One of the many benefits of Chiropractic care is that it can provide excellent benefitstoward fighting against and warding off the flu. Spinal adjustments provided by chiropractorshave an excellent track record in increasing the immune function of the body and helpingit to stay healthy – especially during cold and flu season.The reason for this success is because Chiropractic works to increase the function of theimmune system. It does so by correcting spinal abnormalities known as subluxations (minordislocations of the vertebra). These subluxations are known to cause interference with the proper function of the nervous system by placing undue pressure on the nerves themselves.As the nervous system controls all bodily functions, including those of the immune system,

Chiropractic adjustments go a long way toward contributing to overall health and wellness.The interaction between the nervous and immune systems has been shown to be positivelyaffected by Chiropractic adjustment. “Through research, we know that Chiropractichas beneficial effects on immunoglobulins (a naturally occurring antibody), B-lymphocytes(these are the white blood cells), pulmonary (of the lungs) function and other immune systemprocesses,” said Dr. Matthew McCoy, who serves as the editor of the

Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research.

One such study tested the response of white blood cells as important infection fighters.When Chiropractic manipulation was applied to the middle of the back, it was found thatwhite blood cells were present in significantly higher number than prior to the adjustment.

What this study demonstrated was that the adjustment provided an “enhanced respiratory burst” that helped immune cells to destroy invading viruses and bacteria. In so doing, they provided greater resistance toward the invasion of the flu virus.

Another large study examined the overall improvement of people who had experienced Chiropractic care. A wide variety of benefits ensued, showing between 7 and 28 percentimprovements to people suffering from spinal discomfort, fatigue, incidence of colds andflu, headaches, allergies and physical pains. Specifically of interest to cold and flu sufferersis that a 15% reduction in colds and flu was achieved by this group of 2,818 individualswho received regular Chiropractic care.

In addition to providing needed adjustments, chiropractors are concerned with the total well-being of the individual and educate their patients toward positive health and lifestyle practices. Getting ample rest, drinking adequate water, exercising regularly, choosing a proper diet and correctly using multivitamins and minerals are essential to staying resistant to colds and flu.

Source: The World Chiropractic Alliance. “Flu Season Wellness Plan Should Include Chiropractic.” 2004.

http://www.wcanews.com/archives/2004/nov17b.htm

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently investigating an outbreak of acute allergic-type reactions among patients who have undergone hemodialysis (dialysis* of the blood) since November 27, 2007. The total number of reported cases is now near 60 as the CDC takes its search nationwide. The thrust of the investigation has lead CDC to believe that the cause of the reaction is the drug heparin produced by Baxter Healthcare Corporation of Deerfield, Illinois.

CDC received the first reports of a potential problem with heparin from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Jan. 7, 2008. The reported symptoms that occurred within minutes of starting dialysis included facial swelling, excessively rapid heart beat, a drop in blood pressure, skin rash and nausea. A total of 8 episodes occurred at a pediatric hospital in the state from Nov. 19, 2007 to Jan. 17, 2008.

Upon learning of this initial cluster, CDC solicited reports of similar allergic-type reactions among hemodialysis patients nationally. On Jan. 9, 2008, CDC was contacted by a dialysis supply company that had received reports during the previous 2-week period of some 50 similar reactions among adult hemodialysis patients at dialysis facilities in 6 states. A second supply company reported learning of similar reactions from dialysis facilities as early as Dec. 10.

Of the episodes reported as of Jan. 30, CDC has identified 65 confirmed or probable cases among 53 hemodialysis patients that occurred from Nov. 19, 2007 to Jan. 21, 2008, at 19 dialysis facilities in 12 states. CDC currently is investigating an additional 36 possible cases. Other than the 8 episodes reported in Missouri, all cases have occurred among adults.

After learning of these adverse events among patients who received heparin during dialysis, Baxter voluntarily recalled nine lots of heparin multi-dose vials on Jan. 17, 2008. All nine lots were produced at a single plant; eight of the nine lots were produced during September to November 2007. Despite the Jan. 17th recall, an additional reaction occurred on Jan. 21, 2008, after a hemodialysis patient was administered Baxter heparin from one of the recalled lots. CDC has found indications of delays in removing the recalled lots of heparin from distribution, which might result in continued exposures.

In addition, these reactions might not be limited to hemodialysis settings. One cardiaccare facility has reported 7 allergic-type reactions among cardiac patients who received heparin from lots that were later recalled. CDC alerted the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to these nationwide reports of allergic-type reactions on Jan. 9, 2008, and is collaborating with FDA on the investigation.

* Def. Dialysis: (Med.) Purification of the blood in substitute of the kidneys.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is bringing action against a drug company engaged in activities to keep competition out of their segment of the market. The shenanigans of the drug maker Cephalon, Inc., in suppressing generic alternatives to its patented product have drawn the attention and the ire of the agency.

