Bozeman Chiropractor Hans Conser

See My Disc Herniation on MRI

Dr. Hans Conser — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:54:53 +0000

A Chiropractor’s Spine…

Dr. Hans Conser — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:44:12 +0000

Okay, I saw the chiropractor, renewed my Gold’s Gym membership, then went to the grocery store to stock up on fruit for the Maximum Guy’s presence over the weekend. Mmmm… watermelon! I get home and as I lift the watermelon out of the car I feel a soft “pop” very low in my spine and I have instant pain and muscle spasm. It gets worse over the weekend. By Monday I can’t really walk. So that is where I am at. I intend to blog through this journey, but for know let me just channel Bill Clinton for a moment and say “I feel your pain!”

The Link Between Parkinson’s Disease and Impaired Detoxification

Dr. Hans Conser — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:32:36 +0000

Parkinson’s Disease: Is it Caused by Impaired Detoxification?

New studies indicate that if you are trying to hold off Parkinson’s disease, you might want to take a hard look at science-based detoxification. Medical doctors rarely consider detoxification in relation to Parkinson’s; however, this may change very soon.

It may be worth altering your diet and supplementation strategy a bit if you are concerned about Parkinson’s, and let me tell you why.

First, I define Parkinson’s disease. Then I delve into the new scientific case for the toxicity model for the cause of Parkinson’s disease. I discuss the biphasic detoxification model, endogenous and exogenous toxins, anecdotal observations, and I close by offering specific recommendations for preventing Parkinson’s disease.

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson's Disease - Classic Presentation

Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive and irreversible degenerative neurological disease characterized by a subtle onset of symptoms of flat facial affect, slowed movement, speech changes, tremor, and in the later stages, dementia. It afflicts about 1% of the population over 60, and about 4% of the population over 80.

Searching for the Cause of Parkinson’s Disease

The search for the cause of PD has been focused on two main cell abnormalities found in dopamine producing cells of PD sufferers. These are impaired mitochondrial function, and protein clumps called Lewy Bodies.

However, there is a deeper mechanism at play that may be the underlying cause of both the protein clumping and mitochondrial dysfunction associated with PD, and that something is called endogenous toxicity.

Endogenous Toxicity

Endogenous toxicity means toxicity of an internal origin. In this case, the theory is that the Phase I metabolite of Dopamine itself is causing the toxicity, dysfunction, and death of the dopamine producing neurons. Dopamine is broken down into a toxic metabolite called DOPAL. DOPAL is then broken down to non-toxic metabolites by the Phase II enzyme Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH for short). These two phases together are known as “biphasic detoxification.”

It appears that ALDH activity is deficient in the brains of PD patients, leading to DOPAL toxicity in the dopamine producing neurons. Basically, PD patients have impaired Phase II detoxification, leading to a buildup of the toxic Phase I dopamine metabolite, DOPAL.

DOPAL toxicity leads to cell aberrations like protein clumping, mitochondrial dysfunction and eventually cell death. Mitochondria are the power-generating organelles of the cell.

The reduced mitochondrial function in PD is why nutritional ingredients like CoEnzyme Q10 and Creatine are being studied for their possible positive effect on PD.

Scientific Evidence for the DOPAL Toxicity in Parkinson’s Disease

There is a wealth of scientific evidence incriminating DOPAL. DOPAL has been shown to increase the protein clumps in the brains of rats.¹ DOPAL has been shown to be toxic to dopamine producing neurons.^2-5 DOPAL injected into the brains of rats creates PD-like symptoms.⁵

Researchers have shown that the brains of Parkinson’s patients have over 4 times the DOPAL levels of non-Parkinson’s brains.6 N-Acetyl-Cysteine, which increases ALDH activity, has been shown to stop toxicity-induced death of dopamine producing neurons in mice.^7,8

The Hangover Chemical

Aldehyde conjugate molecules are common byproducts of the first stage (Phase I) of detoxification of various toxins like alcohol, nicotine, and many others. Acetyl-Aldehyde, the toxic Aldehyde conjugate of alcohol, is known as the “hangover chemical.” People who have a less-effective mutated form of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase  have very poor  alcohol tolerance, and increased incidence of Parkinson’s Disease and coronary heart disease.^9,10

If you get hangovers from even moderate amounts of alcohol, this is a major warning sign that your Phase II detoxification may be impaired.

