Some would have you believe that there are secrets that insurance companies (carriers) keep from you regarding collecting benefits when you’ve been involved in a MVA (motor vehicle accident).  The truth is, except for a minimal number of cases, the carriers will work with you.  One thing that you should review with your agent is if you have medical pay on your policy.  For a few dollars more in your premium this coverage will cover most treatment needed after a MVA.  The important thing to remember is that even if you have no apparent immediate pain you may have injuries that will haunt you in the future.   With over 35 years experience, our office staff have been trained to evaluate your need for care, if any, and give you recommendations to prevent long term problems.

Whiplash is most commonly experienced in a motor vehicle accidents, even at low speeds, when the head is suddenly jerked back and forth beyond its normal limits, the muscles ligaments and dics (soft tissues) supporting the spine and head can be stretched or torn. Vertebrae can be forced out of their normal position, reducing motion. Seatbelts, and airbags save lives, and prevent passenger  from hitting the window, however seatbelts restrain the torso, but not the head allowing for “whipping” and airbags explode with such intensity that they can also inflict significant injury. 
The resulting instability of the spine and soft tissues can result in headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, pain in the shoulder, arms and hands, reduced ability to turn and bend, and even low back problems. As the body attempts to adapt, symptoms may not appear for weeks or even months later.
The chiropractic approach to these types of injuries is to use specific chiropractic adjustments to help return spinal function. After a thorough case history and examination, the doctor will recommend a series of visits to help restore proper motion and position of spinal bones.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many coffee “spots” in Chico?  Seems like there’s one on every corner.  **One reason is that many like the taste of the beverage, but others would say it’s their “pick-me-up”**.  For centuries, people have used coffee with  additional sweeteners to give them a lift. Part of this lift comes from adrenal stimulation. Hans Selye, (the Canadian Physiologist who coined the word Stress) found that animals placed in “stressful” situations i.e. overcrowding, poor diet, toxic environment, too little sleep, and lack of exercise, developed significant adrenal changes. The Adrenals help us produce the energy to momentarily “fight or escape danger”.  As stress continues our adrenals loose their ability to cope (hypoadrenia) and we start to experience fatigue, digestive disorders, neck, back, and extremity pain.  We start looking for ways to help maintain the pace and many will turn to caffeine and sugar (also found in soft drinks).

Many cases of wrist and forearm pain are heaped into the Carpel Tunnel Syndrome.  Oftentimes doctors focus only on the area of pain, but frequently elbows shoulders or neck problems are the underlying cause.  Individuals who do repetitive work with one arm or hand, such as using a computer mouse or using screwdriver etc., are most susceptible.  If there is a minor non perceivable weakness in the lower arm caused by previous neck injuries (i.e. whip lash) the repetitive arm movement irritates the wrist and hand leading to pain and disability.  Wrist braces seldom correct the condition and prolonged usage can lead to additional weakness and further injury.
We have treated hundreds of these cases in our office successfully without the need for surgery. Usually a brief, consultation will determine if we can help your condition.

Daily dose of vitamin D cuts colon cancer risk: study

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The risk of colon cancer can be slashed by 50 percent by taking a daily supplement of vitamin D, researchers at a California cancer institute said.
Scientists at the Moores Cancer Center of the University of California at San Diego said their studies showed that taking 1,000 international units, or 25 micrograms, of vitamin D every day would sharply reduce the chance of a person getting colon cancer, which is diagnosed in about 145,000 Americans each year.
According to UCSD professor and cancer epidemiologist Edward Gorham, the preventative link between vitamin D and colon cancer has been known for over two decades.
But scientists did not know the specific amount of the vitamin needed to have a clear impact.
Their study "establishes the target level of vitamin D that could reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer by half," Gorham said.
"Preventing approximately half of colorectal cancer incidence by a program that would ensure vitamin D adequacy could save an estimated 20 billion dollars per year," he said.
"Annual supplementation of all Americans with 1,000 international units per day of vitamin D would cost about $5 billion."
Such a program could prevent possibly 28,000 deaths each year, according to the study's results.
The study, which has just been published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was based on a review of 18 scientific papers dealing with vitamin D and colon cancer.

