I heard the most ridiculous thing on the radio a few minutes ago – and I have four kids so I hear a lot of ridiculous things. Some chefs have whipped up a passion fruit dessert laced with Viagra. They wanted to “reinterpret” the medication into a new kind of aphrodisiac apparently.
Immediately I am trying to figure out how this could work. After all, Viagra is a prescription medication so how can it be sold in food? Is this a BYOBP (bring your own blue pill) deal? Do you have to bring your prescription and show some ID to be served? Do you have to promise that you won't share a spoon full? I mean come on, if this if supposed to be an aphrodisiac isn't it almost imperative to share?
Are there chefs out there running renegade from the pharmaceutical boards of the world? Is there about to be an outbreak of tented napkins in finer restaurants everywhere? Is someone going to have heart failure from sampling there neighbours dessert? In a word – NO.
Having heard this ridiculous little tidbit I did what any reasonably tech savvy woman with an interest in wellness would do – I “googled”. I discovered that the dessert in question was prepared for the Gastronomy 2009 fair in Bogota Columbia. How...anti-climatic. Due to the fact that Viagra does require a prescription this little treat will not be publicly available – though I am going to keep “googling” to see how long it takes them to post a recipe.
Ultimately, what I am realizing from this bit of absurdity is my own underlying assumption about prescription medication. The baseline belief that people will do dumb things with medicine. That someone somewhere would be willing to distribute a restricted substance in a gag dessert wasn't an impossibility for me. I was outraged and could see all kinds of legal issues but I did not immediately assume that this wasn't something that would happen. What a frightening realization. That we as a culture have become so accepting of the idea that people will abuse prescriptions that I didn't first question that part of the equation. How sad.
All over the world we have issues with people abusing prescription drugs ranging from narcotic painkillers through to our children's drugs. Perhaps the pain medication is the most obvious candidate for abuse either by the person to whom it has been given or by someone around them. But psychoactive drugs are also a major issue, from tranquilizers to the Ritalin, a drug most commonly given to children to decrease hyperactivity but abused by others for the speed-like affects it can give those not dealing with AD(H)D.
There are stats and research galore about the problem of prescription drug abuse. The links below will lead you to explore some interesting and informative articles. LINKS: Hamilton, ON statistics - check out the table on page two for a quick summary, a slide show of commonly abused presscription drugs, a local Victoria researcher comments about our attitudes towards pharmacauticals. Of course for those into less empirical research just pick up a copy of People, US, or some other weekly gossip magazine and you can read which celebrity is checking into rehab for vicodin abuse or whatever the current drug of choice might be – for the first, or the fourth time.
I am not a fan of drug taking for every problem, modern pharmaceuticals are an amazing tool in the wellness arsenal. Pharmacology provides us with tools to battle acute illness, to control symptoms, to ward of illness, to manage and slow the progression of long term illness. What a wonderful tool. How tragic that we choose to abuse and overuse this tool. We need to view pharmaceuticals with respect and as the potent tool they are in our quest to live long, healthy live.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Fascia – The Undiscovered Tissue
This last week the 2nd International Fascia Congress went ahead in Amsterdam. For four days the leading researchers presented their most recent findings to a mixed group of scientists and clinicians. After the congress there were a series of workshops, many of them very practical in nature. I am very excited to learn that the 2012 the fascial congress will be hosted by my professional organization, the British Columbia Massage Therapy Association of BC in Vancouver. To heighten my delight the 2012 congress will focus on the clinical application of current fascial research. I will be at that one, doing a little happy dance.
I expect many of you are trying to figure out what this fascia stuff is and why I am all giddy about it. Well, to steal the explanation my first fascial instructor gave me – fascia is the bag we walk around in. Imagine all the different bits in your body that you know about as being what is in the bag and that fascia is the bag. Recent research has shown that these are contractile bags – something that wasn't known when I first started studying fascia. A type of cell called a myofibroblast is responsible for this type of constriction - more on this later.
Fascia surrounds all nerve fibres, nerves, muscle fibres and muscles, organs, bones, joints and underlies our skin. Fascia acts to protect and separate structures, help maintain posture, and allow structures to glide upon one another. Problems in the fascia therefore create all sorts of problems in the body and often create mobile pain, pain that migrates far from its source and or moves around in the body without apparent cause.
The term fascia encompasses most of the connective tissue in the body and is the most pervasive substances in our bodies. Yet many people have never heard of it and our scientific exploration has just begun to bring fascia into the light. The western reductionist approach to our bodies and the treatment of them has allowed fascia to languish unexplored. Fascia coexists in form and function with all of our bodies systems and our piece-by-piece, system-by-system approach to treating our bodies meant that there has been virtually no exploration of this fascinating tissue. Basically, no one owned fascia because everyone owed fascia.
They owed fascia for the protection, lubrication and separation of the system in which they specialized. Fascia is the ultimate in multi-taskers. It can be thick, dense and organized, lending support to and separation between structures. It can be gossamer thin and allow structures to glide over one and other smoothly. It can be almost free of blood vessels and nerves or richly supplied with blood and sensory functions. Fascia can be so many things that initially anatomists did not realize it was all the same thing. So we have many names for the structures that are composed of fascia and a dearth of understanding of how all these different structures with their different compositions and functions can be discussed together.
On the bright side, there is a huge amount of research being done to increase our understanding of fascial tissue and its myriad impacts on the body. Some of the interesting directions that are being explored include the contractile nature of fascia, how tension is transmitted into the lumber fascia and how healthy fascia can move the way it does in the body without tearing.
