Mike Pritsker
San Diego Chiropractors Review Research That Debunks The Legendary Fat Gene
Published February 21, 2012 | 
British scientists examined 300 people who became severely obese at a young age. This research was done to determine whether a faulty gene was involved that may have caused them to become obese. Researchers were looking specifically at the gene in charge of the leptin receptor. Leptin is a hormone in the body that controls appetite and can influence how much we feel like eating. It has been formerly implicated in animal obesity studies.
Scientists examined the obese study participants to see whether this so-called obesity gene was disturbed in any way. They found that only 3 percent of people had an abnormal leptin gene — indicating that leptin is probably not a factor for most obese people. And scientists in New Zealand are dispelling the common myth that obesity is caused by “bad genes.”
In what is referred to as a breakthrough discovery, scientists from Auckland University’s Liggins Institute have discovered that genetic pre-disposition to obesity can be reversed through good nutrition in early childhood. Their research shows that when a mother is undernourished, her child’s body is pre-set to cope with a life of scarcity-the energy-dense fast food diet of the Western world results in children who are likely to become fat.
In lab exams, newborn offspring from both well-fed and undernourished rats were given leptin, a hormone that signals to the body when it has eaten an adequate amount. When they became adults, the long-term effects were calculated by looking at genes that regulate metabolism in the liver. Rats from well-fed mothers reacted to leptin in the opposite way to those from malnourished moms.
The researchers urge mothers to eat a more balanced diet (with the right amounts of protein and vitamins) during pregnancy. However, if the fetus is undernourished in the womb, the long-term effects can still be corrected through good nutrition.
So what’s the final conclusion on all of this? Is it our genes that make us easily gain weight which leads to becoming overweight or even overweight or is it our behavior that shapes our bodies? The most likely correct answer is that it is both. You are born with a set of genes you cannot change throughout life. Some people can eat and eat and never gain even a pound. Others can’t. But as the recent research is showing, you have much more control over the final outcome than most people are willing to take credit for. No matter your genetic make-up, you can choose to eat properly and exercise. And this can keep you healthy.
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Posted in Health | 
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Leave a commentAccepted And Well known Obesity Surgery May Be Worse Than Previously Thought
Published January 12, 2012 | As a chiropractic doctor at New Century Spine Centers in San Diego, I regularly help patients with nutrition for losing weight. I also encounter patients that undergo the common weight loss surgeries. Obesity is defined as a body mass index, also known as BMI, of 30 or greater. BMI is calculated from a person’s weight and height, and provides a reasonable indicator of body fatness and weight categories that may lead to health problems. Obesity is a major risk factor for conditions such as cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and Type 2 Diabetes.
Thirty-three states had prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; nine of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.” According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. In 2009, only Colorado and the District of Columbia had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%.
Obesity is a big problem, but, what if a treatment is worse than the disease? This may be the case, according to a study on the long-term effects of laparoscopic gastric band surgery in some individuals. Researchers of the study, published in the Archives of Surgery, said, that the bands eroded in almost one in three patients. Sixty percent had undergone additional surgery. This included 17 percent who went on to have gastric bypass. Researchers concluded the adjustable gastric band surgery, which is growing in popularity in the United States of America, appears to result in relatively poor long-term outcomes.
A related article in The New York Times added: The results “are worse than we expected,” said Dr. Jacques Himpens of the European School of Laparoscopic Surgery and St. Pierre University Hospital in Brussels, lead author of the new study. Dr. Himpens advised those considering gastric band surgery not to “nourish exaggerated expectations,” adding that “anyone who has had the procedure should see a care provider on a regular basis and be vigilant about signs of infection or band erosion.”
Is there a better solution? Once again, research has shown there are almost always unwanted side effects to every drug or surgery. So, the question becomes – is the potential benefit worth that negative side effect? But, an even smarter question is – is there an all natural alternative that does not come with the same inherent risks of drugs and surgery? In this case, the answer for many people is… YES!
For many people, obesity and weight problems can be accomplished by permanent lifestyle changes. In other words, finding what foods work for your body chemistry, eating those foods, and exercising correctly for the rest of your life. This may seem like a daunting task, but the alternative is chilling. To find more information, those interested can go to www.BackCareTreatment.com. As research has regularly shown, quick fixes tend to lead to more problems. Nothing in life worth having comes without a price. To achieve real health, the price is putting in the effort to eat right, exercise, reduce stress and keep your body working properly.
Get rid of back pain with chiropractors in San Diego. Get a free DVD where you can discover all about spinal decompression therapy and what it can do for you.
New Research Suggests That Having Obese Friends May Make You Obese Too?
Published October 19, 2011 | As a chiropractor in the San Diego area, I deal with many patients who are overweight. New research suggests being obese may spread through social networks like a malicious virus. And more importantly, your friends can even live hundreds of miles away! The surrender slogan for many overweight and obese individuals for years has been I can’t help it – it’s in my genes. And who could blame these overweight individuals? Even many doctors and researchers believed your ability to lose weight or pack on pounds was primarily a function of your genetic make-up.
