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HEALTHBEAT SHOW NOTES .... Episode #31 - Recorded February 10, 2006Hello
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 –
For
HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow. Welcome
to HealthBeat Podcast #31, recorded
February 10, 2006. HealthBeat is
Chiropractic OnLine Today’s radio program, providing current news and
commentary about Chiropractic and Health. This
week’s Episode is sponsored by DaVinci
Laboratories.
Please surf to our web site at ChiropracticRadio.com and click on the
DaVinci link for your Health and Nutritional needs. While
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thank everyone for their continued support. And
Now for some news …. The
Business of Healthcare According
to an article from the NY Times, Banks, credit unions and money management firms
are now quietly positioning themselves to become central players in the business
of health care, offering 401(k)-type accounts to cover future medical expenses. Bank
of America, J. P. Morgan Chase, Fidelity Investments and hundreds of others are
hoping to capitalize on the latest wrinkle in medical care paid by consumers:
health savings accounts, which have been around since 2003 but are moving to the
fore of the national agenda i Currently,
only about three million Americans have signed up for the high-deductible
insurance policy required for such accounts.
However, it is estimated that by the year 2010, more than 15 million
Americans, or about 10 percent of all those insured, will have a health savings
account. Banks
and others are drawn by the promise of lucrative fees they can generate by
offering consumers mutual funds and other investment vehicles as their account
balances grow. Most also charge $50 to $75 to set up a health savings account,
and they collect perhaps $40 or more each year in maintenance charges and
service fees. Health
savings accounts are akin to the private accounts that were proposed to help
overhaul Social Security. Much of Wall Street liked private retirement accounts,
but their support was guarded because they feared a potential negative reaction. For
more information, surf to the NY Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/business/27health.html?hp&ex=1138424400&en=433af284a9e52683&ei=5094&partner=homepage Feds
Clarify HIPAA Provider ID Issue As
reported in an earlier HealthBeat episode, way back in Episode #3, the US
Centers for Medicare Services, the CMS, has mandated that all healthcare
providers obtain a National Provider Identification number. In
early February, 2006, the CMS has issued guidance on when a provider
organization should get national provider identifiers for "subparts"
of the organization. CMS
designed the guidance to help providers understand the issue of subparts within
the national provider identifier final rule. If a subpart is appropriately
determined to need a separate identifier, it can smooth the processing of
Medicare claims generated by the unit. The guidance is available at http://cms.hhs.gov http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/news/NewsStory.cfm?articleId=12912 Low
Back Pain and Walking Low
back pain (LBP) is often accompanied by changes in gait, such as a decreased
(preferred) walking velocity. Previous studies have shown that LBP diminishes
the normal velocity-induced transverse counter-rotation between thorax and
pelvis, and that it globally affects mean erector spinae (ES) activity. The
exact nature and causation of these effects, however, have not been well
understood. A
study published in the European Spine Journal examined in detail the effect of
walking velocity on global trunk coordination and ES activity as well as their
variability to gain further insights into the effects of non-specific LBP on
gait. Comfortable
walking velocity was significantly lower in the LBP participants. In the
transverse plane, the normal velocity-induced change in pelvis–thorax
coordination from more in-phase to more antiphase was diminished in the LBP
participants, while lumbar and pelvis rotations were more in-phase compared to
the control group. In the frontal plane, intersegmental timing was more variable
in the LBP than in the control participants, with additional irregular movements
of the thorax. Rotational amplitudes were not significantly different between
the LBP and control participants. In the LBP participants, the pattern of ES
activity was affected in terms of increased (residual) variability, timing
deficits, amplitude modifications and frequency changes. The
gait of the LBP participants was characterized by a more rigid and less variable
kinematic coordination in the transverse plane, and a less tight and more
variable coordination in the frontal plane, accompanied by poorly coordinated
activity of the lumbar ES. Pain intensity, fear of movement and disability were
all unrelated to the observed changes in coordination, suggesting that the
observed changes in trunk coordination and ES activity were a direct consequence
of LBP per se. Clinically, the results imply that conservative therapy should
consider gait training as well as exercises aimed at improving both
intersegmental and muscle coordination. Surf
to our Show Notes for a link to this study – http://springerlink.metapress.com/(jffunzjkabk1ynm5p4bqwnql)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,5,18;journal,2,100;linkingpublicationresults,1:101557,1 Low
