Lancet Medical Journal Points to Chiropractic for Low Back Pain

The Lancet Defines Low Back Pain 

and Calls for Effective Care in Brand-New Three-Part Series

San Jose, Calif. – March 23, 2018 – This week, The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, published a three-part series on low back pain, which addresses the associated ailment, the disability caused by low back pain and provides call-to-actions to meet the challenges associated with the prevention and management of low back pain. The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the value of chiropractic care, notes that Good Morning America – the most watched morning show for most of 2017– referred to The Lancet’s series as the Magnum Opus of low back pain, and referenced spinal manipulation as a recommended approach to manage low back pain.

“Ninety-four percent of spinal manipulations in the U.S. are performed by a doctor of chiropractic,” shares Sherry McAllister, DC, executive vice president, F4CP, who notes that chiropractic care is proven to yield improved clinical outcomes, reduced costs and high patient satisfaction. “With

approximately 80 percent of the population bound to experience back pain at some point in their lives, the Foundation commends The Lancet for publishing a series that accurately communicates the education and action items necessary to establish more effective, patient-centered care, which may include spinal manipulation, surrounding low back pain to a global audience.”

Key findings from each of the three papers published in The Lancet:

• What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention
• Low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is common among individuals of all ages, demographics and socio-economic statuses. The burden of low back pain must be addressed through amplified research and global initiatives.
• Prevention and treatment of low back pain: evidence, challenges, and promising directions
• Potential solutions to effectively manage low back pain may include but are not limited to focused strategies that can implement best practice, the redesign of clinical pathways, integrated health and occupational interventions to reduce work disability, changes in compensation and disability claims policies, and public health and prevention strategies.
• Low back pain: a call for action
• One call to action encourages the promotion of living well with low back pain through enhanced, patient-centered care which focuses on self-management and healthy lifestyles as a means of restoring and maintaining function and high-quality of life.

Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) receive a minimum of seven years of higher education and are specifically trained to diagnose, evaluate and provide non-pharmaceutical care and rehabilitation to individuals suffering from acute and chronic back, low back and neck pain, headaches, neuro-musculoskeletal conditions and general health and wellness.

Dr. McAllister continues, “With the number of individuals effected worldwide by low back pain, The Lancet’s new published series should spark an interest among providers across all disciplines to collaborate and provide patients with the safest, most effective care for the management of low back pain.”

About Foundation for Chiropractic Progress

A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) informs and educates the general public about the value of chiropractic care and its role in drug-free pain management. Visit www.f4cp.com; call 866-901-F4CP (3427). Social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube.

"Selling Sickness" - How Pharma-Medical industry Creates Customers

We are told almost daily that preventative actions is the most effective way of maintaining good health.  the problem is, in the pharmacol-medical industry, the definition of prevention has become perverted to mean early detection, not healthy living.  This is most likely the true reason for our run away health care costs in this country.  We focus on fixing problems rather than avoiding the problem in the first place.

In their new book "Selling Sickness:" authors Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels, MD examine the tendency of the healthcare industry to ignore lifestyle-based primary prevention, focused on the three pillars of diet, exercise and stress management, and over the past generation, increase emphasis on mass screenings of asymptomatic populations for early signs of disease, and for markers (blood tests, radiologic findings) that might indicate an increased likelihood of disease in the future, thereby finding new customers for their products and services.

As a very interesting read, they explore how the industry creates or refines disorders for which their therapies can be used; how clinical trials are designed to maximumize appearance of benefits of the therapeutics/drugs being tested; direct to consumer disease awareness campaigns and how the FDA approval process relies on self interest research and pharmaceutical industry funding.

If you are truly interested in how the pharmaco-medical industry is using you and your family's health and well-being to line their pockets.

There is a great review of this book that can be found here.

Influence of Pharmaceutical Ads on Healthcare

A study appearing in the October 2012 issue of the Annals of Family Medicine explores the question of how drug companies are influencing both the practice of medicine and the health of patients who seek care from medical providers.

The authors note "Spending on prescription drugs in the Unites States has risen nearly 6-fold since 1990, reflecting substantial increases in treatment of chronic conditions and subsequent polypharmacy (multiple prescriptions). As many as 45% of Americans have at least 1 diagnosed chronic condition, and 60% of the most prescribed medications were for hypertension, high cholesterol levels and diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 11% of the US population and 40% of people older than age 60 take 5 medications or more." 

The authors focused their review on management of type II diabetes and hypertension, two of the most common chronic health conditions.  The study examined the overwhelming prevalence of prescription drug use in managing these two conditions and focused on the influencing factors more closely.

Factors recognized: 

 

Lower diagnostic thresholds – This mean that more people are diagnosed with a disease they didn't previously have.   

The lowering of fasting glucose (blood sugar) levels from 140 to 126 in 1998 resulted in an additional 10.3 million people being medically defined as diabetics.  Pre diabetes glucose levels were lowered to 100 in 2003 from the previous levels of 110, creating more pre diabetic cases.  

The definition for hypertension (high blood pressure) was lowered in 1993 from a pressure of 160/95 to 140/90 in non-diabetic patients. In 1998, the hypertension level for diabetics was set at 130/80, lower than that of non-diabetics. These two changes created an estimated 22 million additional hypertension diagnoses. The pre hypertension level was also established in 1998 at 120/80. 

Clinician Incentives - Medical doctors are often rewarded for keeping their patients below certain standards based on established guidelines.  

"The committees and organizations setting the standards often have substantial pharmaceutical industry support and include many individuals with industry ties." According to the authors, "many insurance companies assess individual clinicians on the basis of whether their patients meet these standards, often paying substantial bonuses that encourage clinicians to respond to marginal test results with aggressive use of pharmaceuticals."   

