If you have a pain that just won’t go away, should you go to a pain clinic? If you choose the wrong one you may go from bad to worse. Pain clinics are springing up like Marijuana clinics here in California. Why? Is it because there is concern over suffering or because there is a lot of money to be made on desperate people?

Let me tell you a story about one of my patients, named Jane. This story is true and occurring at an alarming frequency.

A pediatrician asked me to see his girl Friday. She was the best employee he had in 30 years. He told me how over a ten week period this dynamo of 9 years in his employment turned into a zombie, barely able to think no less talk. What happened to Jane?

She told me that she had some back pain that would not go away, so she decided to see a pain specialist. She said, “He briefly examined me and said I had a herniated disc and gave me a prescription for Vicodin” and scheduled me for a series of shots and tests. After a week when that didn’t work, he changed it to Norco and an epidural shot into my spine. Then he changed me to Oxycontin, and finally morphine sulfate.

Jane now in addition to her back pain, she had severe constipation, constant drowsiness, a feeling like she couldn’t think and a loss of her libido. Her recently estranged husband threatened to take their kids away as she had overslept one morning and failed to get their children to school on time.

In a two month period, she had been given five epidural injections of steroids in her spine. At least 10 local injections of steroids and now they were considering putting in a morphine pump. A gadget placed in her body which would give a steady stream of narcotics. Prior to eight weeks ago, Jane rarely drank more than one glass of wine per year. She was the breadwinner and the finest worker my pediatric friend had ever hired.

What happened? Jane got caught up in the spine pain jungle where doctors make their patients addicts and at the same time charge tens of thousands of dollars for worthless injections and when all else fails, they order like they did with Jane a morphine pump. Yes, now Jane will be his patients forever. Forever addicted, forever drugged, forever dependant and forever a failure in life unable to take care of her family no less themselves. Yes, a chronic addict no different than the old opium dens in China 100 years ago. Now we call these “pain clinics”. Luckily not all pain clinics are unscrupulous.

My exam clearly showed all Jane had was a little arthritis, her MRI scan showed no significant disc problems. All she needed was 1-2 weeks of ibuprofen and 4-5 sessions of physical therapy. Neither of which had been prescribed to her. But now such a simple remedy would not work because Jane had a serious problem, she was an addict.

After examining her, I asked her to call her pain doctor. The receptionist answered and was reluctant to tell her the credentials of these so called pain physicians. I took the phone and was told these pain specialist were only general practitioners.

Jane had been caught up in the new age opium mill called the pain specialist clinic.

The American Academy of Neurology and American Pain Academy warn that Narcotics are the last medication choice, and should only be used for severe acute pain for less than 2 weeks. The most commonly used Narcotics that we find are Codeine, Vicodin, Norco, all of which are Hydrocodones. Next are Oxycontin, Percocet, Demerol, and Morphine Sulfate to name a few.

Narcotics don’t treat the problem. They just hide the symptoms. I call them the Ostrich narcotics, as you don’t see the pain but it is still there.

The downsides of narcotics are:

1.        constipation

2.        drowsiness

3.        loss of libido

4.        addiction

5.        depression

The dependency on narcotics is fierce, and withdrawal symptoms with increased pain perception, cramps and vomiting can be debilitating. The fact is after 2 weeks narcotics effectiveness begin to wane and stronger or higher doses are needed. This is what happened to Jane.

Narcotics play havoc with our normal hormone dopamine and our calmative hormone serotonin which are so important for our body’s natural defense against pain.

Narcotics not only hide the pain, but make us more sensitive to it when they wear off. Yes, in time we are not only addicted physiologically, but pain wise narcotics actually decrease our own defenses and our ability tolerate any pain.

If your doctor keeps re-ordering your narcotic medication, ask him to help you get off them.

The difference between the opium dens of the early 20^th Century, and some of the pain clinics today is that the Den is now called a clinic, the Opium are prescription narcotics. Dens were illegal, but are now paid for by private insurance companies who don’t police those who call themselves pain specialists.

Jane is now in a narcotics withdrawal hospital. Why, because she had a simple case of low back pain and was going through a life crisis. Her life is in ruin. How can you avoid this trap? Ask your doctor who he’d send his family to.

Tell me your story

Next, how to pick a good pain specialist

First, they cause carbohydrate craving that leads to obesity.

Second, They contain Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal & Spoonful) which may be a poison.

 Diet soda may not contain calories but their chemical formula turn on a similar mechanism in the body and brain that refined carbohydrates do, turning on a potent stimulus in the brain to crave carbohydrates. People involved in diet drink research have been shown to gain weight.

 Aspartame can be a poison. When the sweetener’s temperature exceeds 86 degrees Fahrenheit, (our body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) it turns the Aspartame to Formaldehyde (embalming fluid) then to Formic acid, the poison injected by fire ants. Methanol toxicity from this process has been implicated in producing symptoms similar to Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus.