Recently a young woman entered the office with the following history.  While pregnant with her first child she developed severe ansthma.  She received steroid therapy with initial improvement, but then developed lung infection for which she was given antibiotics.  After the birth of her baby she also developed severe digestive distress followed by severe constipation with only week bowel movements.  As her condition worsened she could not eat without nausea and vomiting.  When she entered our office she could only drink small amounts of water, and had lost 30lbs.  She had developed severe anxiety, skin eruptions, abdominal and back pain. 

Headaches are an unfortunate and painful part of life for many Americans. In fact, an estimated five percent of adults in this country suffer from chronic migraines or severe headache pain.
We spend billions of dollars each year on over-the-counter and prescription pain medication for relief from those nagging headaches. But these drugs have the potential to cause even more pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a type of medication including OTC brands such as Advil, Motrin, and Excedrin, have been associated with side effects like stomach bleeding and ulcers, and even liver failure. In fact, one possible side effect of many NSAIDs is a headache!
And if you manage to avoid the side effects, these medications really only mask or diminish symptoms. But it’s the cause that counts and that's where chiropractic comes in. Here’s how: The nervous system is the “master system” in the body, controlling and coordinating all other systems – respiratory, immune, circulatory, etc. Sometimes, there are areas in the spine where one or more of the vertebrae may have experienced a loss of function, creating pressure on, or otherwise irritating, spinal nerves. This irritation interferes with the signals, or “communication,” traveling over those nerves, which can compromise the health and proper function of every system in the body. Regular adjustments by your chiropractor can positively affect the nervous system, aid nerve transmission and thus, the body’s ability to heal itself.
Still a skeptic? Scientific research indicates chiropractic is an effective, natural answer to headache pain. During a major 1995 study comparing several weeks of drug therapy to several weeks of chiropractic care, 82 percent of patients given drug therapy reported side effects including drowsiness, weight gain and dry mouth. Heart-related problems and glaucoma also were associated with the drug therapy. On the other hand, chiropractic patients reported no side effects. And after four weeks of treatment, patients who used drugs began having headaches again, while members of the chiropractic group continued to express headache relief, as well as higher levels of energy as compared to the drug therapy group.
So put down the pain-relief medications, talk to your chiropractor about your chronic headaches, and experience a natural, drug-free approach to headache relief, today!

Low back pain...

There are more that 100 million back pain suffers in the U.S. each year resulting in millions of dollars of lost work. Improper sitting, lifting, over-exertion, i.e. gardening, trauma i.e. auto accidents can be the cause.
Many of the pain-sensing nerves of the spine are in the facet joints, the two interlocking "fingers" at the back of each spinal bone. The normally smooth surfaces on which these joints glide, can become rough, irritated, and inflamed.
Surgical treatment often involves removing these facet joints along with fusions.
Another cause of lower back pain can be a bulging disc putting pressure on the spinal cord or a nearby nerve root. The result is often numbness, tingling, or pain down the leg. Cutting away the bulging disc tissue can permanently alter its ability to separate and cushion the adjacent bones. This rarely addresses the underlying structural cause(s) of the problem. 
The chiropractic approach is to help restore a more normal motion and position of affected spinal bones by specific chiropractic adjustments. The simplicity and success of this approach has been documented in numerous research projects and has helped many patients avoid risky surgery.

Lifting and Back Strength

Lifting something heavy?  First note that if you’re off balance, any wrong move can cause painful, even serious back distress.  Try to minimize back strain by consciously assuming a correct lifting position in an unstrained manner.  Keep the load close to your body.  Bend you legs.  Straighten you back slightly.  To turn when lifting, pivot your feet instead of twisting at the waist.
Back strain? Any slight pain?  Have an immediate chiropractic checkup.  Never wait until a serious problem develops.  All office exam can get to the cause of your problem quickly.  You may have a misalignment of one or more spinal bones (vertebrae)) that causes the pain, irritation or “crick”.
Gentle spinal adjustments and manual traction will or decompression will relax over-tense muscles and ligaments.  Vertebrae replacement quickly eases irritation.