According to the complaint filed by the FTC in federal district court, the pharmaceutical company Cephalon based in Frazer, Pennsylvania, has engaged in anticompetitive conduct with its branded drug Provigil. The drug Provigil is aimed at handling sleep disorders such as sleep apnea (discontinuation of breathing), narcolepsy (uncontrollable bouts of deep sleeping) and shift work disorder syndrome (problems with sleep associated with working schedules).

Provigil is a mainstay of Cephalon profits, accounting for over $800-million in annual sales. This figure represents about 40 percent of company sales. The company’s position and thus its earning potential had come under threat when four rival companies wishing to produce and sell generic versions of Provigil brought suit against the company to be able to enter the market.

Rather than engage in a lengthy and costly court battle, Cephalon worked out agreements with the four companies paying them to refrain from selling their generic versions of the product until the year 2012, the FCA said. Cephalon’s anticompetitive scheme denies patients access to lower-cost, generic versions of Provigil and forces consumers and other purchasers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars a year more for Provigil, according to the FTC.

The FTC complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint states that the only remaining patent that covered Provigil had to do with the size of the particles used in the product. The FTC charges that Cephalon was able to induce each of the generic companies to abandon its patent challenge and agree to refrain from selling their product until 2012. Cephalon agreed to pay the companies a total amount in excess of $200 million, thereby achieving a position of protecting its market that its patent rights alone were not able to accomplish, according to the FTC.

The four companies involved in the alleged payments were Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Barr Laboratories, Inc. “Today’s suit against Cephalon seeks to undo a course of anticompetitive conduct that is harming American consumers by depriving them of access to lower-cost generic alternatives to an important brand drug,” said FTC Bureau of Competition Director Jeffrey Schmidt.

“Cephalon prevented competition to Provigil by agreeing to share its future monopoly profits with generic drug makers poised to enter the market, in exchange for delayed generic entry. Such conduct is at the core of what the antitrust laws proscribe.”

“More research is needed to assess the safety of anesthetics on newborn and young children”, says a recent study published by Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) scientists in the journal 

Anesthesia & Analgesia.

The report raises new concerns about putting infants and children under anesthetics for surgery. It calls for the medical community to work together to develop strategies for further assessing the safety of pediatric anesthetics, and for new guidelines for doctors who must choose anesthetic regimens for their pediatric patients.

The animal studies suggest young animals are most susceptible to the drugs during the period of rapid growth of the brain. In humans, that period begins before birth, in the third trimester, and extends to about age 3. An estimated 600,000 children within that age range receive general anesthesia each year.

Many of the operations performed on children are to save their lives or improve their quality of life. Skipping or even delaying such surgeries would have its own risks, according to FDA officials.

“We’re certainly not looking at saying anesthesia should not be used on children,” FDA officals told The Associated Press, adding that it’s generally considered one of medicine’s greatest advances.”

Efforts on the political level to remove mercury from flu vaccinations for children are apparently again going by the wayside. Even though the US Senate and House of Representatives have passed a measure to remove this substance from vaccines, President Bush says the Bill removing it will receive his veto.

The item in question is the mercury-based preservative known as Thimerosal. This is concern from groups involved in the protection of children who point to growing evidence that this element is a leading cause of autism and other severe neurological problems.

The flu vaccination continues to be manufactured with mercury and is recommended for all pregnant women, infants and children despite warnings dating back to 2001. At that time the Institute of Medicine recommended against exposing these same sensitive groups to vaccines containing Thimerosal.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, one in every six women of childbearing age in the United States already has blood levels of mercury high enough to cause neurological damage to their unborn children due to environmental factors alone.

The child protection group known as SafeMinds and members of the Autism community are outraged by the President’s announced intention to veto the bill, calling his decision both “irresponsible and dangerous.” (The Coalition for SafeMinds is a nonprofit group working to investigate and raise awareness of risks to infants and children from mercury injections.)

“Injecting even more mercury into the bodies of pregnant women, infants and children when it is not a necessary component of vaccines is just bad medicine,” said Lyn Redwood, president of SafeMinds. Redwood is the parent of a mercury-injected child. “It defies logic that a flu vaccine must be disposed of as hazardous waste if it is not used, but somehow injecting the same mercury-containing vaccine into a baby is safe.”

Calcium supplementation for osteoporosis has increased significantly since 1987, after the National Institute of Health (NIH) recommended an increase in the daily intake of calcium to 1,500 mg for prevention of the condition. This was in spite of several studies showing no significant effect of calcium intake on porous bone tissue.

Osteoporosis, meaning “porous bone”, is a decrease in bone mass and density with an increased risk of fracture and has long been perceived as a problem of insufficient dietary calcium, one of the primary building blocks of bone. The condition occurs with aging in men and women but is seen most often in women following menopause.

Numerous studies have since shown that calcium supplements are virtually useless for preventing or treating osteoporosis, and that soft tissue calcification can be a serious risk factor when too much calcium enters the system and cannot be used by the body as nature intended. But calcium supplements continue to be heavily advertised for the purpose of preventing osteoporosis, and millions of women continue taking them.