 Remember to watch out for the label “Sugar Free” and also the label “Fat Free” as fat free is often full of High Fructose Corn Syrup, which is the cause of the obesity epidemic in America.

Why can’t we stay on our diet?  The reasons are many, but two I want to bring in focus:

1.         Loss of willpower

2.         Addictive foods that cause carb craving

Loss of willpower is due to low serotonin and dopamine levels caused by inadequate sleep and uncontrolled stress. 

Physicians, disciplined and dedicated all their lives are most susceptible as they are chronically stressed and get inadequate sleep.  What does this do to those disciplined young doctors as they mature?   The American Medical Association clearly has indicated that physicians are more often than not overweight or obese, have a high rate of addiction to alcohol and drugs, and have a higher than 65% divorce rate. 

All diets will fail unless you control sleeplessness and stress.

Do you sleep adequately?   For the next week I want you to log the time you get in bed and the time you get out of bed, and then the time you actually slept.  If the time of sleep does not equal 7 hours you probably are having difficulty with serotonin and dopamine and the energy needed to keep your willpower up in times of temptation.   (See the Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription on sleep or CD and DVD series)

Are you taking care of your stress?   It is not how busy you are,  but how frustrated that causes you to have decreased levels of serotonin and dopamine and increased levels of cortisol that cause you to overeat and age.  Understanding the difference between controlled and uncontrolled stress is essential.  (See the CD or DVD program on stress)

How to be successful and prevent Alzheimer’s.  First control your sentinel risk factors, that is stress and sleep problems.  This will give you the willpower.  Know what to eat.  The harmonic diet and the golden dozen foods high in antioxidants.  Know that all important order of eating.  Eating a protein, Omega 3’s found in fish oil and other products will first decrease your appetite and convert sugar to protein by provoking the hormone glucagon.  Just by eating a protein or a fat first, you can turn on your bodies chemistry to lose fat, increase lean muscle mass and keep on your diet. Yes, what we eat first determines what we eat next (a carbohydrate leaded dessert) or not. The CD or DVD on harmonic diet will pave the way to your success.      

The Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription and DEAR Program

Did you ever wonder why you cannot change your lifestyle, that is stay on a diet, exercise regularly, get enough sleep?  Be the person you want to be?  Many will tell you it is just a matter of motivation or willpower. 

If that is true, then why are doctors and other professionals who attain their degrees in position only through persistence and determination and shear willpower, often overweight or obese, and out of control?

The reason is not a question of willpower, but neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.  Without them it is like a Mercedes without fuel. Our intentions, “healthy life changes”, fail without willpower and a plan.

The DEAR Program and Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription will show you how to maximize how to the hormones that in fact help us maintain willpower and motivation. “The fuel”.  Learn about the sentinel risk factors that cause us to fail.  Go to the DEAR Program.com to find more.     

Wine: Friend or Foe

A recent European study shows why drinking 4-6oz of wine for women and double that for men is helpful for both brain and heart. 

Drinking wine boosts Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish. 

A study called the IMMIDET showed wine, more than beer, increases Omega 3 DHEA in blood plasma and EPA. 

A UCLA study showed moderate wine drinkers were 25% less at risk for disability than tea tottlers.

  Worried About Osteoporosis?

Recent studies from Tuff’s University in Boston showed in a four year osteoporosis study that foods high in anti-oxidants carotene inhibit bone breakdown and re-absorption.  Such foods are:

1.         Tomatoes

2.         Guava

3.         Watermelon

4.         Sweet peppers

5.         Grapefruit

6.         Carrots

7.         Strawberries and other dark berries. 

So eat a colorful meal of vegetables at lunch and dinner. 

Warning: if you are on statins (cholesterol lowering agents) grapefruit may interfere with its absorption. 

Exercise or Not

Why don’t we exercise?  The reasons I am given by my patients are:

1.         I cannot find the time.  I call this the time deficiency syndrome.

2.         Going to a gym is too difficult and expensive.  I call this the gymless syndrome.

3.         I am just too tired after working all day.  I call this the overworked syndrome.

The Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription and DEAR Program show you how to overcome all three at home with no need for a gym or equipment. Go to DEARProgram.com

Exercise:  Why you Fail

1.         I cannot find the time.  I call this the time deficiency syndrome.

2.         Going to a gym is too difficult and expensive.  I call this the gymless syndrome.

3.         I am just too tired after working all day.  I call this the overworked syndrome.

Let’s take number 3, I’m just too tired.  I am just too tired after a full days work! I am too tired means your stress hormones are high (cortisol) and youthful hormones testosterone, estrogen, growth hormone, and thyroid are low.  One of the assets and best ways to reverse that quotient is, in fact, exercise.  Exercise decreases stress hormones and delays aging, heart disease, and carb craving, and consequently obesity that comes with being a couch potato. ( Potatoes by the way are high on the glycemic index)  So, by resting in fact you make it worse. 

