April - May 2012

“Three-fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint.”
–-Mahatma Gandhi

Play Time!

It seems last newsletter I spoke too soon about Spring, but now, at long last, it is here! Or is it Summer? Or? As hard as it is to believe we had snow two weeks ago and 88 degree weather one week ago, that is the fact of the matter. What this again brings my attention to is the importance of listening to your body as you migrate out into the world again and respecting its feedback for you.

This time of year is typically challenging as (most of us) finally migrate up and off the couch and into the garden, the lake, running shoes, the wheelbarrow, the mountain bike… Whatever your thing is, you're usually returning to it about now and using your body in ways it is supposed to be used but hasn't been for a third of a year. While this winter was milder and allowed far more of us to be far more active through the holidays than we typically are, it is still a big adjustment to get outdoors and push ourselves, often pushing hard.

In a year like this we need to be even more cautious and attentive to the unpleasant but essential feedback our bodies offer about how we're treating it because the nice weather has been "stop and go." Already some of the members of our practice-family have been in two or three times with new strains due to pushing themselves too hard, then returning to a sedentary pace when the weather chills again. As a loving encouragement, pace yourself as you return to the outdoors and listen to that fabulous feedback mechanism God and evolution gave you, the symptom!

Enjoy the sun,
Dr. Matthew

News from Us

Birthday Cards

In our last newsletter I forgot to address our clinic policy change regarding birthday cards. As most of you know, we have always sent out birthday cards to celebrate you and how glad we are that you are here on the planet with us, and your gift was a free adjustment in your birth-month. At the end of last year we reviewed this procedure as we were spending hundreds of dollars on cards, postage and time hand-writing our blessings and were only seeing two or three come back each month. So, as much as we want to celebrate with you, we decided to discontinue the card mailings. HOWEVER, we still want to honor you: the new policy is that on one of your adjustments during your birth-month, if you remind us it is your birthday, your visit is free. Ask for what you want, and happy birthday!

Help Us Help More People

Please take a moment to like us on Facebook, write a Recommendation at LinkedIn, or write a short review at Yelp. Thank you very, very much!

Local News:

Earlier this year our dear friend Koan was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Koan, who we have known since he was three, is a first-grader now and as you can imagine his entire life has been redirected by this experience. He began chemotherapy immediately, and as is typically the case with chemo was isolated to avoid infection, but was fortunate enough to be between treatments and healthy enough to be allowed a birthday party a few months ago to which he invited a host of loving friends and their families. I was deeply touched to see that other than trying to mimic my hairstyle he was as enthusiastic and joyful as I've ever seen him. He ran and played and laughed the whole time, a true testament to the unyielding Spirit that children exude and a true example to we adults about the power of choosing your attitude about and reaction to your circumstances.

Koan and his family have experienced significant stress and challenge as a result of this situation. One of the only ways we can try to support them is by trying to offset the severe financial stress of this event. There are three ways you can help. First, you can bring a donation to our office, which we will get to his family. Second, you can donate directly to his family online. Third, you can volunteer, run, or sponsor someone else for 4K4Koan, a 4K run-walk being planned by community members for June 9th at Circleville Park.

We appreciate any help you can give.

A Healthy County

I recently ran across an article discussing a new internet resource that allows everyone in the U.S. to look up health statistics for their county and compare it to the averages for their state and the nation. I looked up Centre County and was pleasantly surprised to see that we are in great shape. Few statistics are below the state or national average, among them the ration of residents to primary care physicians and limited access to healthy foods. Check it out.

Chiropractic, the Best Solution Again

I usually try and write about chiropractic from a new perspective to help people understand the breadth and depth of its value, but this month I decided to keep it simple after a new piece of research came across my desk.

We have all heard about "maintenance care" in chiropractic, as often as not from a negative perspective when people complain about having to "go for the rest of your life." Despite the fact that I hear weekly from clients about the resolution of 20-year chronic pain, about how they don't get sick anymore now that they get adjusted regularly, about how their monthly migraines are a thing of the past, there is still a lot of frustration out there with the encouragement to keep getting adjusted regularly. You have all heard me say, "You certainly don't need to get adjusted for the rest of your life, but you'll feel better and the research says you'll be healthier if you do."