Magnesium, however, is required by the body to utilize calcium correctly, as well as for many other vital functions. We cannot live without magnesium, and the lower the cellular level of magnesium, the faster disease states develop and the faster aging progresses. A total dietary program emphasizing magnesium instead of calcium has proven effective for preventing bone loss.

Dr. Guy Abraham suggested that postmenopausal osteoporosis is predominately a chronic magnesium deficiency, facilitated by estrogen withdrawal during the postmenopausal period. To test the theory, 19 postmenopausal women on hormonal replacement therapy were given 500 mg calcium supplements (50% of RDA) and 600 mg of magnesium (200% of RDA). Serial bone density studies were conducted every 3 months. Subjects receiving the treatment showed an 11% increase in mean bone density versus 0.7% in the untreated group. Results also showed that the magnesium-emphasized program resulted in bone densities 16 times greater than that of simple dietary advice. At the start of the study, 15 subjects were below the fracture threshold. After a year of treatment with magnesium supplementation, only 7 of them were below the fracture threshold.

Dr. Abraham also suggested raising the RDA of magnesium to 1000 mg/day and lowering the RDA for calcium to 500 mg/day. His proposed daily intake for calcium would be more in line with the World Health Organization’s “practical allowance” of 400 to 500 mg daily for adults. Such a reversal of the magnesium/calcium ratio would most probably lower the incidence and prevalence of many other degenerative diseases as well.

It’s hard to say if it’s simply a sign of the times or the continuing search by drug companies to find new and untapped markets for their products. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is now recommending cholesterol testing for children as young as 2 years old and even recommending cholesterol lowering drugs in some older children.

The AAP has made the call for screening and treatment a part of their policy with a statement called “Lipid Screening and Cardiovascular Health in Childhood.” This screening is mainly directed at children in families that have a history of high cholesterol levels in their background. Other familial factors that could trigger a screening would be frequency of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.

Screening for children that meet these specifications should begin sometime after their 2nd birthday and before the age of 10, says the AAP. Previous AAP screening recommendations were far less specific regarding targeted ages for testing to start.

Previously, the AAP never recommended cholesterol drugs for children under 10. That specification has been lowered now to include younger children to whom drugs are being recommended. “For children who are more than 8 years old and who have high LDL (bad cholesterol) concentrations, cholesterol-reducing medications should be considered. Younger patients with elevated cholesterol readings should focus on weight reduction and increased activity while receiving nutrition counseling.”

Most cholesterol lowering drugs have serious side effects. There is no question that obesity is a problem of increasing proportion throughout American society. It is truly unfortunate that it is becoming a factor in very young children and a sad comment on diet, sedentary lifestyles and a lack of exercise throughout our culture. Children need to be encouraged to “get out and play” and get the body moving. This will go a long way to promote good health and strong bodies.

Parents who are looking for ways to improve the lifestyle and health of their children would be wise to consult a chiropractor or acupuncturist for expertise and advice on this subject. It’s important not only to keep children off drugs, but also to develop a way of good healthy thinking that will have them choosing exercise and fitness rather than a trip to the medicine cabinet for everything that ails them in their future years.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics. “New AAP Policy on Lipid Screening and Heart Health in Children.” Press Release. July

2008. http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/july08lipidscreening.htm

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released its first study of the number of 8- year-old children diagnosed with autism in selected areas of 14 states across the country, and the numbers are disturbingly higher than expected.

The report includes statistics gathered in 2000 and 2002 covering nearly 600,000 8- year-old children, or nearly 15% of all 8-year-olds in the country. The report shows overall autism prevalence averaging 6.6 per 1000 children (1 in 150), although the statistics varied widely from area to area. For example, in Alabama it was 3.3 per 1000, in Georgia and Utah around 7.5 per 1000, and in New Jersey, the worst state, it was 9.9 out of 1000 8- year-olds with some form of autism.

Autism strikes roughly three times as many boys as girls, and seems to have no preference for white, black or Hispanic children. New cases diagnosed nationally have been estimated at 67 every day, with an estimated cost to society of about $35 billion a year.

An earlier survey in the 1980s by UCLA and the University of Utah found about one child in every 2500 in Utah with autism, much lower than the new statistics of 7.5 per 1000.

Kim Moody, former director of the Autism Society of Utah, told the 

Salt Lake City Standard-Examiner 

Psychiatrists and psychologists in the field generally claim that the increased prevalence is due to better diagnosis. But even taking that into account, Moody told the newspaper, there is still “a huge increase” in the overall number of kids diagnosed with autism. “If this were some other type of disease, they would call this an epidemic,” Moody said.

The Children’s Health Act of 2000 authorized CDC to create the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Since the network’s inception, CDC has funded programs in 16 sites covering 17 states—Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are considered by the medical profession to be lifelong developmental disabilities. However, some alternative approaches, including nutritional and other therapies, have had success with reversing the symptoms of autism.

SOURCE: Centers For Disease Control, March 2007; http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/AutismCommunityReport.pdf