Issue 15


god bless medical heroics
...war is hell
see the graphic removal of a war wound here

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EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE?
my friend Dr Peter is making waves in medical circles
shame on him
doesn't he know that physiotherapy bases everything on evidence...thats why they do manipulation safer than us (sorry but I have local PT who tells people to stay away from me, while I REFER to him!) And mobilisation is so much nicer, too...
get a load of this quote....YES a ripper

"Nitrous Oxide Concerns"

"A randomised controlled three-year trial on more than 2,000 patients, most of them in Victoria, has questioned the routine use of nitrous oxide in patients undergoing major surgery,........Asked why the study was undertaken, Prof Myles said the use of nitrous oxide in anesthesia had been questioned for 30 to 40 years and this had grown stronger in the past 10 years."
Vicdoc. August, 2007:13.

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Here's your latest CUTTING EDGE media release.....
...chiro safest of all:

Safety of Chiropractic Manipulation of the Cervical Spine: A Prospective National Survey.
Health Services Research

Spine. 32(21):2375-2378, October 1, 2007.
Thiel, Haymo W. DC, PhD *; Bolton, Jennifer E. PhD *; Docherty, Sharon PhD *; Portlock, Jane C. PhD +
Abstract:
Study Design. Prospective national survey.

Objective. To estimate the risk of serious and relatively minor adverse events following chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine by a sample of U.K. chiropractors.

Summary of Background Data. The risk of a serious adverse event following chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine is largely unknown. Estimates range from 1 in 200,000 to 1 in several million cervical spine manipulations.

Methods. We studied treatment outcomes obtained from 19,722 patients. Manipulation was defined as the application of a high-velocity/low-amplitude or mechanically assisted thrust to the cervical spine. Serious adverse events, defined as "referred to hospital A&E and/or severe onset/worsening of symptoms immediately after treatment and/or resulted in persistent or significant disability/incapacity," and minor adverse events reported by patients as a worsening of presenting symptoms or onset of new symptoms, were recorded immediately, and up to 7 days, after treatment.

Results. Data were obtained from 28,807 treatment consultations and 50,276 cervical spine manipulations. There were no reports of serious adverse events. This translates to an estimated risk of a serious adverse event of, at worse [almost equal to]1 per 10,000 treatment consultations immediately after cervical spine manipulation, [almost equal to]2 per 10,000 treatment consultations up to 7 days after treatment and [almost equal to]6 per 100,000 cervical spine manipulations. Minor side effects with a possible neurologic involvement were more common. The highest risk immediately after treatment was fainting/dizziness/light-headedness in, at worse [almost equal to]16 per 1000 treatment consultations. Up to 7 days after treatment, these risks were headache in, at worse [almost equal to]4 per 100, numbness/tingling in upper limbs in, at worse [almost equal to]15 per 1000 and fainting/dizziness/light-headedness in, at worse [almost equal to]13 per 1000 treatment consultations.

Conclusion. Although minor side effects following cervical spine manipulation were relatively common, the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low.

(C) 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

http://www.spinejournal.com/pt/re/spine/abstract.00007632-200710010-00016.htm;jsessionid=HwkG6SWnZHzvGwnXsqnSlZLQx6jTJFlpTJCTF8R7ZVQ0nzyp98ZT!1821113646!181195629!8091!-1
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Indian doctors operate on eight-limbed child

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hope-for-eightlimbed-child/2007/11/07/1194329255097.html

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Another ripper from Dr Rome...
REAL health costs.

So much for the "bone and joint decade"
have we made an impact?

Arthritis Costs Growing.
"A study by Access Economics has found that arthritis costs the community more than $24 billion a year, and is a greater health burden than diabetes, heart disease and depression. The total includes the cost of treatment, drugs and nursing homes, and almost $8 billion through lost working days and taxes."
Australian Med; Sept 3rd 2007:6.

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1: J Neurosurg Spine. 2007 Nov;7(5):571-4.
Cervicothoracic epidural hematoma after chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy. Case report and review of the literature.

Domenicucci M, Ramieri A, Salvati M, Brogna C, Raco A.
Department of Neurological Sciences, Neurosurgery, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy. smcapone@libero.it
A spinal epidural hematoma is an extremely rare complication of cervical spine manipulation therapy (CSMT). The authors present the case of an adult woman, otherwise in good health, who developed Brown-Séquard syndrome after CSMT. Decompressive surgery performed within 8 hours after the onset of symptoms allowed for complete recovery of the patient's preoperative neurological deficit. The unique feature of this case was the magnetic resonance image showing increased signal intensity in the paraspinal musculature consistent with a contusion, which probably formed after SMT. The pertinent literature is also reviewed.
PMID: 17977203 [PubMed - in process]

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Would You Rather Be Depressed or Physically Ill?

Worldwide, depression is more disabling than four common chronic medical illnesses.
Depression worldwide is highly prevalent and disabling. Using World Health Organization survey data, these researchers examined health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) associated with depression and four common chronic physical health conditions (asthma, angina, arthritis, and diabetes). They also examined the effects of comorbid depression on chronic physical conditions.
The 245,404 nationally representative and probabilistically selected respondents (aged 18) came from 60 countries (26 European, 15 African, 6 American, 4 eastern Mediterranean, 5 Southeast Asian, and 4 western Pacific). Interviews occurred in person — or over the telephone in two countries — and encompassed demographic and socioeconomic factors, health status, and symptoms and treatment of the five conditions. The 18 HR-QOL questions included self-reported ratings of overall health, performance of daily activities, and status in eight health areas (e.g., cognition, interpersonal activities, pain, and affect).
HR-QOL scores were highest in respondents with none of the conditions. The overall prevalence of depression during the previous year was 3.2%. Depression prevalence was significantly higher (9.3%–23.0%) in respondents with one or more of the four physical conditions than in those without. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, depressed respondents worldwide had significantly lower HR-QOL scores than did those with any of the physical conditions. Scores — even for items least related to depression (e.g., self-reported vision and mobility, overall health) — were much lower in respondents with comorbid depression than in those with only a physical condition.
Comment: These results emphasize that, across global populations, depression affects quality of life more significantly than do common, serious, chronic medical illnesses. These results reinforce the importance of addressing depression as a worldwide public health problem and ensuring parity of access to healthcare for psychiatric conditions.
— Deborah Cowley, MD
Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry November 5, 2007
CITATION(S):
Moussavi S et al. Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: Results from the World Health Surveys. Lancet 2007 Sep 8; 370:851.

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Homeopathic trouble

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/homeopaths-baby-died-of-infections/2007/11/05/1194117926205.html?sssdmh=dm16.287319

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Hi Joe,
Here is all the evidence based info on cancer.
Interesting.
The group might find it useful.
Donald

http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/downloads/Second_Expert_Report.pdf

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Truth Here....?


Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them,
"Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."

They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to
see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of
them touched the elephant.

"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.

"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.

"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the
elephant.

"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.

"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right.
It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He
stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the
elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise
man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling
it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So,
actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."

"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.

The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes
we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective
which we may not agree too. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say,
"Maybe you have your reasons." This way we don't get in arguments. In Jainism, it is
explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our
religion is. It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us
to live in harmony with the people of different thinking. This is known as the Syadvada,
Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions.