These are exciting times at our clinic!

If you haven’t been in recently; now’s a good time to give us a call.

First and foremost, we are going beyond chiropractic and are transforming into a full-service Wellness Center.   After 16 years of practice, I’ve come to the realization that achieving true, lasting health (which includes being pain-free, mobile and flexible) is more than getting your spine adjusted and improving your posture.   While this is a good component of a wellness regimen, for some, it is not enough due to pre-existing chronic, systemic problems.

For example, someone who exhibits any form of gastrointestinal deficiency (gas, fullness, reflux) may not be getting adequate nutrient absorption and may therefore not heal properly from, let’s say, a lumbar disc bulge.

Or, someone who has built up toxins in their body over the years from ingesting them through the lungs, skin, and poor food choices may have a difficult time losing weight or fighting chronic fatigue.

In cases like these, nutritional intervention and lifestyle modification are needed to transform the body into a healthier state.  And that, dear patients, is now an integral part of our services.

We will now offer nutritional management of chronic, degenerative diseases such as metabolic syndrome (insulin insensitivity, obesity/excessive weight gain); chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia; cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders such as Chron’s Disease and IBS; and musculoskeletal conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, acute sprain/strains, and bone and joint weakness.   The system we use is Metagenics line of medical foods and nutraceuticals.   Metagenics is the only supplement company that is Triple-GMP (Good Manufacturing Processes) Certified for quality and is only available through health care providers.

Secondly, exercise rehabilitation methods are now emphasized equally to and in some cases, in place of, chiropractic adjustments.  Somatic therapy is specially designed movements that help “break” abnormal, neurologically controlled muscle patterns in the body.  I find that many cases of chronic back pain and stiffness are not just a matter of misaligned vertebrae.  Old injuries and repetitive movements/habits over years can literally program your muscles contract unevenly, resulting in pain and stiffness.  Like a broken record, the brain commands the muscles to maintain this abnormal contraction.  Somatic therapy “de-programs” this and re-sets the muscles to their original state.

Lastly, we will be offering weight loss, body contouring, cellulite reduction, and non-surgical face lifts to improve the outer appearance of the body.  We already have the cellulite reduction services at our location, which is quite popular; the other services will be in place shortly.

In the next few weeks, we will be launching a new website and FaceBook Fan Page, where we will update clients and the public on the latest developments.  An Open House is planned this Summer or early Fall– stay tuned!

Till next time,

Dr. Dan

Vitamin D is a critical micronutrient that in many ways acts more like a hormone than a vitamin.  It is estimated that 30-50% of the population is low in Vitamin D, which can lead to a myriad of health conditions, including:

• bone thinning
• muscle pain and weakness
• cardiovascular disease
• diabetes
• breast and prostate cancer
• depressed immune system response
• asthma; wheezing
• high blood pressure
• metabolic syndrome
• fibromyalgia (widespread muscle tenderness)
• schizophrenia/ seasonal affective disorder/cognitive disorders

Studies show that low levels of Vitamin D are associated with increased mortality (death) across the  board, meaning, all diseases considered.

Your body can make Vitamin D with the help of ultraviolet (UVB) rays from sunshine, but you have to expose your skin to the sun, daily for it to suffice.  This is a problem for those who go from house to car to office; then back, every day.  People who live above 37 degrees N. latitude (that includes San Francisco) during the winter months are at higher risk of developing low Vitamin D levels — one of the reasons why colds and flu are more prevalent during these months.

The liver, kidneys and immune cells play a role in the manufacturing of the biologically active form of Vitamin D, referred to as calcitriol, or 1, 25 Dihydroxy Vitamin D.  So if there are any problems with these organs, it can lead to Vitamin D insufficiency.

Vitamin D occurs naturally in cold water, oily fish such as salmon (avoid farm raised), mackerel and sardines (canned is ok), tuna and eel.  Light-exposed mushrooms are the only vegan sources of Vitamin D.