Exercise just 10 minutes by the Fort Formula will raise growth hormone 14% for four hours, stimulate thyroid, testosterone production and the hormone Leptin that decreases appetite.  Yes, 10 minutes will burn calories and decrease your appetite and make you lean.

In my experience the average person over 50 who exercises before dinner consumes 20% less calories while simulating the youthful hormone that make you look younger and increased energy for the next day and increase your endurance.

The additional bonus is that the increase is an increase in muscle mass and increase in  calories burned just by being lean.  In fact you look younger and you are younger. 

Exercise done the Fort Formula way increases neogenesis and neoplasticity that is increase in brain cells and its connections. 

Exercise just 10 minutes a day makes your body lean and healthy, resists aging and increases your mental abilities and prevents Alzheimer’s disease. 

Time Deficiency Syndrome

Not enough time.  Not enough time is rarely a valid reason in America not to exercise.  The Nielsen Study shows that the average American watches 5.5 hours of TV per day.  Clearly, there is time.  However, the gymless syndrome often chimes in, I need a gym. 

The Fort Formula home program can be done “on the couch or in front of a TV”.  Wow.  Now the only excuse left is I have no couch or no TV.  Well, that is even better.  The Fort Formula exercise program is fashioned to strengthen core, muscles where we lose up to 36% of our lean muscle mass as we age.   It is the major cause for falls and injuries and the number one cause for falls and that is fear of falling in individuals 60 years of age or older, especially in those over 70.  Injuries to the hips, knees, shoulders are very frequent as we age.  In fact, it doubles every 10 years after 50.  The Fort Formula exercise program without need for weights or assistive devises causes the excitation of a muscle hormone called IGF-1 that stimulates a brain derived hormone that sets off three genes that increase lean muscle mass (Increase muscle size) and increase bone density (so important to women over 50).  Finally, these genes of CRG 1 and 3, stimulate brain growth.  Exercise is essential to both our body and brain.  It also is essential to our psyche, or attitude and sense of self-contentment. 

Some say, “I look better, therefore I feel better, and therefore I am better”.

When you exercise the order changes to is, “I am better and that makes me feel better”, and when you feel better you become all you can be and as a consequence you look better, not just physically, but most important in your own eyes.  People who like themselves are liked by others.  

What about sleep and stress?  Please go to DEARProgam.com for more.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”

Dimebon has been hailed as a revolutionary drug to retard progression and improve Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Phizer Pharmacueticals has funded the phase 3 trial to prove Dimebon’s efficacy in humans, that is does it work!

The results of their latest trials were declared March 3^rd:

“Dimebon shows NO EFFECT in treating Alzheimer’s”

In the past 10 years, 20.2 billion dollars has been spent on 6 major drugs thought to be an answer or partial one to the Alzheimer’s epidemic now effecting 5.6 million in the U.S. with 40% of Babyboomers anticipated to become a statistic of the disease.

Dr. Vincent M. Fortanasce, author of “The Anti Alzheimer’s Prescription”, while strongly supporting the billions spent on research to find a cure says:

“Would it not be wise to put some funds for research into “Preventative measures, while we pursue the elusive cure”. He is currently researching the effectiveness of a special exercise regimen that stimulates a hormone IGF-1 that effect a brain derived hormone that turns on 3 genes; One that causes cytoskeletal growth or muscle mass and bone density. The second and third genes increase the production of neurogenesis and neuroplasticity (new brain cells and dendrites, the roots from a cell). Thus, it is believed that this program might slowdown or reverse the normal degeneration of the brain that can rapidly progress from 50 years old and on. The exercise can be done at home without the need of equipment and even in front of your television or desk, says Dr. Fortanasce.

The cost of such prevention may be an ounce of sweat versus the estimated $2400 dollars per pound that people spend on anti-Alzheimer’s medications on the market.

It is time for a reality check, why ignore the preventative research when we know it works.

Anyone interested in finding out more or funding such research or want a copy of the exercise tape, please contact our office at fortanasce@earthlink.net

“At present, Preventative measures are our only weapon against this disease”, says Dr. William Sears author of the new book “Prime Time”.

You would never tell your child to pack a gun, why let them pack a cell phone? Could cell phones be as dangerous as a weapon?

New studies indicate actively growing cells as brain, retinal eye, and reproductive organ cells (testes) are highly vulnerable to micro radiation from cell phones causing cancer or cell death. Is this really true? Should a parent wait until the jury is out? I think all parents would agree that it is best to be cautious. We would not let our children eat food that we thought might have spoiled. The risk outweighs the benefit. The questions should be, do the risks of carrying a cell phone outweigh their benefits. Lets weigh the evidence and keep it in perspective of the past. It is said that those that ignore the past, are in danger of repeating it.

