Healthy Living Chiropractic Newsletter
My Chiropractor Health & Wellness Center
4550 East Bell Road, Ste. 284 ~ Phoenix, AZ 85032 ~ 602-866-3505
www.drgregmuchnij.com

Looking for a drug-free lifestyle? Health and wholeness for yourself and your family? Are you interested in disease prevention and health enhancement? Then welcome to a more natural world ~ welcome to the world of chiropractic.

Notes From Dr. Greg

We had a great turnout for our February workshop at Friday's at Desert Ridge.
Our next one will be March 18th . If you are interested; please call Janessa to reserve your seat.

Late breaking news: Blind man suddenly sees again

A Dubuque man can see clearly after being blind in one eye for more than a decade. It happened after a trip to his chiropractor. After a routine visit to Chiropractor Tim Stackis, Doug Harkey says a miracle happened.

"My blind eye starting watering after I left there and it watered for 45 minutes straight. It started making my good eye water. I went to wipe my right eye and I could see out my left again."

Doctor Stackis said the bones in Harkey's neck were out of alignment. "That interferes with the messages and energy the brain sends down to the rest of the body."

Harkey now has the depth perception he'd been missing, just what he needs as he's about to walk down the aisle with his fiancée next month. Harkey's fiancée, Gina Connolly said, "I'm not used to him not running into things or stepping on our feet." See the entire story at

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/13718517.html?corder=regular

Fibromyalgia and chiropractic

Imagine being tired all the time with burning pain, muscle spasms and tender “trigger” points. Add to that increased sensitivity to pain, heat, cold, bright lights, plus bowel/bladder problems, headaches, sleeplessness and/or anxiety. These are the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers, antidepressants and other prescriptions, physical therapy, counseling and support groups all have poor records helping fibromyalgia sufferers. However, acupuncture, relaxation techniques, meditation and nutritional therapy offer more encouraging results. (1-3) What about chiropractic?

The Chiropractic Approach An unhealthy spine has long been associated with fibromyalgia. (4) In one study neck injury increased the occurrence of fibromyalgia by ten times! (5) Chiropractic adjustments to correct subluxations of the spine have shown powerful results. In one study all 23 fibromyalgia sufferers (ages 11-76) showed 92-100% improvement and maintained their improvements after one-year follow-up with chiropractic care (6). In another study of 15 women, 60% reported at least a 50% reduction in their pain, less fatigue and improved sleep quality with chiropractic. (7)

Chiropractic for fibromyalgia sufferers

Anyone suffering from fibromyalgia should see a chiropractor for a spinal checkup. It may make the difference between recovery and continued illness, between a life of pain and a life of ease.

What can chiropractic do for you?

For a healthier, happier life, for healthier children – try chiropractic. Too many lives are wracked by illness (both physical and mental). Is there a way to help ensure greater health? Chiropractic is a natural approach to healthcare. Our goal is to work with nature by ensuring that your body structure and your internal communications system – your brain and nerve system – function in harmony. Disharmony ultimately ends in lowered resistance to disease, sickness, unhappiness, less ability to deal with stress and an early death.

The safest healing art?

How safe is chiropractic? Very safe! A study was done to determine the strain on the arteries of the neck during spinal care. Chiropractic caused an average strain on the arteries of about 2-6% over resting, similar to strains moving the head during range-of-motion.

Research reveals that spinal arteries could be stretched to 39-62% over resting length before causing problems, approximately nine times greater than strain of chiropractic care. One study estimated the occurrence of stroke following chiropractic at approximately one per 6 million, and even in those cases chiropractic isn't necessarily the cause. By comparison, a person's odds of getting struck by lightning in his or her lifetime are about one in 3,000. (8)

Two additional months of breast-feeding

Two additional months of full breast-feeding may make a big difference in the number of infections a child suffers. In a study from Pediatrics (February 2006) it was found that stopping full breast-feeding at 4 months increased the risk of infection even more than day care or exposure to smoke. The benefits extended at least to the end of the study at age two. (9)

Watchful waiting preferred over antibiotics

Antibiotics are not justified to reduce the risk of complications after upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat or ear infection according to a study in the British Medical Journal . Is it not good medicine to prescribe antibiotics if a patient has upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat or ear infection? Guidelines advise against the routine use of antibiotics in patients with these conditions.
Antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in UK general practice declined by 45% between 1994 and 2000. The authors conclude that general practitioners should not base their prescribing for sore throat, ear infection or upper respiratory tract infections on a fear of serious complications; most infections can be managed by watchful waiting. (10)

Comment: For better health, replace watchful waiting with a chiropractic adjustment.

What caused the MSRA superbug?

The Washington Post article "Superbug's death toll outdoes the AIDS virus" revealed that the superbug (MSRA), which has killed thousands in the US , mostly kids, apparently was the result of vaccination. The researchers attributed the emergence of the strain to a combination of the overuse of antibiotics and the introduction of a vaccine that protects against the infection. They quote a researcher as saying: "The use of the vaccine created an ecological vacuum, and that combined with excessive use of antibiotics to create this new superbug." (11)

Artificial sweetener causes weight gain

Many people drink artificial sweeteners because they think it's healthier for them when in fact the opposite is true. Worse than that, these dangerous chemicals are addicting! Now a new study shows rats that ate food sweetened with saccharin ate more, gained more weight and stored more fat over time than rats that ate regular sugar. The researchers say the artificial sweetener caused a biological change in the rats, slowing down their metabolism. The study seems to explain why some of the heaviest consumers of artificial sweeteners are some of the heaviest Americans. (12)

Nutrition myths (from westonaprice.org)

Myth: For good health, serum cholesterol should be less than 180 mg/dl. Truth: The all-cause death rate is higher in individuals with cholesterol levels lower than 180 mg/dl. [Circulation. 1992; 86(3):1026-1029.] Myth: Animal fats cause cancer and heart disease. Truth: Animal fats contain many nutrients that protect against cancer and heart disease; elevated rates of cancer and heart disease are associated with consumption of large amounts of vegetable oils. [Fed Proc. 978;37:2215.]

