Newest Study Confirms that Chiropractic Care Does Not Increase Risk of Strok

Just a short note, … according to a February 2008 report in the journal ‘Spine’, a new study finds there is NO evidence of excess risk of stroke following chiropractic spinal manipulation. In the study, researchers noted that patients are no more likely to suffer a stroke following chiropractic treatment than they would after visiting their family doctor’s office.

The study goes on to say that any observed association between a vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke and chiropractic manipulation is likely due to patients with an undiagnosed vertebral artery dissection seeking care for neck pain and headache BEFORE their stroke.

This may prove to be one of the most important and significant studies in the profession’s history. The results of this study confirm that chiropractic manipulation is a safe and appropriate course of treatment.

The issue of stroke being associated with a chiropractic neck adjustment focuses around the very rare occurrence of a tear to the vertebral artery as it passes through the sides of the upper cervical vertebrae and into the base of the skull. An injury to the arterial wall may lead to formation of a blood clot, which can break free and travel upward until it lodges in one of the smaller blood vessels in the base of the brain, blocking circulation.

There are many reports in the literature of cervical artery dissections (CADs) occurring after everyday activities that most people would consider non-traumatic, such as turning the head when driving, having your hair washed at a beauty salon, or sleeping on your stomach. I think we all do some of these and we’re not having strokes.

A research paper published in 2001 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found there is only a one-in-5.85-million risk that a chiropractic neck adjustment will be associated with a subsequent stroke. I haven’t won the Lottery yet either.

In this new study, the Canadian team looked at nine years of data in Ontario, and found that only 818 patients with a stroke were reported among a population of some 11.5 million people. Unlike a previous study in 2001 that investigated the relationship between chiropractic visits and vertebral artery stroke, researchers in this study also studied visits to family doctors that preceded this kind of stroke, which was the right way to do it.

There is no excess risk of stroke from chiropractic care. I just wanted you to be informed of this as there are people that say you are at risk of stroke with any chiropractic adjustment.

Beware of Acetaminophen Risks

Today I’m going to address acetaminophen and how it can cause liver damage, and even death. Read this then pass it on to your friends and family. Everyone needs to understand the importance of balance and taking care of drug overdoses.

Acetaminophen is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic pain reliever and— the main ingredient in medications such as Tylenol®—and is the most widely used pain reliever. While generally considered safe when taken “occasionally and in small doses”, acute overdoses and chronic consumption of acetaminophen can cause liver toxicity.

According to research, 50 percent of all acute liver failure in the United States is attributed to acetaminophen consumption.(1) While many of these cases result from an overdose, even “correct dosage” may cause liver damage, liver failure and death.(1) In the United States alone, approximately 56,000 liver injuries requiring emergency treatment, 26,000 hospitalizations and 458 deaths per year are attributed to acetaminophen consumption.(2) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently considering measures to decrease the number of cases of unintentional and intentional overdose leading to liver injury, including limiting the maximum adult daily dose in both prescription and over-the-counter medications and improving labeling.(3)Initial signs and symptoms of acetaminophen toxicity are nausea and vomiting, so it’s hard to identify it immediately. In some cases, liver toxicity may develop without symptoms.(4)

Risks of Accidental Overdosing

One of the main problems with this popular medication is how easy it is to overdose unintentionally. In addition to being the primary ingredient in Tylenol, acetaminophen is also contained in almost 200 brand name and generic products—from headache and backache pills to cold and flu remedies and sore throat medications—most of which are available over-the-counter, SO YOU COULD OVERDOSE IF YOU’RE TAKING OTHER DRUGS BESIDES acetaminophen.

It’s not uncommon for a patient to take several over-the-counter medications—for pain and fever and then for a sore throat, cough and cold, multiplying the risk of overdosing. Combining prescription medications and over-the-counter medications containing acetaminophen also increases the risk. Inadvertent overdosing can also happen from Children’s Tylenol being given to children to relieve a fever over a period of several days.(4)

Fasting (such as not eating because of illness), alcohol consumption or genetic predisposition to liver problems also increases the risk of liver toxicity, although the patient may be taking the prescribed dose of the medication.