In the 1960s, I remember my older cousin presenting me with a cigarette, I shook my head “No” and he said “everyone smokes, even doctors”. He died 30 years later of lung cancer. What does present science tell us. Most disconcerting is a recent study that revealed rats who have very similar brains to humans in that they have the same blood brain barrier and brain cell types. Note that rats exposed to 2 hours of radiation and then sacrificed 50 days later showed multiple areas of dead brain cells in those exposed to radiation versus none in those who were not so exposed.

The University of Pittsburgh’s Cancer Center notes that cell phone use affects our immune system and bone marrow. Other recent reports show that their may be an increase in brain tumors especially of the eye and ear. Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Paul Sung from USC recently warned that having a cell phone in ones pocket might also prove dangerous to a child’s testes and reproductive organs.  The reasons why are summarized by a Dr. Agarwal who reports that electromagnetic waves, those from cell phones can cause disturbance in sleep, difficulties in concentration, fatigue, and headaches.  Also, increased resting blood pressure, and reduced reduction of melatonin.   There are implications that it breaks down the DNA strands that might lead to disease like Alzheimer’s and cancer.  A Swedish study also clearly reports “Cell phones damage key brain cells and could trigger early onset of Alzheimer’s disease”. 

I have written in the past that Alzheimer’s disease does begin in childhood due to lifestyles that children then carry on into adulthood, which are injurious to their general health and its brain.  Now it is clear that cell phones which have proliferated in use by children and recent report noted that children use the computers, cell phones and video games for an average of 8.2 hours per day and, in fact, at least two hours a day was spent on cell phones. Scientific data appears to overwhelmingly indicate very active growing cells are particularly vulnerable to micro radiation from cell phones. The testes and ovaries in males and females, the brain cells especially those in developing children.

Personally, it has been my experience that cell phone micro radiation is a great danger. Electro diagnostic machinery highly sensitive to micro radiation that I sue in my office vibrates 2 to 3 seconds before my cell phone goes off, despite the cell phone being 4 to 10 feet from my equipment.

Yes, this micro radiation is powerful and the question is does it or doesn’t it cause a problem.  I do believe that we should always be cautious. I advise strongly that all parents heed this advice because the areas that can be most involved with children are their strongly developing brain especially their learning centers, called the hippocampus, that store information, memory, and is their learning center.  Second, are their eyes and   third are their ears.  These are the areas where nerve cell production and activity is the highest and are most vulnerable to the micro radiation from cell phones.  Further, the organs of reproduction which are also developing in our adolescent children and must be protected.   Remember most young children and men pack their cell phone in their pants pocket, right next to their testes. What can you do?

1. Don’t buy your child a cell phone unless it is urgent. The risk outweighs the benefit.

2. Limit the time your child spends on their cell phones and do this by checking their

    phone usage monthly, just as you would check their phone bill. 

3. Use a wired headset or advise using the speaker phone.

4. Make sure that they are not carrying the cell phone on their body especially their

    pocket.   

Is history repeating itself? Recently, Larry King Live discussed just this cell phone problem on his show. The cell phone companies refused his invitation.  Not too different from tobacco companies response 40 years ago.

Are telephones as dangerous as guns? Decide now before it’s too late.

Are you in control of your life?  You or a pill?  You or magical thinking?  You or the doctor? 

People do not do lifestyle changes because they do not believe in themselves.  They don’t believe that they can be in control.  I tell you, you are right unless you take care of your sentinel risk factors.

What are the sentinel risk factors?  The sentinel risk factors simply are sleeplessness and uncontrolled stress. 

After thirty years of practice I found many patients fidelity to me was not because of my store of knowledge and experience, but on the strength of my pen!  My ability to give them a drug.  A drug as an antihypertensive, an antibiotic, an antilipid agent, an anti-inflammant, all which would not be necessary if they only heeded my advise from my experience and knowledge. 

I often pose this question to my patients:

“WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE IN CONTROL? Yourself or me?” Your accountant or your wife or husband, or your parent? 

Some people need a drug as an antiepileptic and so, therefore, need that pen of mine, but most do not need any medications, and, in fact, most of their worries would be avoided with a simple lifestyle change. 

It is clear today that obesity, hyperlipidemia, much of heart disease and cancer, hypertension could all be avoided if one changed one’s lifestyle.  The big question is:

“WHY DON’T YOU TAKE CONTROL?”

The reasons are several:

1.         Some don’t want control

2.         Some can’t take control

3.         Some doubt they even know how to take control. 

In a series of 100 patients, 98% said they would like to be in control.  However, when confronted with the facts that they were not in control and asked why, 75% blamed it on their environment, stress; 10% said they were just too comfortable having someone else being in control, as a doctor, parent, etc.

“Oh”, I said, “like being in a car without brakes or one in which another one decides when to brake, but you control the gas pedal”.

Excuses for self-indulgence some don’t realize that their behavior, that is not caring for themselves, controls those around them. It maybe that is what they unconsciously want. 

