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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #1 - Recorded July 22,2005

According to a March 2005 study from the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research: (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=20809):

There is a growing body of evidence that wellness care provided by doctors of chiropractic may reduce health care costs, improve health behaviors, and enhance patient perceived quality of life. Until recently, however, little was known about how chiropractic adjustments affected the chemistry of biological processes on a cellular level.

In a landmark study published in March 2005 in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR; http://www.jvsr.com), chiropractors collaborating with researchers at the University of Lund found that chiropractic care could influence basic physiological processes affecting oxidative stress and DNA repair. These findings offer a scientific explanation for the positive health benefits reported by patients receiving chiropractic care.

Dr. Christopher Kent, one of the authors explained, “Going through life, we experience physical, chemical, and emotional stress. These stresses affect the function of the nervous system. We hypothesized that these disturbances in nerve function could affect oxidative stress and DNA repair on a cellular level.”

Chiropractors apply spinal adjustments to correct disturbances of nerve function. “Chiropractic care appears to improve the ability of the body to adapt to stress,” continued Kent . “Further research is needed to gain additional insights that will ultimately lead to improved clinical outcomes,” he said.

According to a recent American Chiropractic Association news item -(http://www.acatoday.com/publications/acanews_issues_hw_obesity.shtml):

Obesity is the fastest growing health problem in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 15.3 percent of 6- to 11-year-old children and 15.5 percent of adolescents are overweight. The rates are even higher among African-American children.

In comparison, 6 percent of Russian children are obese and 10 percent overweight. In China , 3.6 percent of the kids are obese and 3.4 percent are overweight. Chinese and Russian children from the wealthiest families are heavier than kids from poor families in those countries, while U.S. children from the poorest families are more likely to be obese.

Childhood obesity has been connected with TV and computer viewing,1 junk food advertising targeted at kids,2 excessive soft drink consumption,3 and other factors. Health care professionals and parents have both failed to address the problem.

The article suggests that Doctors of chiropractic, whose training focuses on structure and function, are ideally qualified to fix the problem.  Visit ACAtoday.com, click on the Publications link followed by ACA News link for full details.

According to a June 2005 study from the Policy Journal of the Health Sphere (http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/hlthaff.w5.289/DC1):

An article Discusses the fact that Health insurance is in the midst of a design shift toward greater financial risk for patients. Where medical cost exposure is high relative to income, the shift will increase the numbers of underinsured people. This study estimates that nearly sixteen million people ages 19–64 were underinsured in 2003.

Underinsured adults were more likely to forgo needed care than those with more adequate coverage and had rates of financial stress similar to those of the uninsured. Including adults uninsured during the year, 35 percent (sixty-one million) were under- or uninsured. These findings highlight the need for policy attention to insurance design that considers the adequacy of coverage.

Chiropractic Practice Guidelines have been a source of much debate over the past decade. 

As Health insurance costs have continued to rise, even with Managed care in full effect, there has been a dramatic shift towards acceptance of treatments which have been studied and peer-reviewed.  This is referred to as Evidence Based health care.

The controversial Mercy Guidelines have been adapted and endorsed by various Insurance companies and Chiropractic Organizations.  Currently, the United States is working on an updated set of Treatment Guidelines, as The Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters (CCGPP), formed at the behest of the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA), is working to create an equitable chiropractic practice document.

In May 2005, a European evidence-based set of guidelines, for the management of acute and chronic low back pain in primary care, were made available for review. The European Guidelines represent a multidisciplinary and a multinational effort to evaluate and prevent non-specific low back pain.  Chiropractic was represented in this multidisciplinary effort. The guidelines should help health care providers to make evidence-based decisions in treatment and prevention of low back pain.

For more information, visit (http://www.backpaineurope.org/).

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