weight gain are actually hitting on a behavioral phenomenon—people think they can eat more calories because they’ve swapped their regular soda for a Coke Zero.

Study co-author Sharon Fowler, an epidemiologist, agrees – to a point. Yes, the diet drink association is partly psychological, she says, but she also believes there could be physiological explanations for why chemicals in diet sodas could lead to weight gain.

In rodent studies, researchers have observed artificial sweeteners stimulating cells in the pancreas to change insulin secretion, altering the pH in the gut, and affecting hunger-regulating cells in the brain. Fowler and colleagues also reported this week that diabetes-prone mice exposed to aspartame for three months had higher blood-sugar levels than those not exposed at all.

Full Article: LA Times
Moral to the story: Diet soft drinks may be OK occasionally but for the "Health of it" stick to water>

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

The Fountain of Youth Was Found in 2007!

2011-07-03T09:00:00.006-04:00

I remembered reading about this study in Doug McGuff's book "Body By Science". This article "Fountain of Youth" also written by Dr. McGuff puts the 2007 study in perspective with all the other scientific theories to attaining health and youth.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Ease office neck pain with two minutes of daily exercise

2011-06-30T08:00:00.011-04:00

A new study presented at the World Congress of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in Denver found that office workers doing two minutes of exercise a day reported lower levels of neck and shoulder pain after 10 weeks.

Here a few things that I took away from this piece:

1. Two minutes of resistance exercise reduced perception of pain in the neck/upper back in office workers as much as twelve minutes of the same resistance exercise. Therefore, more exercise is not necessarily better.

2. The reduction in pain perceived by the office workers was only 1.4 on a 10 point scale. This is not enough improvement to stimulate office workers to continue the exercise plan despite the mere 2 minutes a day. In our microwave society, changes have to be more dramatic to entice the masses to consistently do anything.

3. When determining a set of symptoms is musculo-skeletal, and more importantly related to reduced muscle tone, muscular endurance is the antidote. Developing muscular endurance is best served with daily exercise.

When diagnosing the root cause of any set of symptoms, it is extremely important to understand that pain is a small part of the equation. In office workers it would be very important to determine if the condition is predominantly mechanical or are there co founding issues that preclude the body from functioning on a high level. Diet, Sleep, Drug regimen-most Americans are taking an average of 2 prescriptions as well as Over-the-Counter medications. These and many more scenarios relate to accumulation of inflammation and the inability of the body to heal itself which can contribute to joint pain and discomfort.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Where Sit Happens!

2011-06-28T08:57:00.006-04:00

Unscientific yet pertinent piece in Men's Health regarding the amount of time spent sitting and its relationship to disease occurrences.

"...We looked at where and how often people exercise (Experian Marketing Services); the percentage of households that watch more than 15 hours of cable a week and buy more than 11 video games a year (Mediamark Research); and the rate of deaths from deep-vein thrombosis, a condition linked to a lot of sitting (CDC). And since some people define "exercise" loosely, we gave credit for any physical activity in the past month (CDC)."

Least active
100 Lexington, KY F
99 Indianapolis, IN F
98 Jackson, MS F
97 Charleston, WV F
96 Oklahoma City, OK F
95 Tulsa, OK F
94 Little Rock, AR F
93 Nashville, TN F
92 Laredo, TX F
91 Birmingham, AL F

Most active
10 Minneapolis, MN A-
9 Denver, CO A-
8 Atlanta, GA A-
7 Portland, ME A-
6 Reno, NV A-
5 Salt Lake City, UT A-
4 Washington, DC A
3 Oakland, CA A
2 San Francisco, CA A+
1 Seattle, WA A+

For the record, Cincinnati was rated 76th good for a grade of D

Dr David Marcon
Working Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

Why Being Thin Doesn't Always Mean Being Healthy

2011-06-27T11:24:00.006-04:00

But a new study hints that being lean doesn't get you entirely off the health hook either. In a genetic analysis involving more than 75,000 people, an international group of scientists led by Ruth Loos at the Medical Research Council in the U.K. found that lean people with a specific genetic variant were at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease despite their lower body fat.

The key, say the scientists, is to focus on not just the amount of fat, but the type of fat that you might have. A growing body of evidence shows that fat deposited just under the skin doesn't contribute that much to the development of metabolic disorders such as diabetes or heart problems. But fat accumulated in deeper tissues and organs, within muscle and embedded in organs like the liver, for example, can put you at greater risk of these diseases. And that goes for lean people too: they might not have much visible fat under the skin, but may be sequestering so-called visceral fat inside their body.

Read more: Heartland.Time.com

More References to this Topic:
Gene That Keeps You Thin May Raise Risk Of Heart Disease And Diabetes

As an aside, don't feel doomed if you possess this gene since 2/3 of the population is in the same situation. The truth that should be taken from this study is that being thin is not a recipe unto itself for health. This has been known for years without this research.

JAMA. 2005 Apr 20;293(15):1861-7.
Excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity.
Flegal KM, Graubard BI, Williamson DF, Gail MH.
National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Md 20782, USA. kflegal@cdc.gov
RESULT.
Overweight was not associated with excess mortality (-86,094 deaths; 95% CI, -161,223 to -10,966). That is, Overweight individuals LIVED LONGER than normal weight persons!
Check for yourself on Pubmed. This study has been widely ignored by the medical establishment.

Incidentally the "low weight" individuals were not better off than the obese!

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

2011-06-25T10:58:00.007-04:00

Recently started dieting for The Cincinnati Monster Mash. For me, the preparation and physical changes are the exciting part. I also have the desire to prove to myself that training is the easiest and lesser of part of preparing for a contest. Although I have modified my training slightly, for the last 2 years I have trained my whole body once every 6-7 days using the principles of super slow. In this protocol I lifted the weight (positive movement)in 5-10 seconds and lowered the weight (negative movement) in 10 seconds. My strength gains were steady and can honestly say that I was capable of maintaining a body weight of 195-200 lbs.. The modifications to the training are being implement to build muscle with a slightly greater metabolic involvement. I will change the rep speed to 3-4; the old nautilus protocol. I will also workout 3x/week separating push, pull and legs into 30 minute sessions with again only one set per exercise. In the two workouts since the change I have done 3-4 exercises for major body parts and 2-3 on smaller muscles. Neither workout last 30 minutes and I was sufficiently tired and pumped to the max. Post workout soreness is more evident, but that was to be expected with the changes.

This video is a good representation of how to properly lift.

As an aside, I was stopped yesterday by a guy in the gym who said He had been watching me for a few weeks and never saw anyone lift with so much discipline. He went on to compliment on how slow and precise I made each rep in each exercise. Talk about ego boost! When first started lifting in this manner I was very self conscious because the weights were not as heavy as I used to lift.

I hope to put more pictures and updates on my little experiment. I recently had my body fat and diet analyzed by Dave Pertuset at Wiefit in Newport Kentucky and I have to say eating more has made a big difference in just the last 4 days. My waist is already down an inch and I am having no trouble eating the 6 times a day; except for the cooking and cleaning part.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, OH
www.drdavidmarcon.com

With Botox, Looking Good and Feeling Less

2011-06-19T08:32:00.004-04:00

This bit of research,recently reported in the New York Times is fascinating. Although the headline has Botox in it, the real issue is that Botox precludes the user of full control of facial muscles and thus facial expressions. This little fact has been exploited by many comedians, but what is being study here is how the lack of facial expressions can inhibit the person from determining the mood of others. Botox, though toxic on some levels, is not effecting the brain directly but in an indirect manner.

The toxin might interfere with “embodied cognition,” the way in which facial feedback helps people perceive emotion. According to the theory in the study, a listener unconsciously imitates another person’s expression. This mimicry then generates a signal from the person’s face to his or her brain. Finally, the signal enables the listener to understand the other person’s meaning or intention.

So, if someone you know has had Botox injections and you perceive them as aloof it may not be their attitude but literally the Botox.

Another reason not to fool with Mother Nature.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Duke University endorses Chiropractic Care for Headaches

2011-06-16T17:09:00.010-04:00

Duke University Headache's & Chiropractic

Chiropractic Deemed An Effective Treatment for Cervicogenic Headaches

In a large study conducted in 2001 by Duke University's Evidence-Based Practice Center for Clinical Health Policy Research

a goal was set to identify and summarize from controlled trials, the efficacy of behavioral and physical treatments for tension-type and cervicogenic headaches.

Different studies from everything from traditional medical intervention, to acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, relaxation techniques and biofeedback were looked at.

Amongst many of the conclusions, the study summarized that: "If effective and available, non-drug treatments may be the first choice for most patients and may also be well suited for the significant minority of patients who: (a) have poor tolerance of pharmacological treatments; (b) have medical contraindications for pharmacological treatments; (c) experience insufficient relief from, or are unresponsive to, pharmacological treatment; (d) wish to become pregnant (or are nursing); (e) have a history of long-term, frequent, or excessive use of analgesic or abortive medications that can aggravate headache problems; or (f) simply prefer to avoid medication use".

