Source: PRNewswire
PRESS RELEASE
Publication date: 2006-01-31

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Ira Shapiro from Old Bridge, N.J., and Dr. Jeffrey Solomon from Miami, Fla., have been selected as the team chiropractors for the U.S. Olympic Team during the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.

Drs. Shapiro and Solomon have dedicated much of their professional careers to treating athletes. In fact, Dr. Shapiro was a member of the Olympic medical staff during the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece. In addition to maintaining a private practice, Dr. Shapiro has served on the board of directors of both the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians (ACBSP) and the United States Sports Chiropractic Federation (USSCF).

Dr. Solomon's first exposure to the Olympics was at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Ga. Since then, he has provided chiropractic care during Olympic Track & Field Trials and recently finished a five-year run as the team chiropractor for Florida International University's athletic department in Miami. Dr. Solomon is the president of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Council on Sports Injuries and Physical Fitness, and was recently elected as president of the Florida Chiropractic Association. Also involved in private practice, Dr. Solomon pioneered the country's first mobile chiropractic office in 1992, and now manages a fleet of four, 30-foot custom designed vehicles.

The U.S. Olympic Committee medical staff consists of medical doctors, certified athletic trainers, massage therapists, chiropractors and pharmaceutical experts. As part of the selection process, applicants are assessed on their clinical expertise, in addition to their ability to work under pressure and effectively relate to and communicate with the athletes, coaches, administrators and other medical staff.

"As our nation's Olympians strive for gold in Italy, many of them will rely on chiropractic care. Athletes believe in chiropractic not only for rehabilitation purposes and for treatment of overuse injuries, but also because they feel hands-on chiropractic care gives them a competitive edge," said ACA President Richard G. Brassard, DC.

Athletes have long understood the value of chiropractic care as a means to maintain their health and improve their competitiveness. In the past, U.S. athletes sought out chiropractic care on the side because they strongly believed in its effectiveness to alleviate pain at the source and to condition their bodies for peak performance. Additionally, with increased scrutiny surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs, athletes are turning to safe, drug-free health care whenever possible.

The roster of Olympic athletes who have benefited from chiropractic care is truly impressive. Star performers such as Derek Parra, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Willi Banks, Edwin Moses, and countless other greats from previous Olympics have taken advantage of chiropractic in order to get a leg up on their competition.

About the American Chiropractic Association

The American Chiropractic Association, based in Arlington, Va., is the largest professional association in the world representing doctors of chiropractic. The ACA provides lobbying, public relations, professional and educational opportunities for doctors of chiropractic, and offers leadership for the advancement of the profession. For more information about the ACA, visit http://www.acatoday.org/.

First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact:

American Chiropractic Association

CONTACT: Angela Kargus of the American Chiropractic Association,+1-703-812-0240, or akargus@acatoday.org

Web site: http://www.acatoday.com/

Publication date: 2006-01-31

Source: Mail on Sunday; London (UK)
Publication date: 2006-03-26
By KELLY GILBERT

Don't let your fashion addiction land you in casualty, warns Kelly Gilbert.

“Watch those shoes”, “ Thongs are wrong”… We know that getting an outfit wrong can be socially damaging, but what about physically damaging?

Making the wrong wardrobe choice could have you in AE faster than you can say, 'But it's fashion, darling!' With an eye on spring and summer, here's a guide to the dangers awaiting the true fashion victim.

Ah-ha, I know what you're thinking: 'She's going to bang on like a spoilsport about the dangers of stilettos.' Well, think again.

We all know sexy spiked heels are bad for you, misaligning the tiny bones in the foot and shortening your achilles tendons (the latest claim is that they can reduce fertility because the unnatural posture they cause compresses internal organs). But right now they are not a priority on the fashion radar, so back in the closet with those Manolos!

What is definitely in every chic woman's arsenal this spring is a pair of ultra-dainty, super-flat pumps or sandals a sensible option, right?

Wrong. Flats provide absolutely no support for your feet. As they are so close to the ground, with no cushioning, wearing them is considered more dangerous than going barefoot. You risk aggravating back niggles, and if you've already got bad posture, book your session with the chiropractor now.

You won't be alone: poor footwear choice is estimated to account for more than 40 per cent of all appointments.

