Breast Augmentation Recovery in 2009 - Faster

Breast augmentation now surpasses liposuction as the most common aesthetic surgery performed in the United States. This has prompted medical experts to devise techniques to allow patients to return to work (and normal life) quicker and easier.

Recovery from breast augmentation is generally a 2-4 week process of discomfort with an impaired range of motion affecting normal daily activities.


Newer, gentler methods used by surgeons at the operating table have been developed and incorporated at TIFM.


They involve meticulous pre-operative measuring of the chest to determine proper implant size (eliminating the extra step of inserting sizers into the surgical pocket); use of electro-cautery to divide tissue in a precise, near bloodless fashion; and avoiding all "blunt" (stretching and tearing) intra-operative maneuvers or any contact with the very sensitive ribs that is common with traditional augmentation procedures.


The result of this "extra care" is amazing. Most patients can shower and brush their hair within hours after surgery and can perform regular activities the very next day; which leads to a much less traumatic experience and a happier, satisfied patient overall!


Visit our website for more information, and then contact us online or call our Patient Care Coordinator at 972.239.6317 x134 for a FREE phone consultation and to setup an appointment.

The Role of Environment in Making You Look Old!!

A recent study involving identical twins implies that, genetics aside, your environment can have a huge impact on your perceived age. Factors such as divorce, work stress and junk food diets are the real culprits adding years to your face.

An individual's genetic heritage will determine, initially, the way in which a person ages - but the rate at which they age can be significantly accelerated if they introduce certain negative factors into their lifestyles. In this study, they looked at identical twins because they are genetically programmed to age exactly the same, and in doing so the researchers essentially discovered that, when it comes to your face, it is possible to cheat your biological clock.


During the study, researchers obtained comprehensive questionnaires and digital images from 186 pairs of identical twins. The images were reviewed by an independent panel, which then recorded the perceived age difference between the siblings.


Results show that twins who had been divorced appeared nearly 2 years older than their siblings who were married, single, or widowed. Antidepressant use was also associated with a significantly older appearance. Researchers found that weight also played a role in apparent age. In those sets of twins who were less than 40 years old, the heavier twin was perceived as being older, while in those groups over 40 years old, the heavier twin appeared younger.


According to the researchers, the presence of stress could be one of the common denominators in those twins who appeared older while the continued relaxation of the facial muscles due to antidepressant use could account for sagging. Other factors such as smoking, excess alcohol consumption and lots of sun exposure have been indicted for contributing to an aged look.


Of course, asthetic surgery and anti-aging medicine can 'rescue' you from the jaws of the clock, but awareness is critical and it's far easier to avoid negative factors in your lifestyle in the first place.


Visit our website for more information on Aesthetic Medicine and Anti-Aging Medicine, and then contact us online or call our Patient Care Coordinator at 972.239.6317 x134 for a FREE phone consultation and to setup an appointment.

Get the Lead Out

We see so much lead in the heavy metals challenges we do that it is a crime that everyone doesn't test for it. It is so easy to test for, so easy to remove and even FDA approves of it so how can that not be good!!! Even the American Heart Assc'n. states that lead is one of the leading causes of CVD.

Here is an excerpt from the well-known Dr Julian Whitaker and one of the early promoters of chelation therapy in the prestigious ACAM (American College for the Advancement of Medicine). I have updated some of the information.

From Whitaker Newsletter - Abundant, durable, malleable, resistant to corrosion: No wonder lead has been such a popular metal throughout human history. Ancient Romans found a multitude of uses for it, from lining water pipes and drinking vessels to sweetening wine. What they didn't realize were the detrimental health effects of this metal. It is now believed that lead poisoning was responsible for the bizarre behavior, mental incompetence, gout, stillbirths, and sterility that afflicted the Roman aristocracy- and quite possibly contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.

Fast forward to 1921, when General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley, Jr., came up with another use for lead. As a gasoline additive, it reduced engine knock and improved performance. Of course, it was known to be toxic. Thomas Midgley himself was plagued with a "mysterious illness" while experimenting with it and, in 1924, 15 refinery workers died and 300 more became severely psychotic as a result of working with leaded gasoline.


