Hi Everyone,
UK AK'ers have a great opportunity to visit with ICAK USA's Research Director, Dr. Anthony Rosner who will be speaking at this year's European Chiropractor's Union conference at the Hilton Hotel in London. Don't miss meeting Dr. Rosner and attending his lectures May 13-15. Enjoy the many new studies in this weeks edition. Donald
1. AK Methods help children's minds. Dr. Masarsky discusses the relevance of Dr. Michel Barras and Dr. Cuthbert's research with helping 157 children with various learning disorders. "An extensive case series involving developmentally delayed children brings these two aspects of chiropractic care together. Drs. Cuthbert and Barras are to be congratulated for their excellent paper. Please feel free to use the following patient-education article for bulletin board displays, as a front-desk flyer, and/or as a lay-lecture handout.... The future of our society depends in large measure on what we do to develop the mind of the child today. Cooperation between the helping professions in the interest of health in general and children's mental development in particular will hopefully be the norm someday soon. Go to top.
2. Dr. David Simons of trigger point therapy fame passed away. "David met Dr Janet Travell (who was to become President Kennedy's personal physician) when she lectured on the subject of trigger points and myofascial pain at the Air Force’s School of Aerospace Medicine. They formed a long collaboration, culminating in the production of The Trigger Point Manual, the definitive work on the subject. He continued to research lecture and write on this topic for the rest of his life." David will also be honoured on May 7-8 2010 at a symposium on soft tissue dysfunction and treatment to be held a the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. Go to top
3. More information about Dr. Rosner at the ECU. " -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">Anthony Rosner became Research Director of the International College of Applied Kinesiology in September 2009. From 1992-2007, he had been a Director of Research and Education at the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research and Director of Research Initiatives at the Parker College of Chiropractic from 2007-2009. After obtaining his Ph.D. in Medical Sciences at Harvard in 1972 and conducting postdoctoral research at the NIH in Bethesda and at the CNRS in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, in 1973 and 1974, he directed research and clinical chemistry laboratories at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital and at an affiliate of the Mayo Clinic, then taught chemistry and served as Department Administrator in Chemistry at Brandeis University and managed research operations in neonatology at Children's Hospital in Boston until he joined FCER in 1992." Go to top
4. How to say "No" to a patient. "Standardized patients requested antidepressants in 199 visits; the antidepressants were not prescribed in 88 visits (44%), 84 of which were available for analysis. In 53 of 84 visits (63%), physicians used 1 or more of the following 3 strategies that explicitly incorporated the patient perspective: (1) exploring the context of the request, (2) referring to a mental health professional, and (3) offering an alternative diagnosis. Twenty-six visits (31%) involved emphasis on biomedical approaches: prescribing a sleep aid or ordering a diagnostic workup. In 5 visits (6%), physicians rejected the request outright. Standardized patients reported significantly higher visit satisfaction when approaches relying on the patient perspective were used to deny the request (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for saying no may be used to communicate appropriate care plans, to reduce provision of medically inappropriate services, and to preserve the physician-patient relationship. These findings should be considered in the context of physician education and training in light of increasing health care costs." Go to top
5. Acupuncture infections. "The case reports and outbreaks of acupuncture transmitted infections may be the tip of the iceberg. The first reports of meticillin resistant S aureus (MRSA) transmitted by acupuncture appeared in 2009.2 The emergence of community associated MRSA infections may aggravate the problem. To prevent infections transmitted by acupuncture, infection control measures should be implemented, such as use of disposable needles, skin disinfection procedures,and aseptic techniques. Stricter regulation and accreditation requirements are also needed." Go to top
6. McDonalds makes meals for Weight Watchers. "in the world’s first such deal McDonald’s New Zealand has begun serving meals that are approved by Weight Watchers.
"This is about giving a health halo to junk food," he said. "It shows atrocious judgment on the part of Weight Watchers." Both companies say that their new partnership aims to promote healthier eating, but public health experts warn that it may have the opposite effect. Go to top
7. Marketing tips for your business. Here is Winston Marsh's latest newsletter. "One of the most important sources of business for market leaders isword of mouth referral or third party endorsement. If you’re in retailing, trade, hospitality or manufacturing around 80% of your business should be coming from referrals; if you are a professional the figures zooms up to 92%." Go to top
8. Tribute to Dr. Simon's work with Trigger Points. "God bless David Simons!! Dr. George J. Goodheart (applied kinesiology's founder) told many of his students that Simons and Travells books were always by his side in his study, and that he had read their books over many times." Go to top
