Movie Time
I would like to share with you my views on a recent movie, North Country.
Its great.
see my review here at my blog http://myspace.com/jierano
under Latest Blog Entry, press North Country
Great relevance for the chiropractic profession, and all those in groups that need to rise above injustice and prejudice.
The story concerns the first class-action sexual harassment case in USA history.
Is justice for real?

happy 2008
joe
-=-=-=-

BMJ 2008;336 (5 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39444.472708.47

Editor's Choice

Doctors and the drug industry

Fiona Godlee, editor.

fgodlee@bmj.com

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The Royal College of Physicians is looking at relations between doctors and the drug industry and wants to hear from you (doi:10.1136/bmj.39428.617431.DB). In case you need them, here are some pointers from this week’s BMJ.

Firstly, should we fear for the integrity of medical research because clinical trials are overwhelmingly funded by industry? Yes, says Paulo Bruzzi (doi 10.1136/bmj.39416.559942.BE). Industry designs trials mainly to get new drugs registered as soon as possible, preferably with an unrestricted indication. The best trials for this—in large unselected populations—oftenleave key questions unanswered and, because of ethical constraints on subsequent trials, unanswerable.

Bruzzi is only slightly reassured by evidence from Louise Berendt and colleagues (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39401.470648.BE) that independent trials have survived the imposition of rules for good clinical practice. He says the medical research community must rethink the terms of cooperation with industry: "Our health systems risk bankruptcy for . . . [Full text of this article]http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/336/7634/0
-=-=-=

UK will lead the way...check out my highlighted comment.
[cf. with arthritis guidelines I just sent from JH Uni that recommends Acupuncture for arthritis.]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3134337.ece

New laws to govern alternative medicine

Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor

Aromatherapy, homoeopathy and other popular complementary therapies are to be regulated for the first time under a government-backed scheme to be established this year.

The new Natural Healthcare Council – which is being backed by the Prince of Wales – will be able to strike off errant or incompetent practitioners. It will also set minimum standards for practitioners to ensure that therapists are properly qualified.

Patients will be able to complain to the council about practitioners and the new body will be modelled on the General Medical Council and other similar statutory bodies.

Millions of Britons currently spend £130 million a year on complementary treatments and it is estimated that this will reach £200 million over the next four years. Among the practices to be covered by the scheme would be aromatherapy, reflexology, massage, nutrition, shiatzu, reiki, naturopathy, yoga, homoeopathy, cranial osteopathy and the Alexander and Bowen techniques.

Research also shows that more than two thirds (68 per cent) of people in the UK believe that complementary medicine is as valid as conventional treatment.


=-=-=-
In the future, all safe medical care will be given by a naked physician?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/doctors-tags-carry-superbugs/2008/01/06/1199554473327.html

Doctors' tags carry superbugs

January 6, 2008 - 4:14PM

Deadly superbug bacteria is being carried on doctors' name tags and straps slung around their necks, potentially infecting sick and vulnerable patients, a study has found.

Australian research has revealed for the first time that ID badges and their holders, known as lanyards, can harbour dangerous antibiotic-resistant bugs that increasingly wreak havoc in hospitals.

The best known superbug, called MRSA or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, infects 2,000 Australian hospital patients each year, killing 35 per cent of them.

Studies have found the bug carries on doctors' coats, stethoscopes and pens, and now Melbourne researchers have recorded high rates on name tags and lanyards.

An analysis of 71 workers at Monash Medical Centre showed 27 lanyards and 18 badges carried pathogenic bacteria, according to research published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

"Lanyards and identity badges are worn by both male and female clinical staff for long periods of time without cleaning," said co-author Dr Rhonda Stuart, an infectious diseases physician at the centre.

"Their position at waist level and their pendulous nature increase the risk that they will become contaminated."

The researchers call for tags to be regularly disinfected and disposable lanyards to be used to minimise risk.

Canberra-based infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon said while it was helpful to know where MRSA was found, the main focus should be on stopping MRSA being spread via the hands.

It was already "blindingly obvious" that the dangerous bug spreads easily in hospitals, but not enough was being done to rein in infection rates, said Prof Collignon, director of infectious diseases and microbiology at Canberra Hospital.

"We already know more than enough to control MRSA," he said.

"If we use regular hand hygiene procedures with disinfectant solutions we can reduce serious infections."

