Friday, July 29, 2011

How effective are antibiotics for ear infections?

We at Van Every Family Chiropractic Center of Royal Oak, Michigan, care about your health and well-being and strive to provide you with current information in a variety of health topics!

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common condition for which antibiotics are prescribed for US children. The researchers reviewed 135 studies in a meta-analysis.

Their findings should shock any pediatrician: “Antibiotics are modestly more effective than no treatment but cause adverse effects in 4% to 10% of children.” (17)

Most children recover in just a few days without antibiotics. While antibiotics may
slightly improve recovery speed in some children they have many side effects including diarrhea, skin rashes and altered bacterial flora in the gut because antibiotics kill the “good” bacteria there. Antibiotics can create antibiotic resistant bacteria as well.

The frequent use of antibiotics for common ear infections raises risks that children will harbor drug resistant bacteria during subsequent illness ... children whose previous ear infections were treated with antibiotics have a rate of amoxicillin-resistant bacteria that is three times higher during subsequent otitis media. (18)

It has been observed that children given antibiotics for ear infections get more ear infections! Who wants their child to have a weakened immune system?

In fact even the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians have recommended a wait-and-see approach (since 2004) for children with ear infections.

We have a better idea – how about chiropractic care during the “wait and see” period? Chiropractic’s natural, drug-free approach has helped many children recover from ear infections quickly and safely. (19)

References:
17. Coker TR, Chan LS, Newberry SJ, Limbos MA, Suttorp MJ, Shekelle PG, Takata GS. Diagnosis, microbial epidemiology, and antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media in children: a systematic review. JAMA. 2010;304(19):2161-2169.
18. Culpepper L, Froom J. Routine antimicrobial treatment of acute otitis media: Is it necessary? JAMA. 1997:278(20):1643-1645.
19. Brown CD. Improved hearing and resolution of otitis media with effusion following chiropractic care to reduce vertebral subluxation. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health - Chiropractic. 2009;1:1-7.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Can chiropractic help infants and toddlers?

We at Van Every Family Chiropractic Center of Royal Oak, Michigan, care about your health and well-being and strive to provide you with current information in a variety of health topics!

Over a century of success in helping children regain and retain their health has made chiropractic the healthcare of choice for millions of parents and their children throughout the world.

What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a natural, non-invasive form of healthcare that respects the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Your chiropractor’s goal is to assist the body to regain optimal functioning by removing blockages and releasing stress so that balance and harmony among your body’s systems can be restored.

Chiropractors are specially trained to locate and release blockages commonly caused by tiny misalignments of the structural system. These blockages (called subluxations) create dis-ease or disharmony, which can lead to lowered resistance to disease, organ malfunction, poor posture, pain, and physical and emotional illness. (1)


The Earliest Years

Chiropractors have helped babies suffering from nearly every condition imaginable: colic, vomiting, sleeping problems, tonsillitis, vision and hearing problems and many, many others. (2-4)

Toddlerhood Through Childhood

Toddlerhood through childhood is a very physical time. Those first hesitant steps soon evolve into jumping and running, with falls and accidents accompanying each new skill. Even a small fall can cause damage with potential long-term consequences. (5)

Ear infections, asthma and allergies have responded to chiropractic care. (6-7)

In addition there are reports of chiropractic care helping children suffering from autism. Some children were later re-diagnosed as normal after chiropractic care. (8-9)

Improved Academic Performance

Chiropractic care has been a blessing to many children (and their parents) who were experiencing learning problems.

Both clinical reports and research validate chiropractic’s success with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), lack of energy or “low mental stamina”, anxiety, behavioral problems and other learning disabilities. Researchers as well as parents have reported improvements in both grades and IQ as a result of chiropractic care. (10-11)

Chiropractic Checkups Are Vital

All children, especially if they are ill, need bodies free of blockages to the flow of energy and information in his/her nervous systems. It might make the difference between a life of strength and health and a life of weakness and illness.