Avoiding Damage

To avoid liver damage from acetaminophen:

•Do not take more than 1 gram (1,000 mg) of acetaminophen at once.

•Do not exceed 4,000 mg of acetaminophen in 24 hours. (The FDA is considering reducing the adult maximum daily dose to 3,250 mg, and even further reducing the amount for chronic alcohol users.)3

•Always check to see if over-the-counter or prescription medications contain acetaminophen.

•For children, do not exceed 10-15 mg/kg/dose of acetaminophen, and do not exceed five doses or 2.6 grams in 24 hours.(4)

Dr Stephanie Janiak, 2551 River Park Plz Ste 200, Fort Worth, TX. 76116 (817) 423-2600

The History of Chiropractic.. NO YAWNING!!!

The year was 1895, the same year that x-rays were discovered. At that time, Health Care was provided by a diversity of unregulated and unlicensed professions, including osteopaths, magnetic healers and “medical” doctors. In those days, most medical education consisted of working as an “apprentice” for a medical doctor, and learning the craft by observation.

D.D. Palmer, the Father of Chiropractic, was a magnetic healer, with a huge practice in Davenport, Iowa. He had doubts about the “germ theory” as the complete explanation of the cause of all disease. After all, if germs could kill...shouldn't we all be dead? He asked “how it was that 2 brothers could work in the same shop, eat the same food, sleep in the same bed, and that one would succumb to a disease while the other one would not”?

His belief was that it was not just the “seed” (or germ) which was the cause. He felt that the "soil", or the bodies own recuperative power (which he later labelled the “innate intelligence”, and we now call homeostasis) was the missing part of the equation, which defined the continuum between health and “dis-ease”.

One day D.D. was talking with Harvey Lillard, the man who owned the janitor service in his building. Harvey was deaf. He mentioned to D.D. that years before, while lifting a heavy weight, he felt something “snap” at the base of his neck. It was several weeks later that his hearing started to fade.

D.D. was intrigued, and asked Harvey if he could examine his back. What he “felt” (and we now call this “palpation”) was that one of the upper thoracic bones was sticking out much more than the one above or below it. He explained to Harvey that he felt that this “bone out of place” could be causing pressure on his spinal cord, and that this could be the reason that Harvey was now deaf. He convinced him to lie down on the couch, and placed his hands on the transverse processes of the bone and, as D.D. explained, “wracked it back into position”. When Harvey got up, he stated that he could hear a horse drawn cart down in the street! This was the first thing he had heard in 17 years!

What an auspicious way for a profession to be born! Our “no drugs, no surgery” approach has remained true to D.D.'s plilosophy of the “seed and the soil”. What we accomplish with the adjustment to your spine, is to remove the impediment to your brain's control of your body. We call that impediment, which impinges the nerve a subluxation. Make sure you keep your appointments as they are your lifeline to health.

Dr. Stephanie Janiak, 2551 River Park Plz Ste 200, Fort Worth, TX 76116

Who is Winifred Gardella ?

In the early 1950s, Winifred Gardella was a poster child for the March of Dimes. Her picture was published in the newspapers to raise huge sums of money for the March of Dimes in San Francisco. Nationally, her image raised millions of dollars to help fight the dreaded crippler, POLIO. Her sad, innocent face and her tiny body supported on crutches and leg braces, made many Americans reach into their pockets to donate.

But the March of Dimes couldn't help Winifred. After two and a half years, under their doctor's expert care, her parents were told: "There is no hope."
Despite this dire prediction, her grandparents were determined to find a cure.
They were not about the accept the opinion of so-called "medical experts." They decided to choose their own health care approach and took Winifred to Dr. Lewis Robertson, a chiropractor.

In less than six months of having her nerve interference corrected, Winifred Gardella threw away her crutches and braces and went for a walk with her chiropractor.

She's been walking ever since!

Why Does My Back Hurt?

Disc bulges and herniations are quite common in our population. People from adolescence through adulthood are susceptible to having them. You have discs up and down your entire spine, meaning in the neck, upper and middle back, lower back, and tail bone regions.

Your discs help to allow for motion and proper function of your spine. Picture your disc as a slice of an onion. Imagine the inner 1/3 containing a jelly and the other 2/3 as being cartilage, not unlike the meniscus of your knee.

