Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Time for a Media Fast?

Have you noticed changes in your children's personalities -- increased irritability, impatience, even hostility? Or have you seen these issues even in yourself?

Consider the amount of time you and your family spend ingesting the output of our major media: television, radio and printed materials. And if you believe as many do that the media is the source of many psychological ills, try a radical concept that's gaining popularity: go media-free for thirty or forty days.

It's now an established fact that TV watching leads to poor dietary habits, inactivity (and all the resulting health effects, even an increased risk of juvenile diabetes!), and a host of behavior ills, including a greater likelihood of teenaged viewers starting to smoke! Even other forms of media cause stress and anxiety.

Your kids will tell you they're bored at first, but boredom passes quickly and usually turns into creativity. Soon you'll find your family taking hikes, playing games and even engaging in conversation.


ANJC Health eNews is provided on behalf of local member chiropractors and published monthly by the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Power Wheels Race Series: New Event This Spring

Mt. Olive Township Recreation Department and DTA Automotive are sponsoring a new event this month at the Turkey Brook Park Soccer Parking Lot. The Power Wheels Race Series will take place on 4 Thursdays in May for children ages 2-8. Children will experience the thrill of motorsports fun with their power wheels on a specially marked course designed to look like a real NASCAR event. There will be multiple events such as a 3-lap paved oval course, slalom course, obstacle course and more. Children will be racing their battery operated cars, trucks, ATVs and motorcycles.

The last Thursday is the Grand Prix event on May 27 from 4:45pm - 6:30pm. In addition to the races, there will be live music, face painting and a parade. Prizes and awards will be given out that night.

Mt. Olive Recreation Department requires the wearing of bicycle helmets. The Department will be charging $20 per car to enter the Park.

Optimal Family Chiropractic will participate in the Grand Prix event by providing free neck scans and information about wellness through chiropractic care. Feel free to stop by our tent. We look forward to meeting you.

New Research Shows: Chiropractic Care for Children Is Safe and Effective

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) assessed pediatric chiropractic by surveying chiropractors and parients of pediatric patients, 18 years of age and younger. The survey revealed high overall satisfaction and almost nonexistent complications and adverse events. The study entitled "The Safety and Effectiveness of Pediatric Chiropractic: A Survey of Chiropractors and Parents in a Practice-Based Research Network," has been published recently in the prestigious biomedical journal, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing.

Survey of Chiropractors: Data came from 577 pediatric clinical cases, with patients ranging in age from less than 1 day to 18 years. Average age was 7.45 years. All patients received spinal manipulative therapy at each visit for a total of 5,438 office visits.

According to the study, wellness care was the primary reason indicated for care [46 percent of patients, 25 percent of whom reported a specific complaint during their presentation (e.g., colic)]. For condition-based presentations, musculoskeletal conditions were the most common presentations seen (26 percent of patients), and diversified with the most common techniques utilized. Other reasons for care included digestion/elimination problems (7 percent), ear, nose and throat problems (6percent), neurological problems (6 percent), immune dysfunction (5 percent) and other (4 percent).

In terms of safety, no treatment-associated complications were indicated by chiropractic or parent responders, and chiropractors indicated only three adverse events in 5,438 office visits involving treatment of 577 children: "muscle stiffness," "spine soreness" and "stiff and sore." The treating chiropractor's response to such treatment-related aggravations was to re-examine the child and apply a different technique, modification of the manipulative technique originally used, or modification of the spinal segment to which the manipulation was applied.

Survey of parents/guardians: Data was derived from 239 children representing a similar number of children (average age: 6.16 years) who made 1,735 total visits to chiropractic offices. In this survey, 47 percent of parents/guardians reported bringing their children in for "wellness care" and musculoskeletal complaints were again the most common condition-based presentation.

Parents indicated two adverse events following chiropractic care: soreness of the child's knee following care to address a knee complaint, and cervical spine stiffness following spinal manipulation therapy (SMT)to address the child's cervical spine dysfunction.

With regard to effectiveness, both chiropractors and parents indicated high rates of improvement following chiropractic care for the children's presenting complaints, as well as "salutary effects unrelated to the children's initial clinical presentation." The most common treatment-associated improvements noted were decreased pain, improved mood and increased immune function. Improvements unrelated to the patients' initial presentation included immune-system improvements, improved sleep and improved emotional state/mood.

In their conclusion, the authors note: "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind addressing the safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic SMT in a practice-based research setting. The results of both our practitioner and patient surveys demonstrate a highly perceived effectiveness for pediatric chiropractic care as well as a high level of safety. We advocate continued research in this area with larger numbers of children being followed over time and incorporating the co-variates of safety and effectiveness of pediatric SMT."


Information adapted from Dynamic Chiropractic and the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Atlas Vertebra Realignment and Achievement of Blood Pressure Goal in Hypertensive Patients: A Study Review

Abnormalities of the cervical spine at the level of the Atlas vertebra, the C1 vertebra at the top of the spinal column, are associated with an inadequate supply of blood to the brainstem and increased blood pressure (BP). Manual correction of this mal-alignment has been associated with reduced blood pressure.

A preliminary study tested the theory that correcting mal-alignment of the Atlas vertebra would reduce and maintain a lower BP. Using a double blind (both doctor and patient don't know who receives which treatment), placebo-controlled design (one group gets the real procedure, the other receives a fake procedure) 50 patients participated in the trial at the same treatment center. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 26 patients who had never received medication for high blood pressure and 24 patients who had previously taken medication, but were no longer receiving it. All had early Stage 1 hypertention and were randomized to receive either a National Upper Cervical Chiropractic (NUCCA) procedure or a fake procedure. Patients received no antihypertensive medications during the 8-week study period.

The primary study point was a change in systolic and diastolic BP between the beginning of the study and the end of the study at week 8. The study participants had an average age of 52.7 years and consisted of 70% males.

At week 8, there were significant differences in systolic and diastolic BP among patients who received the NUCCA procedure. There was an average reduction of -17mm Hg of systolic pressure in patients who received the NUCCA procedure versus -3mm Hg in patients who did not. Diastolic BP had an average reduction of -10mm Hg in the NUCCA procedure group versus -2mm Hg in the group that did not receive the procedure. No adverse effects were recorded. The authors concluded that restoration of Atlas alignment is associated with marked and sustained reductions in BP similar to the use of a two-drug combination therapy.

Bakris G, Dickholtz M Sr, Meyer PM, Kravitz G, Avery E, Miller M, Brown J, Woodfield C, Bell B.Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Hypertension Center, Chicago, IL, USA. gbakris@earthlink.net. Publised in the Journal of Human Hypertension. May 2007;21(5):341-342.