9. Chilli to stop terrorism? "The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chilli.
After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumb-sized "bhut jolokia", or "ghost chilli", to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilise suspects, defence officials said on Tuesday. The bhut jolokia was accepted by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the world's spiciest chilli. It is grown and eaten in India's northeast for its taste, as a cure for stomach troubles and a way to fight the crippling summer heat." Go to top
11. Muscle strength tests are reliable for hands and knees. Free download. "Sources of variation are analysed and it is concluded that, with certain precautions, voluntary strength measurements offer a simple, reliable and acceptable method for monitoring change in patients." Go to top
12. Carpal Tunnel comparative muscle test.
13. AK'er Dr. Vittoria Repetto's new newsletter No 33 is now out. Read the many nutritional references that Dr. Repetto has collected for this edition. Go to top
14. Delayed care for disc injury back pain predicts worse outcomes. " Patients with lumbar disc herniation who wait more than 6 months before they seek treatment have worse outcomes after both operative and nonoperative procedures than patients who seek treatment earlier, researchers reported here at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2010 Annual Meeting." Go to top
15. Knees affect postural balance. "Elderly patients who undergo total knee replacement for osteoarthritis have significant improvements in dynamic balance, according to study findings presented Thursday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons meeting in New Orleans. Many studies have proved that proprioception and balance are disturbed in osteoarthritic patients. However, only a couple of studies examined the changes after total knee replacement," Dr. Leonid Kandel, from Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel, told Reuters Health by email." Go to top
16. Saying "sorry" may not be appropriate most of the time. "In one case that I'm currently defending, a psychiatrist is battling for his career and his livelihood because he chose to say "I'm sorry." However, for this "admission," the evidence against him would have been slim to none, and no one would have even considered bringing a case against him. Instead, the physician has not only been sued, but there are criminal and license revocation actions pending as well. The case involves a patient who is addicted to oxycodone and acetaminophen, with diagnosed borderline personality traits, and who accused the doctor of touching her breast for 1 second." Go to top
17. Missed Billing for time outside office hours. "A surprising number of doctors consistently miss out on billing and getting paid for services that they've performed, and they're not even aware of it. It's usually not the routine office services that are overlooked. More likely, it's the services rendered outside the office, at the hospital or nursing home, for example, that fall through the cracks."
18. What happens outside your office can ruin your practice. ""It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it," says financier Warren Buffett. "If you think about that, you'll do things differently." Allegations of domestic violence, driving under the influence, steamy affairs, or even just gossip generally won't threaten the ability of an ordinary office worker to perform his job. But a physician faces risk for any perception of misbehavior completely unrelated to patient care." Go to top
19. Air travel affects cardiac risk. "As a leading cause for in-flight emergencies is fainting, and that feeling faint has been linked to high altitudes and heartbeat irregularity, Eileen McNeely, from Harvard School of Public Health (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues assessed how typical commercial air travel might affect cardiac health. The team recruited 40 men and women, average age 64 years, one-third of whom were previously diagnosed with heart disease. The subjects were placed into a hypobaric chamber that simulated the atmospheric environment of airplane flight. Monitoring both respiratory and heart rhythms, the team found that eight subjects with diagnosed heart disease experienced a run of two extra lower-chamber heartbeats while in flight-simulated conditions, while seven participants with diagnosed heart disease experienced a similar course of three or more erratic beats. Based on their preliminary findings, the researchers urge further study to ascertain specific risks in both healthy travelers as well as those with heart disease." Go to top
20. Low blood sugar is a marker of immanent death. "In critically ill patients, an association exists between even mild or moderate hypoglycemia and mortality. Even after adjustment for insulin therapy or timing of hypoglycemic episode, the more severe the hypoglycemia, the greater the risk of death." Go to top
21. Biofeedback does not help migraines anymore than rest. "Biofeedback is an extremely costly and time-consuming treatment modality that, in our study, provided no additional benefit when compared to simple relaxation techniques alone, in the treatment of migraine and tension type headaches in adults." Go to top
22. Soap and water just as good as hand cleaners. "Rates of surgical site infection after the use of plain soap and water or an alcohol-based rub for surgical hand preparation were comparable (about 8%) in a rural hospital setting in Kenya, new study findings suggest. Stephan Harbarth, MD, from the Division of Infectious Diseases at Geneva University Hospitals in Switzerland, and colleagues reported the findings here at the Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections 2010. "Our hypothesis had been that the use of alcohol-based hand rubs may decrease infection rates, but this was not the case," Dr. Harbarth told Medscape Infectious Diseases. "Alcohol-based hand rubs for surgical hand preparation have been evaluated only in high-income countries, and there has been no previous comparison of these rubs with plain soap and water," he noted during his presentation." Go to top
23. Fish oils help prevent endometriosis. "Women who eat lots of tuna, salmon and other foods rich in essential omega-3 oils might be less likely to develop endometriosis than those whose diets are loaded with trans fats, U.S. researchers say.