Factors that can lead to Vitamin D deficiency include:

• elderly persons
• sunscreen users
• diseases of the kidneys, liver, intestines
• drugs and additives that interfere with fat metabolism (Olestra, bile sequestrant meds)
• statin (cholesterol-lowering) drugs
• long term use of anti-convulsive drugs
• frequent antibiotic use

As you can see, Vitamin D is critical to overall health.  You should have your Vitamin D levels checked periodically to make sure your levels are in the normal range (30-60 ng/mL).  There are numerous studies that show its beneficial effects in protecting against cancer, auto immune diseases, multiple sclerosis, metabolic diseases and depression.

Supplementation can help guarantee that your Vitamin D levels are where they need to be, and are probably required during the winter months for most people who live above the 37th latitude.  You should make sure the brand you choose has the proper potency, is stable enough to withstand delivery, and contains no contaminants.

We carry the Metagenics brand of nutraceuticals that meet all these criteria.  If you are experiencing symptoms associated with low Vitamin D levels, especially the feeling of weak muscles, tender bones, fatigue, and easily get sick make sure to get a blood test to measure your levels of active and inactive Vitamin D.

Have to share this article (abridged) with you all, written by Dr. Joseph Mercola, a medical doctor and popular natural health advocate:

Prescription drugs are responsible for an estimated 700,000 ER visits a year* due to adverse drug reactions. And adverse drug reactions from drugs that are properly prescribed and properly administered cause about 106,000 deaths per year, making prescription drugs the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S.

The truth is prescription drugs kill more than twice as many Americans as HIV/AIDS or suicide. Fewer die from accidents or diabetes than adverse drug reactions.

In 2006, the pharmaceutical industry spent an estimated $16 BILLION on physician advertising. At the time, that amounted to $10,000 for every doctor in the US…out of Harvard’s 8,900 professors and lecturers, 1,600 admit that they or a family member have ties to drug companies that could bias their teaching or research. In 2008 alone the pharmaceutical industry contributed more than $11.5 million to Harvard for “research and continuing education classes.”

And here’s a powerful statement from Dr. Mercola that I totally concur with, and that more people need to realize considering the large number of deaths each year from prescription drugs:

The pharmaceutical industry is not really about promoting health, but making money off disease. And when one market begins to dwindle, they simply create a new one, by inventing yet another disease. Usually by “upgrading” a common symptom into disease status…

*Yahoo News October 17, 2006

This kind of advice is needed to remind us of the importance of taking proactive steps in ensuring a healthy future.  We all get caught up on the demands of life (job, kids, bills, etc) that we let things slip.  So, remember to eat right, get enough rest, release emotional stress, exercise regularly (consistency is better than amount per workout), and do your best to avoid toxins in your diet and environment.  It will pay off in huge dividends.

Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans each year.  This helpful article recently came out.  Please familiarize yourself with these symptoms, whether you have risk factors for heart disease or not.

How to Tell if Someone Is Having a Heart Attack

Don’t let that happen to you. Here, 10 heart symptoms you’re likely to ignore — and shouldn’t.

1. Indigestion or nausea

One of the most oft-overlooked signs of a heart attack is nausea and stomach pain. Pay attention when anything seems out of the ordinary, particularly if it comes on suddenly and you haven’t been exposed to stomach flu and haven’t eaten anything out of the ordinary.

2. Jaw, ear, neck, or shoulder pain

A telltale sign: The pain comes and goes, rather than persisting unrelieved, as a pulled muscle would. This can make the pain both easy to overlook and difficult to pinpoint. You may notice pain in your neck one day, none the next day, then after that it might have moved to your ear and jaw. If you notice pain that seems to move or radiate upwards and out, this is important to bring to your doctor’s attention.