Recent reports have suggested that the thong has had its day but don't you believe it. It may be that full knickers are now considered acceptably sexy, thanks to covetable lingerie labels such as FrostFrench, but there are still plenty of women who secretly love these barely-there scraps of material if only for 'special occasions'. Apart from the discomfort (always a small price to pay for fashion), wearing a thong means having to worry about aggravating sensitive genital skin, triggering a thrush attack and spreading bacteria-loving cystitis. All these complaints can arise directly from a chaffing thong or G-string, according to health professionals it's the heat, moisture and close-fitting nature of the garment that doesn't allow for air circulation. Gynaecologist Dr Thomas Gent has even called for them to be banned. If

Don't overexpose yourself Jeans that squeeze you are determined, always go for silk or cotton a synthetic fabric is asking for trouble.

Miniskirts or shorts teamed with bare legs were all over the spring catwalks. Ignoring the fact that we don't have the Riviera conditions to wear them, many of us will happily skip out tohypothermia. Yes, you read correctly.

Increasingly, young girls in particular (but they are by no means the only culprits) find themselves being warmed up in AE departments after wearing too few clothes while consuming body temperature- lowering alcohol.

And if you don't reach the hypo stage, you can still develop broken thread veins, cellulite and skin-reddening poor circulation.

But an even more dangerous item is the humble crop top. A carelessly exposed midriff can result in severe kidney infection, as 16-year-old Kayleigh Bradley from Blackburn found out to her cost last year after bearing her midriff in winter conditions. She ended up in agony on a hospital drip, vowing to wear woollens for the rest of her days.

Research at Cardiff University found that people become more susceptible to illness if their body temperature is lowered, so before exposing your flesh, check the weather forecast and stock up on echinacea.

Super-skinny jeans are a favourite among the fashionistas. Kate and Sienna have enough pairs between them to stock Topshop for a month, but I wonder if either of them suffers from paraesthesia nerve damage caused by ultra-tight trousers stretched across the hipbone, which leads to unpleasant tingling in the legs? Restricting blood flow is an old favourite of masochistic followers of fashion.

Slinky dresses and corsets can also bring on all sorts of health problems, from injuries due to fainting to dyspepsia, a build-up of air in the stomach, which the body is unable to dispel, leading to uncomfortable abdominal pain and heartburn. Best not worn to dinner, then.

AND STAY ALERT

- Beware infections from body piercing.
Last year, Nicola Hodges, 18, from Folkstone ended up in hospital on an intravenous drip - suffering throat and stomach ulcers after having her tongue pierced.

- In a single year Wellington boots caused 7,093 people to visit casualty, according to a survey of AE admissions. In the majority of cases the wearer slipped while trying to pull them on or off.

- The humble cardigan is also a repeat offender, causing many wearers who pop them round their shoulders to visit AE (nearly 1,000 cases every year) with bad backs and broken bones. Apparently the trouble mostly begins when a loose sleeve hooks on to a door handle . Polished wood floors and socks together are also bad news - in one year, recently, 83,000 people needed hospital treatment.

- Just trying to get socks on in the first place can cause problems for some. Along with tights and stockings they were responsible for 11,788 injuries in one year.

Child Chiropractic Care Research Studies
planetc1.com-news@10:17 am PST
by ICPA News

International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) Announces Preliminary Results of their Children’s PBRN Survey Study: “Treatment-related aggravations, complications and improvements attributed to chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy of pediatric patients: a practice-based survey of practitioners.”

The ICPA has launched two ground breaking practice-based research studies on the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic care for children. One study asked Doctors of Chiropractic to provide information on treatment-related aggravations, complications and improvements. So far, we have collected data on hundreds of clinical cases and the results are astounding. The preliminary data confirms what we have been saying all along – chiropractic care of children is safe and effective. On the issue of safety – only minor and self limiting aggravations (for example, soreness) have been reported and they number in less than a handful over thousands of patient visits. There were no reported treatment-related complications such as cerebrovascular accidents, fractures, dislocations, etc.. With treatment-related improvements as a result of chiropractic care, over ninety percent of the chiropractors reported an improvement in their patients’ presenting complaints. Even more interesting are the findings of improvements unrelated to the presenting complaints. A majority of these involved children with improved disposition and improved immune function.

The second survey study asked parents (independent of the chiropractor) of children under chiropractic care to provide us similar information. So far we have parents contributing data numbering in the hundreds with their children attending a few thousand chiropractic visits. They are confirming what the chiropractors reported. Only two cases of treatment-related aggravations were reported. Expectedly, these involved soreness and/or stiffness. These may be described as minor and self-limiting and not serious enough for the parent to discontinue chiropractic care for their child. Additionally, a large percentage of the parents reported an improvement in their children’s presenting complaints and also improvements that were unrelated to the initial complaint. Consistent with the DC survey findings, a large number of parents reported an improved disposition in their child, an improved immune function and improved sleep.