References:
1. Al-Jishi A, Sreekantaswamy. Dystonia associated with atlantoaxial subluxation. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2000;102(4):233-235.
2. Gutman G. The atlas fixation syndrome in the baby and infant. Manuelle Medizin. 1987;25:5-10.
3. Klougart N, Nilsson N, Jacobsen J. Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases. JMPT. 1989;12:281-288.
4. Van Loon M. Colic with projectile vomiting: a case study. J of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 1998;3(1):207-210.
5. Eleraky MA, Theodore N, Adams M et al. Pediatric cervical spine injuries: report of 102 cases and review of the literature. J Neurosurg. 2000;92(1 Suppl):12-7.
6. Hunt JM. Upper cervical chiropractic care of a pediatric patient with asthma: a case study. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 2000;5(1):318-321.
7. Graham RL, Pistolese RA. An impairment rating analysis of asthmatic children under chiropractic care. JVSR. 1997;1(4):41-48.
8. Aguilar AL, Grostic JD, Pfleger B. Chiropractic care and behavior in autistic children. Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics. 2000;5(1):293-304.
9. Amalu WC. Autism, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, strabismus and illness susceptibility: a case study in chiropractic management. Today’s Chiropractic. Sept/Oct 1998;32-47.
10. Mathews MO. Pilot study on the value of applied kinesiology in helping children with learning disabilities. Journal of the New Zealand Register of Osteopaths. 1993;6:21-23.
11. Ferreri CA, Wainwright RB. Breakthrough for dyslexia and learning disabilities. Author: Exposition Press of Florida, Inc. 1986.

Friday, July 22, 2011

We work with migraines and vertigo at Van Every Family Chiropractic!

We at Van Every Family Chiropractic Center of Royal Oak, Michigan, care about your health and well-being and strive to provide you with current information in a variety of health topics!

Many people suffer from migraines combined with vertigo. Here is a case study showing how chiropractic can help these conditions:

Dizziness (vertigo), neck pain and migraines. A twelve-year-old boy with a long history of routine, recurrent dizziness, chronic neck pain and migraines began chiropractic care. His symptoms had caused him to be absent from school more than half of the time the previous seven years.

He received chiropractic adjustments to the cervical (neck), mid-thoracic (mid back) vertebrae and the sacrum. After the first week of chiropractic care he reported a cessation of his headaches and neck ache. His vertigo attacks decreased in frequency and severity, then ceased. His school attendance improved dramatically. (12)

References:
12. Kelly DD & Holt K. Resolution of vertigo, migraines and neck pain in a 12-year-old boy receiving chiropractic care - a case study. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic. 2010;4:150-153.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Can Van Every Family Chiropractic Center help with my child's bed wetting and attention problems?

Chiropractors are often sought out if a person has back, neck, sciatica, arm, leg, headache and other kinds of pain. But chiropractic is not for conditions. Chiropractic is for people! (By the way, pregnant women and babies especially need chiropractic care.)

Bedwetting and attention problems. An eleven-year-old boy with a history of nocturnal enuresis and attention problems was determined to have subluxations during chiropractic examination. Adjustments were applied at sites of vertebral subluxations at the C2, C6, T1, T5, T12, L3, L5 and pelvic segments. The patient and mother reported a significant decrease in episodes of bedwetting and an improvement in his attention problems. (11)

References:
11. Rodnick A, Rodnick P. Resolution of childhood nocturnal enuresis following subluxation-based chiropractic care: a retrospective case report. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health – Chiropractic. 2010;4:159-162.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Van Every Family Chiropractic wonders, do you know what's in a flu shot?

In addition to billions of viri and toxins injected into pregnant women, babies and everyone else, the flu shot also contains powerful poisonous chemicals including:

Thimerosal – a preservative that is about half mercury. Mercury has been linked to autism, neurological and learning disorders, nerve and brain injury, organ failure and muscle weakness according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

Triton X-100 – a detergent and mercury derivative.

Polysorbate 80 – believed to cause cancer.