Current research by Dr. Robert Schleip of the University of Ulm in Germany is exploring variability of myofibroblast density in fascia. Myofibroblasts are a contractile cell that are found in fascia and at wound sites. At wound sites the myofibroblast aid in wound closure, which speeds healing. However, in scar tissue these myofibroblasts sometimes stay around and continue to create contraction where it is not needed or wanted. What does this mean to fascia? If these cells are too active would they create undue restriction in the tissues they surround? Would this create tension and perhaps pain the the surrounded tissue?
Priscilla Barker and her associates have shown that contraction of various trunk muscles, including the transversus abdominis, create tension in the lumbar fascia, which then contributes to stability in the lumbar spine. Which explains why you are told to contract your tummy when you lift heavy objects.
One of the most visually arresting explorations of fascia comes to use from Dr. Jean Claude Guimberteau. Dr. Guimberteau has collected images, via laproscopic camera, of live fascial tissue and recorded the movement that occurs in the fascia and the neurovascular (nerves and blood vessels) tissue when a tendon is pulled on. The result is a video called "Strolling Under the Skin" and a book of the same title.
As a manual therapist I am excited by this research and what it tells us about one of the most frustrating things manual therapists experience. I have a client come in, I do all the indicated treatment and they leave feeling great – only to have the same pain and discomfort return almost immediately. Often, though not always, this type of pattern indicates fascial distortion or restriction. The good news is all this research that tells us about the function, structure and responses of fascia helps us to more easily recognize and successfully treat fascial issues and leave our clients with long term improvement in the performance and comfort of their bodies.
So there is a quick overview of the world of fascia and the reason I get so excited about this coming congress in Vancouver. What a wonderful opportunity to engage with and learn from the leading lights of fascial research. What a wonderful opportunity for the growth of understanding and good clinical application of that research by bringing together those who are exploring the science and those who are applying that science for your benefit.
Stay tuned for more on you and your body. Please let me know if there are wellness topics you are interested in or confused by.
I expect many of you are trying to figure out what this fascia stuff is and why I am all giddy about it. Well, to steal the explanation my first fascial instructor gave me – fascia is the bag we walk around in. Imagine all the different bits in your body that you know about as being what is in the bag and that fascia is the bag. Recent research has shown that these are contractile bags – something that wasn't known when I first started studying fascia. A type of cell called a myofibroblast is responsible for this type of constriction - more on this later.
Fascia surrounds all nerve fibres, nerves, muscle fibres and muscles, organs, bones, joints and underlies our skin. Fascia acts to protect and separate structures, help maintain posture, and allow structures to glide upon one another. Problems in the fascia therefore create all sorts of problems in the body and often create mobile pain, pain that migrates far from its source and or moves around in the body without apparent cause.
The term fascia encompasses most of the connective tissue in the body and is the most pervasive substances in our bodies. Yet many people have never heard of it and our scientific exploration has just begun to bring fascia into the light. The western reductionist approach to our bodies and the treatment of them has allowed fascia to languish unexplored. Fascia coexists in form and function with all of our bodies systems and our piece-by-piece, system-by-system approach to treating our bodies meant that there has been virtually no exploration of this fascinating tissue. Basically, no one owned fascia because everyone owed fascia.
They owed fascia for the protection, lubrication and separation of the system in which they specialized. Fascia is the ultimate in multi-taskers. It can be thick, dense and organized, lending support to and separation between structures. It can be gossamer thin and allow structures to glide over one and other smoothly. It can be almost free of blood vessels and nerves or richly supplied with blood and sensory functions. Fascia can be so many things that initially anatomists did not realize it was all the same thing. So we have many names for the structures that are composed of fascia and a dearth of understanding of how all these different structures with their different compositions and functions can be discussed together.
On the bright side, there is a huge amount of research being done to increase our understanding of fascial tissue and its myriad impacts on the body. Some of the interesting directions that are being explored include the contractile nature of fascia, how tension is transmitted into the lumber fascia and how healthy fascia can move the way it does in the body without tearing.
Current research by Dr. Robert Schleip of the University of Ulm in Germany is exploring variability of myofibroblast density in fascia. Myofibroblasts are a contractile cell that are found in fascia and at wound sites. At wound sites the myofibroblast aid in wound closure, which speeds healing. However, in scar tissue these myofibroblasts sometimes stay around and continue to create contraction where it is not needed or wanted. What does this mean to fascia? If these cells are too active would they create undue restriction in the tissues they surround? Would this create tension and perhaps pain the the surrounded tissue?
Priscilla Barker and her associates have shown that contraction of various trunk muscles, including the transversus abdominis, create tension in the lumbar fascia, which then contributes to stability in the lumbar spine. Which explains why you are told to contract your tummy when you lift heavy objects.
One of the most visually arresting explorations of fascia comes to use from Dr. Jean Claude Guimberteau. Dr. Guimberteau has collected images, via laproscopic camera, of live fascial tissue and recorded the movement that occurs in the fascia and the neurovascular (nerves and blood vessels) tissue when a tendon is pulled on. The result is a video called "Strolling Under the Skin" and a book of the same title.
As a manual therapist I am excited by this research and what it tells us about one of the most frustrating things manual therapists experience. I have a client come in, I do all the indicated treatment and they leave feeling great – only to have the same pain and discomfort return almost immediately. Often, though not always, this type of pattern indicates fascial distortion or restriction. The good news is all this research that tells us about the function, structure and responses of fascia helps us to more easily recognize and successfully treat fascial issues and leave our clients with long term improvement in the performance and comfort of their bodies.
So there is a quick overview of the world of fascia and the reason I get so excited about this coming congress in Vancouver. What a wonderful opportunity to engage with and learn from the leading lights of fascial research. What a wonderful opportunity for the growth of understanding and good clinical application of that research by bringing together those who are exploring the science and those who are applying that science for your benefit.
Stay tuned for more on you and your body. Please let me know if there are wellness topics you are interested in or confused by.
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