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March 2014

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• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney, and Monica Brant Recommend Chiropractic
• Olympic Ski Champion Picabo Street Helped by Chiropractic
• New Hampshire Magazine Features Chiropractic
• One Third of Skilled Nursing Patients Harmed in Treatment
• Pulse Rate Changed After Chiropractic Adjustment Study Shows
• Surfers Seek Peak Performance with Chiropractic

On March 1, 2014, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney, Monica Brant, and numerous other famous athletes showed their support for chiropractic by speaking at the International Chiropractors Association's Council on Sports & Fitness Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been a supporter of chiropractic and has spoken at this chiropractic event for the past 22 years. "This is the great thing about chiropractic. It's not only when someone has an injury or a time when there's a problem they come to the chiropractor." Arnold continued by praising how chiropractors don't just care for those who are having problems and are proactive with their patients, "...that's not the only thing you do. You then give them advice on how not to get injured, and how not to get sick in the first place."

Also in attendance was Dr. Franco Columbo, a chiropractor and former body builder who won the Mr. Olympia title twice, each time the year after Arnold. "Nothing gives you more than the chiropractic profession when it comes to health and longevity, not only for yourself, but also for your friends." Dr. Columbo continued, "Chiropractic, more than any other profession helps you do things, instead of just giving you drugs and sending you home." 

Actor Joe Manganiello, who starred in numerous movies including Magic Mike and True Blood, accompanied Arnold to the chiropractic event. He is also a supporter of chiropractic. "I have been no stranger to chiropractic offices over the past few years. A few years back, I pinched a nerve between my five and six vertebrae and my whole back locked up." He went on to explain that he needed to get back on the set of the movie he was shooting, "Through a great chiropractor in Los Angeles he was able to unlock that nerve.  I was able to get back into shape and keep going." He continued by noting how important chiropractic is to him. "It has been a huge part of my life."

Body building legend and eight-time Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney spoke at the chiropractic program and gave his testimony of how chiropractic has helped him.  Also presenting was Monica Brant, a multiple Ms. Fitness and Figure Champion, and a legend in women's physique and fitness competitions, who also recanted how chiropractic helped her compete at the high level she has for years.

Before taking a picture with every chiropractor attending the event, Arnold summed up all the athletes and celebrities' affection for chiropractic by saying, "As you can see we all love you. We love your profession." 

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A story from NewUSA published on February 25, 2014, in the Illinois publication The Regional News carried the headline, "Racing Through the Pain With Olympic Ski Champion Picabo Street." The article notes that Street is actually named after a small town in Idaho near where she is from. She was also the first American ever to win a World Cup season title in a speed event.

In this article, Picabo Street, who is an Olympic gold medalist and World Cup ski champion, nearly had her career as a skier go in a different direction had it not been for chiropractic care.  "Chiropractic has been a life saver for me," says Street. "I can say that [without it] I do not think that I would be able to ski today, recreationally or otherwise."

The article reports that later in the year after winning a gold medal in 1998, Street slammed into a fence and broke her leg in multiple places. After a lengthy rehabilitation and fighting her way back in her recovery, she was unable to train without the help of medication.

It was then that she turned to chiropractic care. After only 2 months of chiropractic, she was pain-free and medication-free. "After I had met with [my chiropractor], I can honestly say it's made a profound impact on my life," she says. "It has allowed me to chase my dreams and make them come true."

The article reports that Street retired from competitive sports after the 2002 Olympic games. She later appeared in the documentary movie "Doctored," where she is seen receiving chiropractic adjustments and talks about the benefits of the care.

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In the March 2014 issue of New Hampshire Magazine is an article with the title, "Chiropractic Care for Back Pain - Chiropractors treat back pain and a whole lot more." The article, by Karen A. Jamrog, notes that although chiropractors are known in the public for seeing patients with musculoskeletal issues such as back problems, chiropractic has much more to offer.

The author interviewed several chiropractors in New Hampshire, one of whom explained chiropractic's wide reach by saying, "We treat the spine, but not just for low-back pain. [Chiropractors] treat the spine, and the spine houses the nervous system. The nervous system makes absolutely everything in your body work. When we adjust somebody, all kinds of symptoms change and often get better."

Article author Jamrog explains how chiropractic can affect the entire body when she says, "Chiropractic is based on the premise that spinal misalignments, or subluxations, create interference within the body’s communication system and hamper the body’s innate ability to heal itself. The idea is that the body cannot perform optimally when subluxations exist, because the misalignments obstruct the flow of information between your brain and the rest of your body."

The article notes that physical, chemical, or psychological stressors, such as toxins and trauma can create subluxations. Subluxations then cause the body to function at less than its innate potential which can result in a variety of health issues. 

In explaining how children with ear infections can be helped when subluxations are corrected with chiropractic adjustments, one of the NH chiropractors in the article explains, "When those are cleared, the body does exactly what it knows how to do, which is to heal itself. With that interference, those subluxations, the body isn’t as efficient in clearing out those problems."

Dr. Michael McLean, president of the International Chiropractors Association explains. "One of the misconceptions about chiropractic that has caused confusion in the past is the concept that chiropractors treat all these illnesses. We do not.  We do not even really treat back pain. What we do is to remove interference to the nervous system, allowing the patient's own body to address their health issues."  McLean continued, "With a properly functioning nervous system, there is almost no limit to what the body is capable of doing. This is how people with such a wide variety of health problems can be helped by chiropractic care."

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On March 4 and 5, 2014, several publications ran articles reporting on a February 2014 report from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General titled, "Adverse Events in Skilled Nursing Facilities: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries."