There is another group that seemed not able to take control, though they think they are in control.  This is the majority; those who maybe executives, businessman, mothers and fathers, doctors, lawyers.  People who are in places of responsibility have had an education that required dedication. Those enmeshed it a rat race. They can’t get off the treadmill.  One would think, for instance, taking doctors out of all the professions these doctors should have more self-control than anyone else.  By far they have the knowledge; they know the consequences of a bad lifestyle.  However, the facts are that 67% of the doctors according to the American Medical Association are either overweight or obese; they have one of the highest divorce rates; they have one of the highest suicide rates; they have a high degree of drug dependency and alcoholism.   

Well why when it is apparent that these were the young men and women who in their college and high school days were dedicated to their studies, showed incredible motivation and discipline. Why, now that they are out in practice are they unable to control their own passions, their appetite for food, alcohol, and other drugs?  The reason is simple, just as a Ferrari or other high functioning car will not go unless there is gasoline in it; the same thing is true with our ability to follow through and to control our own lifestyle.  If we do not have enough dopamine and serotonin or tank is on empty and we are unable to show self-control.  An example is myself, some 10-15 years ago after having a week of working some 90 hours, being on call on the weekend, coming in at 3:230 in the morning from a night call and waking up at 8 only to look at myself in the mirror to realize how much I had aged and that I had gained over 60 pounds.  At that moment, I had remembered the last patient I had seen and individual with a stroke two years younger than myself.  That was motivation enough for me to say I was not going to have the same fate.  I was then 50 and would make the change now.  I marched down to the kitchen, opened up the cupboard only to find the oatmeal just behind a bag of chocolate donuts.  I took the donuts and threw them out into the garbage.  I then began cooking up the oatmeal at which time I also went over what I would be doing that day, planning out the rest of my meals, the exercise that I would be performing and all the the things to get me on a schedule of self discipline.   

At that moment just as I was about to take my first bite of oatmeal my beeper went off.  It was the time of the digital beeper, as I read the message it said, “Doctor your patient has been waiting in the emergency room since 4 o’clock”.  I must have fallen asleep and gotten the message, but slept right through it.  This had never happened to me before.  My stress level and my emergency system went in overdrive.  This, of course, caused a physiological phenomenon in myself.  My adrenal surged, provoking my adrenals to pump out cortisol which rang for fuel, jet fuel, that is the type that comes from carbohydrates.  As I ran out the door my arm lunged into the garbage and I took out one donut for my mouth and one for my fist as I drove to the emergency room.   What happened to my resolve?  What happened to my fear of having a stroke? What had happened to my motivation?  Didn’t I as a physician know better?  Wasn’t I just seconds before thinking of an entire plan to change my lifestyle.  What happened?

What happened is simple. I had low serotonin and dopamine levels because of constant stress and lack of sleep.  When one is on empty the car does not run.  When dopamine and serotonin are low, we have no self-control. 

I call these, that is control of our sleep, adequate sleep 7-8 hours at a minimum, and controlling our uncontrolled stress and that is trying to dismiss or place aside those things that we cannot so something about and do something about those things that are in our control.  (If one does this, one can obtain sleep that will restore our dopamine and serotonin and minimize the expenditure of serotonin and dopamine that occurs with frustration and that is uncontrolled stress.

In the Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription I discuss this.  That is sleeplessness, the sentinel risk factors, stress and sleeplessness. 

The following blogs will try to have you understand why you do not follow what you know is the right thing for you, what is obvious, what was obvious to me in order to make a lifestyle change.  We will go over diet.  We will go over the DEAR Program. 

Diet

 Exercise,

Accentuating the brains reserves (Neurobics), and

 Rest and Recovery.

 We will take each topic one at a time. 

Diet.  What are our pit falls?  It is different for everyone.

Why don’t we exercise?  Is it true that there is a time deficiency?

Neurobics.  Why don’t we learn something new as a musical instrument?

Rest and Recovery.  The most important of all.  Why don’t we take advantage of meditation? Of an early night to bed? Listen to soothing music?

                                                 LIFE STYLE EXAM

Each one of these is different for each particular person.  It is through examining what causes us to fail that is important.  Stop right now and look at your life and take what I call the Life Style exam and that is on a scale from 1-10 how satisfied are you with your diet, with your appearance, with your work, with your sex life, with your sleep, with your spouse or children or other, with your spiritual life.  A 5 would be okay, 10 excellent, and 0 extremely bad.  Then when one is through, think at how much time a week do you spend in each one of these categories.  Get the picture? Now you know where effort is needed.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how we can use prayer, meditation, and socialization as an alternative to medication. Add exercise to the treatment and you have a threefold treatment.

Depression is physiologically correlated to low levels of Serotonin, Dopamine, and Noradrenalin. Chemical treatments (anti-depressant drugs) are based on this knowledge. The drugs increase the levels of neurotransmitters that relieve depression. A University of Wisconsin study with Monks showed that meditation and prayer is an effective anti-depressant and that our brain has an optimistic center that works with serotonin and dopamine production– calm, peaceful, anti-addictive neurotransmitters.