Over time and due to certain traumas, both macro (big) and micro (small), the jelly begins to break through your onion 'rings' of the outer 2/3 of the onion.

Sooner or later the jelly inside gets to the outer few layers and forces a 'bulge' of the cartilage.

This is what is commonly considered to be a disc bulge. If a bulge is left untreated, it will most often lead to the jelly breaking through the last few layers and leaking into the spinal canal. This is what we call a herniation. If the herniation breaks off, this is called a prolapse.

Disc bulges and herniations are many times successfully treated through conservative measures. Unfortunately, disc prolapses (the broken off pieces) can often times put pressure directly on your sensitive spinal cord, and since there is nothing binding them to the rest of the disc, surgery is many times the only option. Luckily, disc prolapses are the end-stage of disc degeneration and a lot can be done prior to getting to this horrible condition.

Tingling (paresthesia, or reduction of sensation) and numbing (anesthesia, or loss of sensation) are common effects of disc bulges and herniations. This is because the disc can directly put pressure on YOUR spinal cord or your nerve roots where they exit from your spine. If the pressure is NOT reduced, permanent nerve damage can result.

Simply put, there are no other conservative techniques available that offer the scientific backing for success for the treatment of disc pathology like chiropractic at this office offers!

In the case of burning pain, or radicular pain, the cause is usually irritation of your nerve sheaths, which are the coverings around your sensitive nerves. Irritation like this refers to toxin release from damaged discs, muscles, ligaments, joints, etc. that creates an inflammatory process that engulfs your nerves. This inflammatory process creates pain and dysfunction, which you call symptoms. Call to schedule an appointment today. Don’t wait. Remember permanent nerve damage can result from this if you do not attend to it as soon as possible.

You Can Prevent Osteoporosis

Read this short article if you or someone you know is interested in preventing osteoporosis.

First of all you probably don’t think of your bones as living tissue, but that’s just what they are. Your bones are filled with “living cells”, some of which make new bone and some of which break down old bone. This process keeps your bones fresh and healthy, so this is something that you need to know.

But in some people, bones are broken down faster than they can be rebuilt. That’s a bad thing. Then what happens over time is, this leads to bones that are weak and thin. This condition is called osteoporosis. It affects 10 million Americans, mostly women.

Thin bones are more likely to break or fracture. These injuries can lead to serious problems. A hip fracture, for example, can cause a person to need nursing home care and disable them for life. Hip fractures can even be deadly, so this is serious stuff we’re talking about.

What You Can Do

There are things you can do to prevent osteoporosis. It’s best if prevention begins early—during your childhood and teens, that’s why this handout is so important, especially to women. This is when you can most influence how strong your bones will be.

That said, it’s never too late to adopt habits that help YOUR bones. Here are some habits that every person should take up, no matter how old they are:

Get enough calcium lactate or citrate and vitamin D. Calcium is one of the main things that make up bone. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium. That’s why many doctors recommend that people take calcium and vitamin D supplements. Oh and you don’t get it from drinking milk, so forget that. Eat spinach instead!

Exercise. Walking, running, and lifting weights put stress on the bones, making them stronger. This is something that most women don’t understand. Put stress on your bones and you’ll make them stronger. If you don’t want to lift weights, a re-bounder available at any sporting good store works great, remember to bounce not jump for 15 minutes a day.

Don’t smoke. Smokers tend to lose bone faster than nonsmokers. In fact, smokers are 55% more likely than nonsmokers to break a hip.

Don’t drink too much alcohol. Heavy alcohol use can reduce bone strength. It seems that too much alcohol can make it hard for your body to process vitamin D. You should be getting a good amount of vitamin D each and every day to prevent osteoporosis.

The following medications can weaken bones:

• Corticosteroids (used for arthritis, among other conditions) • Anti-seizure medications
• Cyclosporine A (which is used in organ transplants) • Thyroid hormones

If you have any questions on this handout, please let me know.

Dr. Janiak, Wingspan Chiropractic, 2551 River Park Plz Ste 200, Fort Worth, TX. 76116 (817)423-2600