3. Sexual dysfunction

Having trouble achieving or keeping erections is common in men with coronary artery disease, but they may not make the connection. Just as arteries around the heart can narrow and harden, so can those that supply the penis — and because those arteries are smaller, they may show damage sooner. One survey of European men being treated for cardiovascular disease found that two out of three had suffered from erectile dysfunction before they were ever diagnosed with heart trouble.

4. Exhaustion or fatigue

A sense of crushing fatigue that lasts for several days is another sign of heart trouble that’s all too often overlooked or explained away. Women, in particular, often look back after a heart attack and mention this symptom. More than 70 percent of women in last year’s NIH study, for example, reported extreme fatigue in the weeks or months prior to their heart attack.

The key here is that the fatigue is unusually strong — not the kind of tiredness you can power through but the kind that lays you flat out in bed. If you’re normally a fairly energetic person and suddenly feel sidelined by fatigue, a call to your doctor is in order.

5. Breathlessness and dizziness

When your heart isn’t getting enough blood, it also isn’t getting enough oxygen. And when there’s not enough oxygen circulating in your blood, the result is feeling unable to draw a deep, satisfying breath — the same feeling you get when you’re at high elevation. Additional symptoms can be light-headedness and dizziness. But sadly, people don’t attribute this symptom to heart disease, because they associate breathing with the lungs, not the heart.

In last year’s NIH study, more than 40 percent of women heart attack victims remembered experiencing this symptom. A common description of the feeling: “I couldn’t catch my breath while walking up the driveway.”

6. Leg swelling or pain

When the heart muscle isn’t functioning properly, waste products aren’t carried away from tissues by the blood, and the result can be edema, or swelling caused by fluid retention. Edema usually starts in the feet, ankles, and legs because they’re furthest from the heart, where circulation is poorer. In addition, when tissues don’t get enough blood, it can lead to a painful condition called ischemia. Bring swelling and pain to the attention of your doctor.

7. Sleeplessness, insomnia, and anxiety

This is an odd one doctors can’t yet explain. Those who’ve had heart attacks often remember experiencing a sudden, unexplained inability to fall asleep or stay asleep during the month or weeks before their heart attack. (Note: If you already experience insomnia regularly, this symptom can be hard to distinguish.)

8. Flu-like symptoms

Clammy, sweaty skin, along with feeling light-headed, fatigued, and weak, leads some people to believe they’re coming down with the flu when, in fact, they’re having a heart attack. Even the feeling of heaviness or pressure in the chest — typical of some people’s experience in a heart attack — may be confused with having a chest cold or the flu.

If you experience severe flu-like symptoms that don’t quite add up to the flu (no high temperature, for example), call your doctor or advice nurse to talk it over. Watch out also for persistent wheezing or chronic coughing that doesn’t resolve itself; that can be a sign of heart disease, experts say. Patients sometimes attribute these symptoms to a cold or flu, asthma, or lung disease when what’s happening is that poor circulation is causing fluid to accumulate in the lungs.

9. Rapid-fire pulse or heart rate

One little-known symptom that sometimes predates a heart attack is known as ventricular tachycardia, more commonly described as rapid and irregular pulse and heart rate. During these episodes, which come on suddenly, you feel as if your heart is beating very fast and hard, like you just ran up a hill — except you didn’t.

Some patients confuse these episodes with panic attacks. Rapid pulse and heartbeat that aren’t brought on by exertion always signal an issue to bring to your doctor’s attention.

10. You just don’t feel like yourself

Heart attacks in older adults (especially those in their 80s and beyond, or in those who have dementia or multiple health conditions), can mimic many other conditions. But an overall theme heard from those whose loved ones suffered heart attacks is that in the days leading up to and after a cardiac event, they “just didn’t seem like themselves.”

A good rule of thumb, experts say, is to watch for clusters of symptoms that come on all at once and aren’t typical of your normal experience. For example, a normally alert, energetic person suddenly begins to have muddled thinking, memory loss, deep fatigue, and a sense of being “out of it.” The underlying cause could be something as simple as a urinary tract infection, but it could also be a heart attack. If your body is doing unusual things and you just don’t feel “right,” don’t wait. See a doctor and ask for a thorough work-up.