Back Pain and Pressure Pain Thresholds. In
another European Spine Journal study, an analysis of Low Back Pain and Muscle
Spasm was undertaken in relation to Pressure pain thresholds, also known as
PPTs. It
is not known whether or not muscle spasm of the back muscles presented in
patients with sciatic scoliosis caused by lumbar disc herniation produces muscle
pain and/or tenderness. Pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) of the lower back and
low-back pain were examined in 52 patients with lumbar disc herniation who
complained of radicular pain and in 15 normal subjects. According
to the study’s abstract, PPTs on the herniation side were significantly lower
than those on the contralateral side in patients with low-back pain dominantly
on the herniation side. Furthermore, the areas of low PPTs were beyond the
innervation area of dorsal ramus of L5 and S1 nerve root. It was considered that
not only the peripheral mechanisms but also the hyper excitability of the
central nervous system might contribute in lowering PPTs of the lower back on
the herniation side. For
more information, surf to our Show Notes for a link to this study - http://springerlink.metapress.com/(zkffcg45vyiacm45snmhn155)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,6,18;journal,2,100;linkingpublicationresults,1:101557,1 Researching
the Adjustment The
National Institute of Health (NIH) recently awarded National University of
Health Sciences (NUHS) in The
new four-year study will evaluate "gapping" in subjects with acute low
back pain and assess relationships between gapping and changes in pain,
function, number of treatments, and audible release during adjustments. Gapping
is an increase in open space within the joint and is considered beneficial in
that it breaks up adhesions and re-establishes joint motion. According
to Dr. Cramer, "The purpose of this work is to deepen our understanding of
one of the proposed mechanisms of action of chiropractic spinal adjusting". For
more information, surf to the Foundation for Chiropractic Research and Education
(http://www.fcer.org) Chiropractic
Treatment and Blood Pressure A
study in the January 2006 issue of JMPT looked at whether chiropractic
manipulation is associated with any measurable changes in the difference between
the arterial blood pressures on the left and right before and after treatment in
normotensive subjects. The
results of the study found that there was a significant difference was found
between the pre- and posttreatment blood pressure differences for systolic
pressures, but no significant difference was found in either set of control data
or the treatment diastolic values. The
conclusion of the study stated that - Chiropractic treatment appears to have an
effect on the difference in systolic blood pressure between the arms, which is
not shown in the control group or the diastolic treatment group values. This may
be attributable to a difference between the 2 groups' preintervention systolic
values; however, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups after
intervention. For
more information, surf to the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Manipulative
and Physiological Therapeutics. Exercise
and Dementia A
study in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at whether regular exercise is
associated with a reduced risk for dementia and Alzheimer disease. 1740
persons older than age 65 years without cognitive impairment who scored above
the 25th percentile on the Cognitive Ability Screening Instrument (CASI) in the
Adult Changes in Thought study and who were followed biennially to identify
incident dementia. A
possible limitation of the study was that exercise was measured by self-reported
frequency. The study population had a relatively high proportion of regular
exercisers at baseline. The
authors of the study concluded that these results suggest that regular exercise
is associated with a delay in onset of dementia and Alzheimer disease, further
supporting its value for elderly persons. For more information, surf to the January 17, 2006 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. As
always, COT's HealthBeat always recommends discussing any Lifestyle
modifications with a qualified healthcare provider.. Health
Corner – In
this edition of COT’s HealthBeat Health Corner, we focus on the status of
health care in the One of the proponents of focusing on correcting this problem has been NY Times Op-Ed writer and economist, Paul Krugman. Following is his Op-Ed piece from the January 26, 2006 edition of the NY Times. Thank
you for listening…. As always, We Want to hear from you.
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homepage and click on the Podcast Alley link. If
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HealthBeat segments to your site. For more
information, please send me an Email at healthbeat@chiropracticradio.com
While
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running, via our Pay Pal link. We
thank everyone for your continued support. Finally,
I leave you with the following quote: "Everything
should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." For Chiropractic OnLine Today’s HealthBeat, This is Dr. Todd Eglow. |
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