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Check out our new website
I’ve put together a new website that I’d like your opinion about. Take a look at reefchirocare.com. I hope you will share it with friends and family who may need chiropractic care. If you’re due for an adjustment it’s time to call and get in. Spring is a good time to get a tune-up so you can enjoy summer. Anne is standing by waiting for your call!
World Health Organization: Defining Health
At an FDA tobacco meeting a while back, Howard Koh, MD, assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) started his speech with the World Health Organization’s definition of “health.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
I like this concept of health and have often quoted it when I gave health talks. In the current climate of healthcare reform, I hope that the discussion focuses on what it takes to be healthy. Preventive care, healthy lifestyles and addressing metal and spiritual well being, are at the foundation of what it means to live and stay healthy.
Breastfeed and Be Part of Saving America $13 Billion
That’s the mundane detail; the important statistic is that 900 babies lives could be saved if 90% of new moms breastfed for the first six months of their child’s life. As far as the economics are concerned, $13 billion could be saved if moms nursed for the first six months!
The Journal of Pediatrics carried an April 5 article, written by Dr. Melissa Bartick of Harvard, detailing the study results. Breast feeding was suggested to help with stomach viruses, asthma, ear infections, juvenile diabetes, SIDS, and leukemia.
Not to blame mom…but only 12% of new moms follow the federal recommendations that babies only receive breast milk for the first six months while 43% of moms do at least some breast feeding for six months.
Bottom Line Health and Stroke Risk
The March issue of Bottom Line Health focused on matters related to stroke and related risk factors. The last item they discussed in the article was “chiropractic adjustment”. In a remarkably refreshing bit of journalistic integrity, the author, Stephen Meese, M.D., cited the Cassidy study (Spine 2/15/08) and noted, “A study of 818 people found that those under age 45 who had suffered vertebral basalar artery (VBA) strokes and were hospitalized for that type of stroke were three times more likely to have seen a chiropractor or a primary care physician before hospitalization than people without VBA strokes.” (Emphasis added, although he did note it in italics). He went on to add, “In people over age 45, VBA stroke was associated with visits to primary care practitioners.”
The point being made was that the study did not find any associated risk with seeing a chiropractor and that chiropractic manipulation is not a likely cause of strokes.
Meese’s specialty is neurology and in particular vascular neurology. He should be complimented for accurately and evenly expressing the Cassidy et al. findings.
New Life for the Appendix
A researcher from Duke University, William Parker, theorizes that the appendix is a storehouse for “good” bacteria that are available to replenish the intestine following infection or an upset of the normal balance of critters in the colon. Essentially, he recognizes the appendix as an extension of the immune system…in a related consideration, surgeons at Texas Southwestern Medical Center have analyzed appendicitis and the flu and found that there is an association. These folks suggest a viral infection somehow impacts the appendix, upsets its normal function and allows for invasion by harmful microbes. They will soon begin a trial to treat with antibiotics rather than surgery, but did you know that in many states of these here United States, if a surgeon opens a belly, he or she must take the appendix out as part of the price for being in the neighborhood. No joke, dats a fact, Jack!
National Drinking Water Week – May 2–8, 2010
From the CDC. The United States has one of the safest public drinking water supplies in the world. Tap water not only provides water for daily activities such as drinking, bathing, and cooking, but it also benefits the entire community by providing water to serve businesses, schools, and hospitals, and to promote dental health. May 2–8, 2010, is National Drinking Water Week, an annual observance whose theme “Only Tap Water Delivers” underscores the many services provided by public drinking water systems in the United States.
Disinfection and treatment practices, as well as the environmental regulation of water pollutants, have substantially improved domestic water quality over the past century and led to a dramatic decrease in the incidence of waterborne diseases such as cholera. Despite these improvements, sources of drinking water still can become contaminated and lead to adverse health effects.
New challenges to the U.S. water supply include aging drinking water infrastructure, climate change impacts on water availability and quality, chemical contamination of water sources, emerging pathogens (e.g., Cryptosporidium), and the development of new ways to obtain and use water. National Drinking Water Week is a time to highlight the importance of safe drinking water and recognize that protecting and reinvesting in water infrastructure is crucial to the health of persons living in the United States.
Children’s Cold, Pain, and Allergy Medicines Recalled
In response to concerns about a possible breach of manufacturing quality standards, McNeil Consumer Products is voluntarily recalling a number of liquid infant’s and children’s over-the-counter products.
The FDA characterized the recall as precautionary and noted that it has receivedno reports of adverse events linked to the products, moreover the agency said that based on the information “received at this time, the potential for serious medical problems is remote.”
Included in the recall are Tylenol Infants’ Drops, Children’s Tylenol Suspensions, Children’s Tylenol Plus Suspensions, Motrin Infants’ Drops, Children’s Motrin Suspensions, Children’s Motrin Cold Suspensions, Children’s Zyrtec liquids in bottles, and Children’s Benadryl Allergy liquids in bottles.
The FDA cautioned that some of the “products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than specified; others contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles.”
McNeil recalled several varieties of Children’s Tylenol last September because of possible contamination with a Gram-negative bacteria, Burkholderia cepacia, and earlier this year the manufacturer recalled a wide variety of products, including Children’s Tylenol, because of consumer complaints of “an unusual, moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor.”
Interesting
Several people have sent me this link to amazing photos from Iceland.
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