DIABETES AND METABOLIC DISORDERS

Full Service Chiropractor , Most people tend to think that chiropractic is just for the back. This is incorrect. Through the central nervous system, chiropractic can affect all systems of the body, in a variety of different ways. Through the use of botanical medicine, supplementation, and nutrition, as well as physical modalities, it is possible to fix a wide range of problems. Amongst the most common conditions experienced by patients are metabolic disorders. There are many different disorders of metabolism, the most common of which are diabetes/metabolic syndrome, and high cholesterol.

Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is a term that describes several different but related conditions. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder (most commonly presented in children, hence its previous name of juvenile diabetes) in which the body's immune system destroys special insulin secreting cells within the pancreas. Without any, or even diminished ability to make insulin, the cells of the body that use insulin to absorb glucose (the fuel that the body runs on), and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), cannot make energy and repair themselves. These people require daily injections of insulin to maintain a healthy blood sugar.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the cells of the body become resistant to insulin, so despite the normal levels of insulin that may be present in the body, the effect is diminished. Type 2 diabetes is often caused by obesity, and is one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. 68% of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese, as well as approximately 20% of all children. Similarly, the rate of type 2 diabetes in children has been increasing astronomically alongside the increase in overweight and obesity.

In most people, type 2 diabetes is preventable, and even in those who have been diagnosed, the condition is manageable. Nutritional counselling is one of the most effective interventions that we perform in the office, along with certain botanical preparations to help decrease insulin resistance. One of which has recently been shown to be as effective as Metformin (the most commonly prescribed blood-sugar control medication), along with a number of other positive benefits on cholesterol and blood pressure.

High Cholesterol

A lot of people ask: What exactly is cholesterol and why is it so bad for you? The answer is more complicated than most people think, but is easy enough to understand. Cholesterol is a waxy material that is related to fat, from which most hormones are made. Cholesterol is also the building block from which the body makes bile for digesting fats, and it plays a role in keeping cells of the body healthy. In some people, the liver causes too much cholesterol, and it builds up in the body.

Most people know that oil (which is fat) and water don't mix. Cholesterol, which is related to fat, will not dissolve in water, or in this case blood. HDL and LDL, which are commonly known as good and bad cholesterol respectively, are not cholesterol at all. They are special proteins that carry cholesterol in the blood. LDL takes cholesterol from the liver and delivers it out to the body tissues to use. HDL takes what's left back to the liver for recycling. The body doesn't like to get cholesterol if it doesn't have to. It is an expensive, energy intensive process that requires a lot of steps to produce correctly.

The problem with cholesterol is that, under certain conditions, cholesterol can accumulate in the arteries, especially the arteries that feed the heart, and clog them. When that happens, the heart has to work harder to move blood around, and heart disease follows. How do we prevent this from happening then? The simple answer is to just force the body to make less cholesterol, or to absorb less from the diet. There are a number of problems with this approach, however.

First, very little cholesterol from our diet is found in the blood at any given time. Secondly, the most common drugs that are used to force the liver to slow down make cholesterol have a very serious side effect. The same biochemical pathway that the body uses to make cholesterol is also used to make something called CoQ10. CoQ10 is essentially a vitamin; that is, a substance required for life. In youth, we make enough CoQ10 on our own that it is unnecessary to supplement, but as we get older, and high cholesterol becomes more of a problem, we tend to make less CoQ10 and supplementation becomes necessary. Couple that with a drug, like Lipitor or Crestor, that stops production of CoQ10, and it's no wonder that people experience muscle aches, pains, and even heart failure from a lack of CoQ10.

The most important thing to consider when dealing with high cholesterol is systemic inflammation. Cholesterol doesn't stick to healthy artery walls. It's only when there is some kind of injury to the arterial lining that cholesterol adheres to and clogs start. At North Jersey Whole Health Center, we employ a proven protocol for lowering systemic inflammation and cholesterol naturally, along with supplementing CoQ10, especially for those patients taking a statin drug.

Why wait? Call us at 201-569-1444 to set up an appointment! Get your health back on track!

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