The Senior Journal published an article by Marshall Allen of ProPublica that starts their coverage by stating, "One-in-three patients in skilled nursing facilities suffered a medication error, infection or some other type of harm related to their treatment, according to a government report released today that underscores the widespread nature of the country’s patient harm problem." 

In the ProPublica article, Dr. Marty Makary, a physician at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore who researches health care quality, is quoted. "(The report) tells us what many of us have suspected ­­– there are vast areas of health care where the field of patient safety has not matured."

Also in the article, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, commented that senior citizens "deserve better."  He stated, "This report paints a troubling picture of the care that's being provided in some of our nation's nursing homes."

Directly from the government report, the extent of the problem is revealed, "What We Found: An estimated 22 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experienced adverse events during their SNF stays. An additional 11 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experienced temporary harm events during their SNF stays. Physician reviewers determined that 59 percent of these adverse events and temporary harm events were clearly or likely preventable. They attributed much of the preventable harm to substandard treatment, inadequate resident monitoring, and failure or delay of necessary care. Over half of the residents who experienced harm returned to a hospital for treatment, with an estimated cost to Medicare of $208 million in August 2011. This equates to $2.8 billion spent on hospital treatment for harm caused in SNFs in FY 2011." 

When projected nationally by the ProPublica article, they show that in August of 2011 alone, when the study sample was performed, it is estimated that 21,777 patients were harmed and 1,538 died due to substandard skilled nursing care.

The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General had previously completed a study on safety in hospitals where problems were found and recommendations were made to improve safety.  This report extended those recommendations to Skilled Nursing Facilities. "Because many of the events that we identified were preventable, our study confirms the need and opportunity for SNFs to significantly reduce the incidence of resident harm events. Therefore, we recommend that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) raise awareness of nursing home safety and seek to reduce resident harm through methods used to promote hospital safety efforts."

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The Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research published a study on March 3, 2014, showing that chiropractic has a positive effect on resting heart pulse rate (PR). This study was designed to look at the PR of subjects immediately after a chiropractic adjustment in the upper neck.

The author of this study, John Hart, DC, MHSc Assistant Director of Research at Sherman College of Chiropractic, Spartanburg, SC, noted that prior studies have shown various results, with most showing a lowering of the PR after chiropractic adjustments. The significance of this study helps add to the body of evidence that chiropractic care can affect all functions of the body.

Dr. Hart explains, "One approach in chiropractic practice is to focus on a condition known as vertebral subluxation (now referred to as "subluxation"), generally defined in concept as a minor misalignment resulting in some type of neurological disturbance. An objective in adjusting subluxation is to improve neurological function (e.g., reduction / removal of nerve interference between the brain and the rest of the body)."  If subluxations interfere with nerve system function, this should cause changes in bodily functions such as PR that can be measured before and after a chiropractic adjustment.

In this study, 23 chiropractic students were examined on three visits; two pre-adjustment visits and one post-adjustment visit.  The process used for inclusion in the study was to sample the PR on the first and second visit.  Then only if the PR increased between these two visits (with no chiropractic adjustment being given) would the subject be included in the study.  Once included, the subject was then given a specific chiropractic adjustment designed to correct subluxation, and a third, post adjustment PR reading was done for comparison.

The results were varied, with a marked difference between how the males and females in the study responded. In the study, all but one of the males showed a decrease in their PR after their adjustment.  However, only about half of the females showed a decrease, with the remainder showing a continued increase in the PR.

Although more pronounced in men than in women in this study, the results did show that correction of subluxations does have an effect on the resting pulse rate, and therefore, on body physiology controlled by the nervous system.

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As we in North America come out of one of the harshest winters in recent times, the Southern Hemisphere is in mid-summer swing. Surfing season is underway in the southern half of the globe. The title above comes from a Feb. 12, 2014, release from the Chiropractic Association of Australia.

The CCA release reminds of the stark difference between the two halves of our planet with the opening, "Summer is here and so are the surfers for the Hurley Australian Open of Surfing at Manly Beach. Held for nine days at one of Australia’s most iconic beaches, the Hurley Open showcases the best in surfing, skateboarding, fashion, music and art."

The release notes that Dr. Andrew Burgess, an Australian chiropractor, has noticed a shift in the requests from the surfers under his care.  "More surfers seem to be performance enhancement under chiropractic care as opposed to treatment of a specific injury or pain."  He continued, "Surfers see huge benefit in having chiropractic work during the competition to increase their performance at these events. This includes improved flexibility, alignment, muscle control, strength, balance and their mental state of health." 

Dr. Gregory Hungerford, a chiropractor in Hawaii who has offered care at Hawaii’s largest surfing competition, the Triple Crown of Surfing, also noted the shift from injury treatment to performance enhancement. "Ten years ago I did more injury treatments and now I do more 'tune ups' or performance enhancing treatments."

An article posted on the surfing website, "Swell Magnet" also notes the dual purposes surfers use chiropractic, "A possible non-drug solution to help you is Chiropractic care. Many professional surfers such as: Taylor Knox, Rob Machado, Kelly Slater, Lance Burkhart, and countless others utilize Chiropractors to help them overcome injuries and improve their performance."

Dr. Burgess pointed out the growing popularity of chiropractic in the surfing community. "It's good to see that Chiropractic has a global foot print on surfing all around the world and even better at the forefront of the WCT, WQS and Pro Junior circuits." He continued by pointing out how surfers are directing each other to chiropractors. "It is great seeing surfers who haven’t been to a chiropractor before, showing them how chiropractic works and seeing their results in the water."

In his chiropractic testimony about how chiropractic has helped his surfing at a high competitive level, Australian Open 2012 Pro Junior and Open Men’s winner Matt Banting said, "It was the best and most aligned my body has ever felt for a competition!" 

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