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#58 High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein 

3/26/2014

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            It’s really quite funny who we choose to view as an authority figure, who we listen to and take advice from.  There is a funny little incident that occurred a year or so ago that demonstrated this.  I had a patient with Fibromyalgia (FMS).  I related to her a study that found that taking a certain sugar 3-times per day provided significant relief in 66% of FMS patients in the study.  A year or so later Dr. Oz said the same thing on his nationally syndicated TV program and she started taking the sugar after he reinforced my earlier recommendation.  And then a couple of weeks ago Dr. Oz struck again.  I have been promoting the virtues of a blood test called C - reactive protein for almost 10 years.  Few doctors order it but to me it is the most vital test you can have done to evaluate your overall health.  So a couple of weeks ago Dr. Oz said that c-reactive protein is the most important blood test you can have.  Now it’s official.  So what is this C - reactive protein test and why do most medical doctors not measure it and why does Dr. Oz now agree with me that it is so important? 

The test is the most sensitive measure of inflammation in your body.  Inflammation are chemicals that are carried everywhere in your body that are produced during an infection, an injury, or because of arthritis.  If you have a cut or a sprain or an abscess, or a bladder infection or gum disease, or just plain old arthritis, these will cause your c-reactive protein to increase.  The test is an easy way to get a reading on your inflammation.  This is important because research is now concluding that increased levels of inflammation is perhaps the single largest predictor of a variety of diseases, including the two largest killers, heart disease and cancer.  You will see more and more of this discussion in the coming years. 

As a doctor of chiropractic I could order these tests but most chiropractic patients don’t want to go to a blood lab as part of their work-up.  But it would be a good idea none-the-less.  Most medical doctors don’t order it because there is no good drug to bring down your c-reactive protein if it is high.  It is a lifestyle problem and most (but not all) M.D.’s don’t take the time to really discuss lifestyle that much.  They write prescriptions. 

Dr. Oz agrees that it is so important because he does talk about lifestyle on his program.  To really lower your c-reactive protein you need to make sure you don’t have chronic infections, including gum disease, you need to maintain your weight, to exercise, to eat well, and to take supplements.  These are things that I talk about, especially in my articles week after week.

But there’s a chiropractic twist to this C - reactive protein.  Chiropractic adjustments over a period of time through Reconstructive Care lower the inflammation levels in your spine from 70-95% and spinal inflammation is probably the largest reservoir of inflammation in your body, inflammation that goes everywhere, that leads to disease.  So to maximally lower your c-reactive protein, not only do you need to clean up your lifestyle, but you should be as subluxation free as possible. 

Research tells us that folks with a c-reactive protein less than .5 rarely have heart attacks.  A value of 1-3 is considered normal.  My last test was .6.  Not too bad.  Have yours tested next time you talk to your M.D.

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    Dr. Rick

    After writing an article per week for a year, I just kept going.  These are most of my collection.  They are written with my existing patients in mind, so some stuff may seem odd or unusual, but would make perfect sense to those who know chiropractic and who know me.  Enjoy and share!  For my personal blog visit: 

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Yolanda wrote:
     
     I used to suffer severe headaches and migraines on a daily basis, usually all day.  I managed to work in an office because I had to.  When I went home at the end of the day I would often close the shades and go to bed.  I could not plan weekend events because I simply never knew how I was going to feel tomorrow.  If there were a special event such as a birthday or wedding, I would begin to medicate myself two weeks in advance to give myself the best chance of making the event.
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     An opportunity came up for us to adopt a newborn baby girl not long after I began chiropractic care.  This baby was particularly important to me and my husband because her mother is a relative.  Tragically, her mother was also a drug user and did drugs during her pregnancy.  If we could not adopt the baby she would have been put into the foster system since the biological mother was incapable of raising her.
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     What does this have to do with chiropractic?  The reality is that without chiropractic, I would still be nearly an invalid with headaches.  I COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN CARE OF AN INFANT OR RAISED A YOUNG CHILD.  THEREFORE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR HER.  MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE SOMEBODY MADE ME GO TO A CHIROPRACTOR. 
     You need to tell everyone you know what you know about chiropractic.  Who knows who’s life you will change too.
Andrew's mother, Barbara, wrote:

     Hello, My name is Andrew and I am a happy, healthy one year old.  But I wasn’t so happy or healthy when I first met Dr. Rick a few months ago.  I had been having problems with my ears for four months, I couldn’t sleep at night and I was miserable.  We’d been to the doctor lots of times but nothing was helping.  In fact, all the medicines the doctor had tried seemed to make me worse instead of better!  Both the regular doctor and the Ear-Nose and Throat doctor said that if the antibiotics didn’t work, then they’d just have to put tubes in.  Now my Mom and dad weren’t about to let them do surgery on me, especially since they had been reading and learned that tubes can cause more problems than they solve.  My mom and dad did a lot of praying.  Then my mom heard that sometimes babies who have a traumatic birth like mine have ear trouble.  You see when I was born they used a vacuum extractor and forceps to pull me out.  I guess all that yanking on my head, hurt my neck.  She also heard that chiropractic care can be the answer.  Now she was skeptical because she couldn’t imagine a chiropractor helping ear infections!?!  But at that point she was willing to try anything!!  Happily, a few weeks of adjustments and my ears were all cleared up.  In addition, I no longer had a stiff neck or shoulders and my whole personality was happier.  I have to tell all babies who have ear troubles, don’t let them give you tubes until you at least try chiropractic care first.  After all, it can’t hurt and if you’re like me, you could be perfectly well with no drugs and no surgery.  In my family, we thank God for Dr. Rick, because I feel better, my mom and dad are happier and sometimes, I even sleep through the night.