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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #25 - Recorded December 30, 2005

In this week’s news:  We’ll Look At -

• Nutrition Tips from the National Council on Strength and Fitness

• Red Cross credits chiropractic donations

• Thank you from Dr. John Cerf

• WHO Publishes Chiropractic Education Guidelines

• Heart Attacks and Blood Tests

• Chiropractic and Cost Benefits

• Workers Leave of Absence and Workers Compensation

• Patient Recall of the Mechanics of Cervical Spine Manipulation

• and finally, Health Corner will discuss Ageing

For HealthBeat, wishing everyone a Safe & Happy New Year, This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

Welcome to HealthBeat Podcast #25, our Holiday Edition, recorded December 30, 2005.  HealthBeat is Chiropractic OnLine Today’s radio program, providing current news and commentary about Chiropractic and Health. 

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments about our Podcasts…. Please remember to surf to www.ChiropracticRadio.com and click on the PodcastAlley link to cast your vote for our HealthBeat Podcasts.  You will also see a link to sign up for our Chiropractic OnLine Today Mailing List.

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And Now for some news ….

Nutrition Tips from the National Council on Strength and Fitness

The National Council on Strength & Fitness recently released some Tips for Holiday Weight Management:.  A partial list of the NCSF’s recommendations includes:

1. Eat healthy food sources before you leave the house

2. When making a plate, take smaller than normal portion sizes

3. Be sure to look for healthy food choices at the buffet

4. Alternate between alcoholic beverages and calorie-free sparkling water

5. Be social. The more you talk with people and catch up with old friends and relatives, the less likely you are to spend time eating

For a complete list of the groups recommendations, surf to our Show Notes for a link - http://www.ncsf.org/enew/articles/articles-Holidayweight.aspx

As always, COT’s HealthBeat always recommends discussing any Nutritional advice with a qualified healthcare professional.

Red Cross credits chiropractic donations

The American Red Cross has listed all the top donors to the Hurricane Katrina disaster fund. Among the donors listed in the $500,000-$999,999 group were Foot Levelers and the chiropractic community.

Immediately following the Aug. 29 disaster, Foot Levelers launched a cooperative fund-raising effort in which the company matched donations up to $200,000. The final amount raised exceeded $540,000.  An Interview with Foot Levelers President Kent Greenwald appeared in HealthBeat Podcast #8.

For more information - www.redcross.org

http://www.chiroeco.com/news/2005/December/RedCross.php

Dr. John Cerf Says Thank You

If you would like to donate money to help support the cost of testing, again, please contact Anna.  General information concerning bone marrow transplantation is provided at www.marrow.org.  Further information may be obtained from Aiden's father, Tom Berges, a nurse practitioner, at (201) 996-5830.

Those who are not local to the area, or who need more information, can contact Anna, the blood drive coordinator, at annaforaiden@optonline.net

To help Aiden, simply determine whether your leukocyte antigen (HLA) type matches his.  This is easily accomplished with an oral swab.  People local to the Northern New Jersey/Southern New York State area can locate testing site information at Aiden's web site, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aidenberges

WHO Publishes Chiropractic Education Guidelines

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published training guidelines for chiropractic education, developed through input from the World Federation of Chiropractic.

According to a memo released by David Chapman-Smith, WFC Secretary-General, the guidelines will not affect education in countries with established chiropractic licensing laws. They were developed to encourage other governments to include chiropractic within their healthcare system, and their central goal is to serve as a reference for national authorities in establishing an examination and licensing system for the qualified practice of chiropractic.

The introductory section of the guidelines says that the objectives of the document are:

• To provide minimum requirements for chiropractic education;

• To serve as a reference for national authorities in establishing an examination and licensing system for the qualified practice of chiropractic; and

• To review contraindications in order to minimize the risk of accidents and to advise on the management of complications occurring during treatment and to promote the safe practice of chiropractic.

The 50-page document is divided into two sections: Part I covers basic requirements for training programs, each designed for trainees with various educational backgrounds, including nonmedics, physicians wishing to use chiropractic, and primary healthcare workers.

Part II deals with the safety of spinal manipulative therapy and the contraindications to its use.

The guidelines are available online at www.ChiroEco.com/history in the BONUS articles section.

Heart Attacks and Blood Tests

Testing for high blood levels of two proteins involved in inflammation -- Lp-PLA2 and CRP -- may help identify people who are at increased risk for stroke, new research suggests.

Ultimately, measuring these proteins could help guide preventative strategies, among other strategies, according to the report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

According to the Study, Predictors of stroke have received less attention than predictors of coronary heart disease, and often it has simply been assumed that what predicts coronary heart disease also predicts stroke.  However, this is not always the case. For example, cholesterol levels have been shown to correlate with coronary heart disease risk, but not with stroke risk.

