
:dropcap_open:Some of the outstanding clinical outcomes of the study include noted improvement in headache pain:quoteleft_close:
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Z.S. Tan, MD, MPH; W.S. Harris, PhD; A.S. Beiser, PhD; R. Au, PhD; J.J. Himali, MS; and 7 more. This study was done at Boston University School of Medicine. Docosahexaenoic acid = DHA |
KEY POINTS FROM THIS STUDY:
1. “Higher fish intake has been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality and stroke.”
2. In an earlier Framingham cohort study, participants in the top quartile of plasma docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels had 47% lower risks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and all-cause dementia.
3. This study related RBC fatty acid composition to subclinical markers of future dementia. “We related RBC omega-3 fatty acid levels to recognized MRI and cognitive markers of subclinical AD and vascular pathology and of risk for dementia in a large, community-based sample.”
A. The brain MRI assessment included:
- Brain volume
- White matter hyperintensity volume
B. The cognitive evaluation included:
- Neuropsychological assessment, including recall time, verbal memory, visuospatial memory, abstract reasoning skills, etc.
4. “We found that lower levels of RBC, DHA and EPA in late middle age were associated with markers of accelerated structural and cognitive aging.” [Key Point]
5. “Fatty acids are integral components of biological membranes, and influence membrane fluidity, ion transport, and other functions. The neuronal cell membrane is no exception; the CNS has the highest concentration of phospholipids in the body.”
6. The omega-3 PUFA DHA is “very inefficiently synthesized from shorter-chain dietary precursor alpha-linolenic acid” and therefore is best obtained preformed from the diet. [Important for strict vegetarians]
7. “The biosynthesis of EPA and DHA from their precursor alpha-linolenic acid appears to decrease with age.”
8. Dietary intake of fatty fish is the main source of the omega-3s DHA and EPA.
9. “DHA and EPA exert several favorable effects on the vasculature, including blood pressure reduction, lowering the risk of thrombosis, reducing inflammation, and lowering serum triglyceride levels. Since vascular risk factors, cerebral atherosclerosis, and stroke have been associated with a higher risk of incident dementia, omega-3 PUFAs may delay cognitive and structural brain aging by some combination of these mechanisms.”
10. The omega-3 PUFAs influence membrane function and the activities of membrane-bound proteins. [Very Important]
11. Omega-3 PUFAs may be “directly linked to the neurodegenerative pathogenesis of AD, including reduction of amyloid-B production, synaptic protection by reducing neuroinflammation and oxidative damage, by increasing levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor, and through reduction of potentially excitotoxic arachidonic acid (omega-6) levels.”
COMMENTS FROM DAN MURPHY
This study adds to the evidence that preformed long-chain EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for brain function. For years I and many colleagues have routinely tested patient RBC levels of EPA and DHA, and our findings are very concerning: our average patients are critically low in these essential fatty acids.
Healthcare costs are threatening to bankrupt our nation. It is projected that my generation, the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), will give our nation nearly 14 million cases of Alzheimer’s Disease; the cost of managing Alzheimer’s alone is projected to exceed $1 trillion per year, creating an unconceivable burden on our citizens. It is imperative for ourselves, our families, our patients and our nation for each of us to consume adequate levels of long-chain preformed EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids, and it is easy to do: supplement.
Dr. Dan Murphy graduated magna cum laude from Western States Chiropractic College in 1978. He received Diplomat status in Chiropractic Orthopedics in 1986. Since 1982, Dr. Murphy has served part-time as undergraduate faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, currently teaching classes to seniors in the management of spinal disorders. He has taught more than 2000 postgraduate continuing education seminars. Dr. Murphy is a contributing author to both editions of the book Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries and to the book Pediatric Chiropractic. Hundreds of detailed Article Reviews, pertinent to chiropractors and their patients, are available at Dr. Murphy’s web page, www.danmurphydc.com.
