Dynamic Stretching

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

The calendar says spring is here. The weather channel begs to differ. As I write this, more snow is forecast, and spring seems a long way off! Thanks for nothing, Phil.

For now, thinking about spring and outdoor activities is all we can do. We look forward to getting back to our outdoor exercise regimen, whether it’s running, biking, softball or any other physical activity. How we ease into these activities has a big role in how long we will actually perform them before an injury occurs. Preventing injury is much preferred to recovering from an injury.

Warm-up activities are a must if you want to continue to be active, and minimize your risk of injury. You can’t stay healthy if you can’t perform your favorite activities.

Diatomaceous Earth

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

Since we are (hopefully) coming into spring soon, my thoughts are turned to starting the garden. Over the last several years, I’ve tripled the size of my garden to grow a sizeable portion of our fresh produce. One of the challenges of every gardener is pest control. The big pests, like groundhogs, are easy to take care of – just shoot ‘em. It's the little munchers that are the problem. I really don't like using pesticides and chemicals at all, so I don't. I have found one chemical-free, nontoxic, edible product to use in controlling most insects, bugs, and worms. It is called Diatomaceous Earth, or DE.

Aspirin Therapy

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

For many years, doctors have been prescribing aspirin therapy as a cheap, effective way to reduce cardiovascular events and improve survival after a heart attack. Neither of these is true.

Even low dose aspirin therapy has serious side effects that, just like statin drugs for cholesterol, overshadow any supposed benefit. The evidence in support of aspirin has always been weak, and over the last decade it has become even weaker.

The benefit purported by medicine for taking aspirin is that of its antiplatelet activity. They say that it helps save lives by reducing deaths from heart attacks.

Alkalinity, Part 2

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

Last week we learned that there is only one state of pH that our bodies can be in…and that is in the alkaline range of 7.35 to 7.45. There is no such thing as acid/alkaline balance, because acid destroys alkali and vice versa; pH is a number, not a ratio.

Now, we will see why the theory of getting your body more alkaline is one, not possible, and two, even if possible, would not rid you of disease as is claimed.

The body’s own immune system kills pathogens with an oxidation process using hypochlorous acid. Here’s how it works:

When a pathogen enters the body, and all systems respond properly, white blood cells, called neutrophils, attack the invader by engulfing it. Next, it produces an oxidant called hypochlorous acid, which is bioselective of certain organic materials, not all, and kills the pathogen immediately.

Alkalinity, Part 1

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

I want to touch on a trending ‘holistic’ fad that seems to be gaining a foot hold locally. It purports to offer positive, healthful, healing benefits; yet defies known, unalterable facts. This is a lesson in human anatomy and physiology facts. I am not talking right vs. wrong or truth vs. lies, just facts.

Today, I will try to explain this notion of body alkalinity vs. acidity. We have such things as alkaline water and alkaline diets being held up as the next great healers of disease. The problem is, there has never been one study done in 30 years of this claim, to show any benefit, or if it can be accomplished at all. I submit, it can not.

It is not my agenda to push a belief. A belief is defined as "a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.” I believe Jesus walked on this earth. That is statement of belief. I didn't see Him, talk to Him or touch Him. I simply choose to believe others accounts that did. Statements of fact sound like these: The earth has gravitational pull; a loss of oxygen to the brain for mere seconds will kill you; the ph of the body is 7.4, and never varies more than 1% either way, or you will die. Don’t just believe me, check the facts for yourself.

Flu - Here We Go Again!

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

Here we go again, the ‘flu season’ is here. These articles on the flu are a broken record. Every year we hear the same misinformation from our wonderful government agencies, and it’s reported like gospel in the media. The USA is officially in a flu panic right now. The CDC (again) reports the worst flu pandemic in a decade. Didn’t we just hear that about the avian flu a few years ago? They urge any and all living beings to be vaccinated yet again.

How many years of hearing this baloney will it take for people to realize the flu vaccine is becoming quite the laughing stock. The most recent article on Saturday, January 12, 2013, in The Daily Item, says this season’s vaccine is “well matched… and still available.” Jump for joy? The next line says, “It is 62% effective… which is pretty good for a flu vaccine.” What? The gospel message is that if you get the shot, you won’t get the disease, right? So, if 62% is a good year, what is a bad year? In school, that’s a failing grade.

Genetically Modified Foods

Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.

This week we are going to discuss a relatively hot topic in health conscious circles. The debate over genetically modified foods (GMO’s) is contentious, to say the least.

Here in the good old USA, there are no standards by which companies must adhere when it comes to informing the consumer what a specific product actually contains. In California, Proposition 37 was defeated by big corporations. It would have required truth in labeling, ensuring that consumers were told of any genetically engineered ingredients contained in a product. General Mills donated over 1.1 million dollars to help defeat this common sense requirement.