And if you have any risk factors for cardiac disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, or family history of heart disease, make sure the doctor knows about those issues, too.

Click Here for the complete article.

Related articles

• What’s the Difference Between Heartburn and Heart Attack? (everydayhealth.com)
• Does Chest Pain Always Mean Heart Attack? (everydayhealth.com)
• Symptoms of a Heart Attack (everydayhealth.com)

October 2010 started a new phase in San Francisco Chiropractic.

I relocated my main practice a block and a half away to 369 Pine Street (at Montgomery), and opened a smaller satellite office on 447 Sutter Street (at Powell), two blocks from Union Square.  The idea was to geographically split the practice and serve a bigger section of San Francisco.  We’ll see mostly Financial District workers and residents at the Pine St. location; and tourists, retail and hospitality workers at our Sutter St. office.

Image via Wikipedia

I am also emphasizing wellness care in my practice.  People forget, and often chiropractors forget, that chiropractic was originally developed as a way to stay healthy.  Sure, it can be effective for reducing musculoskeletal pain, but the more powerful benefit of chiropractic is keeping the spine flexible and properly aligned throughout life, whether you have pain or not, so that it does not shift out of place and encumber the central nervous system within.  Pressure to the spinal cord and nerves from misaligned vertebrae can disrupt optimal nerve function, leading to a host of problems besides pain.

It’s always a good time to do something good for your future health; no need to wait for the new year or some other milestone.  Exercising, eating healthy foods, reducing/properly managing stress, and keeping your spine fit by getting regular chiropractic adjustments is a sure way to an enjoyable life well into the future, free from disabilities.

Related articles

Chiropractic Care…A Growing Part of the Health Team (prnewswire.com)

Ok, here are the last three core principles of the Primal Blueprint, a lifestyle system that I highly recommend to patients to help reduce pain, increase lean body (muscle) mass, prevent injuries, and even reverse chronic conditions like arthritis, diabetes, and back pain.  The last couple of posts covers this topic, so if you missed out, go back and check them out.  The consequences can literally be life-changing.

In a nutshell, our genetic profile is hard-coded to respond to environmental stimuli based on the conditions that existed millions of years before modern man.  Early man walked long distances at a brisk pace (hunting, foraging, looking for shelter) with occasional short bursts of all-out exertion (to run down prey and escape from predators); got plenty of rest, played, got lots of sunshine, and ate primarily animals and plants in their whole, unadulterated form (including the fat, cartilage and bones).  Man did not learn about agriculture until about 10,000 years ago (a fraction of the human species geological timeline).   There was no harvesting of wheat, stone grinding it and making bread and pasta; there was no harvesting of rice, oats, etc.  Therefore, our genetic make up is designed to metabolize fat and protein, primarily; and get extra vitamins and minerals from plant foods.

So, the Primal Blueprint basically discourages the conventional wisdom of long and grueling cardiovascular exercise (distance running) and consuming more than 150 grams of carbohydrates per day.  This includes excessive juice, sugary drinks, grain products, and even added fiber.

Today, the last three topics will be addressed:  Prescription drugs, footwear, and fitness goals.

Drugs.  Most people take prescription drugs to relieve pain, speed healing, and to prevent/cure disease.  They believe some drugs will enhance the quality of life, like Viagra.

The PB stance is that drugs mask the underlying causes of pain and disease; compromise homeostasis, and produce disastrous side effects.  Simple lifestyle changes can replace the vast majority of pills.  Drugs are good in cases of emergencies only.

Footwear.  Most people believe that sturdy, cushioned shoes minimize injury and improve comfort.