He also advocated better screening policies to identify which patients may be carrying MRSA; greater use of gowns and gloves for health care workers; more single rooms in wards; and reduced overcrowding in emergency departments.

"We know what the problem is," Prof Collignon said.

"What we appear to lack is an understanding of human behaviour and the political and medical will to really do something about it."

Superbugs like MRSA are strains of normally harmless bacteria which have become resistant to antibiotics, making them extremely difficult to treat. Elderly patients who catch them are particularly vulnerable to serious illness or death.

The National Prescribing Service has blamed the scourge on the overuse of antibiotics, with statistics showing one-in-four Australians continue to believe antibiotics are effective against common colds, when they only fight bacterial infections.

AAP

-=-=-=
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 1, 64-69, January 2008
© 2008 American Society for Nutrition
ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

Plasma vitamin C concentrations predict risk of incident stroke over 10 y in 20 649 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer–Norfolk prospective population study



Background: The relation between plasma vitamin C and risk of stroke remains unclear. Although clinical trials showed no significant benefit of vitamin C supplementation in reducing stroke risk, they were not able to examine the relation between plasma vitamin C concentrations and stroke risk in a general population.

Objective: The objective was to examine the relation between baseline plasma vitamin C concentrations and risk of incident stroke in a British population.

Design: A population-based prospective study was conducted in 20 649 men and women aged 40–79 y without prevalent stroke at baseline and participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer–Norfolk prospective population study. The participants completed a health questionnaire and attended a clinic during 1993–1997 and were followed up for incident strokes through March 2005.

Results: Over 196 713 total person-years (average follow-up: 9.5 y), 448 incident strokes occurred. In a Cox proportional hazards model, persons in the top quartiles of baseline plasma vitamin C concentrations had a 42% lower risk (relative risk: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.78) than did those in the bottom quartile,independently of age, sex, smoking, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, physical activity, prevalent diabetes and myocardial infarction, social class, alcohol consumption, and any supplement use. Similar results were obtained after exclusion of persons with illnesses, users of ascorbic acid–containingsupplements, and persons with a history of early strokes during the initial 2 y of follow-up.

Conclusions: Plasma vitamin C concentrations may serve as a biological marker of lifestyle or other factors associated with reduced stroke risk and may be useful in identifying those at high risk of stroke.

-=-=-=-

Now Vit C dangerous!!!!!!?


http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/1/142?etoc

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 1, 142-149, January 2008
© 2008 American Society for Nutrition
ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

Oral administration of vitamin C decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and hampers training-induced adaptations in endurance performance

Mari-Carmen Gomez-Cabrera, Elena Domenech, Marco Romagnoli, Alessandro Arduini, Consuelo Borras,Federico V Pallardo, Juan Sastre and Jose Viña
1 From the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain (M-CG-C, ED, AA, FVP, JS, and JV); the Catholic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain (CB); and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain (MR)


Background: Exercise practitioners often take vitamin C supplements because intense muscular contractile activity can result in oxidative stress, as indicated by altered muscle and blood glutathione concentrations and increases in protein, DNA, and lipid peroxidation. There is, however, considerable debate regarding the beneficial health effects of vitamin C supplementation.

Objective: This study was designed to study the effect of vitamin C on training efficiency in rats and in humans.

Design: The human study was double-blind and randomized. Fourteen men (27–36 y old) were trained for 8 wk. Five of the men were supplemented daily with an oral dose of 1 g vitamin C. In the animal study, 24 male Wistar rats were exercised under 2 different protocols for 3 and 6 wk. Twelve of the rats weretreated with a daily dose of vitamin C (0.24 mg/cm2 body surface area).

Results: The administration of vitamin C significantly (P = 0.014) hampered endurance capacity. The adverse effects of vitamin C may result from its capacity to reduce the exercise-induced expression of key transcription factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. These factors are peroxisome proliferator–activatedreceptor co-activator 1, nuclear respiratory factor 1, and mitochondrial transcription factor A. Vitamin C also prevented the exercise-induced expression of cytochrome C (a marker of mitochondrial content) and of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase.

Conclusion: Vitamin C supplementation decreases training efficiency because it prevents some cellular adaptations to exercise.

-=-==-

Small fish for small fry
Children should avoid eating larger fish species to avoid a build up of dangerously high mercury levels.
Parents have been warned to feed young children small fish rather than larger species to avoid a build up of dangerously high levels of mercury in their growing bodies.