From Abstract
:dropcap_open:He reported that muscle relaxants had a moderate success rate defined by a 1-2 decrease in pain scales rated out of 10.:quoteleft_close:
:quoteright_open:The omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio is innately critical for brain function, heart health, immunity, joint health, pain syndromes and more.:quoteright_close:
Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
January–February 2009; Vol. 22; No. 1; pp. 69 –74
Gerry Schwalfenberg, MD; from the Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada.
KEY POINTS FROM THIS CASE SERIES:
1) This article reviews 6 selected cases of improvement/resolution of chronic back pain or failed back surgery after vitamin D repletion in a Canadian family practice.
2) Chronic low back pain and failed back surgery may improve with repletion of vitamin D from a state of deficiency/insufficiency to sufficiency.
3) Vitamin D insufficiency is common; repletion of vitamin D to normal levels in patients who have chronic low back pain or have had failed back surgery may improve quality of life or, in some cases, result in complete resolution of symptoms.
4) “Back pain is the most common neurological complaint in North America, second only to headache.”
5) “Low back pain (LBP) and proximal myopathy are also common symptoms of vitamin D deficiency and osteomalacia.”
6) In this report, there were 4 patients who had chronic back pain for more than a year and 2 patients who suffered for more than 3 years from failed back surgery.
7) “Repletion of inadequate vitamin D levels (>80 nmol/L) demonstrated significant improvement or complete resolution of chronic LBP symptoms in these patients.”
8) “Vitamin D is required for the differentiation, proliferation, and maturation of cartilage cells and for the production of proteoglycan synthesis in articular chondrocytes.”
9) “Patients who have chronic, nonspecific LBP or have had failed back surgery may have an underlying vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency.”
10) Risk factors for persistence or recurrence of LBP after surgery include infection, smoking and low vitamin D levels.
11) “All patients had tried various pain treatments, including physiotherapy, visiting a chiropractor, acupuncture, or visit to a pain management clinic, all without much benefit.”
12) Physicians should have a high index of suspicion for low vitamin D levels in patients with LBP.
13) “The patients in this study who responded best used between 4000 and 5000 IU of vitamin D3/day.”
14) “This case series supports information that has recently become apparent in the literature about vitamin D deficiency and its influence on back pain, muscle pain, and failed back surgery. Doses in the range of 4000 to 5000 IU of vitamin D3/day may be needed for an adequate response.”
Dr. Dan Murphy graduated magna cum laude from Western States Chiropractic College in 1978. He received Diplomat status in Chiropractic Orthopedics in 1986. Since 1982, Dr. Murphy has served part-time as undergraduate faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, currently teaching classes to seniors in the management of spinal disorders. He has taught more than 2000 postgraduate continuing education seminars. Dr. Murphy is a contributing author to both editions of the book Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries and to the book Pediatric Chiropractic. Hundreds of detailed Article Reviews, pertinent to chiropractors and their patients, are available at Dr. Murphy’s web page, www.danmurphydc.com.
Improvement of Chronic Back Pain or Failed Back Surgery with Vitamin D Repletion: A Case Series
January–February 2009; Vol. 22; No. 1; pp. 69 –74
Gerry Schwalfenberg, MD; from the Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada.
KEY POINTS FROM THIS CASE SERIES:
1) This article reviews 6 selected cases of improvement/resolution of chronic back pain or failed back surgery after vitamin D repletion in a Canadian family practice.
2) Chronic low back pain and failed back surgery may improve with repletion of vitamin D from a state of deficiency/insufficiency to sufficiency.
3) Vitamin D insufficiency is common; repletion of vitamin D to normal levels in patients who have chronic low back pain or have had failed back surgery may improve quality of life or, in some cases, result in complete resolution of symptoms.
4) In this report, there were 4 patients who had chronic back pain for more than a year and 2 patients who suffered for more than 3 years from failed back surgery.
5) “Repletion of inadequate vitamin D levels (>80 nmol/L) demonstrated significant improvement or complete resolution of chronic LBP symptoms in these patients.”
6) “Vitamin D is required for the differentiation, proliferation, and maturation of cartilage cells and for the production of proteoglycan synthesis in articular chondrocytes.”
7) “Patients who have chronic, nonspecific LBP or have had failed back surgery may have an underlying vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency.”
8) Risk factors for persistence or recurrence of LBP after surgery include infection, smoking and low vitamin D levels.
9) “All patients had tried various pain treatments, including physiotherapy, visiting a chiropractor, acupuncture, or visit to a pain management clinic, all without much benefit.”
10) Physicians should have a high index of suspicion for low vitamin D levels in patients with LBP.
11) “The patients in this study who responded best used between 4000 and 5000 IU of vitamin D3/day.”
12) “This case series supports information that has recently become apparent in the literature about vitamin D deficiency and its influence on back pain, muscle pain, and failed back surgery. Doses in the range of 4000 to 5000 IU of vitamin D3/day may be needed for an adequate response.”
Dr. Dan Murphy graduated magna cum laude from Western States Chiropractic College in 1978. He received Diplomat status in Chiropractic Orthopedics in 1986. Since 1982, Dr. Murphy has served part-time as undergraduate faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, currently teaching classes to seniors in the management of spinal disorders. He has taught more than 2000 postgraduate continuing education seminars. Dr. Murphy is a contributing author to both editions of the book Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries and to the book Pediatric Chiropractic. Hundreds of detailed Article Reviews, pertinent to chiropractors and their patients, are available at Dr. Murphy’s web page, www.danmurphydc.com.
On the Aetiology of Autism
Acta Paediatrica
August 2010, Vol. 99, No. 8, pp. 1128–1130
John J. Cannell
BACKGROUND FROM DAN MURPHY, D.C.
The world standard for blood levels of vitamin D uses nmol/l, while US standard uses mg/dl.
For vitamin D, to convert mg/dl to nmol/l, divide the mg/dl by 2.5.
For vitamin D, to convert nmol/l to mg/dl, just multiply by 2.5.
In 2008, this author, John Cannell, published an article in the Journal Medical Hypothesis, titled: “Autism and Vitamin D,” Medical Hypotheses, Volume 70, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 750-759.
In this newer article, Cannell updates his hypothesis of the link between low levels of vitamin D3 and the incidence of autism, reviewing the studies that have appeared in the literature since his 2008 publication.
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1) “The primary environmental trigger for autism is not vaccinations, toxins or infections, but gestational and early childhood vitamin D deficiency.”
2) An article in Scientific American (2009) and two articles in Acta Paediatrica (2010) support the evidence that “vitamin D deficiency—either during pregnancy or early childhood—may be an environmental trigger for the genetic disease of autism.”
3) Currently, there is an epidemic of gestational vitamin D deficiency. Prenatal supplementation with 400 IU of vitamin D3/day “is virtually irrelevant in preventing” this gestational deficiency. “The Canadian Paediatric Society cautioned pregnant women that they may require not 400 IU⁄day but 2000 IU⁄day, or more, to prevent gestational vitamin D deficiency.”
4) The increased incidence of autism in the children of richer college-educated, wealthy parents might be explained by noting that such parents are more likely to “practice sun avoidance and use of sun block.”
5) The melanin found in darker skin is an effective sun block. Consequently, dark skinned people have a higher incidence of autism.
6) Environmental toxins are more likely to damage the genome of those who are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D “protects the genome from damage by toxins.”
7) A 2008 study (Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders) found that boys with autism have reductions in metacarpal thickness; this is consistent with a deficiency of vitamin D during a stage of development.
8) A 2008 study (Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine) indicated that autism rates are higher in regions with more rainy/cloudy days. “Clouds and rain retard vitamin D-producing ultraviolet B light from penetrating the atmosphere.”
9) Autism is more prevalent in cities than in rural settings. “City life affords less vitamin D because of tall buildings, indoor occupations and increased air pollution, all of which block ultraviolet B light from penetrating the atmosphere.”
10) Studies published in the journal Neurology (2008 and 2009) indicate increased autism in the children of mothers who took antiepileptic drugs. “Antiepileptic drugs are one of the few classes of drugs that consistently and significantly interfere with vitamin D metabolism, lowering vitamin D3 levels.”