PB says to go barefoot as often as you can.  Perpetual use of shoes weaken feet, increase injury risk and increase pain throughout the lower extremities.  Shoes have the effect of blocking normal foot joint and muscle biomechanics during walking due to their constrictive nature.  When you walk barefoot over irregular surfaces, as primitive man did, it actually exercises the foot bones and makes the feet stronger and more responsive to varying loads; thus providing more support to the body and reducing the chance on knee, ankle, hip and lower back injury and pain.

Exercise Goals. Conventional wisdom says goals need to be specific and measurable.  It helps you stay motivated and focused.  “Consistency is key– missed workouts = guilt, weight gain, and lost fitness.”

PB de-emphasizes specific, results-oriented goals.  Stay motivated by focusing on fun and release attachment to outcome.  Consistency = overstress.  Vary exercise routine to minimize stress and improve your genes’ adaptive response.  “Missed” workouts actually drive recovery, improvement and freshness.

So that concludes the major pillars of the Primal Blueprint system for long term health and fitness.  Some of them may be hard to swallow due to longstanding beliefs perpetuated in the media and by most “health and fitness experts” including primary care physicians.  But if you are a person who feels that his/her health is not what is should be, and everything else you’ve tried has failed, give the PB a try.  The results are felt almost immediately.

Dr. Perez

(415) 627-9077

Ok, here are the next three pillars of the Primal Blueprint, a diet/exercise/lifestyle “blueprint” designed to naturally drop excess pounds, increase health, strength, and endurance.  I’m writing about this system because I believe it can help a lot of people overcome chronic health problems, including difficulty losing weight.

Regarding weight loss, conventional wisdom (the media, most fitness magazines, most primary care physicians) will encourage a high complex-carbohydrate diet, regimented meals with portion controls, and frequent (chronic) cardio exercises.  They will say “it’s all about calories and genetic disposition.”

Primal Blueprint encourages high fat/moderate protein/low carb diet incorporating generous amounts of greens.  Intuitive, sporadic meals (not necessarily eating the same time of the day every day) are encouraged.  Engage in primal exercise methods (slow, sustained strength movements with intermittent bursts of maximum exertion, no more than 30-45 minutes in duration).  PB says it’s all about keeping blood insulin levels under control– low and definitely no spikes throughout the day.

Regarding play:  conventional wisdom and most people don’t value “play” as a necessary part of fitness, but PB says that outdoor, active, unstructured fun is an integral component of overall health and balanced lifestyle, and is scientifically proven to increase work activity.

Regarding sunlight exposure:  conventional wisdom says to avoid the sun to prevent skin cancer, and use high SPF sunblock when outdoors.  PB says get adequate sun to avoid skin (and other) cancers.  Vitamin D synthesis promotes healthy cellular function.  Cover up with clothing in strong sunlight and find shade or go inside when sufficient exposure is achieved.

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Whether you’re trying to lose weight, reduce joint pain, increase strength and endurance, or improve your mood and energy levels, I encourage you to investigate the Primal Blueprint method.  The reason why so many people develop chronic health problems is because they are living a lifestyle that is counter to what their genes are coded for.  The system encourages a return  to humans’ primitive dietary habits and physical behavior to foster a stronger and healthier body.

Next time, I’ll discuss the last three pillars of the Primal Blueprint — prescription drugs, footwear, and goal setting health and fitness goals.

Dan Perez DC

Chiropractor San Francisco

415.627.9077

If you’ve missed the previous posts, I’m writing on the core concepts of the Primal Blueprint, a dietary, exercise and lifestyle plan to help maintain optimum health.  PB was conceived by Mark Sisson, an ex-super triathlete who got burned out by following the traditional dietary and exercise routines most people follow:  intense cardio workouts, carbohydrate-rich diet, “carbo-loading” before a sporting event to boost glucose stores, sugary drinks for hydration, and so forth.  PB dismantles these “pillars of fitness” using scientific logic based on evolutionary biology.  In a nutshell, thousands of generations of human lineage produced the genetic code we all carry today.  And those genetic codes still assume many of the environmental factors that existed during early man’s time:  hunter gatherer diets, foraging, energy preservation, and periods of starvation.  When we do things to our bodies (diet, exercise habits) that are not in line with these genetic codes, it adds stress to our system and eventually, chronic degenerative changes.

