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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #116 - Recorded September 28, 2007

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of HealthBeat, Chiropractic OnLine Today’s Health, News and informational Podcast.

In this week’s news:  We’ll Look At –

• A Painful Hip

• Intervertebral Disc Regeneration

• Many doctors may limit Medicare Patients After Proposed Payment Cuts

• Chronic Tension Type Headaches

For HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

Welcome to HealthBeat Podcast #116, recorded September 28, 2007.  HealthBeat is Chiropractic OnLine Today’s radio program, providing current news and commentary about Chiropractic and Health.

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And Now for some news ….

A Painful Hip

A study from the September 15, 2007 issue of the British Medical Journal discussed some Learning Points if you suspect a patient has a fractured hip but radiographs are normal.  The study suggested the following points:

• Whenever fractured neck of the femur is suspected on clinical grounds, the patient should be treated for fracture until proved otherwise

• Normal radiographs (with additional views as appropriate) do not exclude femoral neck fracture—occult fractures comprise about 1% of all fractured necks of femur

• Before proceeding to further imaging the adequacy of the initial radiographic views must be assessed

• Magnetic resonance imaging is the method of choice in this situation—it can diagnose occult hip fracture quickly, reliably, and cost effectively

• Where there is delay in diagnosis or contraindication to magnetic resonance imaging, repeat radiography or scintigraphy may be useful

Surf to our Show Notes for a link to this study - http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/335/7619/563?etoc

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9136

Intervertebral Disc Regeneration

Earlier this year, in April 2007, Vancouver Canada was host to the Vancouver Spine Conference.

At the conference, Dr. Mark Erwin, a Toronto medical research scientist, told a conference that he and his team are pursuing a breakthrough that could eliminate expensive and painful surgery for thousands of patients suffering from degenerative disc disease.

The conference brought together some of the foremost research scientists in the world today dealing with neurophysiological issues. The British Columbia Chiropractic Association (BCCA), with the support of the School of Human Kinetics at the University of British Columbia and the School of Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University, hosted these distinguished doctors and scientists from several universities and major hospitals in Canada and the U.S., including one from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Erwin's report was eagerly anticipated by all of the doctors and scientists attending. He told the conference about his team's work concerning the biology of notochord cells and degenerative disease of the intervertebral disc. The investigation concerns the production of proteoglycan by nucleus pulposus chondrocytes and various aspects of cell signalling. This research is essential to enhancing our understanding of and the pathophysiology of this process.

Surf to our Show Notes for a link to this article - http://www.bannerline.net/client_news.htm#spine

Many doctors may limit Medicare Patients After Proposed Payment Cuts

A new American Medical Association survey reveals that 60% of physicians said that they would limit their number of new Medicare patients and 14% would prefer to leave patient care if a 10% physician payment cut is enacted next year.

In an on-line survey of nearly 9,000 physicians, the American Medical Association (AMA) also discovered that 40% of respondents reported that they would limit their number of current Medicare patients and 54% would decrease their staff with the 10% payment cut slated for 2008. Moreover, physicians face nearly 40% in total cuts over the next 9 years.

If these subsequent cuts are enacted, 68% of respondents stated that they would limit the number of their current Medicare patients and 59% said that they would leave patient care in that time frame.

The AMA is asking Congress to halt the cuts and follow MedPAC’s recommendation of a 1.7% payment update for 2008. Many knowledgeable observers expect Congress to turn around the planned reimbursement reductions, as it has for similar proposals in recent years.

But even if provided with a reprieve on the issue once again, the pressures for cost containment in Medicare are mounting, and rejecting planned cuts today makes even bigger cuts likely later.

It was also noted that the government spends 12% more on Medicare Advantage plans than patients in traditional Medicare.

For more information, surf to our Show Notes for a link to this article - http://www.orthosupersite.com/view.asp?rID=23015

Chronic Tension Type Headaches

A study in the journal Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, published a study whose aim is to establish whether increased sensitivity to mechanical stimuli is present in neural tissues in chronic tension-type headache.

Muscle hyperalgesia is a common finding in chronic tension-type headache. No previous studies have investigated the sensitivity of peripheral nerves in patients with chronic tension-type headache.

Pressure pain thresholds and pain intensity following palpation of the supra-orbital nerve (V1) were compared between 20 patients with chronic tension-type headache and 20 healthy matched subjects. A pressure algometer and numerical pain rate scale were used to quantify Pressure pain thresholds and pain to palpation. A headache diary was kept for 4 weeks to substantiate the diagnosis and record the pain history.

The findings from this study reveal that mechanical hypersensitivity is not limited to muscles but also occurs in cranial nerves, and that the level of sensitization, either due to peripheral or central processes, is related to the severity of the primary headache.

Surf to our Show Notes for a link to this study - http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2007.00856.x

As always, please surf to our Podcast Show Notes at ChiropractiRadio.com for a full listing of web references mentioned in today’s show.

And remember - COT’s Healthbeat always recommends discussing any nutritional or exercise lifestyle modifications with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Finally, I leave you with the following quote:

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."
– Dan Stanford

For Chiropractic OnLine Today’s HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

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