Myth: Children benefit from a low-fat diet. Truth: Children on low-fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive & learning disabilities. [Food Chem News. 10/3/94 .] Myth: A low-fat diet will make you "feel better . . . and increase your joy of living." Truth: Low-fat diets are associated with increased rates of depression, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide. [ Lancet. 3/21/92 v339]

More women die after receiving Gardasil™

The death of two young women who received the cervical cancer vaccination is causing some in the U.K. to question a strategy that calls for hundreds of thousands of schoolgirls to receive the shot next fall, the Daily Mail reports. The young women who died received the vaccination, marketed under the name Gardasil. The two deaths follow the deaths of three U.S. females, ages 12, 19 and 22, who were reported to have died days after receiving Gardasil. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently reported that 28 women miscarried after receiving the vaccine. The FDA has said there is no reason to reexamine approval of the drug. (13)

Words of Wisdom

In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous. – Aristotle

Chiropractic and Spinal Research

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and chiropractic.

A 6-year-old boy struck his head in a fall from a playground slide and was knocked unconscious. Unable to alleviate her son's headaches and neck pain with painkillers, the mother brought the boy to a doctor of chiropractic eighteen months later. The boy also suffered from stomach pains and bloodshot eyes, was unable to sit still, had poor grades in school, and his teacher complained of disruptive and inattentive behavior in class. All of these symptoms appeared after the fall from the slide. After three weeks of chiropractic care his grades improved dramatically and his other symptoms were much reduced or disappeared. (14)

No matter what the cause, every child (and adult) with learning disorders such as ADD/ADHD or dyslexia should be checked by a chiropractor for subluxations. Chiropractic care may make a big difference. (15-16)

Humor

In Richardson , Texas a State Trooper was running radar. He had a perfect spot to watch for speeders, but wasn't getting any. Then he discovered the problem. A 12-year-old boy was standing up the road with a hand painted sign which read "RADAR TRAP AHEAD!"

The officer later found a young accomplice down the road with a sign reading, "TIPS" and a bucket full of money. (And we used to just sell lemonade!)

A young woman was pulled over in Austin , Texas for speeding. As the TX State Trooper walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book, she said, "I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the Texas State Police Ball." He replied, "Texas State Troopers don't have balls." There was a moment of silence while she smiled and he realized what he'd just said. He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and left. She was laughing too hard to start her car.

My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying . – Rodney Dan gerfield

Money can't buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery . – Spike Milligan

I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon . Then it's time for my nap . – Bob Hope

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it . – W.C. Fields

We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress . – Will Rogers

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty ... but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out . – Phyllis Diller

By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere . – Billy Crystal

Bye. See you next month. Don't forget to stop by for a checkup and (maybe) an adjustment. Want hard copies of this newsletter? Stop by the office and we'll give you some for your friends and relatives. If they have e-mail, have them write to us and we'll add them to our mailing list.

References

1. Valim V, Oliviera L, Suda A et al. Aerobic fitness effects in fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol. 2003;30(5):1060-1069.
2. Guler M, Kirnap M, Bekaroglu M et al. Clinical characteristics of patients with fibromyalgia. Isr J Med Sci . 1992;28(1):20-23.
3. Kaplan KH, Goldenberg DL and Galvin-Nadeau M. The impact of a meditation-based stress reduction program on fibromyalgia. Gen Hosp Psychiatry . 1993;15(5):284-289.
4. White KP and Carette S. Trauma and fibromyalgia: is there an association and what does it mean? Arthritis & Rheumatism. 2000 ; 29(4):200-216.
5. Buskila D, Neumannn L, Vaisberg G et al. Increased rates of fibromyalgia following cervical spine injury: a controlled study of 161 cases of traumatic injury. Arthritis Rheum. 1997;40:446-452.
6. Amalu WC. Upper cervical management of primary fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome cases. Today's Chiropractic. May/June 2000;76-86.
7. Hain S and Hain F. Combined ischemic compression and spinal manipulation in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a preliminary estimate of dose efficacy. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics . 2000;23(4):225-230.
8. Symons BP, Leonard T, Herzog W. Internal forces sustained by the vertebral artery during spinal manipulative therapy. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 2002;25(8): 504-510.
9. http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/articles/E3/0C038BE3.asp
10. Petersen I, Johnson AM et al. Protective effect of antibiotics against serious complications of common respiratory tract infections: retrospective cohort study with the UK General Practice Research Database. British Medical Journal. 2007;335:982. http://www.news-medical.net/?id=31439
11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601392.html
12. Swithers SE and Davidson TL. A role for sweet taste: calorie predictive relations in energy regulation by rats. Behavioral Neuroscience. February 2008; 122(1).
13. www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325470,00.html
14. Lovett L, Blum CL. Behavioral and learning changes secondary to chiropractic care to reduce subluxations in a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a case study. Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research. October 4, 2006 :1-6.
15. Pauli Y. Improvement in attention in patients undergoing network spinal analysis: a case series using objective measures of attention. Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research , Aug. 23, 2007 :1-9.
16. Todres-Masarsky M, Masarsky CS, Anrig CA, et al. Somatovisceral involvement in the pediatric patient. In: Masarsky CS, Todres-Masarsky M. Somatovisceral Aspects of Chiropractic: An Evidence-Based Approach . New York : Churchill Livingstone, 2001.