11) Autism rates are higher in children born in the winter, when vitamin D from sun exposure is low.
12) Autism has a genetic contribution. The current epidemic maternal and early childhood deficiency of vitamin D may “allow the genetic tendency for autism to express itself.”
13) Theoretically, prevention and perhaps treatment of autism with physiological doses of vitamin D3 “is so simple, so safe, so inexpensive, so readily available and so easy, that it defies imagination.”
14) “Children with chronic illnesses such as autism, diabetes and/or frequent infections should be supplemented with higher doses of sunshine or vitamin D3, doses adequate to maintain their 25(OH) D levels in the mid-normal of the reference range [65 ng/mL {USA} or 162 nmol/L {global}]—and should be so supplemented year round.”
15) “To some real but unknown extent, autism is an iatrogenic disease, caused by governments, organizations, committees, newspapers and physicians who promulgated the current warnings about sun exposure for pregnant women and young children without any understanding of the tragedy they engendered.”
Dr. Dan Murphy graduated magna cum laude from Western States Chiropractic College in 1978. He received Diplomat status in Chiropractic Orthopedics in 1986. Since 1982, Dr. Murphy has served part-time as undergraduate faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, currently teaching classes to seniors in the management of spinal disorders. He has taught more than 2000 postgraduate continuing education seminars. Dr. Murphy is a contributing author to both editions of the book Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries and to the book Pediatric Chiropractic. Hundreds of detailed Article Reviews, pertinent to chiropractors and their patients, are available at Dr. Murphy’s web page, www.danmurphydc.com.
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American)
April 1947, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 461-534
Verne T. Inman and John B. de C. M. Saunders
1) “Herniation of the nucleus pulposus or protrusion of the disc is now firmly established as a pathological mechanism associated with low-back pain and sciatica.”
2) “The majority will agree that the treatment of many of these cases by laminectomy and nerve-root decompression has been disappointing.”
3) “Destroy the disc and you destroy spinal mechanics. Therefore, in disc derangement, we are dealing with a dual problem:”
A) Deranged spinal mechanics
B) The effects of spinal nerve-root irritation and compression
[Spinal nerve root irritation and compression are often very different physiologically. Compression reduces nerve function and, hence, is associated with things such as muscle atrophy and reduced sensation. Irritation increases (denervation supersensitivity {Gunn}) nerve function and, hence, is associated with things such as increased pain, increased muscle tone and spasm.]
4) Both “deranged spinal mechanics,” nerve root irritation, and nerve root compression, cause pain.
5) Patients with deranged spinal mechanics” should not be surgically managed. [“Deranged spinal mechanics” appears to be synonymous with chiropractic subluxation.]
6) The normal nucleus pulposus is a semifluid substance, being 80% water and, thus, is “incompressible.”
7) The normal semifluid nucleus transmits forces to the elastic spinal ligamentous structures. “The critical feature in the disturbance of spinal mechanics and in the production of pain is the effect on the ligamentous structures, caused by the loss of water or nuclear substance following injury or degeneration.” [Key Point]
8) “An individual getting up in the morning is taller than when he [she] goes to bed at night:” men by ¾ inch, women by ½ inch. This is because the nucleus loses fluid in an upright gravity environment. This exchange of fluid helps the nucleus and annulus of the disc to remain healthy.
9) With age, the cartilaginous end-plate becomes less permeable to fluid, the free exchange of water is suppressed, resulting in “progressive desiccation of the nucleus.”
10) Small rents in the annulus allow the nucleus to escape, reducing fluid pressure and altering spinal mechanics, and pain.
[Sounds like Gonstead’s internal disc derangement.]
11) The resiliency of the spine and the motions permitted to it are primarily due to the elastic nature of the annulus fibrosis.
12) “The loss of the fluid pressure in the nucleus pulposus leads to grave derangements in the physiology of the disc.”
