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October 31, 2002 Research Update |
James Bogash, D.C. Mesa, AZ
info@lifecarechiro.com
www.lifecarechiro.com
Effectiveness of Multidisciplinary Intervention in Treatment of Migraine
Wow!! A multidisciplinary trial that would use the best of all worlds!! It was great to see chiropractic added in here... Oops...they didn't add chiropractic. Am I missing something? Does the term "pink elephant in the room" ring any bells here? How is it that I get wonderful results with headaches in my office and yet never seen trials or comments including chiropractic care in mainstream medical journals? Can the rest of the medical profession truly be that ignorant of what chiropractic does??? I feel much better now...
Synergy Abstract
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Acupuncture in the Prophylactic Treatment of Migraine Without Aura
At least acupuncture isn't getting the cold shoulder here. As an aside, although chiropractic care is remarkably safe, acupuncture appears to be even safer. But keep in mind that practioners vary widely in their approach and competence.
Synergy Abstract
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Dietary Fat Determines Effect of Polymorphism in Hepatic Lipase Gene Promoter on HDL Metabolism
Don't hold your breath for everyone to wake up and realize that the future of medicine is here today...but it is. We are seeing more and more medical literature tying in genetics with specific lifestyle changes. Here we see that persons with a certain type of the enzyme hepatic lipase do not do well with higher levels of animal fats.
Circulation -- Abstracts: Ordovas et al. 106 (18): 2315
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Frequency of Analgesic Use & Risk of Hypertension in Younger Women
There are two things that strike me about this study. First, of the 80,000 or so women in this study, use of aspirin 1 day/month was 51%, NSAIDs was 77% and acetaminophen was 72%. My gosh!! Are we that addicted to OTC pain relief? No wonder this class of drugs (NSAIDs) are responsible for 16,000+ deaths per year. We are taking them like candy, never considering the litany of adverse reactions and long term damage these things can cause. Secondly, in this study NSAID users (22 days/month) had 1.86 times the risk and acetaminophen had twice the risk of high blood pressure. While this use (as 22 days/month) seems incredibly excessive to me, it is a well known fact that these drugs damage the kidneys and this may be one of the mechanisms by which hypertension in affected.
Frequency of Analgesic Use and Risk of Hypertension in Younger Women
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A Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitor Impairs Ligament Healing in the Rat
Just in case you thought you'd skip the old fashioned NSAIDs and go for the fancy new selective COX-2 inhibitors, better hope there's no soft tissue damage. Use of anti-inflammatories for virtually all injuries is just short of legendary, and yet we never give a second's thought to whether they might actually inhibit the healing process. Well...evidence does seem to lean towards weakening of healed ligaments with NSAID use. My advice...ice it down and see your local chiropractic who uses soft-tissue therapies...
AJSM -- Abstracts: Elder et al. 29 (6): 801
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Antibiotic Resistance--A Survey of Physician Perceptions
Okay...if the docs in this survery are at least aware of the fact that overuse of antibiotics is an issue and that all major medical journals are practically begging to docs to lower use in clinical practice...THEN WHY DOES THIS REMAIN AN ISSUE???? Is it just me or does this not make sense? Not only do we have superbugs resistant to everything except a direct nuclear blast, but we are killing off bacteria absolutely essential for good health. Something has to "break the camel's back" on this antibiotic overuse issue or the problem will just keep compounding.
Antibiotic Resistance: A Survey of Physician Perceptions
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Diet, Exercise on BP, Insulin, Oxidative Stress, NO Availability
Need I say more? Obviously this wasn't sponsored by the makers of Lipitor or Atenolol. 30-45 mins exercise per day and dietary modifications for 3 weeks. 3 weeks!!! That's all it took to affect these markers. And yet, recommendations such as these are low on the list of what most patients get. I remember a 19-year old patient who found out she had cholesterol in the 300's and triglerides in the upper 400's. A CARDIOLOGIST told her to just eat a low fat diet. She was. Gummi bears, pop, twizzlers....
Roberts et al., 10.1161/01.CIR.0000040584.91836.0D
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Starvation reduces skin wheals, plasma substance P, vasoactive intestinal peptide in patients with atopic eczema/dermatitis syndrome
While I don't usually recommend starvation for patients with eczema (although most people would do well with a good fast...), this article does show the impact that the food we put into our mouths can have a direct effect on our skin. Too many times in dermatology we look only at the skin, when, in reality, the dermatologist should be talking to the gastroenterologist to best aid the patient. I am firmly convinced that most atopic/eczema cases are related to food allergies. Now these may be difficult to identify and after a long history the pattern of altered physiology may be strongly ingrained, but it is possible.
Synergy Abstract
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Diabetic ketoacidosis associated with Metabolife: a report of two cases
While I'm in no way a fan of Metabolife (so what's wrong with not changing anything about your lifestyle that got you overweight in the first place?? Just continue eating McDonald's and BK and just take this little, safe pill...), this report actually surprised me, although the physiology of it does make sense after I read it. Ephedra prods the adrenal glands to work harder (even though most of our adrenal glands are already tapped out) and produce catecholamines like epinephrine (adrenaline). This causes glucose to be released into the bloodstream for immediate availability for energy by the muscles as you're running from that sabre toothed tiger. Well, we all know what prolonged elevation of glucose in the bloodstream results in--hyperinsulinemia and potentially diabetes.
Synergy Abstract
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