The optimistic center promotes production of serotonin and dopamine and, in turn, serotonin and dopamine (Grace-Amine) allows the optimistic center to be easily accessed and turned on. As exercise helps you lose weight, losing weight makes it easier to exercise.

Serotonin is an integral part of the biorhythm sleep cycle. During sleep, especially stage III and IV, serotonin and dopamine are produced in the median raphe, substantia nigra and several other places. As these neurotransmitters, especially serotonin rise, so does our ability to sleep. When sleep is chronically disturbed, by a stressful day or chronic stress, (lasting more than 15 days), it causes a chronic increase in cortisol, our alarm and aging hormone that turns on our alarm sympathetic nervous system. (There really is nothing sympathetic about the sympathetic nervous system) Our ability to sleep worsens. We have difficulty falling asleep (insomnia) and staying asleep (fragmented sleep), which is often due to a combination of physiological problems resulting in a decrease in serotonin and an increase in the hormone cortisol.

Cortisol: The Stress Hormone
As serotonin decreases so does our ability to stay calm and handle everyday stressors. As cortisol increases so does our general alarm to even minor events. The result is anxiety leading to panic disorders, heightened adrenaline and cortisol, which ends in depression when these hormones and neurotransmitters are depleted.

Prayer and meditation can augment both serotonin and dopamine production and your optimistic center. It turns on the vagal system, the optimistic center and suppresses the pessimistic center and the sympathetic nervous system- reversing a downward trend. The same is true about negative thought, such as anger and uncontrolled stress. This turns on cortisol and the pessimistic center that cause further deterioration leading to depression and sleeplessness.

Prayer and meditation also allow one to forgive and let go of negative thoughts, which decreases the production of our aging hormone, cortisol. Dopamine and serotonin aid in forgiveness, but the actual forgiving is freewill (Grace). We give our negative feelings and thoughts to God to handle. We forgive and let go of the very things that will cause us physiologically to destroy ourselves (The poisons that kills us, not those we hate)

What to do
I’m often asked, “Doctor, what medications can I take to help sleep?” The answer is a good dose of Prayer and meditation. This is how I recommend it:

• Find a quiet, peaceful place without distractions.
• Start with a slow inspiration that begins from your abdomen. Watch it expand and at its peak fully exhale over a 10-15 second period. Sigh if need be. This will evoke a vagal nervous system response, one that provokes calm, release of serotonin and dopamine and stimulates the optimistic center.
• One’s prayer should be positive for the welfare of others. Visual images such as gardens or a solitary beach help the centering. Repetitious prayer such as a Rosary or a Mantra work for many. Body image relaxation might also be done at the same time. Relaxing one’s jaw, neck, shoulders, etc.
• Be attentive to one’s bodily reaction to meditation and prayer. You will feel your hands become warmer, your muscle relaxing, and a feeling of calm and contentment.
• Allow drowsiness to set in without willing it.

Additionally, add exercise to decrease stress and increase your youthful hormone growths including HGH, Thyroid, and Testosterone. Exercising or praying in a social setting stimulates dopamine and serotonin and enhances their positive effects.

The trio of prayer, exercise, and socialization leads to an extra sensory perception of spirituality and leads to peace and happiness.

This is the fourth blog of a four part series explaining each major lifestyle risk factor common to both childhood obesity and Alzheimer’s disease:  sedentary, stressful, and sleepless.  .  In Part One, I gave an overview to the childhood obesity epidemic that exists in the US today.  In Part Two, I discussed the effects of stress on the brain and how to manage your child’s stress.  In Part Three, I discussed sedentary lifestyle as one of the major causes of obesity and Alzheimer’s disease.  In this fourth blog, I will discuss sleeplessness and I will make recommendations on how you can encourage and implement good sleep habits in your child’s life.

Sleepless, No Sleep for Young Men & Women

Why is sleep so important?  Kids who spend too much time not only watching TV, playing video games, talking on the phone, on extracurricular activities and staying up late to study or “cram” –at the expense of sleep time, simply do less well in school.  Later in life, they are more prone to addiction, psychological disorders, memory deficits, and Alzheimer’s Disease.  Lack of sleep compromises many of the skills that make for healthy living – attention, organization, creative thinking, and efficiency.  It also erodes the motivation that kids have to do well in the first place.  Why is this?  During stages 3 and 4 of REM sleep, occurring only when we get 7 or more hours of sleep, our brain is able to rejuvenate our healthy neurotransmitters: Dopamine and Serotonin.  These neurotransmitters are essential to our ability to have willpower and a general feeling of happiness and good mood.

Technology is killing the minds of our kids!  The Kaiser Family Foundation in 2000 reported that one-third of two-to-seven-year-olds and two-thirds of eight-to-eighteen-year-olds already have a television in their bedroom.  And the most recent data from 2004 shows that this number is continues to grow.  A National Sleep Foundation poll found that 30 percent of preschoolers and 43 percent of school-aged children have a television in their bedroom.  What’s more, the National Institute on Media and the Family reported that children with a television in their bedroom are likely to spend an additional five and a half hours a week watching it. That’s about forty-five minutes a day that could be better spent reading, playing outside, or sleeping.

