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IN TOUCHVol. 5, No. 1 January 2001 ISSN 1525-416X "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." - Marie Curie ASTHMA PATIENTS RESPOND TO CHIROPRACTIC CAREThe November/December 2000 issue of Todays Chiropractic reports that patients with persistent asthma that ranged from mildly persistent to severely persistent not only improved dramatically under chiropractic care but maintained that improvement for a two year follow-up period. In the study, 47 patients from age 7 to 42 participated. The patients were seen between 14 and 44 times and most began care at 3 visits per week for the first 4 to 8 weeks. Improvement was based on the patient's improvement in their symptoms as well as their use of asthma medication. All 47 of the patients showed significant improvements from 87 to 100 percent. At the two-year follow-up, all 47 of the patients also reported that they maintained the improvements they made at the beginning of the study. The authors in this study point out that 17 million Americans suffer from asthma and 14 people die in the United States every day as a result. Annually, we spend more than $13 billion treating asthma medically, more than three times the total amount spent every year on chiropractic care. Yet, asthma is the leading cause of hospitalizations of children and has shown an alarming 58% increase in its death rate since 1979, one of only three diseases to do so. By way of commentary, it seems obvious that throwing money and medicine at asthma patients clearly isn't working. In fact, a good argument could be made that it is making the situation worse. Might that $13 billion be better spent, with better results, if it was spent on restoring asthma patient's health and function with chiropractic care? We think so. The patients in this study achieved improvements in their asthma symptoms not because chiropractic is a cure for asthma. They improved because chiropractic care helps restore normal body function by removing interference to the body's master control system, the central nervous system. $13 billion worth of medical care every year and the problem has only gotten worse. Every one of the patients in this study improved a minimum of 87% under chiropractic care. The choice seems very clear. BREAST-CONSERVING SURGERY AVOIDED BY MANY DOCTORSReuters Health reported on November 28, 2000 that many doctors are avoiding the use of the less radical lumpectomy in favor of the more radical and disfiguring mastectomy. Dr. Lillian Rinker of Methodist Healthcare-Central Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee presented a study involving 142 women with early-stage breast cancer to the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Illinois. All of the women in the study were eligible for lumpectomy, a procedure where only the tumor is removed, leaving most of the healthy breast tissue intact. According to Rinker, "only 47% of them had lumpectomy. The rest were treated with mastectomy," where the tumor and most of the breast is removed. The big determining factor? Rinker says that doctors who attend regular meetings where "oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons share views and discuss treatment were more likely to perform lumpectomies." "Surgeons who were reluctant to perform breast-conserving surgery were unlikely to attend the conferences. By way of commentary, there's another question to add to your list of things to ask all of your doctors: "How many seminars or conferences do you attend each year in your specialty?" THE DRUG REPORTVarious sources report that there's been lots of problems in the world of pharmaceuticals this month. Let's look at a few of the many reports. The Associated Press reports on November 28, 2000 that the popular drug Lotronex, used for women with irritable bowel syndrome, has been pulled from the market after it was linked with severe side effects ranging from ischemic colitis (an irritable, life-threatening intestinal inflammation) and constipation so severe that many patients had to have portions of their intestines surgically removed. The FDA is aware of 8 deaths and 124 hospitalizations of patients who had been taking Lotronex. Reuters Health reported on December 14, 2000 that an outbreak of polio, the first in the Western Hemisphere since 1991, appears to be a result of the polio virus used in the oral polio vaccine itself. The virus apparently mutated into a virulent form after it was given to people who had been vaccinated. The following reports are from the Alternative Medicine Newsletter. The December 7, 2000 issue reports that the acne drug Accutane will receive a special warning label outlining the side effects, including a possible link to suicide in people taking the drug. Soon, patients will be required to sign a waiver stating that they understand the risks. The move is part of an attempt to counter another problem with Accutane: It causes severe birth defects in children whose mothers are taking the drug. This is not the best of news since Accutane users include teenagers, most of whom think they are invincible, will never die or get pregnant. The December 12, 2000 issue reports that a study done at the Institute for the Health of the Elderly at Newcastle General Study in England finds that Alzheimer patients are being prescribed drugs that could be making their symptoms worse. The study estimates that 30,000 people every year are being given the drugs inappropriately. The authors report that the drugs, major tranquilizers, are too often "used as a substitute for good, practical care management." By way of commentary, we have a pharmacist friend who contends "drugs are for selling, not for taking." PARENTS NOT TOLD OF ERRORSThe Alternative Health Newsletter reports on November 21, 2000 that the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood found that almost half of the parents of children in hospitals who received the wrong medication or dosage were never informed of the mistakes. The study was done at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, Scotland. The hospital specializes in taking care of children and babies that require risky and complex treatment. It was found that one mistake happened for every 662 hospitalized children. While most of the errors were deemed "minor", 10% of them required extra treatment to remedy the problem. In 48% of the cases, the parents of the children were never told what had happened.
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©2001 Virginia Institute of Chiropractic
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