Conclusions With Regard to Chiropractic:

Cervical manipulation was associated with significant improvements in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache.

Adverse effects are uncommon with manipulation, and this may be one of its appeals over drug treatment.

Manipulation is effective in patients with cervicogenic headaches...

Dr David Marcon
Working Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Chocolate Milk: Super Food or Poser?

2011-06-13T16:32:00.004-04:00

Eight years ago while attending a strength coaches clinic at Moellor High School I heard current Kentucky Assistant Strength Coach, Ted Lambrinides say chocolate milk was the best post workout/recovery drink. Eight years later, I still think drinking milk is absurd and adding chocolate doesn't make it any better.
In his blog piece: Flavored Milk: Super food or Soda in Drag? Andy Bellatti, MS tears apart the myth and media surrounding milk as the "super food".

Most perplexing however, is how a beverage made with added sugar (which are empty calories, providing absolutely no nutrition) can somehow be touted as a powerful weight-loss tool. Three eight-ounce servings of chocolate milk–an amount that meets the suggested amount of daily dairy servings–contribute 36 grams of added sugar. That’s four grams shy of a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola,and as much added sugar as 12 Dunkin’ Donuts cinnamon cake Munchkins (donut holes). Plain and simple, you’re looking at 144 empty calories.

Dr David Marcon
Working Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Exercise Improves Quality of Life for the Blind

2011-06-13T07:59:00.004-04:00

Imagine being afraid of doing anything out of your comfort zone because you cannot see. Experts say many in the blind community take the safe way out when it comes to exercise. But a local fitness program is these breaking barriers, allowing the visually impaired to get fit without worry.

How many Non-disabled Americans feel unsure about exercise? Teaching exercise protocols to maximize time and effort is the goal of Marcon Chiropractic and Wellness Center.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smater Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Extracting the facts about pomegranate pills

2011-06-12T09:30:00.004-04:00

"If people want to take them, that's fine, but it's not based on any scientifically valid information," says Harold, who is also a spokesman for the American Heart Assn. (The AHA does not take positions on individual commercial products.)

For close to a decade now, Pom Wonderful has touted what it claims are the fruit's scientifically proven health benefits. The Los Angeles-based company has invested $34 million in pomegranate research, including studies on the fruit's ability to improve cardiovascular and prostate health and erectile dysfunction.

That marketing approach captured the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. Last year, the agency filed a complaint against the company for "making false and unsubstantiated claims that their products will prevent or treat heart

You can probably put resveratrol, acai and a host of other natural miracle cures on the list of "over stated" health benefits. It is not ironic that all of these products are contained in simple carbohydrates and taste sweet.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

The Poster Plant of Health Food Can Pack Disease Risks

2011-06-11T19:00:00.005-04:00

This year, at least two American growers have recalled sprouts contaminated with salmonella, and outbreaks of illness from tainted sprouts have occurred so often in the United States that health investigators have a special name for them: sproutbreaks.

Many sprout growers try to kill pathogens by soaking their seeds before germination in a concentrated chlorine solution, similar to but much stronger than the disinfectant used in swimming pools. While the Food and Drug Administration recommends a sanitizing step like the chlorine treatment, it does not require it and some growers skip it or use less stringent methods.

New York Times

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Government Says 2 Common Materials Pose Risk of Cancer

2011-06-11T18:52:00.005-04:00

The government issued warnings on Friday about two materials used daily by millions of Americans, saying that one causes cancer and the other might.
Government scientists listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen, and said it is found in worrisome quantities in plywood, particle board, mortuaries and hair salons. They also said that styrene, which is used in boats, bathtubs and in disposable foam plastic cups and plates, may cause cancer but is generally found in such low levels in consumer products that risks are low.

New York Times

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Muscle and Fitness Training Optimization: Exerbotics

2011-06-09T17:14:00.004-04:00

I have the seen the future of resistance training and it is called Exerbotics!

There is nothing you can honestly compare this equipment to.
There are no weight stacks, computer screens that document every second of the movement as well as give real time feedback of the amount of force you are generating. The real benefit of the Exerbotics is that when you lift free weights and selectorized weight machines you are limited by the weakest part of your strength curve or what is called the sticking point. For the bench press the hardest parts of the lift are at the chest and at the end of the movement or lock out. The weight you train with must be at one that you can move thru the sticking points or the lift is done. But as demonstrated on the video from David Barr of Muscle & Fitness, this means that all other parts of the movement are done at weight well below maximum effort. With Exerbotics, there are no sticking points. The computer will allow you to maximize the amount of weight for each part of the strength curve. It also increases the weight on the negative portion of the movement which again increases the intensity generated. With a default protocol of 3 seconds positive and 4 seconds negative very few individuals can lift 70-80% of their max effort for more than 5 repetitions! For elderly, infirmed or untrained individuals this means max force generation with much less metabolic output. For power and physique builders this could reduce volume of training reducing not only time spent in the gym put reduced stress on the joints.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Diagnosing Shoulder Instability

2011-06-04T11:09:00.009-04:00

Shoulder problems can manifest themselves in many different pain patterns.
They also can create abberant movement patterns that can create secondary issues. Some clients with shoulder instability will have difficulty maintaining proper lifting posture not only reducing their power output, increasing pain but also creating multi joint issues.

San Francisco CrossFit has a great video explaining the effects of shoulder instability in push movements and demonstrates some easy solutions.
As always, when training a weak or injured joint the best results come from slow, light and pain free movements before graduating to high velocity/greater force movements. Also, daily initiation of stability exercises produce the best results in inroading these new movement patterns.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Company says caffeine pants can help you lose weight

2011-05-27T16:57:00.009-04:00

Lytess is making caffeine pants. The leggings are lined with caffeine patches and shea butter. The maker says that caffeine in the pants increases metabolism that can lead to weight loss.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio

Genetically Modified Food is Everywhere; Even at Whole Foods Market!

2011-05-26T19:02:00.007-04:00

"No one would guess that there are genetically engineered foods right here in Whole Foods," said Alexis Baden-Mayer, political director of the Organic Consumers Association, which organized the protest. The activists dramatically trashed a battery of well-known health food brands outside the store, including Tofutti, Kashi and Boca Burgers.

LA Times

Sorry, I never considered Tofutti, Kashi or Boca Burgers as real food. But this is a very serious issue. The government naively/unscrupulously believes feed GMO's to livestock is not harmful to humans.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

High Intensity Interval Training: Same Muscle Adaptations in Less Time

2011-05-26T15:11:00.012-04:00

Previous low-volume HIT studies have utilized all-out exercise intervals on a specialized cycle ergometer and our findings are unique in that the HIT protocol was designed to be more practical and attainable for the general population.

Six sessions of eight to twelve 60 s constant load intervals, completed in ~18–26 min per session and requiring ~1 h of total exercise time commitment per week resulted in significant improvements in functional exercise performance and skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis.

The Journal of Physiology

I recently had the opportunity to try out the Power Max 360. 3-5 twenty second intervals utilizing the Power Max will increase heart rate, improve muscular endurance, stiffen the core stabilizers and provide high velocity strength adapatations which are particularly useful in athletic performance.

If you would like to know more about the equipment and live in the Cincinnati area, contact my good friend Joe Bonin

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Ford Heart Rate Monitoring Seat; Health & Wellness or Distraction

2011-05-24T07:47:00.009-04:00

Ford researchers have developed a heart rate monitoring seat with electrode sensing technology that can check a driver’s heart activity
The seat, a joint project between the Ford European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, fits within Ford’s portfolio of possible in-car health and wellness solutions aimed at helping people with chronic illnesses or medical disorders manage their condition while on the go

MEDIA.FORD.COM

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

McDonald's Under Pressure to Fire Ronald McDonald

2011-05-23T21:35:00.004-04:00

More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald.

Wall Street Journal

Dr. David Marcon
Working Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Egyptian Mummy's Curse: Oldest Heart Disease Case

2011-05-22T20:45:00.020-04:00

An ancient Egyptian princess would have needed bypass surgery if she'd lived today, according to researchers who examined the mummy and found blocked arteries in her heart in what's now the oldest case of human heart disease.

And she wasn't the only one: An investigation of 44 mummies revealed that nearly half had evidence of calcification in their arteries, or atherosclerosis. This calcification happens when fatty material accumulates inside arteries, eventually hardening into plaques. If the plaques block the arteries, they can cause heart attacks. If they break off and lodge in smaller blood vessels, the result can be a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism (a blockage of arteries in the lungs).

"Overall, it was striking how much atherosclerosis we found," study researcher Gregory Thomas of the University of California, Irvine, said in a statement. "We think of atherosclerosis as a disease of modern lifestyle, but it's clear that it also existed 3,500 years ago. Our findings certainly call into question the perception of atherosclerosis as a modern disease."

I love the dismay of those who still hold to the notion that grains should by a staple in a healthy diet. How could these Egyptians have arterial blockage this bad if they are eating a diet Doctors are recommending to reduce Heart Disease?