The findings are based on a study of nearly 13,000 apparently healthy middle-age subjects who were followed for about 6 years to assess the rate of stroke and other outcomes. The study focused on 194 subjects who experienced a stroke and 766 similar subjects who did not.

In a related editorial, Dr. Philip Greenland and Dr. Patrick G. O'Malley, from Northwestern University in Chicago , agree that these tests are probably best applied to subjects who have an intermediate stroke risk.

The editorialists comment that "given the relatively modest incremental risk prediction capacity of both CRP and Lp-PLA2 levels beyond traditional risk factors, it would seem inappropriate to recommend either test for routine use. As with coronary heart disease risk assessment, new tests seem most useful when limited to patients initially judged to be at intermediate risk."

For more information – Surf to the November 28, 2005 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine

Chiropractic and Cost Benefits

The October 2005 issue of JMPT, the Journal of Manual and Physiological Therapeutics, released a study that whose aim was to measure the effects of a managed chiropractic benefit on the rates of specific diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for the treatment of back pain and neck pain.

This study is a retrospective analysis of claims data from a managed-care health plan over a 4-year period. The use rates of advanced imaging, surgery, inpatient care, and plain-film radiographs were compared between employer groups with and without a chiropractic benefit.

The authors concluded that for the treatment of low back and neck pain, the inclusion of a chiropractic benefit resulted in a reduction in the rates of surgery, advanced imaging, inpatient care, and plain-film radiographs. This effect was greater on a per-episode basis than on a per-patient basis.

For more information, surf to the October 2005 issue of JMPT - http://www2.us.elsevierhealth.com/inst/serve?action=searchDB&searchDBfor=art&artType=abs&id=as016147540500240x&nav=abs

Workers Leave of Absence and Workers Compensation.

The November 2005 issue of the Spine Journal, published a study comparing the financial impact and loss of work patterns due to a workers' compensation (WC) claim or personal injury in patients with a symptomatic cervical disc herniation resulting from a motor vehicle collision.

Patients with approved workers' compensation injuries receive guaranteed compensation for the duration of their injury, whereas patients with personal injury claims are only compensated, if at all, at the time of a successful settlement or trial verdict at a time point distant from their injury.

The authors concluded that Participants compensated through the workers' compensation system demonstrated a significant loss of days of work as compared with injured patients who received compensation by other means. This may be a reflection of the guaranteed method of compensation afforded to WC patients as opposed to patients who receive no form of financial support (i.e., personal injury) during the recuperative process. Further analysis as to injury severity and a stratification of non-workers' compensation reimbursement methods are needed to further improve the validity of this study.

For more information, surf to the Spine Journal.

Patient Recall of the Mechanics of Cervical Spine Manipulation

A Study in JMPT was set up to determine how accurately patients with neck pain and/or headache can recall the mechanics of their cervical spine manipulative therapy immediately after its administration.

Among the patients, 78.7% reported that they experienced a component of rotation and/or extension, although the technique used involved a pre-manipulative set-up of lateral bending coupled with flexion.

The study concluded that Patients with primary complaints of neck pain and/or headache, when asked to recall the mechanics of their recently applied cervical spine manipulative therapy, displayed a low rate of accuracy. Rotation and/or extension of the cervical spine were the most frequently given incorrect responses.

For more information, surf to the November 2005 issue of JMPT.  

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

Health Corner

Conference on Ageing

In early December 2005, the US White House listened, as the US Depart of Health & Human Services held it’s 5th meeting on White House Conferences on Aging.

These meetings are decennial events designed to develop recommendations for additional research and action in the field of aging. Over the course of the 20th century, approximately 35 conferences carrying the name of the White House have been held.  Its purpose is to make recommendations to the
President and Congress to help guide national aging policies for the next ten years and beyond.

By statute, the final report from the conference will be presented to the President and Congress by June 2006.

As COT’s HealthBeat concludes this year of Podcasts, and looks forward to a whole new upcoming year, Health Beat is pleased to replay some of the sound bites from this conference as a way to look forward into the future needs of the US Healthcare system.

For more information, surf to - http://www.whCoa.gov/

Thank you for listening…. And again, COT’s HealthBeat wishes everyone a Safe, Healthy and Happy New Year.

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Finally, I leave you with the following quote:

"Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." 
– Samuel Johnson

For Chiropractic OnLine Today’s HealthBeat, wishing everyone a Safe and Happy Holiday , This is Dr. Todd Eglow.

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