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March 2008

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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Speaks at Chiropractic Event

For the sixteenth consecutive year, global superstar and now California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was the highlight of the Symposium on Natural Fitness organized by the International Chiropractors Association (ICA), held February 29-March 1, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio.

Each year, the chiropractic event is held in conjunction with the Arnold Schwarzenegger Fitness Weekend and Sports Festival.  This event, known by many as simply, "The Arnold", is the biggest fitness festival in the world with over 15,000 athletes competing in over 30 different sports competitions, many of which are conducted at the Olympic level.

Governor Schwarzenegger is a vigorous advocate of chiropractic care for people of all ages and even holds an honorary chiropractic degree from Cleveland Chiropractic College. The Governor personally spoke to the Chiropractors and other attendees at the symposium about his own experience with chiropractic. He credits the care he has received throughout the years for his success in bodybuilding and for his ability to maintain such a rigorous public service, travel and appearance schedule.

Governor Schwarzenegger told the chiropractic audience, “As Governor, you have a chance every day to help people. This is what we have in common…We are friends of chiropractors because chiropractors are dealing with health, fitness, strength and energy…That’s what chiropractors are all about, helping people, to make them strong and fit and get their lives back together. Here we are now in our 16th year of partnership and I just wanted to tell you how proud we are of all of you, and how happy we are that we have joined together in this great program.”

Governor Schwarzenegger also spoke about his own personal experience with chiropractic, telling the audience: “I have been the beneficiary of chiropractic for many years, and many of you know Dr. Franco Columbu, a great body builder and good friend. I watched him go through chiropractic college, studying hard to be a great chiropractor, and I know from personal experience what great care you take of people. Also, my whole family has had the benefit of chiropractors and we are all grateful for what you are able to do.

Held annually in Columbus, Ohio in conjunction with the Arnold Fitness Festival, the ICA Natural Fitness Symposium focuses on the close relationship between chiropractic, fitness and health. In a March 10, 2008 release on the symposium by the ICA they note, "Chiropractic offers athletes in all sports and of all levels of ability a natural, drug-free way to enhance peak performance, prevent injury and sustain a demanding training schedule."

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Chiropractic Safe for Children According to Study

The results of a large practice based study accepted and presented at the December 2007 "14th Annual Symposium on Complementary Health Care" held at the Peter Chalk Conference Centre, University of Exeter, UK, showed that chiropractic care of children is safe and effective.

The study, titled, "Treatment-related aggravations, complications and improvements attributed to chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy of pediatric patients: a practice-based survey of practitioners", was funded by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.  In this study data was reviewed from 389 pediatric cases (181 females; 200 males, 8 not reported) attending a total of 3048 office visits.  The patents of the children in this study represented mostly a highly educated group with 39% having an undergraduate degree. Parental age ranged from 20-57 years with an average of 36.89 years. Their children ranged in age from less than 24 hours to 18 years with an average age for this study being 6.74 years.

The largest reason children reported in this study were under chiropractic care was "wellness" at 54%.  After wellness, the primary reasons, the children were brought in for care were, in decreasing frequency,  musculoskeletal disorders, ear, nose, throat and respiratory disorders and dealing with a challenged child.

In the review of these cases researchers found that "No treatment-associated complications were reported."  Out of the 389 children and over three thousand office visits only two cases of “soreness and stiffness” of treatment-related aggravation were reported, but both were self-limiting.

For those children who did have some symptoms the research noted that these children showed improvements such as decreased pain, improved mood, and increased immune function. The study also showed improvements in the children who were initially symptom free and included immune system improvements, improved sleeping, and improved emotional states.

The authors of the study, Joel Alcantara, DC, and Jeanne Ohm, DC summed up their conclusions by stating, "This study provides supporting evidence on the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic SMT (spinal manipulative therapy, aka adjustments) in children based on parental reports." Dr. Ohm commented, "This survey shows us what we have known for over 100 years: chiropractic adjustments for children is safe, gentle and gets results!"

