Medication Will Mask The Pain, Not Cure The Underlying Problem, Expert Says

Nearly everyone on occasion experiences a throbbing headache that interferes with concentration at work or school, or saps the joy from the day.

But sometimes the source of that headache can be surprising. For many people, the pain that emanates from the head can be traced back to their teeth, their bite relationship and the alignment of the lower jaw.

"Pain doesn't happen randomly or because of bad luck," says Dr. Fred Abeles, author of the book "Break Away: The New Method for Treating Chronic Headaches, Migraines and TMJ Without Medication" (www.FredAbeles.com).

"There's a cause and effect to almost everything in the human body."

With many headaches, Abeles says, the cause is the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, the place at the front of the ear where the lower jaw and the temporal bone on the side of the head meet.

Sometimes the bite and the lower jaw are out of alignment, putting additional strain on muscles, which leads to the headaches. And for many, TMJ headaches aren't going away because people try to mask the pain with medication rather than correct the underlying cause, Abeles says.

But how do you know a headache is caused by TMJ? Abeles says these are some of the warning signs.

•  Your jaw clicks or pops. Any joint in your body should work silently and seamlessly, Abeles says. If your jaw clicks or pops when you open or close it, it's a clear sign that the lower half of the joint is not in the proper position. Even if the popping and clicking don't produce pain, he says, the muscles that have to support and stabilize the joint become fatigued and will produce pain.

•  Your bite feels off. The TMJ is the only joint in the human body that has 28 teeth stuck between the opening and closing motion of the joint to complicate things, Abeles says. Every other joint is completely controlled by muscles, and the position of the joint, its movement and range of motion are mediated by muscle.

The TMJ's position is dictated by where our teeth come together in our bite. So if your bite feels off or your teeth don't fit together well, there's a good chance your TMJ joints are off, too.

•  You have pain around your forehead, temples, back of head or radiating down your neck. Ninety percent of pain comes from muscle, Abeles says. If your muscles are not functioning well because of fatigue from supporting one or both of your TMJ joints in an improper position, they produce pain. It's much like when you exercise or work hard and feel muscle pain later, he says. The only difference is that TMJ is more subtle and chronic.

•  You have forward head posture. Our heads are supposed to be centered over our shoulders. If yours is in front of your shoulders when you are upright, you have "forward head posture." That relates to your bite and your airway. The human head weighs about eight to 10 pounds. The farther forward it is off the center axis, the more strain it places on neck muscles and vertebrae.

•  You snore. Snoring is a red flag that respiration during sleep is disturbed, Abeles says. Several factors can lead to snoring, but one of the most important is the position of the lower jaw, he says. If your lower jaw is a little too far back, then the tongue is farther back as well.

"If the tongue is slightly farther back than optimal it vibrates against our soft palate, closes off our airway and we snore," Abeles says. The snoring doesn't cause the headache, he says, but it could be a sign the lower jaw is too far back. As a result, the muscles that support the jaw in an improper position produce the headache pain.

About Dr. Fred Abeles

Dr. Fred Abeles is known as one of the most sought after TMJ experts in the United States (www.FredAbeles.com). He's famous for getting results where all other have failed and getting those results without the use of surgery, needles or drugs. He is author of the new book "Break Away: The New Method for Treating Chronic Headaches, Migraines and TMJ Without Medication." Abeles is the Clinical Instructor and Regional Director for the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies - one of the most prestigious post-graduate teaching centers in the world today. Dr. Abeles has been featured on NBC and CBS, consults with leading dental manufacturers on the development of new dental products, been on the cover of the profession's biggest magazines and instructed dentists throughout the United States and Canada on state-of-the-art techniques for treating headaches and temporomandibular joint dysfunction.

From Dollar Amount To The Intangibles, M.D. Says Condition Is A Ubiquitous Factor In Life

Sometimes celebrities or otherwise physically fit people will put on a fat suit and document their experience with a video camera, usually to be aired on a daytime talk show. The overall impression is universal: Being severely overweight is taxing on almost every level, says Dr. Eleazar Kadile, who specializes in treating patients with obesity and associated chronic disease.