New research published in the Medical Journal of Australia has revealed children under six years of age shouldn't eat too much of certain types of fish.

The report, co-authored by Dr Stephen Corbett, who heads up the centre for population health at Sydney West Area Health Service, found fish is good for children's nutrition so long as it's the right type in the right quantity.....

http://www.smh.com.au/news/parenting/small-fish-for-small-fry/2008/01/06/1199554472994.html?sssdmh=dm16.296285
-=-=-=-

from http://www.wddty.com/

Epilepsy: Half of all victims are deficient in vitamin D

13 December 2007
Almost every week a new piece of research finds out something else about the importance of vitamin D to our health. Now researchers have discovered that nearly half of all epileptics are deficient in the vitamin, which also increases their risk of osteoporosis, auto-immune disease, cancer, and heart disease.

Around one-third of the general population is vitamin D deficient, but researchers fear the problem is worsened in epileptics by the anti-epileptic drugs they are given. The lifestyle of epileptics could also make their deficiency worse as they may go outdoors less frequently.

(Source: American Epilepsy Society 61st annual meeting: Abstract 3.337. November 30-December 4, 2007).

-=-=-=-

italy wins....!
(but Naples is still buried in garbage...sporco!)

ICA NEWS
RELEASE
International Chiropractors Association

Chiropractic Law Enacted in Italy

The Associazione Italiana Chiropratici (AIC) has announced that 17 years after the presentation of the first law proposal for professional recognition, on December 21, 2007, chiropractic was recognized by the Italian Parliament as a primary health care profession! For more than three decades, the AIC has led a determined struggle to secure this vitally important legal recognition for chiropractic, in the face of equally determine medical opposition.

After years of unsuccessful attempts at professional recognition, an amendment concerning chiropractic, inserted into the annual budget law, finally opened the door of Italy’s nationalized healthcare system to Doctors of Chiropractic. In a country that has the highest ratio of MDs to patients in the world (roughly 400,000 medical doctors and orthodontists in a population of less than 57,000,000) and boasts less than 300 chiropractors, this was certainly no easy feat.

“The entire world of chiropractic salutes the Associazione Italiana Chiropratici on this historic milestone for chiropractic,” said ICA President Dr. John Maltby. “We at the ICA deeply respect and appreciate the efforts of all involved and offer our most sincere congratulations.”

According to the official AIC news release: “The amendment was presented by Senator Luigi Lusi from the Margherita party of the majority, who almost single-handedly guided it out of the Senate’s Budget Committee and assured its acceptance by the Senate itself. In the Camera, which is the lower house of Italy’s bi-cameral Parliament, the amendment’s passage was the target of an extensive lobbying attack on the part of the Italian Medical Association, who was trying to monopolize non-conventional medicine through their own legislation, and the Italian Health Minister who was opposed to recognizing chiropractic as a primary contact profession.

The AIC responded blow by blow with its own lobbying efforts through the bi-partisan support of several parliamentarians favorable to chiropractic, and again, Senator Lusi was indomitable in his untiring support of chiropractic by explaining the cost-effectiveness advantages to his colleagues in the House Budget Committee, convincing them that chiropractic was a good investment for Italy’s financially burdened healthcare system.

The opposition parties were effectively contacted and motivated by the Deputy, On. Manuela Di Centa, from the opposition party, Forza Italia, and this collaboration between majority and opposition Parliamentarians proved to be the winning combination that enabled chiropractic to overcome the resistance of the medical lobby and navigate its way through the insidious risks present in the Italian Parliament.

When Senator Lusi presented us with this opportunity, the AIC organized an impromptu lobbying center in Rome connected in real time with the secretaries at the AIC headquarters in Genoa, to coordinate and promote the passage of this amendment. We all worked hard to arrive at this result, but the real difference between this successful campaign and the many failed attempts of the past lies in the commitment demonstrated by Senators Lusi and On. Di Centa. Senator Lusi was motivated by his personal knowledge of the merits of chiropractic, being the husband and patient of one of our colleagues in the AIC, while On. Manuela Di Centa is an ex-world champion of cross country skiing, whose career was helped and prolonged by chiropractic and who openly declared her desire to repay this positive experience with chiropractic by helping to recognize the profession in Italy.”

“Our colleagues in Italy can now move forward to build chiropractic to even greater levels in Italy with official recognition having been secured. Their efforts have added significantly to making chiropractic a truly global profession,” said Dr. Maltby.