13) “The decrease in the vertical height of the intervertebral disc spaces leads to subluxation of the interarticular zygapophysial joints, in which degenerative changes develop as the result of the abnormal forces acting upon them.” [Subluxation]
14) “The ligamentous structures of the body are the most sensitive to pain.”
15) Ligaments can initiate pain from chemical irritants or from “mechanical displacement of the collagenous fibers.” This pain is deep, dull aching and poorly localized. [Chiropractic Subluxation]
16) Ligament pain ebbs and wanes, and can be accompanied by “vasovagal responses, such as nausea, sweating, and fall in blood pressure.”
17) Deep ligament pain arises embryologically from the mesoderm. This type of pain is termed “sclerotogenous” pain, meaning it does not follow a dermatomal distribution.
18) Deep sclerotogenous pain can occur in the absence of direct irritation of the peripheral nerve or nerve root.
19) “The annulus fibrosus has been shown to possess a rich nerve supply,” allowing it to initiate “sclerotogenous” pain.
20) Distortion of the annulus and other spinal ligaments can cause not only local pain, but also sclerotomal pain that radiates down the posterior thigh. This is not sciatica, because there is no irritation to the nerve roots.
21) When the lumbar nerve roots exit the intervertebral foramen, they carry with it the spinal dura, doubling their diameter as compared to the cauda equina roots in the subarachnoid space.
22) Since each nerve root is firmly attached to the spinal dura, “traction upon the nerve will produce deformation of the dural sac without transmission of the tension to the fibers of the cauda equina.”
23) Deeper spinal structures primarily initiate slow pain, which is characterized as being dull and aching, and poorly localized.
24) Nerve compression primarily affects large nerve fibers, which are associated with proprioceptive and motor function.
25) Pain fibers are smaller, and are more likely to fire in response to chemical (inflammatory) stimulus than to mechanical pressure.
26) Disc herniation without nerve compression is characterized first by pain and then a deep ache radiating into the leg in a sclerotomal pattern.
27) Disc herniation with nerve compression is characterized by loss of vibratory sense, muscle weakness, reduced tendon reflexes, and hyperesthesia/pain in a dermatomal pattern. The pain is sharper from chemical inflammation in the region.
28) This all indicates that patients can be placed into three categories:
A)) Mechanical spinal derangement: [chiropractic subluxation]
These patients have deep spinal irritations but no nerve compression.
These patients have “backache and local signs and symptoms of injury to the vertebral ligamentous structures, have radiating pain, deeper in character, extending down one or both extremities. The extent of the radiation is indicative in some measure of the degree of irritation or injury to the ligamentous structures.”
B)) Nerve root compression from disc herniation:
The “pressure will interrupt nerve conductivity in a precise sequential fashion:”
The larger nerve fibers conveying proprioception and motor impulses are affected first.
The nerve fibers conveying pressure, touch and fast pain are affected second.
The nerve fibers conveying temperature sense and deep pain are lost last.
These patients usually also have spinal ligamentous irritation that causes local backache and the “radiation of deep pain to the extremities.” Surgery to decompress the nerve root will often leave the patient with the ligamentous back pain and deep extremity referred pain radiation, and the patient will often be disappointed.
C)) Nerve root compression from spinal cord tumor:
The major lesion is nerve compression, but local ligamentous irritation is minimum or lacking. There are outstanding signs of nerve compression, including muscle weakness with atrophy, “definite and unequivocal loss of sensation over the appropriate dermatome, and reflex changes.” Backache is mild or lacking. Radiation of pain to the lower extremity is not extensive. This is typically caused by a spinal cord tumor, and only rarely from a disc herniation. Surgical removal and decompression of the nerve usually results in complete and dramatic recovery.
DISCUSSION BY WILLIAM JASON MIXTER:
29) “Motor weakness should be considered a definite emergency and the patient should be operated upon at once. If the motor weakness is left untreated for a considerable time [6-12 months], the strength never returns.”
