Newsletter - January 2011

What has made chiropractic so popular? Why do tens of millions of people visit their neighborhood Doctor of Chiropractic? And the numbers are growing!

It’s because Doctors of Chiropractic can locate and correct subluxations, small distortions in your spine and body structure that can cause tremendous health damage if not corrected.

Tired of being sick and tired? Welcome to the world of chiropractic ~ discover how natural health can be.

Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples.
 – George Burns (1896-1996)

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
 – Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Never date a woman whose father calls her “Princess.” Chances are she believes it. – Wes Smith

This issue’s table of contents

  • Are chiropractors back doctors?
  • Kids & chiropractic – perfect together
  • Prayer & pregnancy
  • Something to avoid as much as possible
  • Did you know?
  • Researching chiropractic
  • Antibiotics have little impact on children’s ear infections
  • Swine flu shot and increased miscarriage
  • Words of wisdom
  • Humor
  • References

Are chiropractors back doctors?

Some people think chiropractors are back doctors or chiropractic is for back problems because chiropractors work on the spine. But that is incorrect.

It’s as incorrect as saying MDs are skin doctors because they give injections through the skin, cut your skin open (surgery) or apply creams and lotions to your skin. It’s also like saying MDs are mouth doctors because they give you pills to swallow.

MDs give injections, drugs, ointments and perform surgery on the skin to affect other parts of the body.

In a similar manner chiropractors work on your structural system, spinal column and other areas to release stress on your nervous system and affect overall body health.

Chiropractors are not “back” doctors even though people with back pain, neck pain, sciatica, whiplash and other spine problems often see chiropractors. In fact, the article below on children and chiropractic care is a perfect example of some of chiropractic’s potential.

Kids & chiropractic – perfect together

Over a century of success in helping children regain and retain their health has made chiropractic the healthcare of choice for millions of parents and their children throughout the world.

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a natural, non-invasive form of healthcare that respects the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Your chiropractor’s goal is to assist the body to regain optimal functioning by removing blockages and releasing stress so that balance and harmony among your body’s systems can be restored.

Chiropractors are specially trained to locate and release blockages commonly caused by tiny misalignments of the structural system. These blockages (called subluxations) create dis-ease or disharmony, which can lead to lowered resistance to disease, organ malfunction, poor posture, pain, and physical and emotional illness. (1)

The Earliest Years

Chiropractors have helped babies suffering from nearly every condition imaginable: colic, vomiting, sleeping problems, tonsillitis, vision and hearing problems and many, many others. (2-4)

Toddlerhood Through Childhood

Toddlerhood through childhood is a very physical time. Those first hesitant steps soon evolve into jumping and running, with falls and accidents accompanying each new skill. Even a small fall can cause damage with potential long-term consequences. (5)

Ear infections, asthma and allergies have responded to chiropractic care. (6-7)

In addition there are reports of chiropractic care helping children suffering from autism. Some children were later re-diagnosed as normal after chiropractic care. (8-9)

Improved Academic Performance

Chiropractic care has been a blessing to many children (and their parents) who were experiencing learning problems.

Both clinical reports and research validate chiropractic’s success with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), lack of energy or “low mental stamina”, anxiety, behavioral problems and other learning disabilities. Researchers as well as parents have reported improvements in both grades and IQ as a result of chiropractic care. (10 -11)

Chiropractic Checkups Are Vital

All children, especially if they are ill, need bodies free of blockages to the flow of energy and information in his/her nervous systems. It might make the difference between a life of strength and health and a life of weakness and illness.

Prayer and pregnancy

It was a finding that shocked researchers at Columbia University: women at an in-vitro fertilization clinic in Korea had a higher pregnancy rate when, unknown to the patients, total strangers were asked to pray for their success. Prayed-for women became pregnant twice as often as those who were not prayed for. The lead author of the report, Dr. Rogerio A. Lobo, Columbia's chairman of obstetrics and gynecology, said he and his colleagues had thought long and hard about whether to publish their findings, since they seemed so improbable. In the end, the differing pregnancy rates between the two groups of women proved too significant to ignore. "It was not even something that was borderline significant," Dr. Lobo said. "It was highly significant." (12)

Something to avoid as much as possible

Medical care! More people die from medical mistakes, drug reactions, hospital infections and unnecessary surgery than die from heart disease or cancer. 