But that didn't matter. Thanks to corporate greed and government complicity, lead's well-documented adverse effects were ignored, and for more than 60 years this potent toxin spewed into our environment. Leaded gas was finally phased out in 1986, and air levels of lead dropped dramatically. But even today, 20 years later, 7 million tons of lead remains in our soil, water, air- and bodies.


Bones Bear the Burden of Lead


More than 90 percent of your body's total burden of lead exists in your skeleton. And for those of us who grew up in the days when lead was also in paint, pipes, water tanks, cans, and a plethora of other consumer products, that's a lot of lead. In fact, we harbor a whopping 650 times more of this heavy metal in our bones than people did 100 years ago.


Lead is a neurotoxin that causes mental retardation and developmental delays in children and a multitude of cognitive problems in people of all ages. It also damages the endothelial cells lining the arteries and curbs production of nitric oxide, impairing circulation, raising blood pressure, and increasing risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction, cancer, and premature death.


If lead would stay put in the bones, it might not be such a problem- but it doesn't. Along with other minerals, lead is released into the bloodstream and transported to tissues throughout the body. Generally, this release is slow, gradual, and unnoticed. But there are times when it picks up speed. During pregnancy, when extra calcium is needed for fetal bone development, blood lead levels rise, increasing risk of hypertension for women with high levels, and often causing low birth weight and physical and mental developmental delays for their children.


Lead is also mobilized during mid-life and old age. Women are especially vulnerable after menopause, when bone loss increases. It is estimated that blood lead levels go up 30 percent during the five years after menopause! Men also lose bone mass as they age, and the resultant increase in blood lead levels negatively affects them as well.


Chelate the Lead Out


As you can see, we all need to take steps to get the lead out, and the fastest way to do this is to undergo a course of intravenous (IV) EDTA chelation. EDTA is a synthetic amino acid that forms a tight chemical bond with lead and other minerals and carries them out of the body in the urine. ApothéCure was asked almost 6 years to develop a new chelating agent called CALCIUM EDTA by Dr Garry Gordon, well known developer of ACAM and many advanced therapies including oral detox. We have been using this in out clinic since then as the time required per IV is fractional compared to EDTA (3 hrs).


EDTA chelation has been the number one FDA-approved therapy for lead poisoning since 1948. After World War II, sailors suffering with lead toxicity acquired while painting battleships and docks with lead-based paint were treated with EDTA chelation, and their results were remarkable. Not only did these men have the expected restoration of memory, energy, vision, and hearing, but those who also had heart disease experienced unexpected improvements in angina and circulation.


That's how the broad benefits of chelation were serendipitously discovered. Astute physicians took heed and began using chelation for patients with cardiovascular disease and circulatory problems and, for a decade or so, its popularity mushroomed. Then the politics and economics of modern medicine intervened.


To make a long story short, this relatively inexpensive, office-based therapy had no chance against the Goliaths of cardiology (surgery and drugs). Chelation became embroiled in controversy, where it remains to this day. But a few thousand physicians refused to give up on it. I've been using EDTA chelation in my clinic for about 20 years, and I've seen it eliminate angina, improve exercise tolerance, lower blood pressure, increase circulation, and save limbs on the verge of amputation. The following story, from subscriber William Tessier from Cotuit, MA, is a perfect example.


"Chelation Saved My Life"


"Fourteen years ago, my doctor told me I needed angioplasty, and if I didn't have it, I wouldn't live more than two years. Something told me that I should not do it, so I lived with angina and blocked arteries, along with asthma, for the next 12 years. I was overweight, could not walk any distance without getting out of breath, and regularly experienced uncomfortable chest pain. I was taking 11 different drugs for all of my health problems."


"Through those years I had to care for a very sick wife who passed away over five years ago. I met a friend three years ago whom I had not seen for quite some time. She told me about vitamins, nutrition, and chelation therapy, which she learned about from your newsletter."


"After undergoing chelation treatment, exercising, and eating a low-fat diet, I am a new person. People cannot get over the change in me; some don't recognize me at all. I lost 80 pounds, my asthma is now a thing of the past, and my arteries are fine. I can walk greater distances and spend nearly an hour a day on a treadmill and other exercise machines. I am also rid of all those killer drugs."