The Prescribing Cascade – As most people know, prescription drugs can have adverse impacts on patients.  They can produce symptoms that prompt the prescribing of additional drugs to combat the side effects of the first. 

Two-thirds of patients with diabetes and hypertension reported symptoms which they attributed to their medications, with several patients hospitalized because of symptoms, prompting a medication change.  This study found 89% of the patients "reported taking multiple medications, averaging 4.8 prescriptions with more than half (51%) taking 5 or more." The sad fact is that many of the patients were expected to continue taking these medications "permanently."   

What to Do? 

The authors call for a reform on how much influence the pharmaceutical industry has on the practice of medicine: "At a minimum, we urge policies excluding individuals or organizations with financial conflicts of interest from involvement with guideline-writing panels. They also suggest that physicians "be discouraged from seeing drug representatives."  

So what is the take home from this information? 

We see that chronic illnesses are experienced by 45% of the population.  

These numbers are tremendously high, considering that almost all chronic diseases are due to lifestyle.  Without the proper lifestyle changes, drugs will have little effect on these conditions other than suppressing the symptoms and creating even more problems.  Are we starting to see where part of the problem with our rising healthcare costs are coming from? 

Drug manufacturing is a business, run for profits.  The public is persuaded to believe that these companies have only altruistic intentions; to help the masses be “healthier”.   This is often the furthest thing from the truth.  As we saw in the above study, guideline criteria are often modified to increase the “market pool” for the drugs.

The pharmaceutical industry was a $325 Billion business in the US in 2012.  For years the most profitable business in the U.S. has been the pharmaceutical corporations, which routinely top the annual fortune 500 list. 

An essential part of the pharmaceutical industry’s overwhelming ‘success’ lays in the liaison between the corporations and the ‘symptoms management’ health care industry: The pharmaceutical representative. The men and women we see meeting with physicians, walking into offices with gifts of lunch for the staff, meeting with the doctor while you wait for your appointment.   These individuals are working for their paycheck, not your health. 

As concerned individuals we must take it upon ourselves to regain and maintain our health and well being.  This is the goal at David City Chiropractic; to coach and empower or patients to live healthier and more wellness oriented lives by modifying lifestyle habits from simple postural correction to nutritionally enhancing the body for optimal immunity and hormonal health.  If this sounds interesting to you, contact our office for more information. 

The answer to the nation’s healthcare crisis is not more drugs and technology to treat sick people but fewer people getting sick.

Yours For Better Health,

Dr. Heller

Multiple Vaccines Per Visit Increases Risk

A new study, published in Human and Experimental Toxicology analyzed more than 38,000 reports of infant hospitalizations and deaths following vaccinations. Researchers have found statistically significant correlations between the number of vaccine doses administered to infants and infant hospitalization and mortality rates: babies who receive the most vaccines tend to have higher (worse) hospitalization and death rates.


While each childhood vaccine has individually undergone clinical trials to assess safety, studies have not been conducted to determine the safety (or efficacy) of combining vaccines during a single physician visit as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) guidelines.

<< Read Full Story>>

Chiropractic and Urinary Incontinence

Urinary Incontinence May Improve

With Chiropractic Care

NEW RESEARCH SHOWS
 

81% of chiropractic case showed improvement

Comparatively, 50% improved with pharmacological trials.  

Urinary incontinence (UI), occurs when there is leakage of urine that is involuntarily. It affects 4 of 10 women and 1 of 10 men during their lifetime, and about 17% of children younger than 15 years.

In a survey of 2,500 women aged 55–95, 64% reported that urinary incontinence was of great concern to them, but only 25% perceived that it was being adequately addressed by their healthcare providers. Urinary incontinence was associated with poor quality of life, poor self-rated health, social isolation, depressive symptoms, decline in instrumental activities of daily living and out-of-pocket expenses. The majority of older women with urinary incontinence remain under-treated. 

Based upon the prevalence of urinary incontinence in our population and the conclusion that the vast majority of the population is being under treated, the public must take an honest look at treatment choices.
 
In this study of 21 patients, that were followed for 6 years; in 48% of the case, the UI symptoms resolved totally, another 33% considerably improved and a further 19% slightly improved. That equates to 81% of the case studies showing improvement with urinary incontinence with chiropractic care. Comparatively, the authors reported that only 50% improved with pharmacological (drug) trials.  

Chiropractic, based upon the study results shouldn't be considered an alternative choice, but the first line of care with no side effects to consider from medications.
 
Contact our office for more information.  

For your better health!

Dr. Heller




Full article can be found at:  http://www.uschiropracticdirectory.com/index.php/chiropractic-research/item/352-chiropractic-care-improves-urinary-incontinence-a-6-year-study
 

How Safe Is Your Elderly Family or Friend On The Road

Being independent is one of the greatest joys for the elderly.  Being able to drive an automobile to get out in the community gives one a great sense of independence.  We must realize though that there will most likely come a time when an individual's health and ability makes their time behind the wheel hazardous not only to themselves but those they share the roadways with.  Statistics show that older drivers are more likely than younger ones to be involved in crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The site, agingcare.com,  can give you some tips on what to watch for with elderly family, neighbors and friends that may indicate that they should no longer be driving.  The site also gives some suggestions on how to approach and address an elder who's driving habits may be hazardous.

Stay safe,

Dr. Heller

Store Wars - Video Humor

As a Doctor of Chiropractic I have an interest in overall health and wellness which means taking into consideration daily nutrition.  Although I do push "organic only" in my practice I do encourage my clientele to eat as wholesome of product as possible.

I wanted to share a little parody on the state of our food supply with you.  So I give you "STORE WARS"