Formaldehyde – used to embalm dead bodies; labeled a carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The University of Alberta did a study in which one group of people got a flu shot and one group didn’t. When researchers adjusted for selection bias, there was no health difference between the groups in terms of who got the flu and other illnesses. (4-5)

Another study presented at an American Thoracic Society conference in San Diego revealed that children who got the flu vaccine were “three times more likely to need hospital care” compared to those who didn’t. For children with asthma, the number was even higher. (6)

The flu shot has also been linked to vomiting, encephalitis and neurological disorders. (7)

References:
4. Eurich DT et al. Mortality reduction with influenza vaccine in patients with pneumonia outside 'flu' season. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2008;178:527-533.
5. Flu shot does not cut risk of death in elderly. Reuters, August 29, 2008.
6. http://www.wddty.com/children-who-have-flu-jab-three-times-more-likely-to-need-hospital-care.html
7. Preliminary results: surveillance for Guillain-Barré Syndrome after receipt of Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009-2010.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Can Van Every Family Chiropractic center improve my mood?

We at Van Every Family Chiropractic Center of Royal Oak, Michigan, care about your health and well-being and strive to provide you with current information in a variety of health topics!

Another reason to seek chiropractic care? Chiropractic is good for your brain. In fact, since chiropractic’s discovery the psychotherapeutic (mental health) benefits of chiropractic are well documented. For many years Doctors of Chiropractic founded and operated mental institutions and sanitaria where chiropractic care and natural healing were practiced. A higher cure rate was reported in the chiropractic institutions than that of the state mental hospitals (that used drugs, electric shock therapy and insulin shock therapy). (1)

For years patients have told their chiropractors that they felt “clearer” and more focused when they received chiropractic adjustments. There are clinical studies that have revealed that children concentrate better, have IQ improvement and have better behavior under chiropractic care. (2-3)

A relatively new clinical study has recently been published in the Chiropractic Journal of Australia.

In this study ten subjects between 10 and 62 years of age were adjusted for subluxations. They were tested before and after their adjustments. The majority of the subjects were found to have enhanced scores on the post-test showing a short-term improvement in creativity. It is not known if the improvements were due to less stress, increased blood to the brain or some other mechanism. (4)

References:
1. Schwartz HS. Mental Health and Chiropractic – a multidisciplinary approach. New Hyde Park, NY: Sessions Publishers,1973.
2. Walton EV. Chiropractic effectiveness with emotional, learning and behavioral impairments. International Review of Chiropractic. 1975;29:2-5;21-22.
3. Giesen JM, Center DB, Leach RA. An evaluation of chiropractic manipulation as a treatment of hyperactivity in children. JMPT. 1989;12:353-363.
4. Masarsky CS, Todres-Masarsky M. Effects of a single chiropractic adjustment on divergent thinking and creative output: a pilot study. Part 1. Chiropractic J of Australia. 2010;40:57-62.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Is there a link between Alzheimer's and the flu shot?

We thought it appropriate to remind everyone that according to Hugh Fudenberg, MD, the world's leading immunogeneticist and 13th most quoted biologist of our time (over 850 papers in peer reviewed journals), if an individual has had five consecutive flu shots their chance of getting Alzheimer's disease is ten times higher than if they had one, two or no shots. (1)

Why? Dr. Fudenberg reports that this is due to the mercury in flu shots (and many childhood and RhoGam shots); these toxins build up in the brain causing cognitive dysfunction. Is that why Alzheimer's is expected to quadruple? (2)

By the way, to disprove the Alzheimer’s/flu shots connection, some Toronto MDs went to nursing homes and asked people with Alzheimer’s if they remember getting a flu shot. Most said they didn’t remember getting one. Not surprising since Alzheimer’s victims may not remember the names of their spouse. Anyway, based on this “research” they concluded the flu shots didn’t cause Alzheimer’s (we are not making this up).

But the disclaimer in the paper’s abstract negated its value: “Because of the self-reported nature of the risk factor questionnaire we cannot exclude the possibility of recall bias.” (3)

References:
1. Dr. Fudenberg at the NVIC International Vaccine Conference, Arlington, VA September, 1997. Quoted with permission.
2. John's Hopkins Newsletter. November 1998.
3. Verreault R, Laurin D, Lindsay J et al. Past exposure to vaccines and subsequent risk of Alzheimer’s disease. CMAJ. 2001;165(11):1495-1498.