In this
issue:
America
Remembers Ronald Reagan
World
news recently has focused on the passing of the 40th President of the
United States, Ronald Reagan. Since his passing on June 5, 2004, all
media have been covering the ceremonies and memorials held for Reagan's
passing. Much of this media coverage has been spent examining his past
and Midwestern roots.
What
most people do not know is that Ronald Reagan had an indelible link to
the chiropractic profession.
His first job in show business was as a radio
announcer in the early thirties on two radio stations owned by the
developer of chiropractic Dr. BJ Palmer.
Dr. BJ
Palmer was the son of Dr. DD Palmer who discovered chiropractic. He is
widely credited with the development of chiropractic. However, in
addition to his life-long career in chiropractic, Dr. Palmer was also
fascinated with radio and was a pioneer in this area.
Palmer
owned two stations, WOC and a sister station WHO in the Davenport - Quad
Cities area of Iowa and Illinois which is the birthplace of
chiropractic. These two stations were where Reagan got his first jobs as
a sports broadcaster, covering college football games.
To read
additional information on Ronald Reagan's start in broadcasting, please
see the links below.
Report Details
Medical Error Horrors
The
above is the headline from the June 10, 2004 Canadian publication,
"Globe and Mail". The article reports on a study that shows that the
treatment of patients who have been victims of medical errors cost the
Canadian health care system $750 million each year and adds an
additional 1.1 million days to hospital stays.
The
report was released on June 9th by the Canadian Institute for Health
Information. Included in what the article termed the "graphic details"
are the following statistics:
-
One
in 9 adults contracts an infection while in hospital, ranging from
pneumonia to SARS
-
One
in 9 patients receives the wrong medication, or the wrong dose
-
One
in 16 reported an adverse event for themselves or a loved one in the
past year
-
One
in 20 women suffers severe tearing during childbirth
-
One
in every 81 babies born vaginally suffers trauma, emerging with
injuries such as a broken shoulder
-
One
in 152 deaths are associated with preventable adverse events for
medical/surgical patients in acute care hospitals.
-
One
in every 299 patients receiving a blood transfusion will have a
reaction
-
One
in every 1,124 adults over the age of 65 suffers a broken hip during
a hospital stay
-
One
in every 6,667 surgery patients will have a foreign object left in
his or her body after the procedure
-
One
in 72,046 got infected with hepatitis B from a blood transfusion
-
One 1
in 10 million got infected with HIV from a blood transfusion
The
article notes that this study follows on the heels of another study
revealing that one in every 13 medical/surgical, acute-care hospital
patients suffers from an "adverse event," and that these failings,
avoidable and otherwise, kill up to 24,000 Canadians annually.
Pull Weeds, Not
Your Muscles
The
above is the advice from the Colorado Chiropractic Association (CCA) and
appeared as a PRNewswire release on May 27, 2004. The article starts
out by noting that bending, reaching, and digging in the garden can
provide a great workout, but if you're not careful you can get hurt.
The
article suggests that a warm-up and cool-down period is just as
important for gardening activities as it is for sports. The CCA also
recommends stretching before engaging in gardening. They also recommend
that if you feel aches and pains from gardening, and the pain persists,
consider visiting a doctor of chiropractic.
The
article gives several tips for stretching that should be done before
gardening.
Stand up and prop
your heel on a back door step or stool with your knee straight. Bend
forward until you feel a slight pull in the muscle at the back of
the thigh, called the hamstring. Hold the position for 20 seconds,
then relax. Do the stretch once more, then repeat with the other
leg.
Stand up and put your
right hand against a wall or other stable
surface. Bend your left knee and grab your ankle with you left hand.
Pull your heel toward your buttocks to stretch the quadriceps
muscles at the front of your thigh. Hold
that position for 20 seconds, relax and do
it again. Repeat with the other leg.
Weave your fingers
together above your head with your palms up. Lean
to one side for 10 seconds to stretch the upper body, then
reverse. Repeat two or three times.
"Hug your best
friend:" Wrap your arms around yourself and rotate to
one side, as far as you can go. Hold it for 10 seconds, then
reverse.