Using antibiotics more than 10 times in childhood increases the likelihood of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a cancer that affects the body's lymphatic system, new research suggests.
Dr. Ellen T. Chang of the Northern California Cancer Centre in Fremont and her colleagues also found a marginally increased NHL risk among heavy users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), but no association between the disease and any other types of medication
Given the rising incidence of NHL, Chang and her team note in the American Journal of Epidemiology, a number of studies have investigated whether certain medications increase the risk of the disease. But results have been inconclusive, with only strong immunosuppressive drugs consistently being tied to NHL. Because a number of medical conditions also may be associated with NHL, they add, the question of whether the drug or the underlying condition is involved has complicated matters further.
To investigate, the researchers looked at data from the Scandinavian Lymphoma Etiology study, which included 3,055 patients with NHL who were compared with 3187 healthy subjects drawn from Danish and Swedish population registers.
The "striking" association between antibiotic use and NHL was seen for all subtypes of the disease. High NSAID use increased overall risk of NHL and of diffuse large B-cell NHL, but did not increase the likelihood of any other type of NHL.
The increasing use of antibiotics in the 20th century could explain the rise in NHL cases, if the drugs are in fact responsible for the association observed, Chang and her colleagues note. However, they add, their study was unable to determine if antibiotics and NSAIDs affected risk apart from the underlying inflammation, infections or susceptibility to infection.
"Biologic data more strongly support the hypothesis that antibiotic use is an indicator of infection and consequent inflammation, which may increase the risk of NHL, and that high cumulative NSAID use is a marker of chronic inflammation," they conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, November 15, 2005