It’s common knowledge that, as far as the U.S. goes, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and gastrointestinal disease are still a big problem in the population.  Drugs have not been able to stem the rates of these debilitating diseases.   It begs the question, “what can be the cause of this?”  After all, the U.S. is a wealthy country with excellent medical facilities.  Could human behavior be driving this terrible morbidity rate?  Are people getting the wrong message when it comes to diet and exercise?  I think so.

Let’s talk about cardio workouts.  Conventional Wisdom says you should do a minimum of 30 minutes, three times per week (more is better) of sustained efforts in medium to difficult intensity zones.

The Primal Blueprint says frequent medium to difficult sustained cardio efforts (running, stairmaster, aerobics classes, spinning, etc.) = overstress, fatigue, burnout, injury, accelerated aging, and increased disease risk.  It is ineffective for weight loss, as calories burned through this Chronic Cardio method simply increase appetite, particularly for sugar.  PB says to slow down for better health and peak performance!

Basically, PB advises against those long endurance type cardio exercises, like five and ten mile runs, 60 minute aerobic classes, and similar long, sustained repetitive exertion exercises.  Our genetic code is not designed for this.  You wind up generating a lot of free radicals that overwhelm your body’s anti-oxidant defenses, and break down your body.

Next, I’ll discuss the Primal Blueprint position on weight loss.  Stay tuned.

Dr. Perez

San Francisco Chiropractic

This article on Yahoo News caught my eye today.  Americans are spending $86 billion a year for lower back pain treatment, but research finds little evidence that the population got better as spending soared over the last decade.

There is an attitude that, with all the fancy, high tech gizmos like digital x-rays and robotic assisted surgical machines that something invasive can and must be done to treat lower back pain.  The reality is that time is often the best antidote.   However, this advice does not sit will with most people with back pain.  People are accustomed to seeking out immediate cures to their maladies and have a certain fear if something is not “being done.”

The biggest problem: When it comes to back pain, there’s no one-size-fits-most treatment.  What may work for one case of back pain may make another case worse, depending on the source of the pain.

“There are a lot of procedures going on for patients in whom we don’t have good evidence that it’s going to help,” said Dr. Richard Deyo of Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, who long has studied how people fare with different options for this tough ailment.

The article goes on to say that exercise rehabilitation, where patients push past the pain, shows encouraging results.  Surgery tends to have a low success rate, because with each successive surgery scar tissue and weakened structures are created potentially resulting in further weakness, loss of stability and mobility, and more pain.

One thing the article failed to mention was chiropractic treatment.  Chiropractic has certain advantages over surgery and pain injections in that it is less invasive and destructive.  When combined with exercise rehabilitation, chiropractic is a very good choice for most cases of lower back pain.  However, it is a procedure and should be recommended only when the condition warrants it.  Cases of severe disc herniation, for example, would not benefit from chiropractic in the acute stage, but may benefit in the post acute stage.

Here is the closing summary of the article:

What’s the best advice? First, some types of back pain are accompanied by red flags that need immediate attention — such as numb or weak legs or urinary problems. But for most people:

_Don’t expect an X-ray, MRI or CT until a month to six weeks has passed, unless the doctor suspects a more serious problem. Following that guideline is becoming a quality-of-care measure in many organizations.

_Get back to normal activity as quickly as possible; the days of prescribed bed rest are over.

_Patients with sciatica, pain radiating down the leg, have the best outcomes from those nerve-easing decompression surgeries, Deyo stressed. California’s Rosen said three criteria determine chances of success: a scan that correlates with the pain site; the patient has some weakness; and specific pain occurs when the doctor raises and straightens the legs.