"By the way, before I started chelation, I brought the information to my doctor, who had put me on all those drugs. He said, "You will be wasting your money." He is now retired from his practice because of heart-related problems. Chelation saved my life. I am 78 years old and the friend that I met up with is now my lovely wife. I thank God that she receives Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health & Healing newsletter."


What About Oral Chelation?


I am often asked if oral chelation is the same as IV chelation. Yes and no. All chelating agents bind to minerals and move them out of the body. However, no one can convince me that oral chelators have the same effect as IV chelation.


This doesn't mean I don't recommend oral chelation. Although giant strides have been made in eliminating lead, it lingers in our environment. Even if you scrupulously avoid all known sources of exposure, you still have to contend with the lead that's stored in, and being released from, your bones. And lead is only one of many environmental toxins out there. Therefore, I support any and all efforts to chip away at the body's toxic burden.


What is the best oral chelator? Dr. Garry Gordon and ApothéCure's co-development of CaEDTA, have found that daily intake of this oral chelator is very effective during and after IV chelation as we are exposed to lead everyday of our life. Oral intake of CaEDTA is absorbed between 5 and 15% so daily intake will actually be beneficial to keeping the lead down once it is chelated out. ApothéCure has several products for you to choose from.


Recommendations:


Although I most often recommend IV chelation for patients with heart disease or circulation problems, I believe it provides benefits for most everyone over age 50.

EDTA chelation is administered in a doctor's office via a 90-minute to three-hour IV infusion once or twice a week for a total of 25 to 30 treatments. Our new IV protocols take less than 1 hour and include new anti-aging substances for the inside of your veins. This is a minimal cost to insure the rest of your life. Call us at 972-239-6317 Ext 134 for more information.


Visit our website for more information, and then contact us online or call our Patient Care Coordinator at 972.239.6317 x134 for a FREE phone consultation and to setup an appointment.

Most Common Cause of Fatigue that is Missed or Misdiagnosed by Doctors

Originally Posted by: Dr. Mercola September 05 2009

Your adrenal glands are each no bigger than a walnut and weigh less than a grape, yet are responsible for one of the most important functions in your body: managing stress. “The adrenals are known as ‘the glands of stress,’” writes James Wilson in his book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome. “It is their job to enable your body to deal with stress from every possible source, ranging from injury and disease to work and relationship problems. Your resiliency, energy, endurance and your very life all depend on their proper functioning.”

When your adrenal glands are fatigued, a condition known as adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion, your entire body feels it and suffers from extreme exhaustion as well. It's estimated that up to 80 percent of adults experience adrenal fatigue during their lifetimes, yet it remains one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the United States.[2]


The Optimal Function of Your Adrenal Glands


Your body has two adrenal glands, located just above each of your kidneys. As part of your endocrine system, your adrenal glands secrete more than 50 hormones, many of which are essential for life and include:

1. Glucocorticoids. These hormones, which include cortisol, help your body convert food into energy, normalize blood sugar, respond to stress and maintain your immune system's inflammatory response.
2. Mineralocorticoids. These hormones, which include aldosterone, help keep your blood pressure and blood volume normal by maintaining a proper balance of sodium, potassium and water in your body.[3]
3. Adrenaline. This hormone increases your heart rate and controls blood flow to your muscles and brain, along with helping with the conversion of glycogen to glucose in your liver.

Together, these hormones and others produced by your adrenal glands control such body functions as:[4]

• Maintaining metabolic processes, such as managing blood sugar levels and regulating inflammation
• Regulating your body's balance of salt and water
• Controlling your "fight or flight" response to stress
• Maintaining pregnancy
• Initiating and controlling sexual maturation during childhood and puberty
• Producing sex steroids such as estrogen and testosterone

Ironically, although your adrenal glands are there, in large part, to help you cope with stress, too much of it is actually what causes their function to break down.


In other words, one of your adrenal glands most important tasks is to get your body ready for the "fight or flight" stress response, which means increasing adrenaline and other hormones.