"Physically, emotionally, mentally and even spiritually, being obese is an ever-present condition to the experience my clients face every day," says Dr. Kadile, director of the Center for Integrative Medicine and author of "Stop Dying Fat" (www.kppmd.com).

"Obesity is a vicious cycle that usually starts with bad eating habits during childhood. Childhood obesity has quadrupled in recent decades. I don't think enough of us appreciate how established bad habits are before most obese people reach adulthood."

Overweight or obese people often eat for comfort when they're depressed or as a reward when things are going well, "much like an alcoholic," says Dr. Kadile.

Like substance abusers, obese people pay a significant price.

•  Bigger is costlier. Many are emotional eaters, and when you eat for emotional satisfaction rather than physical satiation, you eat more, which increases the dollars spent. Obese people often have to buy clothes specially tailored for their size, which adds costs. The biggest cost, however, is healthcare due to bad health. Obesity has severely taxed our country's healthcare costs.

•  What's your self-esteem worth? Being a large individual often proves challenging in public, as daytime talk shows sometimes attest. Obesity can keep you from social engagements and make you feel self-conscious while out and about. This can lead to depression and lack of activity, fueling the vicious cycle of the obese lifestyle.

•  Time - arguably the most important metric. What do we really have in life? Money, work, love, relationships and material goods - these are all good and necessary things. But they are all for not if your health does not permit you to live long enough to enjoy them.

•  Opportunities, quality of life and happiness are compromised. You can be the most qualified professional at work, but obesity can cost you a raise. You may be a funny, intelligent and attractive person, but being too big might keep you from finding love. Simply having 100 or 200 pounds of extra fat is a burden obese people cannot escape throughout their waking existence.

"As a society, we should be more compassionate toward obese individuals - they have it hard enough without our critical judgment," Dr. Kadile says. "If you are obese, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to save on the associated tangible and intangible costs. If you don't take action today, it can cost you many days from your future that you'd otherwise have."

About Eleazar Kadile, M.D.

Dr. Eleazar Kadile is a complementary physician who specializes in treating patients with obesity, who may suffer from heart disease, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, arthritis, depression or ADHD. With decades of medical experience throughout the United States, he has been developing a comprehensive and systematic approach to battling obesity. He is the director of the Center for Integrative Medicine in Green Bay, Wis. (www.kppmd.com)

Doctor Says More Americans Realize The Effectiveness Of Remedies Found In Nature

A fever, stomach pains or a simple case of the sniffles can send people rushing to the pharmacy for a drug to battle their symptoms.

But Mother Nature provides a number of medicinal plants with healing properties that also can nurse you back to health, a fact more Americans are beginning to discover.

"The use of herbal medicine, although traditional in many Eastern cultures, had been only a minor fad in Western medicine until recent decades," says Dr. Virender Sodhi, founder of the Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Medical Clinic (ayurvedicscience.com), which provides complementary and alternative medicine.

That trend has been shifting as a growing body of studies and research has demonstrated the effects of traditional remedies on chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, says Sodhi, author of the new guide, "Ayurvedic Herbs: The Comprehensive Resource for Ayurvedic Healing Solutions" (www.ayush.com).

That's not necessarily news to ailing people in other parts of the world, such as Asia and Africa. For centuries, they have found relief through herbal medicines derived from shrubs, vines, trees and other plants, Sodhi says.

Here are four examples, a couple of which are recognizable by better known names and purposes.

•  Glycyrrhiza glabra. Most people would recognize this plant by its more common name - licorice. It has been used for centuries in the traditional and folk medicines of Asia and Europe to treat ailments ranging from the common cold to liver disease, Sodhi says. Most Americans likely encountered licorice as children because the sweet root of the plant is used to make candy. Licorice can cure more than a sweet tooth, though. It can protect people from the influenza virus. In cell line studies it was shown to reduce titer of the influenza virus by 90 percent and have strong immune modulation properties. It's an important ingredient in many herbal preparations, Sodhi said, especially for bronchial conditions. Because of its expectorant properties, powdered licorice has been used for centuries to treat coughs. Modern cough syrups often contain licorice extract.