A new worker's compensation study showed that chiropractic maintenance care was far above and beyond both physical therapy and conventional medical care for recurrent low back pain, and that in fact MD or PT treatment had higher recurrence than no treatment at all. The following is taken from AJCC, the American Journal of Clinical Chiropractic.

Update on Chiropractic Maintenance Care

Dan Murphy, DC— Private Practice of Chiropractic; Diplomate American Board of Chiropractic Orthopedist; Faculty Life Chiropractic College West; Vice President ICA 2003-2009; ICA Chiropractor of the Year 2009

INTRODUCTION A recent worker's compensation study looked at the rates of recurrent low back pain in those who were treated by chiropractors, physical therapists, and medical doctors. The authors specifically looked at the impact of maintenance treatment in recurrent low back pain. The results were published in the April issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The study analysis used Hazard Ratios. Hazard Ratios compare two treatments. A Hazard Ratio of 2.0 means the rate is twice the rate of the other group.

FROM ABSTRACT:

Objectives: To compare occurrence of repeated disability episodes across types of health care providers who treat claimants with new episodes of work-related low back pain (LBP).

Methods: A total of 894 cases followed 1-year using workers' compensation claims data. Provider types were defined for the initial episode of disability and subsequent episode of health maintenance care.

Results: Controlling for demographics and severity, the hazard ratio [HR] of disability recurrence for patients of physical therapists (HR = 2.0) or physicians (HR = 1.6) was higher than that of chiropractor (referent, HR = 1.0), which was similar to that of the patients non-treated after return to work (HR = 1.2).

Conclusions: In work-related nonspecific LBP, the use of health maintenance care provided by physical therapist or physician services was associated with a higher disability recurrence than in chiropractic services or no treatment.

Comments from Dan Murphy: This is a great study. It shows that in the treatment of Worker's Compensation low back injury that:

1. Chiropractic managed patients are significantly less likely to have a recurrence of low back pain.

2. Chiropractic managed patients that do have a recurrence of low back pain do so an average of 29 days later than those treated by a physical therapist or medical doctor.

3. Chiropractic managed patients have shorter periods of disability, meaning they returned to work earlier.

4. Chiropractic patients had "fewer surgeries, used fewer opioids, and had lower costs for medical care than the other provider groups."

5. Chiropractors treat the "whole patient," providing "more opportunities for a provider–patient relationship that improves communication, and likely emphasizes the importance of return to work over symptom control, and focuses on psychosocial issues that have been demonstrated to be important in the evolution of LBP disability."

6. The reduced recurrence of low back disability is the consequence of "chiropractic treatment."

7. No health maintenance care is generally as good as chiropractor care.

8. "Chiropractors are the only group of providers who explicitly state that they have an effective treatment approach to maintain health."

9. Chiropractic appears to be an "important advancement" in the treatment of work-related back injuries.

10. This study certainly supports the concept and value of chiropractic maintenance care.

Quotes taken from study authors' comments. REFERENCES 1.Health Maintenance Care in Work-Related Low Back Pain and Its Association With Disability Recurrence. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2.Manuel Cifuentes, MD, PhD, Joanna Willetts, MS, Radoslaw Wasiak, PhD, MA, MSc. April 2011; Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 396-404 AJCC

New Research

Cellphones Pose Severe Radiation Risk to Children

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine reported that cellphones worn in clothing pockets exceed the FCC's guidelines for safe microwave radiation guidelines, and that children absorb twice as much phone exposure as adults do.

The study observed that the cellphone industry's process for evaluating radiation exposure is based on a model which not only uses a large man as the (only) model, but also assumes that there is no difference in brain tissues. In fact, the brain has 40 distinct types of tissue which handle radiation exposure differently, as do, of course, tissues of children, elderly, female and pregnant females versus adult men.

The authors of the study note that the industry-designed standard allows for children absorbing twice the allowed radiation in their heads, up to triple in the hippocampus and hypothalamus, far more in their eyes and up to ten times in their bone marrow. Read the study.