The side effects of NSAIDs (NonSteroidal AntiInflammatory Drug) are not appreciated by the average consumer. A recent review by Wolfe et. al.1 helps put the problem in perspective for one of the problems, i.e. gastrointestinal toxicity. On the basis of conservative figures "...the annual number of hospitalizations in the United States for serious gastrointestinal complications is estimated to be at least 103,000. At an estimated cost of $15,000 to $20,000 per hospitalization, the annual direct costs of such complications exceed $2 billion." The emphasis of cost fails to recognize the more important mortality rate for patients hospitalized for NSAID-induced upper gastrointestinal bleeding which is reported by Wolfe et. al.1 as about 5 to 10 percent. They further report, "It has been estimated conservatively that 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur among  patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis every year in the United States. This figure is similar to the number of deaths from the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS] and considerable greater than the number of deaths from multiple myeloma, asthma, cervical cancer, or Hodgkin's disease."
NSAIDs cause problems in the entire gastrointestinal tract,2 ranging from peptic ulcers3,4,5 to small intestine6 and colon problems. In a study to determine the safety of low-dose daily aspirin therapy in the gastrointestinal tract, it was concluded that the safety of even 10 mg of daily aspirin is questionable,7 which is way below the typical baby aspirin dosage of 80 mg. The problems do not stop in the gut; the breakdown of the gut mucous membranes leads to leaky gut syndrome with all of its ramifications, including liver toxicity.
One of the most common reasons for taking NSAIDs is to relieve joint pain. Unfortunately the very thing that is expected to gain relief often makes the condition worse by blocking glycosaminoglycans (GAGS) production necessary for repair,8,9,10 in one in vitro study by as much as 60-70%.11 Therapeutic levels of aspirin in vitro have effects of suppressing proteoglycan biosynthesis in normal and degenerating articular cartilage similar to several other NSAIDs12 and  permeate osteoarthritic cartilage 35% more than in normal cartilage.13,14 Glucosamine is in the popular press as an aid to improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis or joint pain. It is one of the glycosamionglycans.and the more NSAIDs are taken to control joint pain the more the very thing that repairs the joints is destroyed. It is a vicious circle.
1. Wolfe, Michael M., et al, "Gastrointestinal Toxicity of Nonsteroidal Antiinfammatory Drugs" New Eng Jn of Med Vol 340, No 24 (Jun 17, 1999)
2. Roth, S.H., “Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: Gastropathy, deaths, and medical practice,” Ann Intern Med, Vol 109, No 5 (Sep 1, 1988).
3.Gabriel, S.E., L. Jaakkimainen, & C. Bombardier, “Risk for serious gastrointestinal complications related to use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. A meta-analysis,” Ann Intern Med, Vol 115, No 10 (Nov 15, 1991).
4.Griffin, M.R. et al., “Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use and increased risk for peptic ulcer disease in elderly persons,” Ann Intern Med, Vol 114, No 4 (Feb 15, 1991).
5.Langman, M.J. et al., “Risks of bleeding peptic ulcer associated with individual non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,” Lancet, Vol 343 (Apr 30, 1994).
6.Melo Gomes, J.A. et al., “Double-blind comparison of efficacy and gastroduodenal safety of diclofenac/misoprostol, piroxicam, and naproxen in the treatment of osteoarthritis,” Ann Rheum Dis, Vol 52, No 12 (Dec 1993).
7.Cryer, B., & M. Feldman, “Effects of very low dose daily, long-term aspirin therapy on gastric, duodenal, and rectal prostaglandin levels and on mucosal injury,” Gastroenterology, Vol 117, No 1 (Jul 1999).
8.Dekel, S., J. Falconer, & M.J. Francis, “The effect of anti-inflammatory drugs on glycosaminoglycan sulphation in pig cartilage,” Prostaglandins Med, Vol 4, No 3 (Mar 1980).
9. de Vries, B.J., W.B. van den Berg, & L.B. van de Putte, “Salicylate-induced depletion of endogenous inorganic sulfate. Potential role in the suppression of sulfated glycosaminoglycan synthesis in murine articular cartilage,” Arthritis Rheum, Vol 28, No 8 (Aug 1985).
10. Hugenberg, S.T., K.D. Brandt, & C.A. Cole, “Effect of sodium salicylate, aspirin, and ibuprofen on enzymes required by the chondrocyte for synthesis of chondroitin sulfate,” J Rheumatol, Vol 20, No 12 (Dec 1993).
11. Yoo, J.U., R.S. Papay, & C.J. Malemud, “Suppression of proteoglycan synthesis in chondrocyte cultures derived from canine intervertebral disc,” Spine, Vol 17, No 2 (Feb 1992).
12. Brandt, K.D., & M.J. Palmoski, “Effects of salicylates and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on articular cartilage,” Am J Med, Vol 77, No 1A (Jul 13, 1984).
13. Brandt, K.D., “Effects of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs on chondrocyte metabolism in vitro and in vivo,” Am J Med, Vol 83, No 5A (Nov 20, 1987).
14. Palmoski, M.J., R.A. Colyer, & K.D. Brandt, “Marked suppression by salicylate of the augmented proteoglycan synthesis in osteoarthritis cartilage,” Arthritis Rheum, Vol 23, No 1 (Jan 1980).

In conjunction with your, in office care, there are lots of things you can do to keep your body - especially your back - healthy. If this sounds familiar-well, we've been talking to your mother. Just so happens she was right:

1. Sit up straight.
   Develop the habit of good posture. It makes a world of difference in the way your back feels. Sitting and standing erect improves cardiovascular function and better respiration allowing more healing oxygen into the system
2. Eat your vegetables.
   A good diet is vital to your overall health. All those nutrients help your body repair itself. And you want to keep your weight down. It is not important what dietary philosophy you follow --only that you reduce calorie consumption.  Carrying extra weight puts extra strain on the back.and recent studies show it reduces you life span.
3. Turn off the TV.
   Get up and move. Go for a walk. Add exercise to your regular routine using an exercise ball during T.V.commercials is better than going to the refrigerator. And when you have to sit for long periods, stretch regularly or on the road stop and walk at roadside rest.
4. Don’t carry too much.
   Don't lift things that are too heavy for you. (And if you have to, lift with your legs, not your back.) For children and adults don't carry around a heavy backpack or a heavy bag if you can avoid it. The key is to minimize. Only take what you really need.
5. Get plenty of sleep.
   Sleep is essential for your well being. Just don't sleep on your stomach, which can strain the muscles in your neck and back. Practice sleeping on your side or back.