As part of this response, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your digestion slows, and your body becomes ready to face a potential threat or challenge.


While this response is necessary and good when it's needed, many of us are constantly faced with stressors (work, environmental toxins, not enough sleep, worry, relationship problems and more) and therefore are in this "fight or flight" mode for far too long -- much longer than was ever intended from a biological standpoint.


The result is that your adrenal glands, faced with excessive stress and burden, become overworked and fatigued. Some common factors that put excess stress on your adrenals are:[5]

• Anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, depression and other negative emotions
• Overwork, including physical or mental strain
• Excessive exercise
• Sleep deprivation
• Light-cycle disruption (such as working the night shift or often going to sleep late)
• Surgery, trauma or injury
• Chronic inflammation, infection, illness or pain
• Temperature extremes
• Toxic exposure
• Nutritional deficiencies and/or severe allergies

Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue


When your adrenal glands become depleted, it leads to a decrease in certain hormone levels, particularly cortisol. The deficiencies in certain adrenal hormones will vary with each case, ranging from mild to severe.


In its most extreme form, this is referred to as Addison's disease, a condition that causes muscle weakness, weight loss, low blood pressure and low blood sugar, and can be life threatening.


Fortunately, only about four persons per 100,000 develop Addison's disease, which is due to autoimmune disease in most cases but can also develop after very severe stress.[6]


At the other end of the spectrum, as well as in between, lies adrenal fatigue (also known as hypoadrenia). Though the symptoms are less severe than in Addison's disease, symptoms of adrenal fatigue can be debilitating. As Wilson writes:

"Non-Addison's hypoadrenia (adrenal fatigue) is not usually severe enough to be
featured on TV or to be considered a medical emergency. In fact, modern medicine
does not even recognize it as a distinct syndrome. Nevertheless, it can wreak
havoc with your life. In the more serious cases of adrenal fatigue, the activity
of the adrenal glands is so diminished that the person may have difficulty
getting out of bed for more than a few hours per day. With each increment of
reduction in adrenal function, every organ and system in your body is more
profoundly affected."[7]

Classic signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:

• Fatigue and weakness, especially in the morning and afternoon


• A suppressed immune system
• Increased allergies
• Muscle and bone loss and muscular weakness
• Depression
• Cravings for foods high in salt, sugar or fat
• Hormonal imbalance
• Skin problems
• Autoimmune disorders
• Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
• Low sex drive
• Lightheadedness when getting up from sitting or lying down
• Decreased ability to handle stress
• Trouble waking up in the morning, despite a full night's sleep
• Poor memory

Additionally, people with adrenal fatigue often get a burst of energy around 6 p.m., followed by sleepiness at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., which is often resisted. A "second wind" at 11 p.m. is then common, which often may keep you from falling asleep until 1 a.m.[8]


Further, those with adrenal fatigue often also have abnormal blood sugar levels and mental disturbances, such as increased fears and anxiety, and rely on coffee, soda and other forms of caffeine to keep them going.


As the names implies, the most common symptom of adrenal fatigue is unrelenting fatigue, a feeling of being run down or not able to keep up with your daily demands. And because fatigue is such a common symptom, the syndrome is very often missed or misdiagnosed by physicians.


The Common Medical Test for Adrenal Function Cannot Diagnose Adrenal Fatigue


Adding to the problem of misdiagnosis is the fact that doctors typically use an ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) test to check for problems with your adrenal glands.


However, the test only recognizes extreme underproduction or overproduction of hormone levels, as shown by the top and bottom 2 percent of a bell curve.


Symptoms of adrenal malfunction, meanwhile, occur after 15 percent of the mean on both sides of the curve. So your adrenal glands could be functioning 20 percent below the mean, and your body experiencing symptoms of adrenal fatigue, and the standard test won't recognize it.[9]


The test that will recognize adrenal fatigue, in all of its stages, is a salivary cortisol test. This is an inexpensive test you can purchase online and do at home, as no prescription is needed. However, if you suspect you have adrenal fatigue a knowledgeable natural health care provider can help you with diagnosis and treatment.