•  Piper nigrum. This flowering vine's berries, when still unripe, are used to produce black pepper, but spicing up food isn't its only talent. Piper nigrum has anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-spasmodic properties that make it ideal for treating digestive disorders, Sodhi says. It doesn't stop there. Drug resistance is a major concern in cancer patients. Piper nigrum can reverse multiple drug resistance many fold and significantly increase the apoptotic effect of many pharmaceutical drugs.

•  Boswellia serrate. Commonly known as Frankincense, this herb has powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Several patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's colitis have gone in to remission using a Boswellia preparation. In brain tumor patients it has reduced cerebral edema by 75 percent. Sodhi has mentioned case studies of many patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica and ulcerative colitis who went into remission.

•  Bael. This fruit-bearing tree indigenous to the hills and plains of central and southern India has numerous uses. The fruit promotes healthy digestion and is used medicinally to treat such conditions as diarrhea, dysentery and cholera. The leaves, roots and bark of Bael also have medicinal value. They help relieve acute bronchitis, heart palpitations, intermittent fevers and many other ailments. Dr. Sodhi has observed 100 percent success in treating patients of clostridium difficile, who did not respond to standard medical protocol of metronidazole (Flagyl), Dificid (fidaxomicin), or vanconycin.

About Virender Sodhi, M.D., N.D.

Dr. Virender Sodhi was the first Ayurvedic and Naturopathic physician in the United States. He is the author of "Ayurvedic Herbs: The Comprehensive Resource for Ayurvedic Healing Solutions," (www.ayush.com) and founder of the Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Medical Clinic, (ayurvedicscience.com). Dr. Sodhi earned his M.D. (Ayurved) in 1980 from the Dayanand Ayurvedic Medical College in Jalandar, India. He served as a college professor in India until 1986, when the Indian government selected him to share Ayurveda with Western society as part of a cultural exchange program. He finished his fellowship in Integrative Oncology with Dr. Mark Rosenberg in 2012. Dr. Sodhi is a visiting professor at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Scottsdale, Ariz., at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, and at Des Moines University in Iowa.

Memory care expert encourages conversation and understanding of disease  

DAVENPORT, IA (March 11, 2015) - Senior Star at Elmore Place is proud to welcome back national Alzheimer's and dementia expert Susan Scanland, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18 at 4500 Elmore Avenue, Davenport.

Scanland's presentation, "Assisted Living: Preventing the Hazards of Staying Home Too Long," encourages a proactive discussion regarding the impact of prolonging a decision to move to a community that supports empowering activities and appropriate care for those with Alzheimer's and dementia.  Scanland will address several risk areas for at-home seniors including financial losses and exploitation, driving issues, nutrition complications, adverse drug reactions, falls and injuries, wandering without supervision and depression from social isolation. 

As the CEO and Founder of Dementia Connections, Scanland brings to the open forum more than 30 years of experience as a nurse practitioner working with direct care professionals who meet the needs of residents with dementia.  With a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh, Scanland has provided more than 500 Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other age-related topics in 40 states.  She has spoken at many national conferences, including the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the American Society on Aging and the Assisted Living Federation of America.

"Sharing valuable information on Alzheimer's and its effects on the entire family is vital when this disease is touching the lives of so many people," said Marc Strohschein, executive director of Senior Star at Elmore Place. "It's important to note that assisted living also provides valuable resources to those individuals who don't have dementia but require extra care.  We are thrilled to have Susan Scanland return to our community.  Her national recognition and credentials bring valuable information to residents in the Quad Cities and beyond."

Registration begins at 11:30 a.m.  Scanland's presentation will take place from 12 to 1 p.m., followed by tours and lunch.  

 

RSVPs are requested by March 17.  Please call 563.484.5114 to register.  The first 25 to RSVP will receive a free copy of Scanland's DVD, "Talk the Talk/Walk the Walk: Optimal Communication and Dementia Symptoms."

 

For more information about Senior Star at Elmore Place or to schedule a tour, call 563.484.5114 or visit the website at www.seniorstar.com.