DISCUSSION BY BARNES WOODHALL:
30) 40% of disc herniation patients with nerve compression have only motor signs, they “possessed no defecit in the common sensory modalities of pain, light touch, heat and cold, or sense of position.”
Dr. Dan Murphy graduated magna cum laude from Western States Chiropractic College in 1978. He received Diplomat status in Chiropractic Orthopedics in 1986. Since 1982, Dr. Murphy has served part-time as undergraduate faculty at Life Chiropractic College West, currently teaching classes to seniors in the management of spinal disorders. He has taught more than 2000 postgraduate continuing education seminars. Dr. Murphy is a contributing author to both editions of the book Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries and to the book Pediatric Chiropractic. Hundreds of detailed Article Reviews, pertinent to chiropractors and their patients, are available at Dr. Murphy’s web page, www.danmurphydc.com.
The American Chiropractic Association (2010) reported that 31 million Americans experience low back pain. This is an epidemic at a staggering rate because what most of the public and doctors alike do not understand is what that sets the patient up for later in life that can be prevented. Stupar, Pierre, French and Hawker (2010) found that 49% of the general population reported a 6 month prevalence of low back pain, with 11% reporting the back pain to be so significant that it seriously limited their activities.
Low back pain and arthritis have now been linked. According to Dawson and Shaffrey (2009), the most common form of arthritis is called osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease and affects more than 20 million American adults. Osteoarthritis often begins at a slow rate. Early on, joints may be sore after physical work or exercise. The pain of early osteoarthritis dissipates and then returns over time, particularly as a result of overuse of the affected joint.
As Stupar et al. (2010) reported, osteoarthritis or OA has been long associated with back pain and reported comorbidity (they exist together.) 40% of hip or knee osteoarthritis patients have had low back pain. The 2010 study concluded hip osteoarthritis and low back pain is a conclusive predictor for future leg pain and disability and suggested that alleviating low back pain may positively impact future hip pain and function. This will result in preventing disability and alleviating the financial burden to the government, industry and insurers.
Clinically, the author has seen in patients with low back instabilities and persistent pain and degeneration of the spine and hips over a lifetime. This has been termed “subluxation degeneration” The Association of Chiropractic Colleges has defined subluxation as “…a complex of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health” (The Association of Chiropractic Colleges, 2010, http://www.chirocolleges.org/paradigm_scope_practice.html). Simply put, subluxation is a diagnostic entity that denotes the vertebrate is out of position, is fixed or stuck in the wrong position to some degree and has a negative neurological effect. Once the vertebrate is out of position, the body automatically tries to stabilize the spine and mobilizes calcium to use as cement, or glue to prevent further malpositions. This is one of the causes of the degeneration or osteoarthritis as a sequella to malpositions of the vertebrate.
A 2009 study by Aspegren, Enebo, Miller, White, Akuthota, Hyde, & Cox concluded that 81.5% of workers with an acute injury causing low back or neck pain reported immediate post-treatment (manipulative-chiropractic adjustment) relief. That doesn’t take into account those patients who got better over time.
In 2009, Painter reported that Consumer Reports conducted an independent survey of 14,000 subscribers who rated hands-on therapy as the #1 treatment of choice for low back pain. The report went on to say that 88% of those who tried a chiropractic adjustment reported positive outcomes.
Research has concluded that there is a definitive clinical correlation between low back pain and osteoarthritis as a prognostic indicator of significant future problems if the low back pain is not resolved. Research has also concluded that chiropractic care is a safe, highly effective treatment choice for low back pain patients and as a result, low back pain cannot be ignored, especially in light of the fact that it can be treated in a cost-effective manner.
In 2009, Russo, Weir and Elixhauser reported that hospital stays for low back pain were 3.9 out of every 1000 people aged 55-64 years and Osteoarthritis was the #2 reason for hospital stays and fell only behind coronary atherosclerosis. This indicates both of these conditions have reached epidemic proportions in society.