Natural, and Simple, Steps to Recover From Adrenal Fatigue


It takes time to burnout your adrenal glands, and as you might suspect it also takes some time to recover. You can expect:

• Six to nine months of recovery time for minor adrenal fatigue
• 12 to 18 months for moderate adrenal fatigue
• Up to 24 months for severe adrenal fatigue[10]

The good news is that natural treatments are very effective for this syndrome, and with time, patience, and the tips that follow it is possible to recover.

• Probably the single most important area is to have powerful tools and strategies to address the current and past emotional traumas in your life. Prayer, meditation and meridian tapping techniques can be very helpful here. If you were to focus only on one area it would be best to concentrate in this area as this really is the central key to restoring your adrenal health.
• Listen to your body and rest when you feel tired (this includes during the day by taking short naps or just laying down)
• Sleep in (until 9 a.m. if you feel like it)
• Exercise regularly using a comprehensive program of strength, aerobic, core, and interval training
• Eat a healthy nutrient-dense diet like the one described in my nutrition plan, according to your Nutritional Type
• Avoid stimulants like coffee and soda, as these can further exhaust your adrenal glands

Further, to maintain proper adrenal function it is imperative to control your blood sugar levels. If you are eating the right foods for your Nutritional Type, your blood sugar levels should balance out, and the following guidelines will also help:

• Eat a small meal or snack every three to four hours
• Eat within the first hour upon awakening
• Eat a small snack near bedtime
• Eat before becoming hungry. If hungry, you have already allowed yourself to run out of fuel (low blood sugar), which places additional stress on your adrenal glands

You may also want to see a physician well versed in bio-identical hormone replacement, and get tested to see if you could benefit from the use of DHEA. DHEA is a natural steroid and precursor hormone produced by the adrenals, and levels are often very low in people with adrenal fatigue. Keep in mind, of course, that DHEA is not a quick cure, and should not be used as a sole treatment.


Treating adrenal fatigue requires a whole-body approach, one that addresses the excess stress and unhealthy lifestyle habits that wore out your adrenals in the first place. Interestingly the very first step in normalizing sex hormones, either male or female, is to first address the adrenal hormone system. For example if you were to only measure female hormones and then replace them with bio-identical hormone therapy, you will virtually be guaranteed to fail because the weakened adrenals will never allow the hormones to equilibrate properly.


Because your adrenal health is so important to your overall health and well-being, I highly recommend you work with a knowledgeable natural health care practitioner to find out if you have adrenal fatigue and then remedy it.


The tips above are an excellent starting point, however, and can be used by nearly everyone to help give your adrenal glands a healthy boost.


Visit our website for more information, and then contact us online or call our Patient Care Coordinator at 972.239.6317 x134 for a FREE phone consultation and to setup an appointment.

Is Functional Medicine the Cure for the US???

The financial woes of the US are significantly impacted by our outdated, disease centric medical system that rewards big Pharma, hospitals and plaintiffs attorneys and fails to educate the public on prevention and wellness life styles. The increased costs of defensive medicine practiced today in fear of retribution by ambulance chasing attorneys is tremendous and tort reform well overdue. The NY Times also weighs in on needed change.

CURRENTS - An Economy in Need of Holistic Medicine

Originally Posted: By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS, Published: October 23, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - The American economy is having what doctors call an acute episode.

Employment won't throb. The circulation of capital remains weak. Industry is breathing, but barely. And if we can agree on anything one year into this mess, it is that there is little we can do when the patient arrives already this bad.

That is why the talk now is so often of prevention. Prevent the next crisis through health insurance and a green-energy sector, the American president says. Prevent it by cutting spending and nurturing personal responsibility, American conservatives retort.

But the truth is that politicians, and not just in the United States, are rarely willing to invest in a problem that hasn't occurred. Consensus and action are easier to come by after a 9/11 or a Lehman Brothers than before. Problems in the embryonic, soluble phase don't interest us; and those that do interest us are often too big to solve.

Western medical practices have attracted similar criticisms in recent years, for an emphasis on intervening in disease rather than preventing it beforehand and promoting quotidian well-being. But in health, unlike politics, an alternative approach called wellness has emerged, focused on investing in health before it breaks down.