The Egyptians ate a lot of breads and cereals and very little beef.

Agriculture existed from an early date in Egypt. For the common people of Egypt, cereal foods formed the main backbone of their diet from the predynastic period onward Even for the rich, this staple mean generally consisted of a variety of different breads, often with other ingredients mixed in

Fact: we know Egyptians of all status eat breads and cereals.

Fact: they did not use sea salt and only used salt from the Siwa Oasis which is very remote and only recently has it become accessible.

Fact: only the rich ate beef on a regular basis along with some fish and fowl.

Fact: the common beverage was beer made from wheat; wine was more costly and consumed less frequently by the average Egyptian.

Fact: There is little text to support daily consumption of butter, cheese and other dairy products. Scenes portrayed in Theban Tombs depict a woman pulling what is believed to be cheese from a container. With oils readily available it is unlikely that butter was a staple in the making of the bread.

Draw your own conclusions, but it seems pretty obvious what the Egyptians and Americans had in common; Breads, Cereals and Heart Disease.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Metabolic Shift: Why Fat is the Body's Preferred Fuel

2011-05-21T08:20:00.002-04:00

Good Post by Mark Sisson at Mark's Daily Apple. Fat doesn't make you fat but excessive carbohydrates certainly will.

A Metabolic Paradigm Shift, or Why Fat is the Preferred Fuel for Human Metabolism

Obese Less Capable of Muscular Development

2011-05-20T06:16:00.007-04:00

This research is only scratching the surface when it comes to combating obesity, but it does shed light on an area that is confounding. The inability to produce adequate muscle to support the body weight is a major cause degenerative joint disease and neuro/musculoskeletal disorders. I wonder if there is some relationship between increased fat and estrogen levels inhibiting muscle development?

"Our findings demonstrate that obesity involves more than accumulating excess fat and carrying excess weight," said Rudolf J. Schilder, American Physiological Society postdoctoral fellow in physiological genomics, Penn State College of Medicine. "We show that, during the development of obesity, skeletal muscles fail to adjust their molecular composition appropriately to the increasing body weight. Consequently, the muscles of obese mammals are not properly 'tuned' to the higher body weight they carry."

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

‘Bad’ Cholesterol Not As Bad As People Think, Shows Texas A&M Study

2011-05-14T10:32:00.007-04:00

This study published in the Journal of Gerontology,is definitely going to hurt sales of lipitor...NOT! But at least it builds the body of evidence against the fallacy of Cholesterol causing Heart disease.

Steve Riechman, a researcher in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, says the study reveals that LDL is not the evil Darth Vader of health it has been made out to be in recent years and that new attitudes need to be adopted in regards to the substance.

“Our tissues need cholesterol, and LDL delivers it,” he notes. “HDL, the good cholesterol, cleans up after the repair is done. And the more LDL you have in your blood, the better you are able to build muscle during resistance training.”

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Antipsychotic Drugs Called Hazardous for the Elderly

2011-05-11T08:03:00.006-04:00

Nearly one in seven elderly nursing home residents, nearly all of them with dementia, are given powerful atypical antipsychotic drugs even though the medicines increase the risks of death and are not approved for such treatments, a government audit found.
"Mr. Levinson noted that such drugs — which include Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Abilify and Geodon — are “potentially lethal” to many of the patients getting them and that some drug manufacturers illegally marketed their medicines for these uses “putting profits before safety.”

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Walking May Help GrandPa Live Longer

2011-05-10T14:31:00.008-04:00

Effects of Walking on Mortality among Nonsmoking Retired Men

One of my favorite "Smart@ss" remarks I make to my olde patients is "if you don't keep moving they will throw dirt on top of you" Well a study down in Honolulu HI revealed that elderly men who had no physical limitations lived longer if they walked at least 2 miles a day.

"During the follow-up period, there were 208 deaths. After adjustment for age, the mortality rate among the men who walked less than 1 mile (1.6 km) per day was nearly twice that among those who walked more than 2 miles (3.2 km) per day (40.5 percent vs. 23.8 percent, P = 0.001). The cumulative incidence of death after 12 years for the most active walkers was reached in less than 7 years among the men who were least active. The distance walked remained inversely related to mortality after adjustment for overall measures of activity and other risk factors"

One point that I noticed in reading the study was that they excluded 29 men from the because they reported jogging. It would be interesting to see if they faired any better or worse than the walkers.
Additionally,I think the next study should be following elderly men who lift weights vs elderly who walk. I have blogged about the benefits of strength for those men with Hypertension.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Are You Walking Correctly?

2011-05-10T07:53:00.005-04:00

I came across this piece on Dr Phil's forum. Not the Dr Phil you are thinking about, Dr Phil Maffetone.

Is your knee fully extended before you push off and enter the swing phase? This is one of the major differences between running and walking.

As discussed in the article on gait, there’s an obvious difference between walking and proper running, especially in how the foot strikes the ground (on the heel for walkers and more forward in runners). The walking body, which always has one foot in contract with the ground, functions like an inverted pendulum, swinging along step-by-step, literally vaulting over stiff legs with locked knees. Running should not involve locking the knee, as each is always slightly flexed while the foot is on the ground. Herein lies one problem with many runners who walk, and even those who don’t run. When walking, many people keep their knee slightly flexed instead of locked. It’s as if their knee is in a running gait pattern while the rest of the body is walking. This poses a potential physical problem—stress on the knee joint and in the muscles around it.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Ohio Chiropractic Association Sues UnitedHealth Group

2011-05-09T15:42:00.011-04:00

Many patients have been denied treatment because of UHC's less than straight forward handling of claims. The OSCA Press Release in it's entirety is below.

Click on the text to enlarge

The Color of Food: Artificial vs. Natural

2011-04-29T18:54:00.012-04:00

Interesting piece in the NY Times about the use of artificial food coloring. Groups have tried unsuccessfully to get the FDA to place warnings on products that contain artificial coloring siting hyper-activity among the many possible outcomes for labeling.
What is really scary to me about artificial coloring is that a generation of Americans have grown up eating processed food with these outrageous colors. The times article speaks of side by side taste tests where the only difference in the test products is the coloring. Most choose the product with the artificial food coloring.

Without the artificial coloring FD&C Yellow No. 6, Cheetos Crunchy Cheese Flavored Snacks would look like the shriveled larvae of a large insect. Not surprisingly, in taste tests, people derived little pleasure from eating them.

Their fingers did not turn orange. And their brains did not register much cheese flavor, even though the Cheetos tasted just as they did with food coloring.

“People ranked the taste as bland and said that they weren’t much fun to eat,” said Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University and director of the university’s Food and Brand Lab

It is no mystery that we live in a visual society but has it come to the point that our sense of taste is overridden by our sense of sight? Will this lack of instinctively knowing what food is suppose to look like make it even harder to eat healthy and avoid the temptations of the Food Processing Giants and their marketeers? My own daughter won't eat Chicken off the bone but will eat Nuggets. Could texture be another issue? Every nugget looks eerily the same unlike the reality of nature.

In an effort to be unbiased I have linked to Frito-lay so you can read about their natural products and healthier choices.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
wwwdrdavidmarcon.com

Higher overall levels of sugar in the bloodstream appears to be a good predictor of death

2011-04-29T08:54:00.004-04:00

Please Read Dr. Briffa's whole column on the damage that High Blood Sugar can do.

One key factor in health, I believe, is the general level of sugar in the bloodstream. We don’t want blood sugar levels too low (this starves the cells of energy in certain circumstances and can even be fatal). We don’t want them too high either. Glucose can bind to proteins in the body and damage them. This process, known as ‘glycation’, is believed to be a major cause of the complications of diabetes including retinal disease (disease at the back of the eye that can lead to visual problems and blindness), kidney disease and nerve damage.

In addition, ‘spikes’ in blood sugar, can lead to other processes linked with disease including increased inflammation, increased ‘oxidative stress’ (free radical damage), and increased coagulation (making the blood ‘stickier’ and more likely to clot). You can read more about these issues here.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, OH
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Got High Blood Pressure? Get Off the Treadmill and Lift Weights

2011-04-27T14:26:00.028-04:00

In Hypertension, Strong Men Live Longer

"Even after controlling for cardiorespiratory fitness level and other potential confounders, men in the upper third of muscle strength were 34% less likely to die during an average follow-up of about 18 years (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.98), according to Enrique Artero, PhD, of the University of Granada in Spain, and colleagues."

"The men with the greatest reduction in mortality risk were those who had the most muscular strength and high fitness (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.82), the researchers reported in the May 3 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology."

As the study notes, these results were attributed to muscular strength above cardiorespiratory fitness.
"Although additional adjustment for cardiorespiratory fitness rendered the trend nonsignificant, men with the most muscular strength still had a significantly lower risk of death than those with the least (HR 0.66)."

Another feather in the cap of muscle heads everywhere. I am thinking most of the men in the study were trained at sub maximal levels. Can the results be even better if training intensity was greater? Either way, cardiac rehab could learn from this study and have those patients back off on the Cardio and start hitting the weights!