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Chiropractic Helps Infant with Serious Lung Condition

A case study published in the February 19, 2008 issue of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR),  documents a case of an infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia being helped with chiropractic. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, (BPD), is a serious lung condition that affects infants who are born premature and have resulting breathing and lung problems.

The usual course of medical care for infants with BPD is continual administration of oxygen for the first 28 days in an intensive care unit. The National Institutes of Health estimate that the average length of intensive in-hospital care for babies with BPD is 120 days. In most cases after the child leaves the hospital, the infant will be placed on antibiotics and will need ongoing breathing treatments, and intermittent oxygen.

In this case a female infant was born premature at 24 weeks gestation, weighed only 593 grams and was diagnosed with BPD.  As a result of the premature birth she had surgery for retinopathy, several rounds of antibiotics, and a feeding tube for three months. After 17 weeks in the hospital she was discharged. Her medical care continues and consisted of nightly requirements of 1/8-liter of oxygen, a ventilation machine and continuation of antibiotics.

Three months after her release from the hospital she was brought to a chiropractor for an analysis. At that time she weighed twelve pounds, and it was observed that she was listless, constipated, colicky, with pasty skin and sinus congestion. Additionally it was noted that her breathing was short and rapid, her limbs were rather flaccid and she did not make eye contact.  She had also recently completed her last round of antibiotics.

Chiropractic care given was specific adjustments initially twice daily—morning and afternoon for two weeks, then three times per week for two weeks; reducing to twice a week for one week, then once a week and eventually once every two weeks.  The case report noted that after the initial adjustment, her mother reported when her baby was placed on her back, she used her abdomen more to hold her legs up; she was not colicky and was able to pass gas easily for the first time.  After the second visit, her sinuses drained and congestion resolved.  After the third adjustment, the baby made a loud noise and was drawing in more air.

As care continued other improvements noted included, the ability to hold her head up with more control, and improved facial color and symmetry. Additionally, her bowel movements improved and she became verbally louder and more alert. After her 14th chiropractic adjustment, the baby girl was breathing fully on her own with no signs of cyanosis There was no medical intervention during her chiropractic care.

After 24 visits this baby's life had been changed as she was then able to roll over on her own, was asymptomatic and has not needed to be readmitted to the hospital nor administered antibiotics.

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Baseball Pitcher Cole Hamels Gets His Team to Provide a Chiropractor

An interesting story appeared in the sports section of the February 15, 2008 issue of the Philadelphia Enquirer. The story titled, "Phillies getting Hamels his chiropractor," is about the Philadelphia Philly pitcher who requested his team get a team chiropractor.  The team has agreed to add one to their staff.

When informed that his team will be getting a chiropractor Hamels responded in the article, "Really? I've always thought it was beneficial. Ever since I've used one, it's done wonders for me. This is nice. It's great that they're going out of their way to get a network going. I know I do have a bunch of guys in a vast majority of the cities that I've been able to go to. If they're able to get those guys, that's great. But it doesn't matter. They're putting in the effort, which is good. I definitely can't complain."

In response to Hamels' request, Phillies athletic trainer Scott Sheridan said, "That's the type of stuff you do every year. I certainly think that the players' needs change as the game goes on. We're going to go through times when you find a group of players that need one thing, and we have to provide it. Certainly, it's our job as the medical team and administration to adapt to our needs. I don't have any problems with chiropractic care. Cole and I have had open discussions about it. I'm trying to provide him something that can help him."

The article notes that the Phillies hope to have a network of chiropractors in place when they are on the road. To accomplish this the Phillies have received help from the Philadelphia NFL football team, the Eagles, as the NFL  already has a network of chiropractors in place for their players.

 The article notes that Hamels believes that not having chiropractic care played a role in his being on the DL (disabled list) last year. "It's a vast majority of things that I could have done to prevent it, but I know it (chiropractic) would have helped," he said.  The article notes that Hamels thinks this year with chiropractic 20 wins is a very attainable goal.

