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Chiropractic Care For Infertility
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Chiropractic Adjustments for Children with Acute Otitis Media
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Chiropractic: A Rapidly Growing Profession
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Antidepressants And Children Not A Good Mix
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Chiropractors Urge Walking for Better Health
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Chiropractic Advice for Moms-to-Be
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Canine Chiropractic
Chiropractic Care For Infertility
The
TV station KOLD-TV from Tucson Arizona, ran a feature on March 29, 2004,
on the subject of infertility and the positive results that chiropractic
offers for women with this problem. The story starts off by saying,
"Infertility. If you haven't struggled with it, chances are you know
someone who wants to become pregnant, but can't. Infertility affects
more than 6 million women and their partners across the country. Now
there's surprising new research that may crack the case and offer
couples new hope."
In the
story, they feature the case of a woman named Kaycee Mogel who had
always dreamed of becoming a mother. She and her husband had attempted
for years to conceive. She had tried fertility drugs, but nothing
worked. Then, she decided to go to the chiropractor. She recalls "within
a couple months, I was pregnant. Oh, we're really excited."
It was
noted that new research shows a possible link between spinal adjustments
and increased fertility in some women. Dr. Madeline Behrendt, Kaycee`s
chiropractor said "it (chiropractic) lets couples who have been
infertile or couples who are planning on having a family, it offers them
hope." Dr. Behrendt led a study, looking at 15 women who struggled with
infertility. Some for more than a decade. Then, for various reasons,
each went to the chiropractor. Of these women 14 became pregnant and are
now mothers. Dr. Behrendt says "the chiropractor identifies spinal
distortions, which are called subluxations, and once they were detected
and corrected, the fertility function improved."
Dr.
Behrendt explained that there is a link between chiropractic care and
fertility because the nerves to your reproductive system run through
your spine. She says when the back is misaligned, the nerves misfire and
cause a hormone imbalance, which can prevent a woman from getting
pregnant.
Chiropractic Adjustments for Children
with Acute Otitis Media
A
recent study published in the March 29, 2004, peer reviewed journal, The
Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, (JVSR), showed that
chiropractic adjustments had a positive effect on children with acute
ear infections. In the study 21
children were examined. All these children showed acute inflammation in
the inner ear with a red and bulging tympanic membrane accompanied by an
increased mean oral temperature of over 100 degrees F.
The
results of the study showed that after the chiropractic adjustments, the
red and bulging tympanic membrane returned to normal in 95% of the
children and a decrease in average oral temperature to 98.6 degrees F.
A similar
story also appeared on the website of the television station, WIS TV
news on March 30, 2004. That story featured a four year old girl
Taylor, who went to see a chiropractor for ear infections. According to
her mother Taylor had been suffering with about eight ear infections a
year. Her mother noted that after two chiropractic adjustments, she
hasn't had one ear infection in nine months, "This has been a big great
help for us."
The news
report ended with the following, "Besides ear infections another study
found chiropractic care helps babies with colic. The study reports
children cried two hours less after having adjustments than those who
received the standard drug treatment."
Chiropractic: A
Rapidly Growing Profession
From
Columbia South Carolina, comes a March 21, 2004, report on the website
of television news station WIS that highlights the increased usage of
chiropractic care. The story also noted that more than 30 million
people visited doctors of chiropractic last year for a variety of
conditions, and more and more medical doctors are referring their
patients to doctors of chiropractic.
There
were several interesting facts noted in the story.
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In
1970, there were an estimated 13,000 doctors of chiropractic
licensed in the United States. This number had increased to 40,000
in 1990 and to approximately 50,000 in 1994. Thus, there is roughly
one doctor of chiropractic for every 5,000 United States residents.
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A
recent study estimated that the number of doctors of chiropractic
will double by the year 2010 (to over 100,000), far exceeding the 16
percent increase projected for medical doctors. Thus, it appears
that doctors of chiropractic will represent a substantially larger
proportion of health care professionals in the coming years.
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The
proportion of the United States population that uses chiropractic
and the number of chiropractic visits per capita have approximately
doubled in the past 15-20 years.
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According to a study published in the November 11, 1998 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately 11
percent of the population visited a doctor of chiropractic in 1997.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, today there are approximately
273 million people in the country. This translates into
approximately 30 million patients who visited a doctor of
chiropractic in 1997.
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Chiropractic is the third largest doctoral-level health care
profession after medicine and dentistry.
Antidepressants
And Children Not A Good Mix
The
April 10th issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) contains a
clinical review that shows that antidepressants should not be prescribed
as a medication for depression in people under 18 years of age.