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter, Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

A Fight Over How Drugs Are Pitched

2011-04-25T15:15:00.009-04:00

Before pharmaceutical company marketers call on a doctor, they do their homework. These salespeople typically pore over electronic profiles bought from data brokers, dossiers that detail the brands and amounts of drugs a particular doctor has prescribed. It is a marketing practice that some health care professionals have come to hate.

Drug makers spent about $6.3 billion on marketing visits to doctors in 2009 the last year that statistics were available. It makes sense to know the habits of the individuals who have the authority to dispense the medications and market them directly. But what about pitching the drugs to the general public who have no direct access to them?

A 2008 study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development, contrary to the industry’s claim.

The authors examined the 2004 reports of IMS Health (IMS) and CAM Group (CAM), two international market research companies that provide the pharmaceutical industry with sales/marketing data and consulting services. IMS obtains its data by surveying pharmaceutical firms, while CAM surveys doctors, which explains important discrepancies in the data they provide.

The researchers used 2004 as the comparison year because it was the latest year in which information was available from both organizations.

CAM reported total promotion spending by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry as US$33.5 billion in their 2004 report, while IMS reported US$27.7 billion for the same year. The authors observed, however, important differences in figures according to each promotion category. By selectively using both sets of figures provided by IMS and CAM, in order to determine the most relevant data for each category, and adjusting for methodological differences between the ways IMS and CAM collect data, the authors arrived at US$57.5 billion for the total amount spent on pharmaceutical promotion in 2004. The industry spent approximately US$61,000 in promotion per physician during 2004, according to Gagnon.

If the NY Times article estimates 6.3 billion was spent on "educating" doctors in 2009 and Gagnon approximates promotional spending at 57.5 billion in 2004; then total spent on marketing the general public has to be in the ballpark of 50 billion.

This is pretty amazing to me. I know marketing works and so do the drug companies. For every $1 spent on marketing, $4 are made.

Does drug marketing, while effective for drug companies, create a culture where health is purely an exchange of chemicals? Should the consumer demand a prescription based upon the marketing or the discretion of a trained physician? Are physicians up to the task of studying research papers to determine if a new drug is actually better than the old one or does he/she rely upon their friendly drug representative for that information?
I know where I stand on the issue, but I am not the general public on this subject. What do you think?

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter, Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

A changing Army: Ditching sit-ups after 30 years-How about you?

2011-04-23T16:43:00.015-04:00

Old habits die hard and very few organizations are more rigid and structured then the US Military. That is why the elimination of the sit-up from Physical Training is a major breakthru.

"The full sit-up goes for several physiological and safety reasons: They don’t do much to strengthen the core to translate to battle strength, and the full flex movement, the actual crunch part of the sit-up, puts an unhealthy strain on the back at its weakest point. The push-up pace increases to assess upper body endurance, and the run gets shortened to 1.5 miles to assess the anaerobic capacity needed for high-intensity bursts in the battlefield."
"This is about training smarter, not training more,">

I recommend everyone read Dr. Stuart McGill's Book "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance"

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter; Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

Lower Back Pain: Gluteus Medius Weakness

2011-04-20T15:54:00.059-04:00

Chiropractic care has historically done well in the treatment of lower back pain. But lets be honest here,one treatment miracles are few and far between. I usually tell patients after their first treatment that the true test of any modality is not how it feels right now but how it feels in 24-48 hours. Increasing joint motion and thus relieving the mechanical pain is a relatively easy task; restoring muscular balance and returning long term stability to the lower back and lower extremities is a different animal. One of the muscles that is central to many low back cases is the gluteus medius.

The gluteus medius muscle originates at the dorsal ilium below the iliac crest and inserts at the top outside surfaces of the greater trochanter. It is the major abductor of the thigh. The anterior fibres rotate the hip internally and the posterior fibres rotate externally. The muscle is innervated by the superior gluteal nerve (L4, L5, S1) and gains its blood supply via the superior gluteal artery.

When bearing weight on one leg, such as the stance phase of running or walking up steps, the normal role of gluteus medius is reversed, causing it to act as a pelvic stabilizer.

For example, when the right leg is bearing all the body's weight and the left leg is in the swing phase (in the air), the glute medius muscle contracts on the right side to slow the downward motion of the left side of the pelvis. If the gluteus medius is not functioning well enough to achieve this control, the left (unaffected) pelvis will drop and the athlete is said to have a "Trendelenburg gait".
Often, but not always, you may see the same weakness in walking (producing a waddling motion or, in extremis, a limp), and the dysfunction will then be more marked when they run.

Weakness in gluteus medius will have implications all the way down the leg to the foot.
Gluteus medius weakness allows:

• the femur to adduct and internally rotate excessively-Hip & Back pain

• the knee to fall into a valgus position-Medial Knee pain

• the tibia to rotate internally relative to the foot-Foot & Ankle Pain, Lateral shin pain

• an increase in weight transfer to the medial aspect of the foot.-Achilles tendon pain, plantar fascitis

The glute medius being less than a full participant can lead to the patient needing hip and/or knee replacement!

Spare yourself the agony and the expense by taking the time to stretch & strengthen the glute medius.

Pictured at left is one stretch that can effectively lengthen the glute medius. In a seated position place the affected leg over the unaffected leg. Gently apply pressure against the upper thigh/knee until you feel the stretch in the buttock. Hold the stretch for 10-15 seconds and repeat 3 times. I always recommend stretching both legs.

The Clamshell Exercise for External Hip Rotation

If you belong to a gym, you can use the Abduction/Adduction Machine or any cable machine with the aid of an ankle strap.

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

Would Your Exercise Choice Help You Survive a Natural Disaster?

2011-04-18T10:08:00.008-04:00

"That Paleo Guy" Jamie Scott, has first hand experience when it comes to surviving a natural disaster. In his most recent post, Survival of the Fittest, he dissects the necessary attributes for survival separating fact from fiction.

I made the comment following the initial escape from our February earthquake and in the hours and days after, that at no time did I require the ability to run at pace for hours on end... top aerobic endurance was just not a life-saving skill I required. Everything I did required a base built on strength. Yet what is the predominant mode of activity undertaken by those who want to increase their health? Aerobic endurance, closely followed, I would argue (particularly amongst women) by the perceived need to be overly flexible. If you are a bendy woman who can jog for an hour, you are considered healthy. Good luck with that if you need to out sprint an incoming wave and clamber up a bank, or pull rubble off a buried co-worker because your office has partially collapsed.

One other point made by Jamie regarding nutrition was interesting.

Ensure you are well-adapted to burning fats and can get by without suffering a carb crash every 3 hours. Best way to achieve this? You guessed it - a Paleo 2.0 diet. I found that having access to the medium chain fats of coconut cream and oil, plus the longer chain fats in meat and eggs, was plenty to get me through.

I have personally done (2) three week liver and colon cleanses from Standard Process and can attest to the fatigue, headache and general sick feeling I got about 24 hours after eliminating sugar and starch from my diet. The second cleanse done 2 years later and after a complete shift in my diet resulted in no symptoms whatsoever.
With a drop in blood sugar could you manage the mental and physical stress of a natural disaster? Let's hope we never have the experience.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

2011-04-17T14:03:00.005-04:00

Headed for GABP

Checklist
Soft sided cooler
Subway meatball foot long sub
2 Sprite
2 cookies
2 fruit pies
Total: $12.02

If you are a spots fan in Cincinnati you know of Lance Mcalister who has a very popular radio show on ESPN 1530 and 700 WLW. You may also know that in 2008 Lance flat lined at a local hospital and was outfitted with a pacemaker. Now, I will preface my remarks by saying I like Mcalister's show and I think he is a pretty good guy off the air as well as on. He is about my age-48- and does run on the treadmill per his comments on the show. My issue with Lance is generally the issue I have with most people, they eat like SHIT!

I went on Lance's popular BLOG and saw the picture of what he is bringing to the Reds game today with his young son, who by the way is a cancer survivor.
Processed pseudo food!

Look, I know this stuff is cheap but what is your health worth? Better yet, the health of your loved ones?
I don't know if Lance eats this way every day, but I bet the majority of Americans eat this stuff and worse every single day.
Better choices will lead to better overall health. You don't have to through out all the junk; maybe you keep the Subway but the cookies, pies and soda is pure trash.

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter Not Harder
Cincinnati Ohio

How Western Diets Are Making The World Sick

2011-04-16T17:58:00.007-04:00

Kevin Patterson described his experiences working as an internist-intensivist at the Canadian Combat Surgical Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"Typical Afghan civilians and soldiers would have been 140 pounds or so as adults. And when we operated on them, what we were aware of was the absence of any fat or any adipose tissue underneath the skin," Patterson says. "Of course, when we operated on Canadians or Americans or Europeans, what was normal was to have most of the organs encased in fat. It had a visceral potency to it when you could see it directly there."