Exogenous Toxic Load Creating Endogenous Toxicity

ALDH requires “thiol” groups to detoxify Aldehyde conjugate molecules like DOPAL. Thiols are sulfur-bearing molecules that are supplied by amino acids like Cysteine, Methionine, and Taurine.

If you run out, then your Aldehyde detoxification is impaired. It seems very likely that exogenous toxin exposures like herbicides, pesticides, solvents, and metals may use up your sulfur-bearing amino-acids and then leave you vulnerable to damaging your dopamine producing neurons with toxic DOPAL build-up.

Factors that Decrease Aldehyde Detoxification

ALDH activity is decreased by the following factors: Fasting, a low-protein diet (less than 5%), Vitamin A deficiency, and excess isothiocyanate intake.^10-13 Isothiocyanates are toxic molecules found in the cruciferous vegetable family (broccoli, cabbage, etc.), actually healthy in small amounts, but unhealthy in large amounts. I generally recommend that crucifers make up 20% or less of your total vegetable intake. Another natural component of food that inhibits ALDH activity is Citral, a citrus-smelling compound found in lemons, limes, oranges, and lemongrass, among others. This is one reason why I recommend people showing signs of impaired detoxification stop citrus fruit intake completely. Also, there is long list of exogenous agricultural toxins that inhibit ALDH activity; they include pesticides, herbicides, growth modification agents, and fungicides.^15-19

Factors that Increase Aldehyde Detoxification

These factors include Vitamin A, Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Methionine, Cysteine, N-Acetyl-Cysteine, Taurine, and Magnesium. An odd one is Vitamin E deficiency. Perhaps this is a good argument for not taking high levels of Vitamin E.

Anecdotal Reasons Why Parkinson’s Disease is Probably IS Caused by Impaired Detoxification

If you have read this far, you understand that I do believe that Parkinson’s Disease is caused by impaired detoxification. There are two anecdotal observations that I have that fit this hypothesis.

First, Parkinson’s Disease patients commonly have a history of long-term exposure to some sort of toxic load. Smoking, agricultural chemicals, or even just solvents used in automotive repair.

Second, is the observation that Parkinson’s Disease patients who take L-Dopa seem to get worse faster. This makes sense, because L-Dopa increases Dopamine levels (improving symptoms in the short term), but the increased Dopamine levels means increases toxic DOPAL levels, speeding up the progression of the disease.

How to Prevent Parkinson’s Disease

Do everything you can to fight both internal and external toxicity. Limit your exposure to agricultural industry toxins. Eat plenty of protein, vegetables and legumes. Don’t eat excessive amounts of cruciferous vegetables or citrus fruits. Supplement your diet with broad-spectrum of detox-enhancing nutrients that emphasize Phase II support. Take fish oil. Get plenty of Vitamin D from sunlight. If you want to fast, be sure to support your fast with a supplement that has plenty of detox nutrition. Some of my favorite supplements for this are Detox I & II, UltraClear Plus, and concentrated green foods. Take these step and I am confident that the chances of you getting Parkinson’s Disease will be greatly reduced.

1. Acta Neuropathol. 2008 Feb;115(2):193-203. Aggregation of alpha-synuclein by DOPAL, the monoamine oxidase metabolite of dopamine

2. Brain Res. 2003 Nov 7;989(2):205-13. 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde is the toxic dopamine metabolite in vivo: implications for Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis.

3. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 2001 Sep 10;93(1):1-7.3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide generate a hydroxyl radical: possible role in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis

4. Neurodegeneration. 1995 Sep;4(3):271-81. An endogenous dopaminergic neurotoxin: implication for Parkinson’s disease. Mattammal MB, Haring JH, Chung HD, Raghu G, Strong R.

5. PLoS One. 2010 Dec 13;5(12):e15251.The neurotoxicity of DOPAL: behavioral and stereological evidence for its role in Parkinson disease pathogenesis.

6. Eur J Neurol. 2011 May;18(5):703-10. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2010.03246.x. Epub 2010 Nov 12. Catechols in post-mortem brain of patients with Parkinson disease

7. Ann Neurol. 2011 Mar;69(3):509-20. doi: 10.1002/ana.22162. N-acetylcysteine prevents loss of dopaminergic neurons in the EAAC1-/- mouse.