What can wellness tell us about our present economic malady? As it moves from fringe to mainstream - with wellness programs in the health care reform proposals now in Congress, wellness manifestos on the best-seller lists and a U.S. Army wellness program that asks soldiers to introspect and meditate - I asked experts about the approach's core tenets and how they might be applied to the body politic.

Nip it in the bud. Wellness argues for cultivating health a little every day, not just restoring it during calamities. We increasingly accept that it is better to monitor a diabetic's blood sugar with regular clinic visits than to amputate her limbs. We accept that businesses can avoid costly cancer treatments by encouraging workers to stop smoking. But in our political life, we prefer to wait until things reach the emergency room.

We barely regulate financial markets for years, thinking regulation oppressive, until we are compelled to nationalize private firms. We avoid expensive investments and controversial new methods in public education, then pay the price in lower social mobility and vast prison populations. We neglect building roads and bridges and Internet highways, fearing the cost, and then reap the much greater costs of whole regions falling off the economic grid.

"With a lot of social problems, we're not sure how to prevent it, and therefore we don't spend money on it, because we always have a lot of other priorities," said David Cutler, a Harvard economist who has advised both the Clinton and Obama White Houses on health care.

Go to the roots. Western medicine tends to fight symptoms, whether suppressing coughs or flooding the brains of the depressed with serotonin. Wellness is interested in underlying causes. It is inclined to see an infertile woman, for example, as a stressed woman rather than a woman with defunct ovaries, and may suggest that she eat and work differently rather than take ovary-manipulating pills.

In public policy, a symptom bias rules. A housing crisis? Enact a tax credit! Bank failures? Bail them out!

There is nothing wrong with such steps - except for what they leave out, as most economists will tell you.

Even amid all this action, we have virtually ignored the complex weave of issues beneath the issues: meager savings, a debt addiction, a congenitally spendthrift political system, an almost pathological craving for stuff. And, with our topical cures, we should not be surprised to see new symptoms of the old maladies appearing: insurance again being packaged into derivatives, bonuses again soaring on Wall Street.

"We treat symptoms, and we do not look at the causes of the symptoms," Deepak Chopra, the famed alternative-medicine and wellness guru, said when asked to extend the wellness metaphor to the economy. "We are totally at this moment looking at it in a reductionist manner. The reductionist manner is a bailout. And somehow that's supposed to solve the problem, whereas the problem occurred because we were thinking reductively."

Look within. Wellness sees the causes of and remedies for ailments as lying within us. Avoid infection by building immunity. Defeat disease by eating foods that help the body heal itself.

With the economy, we look everywhere but within. It's the fault of greedy Wall Street bankers. It's Washington's fault. Bush's fault. Obama's fault. Greenspan's fault. Somebody fix it!

But what about us? Why can't we acknowledge that it was us who bought all those unaffordable houses, us who listened to that zero-gravity financial "advice," us who bought and bought and never kept a rainy-day fund? And why, in solving the problem, do we expect the state to create substitute dynamism instead of renewing the culture of decentralized dynamism that made the U.S. economy so vital to begin with?

"Conventional medicine is very unbalanced in placing all its emphasis on external interventions rather than looking to advance that internal capacity to maintain healing," said Andrew Weil, founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the author of several books on wellness. Likewise with the economy, he said: "Instead of simply identifying external threats and developing weapons and strategies against them, we should instead identify and strengthen immunity and resistance."

A politics of wellness would transcend party. It would emphasize the up-front investments that Democrats like in order to achieve the long-run fiscal solvency on which Republicans insist. It would fulfill the liberal belief in a positive role for government in maintaining well-being but would honor the conservative conviction that government's chief role is to help the social organism heal itself. It would acknowledge, with the left, the complex lattice of cultural and institutional influences that govern a society's well-being, while emphasizing, with the right, the limits of what any external healer can do.

Think wellness in these hard times. The most urgent problems, after all, may be the ones we haven't had yet.

Visit our website for more information, and then contact us online or call our Patient Care Coordinator at 972.239.6317 x134 for a FREE phone consultation and to setup an appointment.