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US Veterans Administration Begins to Offer Chiropractic
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Cough Syrup Doesn't Work on Children
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Chiropractic Shown to Help Body Physiology
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Exercise More Important Than Calcium for Strong Bones
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Tour de France Cyclist Bradley McGee Kept in Race With Chiropractic
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Chiropractic Helps Show Horses
US
Veterans Administration Begins to Offer Chiropractic
The
June 25th, 2004, PRNewswire reports that the US Secretary of Veterans
Affairs (VA), Anthony J. Principi, announced that as of the fall of 2004
US Veterans will be able to receive chiropractic care at 26 selected
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. According to the
release, the VA will hire or contract with doctors of chiropractic to
provide the care. In consultation with VA primary care providers,
doctors of chiropractic will offer patient evaluations and chiropractic
care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions.
Secretary Principi
stated, "Today, VA makes another significant improvement to the
world-class health care we provide for eligible veterans. Veterans who
will benefit from chiropractic services will now have the opportunity to
receive chiropractic care to restore them to good health."
The release notes that
the locations where chiropractic care will be provided include; Togus,
Maine; West Haven and Newington, Conn.; Buffalo and the Bronx, N.Y.;
Butler, Pa.; Martinsburg, W.Va.; Columbia, S.C.; Augusta, Ga.; Tampa and
Miami, Fla.; Mountain Home, Tenn.; Columbus, Ohio; Danville, Ill.; Iron
Mountain, Mich.; Kansas City, Kan.; Jackson, Miss.; San Antonio, Temple,
and Dallas, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; Fort Harrison, Mont.; Seattle,
Wash.; Sacramento and Los Angeles, Calif.; and Sioux Falls, S.D.
For those eligible
veterans who live in areas distant from these locations, the VA will
allow them to receive chiropractic care through VA`s outpatient
fee-basis program after a referral by their primary care provider and
prior authorization by the VA department.
This change came about
as a result of the "Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs
Enhancement Act of 2001" passed by the government several years ago.
Implementation is now coming after several years of study on how best to
implement the law, and make chiropractic available to veterans in the VA
program.
Cough
Syrup Doesn't Work on Children
A
study published in the July issue of the American Academy of Pediatrics
official journal, "Pediatrics", suggests that over-the-counter cough
suppressants may be no more useful for calming a cough in children than
simple sugar syrup. The research, performed at Pennsylvania State
College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, involved questioning the
parents of 100 children with upper respiratory infections. These parents were
questioned to assess the frequency, severity, and bothersome nature of
the nocturnal cough.
The parents of
children with upper respiratory infections participating in this study
were interviewed on 2 consecutive days. They were questioned initially
on the day of presentation when no medication had been given the
previous evening to access how their child was doing. Then, on the next
day, they were questioned again after either medication or a placebo,
(sugar syrup) was given to the child before bedtime. Sleep quality for
both the child and the parent were then assessed for both nights to see
if there was any difference between the children who got medicine and
the ones who only got the placebo . During this study, neither the
physician nor the parents knew who was taking the cough medication or
the placebo.
Two active ingredients
in most cough medicines are dextromethorphan, to clear phlegm, and
diphenhydramine, an antihistamine to reduce swelling in the respiratory
tract. The study suggested, that in children, neither drug made much
difference. Dr. Ian Paul, a professor of pediatrics at Penn State
Children's Hospital and the study's lead author said, "Cough symptoms
went away within a few days, regardless of whether the child was taking
medicine or a placebo." He continued, "Nighttime coughing affects the
child and the parents. Nobody gets any sleep. Even so, parents really
need to think twice before giving these medications that have doubtful
positive effects on their children's symptoms and may have a potential
for side effects."
Dr. Paul concluded
that doctors should consider these findings, as well as potential
side-effects, and costs of the drugs before recommending cough syrups.
Chiropractic Shown to Help Body Physiology
From
the April 26, 2004, release of the peer-reviewed scientific journal, the
"Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research" (JVSR), comes a very large
literature review study showing the multiple benefits of chiropractic
care on people who are not suffering from pain or other obvious
problems.
This literature review
looked at more than twenty studies involving subjects who were
specifically described as, “asymptomatic,” “healthy,” “normal,” or “free
from physical injury.” In addition, an equal number of studies were
found also documenting objectively measured health benefits in subjects
who had no symptomatic presentation, (asymptomatic).