According to the BMJ, Australian researchers analyzed existing results
from six
randomized controlled trials of newer antidepressants and their use in
children. The review team found what they called "disturbing
shortcomings", in the study results published on selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Effexor, Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.
As a
result of the study, the researchers stated "Antidepressant drugs cannot
confidently be recommended as a treatment option for childhood
depression." The BMJ report itself stated, "Two small studies found no
statistically significant advantage for antidepressants over placebo on
any of the outcome measures reported. Of the remaining four papers, two
did and two did not show statistically significant advantages for
antidepressants over placebo on primary outcome measures."
In
addition to not seeing any benefits, the report also noted that there
may be a conflict of interest as the pharmaceutical companies paid for
the trials and otherwise remunerated the authors of at least three of
the four larger studies.
The BMJ
study concluded: "We are concerned that biased reporting and
overconfident recommendations in treatment guidelines may mislead
doctors, patients, and families. Many will undervalue non-drug
treatments that are probably both safer and more effective.
Chiropractors Urge Walking for Better
Health
A
health minded program, "America on the Move" seems to fit the
Chiropractic model of wellness. From an April 9, 2004, release on
PRNewswire, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) urges people to
take an extra 2000 steps per day. America on the Move is a national
initiative dedicated to helping individuals and communities make
positive changes to improve their health and quality of life.
To assist
in this program chiropractors are urging people to take some simple
additional steps each day. Dr. George McClelland, a chiropractor and
member of ACA`s Wellness Committee, explains that, "Adding a short walk
to your lunchtime schedule, coupled with taking the stairs at work
rather than the elevator, could add up to 2,000 additional steps for
many of us. And cutting just one can of soda from your day and replacing
it with water can eliminate more than 100 calories."
According
to Dr. McClelland, "Many health care providers are now beginning to talk
with their patients about healthy lifestyles -- an approach doctors of
chiropractic have taken for many years. It's simply not good enough to
wait until someone gets sick to start thinking about making them well.
As we've seen, that model of health care is just not working."
The
article notes that the easiest way to keep track of your extra 2,000
steps is to get your hands on a pedometer, a small device that can count
the number of steps you take. It just might be the best 10 dollars
you'll ever spend.
Chiropractic Advice for Moms-to-Be
On April
2, 2004, the TV station WOAI from San Antonio, Texas ran a special
during their news program with Chiropractic advice for pregnant women.
The feature started by noting, "Studies have found that about half of
all expectant mothers will develop low-back pain at some point during
their pregnancies." The article explained this by saying that during
pregnancy, a woman's center of gravity almost immediately begins to
shift forward to the front of her pelvis.
Additionally as the baby continues to grow, the pregnant woman's weight
is projected even farther forward, and the curvature of her lower back
is therefore increased. This places extra stress on the spinal disks.
As a result, the normal curvature of the upper spine increases, as well.
The
article notes a series of tips from the American Chiropractic
Association, these include:
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Try
exercising at least three times a week, gently stretching before and
after exercise.
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Wear
flat, sensible shoes.
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When
picking up children, bend from the knees, not the waist.
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Get
plenty of rest.
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Sleep
on your side with a pillow between your knees to take pressure off
your lower back.
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If
you have to sit at a computer for long hours, make your workstation
ergonomically correct.
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Eat
small meals or snacks every four to five hours-rather than the usual
three large meals-to help keep nausea or extreme hunger at bay.
The
feature also recommends chiropractic care for pregnancy. They conclude,
"Before you become pregnant, your doctor of chiropractic can detect any
imbalances in the pelvis or elsewhere in your body that could contribute
to pregnancy discomfort or possible neuromusculoskeletal problems after
childbirth."
Canine Chiropractic
A cute
little news feature that aired in March of 2004 on the TV station KSFY
from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, followed the story of Heidi, an
eight-year-old Miniature Dachshund who had suffered major lower back
problems.
Heidi's
owner Darla Kempf, recalled, " Initially she had been lifting one back
leg for quite a while and the vet had looked at her and said she had a
disc problem." Despite plenty of pampering and rounds of drugs, Heidi
wasn't getting any better.
Darla
then decided to take Heidi to a chiropractor. Dr. Jones, examined Heidi
and started to initiate care. The results were expectedly positive.
Heidi's owner says she's seen huge progress in five sessions. But Dr.
Jones doesn't limit his animal practice to pups, "I've worked on every
animal from A-Z, but of course if there's anything that's dangerous, I
like to have a muzzle on it!"
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News Articles
Breast-Feeding Information/Articles
How Chiropractic Care can benefit Breast-Feeding
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