According to Virginia Healthcare and Hospital Association (2010), the average non-surgical hospital stay in Virginia in 2009 was $15,059, while the average hospital stay in Virginia with surgery was $77,107, not including the doctors’ fees and post surgical care. A 2007 study by North, Kidd, Shipley and Taylor revealed that the cost to use spinal cord stimulation to treat failed back surgery syndrome was $117,901 and unsuccessful attempts at reoperation cost $260,584. These are staggering numbers considering that we now have the data and the ability to prevent many of these surgeries; not underwriting the costs of procedures that could have been avoided.
“MEDSTAT is an independent study of the cost of treating many common neuro-musculoskeletal conditions conducted recently under the direction of Miron Stano, Ph.D., a health care economist and Professor at the School of Business, Oakland University, Rochester, MI.” MEDSTAT, as reported by Chiropractic Lifecare of America (2009), concluded that the average chiropractic case is $3,799, far less than our medical counterparts and significantly less than any hospital stay (factoring in the cost of drugs, supports, specialist and rehabilitation referrals and surgeries for both.) It was also found that the percentages of hospital admissions are 29% for medicine and 19% for chiropractic patients.
With governmental agencies in fiscal crisis, including the Federal Government, the Obama administration has taken an unprecedented step to reign in healthcare costs and spending. According to Senate Budget Committee member Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as reported in the Washington Post, “…bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate health committee does not propose ‘the sort of fundamental changes’ necessary to rein in the skyrocketing cost of government health programs, particularly Medicare” (Montgomery & Murray, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/16/ AR2009071602242.html).
Whether you are a pro-President Obama Democrat, an anti-President Obama Republican or you fall somewhere in the middle, there is one thing that America can agree on; the health care system is broken and needs to be fixed. Too many sick people are not getting the care needed and doctors that sacrifice their lives for these patients are not getting a fair and equitable reimbursement.
The problem for the public is clear, but for doctors who are getting reimbursed at $20-$30 or less per visit because the carriers have exploited many loopholes in coverage will not be in the profession much longer for financial reasons, nor will they recommend that the future’s brightest minds in the nation go into healthcare. Who will care for our children or our children’s children when they are sick? Who will be available to the public to offer these cost saving, life changing options to the public?
We have established that chiropractic treats and prevents back pain and, therefore, will also mitigate many arthritic conditions as evidenced in the above research. If chiropractic helps only 20-30% of the arthritics and back pain patients (which, based on 30 years of clinical experience is woefully low), then we can rescue the economy on the United States with chiropractic alone by keeping billions of local, federal and insurance money in the system by either preventing needless care and surgeries or trading more expensive care for significantly lower costs with better scientifically and statistically proven outcomes; that is the chiropractic solution.
Dr. Mark Studin is the President of the Academy of Chiropractic (www.TeachChiros.com ) and consults doctors nationally on personal injury practices. He is also a researcher and the clinical director of the US Chiropractic Directory (www.USChiroDirectory.com ,) the largest chiropractic entity in the world that offers research and doctors credentials to the public.
References:
Retrieved from https://www.acatoday.org/level2_css.cfm?T1ID=13&T2ID=68
Retrieved from http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/spondylosis/ osteoarthritis-degenerative-spinal-joint-disease
4. Aspegren, D., Enebo, B. A., Miller, M., White, L., Akuthota, V., Hyde, T. E., & Cox, J. M. (2009). Functional Scores and subjective responses of injured worker with back or neck pain treated with chiropractic care in an integrative program: A retrospective analysis of 100 cases. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 32(9), 765-771.
Retrieved from http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/ABSTRACTS/Hands_on_Therapies.shtml
Retrieved from http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb79.jsp
from http://www.vapricepoint.org/Report_INP.aspx
from http://www.vapricepoint.org/Report_INP.aspx
9. North, R. B., Kidd, D., Shipley, J. & Taylor, R. S. (2007). Spinal cord stimulation versus reoperation for failed back surgery syndrome: A cost effectiveness and cost utility analysis based on a randomized, controlled trial. Neurosurgery, 61(2), 361-368.
Retrieved from http://www.clahealthcare.com/ learning/index.html
Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/ 16/AR2009071602242.html