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Chiropractic Helps 14 Year Old Girl with Eating Disorder

A documented case study published in the February 25, 2008 issue of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR), showed chiropractic care helping a young girl with a rare eating disorder known as "Rumination".  The journal study describes Rumination as an eating disorder seen in infants less than one year of age. After a period of normal eating habits, the child begins excessive regurgitation and re-chewing of food, which is then ejected from the mouth or re-swallowed. Rumination can include abdominal pain, weight loss, malnutrition, halitosis, dental erosions, electrolyte imbalances, and gastric disorders which in extreme cases can result in death.

In this case a 14 year old girl was brought to the chiropractor by her mother because of chronic knee pain. The girl was involved with gymnastics and had stressed her knee over time.  She had previously had orthoscopic knee
surgery to remove scar tissue. 

Her history revealed that she had been suffering from chronic “vomiting”, which was later determined to be regurgitation that began at age 5.  When the frequency of the regurgitation was up to over 100 times per day she was brought to a pediatric gastroenterologist who prescribed Reglan.  After discovering the long term neurological side effects that Reglan could cause, her parents decided to discontinue the drug.  Eventually the child was brought to the Mayo Clinic, where she was given the diagnosis of rumination.  She was then given stomach relaxation techniques that had limited results.  The condition continued to the point where her tooth enamel started to erode.

It was not until 7 years after her visit to the Mayo Clinic that her mother brought her to the chiropractor.  A chiropractic examination consisting of specialized instrumentation, x-rays, and other chiropractic analytical procedures was performed.  The determination of multiple vertebral subluxations, interfering with nerve system function was made, and a course of chiropractic care was begun.

After her 6th visit, the young girls rate of regurgitation had decreased from 30 times per day down to just 3 times per day.  After only 11 chiropractic adjustments the patient was free of all symptoms of rumination and these symptoms did not return through the end of her chiropractic care plan.

Study author, Cristina Esposito, B.S., D.C., summed up the importance of this case in her conclusion by stating, "Chiropractic care of a 14-year-old girl suffering with the symptoms of rumination was presented. The total elimination of symptoms after only 11 chiropractic adjustments, after the patient spent 10 years and a substantial amount of money investigating various conventional medical treatment options deserves a considerable amount of attention.".

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Chiropractic Shown Best In Reducing Horse Pain

In the March 2008 issue of the magazine "The Horse" is an article titled "Horse Management".  This lengthy article covers a variety of subjects including one section on "Reducing Back Sensitivity".  This article reviews the results of a study that measured and compared pain reduction in horses using several methods. 

Researchers used a method known as "pressure algometry" to measure the horses pain responses to pressure.  This process utilizes a spring-loaded device with a rubber tipped plunger that measures on a gauge the pressure applied to the horses back.  The device measures "mechanical nociceptive threshold" (MNT) which is the pressure at which a horse reacts to pain from the pressure.

A higher MNT means that more pressure is needed to cause pain to the horse and therefore the horse is less sensitive and probably less painful.

The researchers used 38 healthy horses with no history of back pain.  They separated these horses into five groups, each of who got a different type of care or treatment. In this study seven got a horse pain medication called "Bute". Eight received massage, seven got no treatment but continued to be ridden, eight also received no treatment but were placed in a pasture to rest, and eight of the horses received one chiropractic adjustment.

MNT evaluations were performed on various areas of the horses on Days 1, 3, and 7, and the results from each group were compared.  The results showed that the horses who were given the pain medication Bute had a negative response showing an increased sensitivity to pain on days 1 and 3. By day 7 these horses did show improvement by registering an 8% MNT reading on average. The horses that got massage showed improvements of 8%, 9%, and 12% on days 1, 3, and 7 respectively.  The two groups of horses that got no treatment showed almost the same responses with only a 1% improvement on all days.

The group of horses that got chiropractic care showed a slight increase of 1% sensitivity to pain on the first day.  However, on day 3 the horses that got chiropractic showed an 11% improvement followed by a 27% improvement by day seven. 

Study author Kevin Haussler, DVM, DC, PhD, assistant professor within the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University, summed up the results by saying, "Massage was beneficial throughout the study; Bute had negative effects for 3 days, then it had a positive effect; and chiropractic had a negative effect (1%) on the first day but then it had the most positive effects."

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