The ICPA has submitted its preliminary findings to two prestigious research conferences: the Annual ACC/RAC Conference held in March 2008 and the Exeter Symposium, a large and prominent CAM Conference to be held in the UK in December of 2007. The ICPA PBRN will continue to collect data into the thousands throughout the next several months as well as initiating other research projects on the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic SMT in children. We encourage all Doctors of Chiropractic to participate. Access to participate and update reports are available on the ICPA doctor’s website: www.icpa4kids.com

FROM: J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2007 (May); 30 (4): 263–269

Richard L. Sarnat, MD, James Winterstein, DC, Jerrilyn A. Cambron, DC, PhD

Alternative Medicine Integration Group, LP, Highland Park, Ill 60035, USA. rsarnat@amibestmed.com


OBJECTIVE: Our initial report analyzed clinical and cost utilization data from the years 1999 to 2002 for an integrative medicine independent physician association (IPA) whose primary care physicians (PCPs) were exclusively doctors of chiropractic. This report updates the subsequent utilization data from the IPA for the years 2003 to 2005 and includes first-time comparisons in data points among PCPs of different licensures who were oriented toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

METHODS: Independent physician association-incurred claims and stratified random patient surveys were descriptively analyzed for clinical utilization, cost offsets, and member satisfaction compared with conventional medical IPA normative values. Comparisons to our original publication's comparative blinded data, using nonrandom matched comparison groups, were descriptively analyzed for differences in age/sex demographics and disease profiles to examine sample bias.

RESULTS: Clinical and cost utilization based on 70,274 member-months over a 7-year period demonstrated decreases of 60.2% in-hospital admissions, 59.0% less hospital days, 62.0% less outpatient surgeries and procedures, and 85% less pharmaceutical costs when compared with conventional medicine IPA performance for the same health maintenance organization product in the same geography and time frame.

CONCLUSIONS: During the past 7 years, and with a larger population than originally reported, the CAM-oriented PCPs using a nonsurgical/nonpharmaceutical approach demonstrated reductions in both clinical and cost utilization when compared with PCPs using conventional medicine alone. Decreased utilization was uniformly achieved by all CAM-oriented PCPs, regardless of their licensure. The validity and generalizability of this observation are guarded given the lack of randomization, lack of statistical analysis possible, and potentially biased data in this population.

Safety of Chiropractic Manipulation of the Cervical Spine: A Prospective National Survey.

Health Services Research

Spine. 32(21):2375-2378, October 1, 2007.
Thiel, Haymo W. DC, PhD *; Bolton, Jennifer E. PhD *; Docherty, Sharon PhD *; Portlock, Jane C. PhD +
Abstract:
Study Design. Prospective national survey.

Objective. To estimate the risk of serious and relatively minor adverse events following chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine by a sample of U.K. chiropractors.

Summary of Background Data. The risk of a serious adverse event following chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine is largely unknown. Estimates range from 1 in 200,000 to 1 in several million cervical spine manipulations.

Methods. We studied treatment outcomes obtained from 19,722 patients. Manipulation was defined as the application of a high-velocity/low-amplitude or mechanically assisted thrust to the cervical spine. Serious adverse events, defined as "referred to hospital A&E and/or severe onset/worsening of symptoms immediately after treatment and/or resulted in persistent or significant disability/incapacity," and minor adverse events reported by patients as a worsening of presenting symptoms or onset of new symptoms, were recorded immediately, and up to 7 days, after treatment.

Results. Data were obtained from 28,807 treatment consultations and 50,276 cervical spine manipulations. There were no reports of serious adverse events. This translates to an estimated risk of a serious adverse event of, at worse [almost equal to]1 per 10,000 treatment consultations immediately after cervical spine manipulation, [almost equal to]2 per 10,000 treatment consultations up to 7 days after treatment and [almost equal to]6 per 100,000 cervical spine manipulations. Minor side effects with a possible neurologic involvement were more common. The highest risk immediately after treatment was fainting/dizziness/light-headedness in, at worse [almost equal to]16 per 1000 treatment consultations. Up to 7 days after treatment, these risks were headache in, at worse [almost equal to]4 per 100, numbness/tingling in upper limbs in, at worse [almost equal to]15 per 1000 and fainting/dizziness/light-headedness in, at worse [almost equal to]13 per 1000 treatment consultations.

Conclusion. Although minor side effects following cervical spine manipulation were relatively common, the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low.

(C) 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.