Chronic Pain Part 1

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

Coming into this New Year, many people are faced with the same old chronic pain of last year. It is estimated that some 100 million adults in the United States suffers from chronic pain. That is more people than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined.

There are many causes of chronic pain. Sometimes it is associated with a specific injury, event, or disease such as a back injury, infection, and arthritis. Other times, there is no clear medical cause, and the pain simply continues on for weeks to years. Low back pain, headaches, and nerve pains commonly fit into this category.

More Flu Panic!

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.

Dental Health and Wellness

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

Did you know your mouth is the gateway to total body wellness? There are thousands of studies that link oral disease to systemic (whole body) disease.

Inflammation is a known disease causing force that leads to chronic illness. Gum disease and other oral diseases produce chronic low grade inflammation that can affect any major organ system in the body.

Advanced gum disease can raise your risk of fatal heart attack by up to 10 times. There is a 700 percent higher incidence of Type 2 diabetes among those with gum disease.