If you were dealt a bad genetic hand, your fate was to be fat and overweight. New information shows that this might not be the case. Be very careful who you befriend as it may cause you to become overweight. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the obesity epidemic could spread like a virus through social networks. When a person becomes overweight, his friends and siblings are likely to gain weight as well in the long run.
The researchers evaluated a network of 12,067 people who underwent repeated measurements over a period of 32 years. They found that when a person becomes obese, the chances that a friend will become obese increase by 57 percent. Siblings of obese people have a 40 percent increased risk of obesity, and their spouse’s risk increased by 37 percent.
On average, having an obese friend made a person gain 17 pounds, which put many people over the body mass index (BMI) measure for obesity. Female friendships did not seem to be impacted by obesity. But the chances that a man might gain weight from having a fat pal doubled for so-called mutual friends — friends who both listed each other as buddies.
“There is an important implication here for a broadening perspective on treatment for obesity,” said Dr. Nicholas Christakis, the study’s lead author. “Attitudes are changing about what constitutes an acceptable body size, more so than a sharing of behaviors. “We don’t think that this is the only cause of obesity. This is adding one additional factor or explanation.”
One big question raised by the study was, “why didn’t having obese friends affect the women’s weight?” “There is a strong social bias for women towards thinness,” said Dr. Robert Kushner, President of the American Board of Nutrition Physician Specialists. “Social norms may trump social networks here. Guys don’t have the same social pressure. Men may be more influenced by their friends.”
Other diet experts agree that the inner workings of male friendships may have a lot to do with weight gain. “Current social stigma against obesity is greater among women, and women jointly discuss weight and support each other in dieting and exercising,” said Jeffery Sobal, a Professor of Nutritional Science at Cornell University. “Men may engage in joint activities that increase weight, such as consuming more calories or spending time in sedentary activities.”
And here’s something interesting reported by researcher James Fowler of Harvard University and Nicholas Christakis of the University of California in the city of San Diego. They say it is plausible that areas of the brain that correspond to actions such as eating food may be stimulated if these actions are observed by others.
Social ties seem to play a surprisingly strong role, even more than genes are known to do. Obesity, they state, is “socially contagious” and, remarkably, the researchers found that to be true even if your loved ones live far away. “We were stunned to find that friends who are hundreds of miles away have just as much impact on a person’s weight status as friends who are right next door,” said Dr Fowler.
Despite their findings, the researchers said people should not sever their relationships. “There is a ton of research that suggests that having more friends makes you healthier,” Fowler said. “So the last thing that you want to do is get rid of any of your friends.” Clearly, this study shows the importance of behavior in weight gain overshadowing genetic make-up.
Learn more about diet. Stop by New Century Spine Centers where you can find out all about healthy diet and what it can do for you.
Posted in Health | chiropractic, Chiropractor, diet, disease, fat, Health, hollywood, medicine, Michael Pritsker, nutrition, obesity, steroids, weight gain, Weight Loss, zone | Leave a commentStudy Finds That Childhood Obesity is Linked To Health Habits
Published September 12, 2011 | According to an article in Science Daily, the study suggests unhealthy habits are feeding the childhood obesity trend. “For the extremely overweight child, genetic screening may be a consideration,” says study senior author Kim A. Eagle, M.D., a Cardiologist and a Director of the U-M Cardiovascular Center. 1,003 Michigan 6th graders were examined, obese children were “more likely to consume school lunch instead of a packed lunch from home and spend two hours a day watching TV or playing a video game.
Childhood obesity has TRIPLED in the U.S. in the last 30 years, and obesity among U.S. children ages 6-11 has gone from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. “For the rest, increasing physical activity, reducing recreational screen time and improving the nutritional value of school lunches offers great promise to begin a reversal of current childhood obesity trends.”
Obesity, Television and Food Choices
Forty-five percent of obese students ate the school provided lunch, but only 34 percent of non-obese students ate school lunch, leading to the belief that packing a lunch has enormous health benefits. According to the Science Daily article, researchers found that 58 percent of obese children had watched two hours of TV in the previous day, compared to 41 percent of non-obese children.
Significantly less obese kids exercised on a regular basis, performed physical education classes, or were a member of a sports organization. In the study, 15% of the students were obese, but almost all had unhealthy habits in them. Over 30% drank regular soda within the previous day, less than 50% remembered eating 2 servings of vegetables in the similar time period, and only 30% said they exercised for 30 minutes for 5 days during that week that they analyzed.
Exercise is Always the Key
One of the biggest take home messages (besides realizing that it’s habits making us overweight — not just our genes) is that almost all the students can drastically improve their diet and exercise, not just the 15% who are obese. According to the American College of Preventative Medicine, heart disease and diabetes are two of the most common preventable chronic diseases. Both have their preventable causes in what we eat and how much we exercise, and both start from the habits we obtain in childhood. As adults, we can change these habits any time we want and live a longer and healthier life just about instantly, but children need guidance to make the same healthy choices.
Posted in Health | 92108, children, chiropractic, Chiropractor, diet, disease, Health, medicine, Michael Pritsker, obesity, Overweight, San Diego, teen | Leave a comment