Television is a stimulating activity.  Television watching (and video games and computer games) is much more likely to wake kids up than to put them to sleep.  In other words, watching TV is counterproductive to achieving the state of relaxation that we all need in order to fall asleep.  Television programming is all about “what’s coming up next.” The whole point is to try to hook the viewer into watching one more segment, one more episode, one more show. You, as an adult, might be able to ignore that message, but most kids can’t.

Studies have shown that television can lead to sleep problems. Children who watch a lot of television, watch television as part of their bedtime routine, and especially children who have a television in their room are more likely to have sleep difficulties. These include difficulty falling asleep, anxiety at bedtime, and night wakings. These children are also more likely to get less sleep than they need.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children’s bedrooms be “media-free zones.”  That means no computer, video games, and no television set.  There may be some biological reasons why television watching might be “anti-sleep.” Noise and particularly light, even low levels of light, can make falling asleep more difficult.  Light prevents the brain from turning on the production of the hormone melatonin, which in turn is absolutely critical to turning on sleep. The bottom line is that bedrooms should be for quiet activities like reading, listening to music, daydream, and above all, sleeping.

Additionally, what your child watches can affect their dreams. Jo Anne Cantor’s book, “Mommy, I’m Scared: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them,” describes the negative effects that the vivid visual pictures on the television screen can have on children (and the same would certainly apply to computer game graphics).  As an adult, you can process and put into context the disturbing images you seen on the nightly news or the latest crime drama, but your child may not be able to do the same and may incorporate those images into nightmares.

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2574219/k.A9ED/Sleep_Stealers_Overweight_and_overtired_How_those_excess_pounds_might_be_costing_your_child_a_good_nights_sleep.htm

Finally, it is important to discuss the confounding stress childhood obesity and lack of sleep places on health.  A number of studies suggest that there is a link between lack of sleep and weight gain.  Some of these studies have looked at how sleep deprivation changes the body’s normal metabolism and hormone function, and the results are not good.  Not getting enough sleep seems to affect not only how inefficiently you metabolize calories, but also how hungry you feel by altering the level of a number of hormones—serotonin, leptin, perhaps others—in the body.  Lack of sleep reduces serotonin and leptin causing us to crave food, especially food high in sugar and carbohydrates.  A diet high in sugar & carbohydrates causes weight gain and obesity.

One study in Japan found a link in six and seven-year-olds between obesity and later bedtimes and fewer hours of sleep.  Children who got less than eight hours of sleep had an almost three times greater risk of being obese compared to children who got ten or more hours.  In addition, some of these studies suggest this relationship may also go in the other direction.  In other words, the risk of being obese decreases with each additional hour that your child sleeps!  This may well be the single greatest argument you’ll ever have in getting your teenager to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2574219/k.A9ED/Sleep_Stealers_Overweight_and_overtired_How_those_excess_pounds_might_be_costing_your_child_a_good_nights_sleep.htm

In addition, being overweight or obese can greatly increase your child’s chances of having a serious sleep disorder.  Obstructive sleep apnea is a breathing disorder that occurs during sleep and affects about 1-3 percent of children in the United States.  It often leads to problems with attention, behavior, and academics. The most common cause in children is related to being overweight or obese (the best predictor of sleep apnea in adults is having a neck size of seventeen inches or above).  Over the past ten years in our sleep clinic, we have clearly evaluated more and more overweight and obese children and teenagers for sleep apnea.  In fact, about two-thirds of the children diagnosed with sleep apnea are overweight or obese.

The combination of obesity and sleep apnea may also have greater consequences than either condition alone. As it has in adults, sleep apnea in obese children has been associated with insulin resistance, a condition that increases the risk of heart disease, high triglyceride levels, and diabetes later on.  Studies also suggest that both obesity and sleep apnea in children are independently associated with a decreased quality of life (physical, emotional, social, academic functioning) and chronic deficits in sleep cause Alzheimer’s disease.

Action Plan

Ensure and encourage that your child gets 7-9 hours of sleep a night.  Limit television, videogames, phone, and Internet especially right before bed when it will most disrupt their ability to relax.  Eliminate television as part of your child’s sleep routine.  Remove technology from your child’s bedroom, where it cannot be monitored for content or usage.  Monitor your child for sleep apnea and manage your child’s weight by encouraging proper diet and exercise.

The damage of Alzheimer’s disease begins 30 years before the first symptoms.  Alzheimer’s and poor health begins with the choices you make for your child at the grocery store, by the technology you give them, and by the amount of time you allow them to engage in technology over exercise and sleep.  You can stop the cycle of obesity, chronic stress, and disease!