*Copyright © 2008 International Chiropractors Association (ICA) all rights reserved.

-=-=-=
Mercola's at it again...

What Happens to Your Body Within an Hour of Drinking a Coke

Do you want to be healthy? Drinking soda is bad for your health in so many ways; science can’t even state all the consequences. Here’s what happens in your body when you assault it with a Coke:

Within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, and the only reason you don’t vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.

Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.

Within 40 minutes, caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream.

Around 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain – a physically identical response to that of heroin, by the way.

After 60 minutes, you’ll start to have a sugar crash.

Sources:
Nutrition Research Center October 24, 2007

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/19/what-happens-to-your-body-within-an-hour-of-drinking-a-coke.aspx

-=-==-=
X ray doses compared to rad therapy

Our friend Dr Peter Bull has kindly supplied these hair raising stats.

A chiro patient was worried about radiation from a post x ray. This speaks for itself.


> Cervical Spine - 40uSv
> Full Spine - 700uSv
> CT Spine - 14,000uSv
> Radiotherapy - 70,000,000uSv

'ouch! average 100,000 times the dose of a full spine x ray'
-=-=-=-=-

Caesar the murderer...

TOO MANY CAESAREANS?

Australia has one of the highest caesarean rates in the world. But caesareans that aren't medically necessary may be putting women and babies at risk.
http://abcmail.net.au/t/73489/602849/1581/0/

-=-=-=-=

Harvey again...

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=186901

Friday, January 11, 2008


Visit to chiropractor restores man's sight
Spinal treatment has unforeseen effect
By ERIK HOGSTROM TH staff writer

Doug Harkey, of Dubuque, was leery of chiropractors until a visit on Jan. 3 had remarkable results.

Doug Harkey's visits to a chiropractor had been helpful, but not spectacular, until Thursday, Jan. 3.

Harkey is a legally blind 38-year-old Dubuque resident who parachuted out of an airplane in 2006. Not even that adventure prepared him for what followed his Jan. 3 visit to chiropractor Tim Stackis.

"My left eye was watering for 45 minutes straight," Harkey said.

That left eye had been devoid of sight for 12 years.

While at a friend's house, Harkey wiped his eyes.

"While I wiped my right eye, I could see out of my left," Harkey said.

Goodbye blindness, hello restored sight.

"Oh my God, I can see!" Harkey told a friend.

"You always could," the friend answered.

"No, out of my LEFT eye," Harkey said.

Harkey and Stackis believe a chiropractic adjustment corrected a spinal bone spur problem, and that correcting the problem restored the lost sight.

"I am totally happy for Doug," Stackis said. "I've heard of cases of people regaining their sight, but I've never experienced something like Doug's magnitude (of restored


Doug Harkey tells his story to TH staffers Dave Kettering and Jeremy Portje

sight). Miracles can happen and some of those miracles are pretty big."

Harkey's fiancee, Gina Connolly, has been visiting Stackis.

"I was skeptical about chiropractic," Harkey said.

He gave it a try, though, at Connolly's suggestion and after attending a new-patient class conducted by Stackis.

"Your nerve system controls and regulates every function of your body," said Stackis, who believes chiropractic care can influence healing throughout the body.

Harkey couldn't wait to have an eye doctor verify his regained vision. However, his regular doctor was unavailable, so Harkey visited Connolly's eye doctor, Dr. Lynn Lester, on Jan. 7.

"I am very excited for him," Lester said. "It's incredible."

Lester is not sure exactly what triggered the sudden vision improvement.

Harkey said Monday's tests revealed he now has 20/100 vision in his left eye.

Normal vision is considered 20/20 vision, meaning people can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. People with 20/100 vision must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 100 feet.

Lester told Harkey his left eye vision could reach 20/30 with the use of corrective lenses.

"He has the potential for even better," Lester said.

Harkey thought retinitis pigmentosis -- a degenerative disease that gradually attacks the retina -- would permanently rob sight from his left eye. His right eye had been reduced to tunnel vision, but recent surgery by Dr. Rommel Fuerste improved his right-eye sight to 20/40.

Fuerste declined to discuss the case of his patient, but Harkey relishes talking about his left eye and the future.

"I'll have everything back except my peripheral vision," he said, adding that he continues to have difficulty seeing forms in shadows. "In the daytime, it will be great to see everything."

