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January 24, 2002 Research Update |
James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiro.com
www.lifecarechiro.com
Melatonin for Chronic Whiplash Syndrome
I must admit that this seems like quite a novel approach, even coming for a nutrition-oriented physician that treats whiplash patients frequently. A certain percentage of whiplash patients will experience a syndrome, sometimes referred to as post-concussive syndrome; a constellation of symptoms including fuzzy thinking, diffuse headache and poor sleep. I do know that sleep is an essential part of the healing process, and that patients in severe pain to not usually sleep well. This approach may end up being another tool in the toolbox of effectively treating patients after trauma. ingenta: article summary
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High incidence of cardiovascular events in a rheumatoid arthritis
Do we need any more evidence that CVD has a strong inflammatory component? I would think not, and anti-inflammatory lifestyles/approaches should be an intergral part of any intervention designed to lower risk of CVD. I recently had a patient that we ran a CRP on looking for inflammation related to joint pain. She came back with an very elevated CRP. This patient had a strong family history of heart disease and her twin brother had lymphoma (she is mid 30's). Well, we made some lifestyle changes including avoidance of refined carbs and hydrogenated oils. Several months later her CRP had dropped to just above normal. There is a strong chance this patient just cut her risk of CVD dramatically through a lowering of her overall inflammatory state. Article Abstract
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ANA associated w/ coronary atherosclerosis
The ANA is a marker of the level of autoimmunity in a patient and can be considered another marker of inflammation. See above... Ann Rheum Dis -- Abstracts: Grainger and Bethell 61 (2): 110
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Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome Among US Adults
Remember that Metabolic Syndrom (aka Syndrome X, dysinsulinism) is a condition in which insulin becomes less and less effective at reducing levels of glucose in the bloodstream; resulting in elevated glucose as well as insulin. The negative effects on health from these alterations are incredibly lenghty. This article reviews the prevalence in the US and finds a shockingly high percentage, averaging around 25%. One of the first dietary recommendations I give to any patients for any condition is to avoid refined carbs. I believe that our dietary patterns are resulting in these high percentages. Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome Among US Adults: Findings From the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
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Changing face of adult coeliac disease
The concept of coeliac disease having a major impact on overall health is just begining to gain speed. Many neurological conditions can be related to something as simple as wheat allergy. Remember that coeliac disease is an allergy to gluten, a protein found in certain grains, most noteably wheat. Interestingly, when wheat is grown in a high nitrogen content source (i.e. non-organic, highly fertilized soil) that plant takes up the extra nitrogen and uses production of proteins as a storage route--in this case leading to excess gluten. An elimination diet is such an incredible and safe tool to be used for a wide variety of conditions... Postgrad Med J -- Summaries: Sanders et al. 78 (915): 31
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Up to 5% of Clinical Trials May Be Fraudulent
Now doesn't this make things a little scary? Articles like this do put things into perspective in two ways. First, money always talks. If you have the money there's a good chance you can get the results you want. Second, this shows that that mainstream medicine has no right throwing stones at natural medicine. While many concepts and therapies in natural medicine do not have the clinical trials behind them, they do, in some cases, have literally hundreds of years of anecdotal evidence and safety profiles to put against the clinical trial.
News Release: At least 1%, and possibly as many as 5%, of drug trials are compromised by fraudulent data, a British pharmaceutical fraud investigator said on Tuesday. Dr. Frank Wells, director of Medico Legal Investigations Ltd, urged countries to set up new disciplinary bodies to ensure doctors found guilty of research fraud are struck off the medical register. "The incidence of clinical research fraud is difficult to assess but my own estimate is that it is at least 1% and possibly much higher," he told the Society of Biomedical Research in London. "If we estimate that there are about 3000 sponsored clinical research projects taking place within the UK at any one time, this means that at least 30 will include investigators who are generating false data." Dr. Wells, who has investigated cases of suspected fraud for the past 10 years, said some doctors become clinical investigators out of greed, vanity, arrogance, boredom and the pressure to publish scientific papers. Examples of fraud include a surgeon who claimed to have assessed a patient 6 months after the patient had died and a doctor who claimed to be assessing blood flow in the leg of a patient that had been amputated. Another doctor had forged 191 patient signatures and other data in 21 studies. Dr. Wells told the meeting on fraud and misconduct in biomedical research that in Britain doctors faced the deterrent of being reported to the General Medical Council's disciplinary body which can strike doctors off the medical register for serious professional misconduct. But similar sanctions do not yet exist in many other countries. In the United States, the maximum penalty under Food and Drug Administration rules is to be barred from using federal research funds for 3 years. In France, silence is generally the golden rule on fraud though it is hoped that action would eventually be taken at the EU level, he continued. In Germany, rules about misconduct in science were only introduced a couple of years ago. In Italy and Spain, there are no antifraud measures worth reporting, Dr. Wells claimed. American pharmaceutical consultant Arthur Horowitz said complaints filed with the FDA against investigators had increased from 11 in 1992 to 118 in 2000. Thirty-five percent of complaints involve protocol violations and 24% involve falsification of data. Another area of concern is the huge expansion of clinical trials in eastern Europe, Africa and South America where ethical review boards are often inexperienced.