Peace Is Profitable

"If all the states in the U.S. had the same level of peacefulness as the most peaceful state of Maine, $274 billion worth of extra economic activity could be generated. This additional economic activity would be enough to generate over 1.7 million jobs." - U.S. Peace Index Report

The Institute for Economics and Peace's 2012 United States Peace Index provides a comprehensive analysis of peacefulness at the state and city levels, as well as an analysis of the costs associated with violence and the socio-economic measures associated with peace. Some encouraging news: the U.S. is more peaceful now than at any other time over the last twenty years. Read the report.

California Pediatrician Warns About GERD Drugs for Children

Dr. Eric Hassal, staff pediatric gastroenterologist at Sutte Pacific Medical Foundation in San Fransisco, recently wrote an article warning pediatricians against overprescribing drugs for GERD in kids under one year of age. An advisor to the FDA, Dr. Hassal points out that in the first year children are rarely capable of having an acid reflux problem because of the effect of frequent feedings, and that the stomach acid they do have is an important defense against pathogens, meaning that pediatricians who overprescribe are in fact putting these kids at risk for pneumonia and gastroenteritis.

He states that the dramatic increase in portion pump inhibitors for children over the last ten years is a result of pharmaceutical advertising pushing parents to push pediatricians for this diagnosis and treatment, and that the internet forum culture of parents discussing their kids' reflux fuels the fire. He observes that crying and irritability in children is normal, not illness, and that we are "medicalizing normalcy." Read the report.

Dental Cleanings Reduce Heart Attack and Stroke

A study last year from Taiwan reported that people who had their teeth professionally cleaned or scaled by a dentist or hygienist had a 24 percent lower risk of heart attack and a 13 percent lower risk of stroke. The large study included 51,000 people who had received these interventions and a second group of the same size who had not had professional treatments. Researchers suggest that the connection involves inflammation which causes bacterial growth which then leads to heart disease, and the treatments reduce swelling. This connection has been known for some time, but the size of this study was landmark. Read the article.

Featured Practitioner — Emily Wiggins, Birth Doula

Many of you already know Emily from her work in our community or from her starring role in my YouTube video on extremity joint adjusting. For those of you who don't know her yet, she is a tremendous resource in the birth process and I encourage you to read through this interview not just for the information, but because her sweet, nurturing nature somehow comes through her language, language which reflects her love for what she does. Emily is a dear friend and one of the few people we trust our daughter with, and I hope you are blessed with coming to know her as Lauren and I do.

Emily, what is a doula?
When people hear that I am a doula, more often than not, they say, "So what again is that exactly?" A doula is a pregnancy and labor support person who is knowledgeable about and experienced in pregnancy and childbirth. There are birth doulas, who assist expecting during pregnancy through childbirth. Birth doulas provide prenatal support and also provide support during labor and birth. Birth doulas may also provide assistance in establishing breastfeeding. There are also postpartum doulas, who will come to the home of new parents to help out after the birth. Postpartum doulas offer support with breastfeeding and parenting newborns. They may also help out around the house or lend a hand helping new moms take care of themselves and their families.

As a birth doula, what exactly do you do?
As birth doula, I help expecting mothers prepare for and experience childbirth. I meet with an expecting mother, and her partner or other labor support person, several times during late pregnancy, usually starting around six or seven months. When we meet, we discuss how the pregnancy is going, addressing physical as well as emotional or spiritual aspects. We also work together to draft a birth plan. Everyone has different preferences about how they choose to birth. By listening, asking questions, answering questions and providing information, I support parents in making informed choices about medical interventions during labor and delivery that are right for them.

When the due date draws near, we discuss at what point I should come to help. Some expecting parents who are planning home births ask that I come to their house and labor with them until they're ready to go to the hospital. Others prefer that I meet them at the hospital. For a homebirth, I come whenever the parents feel that they would like the support, usually at the start of active labor. During labor, I work in tandem with the mother's partner (or other support person). Among the tools and skills I bring to a birth are holistic, pain-relieving comfort measures such as healing touch/massage, breathing and relaxation techniques, coaching during pushing, an understanding of physical positioning to facilitate labor and delivery, and familiarity with hospital and homebirth procedures and technologies. Most importantly, I am there with the laboring mother throughout the entire labor and birth. Many expecting parents don't realize that, in a hospital birth, they will be spending most of the time laboring alone in the room without a doctor or nurse present. Working with a doula can be reassuring and facilitate labor and birth for first time mothers as well as those who have given birth before.