The type of fat in a woman's diet, rather than the total amount, may be a risk factor for endometriosis, researchers said in a study published online March 23rd in Human Reproduction. Their data came from 70,709 women followed for 12 years in the Nurses Health Study. Over the course of follow-up, 1,199 women developed endometriosis. Lead author Dr. Stacey Missmer of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston and colleagues report that women in the highest quintile of omega-3 fatty acid consumption were 22% less likely to develop endometriosis than women in the lowest quintile." Go to top
24. Infertility may cause prostate cancer. "Infertile men could be at increased risk of developing high-grade prostate cancer, but more work is needed before recommending early screening, according to a new study published online March 22 in Cancer.
"I think the key point is that this study clearly has generated more questions than it has answered," lead author Thomas J. Walsh, MD, from the University of Washington in Seattle, told Medscape Oncology. "We need to keep in mind that one of the greatest concerns with prostate cancer is overdiagnosis and overtreatment of low-grade indolent cancer. Our goal should be to identify the most aggressive cancer in the youngest men — and to that end, our findings may prove insightful." Go to top
25. Relaxed minds work better. "Stronger and more lasting memories are likely to be formed when a person is relaxed and the memory-related neurons in the brain fire in sync with certain brain waves, scientists said on Wednesday. "This study establishes a direct relationship between events at the circuit level of the brain...and their effects on human behavior," said Dr. Ueli Rutishauser of the California Institute of Technology, who worked on the study." Go to top
26. Posture affects joint movement problems in the neck. "Measurements of motions of the cervical spine are used to help diagnose the problems of clinical instability due to degenerative changes and trauma. For a better interpretation of the three-dimensional motions of the upper cervical spine, knowledge of the effects of posture on these motions is necessary. Seven fresh human cadaveric C0-C3 spinal specimens were utilized. Each specimen was put in three distinct sagital plane postures: full flexion, neutral, and full extension. At each posture, two load types were applied: left and right axial torques, and left and right lateral bending moments up to 1.5 Nm. The resulting three-dimensional relative motions of C0-C1 and C1-C2 were measured, with use of nonconstraining stereophotogrammetry, in the form of load-displacement curves. We found that the curves were nonlinear. The most dramatic change due to modification in posture was found in coupled sagittal plane rotation, which changed from extension at extended posture to flexion at flexed posture at both levels and in response to both load types. For the axial torque, the main axial rotation and coupled lateral bending changed little with posture. For the lateral bending moment, the main lateral bending rotation and coupled axial rotation decreased; the latter changed direction at C1-C2 as the spine was put into flexed posture. The motions for the right and left load applications generally were mirror images, except for the coupled sagittal plane rotations, which did not change with the direction of the load." Go to top
28. Yoga helps quality of life for cancer patients. "It can be concluded that yoga is valuable in helping to achieve relaxation and diminish stress, helps cancer patients perform daily and routine activities, and increases the quality of life in cancer patients. This result was positively reflected in patients satisfaction with the yoga program." Go to top
29. Depression is an inflammatory problem. "This meta-analysis reports significantly higher concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 in depressed subjects compared with control subjects. While both positive and negative results have been reported in individual studies, this meta-analytic result strengthens evidence that depression is accompanied by activation of the inflammatory response system IRS." Go to top
30. Different leg lengths cause knee trouble. "Radiographic leg-length inequality was associated with prevalent, incident symptomatic, and progressive knee osteoarthritis. Leg-length inequality is a potentially modifiable risk factor for knee osteoarthritis." Go to top
Donald McDowall
DC, MAppSc, DNBCE, DIBAK, FACC
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
skype: donaldannie
www.chiroclinic.com.au
www.appliedkinesiology.com.au
Past issues of AK News and Views are found at www.appliedkinesiology.com.au . just register on the site and click "dashboard to go to each page published over the past year.
Dr. Goodheart's audio lectures can be found at: http://web.me.com/donaldmcdowall/Site_2/GJGMelbourne/GJGMelbourne.html
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