Most drugs do not cure anything but only suppress symptoms and drive disease deeper into the body. Suppressing acute symptoms can give temporary relief but can create chronic (permanent) disease.

Here are recent reports from The New England Journal of Medicine and the US government’s Office of the Inspector General to remind us of modern medicine’s dark side so we may avoid medical care if at all possible.

Medical Injuries Harm 18% of Hospital Patients

A six-year study of ten hospitals found that 18% (almost one in five) of hospital patients were injured by their care. The incidents ranged from minor injuries to life-threatening mistakes and fourteen deaths. 

North Carolina hospitals were chosen because the state is considered a leader in efforts to improve patient safety.

Sadly, no improvements were noted after years of trying. Medicine is an inherently dangerous form of healthcare and should be avoided whenever possible. (13)

Medical Errors Kill 15,000 Elderly Patients a Month in US Hospitals

A report from the US government’s Office of Inspector General reveals that medical errors kill an estimated 15,000 Medicare patients a month and injure 134,000 per month. See the OIG report at: http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-06-09-00090.pdf (14)

Did you know?

Cashews are not sold in their shells because the oil that surrounds the shell is highly irritating to the skin, and peeling the nuts by hand can cause blisters.

Researching chiropractic

Chiropractors are often sought out if a person has back, neck, sciatica, arm, leg, headache and other kinds of pain. But chiropractic is not for conditions – chiropractic is for people! (By the way, pregnant women and babies especially need chiropractic care.)

Chiropractic Versus Disc Surgery Outcomes

Forty patients with lumbar (lower back) disc herniation and radiating pain were referred to neurosurgical spine surgeons. After three months of no response to painkillers, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage and/or acupuncture they were referred to have either disc surgery (microdiskectomy) or chiropractic.

Both groups showed significant improvements and at a 1-year follow-up, chiropractic care was as successful as surgery, at a fraction of the cost.
In the US, 200,000 microdiscectomy procedures a year cost $25,000 each ($5 billion) plus additional hospital expenses. If at least 60% of these surgeries can be avoided with chiropractic care the savings would be at least $2.58 billion per year! (15)

Cystic Fibrosis And Chiropractic

An 8-year-old male presented for care with complaints of recurring infections, inability to sleep and inability to participate in age-appropriate sports. He had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth.

The course of care involved chiropractic spinal adjustments, Network Spinal Analysis care and trigger point therapy. Improvements were observed in the patient’s resistance to recurrent infection, activity level, sleep ability and overall quality of life. (16)

Antibiotics have little impact on children’s ear infections

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common condition for which antibiotics are prescribed for US children. The researchers reviewed 135 studies in a meta-analysis.

Their findings should shock any pediatrician: “Antibiotics are modestly more effective than no treatment but cause adverse effects in 4% to 10% of children.” (17)

Most children recover in just a few days without antibiotics. While antibiotics may
slightly improve recovery speed in some children they have many side effects including diarrhea, skin rashes and altered bacterial flora in the gut because antibiotics kill the “good” bacteria there. Antibiotics can create antibiotic resistant bacteria as well. 

The frequent use of antibiotics for common ear infections raises risks that children will harbor drug resistant bacteria during subsequent illness ... children whose previous ear infections were treated with antibiotics have a rate of amoxicillin-resistant bacteria that is three times higher during subsequent otitis media. (18)

It has been observed that children given antibiotics for ear infections get more ear infections! Who wants their child to have a weakened immune system?

In fact even the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians have recommended a wait-and-see approach (since 2004) for children with ear infections.

We have a better idea – how about chiropractic care during the “wait and see” period? Chiropractic’s natural, drug-free approach has helped many children recover from ear infections quickly and safely. (19)

Swine flu shot and increased miscarriage

Nearly 50% of all pregnant women were vaccinated with the H1N1 vaccine and
according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Children's Vaccines the rate of miscarriage among pregnant women during that period was 700% higher compared to previous years.

The CDC denies the increase in miscarriages had anything to do with the flu shot. In response, Eileen Dannemann, Director of the National Coalition of Organized Women (NCOW) stated:

"This upcoming 2010/11 flu vaccine contains the same elements that are implicated in the killing of these fetuses, the H1N1 viral component and the neurotoxin mercury (thimerosal)."

