Breathing Clearly
Enclosed are scientific references to allow you to make more informed health care decisions.
Please share them with your family and friends.
Table of Contents
· Antibiotics = Childhood Asthma
· Asthma Flyer
· Asthma Patients May Benefit from Spinal Manipulation
· Asthma Study on Benefits of Chiropractic
· Asthma Study Shows Chiropractic Benefits
· Childhood Asthma and Chiropractic
· Chiropractic Restores Health in Asthma Patient
· Natural Health and Wellness Allergies
Antibiotics = Childhood Asthma?
New Research Shows a Connection
A new study just published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Allergy has added fuel to the concern over the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. It has also begun to address the recent concern of scientists about the increasing occurrence of asthma in the United States.
So, now childhood asthma is added to the list of potential hazards to taking antibiotics. This, along with the increase in antibiotic resistance, should cause patients to think twice about taking antibiotics, particularly where not specifically required.
The study looked at the odds ratio (risk) of children experiencing asthma symptoms based upon if, when, and how often they had taken antibiotics. The most decisive factors were when (before or after the first year of life) and how often. The results are quite sobering:
An "odds ratio" of 1.0 means the likelihood of a particular event occurring is equivalent whether or not a child has taken antibiotics. Thus, a child given antibiotics during the first year of life has an odds ratio of 4.05, which means the child is over four times more likely to develop asthma symptoms than the child who has never taken antibiotics.
Parents (and future parents) should be immediately made aware of this potential risk.
The Truth about Asthma
1. Asthma is a leading cause of childhood hospitalizations and school absenteeism, causing 10 million school days missed each year. Currently 20 million people suffer from asthma in the United States.
2. Asthma was responsible for 12,900,000 office visits to physicians per year as of 2001, and 1.8 million visits to ERs for asthma in 2000.
3. Overall, asthma costs the nation $10 billion a year in direct health care cost and $3 billion in indirect cost such as absence from work.
Does it seem like we are curing this disease?
Medically, there is no known cause and therefore no cure in sight for asthma.
Chiropractically, we know that upper back subluxations inflame the nerves feeding the bronchial tubes and results in inflammation and constriction.
Asthma Patients May Benefit From Spinal Manipulation
The above were the findings of a research project conducted in Australia where 420 patients were studied. On October 5, 2002 at the 9th International Conference on Spinal Manipulation in Toronto, Ray Hayek, Ph.D., head of the investigative team told the assembly that patients afflicted with asthma may benefit from spinal manipulation in terms of symptoms, immunological capacity, and endocrine effects.
The proceedings and report of this study were published in the August 24, 2002 release from the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, (FCER). In that release Dr. Hayek reported that of the 420 patients in the study only those patients in the group which received spinal manipulation showed significant improvement in asthma symptoms, depression and anxiety.
The report also noted that there were positive biochemical and physiological changes that were not necessarily expected from spinal manipulation. The report suggested, "These biochemical changes not only suggest that the effects of spinal manipulation are more far-reaching than commonly believed, but that they may be more long-term as well."
Although the study was not specific to chiropractic care, chiropractic adjustments are the most specific form of spinal manipulation. The findings of the above study, reinforce other studies previously performed that show the benefit of chiropractic care for those suffering with asthma.
Medicine continuing to lose the battle against Asthma
Asthma has become a large health concern for children in recent years. Over the past 20 years the incidence of asthma has doubled. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that in 1998, approximately 17,299,000 people in the United States, or 6.4% of the population, with cases among very young children up 160%. As reported in the June 16, 1999 issue of JAMA, the CDC also noted that between 1980 and 1994, the number of people self-reporting asthma grew 75%.
Chiropractic care attacks asthma at its source
In a study conducted in 1996 by the Michigan Chiropractic Council (MCC), a panel of doctors performed an out-come assessment study to test the qualitative and quantitative effectiveness of chiropractic care on children with asthma. The high demand of parents seeking alternative care for pediatric asthma was shown by the overwhelming interest in the study. More than 500 parents called the MCC seeking to get their child involved in the chiropractic study.
The study, which took place during May and June of 1996, examined the chiropractic effectiveness in correcting the cause of asthma in patients from birth to age 17. The average age of the participant was 10 years. "After 30 days of chiropractic health care, patients averaged only one attack, whereas prior to the study they were experiencing more than four attacks," said MCC Dr. Bob Graham, who directed the study. "Medications, which can be costly, were decreased by nearly 70 percent. Finally, patient satisfaction was rated 8.5 on a scale of 10." More than 70 chiropractors from 62 cities in Michigan studied more than 80 children suffering from asthma.
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