In the article on NPR I believe it calls Western Obesity-Death by Affluence. Is it possible to stem the tide of consumerism?

Dr David Marcon
Work Smarter, Not Harder!
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon

Long-term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding

2011-04-16T08:53:00.011-04:00

I have no taste for either the Gastric by Pass (Roux-en-Y) or LAP Band procedures for Obese individuals. If I had to choose, on safety alone, I probably would opt for the Band. But recent studies published in the Archives in Surgery apparently defer to the permanency of the Gastric by Pass.

Himpens et al present a series of 151 patients who underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). Of these 151 patients, 82 (54.3%) were followed up for 12 years or longer. Of these 82 patients, 23 (28.0%) experienced band erosion, which was diagnosed at a mean time of 4 years, and 41 (50.0%) had their band removed. Those who still had the band in place lost 48% of their excess weight, whereas those who had their band removed (because they did not lose weight) lost only 22% of their excess weight. The number and type of comorbidities (eg, diabetes, hypertension, and sleep apnea) in this group of patients increased over time.

I can't see how by passing the duodenum and part of jejunum can be good for digestion. At least within the estimated 4 year life of the LAP Band diet and exercise habits could be modified leading to a more normal life. Isn't quality of life post operative more important than the longevity of a device? Modern disease/health care only deals with numbers which typically come back to bite them. I always find it interesting that most studies recommended longer study periods; but they never come?

To Band or to Bypass, That Is the QuestionComment on "Long-Term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding"

Bone Loss in Adolescents After Bariatric Surgery - Pediatrics

Prognosis: Study Finds Troubles With Gastric Band Surgery - New York Times

Dr. David Marcon
Work Smarter, Not Harder!
Cincinnati Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

To Band or to Bypass, That Is the Question

Low Back Pain Prevalance in other Cultures

2011-04-15T08:37:00.007-04:00

Thailand and Chad have been suggested to have much lower rates of Lower back pain than noted in other Cultures. Is there something they do culturally that reduces the percentage so drastically? Or as suggested by James Steele, is it the lack of reporting pain due to another cultural attribute; Not Complaining

I recently watched a talk by Esther Gokhale as I was asked what my thoughts on her methods were and I was unfamiliar with the concepts. In this post I won’t be discussing her methods but I will be discussing her basic premise on which she bases these methods. In the talk she claimed that low back pain prevalence in the Republic of Chad was 5% and Thailand 7%. They are really, really low rates. I was stunned.

I tend to agree with the Steele, muscle atrophy/imbalance is the the predominate factor in Lower back pain. This is especially evident in Western Culture with sedentary work force and excessive calorie consumption.

Dr David Marcon
Cincinnati Ohio

Can Wrist Size Help Predict Children's Heart Disease Risk?

2011-04-12T09:03:00.006-04:00

Interesting correlation which could dismiss the notion of "I'm not fat just big boned>" Also, being a very easily seen marker may increase diet and exercise compliance in children and young adults.

"So based on evidence that insulin has a direct effect on bone growth, Dr. Raffaella Buzzetti, an endocrinologist at University Sapienza in Rome, Italy, decided to test whether wrist circumference would be a better indicator of insulin resistance, and therefore potential heart disease, in young children. Reporting in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, Buzzetti and her team found that wrist circumference accounted for about 12% to 17% of the differences in insulin resistance among a group of nearly 500 overweight or obese school children. The thicker the children's wrists, the more likely they were to show signs of insulin resistance."

Time Magazine

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Physicians May Heal Themselves Differently.

2011-04-11T20:19:00.011-04:00

When I read this Wall Street Journal Blog title I thought there would be this scandalous discovery that Physicians don't follow the advice they give their patients or something similar. The reality is the title is more sizzling than the research discovery.

"Doctors were more likely to opt for treatments with a higher chance of death — but lower risk of serious side effects — for themselves than for their patients in a survey of 940 primary-care physicians evaluating one of two hypothetical medical scenarios."

What I gather from the article, I didn't read the study, is that without in depth personal knowledge of their patients risk tolerance and quality of life issues, doctors will more often choose treatments with less risk of mortality and slightly higher rates of complication.

Face it, it is a tough call no matter how you look at it, but having some rudimentary relationship with the doctor would seem logical.

Dr David Marcon
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Shoulder W Exercise

2011-04-11T18:32:00.010-04:00

Mike Reinold writes a physical therapy blog on which I saw the Shoulder W Exercise.
In today's culture most are sitting at a computer or behind a the wheel for a good percentage of the day. This can lead to neck, upper back and shoulder pain and all their associated issues. Strengthening the muscles which support and stablize the shoulder girdle and upper spine is by far the best solution for a potentially chronic problem.

Watch the video below and see how the scapulas are brought together while the shoulders are externally rotated working the lower portion of the trapezius muscle and the posterior members of the rotator cuff (teres minor and infraspinatus).

I tried this exercise myself and noted, as pointed out by Mike, that there is no involvement of the upper trapezius. Most rotator cuff/upper back stabilization exercises over work the already contracted upper trapezius muscle making for a very uncomfortable movement and lead to poor compliance.

The Shoulder W exercise is a very subtle movement but highly effective; give a try.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

A message from mice to teens about binge drinking

2011-04-08T16:46:00.005-04:00

Drinking at a young age is simply bad for the brain, according to a growing number of studies. The latest study looks at the relationship between alcohol and the brain in mice. And the results are not pretty.

LA Times

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati OH 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Curbing Progression to Diabetes, at a Price

2011-04-07T07:55:00.008-04:00

People at high risk of developing diabetes may be able to ward off the disease by taking the drug pioglitazone, a new study suggests, but critics say the potential side effects of the medication may outweigh the benefits for those who are still disease-free.

Pioglitazone, sold under the brand name Actos, belongs to the same class of drugs as the diabetes medication rosiglitazone, sold as Avandia, which was found to increase the risk of heart attack in patients taking it. Rosiglitazone was taken off the market in Europe, and its use is greatly restricted in the United States.

Patients taking the drug gained weight, however, and experienced fluid retention. Critics said it was not clear whether the drug prevented diabetes or simply lowered elevated blood sugar, and some suggested that a better alternative would be for people at risk to exercise and eat a healthier diet.

In experience, patients on these types of medications have difficulty adding muscle and moderation of carbohydrates seems to have minimal effect on their body composition. It seems that once they are on Actos or Avandia they are almost assured of heart disease, full blown diabetes or both.
New York Times

Cleveland Proposes Ban on Trans Fats

2011-04-06T16:21:00.007-04:00

In an effort to improve the health of people in Cleveland, city council is considering an ordinance that will ban the sale of any prepared food containing artificial trans fat.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, OH 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science

2011-04-06T07:17:00.007-04:00

I came across this article in The Atlantic which profiles Dr. John Ioannidis, a meta-researcher from Greece, who is the world's foremost authority on medical research. You may have recognized the title of this post from Mark Twain who popularized the saying in "Chapters from My Autobiography", published in the North American Review in 1906. "There are three types of Lies: Lies, damn lies and statistics!". The phrase describes the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions. This, in the nutshell, is the state of medical research today.

Ioannidis and his team critique medical research/statistics and their discoveries will make you feel manipulated and vulnerable.

" ...he and his team have shown, again and again, and in many different ways, that much of what biomedical researchers conclude in published studies—conclusions that doctors keep in mind when they prescribe antibiotics or blood-pressure medication, or when they advise us to consume more fiber or less meat, or when they recommend surgery for heart disease or back pain—is misleading, exaggerated, and often flat-out wrong. He charges that as much as 90 percent of the published medical information that doctors rely on is flawed. His work has been widely accepted by the medical community; it has been published in the field’s top journals, where it is heavily cited; and he is a big draw at conferences. Given this exposure, and the fact that his work broadly targets everyone else’s work in medicine, as well as everything that physicians do and all the health advice we get, Ioannidis may be one of the most influential scientists alive. Yet for all his influence, he worries that the field of medical research is so pervasively flawed, and so riddled with conflicts of interest, that it might be chronically resistant to change—or even to publicly admitting that there’s a problem."

Who do you trust with your health? Is your doctor well informed or is he or she also being manipulated? These are questions that each individual has to contemplate; the health of our society depends upon it.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Fast Food for the Poor?

2011-04-04T15:02:00.015-04:00

Recently, Louisville based Yum!Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell has pressed the Governor of Kentucky for inclusion in the state run food stamp program. Louisville Courier Journal
The US Department of Agriculture food stamp program has authorized the use of "food stamps at restaurants since 1974. At first only the elderly and disabled were given access to this use but as of 1992 the homeless were extended the privilege. Upon first look, this doesn't pass the smell test. But for a large number of individuals in the program a hot meal is unattainable because they lack access to a kitchen to store and cook food.

The real problem starts when you see that many of the restaurants approved by the USDA are of the fast food variety. With the US obesity numbers rising and the known effect obesity has on overall health, is food stamps for fast food a wise choice?