Obesity is the number one risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease that we can control.   It starts with poor lifestyle; poor lifestyle that you, as a parent, create or correct.  It is your choice!  Please give your kids the gift of optimal health by taking the responsibility and teaching them proper lifestyle.  Give them the most precious gift of all, your presence at the dinner table.  Make it a number one priority of your family.

I applaud your personal efforts and concerns for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and I wish for you and your kids’ optimal health!  For more information and helpful tips on how to manage obesity and prevent risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease please read the Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription available in all major book stores and online at Amazon.com or visit www.dearprogram.com or www.anti-alzheimers.com

This is the third blog of a four part series explaining each major lifestyle risk factor common to both childhood obesity and Alzheimer’s disease:  sedentary, stressful, and sleepless.  In Part One, I gave an overview to the childhood obesity epidemic that exists in the US today.  In Part Two, I discussed the effects of stress on the brain and how to manage your child’s stress.  In this third blog, I will discuss sedentary lifestyle as one of the major causes of obesity and Alzheimer’s disease.  I also will make recommendations on how you can encourage and implement a regular exercise routine in your child’s life. 

Sedentary Kids, Not Sitting So Pretty

As previously mentioned, the percentage of overweight kids has more than doubled over the past 30 years.  Many factors contribute to this epidemic, including the trend that kids are becoming more sedentary. As they spend more time lounging and watching TV, they spend less time running and playing.  In other words, they’re sitting around a lot more than they used to.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the average child is watching about 3 hours of television a day.  The average kid spends 5.5 hours on all media combined, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Young kids should not be inactive for prolonged periods of time — no more than 1 hour unless they’re sleeping. And school-age children should not be inactive for periods longer than 2 hours.

One of the best ways to get kids to be more active is to limit the amount of time spent in sedentary activities, especially watching TV or playing video games. The AAP recommends that children under the age of 2 years watch no TV at all and that screen time should be limited to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming a day for kids 2 years and older.

Exercise has been shown to do more than just manage weight, it reduces stress.  In the long term, exercise increases brain agility and memory by increasing brain-preserving neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, which increase endorphins, and decrease stress hormones.

Parents, it is your responsibility need ensure that your kids get enough exercise.  How much is enough? According to the 2005 dietary guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), all children 2 years and older should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise on most, preferably all, days of the week.

Tips for raising fit kids:

• Help your child participate in a variety of activities that are age-appropriate;
• Establish a regular schedule for physical activity;
• Incorporate activity into daily routines, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator;
• Embrace a healthier lifestyle yourself, so you’ll be a positive role model for your family;
• Keep it fun, so you can count on your child to come back for more.

www.kidshealth.org

I applaud your personal efforts and concerns for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and I wish for you and your kids’ optimal health!  For more information and helpful tips on how to manage obesity and prevent risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease please read the Anti-Alzheimer’s Prescription available in all major book stores and online at Amazon.com or visit www.dearprogram.com or www.anti-alzheimers.com.  Also read my next blog as a part of this series, “Part Four: Sleepless, No Sleep for Young Men and Women.”

Now, pick one of your behaviors that is bothering you and write out specifically what it is that you do that bothers you.  Be behaviorally specific as possible.  For instance,  instead of writing “I’m overweight.”  Substitute, “I eat sweets at night when I’m watching television.”  Instead of writing, “I’m disorganized,”  substitute, “I haven’t allowed myself time in the day to properly put things away.”s

Then write down, being as behaviorally specific as possible what you will do about it.  For example:  I eat sweets at night,  Write down:  I will go to the store, and buy things to munch on that I like for when I need something at night. 

     When you are attempting to change a behavior, you want to first understand all the good reasons that you have that behavior.  For instance, I eat sweets at night because it gives me something to look forward to before I eat it, it initially lowers my anxiety level,  it tastes good and makes me feel good, it raises my blood sugar and physiologically gives me a lift, I get a feeling of satisfaction when I eat.
Then ask yourself:  How long do the good feelings last?  Next:  Is it worth it?  If not, what would I like to do for myself that would make the positive feelings last longer, promote health, make me feel more in control of myself and subsequently increase  my self esteem?

     Understanding how important a behavior is to you is extremely important in figuring out how best to discontine it.  You may want to rate it on a one to ten scale.  If it is too high, you may want to pick a different behavior to change–one that will more likely lead to success.

     Attempt to figure out what behavior you could substitute for eating sweets.  Make a list of possiblilties.  For instance; you could substitute healthier foods or you could substitute healthier behaviors.  Then, being honest with yourself, think about what would be the most likely thing you would commit to.  Then think about even starting with the easiest and working up to more difficult behaviors.  For instance, you may want to initially start with food substitutions for two weeks, next start with exercise for 5 minutes before you eat the foods, gradually increase the exercise time.  Or you may want to journal the feelings you are attempting to assuade before you eat, then eat.  Then write down how you feel afterwards.