8. PLoS One. 2010 Aug 23;5(8):e12333. Oral N-acetyl-cysteine attenuates loss of dopaminergic terminals in alpha-synuclein overexpressing mice.

9. Clin Chim Acta. 2007 Jul;382(1-2):43-7. A Glu487Lys polymorphism in the gene for mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 is associated with myocardial infarction in elderly Korean men

10. Mov Disord. 2000 Sep;15(5):813-8.Alcohol dehydrogenase alleles in Parkinson’s disease.

11 Acta Pharmacol Toxicol (Copenh). 1977 Jan;40(1):134-44. Effect of a low-protein diet on acetaldehyde metabolism in rats.

12 Biochem Pharmacol. 1979 Aug 1;28(15):2313-20. Enzymatic and metabolic modification of hepatic ethanol andacetaldehyde oxidation by the dietary protein level.

13 J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 1994 Dec;40(6):547-55. Comparative study of alcohol metabolism in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats and Wistar-Kyoto rats fed normal or low levels of dietary protein.

14 J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1995 Oct;275(1):79-83. Phenethyl isothiocyanate, a new dietary liver aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor.

15 Chem Res Toxicol. 2010 Nov 15;23(11):1843-50. Epub 2010 Oct 18. Relative inhibitory potency of molinate and metabolites with aldehyde dehydrogenase 2: implications for the mechanism of enzyme inhibition.

16 Neurotoxicology. 2007 Jan;28(1):143-9. Epub 2006 Sep 1. Inhibition of aldehyde detoxification in CNS mitochondria by fungicides.

17 Mol Pharmacol. 2004 Dec;66(6):1372-82. Epub 2004 Aug 26. Oxidative stress and mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase activity: a comparison of pentaerythritol tetranitrate with other organic nitrates.

18 Chem Res Toxicol. 2004 Feb;17(2):258-67. Characterization of S-(N,N-Dialkylaminocarbonyl)cysteine Adducts and Enzyme Inhibition Produced by Thiocarbamate Herbicides in the Rat.

19 Life Sci. 1994;55(20):1537-44. Aldehyde dehydrogenase of mice inhibited by thiocarbamate herbicides.

Why I’m Against Fluoridation of Bozeman’s Water

Dr. Hans Conser — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:31:44 +0000

The water fluoridation debate has heated up here in Bozeman. I want to share with you why I oppose fluoridation of Bozeman water.

In a nutshell, the fluoride promoters have been using a combination of bait and switch tactics along with politicized bad science.

The bait and switch tactic is that they quote studies using sodium fluoride, but then put other, more toxic forms of fluoride into our water.

The bad science includes a variety of studies in the forties and fifties that compared fluoridated communities that also had a dental hygiene push with unfluoridated communities that had no dental hygiene push. Dental hygiene has a far greater effect on cavities than fluoride in the water supply.

In fact, multiple former scientific proponents of water fluoridation have now said that it’s effects on cavities are minimal.

I have known about this for a long time, and it never occurred to me that Bozeman would be so backward as to fluoridate it’s water. It wasn’t until the was a push in Billings Montana to START fluoridating that I discovered through one of my Billings clients who was opposing fluoridation efforts in Billings, that Bozeman was one of the few municipalities in Montana that was already adding toxic fluoride to city water supply.

I was surprised! Progressive, super-healthy Bozeman Montana adds that crap to the water?!

I choose the word crap carefully, the fluorine that the City of Bozeman puts into the water come in two forms. A liquid known as Hexafluorosilicic acid; and it’s salt, a powder called sodium Fluorosilicate. The Fluorosilicic acid is a toxic byproduct scrubbed from the gas of phosphate fertilizer plants. In various forms it has been used as a deworming agent, lice killer, pesticide, rodenticide, hide tanning agent, glass etcher, etc. Due to the industrial nature of these products, they are contaminated with Uranium, Lead, and Mercury among others.

In the past I have made some attempts behind the scene to make a difference, but now thanks to some more vocal citizens the city council has scheduled a vote tonight on fluoridation.

