Lifecare Chiropractic
James Bogash, DC
Amy Strock, DC
1830 S. Alma School Rd
Bldg 7, Ste 135
Mesa, AZ 85210
(480) 839-CARE (2273)
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Research Updates July 11, 2005
***Prescription-related illness - a scandalous pandemic***
I know I sound a little like I'm overreacting when I talk about the dangers of prescription drugs, but the studies out there truly do confirm that, when all added up together, deaths from adverse reactions to prescribed drugs (that would include adverse reactions to properly prescribed as well as prescription errors) are the leading cause of death in the US. Period. Beyond cancer. Beyond heart disease. There is no question that there are drugs that save lives. Someone experiencing a septic infection with a fever of 104 will probably be alive because of antibiotics. But how do you explain to the family of a patient that died taking a stain drug for their cholesterol that should've been lowered with lifestyle changes?
***High prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis IS900 DNA in gut tissues from individuals with Crohn’s disease***
While I am not familar with this specific subspecies, the fact that this mycobacterium (mycobacterium is the type of bug that causes TB) was seen with high prevalence in Crohns does not surprise me (not finding it in ulcerative colitis, however, was a little surprising...). We have long known that the gastrointestinal flora plays a role in the health of the GI tract and that autoimmunity can be induced by a poor bacterial balance. However, the approach remains the same--methods to lower the number of undesirable bugs and increase the presence and growth of probiotic flora.
***Mucosal colonisation with Lactobacillus casei mitigates barrier injury induced by exposure to trinitronbenzene sulphonic acid***
And, just in case you thought I was making the previous treatment stuff up, this rat study found anti-inflammatory properties of L. casei probiotics.
***Inhibition of NF-kappaB induces regression of cardiac hypertrophy***
Now, while this is a rat study, the implications are pretty important. Basically, by controlling inflammation by controlling the activity of NFKB actually reveresed heart enlargement. This has wonderful implications for those patients with congenstive heart failure. While the drug companies are desperately trying to come up with an effective drug to inhibit activity of NFKB, nature has already provided us with several, including hops and rosemary. However, lifestyle changes to lower overall inflammatory burden and special attention to mitochondrial function would most likely help as well by removing the need for the acitvity of NFKB in the first place.
***Cardioprotection with palm tocotrienol: antioxidant activity linked w/ its ability to stabilize proteasomes***
As you all remember, tocotrienols are essentially vit E's big cousin with some powerful health effects. The tocopherols and tocotrienols hang out in the same circles and most of the best quality vit E supplements contain both of these substances. But now, with all the negative attention on vit E, might we be trowing the baby out with the bathwater by telling everyone to avoid vit E?
***High school dietary dairy intake and teenage acne***
Okay. Listen to the commercials and drink lots of milk so you can squeeze into that size 3 for Prom. I keep listening to the commercials, but I don't ever hear the disclaimer mentioning that it's a good thing Prom is usually in a darkened room to hide all that excess acne. But seriously, does research like this make anyone fully confident that dairy products are absolutely wonderful a solution to today's obesity problems in kids?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=15692464&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=15692464&dopt=Abstract
***Professional liability claims and Central Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists members: Myth versus reality***
There has been much press lately about physician's malpractice insurance rates, with pushes in some states and nationally for legislation to "curb the crisis." Well, sometimes reality is not quite as grim and this situation is no different. So, there are a few issues here since it isn't actually that there are more claims being paid out. Most likely, it is that malpractice insurance companies are taking docs to the cleaners and generating increased profits. The other side of the coin is that, if this group of OB/GYN could improve patient satisfaction (patients don't sue doctors they like) then these numbers would probably drop even lower.
***Pravastatin does not affect insulin sensitivity and adipocytokines levels in healthy nondiabetic patients***
This article just says it all. I continue to preach that doctors who ignore elevated triglycerides and the group of other findings in patients with elevated insulin, and just focus on the cholesterol with statin drugs, should be guilty of malpractice. Period. There is no excuse. NONE. And yet I see it time and time again in my practice. So, the patient comes in with a neon sign over their head screaming insulin resistance, and their doctor only sees the high total cholesterol and gives them a statin drug. This allows the hyperinsulinemia to wreak havoc on every organ system unchecked.
***The Lessons of Vioxx — Drug Safety and Sales***
I know we all have our ideas that the drug companies do an awful lot of pushing when it comes to drug sales. But sometimes reviews like this come out that really paint the true grim picture of just how bad it is. Illegal and many questionable tactics are common. If this was any other idustry their would be arrests and congressional hearings. The sad part is that we are not dealing with Ford trying to lie about the highway MPG to the dealerships--this is about patients' life, health and prosperity. And the numbers reflect that this activity is killing more Americans than anything else on the planet.
***Melatonin is effective for some sleep disorders***
Well...I have to say that this article is probably right on for how I use melatonin in my office. Two interesting notes--this study found melatonin effective in children and also used dosages up to 10 mg, which is far in excess of the higher levels of recommendations at 3 mg. Also of notes was that the authors compared melatonin with Ambien and found it similarily effective--and, though not mentioned, a heck of alot cheaper (melatonin is very inexpensive). Keep in mind as well that melatonin has some heavy research behind it for acting as a high powered antioxidant in the nervous system, which is an added benefit that I would bet Ambien can't claim.
James Bogash, DC and Amy Strock, DC
1830 S. Alma School Rd, Bldg 7, Ste 135, Mesa, AZ 85210
(Alma School Road, just south of the Superstition Freeway/Highway 60)
Chiropractic Health Care Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert & Tempe, Arizona
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