Scientists Link Mercury-based
Preservative in Childhood Vaccines to Autism
The
June 10, 2004 Belfast Telegraph reported that scientists link
preservatives in child vaccines to autism. The study showed that a
mercury-based preservative (thimerosal) used in some childhood vaccines
was linked to autism-like damage in the brains of mice. The latest
study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, found that mice
susceptible to autoimmune disease which were exposed to low doses of
ethylmercury showed behavioral and neurological changes in the brain.
The
researchers for this study performed at the Mailman School of Public
Health at Columbia University, said that exposure to thimerosal in their
animal model affected the behavior of the genetically susceptible mice,
caused abnormalities in the brain and increased its size. The team, led
by Dr. Mady Hornig, noted that over the past 20 years there had been a
"striking increase", at least 10-fold since 1985 - in the number of
children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.
This
recent study come on the heels of another report in which the Institute
of Medicine (IOM) stated that there was no link between thimerosal and
autism. Barbara Loe Fisher president of the National Vaccine
Information Center was quick to criticize the IOM report by saying,
"This report is a case of political immunology masquerading as real
science. With it, the Institute of Medicine takes a step toward
weakening its reputation as an independent body capable of making an
objective scientific analysis of complex medical risk issues which are
influenced by government policy and industry profits.``
Too Many Kids Take Too Many Headache Pills
The June
10, 2004 Reuters Health reports that a new study released June 10, shows
that nearly one quarter of children and teens with chronic headaches are
overusing over-the-counter pain relievers. The study defined overuse of
pain relievers as taking more than three doses per week for over six
weeks.
The
study noted that approximately one in seven kids said they took the
medicines without telling their parents. Almost one in five participants
said they had headaches every day, or nearly so. Most of the daily
headache sufferers were girls and students who got high grades in
school. Study author Dr. A. David Rothner, of the Cleveland Clinic in
Ohio told Reuters Health, "Most likely children and teens are taking
this medicine because they think it will relieve their headaches, and
not to get any type of "high."
The study
noted that there are many reasons why kids shouldn't overuse these
medicines. Some pain relievers contain aspirin, which puts children
under the age of 19 at risk of Reye's syndrome, a potentially fatal
disorder. Additionally, other risks of overuse of over-the-counter pain
medicines include kidney failure, liver problems, and intestinal and
stomach bleeding.
The study
author, Dr. Rothner concluded with a warning for parents, "If you see
they're using the medicine more than twice a week, then bingo! You've
got a problem on your hands, and you've got to do something about it."
Chiropractic is the largest, drugless healing art - if your child finds
the "need" to take medications, chances are there's an underlying reason
for it - schedule them for a chiropractic consultation to see if their
problems are spinal in origin.
More Americans Seek Out Non-Medical Care
A series
of stories appearing on May 28, 2004 through PRNewswire and other news
outlets reported on a study released the day before by the National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The study
reveals that 36 percent of Americans are incorporating non medical types
of care, what the study refers to as, "complementary and alternative
medicines (CAM)", into their health care regimen.
The
government's survey, the most comprehensive look yet at the use of
alternative medicine in the US, found more than a third of American
adults used some form of non-medical care in 2002. The study pointed
out that those who went to chiropractors seem to have even less
confidence in traditional medical care than others who had sought other
forms of non-medical care.
Richard
Nahin of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,
part of the National Institutes of Health, explained that more people
are using natural products such as herbs or enzymes to treat chronic or
recurring pain. He stated, "Many conditions are not easily treated with
conventional medicine. It may be the public is turning to complementary
and alternative medicine because its not getting relief from
conventional medicine.
The
survey also showed that 19.9 percent of American adults reported having
chiropractic care at some point in their lives, this represented
approximately 40 million Americans in total. On a yearly basis the
study showed that about 8 percent, representing about 15 million people,
sought help from chiropractors during the previous 12 months.
News Articles
HMO and
Drug Company influence in congress regarding the Medicare prescription
drug plan
Children
27-more times likely to get autism with mercury containing vaccines
Orphans used for HIV drug trials