For me it is a no-brainer. To deliberately add a toxic, carcinogenic compound that is contaminated with other heavy metals to a our drinking water is a very bad idea. The burden of proof should be on the proponents, not the opponents.

I predict that they will make no change to the fluoridation policy.

Check out the video below for more information.

Dr. Hans Conser

Bozeman Chiropractor

What to say and do if your flight gets cancelled

Dr. Hans Conser — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:18:05 +0000

Winter weather in here in Bozeman and our connector airports like Minneapolis, Chicago, Salt Lake, and Denver mean that cancelled flights during the holiday season are frequent when you are trying to get somewhere from Bozeman. This little article over at RealSimple.com gives you the exact phrases and strategies to use when your flight gets cancelled. Worth a read!

On Gesundheit! …With Jacobus on KMMS AM 1450 News Radio

Dr. Hans Conser — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:21:15 +0000

I was on Gesundheit with Jacobus Saturday. “Gesundheit” is a German word meaning “health” or “good health”. We covered carotenes and cancer, and why large beta-carotene study with smokers showed an increase in cancer rates. We also discussed the lastest science linking supplement use with increased mortality, as well as the anti-supplement bias in medical journals. Have a listen below:




2011.10.29 Open Line #101 w Hans Conser - segment 1 by Gesundheitwjacobus on  Mixcloud



Network Spinal Analysis in the News
Dr. Hans Conser — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 10:20:23 +0000

My colleague Dr. Michael Solomon of Phoenix made the local news, check out the above video on Network Spinal Analysis.



Flying Yellowstone Park
Dr. Hans Conser — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:17:36 +0000

	
	The Famous RV Grin

A key component of wellness is going out and having fun.
Saturday I took my best friend Dr. Kerith Powell for a flight tour of Yellowstone Park. He has some pilot training so he flew for most of the trip which freed me to take some pictures.
The plane is an experimental RV-6A, a very responsive sport plane that is easy to fly, so much so that they are famous for producing a grin that lasts for hours beyond the flight.
We started by flying over the Bozeman pass to Livingston,

	
	Here You can See Old Faithful off the Wingtip

then followed the Yellowstone River down Paradaise Valley, then south to Yellowstone Lake, passing Old Faithful on the way.
Some of the scenery is truly spectacular:

We had a great time, seeing the terrain from the plane gives you a great perspective. So remember, get out and do things that bring you joy and recharge your batteries, it is an essential part of wellness!



Flu Vaccine Science – Should a Bozeman Parent Give their Kid the Flu Shot?
Dr. Hans Conser — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:45:29 +0000
Flu Vaccine Science – Should a Bozeman Parent Give their Kid the Flu Shot?
As we approach winter, there is a public relations push for Bozeman families to get the flu vaccination.  But does the science really back up this recommendation?  A review of the flu vaccine science published last year (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Apr 18;(2):CD001269) shows very modest benefit:  A Risk Difference of 1-3%.  The vaccinated people had influenza about 1% of the time, and unvaccinated people about 2-4% of the time.
Flu Vaccine Science – Is there Bias?
Furthermore, the authors call into question these conclusion of their own study due to the fact that 15 to 19 of the 36 studies reviewed were industry-funded:  ”An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines” – leading them to conclude: “there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies.”
 
Flu Vaccine Science – Conclusions
Given that the flu vaccine rarely matches the virus strain on any particular year, and that many flu-like symptoms come from other viral entities like the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, it seems likely that most years the benefit from influenza vaccine is due to the placebo effect.  On the years in which the vaccine matches the strain, being vaccinated could reduce your chances of being symptomatic by half or more.  This benefit may be exaggerated by bias.



