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Research Supports Chiropractic
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) was impaneled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 23-member AHCPR panel consisted of 12 medical doctors, 2 doctors of chiropractic, 2 physical therapists as well as other health care professionals
The panel reviewed more than 3,900 research articles on the treatment of low back pain. Their recommendations are based only on the findings of studies that met strict research criteria.
The panel recommended only three types of treatment for low back pain:
1. Spinal Manipulation
2. Low-stress exercise
3. Over-the-counter medications
The panel concluded that the most effective treatment for low back pain was a combination of spinal manipulation and exercise. The panel recommended against bed rest, corsets, massage, traction and surgery. In fact, they found that only 1 out of 100 back surgeries helpful.
These guidelines confirm what doctors of chiropractic have known and practiced for more than a century: Manipulating the spine is safer, more effective, and less costly than drugs or surgery. It relieves pain and allows patients to return to their normal activities sooner.
Synthetic vs. Natural Vitamins
Reported on April 14, 1994 in The New England Journal of Medicine was a study in which 29,000 male smokers were given synthetic beta-carotene and synthetic Vitamin E to evaluate the cancer-protective effect of these "vitamins". After 10 years, the men taking the synthetic beta-carotene had an 18% higher rate of lung cancer, more heart attacks, and an 8% higher overall death rate. Those taking synthetic Vitamin E had more strokes.
Food sources of these same nutrients same nutrients, such as fruits and vegetables consistently demonstrate protection against cancer heart disease and stroke.
On November 23,1995, the following was reported in The New England Journal of Medicine: 22,748 pregnant women were given synthetic Vitamin A. After four years the study was halted because of a 240% increase in birth defects in babies of women taking 10,000 IU daily, and a 400% increase in birth defects in babies of women taking 20,000 IU a day.
Women eating natural food sources of Vitamin A showed no increase in birth defects.
Reported in Reuters Health, March 3, 2000 was a study on men who took 500 mg of synthetic Vitamin C daily. It was found that over an 18-month period, these men had a 250% increase of the intima-media lining (inner lining) of the carotid artery. This thickening is an accurate measurement for the progression of atherosclerosis. That is, synthetic Vitamin C induced atherosclerosis, even at a 500 mg dose.
Whole-food Vitamin C protects and repairs the inner lining of' blood vessels and is preventative against atherosclerosis.
Adverse Drug Reactions Triple in U.S.
Reports of dangerous side effects and deaths from widely used medicines almost tripled between 1998 and 2005, an analysis of U.S. drug data found.
The number of deaths and serious injuries from prescription and over-the-counter drugs climbed from 34,966 to 89,842 during the study of reports to the Food and Drug Administration.
Potent narcotic painkillers including Oxycontin, sold generically as oxycodone, were among 15 drugs most often linked with deaths in the study. Drugs frequently linked with serious nonfatal complications included insulin, the arthritis drugs Vioxx and Remicade, and the antidepressant Paxil.
The report adds to recent criticism of FDA oversight on drug safety, including its handling of serious problems connected with Vioxx, which was removed from the market in 2004.
"This growing toll of serious injury shows that the existing system is not adequately protecting patients and underscores the importance of recent reports urging far-reaching legislative, policy and institutional changes," the authors said.
The analysis appears in this week's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Its authors are Thomas Moore and Michael Cohen of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit educational group that analyzes drug safety issues; and Dr. Curt Furberg of Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
They analyzed excerpts of reports on serious side effects received by the FDA between January 1998 and December 2005. A total of 467,809 serious complications were found. Reported deaths nearly tripled, rising from 5,519 to 15,107.
A disproportionate number of complications occurred in elderly patients. Women were more often victims than men, 55.5 percent compared to 45.5 percent. Children were involved in 7.4 percent of the problems.
The FDA issued a statement saying it is aware of the growing number of reported problems and takes them seriously, but the reason for the increase "is not completely known."
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons. ~Alfred E. Newman