The results of this
large review showed measurable objective improvements in things such as
range of motion, blood pressure, heart rate, plasma catecholamine
levels, immune responses, enhanced respiratory burst, pupil reactions,
slower heart rate, improved pulmonary function, as well as many other
objectively measured indications of improved body physiology.
The conclusion of the
study stated, "Data reviewed in this article lend strong support to the
popular contention that chiropractic adjustments, for the purpose of
correcting subluxations, confer health benefits to people regardless of
the presence or absence of symptoms." The JVSR article authors further
conclude, "A significant amount of preliminary evidence supports that
people without symptoms can benefit from chiropractic care. It is
plausible that chiropractic care may be of benefit to every function of
the body and have the potential for long-term, overall health benefit to
those receiving chiropractic care."
Exercise More Important Than Calcium for Strong Bones
Reports
of a new study appeared in the June 10, 2004, issue of the Atlanta
Journal Constitution. This new study indicates that exercise is more
important than calcium in developing strong bones in girls and young
women. Researchers at Penn
State University and Johns Hopkins University found that when girls took
in far less calcium than the recommended daily allowance, bone strength
was not significantly affected, but that bone strength was related to
their exercise habits.
This Penn State Young
Women's Health Study began in 1990, with 112 12-year-old girls from
central Pennsylvania. The ongoing study has tracked the cardiovascular,
reproductive and bone health of the subjects, now in their mid-20s.
Moira Petit, one of the Penn State researchers noted, "When we looked at
their lean mass, what we saw was that a 1 kilogram increase in lean mass
was associated with a 2 1/2 percent increase in their bone strength."
Dr. Thomas P.
Olenginski, who works with osteoporosis patients at Geisinger Medical
Center in Danville, Pa., praised the study for its detailed look at bone
strength, but warned that no one should ignore calcium entirely. He
stated, "There is a concern that kids might think, `I can still drink
nothing but sodas as long as I'm working out,`" Olenginski said. "It's
the whole package that's still important."
Researcher Tom Lloyd
of Penn State's College of Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical
Center concluded that even at the lower levels, calcium intake seemed to
have little effect on bone strength.
Tour de
France Cyclist Bradley McGee Kept in Race With Chiropractic
Several
international stories have reported about a top Tour de France cyclist
from Australia, Bradley McGee, and how
chiropractic care kept him from dropping out of the Tour de France. One
story appears on the International Fox sport network on July 6, 2004,
and another on the Geo network on July 8, 2004.
The Fox story starts
off by stating, "Australia's Bradley McGee has survived to fight another
day at the Tour de France." The Geo story started by reporting, "McGee
survived to fight another day at the Tour de France on Monday, after the
work of a chiropractor reduced the pain in his hip which almost forced
him out of the race."
McGee himself noted,
"Thanks to the work of the chiropractor I was a lot straighter on the
bike, that's the important thing but unfortunately I still haven't got a
lot of power and so I couldn't help Baden Cooke in the sprint and I was
just another number in the main field." After seeing his chiropractor,
McGee felt more optimistic about his chances of being able to make it
through the rest of the three-week race. He stated, "I'm a lot happier
now and should be okay to carry on."
Chiropractic Helps Show Horses
An
increasing number of stories are appearing in the news about how
chiropractic helps high-end horses. The latest is an Associated Press
release on June 11, 2004, that follows a horse named "O.V. Rowdy". The
story starts with Rowdy and another horse "Ozzie" waiting to see the
chiropractor to help with soreness. Rowdy's owner, Vicki Crotts,
described her horse as, "sore from the tip of his ears to the tip of his
tail." She suggested that this situation was brought on when he banged
a hip on the door of his stall.
Rowdy is a show horse
and having problems creates problems for him and his owner. His current
injuries kept him out of the Pinto World Show in Tulsa, Okalahoma the
previous weekend. Rowdy was not the only horse waiting to see the
traveling chiropractor, the story notes that three other show horses
were also waiting to be adjusted.
The Hutchinson's
Ironhorse Equestrian Center co-owner Lilli Weaver, notes that many
people do not understand, "While some people discount the idea of equine
chiropractic, it works." She described what she felt the horses might be
thinking by saying, "They squeal, buck and bite, but when he's done they
lick their lips. Their eyes turn big and soft, and they whisper `Oh,
thanks.` "Rowdy's owner Vicki Crotts reports. "They recover and feel so
much better, they think `Oh, I can do this now. But I'm keeping him
penned so he won't go out and hurt himself." Crotts concludes,
"Show-horse athletes, like humans, perform under high stress and demand
top range of motion from their bodies. They have to have coaches - and
chiropractors."
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