In a 2004 interview with "Nations Restaurant News" Leo O'Farrell, food stamp manager for San Francisco, defends the practice.

"We have to find restaurants that are low priced and in areas where homeless, disabled and elderly live," adding, "fast food offers people more choices. They can make a decision on where to eat based on their mood."

I don't know the answer to the problem but I will be firm in my belief it doesn't include wide spread access to fast food.

James Donaldson of Black Voices summed up my opinion:

I have to give this whole concept the much-cliched side-eye. Although the intentions behind the original restaurant program were noble, this seems to have the potential for disaster. Since most states have offered this service to all food stamp recipients, it seems to have the potential for abuse. While it is a reasonable and logical solution that offers the elderly, homeless, disabled and families who may not have access to kitchen facilities a way to get a hot meal, can the increased government subsidization of fast food consumption in communities that are already struggling with an epidemic of obesity and related health problems really be a good idea?

What do you think, I'd love to know.

Dr. David Marcon
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

The Magic Beer Pouring Machine

2011-03-31T19:00:00.007-04:00

This video has been going around alot in Cincinnati since the Reds have installed a few for the 2011 season. If I heard them correctly, there is a magnet at the bottom of the cup and it seals the cup when it is full. However it works it will save you alot of time at the ballpark because it is 9x faster that the traditional tap system.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Could Glute Amnesia be Causing Your Lower Back & Sciatic Pain?

2011-03-31T16:50:00.007-04:00

Stuart McGill,Professor of Spinal Biomechanics at Waterloo University, calls the loss of glute function "glute amnesia". The rational for this term comes from the hypothesis that the brain and gluteals via some injury have lost their neurological connection. I have made the analogy of the alarm clocks blinking after a power surge. Until you reset the clock the electric is there but the clock doesn't function right. The Cook lift is a simple exercise that can isolate the gluteals and can help with persistent lower back and hip pain, tension in the hip flexor/groin region and some sciatic problems.

This is a good exercise to use in conjunction with stretching and Chiropractic adjustments.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Man Jumps 33 feet into 12 inches of Water!

2011-03-31T09:39:00.005-04:00

Nothing can be said about this except watch in awe.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Catching Up with John Leyendecker

2011-03-30T12:12:00.007-04:00

As I stated in the April Newsletter I recently caught up with former Patient John Leyendecker via his quarterly newsletter. Here is scan of the newsletter. Notice in the lower right hand corner of the second page John is with Emilio Estevez who was also at the FOCUS National Conference promoting his new Movie "The Way"

Hearing Loss & The Story of Harvey Lillard

2011-03-24T08:40:00.008-04:00

I was reading an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer entitled: Hearing Loss is Incredibly Common. In the article a 67 year old man from Virginia told his story of how one day while lifting weights he suddenly lost his hearing. Hearing aids helped him to regain some hearing but the reason for his loss at that moment was to remain a medical mystery. This reminded me of the story of Harvey Lillard

Harvey Lillard, janitor of the Ryan Building in Brady Street, Davenport, Iowa USA, was not a happy man. 17 years before, while working in a cramped, stooping position, he had felt something give way in his spine. The immediate result was not only pain...he found he had lost his hearing.

He mentioned his problem to Daniel David Palmer, who had an office in the Ryan Building and was a keen student of anatomy and physiology. Daniel Palmer had a theory. He surmised that the spine was the highway along which ran the central nervous system. If that highway should become in need of repair and in any way restrict the constant traffic of brain impulses and orders carried by the central nervous system, other symptoms seemingly unconnected to the spinal column could result.

He examined Harvey Lillard and found that one of his vertebrae was misaligned. On September 18th 1895, he gave Harvey Lillard the first ever Chiropractic adjustment. Harvey's hearing returned...and Chiropractic was born.

A few years before I entered Palmer, Lillard's youngest daughter spoke at the school and verified her fathers' story.

I have to believe every Chiropractor has at least one "miracle" treatment. Over 21 years,I have seen amazing changes from the Chiropractic adjustments I have delivered. It really isn't uncommon to have positive results for vertigo, tinnitus, vision, and hearing loss from spinal treatments. Hearing aids for the man from Virginia, and many others, have improved hearing and quality of life. But what if they received Chiropractic treatment?

The moral of this story is to realize that Chiropractors are not spine doctors but nervous system doctors and the Adjustment has the potential to effect change in any organ and system in the body that receives neurological input.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Defending Olive Oil

2011-03-23T15:04:00.010-04:00

I recently had a patient ask me if cooking with olive oil was bad. Honestly, I cook with olive oil or butter and never really thought about the subject. Mono unsaturated fats, such as Canola oil, can when heated at high temperatures produce oxidized serum lipids which are not heart healthy. Olive oil is a naturally occurring mono unsaturated oil so does it react the same way?
Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple defends the Mediterranean staple with his usual detail.

In one study, the authors heated various oils to “deep-frying conditions” and checked oxidative markers every three hours. The olive oils made it 24-27 hours of constant high heating before reaching the maximum legal value of heat damage. Not bad, and it’s not like you’re going to use your olive oil to deep fry anyway

I am guilty of leaving the Olive oil near the stove exposed to not only the kitchen light but also the heat from the stove.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Quality vs. Quantity- REPS!

2011-03-22T20:57:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago there was an interview of FRED FORNICOLA over at Conditioning Research. Fred's recent blog post though nothing earth shattering,does nail the true essence of High Intensity Training.

Quite often, the quality of a repetition can be lost when a trainee does not connect "mind and muscle". Hoisting a weight up and down will equate to some benefit and more than likely, stroke one's ego but given an opportunity to truly feel the muscle through the entire movement will produce greater gains in muscular and cardiovascular stimulation, reduce shearing forces on the joints and soft tissue and produce one helluva pump.

Fred has started YOUTH FITNESS INSTRUCTOR/TRAINER (YouthFIT™) CERTIFICATION
I may be wrong but this is the first time I have heard of a certification course specifically for training young kids. I have to say it is about time. Having lectured at high school coaches conferences, I can personally attest to the lack of interest in training protocols that limit foot strikes, give the young athlete adequate rest and take into account that kids have physical and emotional limits that need to be considered and respected.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Understanding Recovery: The Wound Healing Model

2011-03-20T17:41:00.006-04:00

I was combing the Mike Mentzer site when I came upon this article by Dave Staplin. I like the references and how it positions Heavy Duty/HIT is not just for guys looking for tone, but for power lifters and bodybuilders as well.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Manual Handling The Right Way

2011-03-20T11:31:00.005-04:00

I found this list on Doctor Fatemeh's site Fatemeh the Physio that outlines the thought process we should all go thru when picking up objects.

Manual handling is very underestimated! Yet it’s crucial to avoiding back pain and long term back damage.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, OH 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

One-Legged Wrestler Wins NCAA Title

2011-03-20T10:00:00.006-04:00

Arizona State's Anthony Robles was born without a right leg, and yet he still won the 125-lb. class Saturday at the Division I NCAA championships in Philadelphia.

After clinching the title against Iowa junior Matt McDonough, Robles received a standing ovation and then stood on the winner's podium with his crutches, which sat and waited for him by the mat while he wrestled.

Dr David Marcon,
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Sleep with the Lights Out .....and cover the LED's!

2011-03-19T06:52:00.005-04:00

In reading Dr. Daniel Amen's Book " Magnificent Mind at Any Age" a fact about sleep caught my attention. In 1900 Americans slept an average of 9 hours a night. In 2008 that number dropped to 6 hours. The biggest reason sited for this drastic drop was the invention of the light bulb. You have to admit it is tough to sit in a dark room and not fall asleep.

Besides turning off lights and TVs we now recommend covering up LED lights which emit blue light.

Light suppresses melatonin in humans, with the strongest response occurring in the short-wavelength portion of the spectrum between 446 and 477 nm that appears blue. Blue monochromatic light has also been shown to be more effective than longer-wavelength light for enhancing alertness. Disturbed circadian rhythms and sleep loss have been described as risk factors for astronauts and NASA ground control workers, as well as civilians. Such disturbances can result in impaired alertness and diminished performance.

Journal of Applied Physiology

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Cardio May Cause Heart Disease

2011-03-18T20:03:00.008-04:00

Dr. Kurt Harris is a neuroradiologist by profession and science critic by avocation breaks down the Brueckmann and Mohlenkamp study which appeared in Radiology in the Spring of 2009.
To read Dr Harris' full post go to his blog at PāNu

"...It seems safe to state that marathon runners most likely did not have a lower rate of LGE than did the healthy control subjects, who did not regularly exercise."

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Antineoplastic Drugs Not just Toxic to Patients

2011-03-15T18:46:00.011-04:00

Usually the Medscape Today eblasts are pretty biased or at least not what I would consider balanced . This article, which assesses the toxicity of cancer treating drugs and the risk of exposure to those who handle them, is very clear in its point that these drugs are lethal. I guess when you are faced with a killer like cancer the decision to use these power drugs gets a lot easier.