Even worse, the number of vaccine-related "fetal demise" reports increased by 2,440% in 2009 compared to previous years.

In a related story NCOW presented data from two different sources demonstrating that the 2009/10 H1N1 vaccines contributed to 3,587 miscarriages and stillbirths. Read the report at http://thepopulist.net/?p=6630.

Words of wisdom

Water taken in moderation cannot hurt anybody.
 – Mark Twain

If you treat a sick child like an adult and an adult like a sick child, everything usually works out pretty well.
 – Ruth Carlisle

Never take top billing. You’ll last longer that way.
 – Bing Crosby

 

Humor

These really work! Amazing simple home remedies:

1. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you chop.
2. Avoid arguments with females about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.
3. For high blood pressure sufferers ~ simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure on your veins. Remember to use a timer.
4. A mousetrap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
5. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives. Then you'll be afraid to cough.
6. You only need two tools in life ~ wd-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the wd-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.
7. If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

Bye!!!

Please write or stop by and give us your feedback. Are there any subjects you’d like to hear about? Anything you dislike? Feedback is always important to us. And, of course, if you’d like hard copies of this newsletter stop by the office and we’ll give you some for your friends and relatives. If they have email, have them write to us and we’ll add them to our subscriber list.

References
1. Al-Jishi A, Sreekantaswamy. Dystonia associated with atlantoaxial subluxation. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2000;102(4):233-235.
2. Gutman G. The atlas fixation syndrome in the baby and infant. Manuelle Medizin. 1987;25:5-10.
3. Klougart N, Nilsson N, Jacobsen J. Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases. JMPT. 1989;12:281-288.
4. Van Loon M. Colic with projectile vomiting: a case study. J of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 1998;3(1):207-210.
5. Eleraky MA, Theodore N, Adams M et al. Pediatric cervical spine injuries: report of 102 cases and review of the literature. J Neurosurg. 2000;92(1 Suppl):12-7.
6. Hunt JM. Upper cervical chiropractic care of a pediatric patient with asthma: a case study. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 2000;5(1):318-321.
7. Graham RL, Pistolese RA. An impairment rating analysis of asthmatic children under chiropractic care. JVSR. 1997;1(4):41-48.
8. Aguilar AL, Grostic JD, Pfleger B. Chiropractic care and behavior in autistic children. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 2000;5(1):293-304.
9. Amalu WC. Autism, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, strabismus and illness susceptibility: a case study in chiropractic management. Today’s Chiropractic. Sept/Oct 1998;32-47.
10. Mathews MO. Pilot study on the value of applied kinesiology in helping children with learning disabilities. Journal of the New Zealand Register of Osteopaths. 1993;6:21-23.
11. Ferreri CA, Wainwright RB. Breakthrough for dyslexia and learning disabilities. Author: Exposition Press of Florida, Inc. 1986.
12. Cha KY, Wirth DP, Lobo RA. Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization–embryo transfer? Report of a masked, randomized trial. Journal of Reproductive Medicine. 2001;46(9):781-787.
13. Landrigan CP, Parry GJ, Bones CB et al. Temporal trends in rates of patient harm resulting from medical care. N Engl J Med. 2010;363:2124-2134.
14. Department of Health and Human Services. Office Of Inspector General. Adverse Events In Hospitals: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries November 2010 OEI-06-09-0009
15.  McMorland G, Suter E, Casha S, du Plessis SJ, Hurlbert RJ. Manipulation or microdiscectomy for sciatica? a prospective randomized clinical study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2010;33(8):576-584.
16. Warhurst C, Warhurst R, Gabai A. Improvement in cystic fibrosis in a child undergoing subluxation-based chiropractic care: a case study. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic. 2010;4:172-180. 
17. Coker TR, Chan LS, Newberry SJ, Limbos MA, Suttorp MJ, Shekelle PG, Takata GS. Diagnosis, microbial epidemiology, and antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media in children: a systematic review. JAMA. 2010;304(19):2161-2169.
18. Culpepper L, Froom J. Routine antimicrobial treatment of acute otitis media: Is it necessary? JAMA. 1997:278(20):1643-1645.
19. Brown CD. Improved hearing and resolution of otitis media with effusion following chiropractic care to reduce vertebral subluxation. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health - Chiropractic. 2009;1:1-7.