Herniated disks heal on their own over about two years, but surgery for a faster fix is reasonable in good candidates, he said.

_Fusions are appropriate for far fewer patients, those with fractures, unstable or slipping spines, curvature of the spine and rare other reasons, Rosen said.

_Deyo recently studied surgeries for stenosis, that painful narrowing, and found decompression surgery as effective and less risky than fusions, which are more complicated and costly.

_A formal exercise program is especially effective if coupled with cognitive behavioral therapy that teaches patients to manage and function with pain, Deyo said.

_What if surgery fails? Usually, it was the wrong operation or the wrong candidate, said Rosen, who sees one or two patients a week classified as having “failed back syndrome” because of multiple failed surgeries.

Always get a second opinion. Rosen, who founded the Association for Medical Ethics, also recommends asking about a doctor’s ties to companies that make spine-surgery products. That way you’ll feel assured that a recommendation to cut doesn’t come from a too-cozy relationship.

_Not a good candidate? A primary care physician can be a neutral adviser in helping navigate next steps. Patients with more challenging back problems may fare better at a multidisciplinary spine center with numerous specialists — in rehab and pain management — under one roof.

Dan Perez, DC

(415) 627-9077

Image by Kare_Products via Flickr

I ran across this very informative article today.  Everyone pretty much agrees and understands that prolonged sitting is bad for your back.  I’ve been educating patients about this from day one of my career as a chiropractor.  The body is designed to be upright most of the time, and frequently moving.  Sitting disengages the activity of critical muscles used in posture and can lead to muscle weakness and less support to the spine, leading to degenerative joint disease and chronic back pain.

This article confirms this and goes further to state that prolonged sitting can actually increase your bad cholesterol levels! Here’s what it says:

If you’re standing around and puttering, you recruit specialized muscles designed for postural support that never tire,” (Missouri microbiologist Marc Hamilton) says. “They’re unique in that the nervous system recruits them for low-intensity activity and they’re very rich in enzymes.” One enzyme, lipoprotein lipase, grabs fat and cholesterol from the blood, burning the fat into energy while shifting the cholesterol from LDL (the bad kind) to HDL (the healthy kind). When you sit, the muscles are relaxed, and enzyme activity drops by 90% to 95%, leaving fat to camp out in the bloodstream. Within a couple hours of sitting, healthy cholesterol plummets by 20%.

The data back him up. Older people who move around have half the mortality rate of their peers. Frequent TV and Web surfers (sitters) have higher rates of hypertension, obesity, high blood triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and high blood sugar, regardless of weight. Lean people, on average, stand for two hours longer than their counterparts.

The chair you’re sitting in now is likely contributing to the problem. “Short of sitting on a spike, you can’t do much worse than a standard office chair,” says Galen Cranz, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. She explains that the spine wasn’t meant to stay for long periods in a seated position. Generally speaking, the slight S-shape of the spine serves us well. “If you think about a heavy weight on a C or S, which is going to collapse more easily? The C,” she says. But when you sit, the lower lumbar curve collapses, turning the spine’s natural S-shape into a C, hampering the abdominal and back musculature that support the body. The body is left to slouch, and the lateral and oblique muscles grow weak and unable to support it.

So there you have it.  If you have a job that involves sitting for more than 20 minutes straight (very common in the Financial District of San Francisco), you’ve got to take action and break the cycle– stand up and stretch every 20 minutes; try using one of those “knee chairs” that distributes some of your weight to your knees and legs and preserves the S-curve of the spine; or even consider asking your boss if you can ditch the chair and have a standing work station.  Bottom line– prolonged sitting is bad for your back, and bad for your health!

If you haven’t been in awhile to get your spine adjusted, now’s a good time.  Adjustments help your vertebrae move better, which is critical for those who sit for long periods.

Dan Perez, DC

San Francisco Chiropractors