Dr. Roundy - The Spinal Column

"For a community to be whole and
healthy, it must be based on people's
love and concern for each other."
- Millard Fuller -

PMS Linked To Spinal Problems That Indicate Vertebral Subluxation

The May, 1999 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reports that women who were diagnosed with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) had a higher incidence of spinal problems that indicate vertebral subluxation than women who did not have PMS.

The randomized clinical study was done at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. The study evaluated 54 women who had been diagnosed with PMS and compared them with 30 women without PMS.

The authors report that the women with PMS had a higher percentage of positive responses in 11 out of 12 measured areas of spinal dysfunction which indicate the presence of vertebral subluxation. The areas that measured the highest in the PMS women were neck, mid-back and low-back tenderness, low-back orthopedic tests, low-back muscle weakness and the neck disability index.

By way of commentary, this report highlights the fact that vertebral subluxations cause the body to malfunction. In this study, malfunction that shows up as symptoms of PMS was studied.

By correcting the vertebral subluxation, chiropractors don't cure disease but allow the body to function at a higher level of health and wellness. The body is then better able to heal itself of all manor of problems.

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Human Altruism: Alive And Well

A report in the September, 28, 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association explains why human altruism, the concern for the welfare of others, is so evident in people's responses to horrible events such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Dr. Beth Seelig, a researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, says that human altruism is such a strong concept that it can overcome a person's instinct to survive. Witness the selflessness that police officers, firefighters and passengers of the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania displayed in the service of others.

People have "learned this from being comforted themselves and knowing how good it feels," she said.

Helping others also gives people a self-esteem boost that Seelig describes as normal, healthy and comforting. This may explain why people take jobs such as firefighters and police officers in which they routinely help others.

She also pointed out that "ordinary" people frustrated by not being able to do anything responded by donating record amounts of blood, money, time and energy to help in the aftermath of the attacks. "I think ordinary people are not so ordinary," Seelig said, "but sometimes it takes a great tragedy to bring (this) out."

By way of commentary, whether people save a life by running into a burning building, donating blood or referring someone to a chiropractor, it warms our hearts and fills our souls with joy to see it in such abundant action. One hopeful message we can take from these attacks is that human beings are not only guided, but comforted by helping others. Keep up the good work, folks. We're all in this together.

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Magazine Drug Ads Too Vague

The October 6, 2001 issue of the British journal The Lancet finds that direct-to-consumer (DTC) magazine ads for prescription drugs may rely more on emotional appeal rather than supplying any substantive evidence that the drugs actually work.

The researchers, led by Dr. Steven Woloshin of Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, studied ads in 70 issues of 10 leading US consumer magazines. They found that 87% of the ads chose "vague, qualitative terms" such as "proven relief" to describe the drug's benefits instead of research evidence.

"This strategy," Woloshin says, "probably leaves many readers with the perception that the drug's benefit is large and that everyone who uses the drug will enjoy the benefit."

The authors go on to say that there is also a danger that the ads "medicalize" minor, run-of-the-mill problems. "A runny nose all of a sudden becomes allergic rhinitis."

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade group, says that DTC ads help educate the public about diseases and treatments they might otherwise be unaware of.

Woloshin disagrees, especially since his team found few hard facts in the ads they studied. Indeed, bold print lines like "Is it just forgetfulness or Alzheimer's disease?" are more likely to increase reader's anxiety rather than their awareness.

While the FDA does require drug manufacturers to list drug's side effects in their advertisements, Woloshin suggests that the FDA also require them to list research data on benefits and side effects in easy-to-read information boxes similar to nutrition labels on food.

In 1999, drug companies spent $1.8 Billion dollars on direct-to-consumer ads for prescription drugs.

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Antibiotic Linked To Intestinal Disorder In Infants

The September, 2001 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics reports that giving infants the antibiotic erythromycin, especially within the first two weeks of life, can increase their chances of developing an intestinal disorder that likely will require surgery.

The disorder, called infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS), occurs when the tube leading from the stomach to the small intestine (the pyloris) becomes enlarged, blocking the stomach's outlet. This results in projectile vomiting, dehydration and weight loss. IHPS is the most common cause of abdominal surgery in infancy.

The researchers also found that there may be a link between IHPS and a mother using the antibiotic during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy as well.

The study also saw some evidence that two related antibiotics, azithromycin and clarithromycin may also be linked to IHPS.

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Hand Washing Could Prevent Deaths Worldwide

Sometimes the answers have been right in front of us all along. In a startling display of modern medical genius, the August, 2001 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control reports that the simple act of hand washing could dramatically reduce deaths from diarrheal illness in children in developing nations.

More than 2 million people die every year from bacterial, viral and parasitic diarrheal infections, most of them in children under 5 years of age.

According to the author, "the good news is that hand washing with soap . .. . reduces the incidence of one of the largest killers of children worldwide."

It's good to see our research dollars hard at work.

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