Why should a woman have a doula?
A doula mothers the new mother. As somebody comfortable around and familiar with birth, I offer constant comfort and support to laboring mothers. I make sure that moms have what they need to do the very important work that they must accomplish to birth their child. Having a doula also takes considerable pressure off of partners or other labor support people by making sure that they are able to take care of themselves through what is often a long and intense process. Rather supplanting a partner, a doula works along with them fluidly to support the mother.

The benefits of having a doula have been documented repeatedly, as women who have doulas are much more likely to have vaginal births with fewer medical interventions or complications.* They have better feelings about their childbirthing experience, and are less likely to suffer from postpartum depression. Women who desire unmedicated vaginal births particularly benefit from the support of a doula. A doula can also be invaluable to women who plan to have epidurals. This is because very often the procedure does not eliminate 100% of the sensation of contractions. Laboring with a doula until a strong active labor pattern has been established (around 6+ cm), and changing position every half hour after the epidural has been inserted, significantly reduce a mother's risk of cesarean. If you are planning a vaginal birth, the support of a doula can help you achieve that goal.

What other services do you offer?
I have a separate placenta preparation service that is unique in this area. The placenta the organ that connects mother and baby, providing all the material needs of the developing fetus during gestation. In many cultures, the placenta is consumed after birth for medicinal purposes.** Many a midwife will attest that placenta can be administered during cases of postpartum hemorrhage to effectively contract the uterus and stop bleeding. The placenta is also said to facilitate lactation as well as to prevent or treat postpartum depression, among other benefits. The most common way to prepare the placenta is to gently cook it and encapsulate it in cellulose pills. However, it can also be frozen or cooked before consumption.

Birth is our eternal teacher.
As you make your way on the journey of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting, you will face countless choices. The more informed you are about childbearing, the more choices you will have open to you in the process. However you choose to experience your pregnancy and birth, this will be one of the greatest learning experiences of your life. My wish is that all mothers and fathers-to-be may have the support they need along the way to help pregnancy and childbirth be as empowering as possible.

*For references, visit www.dona.org.

**The most complete placenta reference that I have found to date is, Placenta: The Gift of Life, By Cornelia Enning (Motherbaby Press 2007).

Emily Wiggins is an aspiring traditional midwife who has served as a birth doula in the Centre region since 2010. She received her doula training through DONA International. Emily also volunteers as a teacher's assistant with the State College Childbirth Education Association and is Vice President of the organization. Currently, she is training to be a childbirth educator.

Failure

For those of you struggling with a new exercise routine (or anything else), I wanted to share this short pump-up that I sometimes go back and watch.

Cheesy

In honor of Mother's Day. Maybe there's hope for people, too?

Just for Fun

I know not everyone enjoys digital music, but I ran across this video recently and was blown away by how beautiful the concept and choreography are. Trust me, you want to watch it full-screen.

Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

This is one of the most profoundly moving and inspirational books ever written. Frankl, the survivor of a World War II concentration camp, writes from a place of hope and healing about his experience watching himself and others retain dignity and humanity by focusing on the one thing that couldn't be taken from them - their choice about how to respond to their circumstances. Kind of puts my day in perspective.

Farewell

Thanks for your participation, and thanks for your feedback. In addition to linking to my website in order to keep the newsletter concise, these will all be archived on the website so you can always go back later to read, research or forward content.

It's also important to me that you know that I am never compensated in any way for any of the promotions in this newsletter; individuals, businesses and products are featured because I believe in them.

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© 2012 Centre Chiropractic. All rights reserved.

Dr. Matthew Hertert, Centre Chiropractic & Centred on Health
128 East Boal Avenue
P.O. Box 680
Boalsburg PA 16827
(814) 466-2000
info@centrechiro.com