Because most antineoplastic medications have nonselective mechanisms of action, these agents affect noncancerous cells as well as cancerous cells, resulting in numerous adverse effects. When secondary cancers began to develop in patients treated with these drugs, concern was raised that healthcare workers also could be at risk for harmful effects from antineoplastic agents as a result of occupational exposure.[2]

When you read this list of personnel who have potential risk of exposure to anti neoplastic drugs you can get a glimpse of why we have seen such a spike in cancer in our culture.

Workers potentially exposed to hazardous drugs include the following:

Shipping and receiving personnel -- when handling contaminated medication vials and/or spills;
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians -- when compounding and checking drug preparations or counting out tablets;
Nursing personnel -- when administering agents and handling contaminated wastes;
Physicians -- when treating patients with or administering hazardous drugs;
Operating room personnel -- when administering medications in the operating room;
Home healthcare personnel -- when transporting drugs, treating patients, and handling wastes;
Workers in nursing home and long-term care facilities;
Environmental services personnel -- when removing contaminated waste and cleaning contaminated areas or dealing with medication spills;
Research laboratory personnel -- during drug research and development; and
Personnel in veterinary practices -- when hazardous agents are administered to animals.

As usual, the paradigm in which medicine exists pays little attention to prevention where we actually have better odds of prevailing. Until that notion gets more attention and follow through antineoplasic drugs exposure will simply be collateral damage in the fight against cancer.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, OH 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Supplements: Viable Option or Snake Oil?

2011-03-15T08:26:00.003-04:00

It is very hard to keep up with all the research concerning health and the healing properties of vitamins, minerals and herbs. Compounding the issue is the language that these studies are written in, a style not easily consumed by normal consumers. This graphic on Information is Beautiful, is easy to digest and gives references to the studies that support the particular nutrients use and whether there is strong evidence, conflicting evidence or none.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

Life-Long Endurance Exercise and Myocardial Fibrosis

2011-03-10T17:36:00.017-05:00

Many Americans take up running to lose weight and get Heart Healthy. The problem with this is despite the endorsement of countless running enthusiasts and many healthcare professionals there is no definitive study that shows the health benefit of endurance/aerobic activity. I am not speaking of the person who jogs once or twice a week and does some resistance exercise. I am talking about the hardcore aerobic enthusiast; training for a marathon, tri-athlete, ultra-marathoner. I am not sold on the fact that extensive endurance training is healthy. How many Marathons are run without someone having a heart attack?

The first Marathon, a 26 mile run to Athens ended in death.

Phidippides was again called upon to run to Athens (26 miles away) to carry the news of the victory and the warning about the approaching Persian ships. Despite his fatigue after his recent run to Sparta and back and having fought all morning in heavy armor, Phidippides rose to the challenge. Pushing himself past normal limits of human endurance, the reached Athens in perhaps 3 hours, delivered his message and then died shortly thereafter from exhaustion.

Even the man who re-ignited the popularity of running in the US, Jim Fixx died of a heart attack.

In 1977 Jim Fixx wrote "The Complete Book of Running" which is credited with starting America's running boom. Fixx started running in 1967 and in the ensuring 10 years lost 40 pounds and stopped his 2 pack a day cigarette habit. Sadly, in 1984 at age 52 Jim Fixx died of a heart attack. An autopsy revealed atherosclerosis caused the blockage of 3 coronary arteries. Many, including Dr.Kenneth Cooper of the Cooper Institute, have cited genetic factors and Fixx's previous lifestyle as probable causes of the arterial blockage.

One study done by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society found that

"without proper training, marathon running can damage your heart. Fortunately the exercise-induced injury is reversible over time. But it could take up to 3 months to completely recover."

Okay, what is proper training?

A study presented at the European Society of Cardiology's Congress 2010 in Stockholm suggested that

ultra marathoning, whose participants are described as "super fit and experienced athletes" as a whole have markers that indicate heart muscle damage -- and some show signs suggestive of significant cardiac damage

So those new to marathoning and/or not properly trained and those athletes who are super fit and extremists both show signs of heart damage. What about the average marathoner? Trained but not too over the top.

In the February 17th 2011 Edition of The Journal of Applied Physiology a study observed

an unexpectedly high prevalence (50%) of myocardial fibrosis in healthy, asymptomatic life-long veteran male endurance athletes, compared to zero cases in age-matched veteran controls and young athletes.

The Blog Natural Messiah does a simple review of the research or you can read the abstract here>.

I am not totally against running, I believe in sprinting and other forms of running that stress quality over quantity. Given ample time to recouperate,running can be great for both an anaerobic as well as aerobic workout. On top of the positive results attained from High Intensity Training, the satisfaction attained afterward is greater high intense workouts versus long and moderate activities.

Dr. David Marcon
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

High Intensity Interval Training More Fun

2011-03-05T08:31:00.004-05:00

If getting optimum results in the most compact time frame wasn't enough, recent research now shows that Sprint training is perceived as more enjoyable by participants than long moderate runs. As stated in the title,and what I find in my clients, is that follow thru with exercise and fitness goals are directly correlated with enjoyment.

High-intensity interval running is perceived to be more enjoyable than moderate-intensity continuous exercise: Implications for exercise adherence.

Abstract
The aim of this study was to objectively quantify ratings of perceived enjoyment using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale following high-intensity interval running versus moderate-intensity continuous running. Eight recreationally active men performed two running protocols consisting of high-intensity interval running (6×3 min at 90% VO(2max) interspersed with 6×3 min active recovery at 50% VO(2max) with a 7-min warm-up and cool down at 70% VO(2max)) or 50 min moderate-intensity continuous running at 70% VO(2max). Ratings of perceived enjoyment after exercise were higher (P < 0.05) following interval running compared with continuous running (88 ± 6 vs. 61 ± 12) despite higher (P < 0.05) ratings of perceived exertion (14 ± 1 vs. 13 ± 1). There was no difference (P < 0.05) in average heart rate (88 ± 3 vs. 87 ± 3% maximum heart rate), average VO(2) (71 ± 6 vs. 73 ± 4%VO(2max)), total VO(2) (162 ± 16 vs. 166 ± 27 L) or energy expenditure (811 ± 83 vs. 832 ± 136 kcal) between protocols. The greater enjoyment associated with high-intensity interval running may be relevant for improving exercise adherence, since running is a low-cost exercise intervention requiring no exercise equipment and similar relative exercise intensities have previously induced health benefits in patient populations.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Study: PSA rise not good prostate cancer predictor

2011-03-03T14:42:00.004-05:00

This associated press article appeared last week in the Cincinnati Enquirer and many other media outlets. Prostate examinations have recently included a PSA (Prostate specific antigen) test to help unearth asymptomatic cases of prostate inflammation and/or Cancer. Recent research has shown that the PSA may be weighted too heavily when assessing the need for more invasive care.
Just having a a rising PSA-if nothing else was considered-was associated with a slightly higher risk of having cancer,k although not the more worrisome aggressive kind.

For a healthy prostate, I recommend Palmettoplex and Prostate PMG

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

It Can Take at Least 6 Days to Recover from Intense Exercise

2011-02-22T18:10:00.006-05:00

Yet another study that supports the basic premise of Dr Doug McGuff & John Little's Book "Body By Science".

Subjective perception of physical fitness suggests that recovery over a pre-exercise level of the present type of heavy resistance exercise can take approximately 6 days.

I am personally amazed by the response this type of training has on everyone who sticks with it for at least 2-3 months. Just today I had a client return from a florida trip where her friends were amazed at how healthy and fit she look and that she only works out 30 minutes a week!

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

Former Pro Bowl Safety's Brain to be Examined

2011-02-20T13:38:00.008-05:00

Former Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson committed suicide on February 17th, 2011. But before doing so he texted family and friends asking that they have his brain examined for a brain injury; chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Currently, 2 dozen deceased NFL Players have been diagnosed with CTE. Duerson's brain will be studied at the University of Boston Medical School.

I recommend reading Dr Daniel Amen's books "A Magnificent Mind at Any Age" and "Change Your Brain, Change Your Body" or surf his website. You will be shocked at how destructive some of our hobbies and habits can be to our brain.
On his Website, Dr. Amen has a free test you can take to determine the health of your brain and your body.

ESPN

New York Times

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati, Ohio 45255
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Interview with the Godfather of Fitness, Jack LaLanne

2011-02-15T10:58:00.022-05:00

My good friend and Fraternity Brother, Dr. Mike Perko, sent me this interview he did with Jack LaLanne for WELCOA. The unofficial Godfather of Fitness even at 96years of age was still preaching the gospel of diet and exercise with a no holds barred attitude. Sadly, Jack LaLanne passed away February 23, 2011.

To read the entire interview follow this link.

