By Dr. Ben Lerner

You cannot be common, The common man gets nowhere; You've got to be uncommon--Herb Brooks, U.S. Olympic Team Hockey Coach

It's been a thrill for me to teach and adjust the U.S. Olympic wrestling team over two Olympics and six World Championships. It's been particularly thrilling because we've won four gold, six silver and four bronze medals between Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000 and numerous medals in the World Championships in which I have participated.

The excitement that surrounds the Olympics is truly amazing. Thousands of athletes and hundreds of thousands of spectators flew literally all the way around the globe to represent or cheer for their country.

People painted their bodies and waved their flags with such awe-inspiring, enthusiastic patriotism that it made me even prouder to be a human being and gave me even greater hope for world peace and mankind. All the super powers down to tiny African nations were there, walking side by side without altercation in the spirit of fair competition and peace.

Being the Best You Can Be

You cannot imagine my excitement watching one of the guys I have been adjusting and helping to train for weeks, months and, in some cases, years go out there and defeat the best opponent from another country and go on to be crowned on the medal stand as they raise your flag.

One thing I found in common with the American fans at both the Atlanta and the Sydney Olympic games is that our typical cheer is to point up your index finger and say, "We're Number 1!"

Unfortunately, as a doctor for the team, I couldn't help but think of the fact that while we may or may not be Number 1 in all of the events at the Olympics, this nation is consistently tops in many other areas. For instance, we're consistently Number 1 in:

• Infant mortality
• Years of potential life lost
• Allergy, asthma and learning disorders in children
• Alzheimer's
• Diabetes
• Many forms of cancer
• Back surgery
• Intake of prescription and non-prescription drugs
  

We are regularly at or near the top of the world in all of the Olympic events. This is due to the fact that our coaching and training technologies are some of the best, if not the best in the world. Therefore, our common, conventional wisdom on preparing athletes for competition is a good one. On the other hand, we are at or near the bottom of the world in all of the important health care statistics.

Therefore, our common, conventional wisdom on preparing people to be healthy is a bad one. A very bad one ...

Although America makes up only 5 percent of the world's population, it consumes well over 50 percent of the medication. If drugs worked and made you healthier, that would mean America would be Number 1 and we would get the health gold medal.

Drugs Don't Work

A drug can be defined as any chemical compound that exists outside the body that can stop, change or alter a function inside the body. As a result, by definition, a drug does not produce health, just an altered function. Of course, if you take any chemical in the wrong combination, at the wrong time, or at the wrong dose, the effects can be lethal. Despite the facts about chemicals, the common, conventional wisdom in the United States is that drugs bring health.

Drugs used to boost sports performance are very hazardous because they are engineered to cause radical changes in body function. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has identified numerous substances that are potentially dangerous to an athlete's health or create an unfair advantage in a particular sport or event.

Although the largest concern of all these drugs are steroids, many of the other substances are as bad and more likely to be abused because they are easier to obtain. More than 160 over-the-counter medications and common prescription drugs contain substances that are banned for use by the IOC.

The following is a short list of definitions and banned substances.

International Olympic Committee Banned Substance Classifications (Sydney):

Drug: A chemical compound that exists outside the body that can stop, change or alter function, and when taken in excess can cause negative effects or death. (Same definition as poison.)

Drug Doping

1. CNS stimulants (includes Ritalin and over-the-counter cold, cough, sinus, flu, sleeping, awaking and allergy drugs)
2. Narcotics (which includes many common prescription pain-killers)
3. Anabolic agents (many of which are found in common body-shaping supplements)
4. Diuretics
5. Ephedra (ma huang) and high levels of caffeine (an overdose of Starbucks)
6. Red blood cell (RBC) blood doping
   

Restricted Drugs

1. Alcohol
2. Marijuana
3. Local anesthetics
4. Corticosteroids (cortisone)
5. Beta-Adrenergic blockers (heart medication)--effect on cardiovascular system: Decrease cardiac output, slow heart rate and decrease function of CNS to heart. Lower performance but increase concentration and lower anxiety: Archery, shooting, diving, etc.
6. Blood doping: adding RBCs
7. Specified Beta2-Adrenergic agonists--normally used for asthma, stimulates CNS and speeds recovery
   

I am really proud to be an American and help to represent our country at two Olympics. I was especially proud of the athletes I worked on who decided to be "uncommon." They enhanced their health and performance with cutting edge nutritional information, leading weightlifting data, powerful mental preparation and all-natural, Olympic-approved, Chiropractic care.

Like Coach Brooks says, if you want to win gold in the health competition, "You've got to be uncommon."

Dr. Ben Lerner, Dr. Greg Loman and Dr. Rob Schiffman have three of the largest chiropractic centers in the history of the chiropractic profession. Their organization, Teach The World About Chiropractic, teaches a high-tech, vitalistic chiropractic approach to wellness care. They also teach a God-centered lifestyle through Dr. Lerner's New York Times Best Selling book, Body by God: The Owner's Manual For Maximized Living.