The NYT Completely Misses the Point on Protein in Sports Drinks
Dr. Hans Conser — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:22:35 +0000
The New York Times completely misses the point on protein in sports drinks in their article Do Protein Sports Drinks Work? The overall thrust of the article appears to be that protein is unlikely improve endurance performance. It is not surprising that a study that looks at using protein as an energy drink finds negligible benefits, but you cannot extrapolate that to say that protein does not enhance performance.  Protein has been shown to reduced muscle catabolism during exercise and improve performance by increasing strength and increasing mitochondrial density.  So they miss the point when comparing to a carb drink, no doubt that carbs are better fuel for endurance exercise than protein, the main benefits of protein are on recovery side, not the performance side.
That said, we also know that protein can improve short-term performance by three mechanisms.  First, while all amino acids can be burned for fuel, three in particular are easily converted to blood sugar (glucose); leucine, alanine and glutamine.   Second, Leucine is known to improve blood sugar management by influencing the Islet of Langerhans cells in the pancreas.   Third, running out of amino acids in the liver inhibits glycogenolysis, which is the process of converting glycogen (the body’s storage carbohydrate) into glucose.  All three of these mechanisms improve blood sugar control, which means better athletic performance.
Back in my personal trainer days, one of my mentors explained to me how eating a small amount of protein when you are feeling lethargic will act as a quick pick-me-up.   Experimentation proved this true, but it wasn’t until I took graduate level biochemistry that I understood why.  It is because the amino acids in the protein renew your glycogenolysis so you can access your stored glycogen from your liver and muscles to restore your blood sugar.   It works, give it a try.



What to Drink and How Much
Dr. Hans Conser — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:41:22 +0000
How much water should you drink? What about coffee, tea, juice, or alcohol? In this article I discuss the science behind liquid intake and make common sense recommendations.
When I researched this article, I quickly realized that there is literally zero science behind water dosage recommendations. It is clear that we cannot quantify the variability of water needs for anyone. A rule of thumb that I follow to get a rough number is this: Take your weight in pounds, halve it, and then subtract ten percent to arrive at your daily liquid intake in ounces. So if you weigh 200 pounds, then you aim towards 90 ounces of liquid a day. Strive to give yourself the opportunity to drink that much water or more by making sure that you always have water at hand, and sip at it regularly. If you are exercising in the sun all day, your need could easily be double that number. Also, body-fat levels affect your water needs. If you have a high level of body fat, then you will need less water because fat is much less metabolically active. You get to count other liquids besides water towards your daily water intake. Soup, juice, tea, coffee, etc. Those of you who know me know that I am not a big fan of juice at all, I say eat the fruit instead and gain the blood sugar stabilizing effects of the fiber. Juice is almost always cooked too. But a little bit of natural juice will do you no harm in small amounts.
There was a meme floating around saying that drinking caffeinated beverages would pull more water out of the body than they were adding; is NOT true! Although not as hydrating as a non-diuretic beverage, caffeinated drinks still hydrated you more than they dehydrate you. You gain more water than you lose, so drink away. If you are feeling guilty about taking in caffeine, I suggest you read “The Caffeine Advantage: How to Sharpen Your Mind, Improve Your Physical Performance, and Achieve Your Goals–the Healthy Way” by Weinburg and Bealer. Stay away from coffee and black tea if you have uterine fibroids aka Myomas. Otherwise, enjoy to your personal tolerance.
Onto alcohol. We have known since the original Framingham study that alcohol is protective against plaque in the arteries (atherosclerosis). Now the research evidence is incontrovertible: Alcohol is not only protective against arterial plaqueing, but drinkers also live longer than abstainers, and this effect holds against all forms of alcohol; beer, wine, and hard liquor. Keep in mind that alcohol is also associated with bad health outcomes like motor vehicle injuries, liver damage, and brain damage. Jonah Lehrer over at Wired thinks that a lot of the health benefits of alcohol intake come from the socializing associated with it. I think that it is both. There is clearly a lot of science showing that socializing is a big life extender and life quality enhancer. Clearly there are benefits that are over and above the benefits of being social.
So what to do with this information? I have decided to take a moderate approach, hoping that I can get the detox benefits and circulatory benefits while minimizing the neuro-toxic and hepato-toxic effects with regular low doses. So I find myself in the odd circumstance of been trying to develop a drinking habit. I have settled on half of a drink once or twice in the evening. I think of it as necessary artery maintenance. I continue to weigh the evidence indicating that heavier drinkers live even longer than moderate drinkers. Should this trend in the science continue, there may be a good argument for increased alcohol intake. For now, I do enough driving around that it makes more sense to me to stick to low doses.
So there you have it, drink plenty of water, coffee, tea. Minimize juices. Keep good clean water near you and sip throughout the day. Daily alcohol intake will likely make you live longer as long as you stay out of car accidents. Drink and be social for health.