Two interesting points about Jack LaLanne that many are unaware of are that he was a Chiropractor and remained a strong advocate for Chiropractic Care through the years.
Also, Mr. Jack was doing a fitness show in Los Angeles when he was asked to take the show national. Having to move to New York to do his national show, LaLanne's local show was taken over by Personal Trainer and Nutritional researcher, Jim Heflin. Heflin went on to found his own Sports Supplement Company, Beverly International. The name came from the 2 clubs where he trained clients, The Beverly Hills Racquet Club and the International Racquet Club. Since 1999 Beverly International has been owned and operated by Sandy and Roger Riedenger of Cold Spring Kentucky. I personally have been a distributor of Beverly products for the last 3 years.

Dr. David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
8136 Beechmont Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Soaring Food Prices

2011-02-06T11:48:00.004-05:00

You may have noticed that your bill at the grocery store has been higher. I have noticed that many products have been shrinking. Liberal Economist, Paul Krugman, recently blogged about this issue. His opinion based upon the present USDA World Supply and Demand estimates is due to this past summer's extreme dryness the world's demand for grains has out paced current production. It is interesting that grain effects beef and chicken pricing as well as bread and cereal.

Dr. David Marcon
Cincinnati Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com

Interview: Drew Baye .....it is about hard work and progression

2011-02-05T11:49:00.005-05:00

Just came across this interview at Conditioningresearch.com of High Intensity Training advocate Drew Baye.
It is the perfect time for Drew's philosophy on training to get attention.
Here is my favorite line in this recent interview:

...There is a lot of bullshit out there. However, I think a lot of people do this because they think they’re missing some little bit of information or some secret that is going to somehow dramatically change the results they’re getting from their training, when it is usually something as simple as putting more effort into your workouts, cutting back the volume or frequency a little, eating better or getting more rest.

Dr David Marcon
Cincinnati Ohio
www.drdavidmarcon.com

Nutrition Plan - A Better Way To Lose Weight

2011-01-24T10:16:00.000-05:00

Nutrition Plan - A Better Way To Lose Weight

Natural Relief from Seasonal Affective Disorder

2011-01-19T13:52:00.008-05:00

Also known as winter blues & winter depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder that occurs in people who normally have no mental health issues but during specific seasons get depressed. It can occur any time of the year but is most often diagnosed in the winter. Be aware that SAD is not the same as “cabin fever”; this can be much more debilitating.

According The Mayo Clinic, symptoms of SAD (winter depression):

 Depression
 Hopelessness
 Anxiety
 Loss of energy
 Social withdrawal
 Oversleeping
 Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
 Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
 Weight gain
 Difficulty concentrating and processing information

Causes of SAD

There is no one cause of SAD. Experts commonly point to age and genetics along with natural body chemistry changes as factors. A simpler explanation is lack of sunlight. Starting in late fall and peaking December 21st our daylight hours diminish. Combined with colder temps, our exposure to natural sunlight is very limited.

To put a little perspective on this seasonal phenomenon I wonder how much we were supposed to accomplish in the winter months. Primitive man would have no fruits and vegetables to harvest and animal migration would have made hunting more difficult. Wouldn’t this have lead to man going into hibernation in order to conserve energy? Who doesn’t think winters are stressful despite the abundance of food?

With a lack of sunlight (3) hormonal deficiencies can occur which individually and/or collectively can lead to SAD.

Vitamin D deficiency
With less exposure to sunlight Vitamin D levels can plummet. Initially classified as a vitamin, D is actually a steroid. The primary source of Vitamin D for most Americans is via sun light. When UV light is absorbed thru the skin by a cholesterol based precursor vitamin D3 is formed. Low vitamin D is associated with depression and a weaker immune response. This is one factor in why we get colds more often in the winter months. Compounding reduced sunlight; many Americans have gall bladder/liver issues. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which means bile, produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder,is essential for absorption. Also,the precursor to Vitamin D, D3 is converted into D25 in the liver and activated in the Kidney. People with darker skin, the obese and elderly are at higher risk of Vitamin D deficiency.

Melatonin deficiency
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland deep within the brain. In humans, this hormone is secreted during dark phases of the day. Melatonin regulates the sleep-wake cycle by causing drowsiness and lowering body temperature. One of the triggers for melatonin production is the photosensitive cells within the retina. As less sun light enters the eye the melatonin production is stimulated. So you can see why our body's don't have the same wakefulness in the winter months.

Serotonin deficiency
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter found in the brain that is closely associated with clinical depression. A precursor to serotonin is melatonin which is associated with the seasonal changes in daylight. Serotonin levels typically rise late in the day and like melatonin, are associated with lower metabolism and sleepiness. As a side note, this is why you should try to workout earlier in the day to avoid interrupting your serotonin levels and potentially reducing your ability to sleep. Diet can also play a role in our serotonin levels. Foods with higher amounts of the amino acid tryptophan to less of phenylalanine and leucine can boost serotonin production. Whole wheat and rye inhibit serotonin secretion while dates and some fruits such as bananas can increase it.

Some research has suggested that high carbohydrate and low protein diets (typical American diet) will increase serotonin by increasing insulin production. This of course can lead to type II diabetes and obesity to name only a few conditions.

Natural Remedies

1. Exercise
Exercise is a must for all forms of depression. It increases blood flow, elevates the metabolism, reduces anxiety/stress and naturally raises Serotonin.

2. Get a Tan
I know all the negative press about tanning beds but as little as 8-10 minutes a week in a high quality bed can do wonders with SAD. If you prefer, light therapy is the more professional term for lamps that emit rays similar to natural sunlight.

3. Supplement Vitamin D
Cold water fish such as tuna, sardines and salmon and egg yolks are rich sources of vitamin D, but If they don’t sound appetizing try a Vitamin D supplement such as Cod Liver Oil (much better tasting today but more processed) or Cataplex D from Standard Process. I am not a fan of prescription vitamins. I don’t trust the source and they usually are synthetic isomers of the vitamins they are meant to supplement. This at the least doesn’t nourish or satisfy the body and some studies report they will make you more ill.

4. Take Melatonin
Melatonin, a precursor to Serotonin may be of benefit to some. Many physicians recommend this hormone to help with sleep. Also, melatonin helps increase serotonin secretion aiding some with their depression. Check with your Physician or Nutritionist to see if it would be helpful and safe for your case.

5. Get on a Regular sleep schedule
In 1900 the average American got 9 hours of sleep. As of 2008 the number was down to 6. 33% less sleep has to have a negative affect. Reduce oxygen is a contributor to our mood and energy levels and with changes in ambient light the affects are even greater. Get into a routine where you go to bed and get up each day the same time; Weekends included. This will help re-establish some rhythm to your chemical imbalance.

In conclusion, SAD is typically a temporary condition that remedies itself with the onset of spring. If these natural remedies don’t ebb your symptoms, check with your family physician for additional guidance.

Dr David Marcon
Marcon Chiropractic & Wellness Center
Cincinnati,Ohio 45255
drdavidmarcon.com

Creatine: Safety Concerns

2011-01-18T14:34:00.003-05:00

I always read your posts on diet and weight training.What do you think about Creatine? My son (14, but already through puberty) really wants to start taking it to get bigger,but I've heard some negative things about it. What do you think?

Glad to know someone reads my rants! Creatine Monohydrate is one of the most widely researched sports supplements ever on the market. Having said that, I believe it is as safe as any sports supplement can be. Any product can be misused and cause health problems. If your choose to use Creatine buy higher quality to avoid cheap fillers which may cause cramping. I recommend using the supplement for 6-7 weeks pre workout (w/out a loading phase) than cease use for at least a month.

Now more to the point, is Creatine pertinent for a 14 yr. old?
Creatine aids in lifting weights in two ways: 1. Energy is produced in the first 10 seconds of a lift via the breaking of phospho-creatine bonds. As we train and age some of these bonds go unfilled reducing our power. In a 14 yr. old this is not typically an issue. 2. Creatine helps speed up recovery from an intense workout so you can work out sooner and with similar intensity. In many novice lifters the intensity is rarely maximal. That is why they can go to the gym and work out for hours 3 & 4 times per week.

In a growing boy, muscle mass is typically still in the control of genetics. In other words, if his parents are densely muscled by nature then he will likely have an easier time building muscle, if they are thin he will most likely have difficulty adding bulk, etc. This needs to conveyed to boys so they don't fall prey to misleading advertising which guarantee muscles galore by eating these pills or drinking these shakes. The scary truth is that this causes many teens to turn to steroids when they don't get the results like the product stated.

Have him eat a diet rich in nutrients and low in sugar. More vegetables, nuts, fruit and lean meats. Many believe muscles are made of protein so the more protein the better. Eating more/larger portions of protein may satisfy the appetite but won’t make much of a difference in muscle development. In a perfect digestive system no more than 20 grams of protien per meal can be assimilated for muscle production. Pretty hard to digest more than 10 oz of any protein in one sitting.

In closing, it is very healthy for young men and women to exercise and specifically to lift weights. But in young men the goal of adding muscle can become addicting and leads some to make poor choices. You right to be cautious of what he puts into his body. Personally, my kids wont be taking sports supplements until they have maxed out thier God given potential.
I hope this helps, if you have specific questions just let me know.
Best of Luck
Dave