-=-=-=

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cough-syrup-toddler-risk-alert/2008/01/18/1200620198863.html


Cough syrup risk alert January 18, 2008 - 5:06PM

Parents should be warned not to give cough syrups to toddlers on the back of a US ruling on the "potentially life-threatening" side effects, a leading pediatrician says.

US health authorities have issued advice that children under two should not be given over-the-counter cough and cold medicines because they are too dangerous.

Rare cases of deaths, convulsions and rapid heart rates have been reported in this age group, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in its warning.

Asked if a similar change should be considered in Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said such medications were more strongly regulated here and could only be supplied for use in children with the direct involvement of a pharmacist.

But Professor Colin Robertson, director of respiratory medicine at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, said the drug regulator was "dodging the issue" and urged it to follow the lead of the FDA.

"These medications are dangerous in these young babies, that is becoming increasing clear, but parents are still using them," Prof Robertson said.

"It would be appropriate for Australia to make a similar recommendation to stop it from happening as soon as possible."

A report released last year by the US Centre for Disease Control documented over 1,500 emergency hospitalisations of young children who had suffered adverse effects from cough medications.

Three of the children died.

The FDA followed with preliminary cautions and today issued advice against the use "because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur".

It also reissued previous warnings to carefully follow dosing directions, only use one product at a time, and only use measuring spoons made specifically for medicines.

The agency is yet to rule on whether widely sold medicines, made by companies such as Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson, are appropriate in children aged two to 11.

Responding to the ruling, a TGA spokeswoman said the medications were more regulated in Australia.

"In contrast to the USA, sale of most cough and cold medicines in Australia is restricted to pharmacies and many can only be supplied for use in children with the direct involvement of a pharmacist," a spokeswoman said.

"While there are 23 cough and cold medicines registered with the TGA that can be sold from outlets other than pharmacies, most of these medicines do not have dosage instructions for use in children under two years of age."

AAP


-=-=-=-
About Time

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080119.chiro19/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

Chiropractors don't raise stroke risk, study says
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
January 19, 2008 at 12:53 AM EST

TORONTO — A Canadian study indicates there is no increased risk related to chiropractic treatment in the heated debate about whether neck adjustments can trigger a rare type of stroke.

Researchers say patients are no more likely to suffer a stroke following a visit to a chiropractor than they would after stepping into their family doctor's office.


And here is the abstract:

SPINE Volume 33, Number 4S, pp S176--S183
Results of a Population-Based Case-Control and Case-Crossover Study
J. David Cassidy, DC, PhD, DrMedSc,*+++ Eleanor Boyle, PhD,* Pierre
Co^te?, DC, PhD,*+++?
Yaohua He, MD, PhD,* Sheilah Hogg-Johnson, PhD,+? Frank L. Silver, MD,
FRCPC,?
and Susan J. Bondy, PhD+

Study Design. Population-based, case-control and case-crossover study.

Objective. To investigate associations between chiro-practic visits and
vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke and
to contrast this with primary care physician (PCP) visitsand VBA stroke.

Summary of Background Data. Chiropractic care is
popularforneckpainandheadache,butmayincreasethe
risk for VBA dissection and stroke. Neck pain and head-
ache are common symptoms of VBA dissection, which
commonly precedes VBA stroke.
Methods. Cases included eligible incident VBA
strokes admitted to Ontario hospitals from April 1, 1993
to March 31, 2002. Four controls were age and gender
matched to each case. Case and control exposures to
chiropractors and PCPs were determined from health
billing records in the year before the stroke date. In
the case-crossover analysis, cases acted as their own
controls.
Results. There were 818 VBA strokes hospitalized in a
population of more than 100 million person-years. In
thoseaged45years,cases were about three times more
likely to see a chiropractor or a PCP before their stroke
than controls. Results were similar in the case control
and case crossover analyses. There was no increased
association between chiropractic visits and VBA stroke
in those older than 45 years. Positive associations were
found between PCP visits and VBA stroke in all age
groups. Practitioner visits billed for headache and neck complaints
were highly associated with subsequent VBA
stroke.
Conclusion. VBA stroke is a very rare event in the
population. The increased risks of VBA stroke associated
with chiropractic and PCP visits is likely due to patients
with headache and neck pain from VBA dissection seek-
ing care before their stroke. We found no evidence of
excess risk of VBA stroke associated chiropractic care
compared to primary care.

Spine 2008;33:S176--S183