Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Resist Temptation?
How do you defeat the impulse to gratify desire and stick to your long-term goals of slimness or sobriety? Just say, "no thanks" and move on. Don't stop and think about it. The presence of temptation twists your cognitive abilities in ways that promote impulsive behavior.
Psychological Science, Oct 2011

Health Alert: Prescription Painkiller Abuse Epidemic!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdoses involving prescription painkillers have tripled in the past 10 years and now kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined. A significant proportion of deaths are from people who obtain prescription painkillers without a prescription and use them for recreational use.
CDC Vital Signs, Oct 2011

Diet: The Skinny On Coffee.
The more coffee an adult drinks, the lower the risk seems to be for developing basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a common type of skin cancer. Women who had at least 3 cups of coffee daily had a 20% lower chance of developing BCC, compared to those who consumed less than one cup per month. Men who consumed at least three cups of coffee per day had a 9% lower risk of BCC.
Harvard Medical School, Oct 2011

Exercise: Good Reasons.
Exercise gives you more energy to meet the demands of daily life, and provides you with a reserve to meet the demands of unexpected emergencies.
Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Chiropractic: Posture and Health.
Posture and normal physiology are interrelated. Posture affects and moderates every physiological function from breathing to hormonal production. Abnormal posture is evident in patients with chronic and stress related illnesses. Observe people over 50 and you will see that people with bad posture look unhealthy.
American Journal of Pain Management, 1994

Wellness/Prevention: Preventable Strokes.
One in six people will suffer a stroke and someone dies from a stroke every 6 seconds. 85% of these people have risk factors that can prevent a stroke, if identified. 6 steps to reduce stroke risk: 1) Learn the warning signs of a stroke: sudden numbness, in particular if it only affects one side of the body, loss of balance or sudden vertigo, sudden difficulty in speaking or seeing, and severe headaches with no apparent cause. 2) Check your personal risk factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and diabetes. 3) Exercise regularly and keep physically active. 4) Eat a healthy diet and avoid becoming obese. 5) Avoid cigarette smoke and seek help to stop if you are a smoker. 6) Restrict your alcohol consumption.
World Stroke Organization, Oct 2011

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: A Long, Happy Life.
Older people have a 35% lower chance of dying if they are content, excited or happy during their typical day. This was true even after taking into account such factors as a person's financial situation, physical health, mental health, chronic disease, physical activity, alcohol intake, depression and age.
Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, Oct 2011

Health Alert: For The Young.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the world's largest non-governmental organization working in sexual and reproductive health, is calling to renew the focus on young people's reproductive health. Currently, 16 million adolescent girls become mothers every year and almost 40% of the 6,800 new HIV infections each day are among young people.
International Planned Parenthood Federation, Oct 2011

Diet: Alcohol, Good Or Bad?
Red wine has been shown in many studies to benefit the immune system and cardiovascular system, but women who drink even moderately (as few as three drinks a week) increase their risk of breast cancer. Women who abstain from all alcohol may find that a potential benefit of lower breast cancer is more than offset by the increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Harvard Medical School, Oct 2011

Exercise: Obesity Gene's Effect Reduced By Exercise.
With exercise and a physically active lifestyle, the genetic predisposition to obesity caused by the 'fat mass and obesity associated' (FTO) gene can be significantly reduced. The effect of the FTO gene on obesity risk is 27% weaker among physically active adults, compared to those who are physically inactive. These findings challenge the common excuse that "obesity is in my genes."
PLoS Medicine, Oct 2011

Chiropractic: A Benefit For The Elderly.
Elderly patients suffering from dizziness experienced significant clinical improvement after just one month of Chiropractic care.
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2009

Wellness/Prevention: Remember Your Fluids.
Drinking plenty of fluids may provide men with protection against bladder cancer as the fluids may flush out potential carcinogens before they have the opportunity to cause tissue damage that could lead to the cancer. High total fluid intake (more than 2,531 milliliters per day) was associated with a 24% reduced risk for bladder cancer among men.
Cancer Prevention Research, Oct 2011

Alert: With the New Year, your insurance benefits may be changing!

A majority of our patient's insurance coverage changes at the beginning of the New Year. If you have changed your insurance or know of any plan changes, please bring us your insurance card so that we can re-verify your benefits for you. If you are not sure, we can re-verify your benefits as well. Also, many insurance companies refresh the number of visits allowed each year at the beginning of the year.

In addition, we just wanted to remind you that the referral give-away is winding down. You still have 4 more days to refer your loved ones in for your chance to win a $500 Visa gift card just in time for the holidays!

As always,
The Staff at Oakland Spine and Rehab

Our Same Day Guarantee

We have made yet another policy change in our ever growing desire to SHATTER the model of a doctor's office visit. It's called our "Same Day Guarantee." More on this in a minute.

First I want to talk you about how we Re-Invented the notion of WAITING at a doctor's office. In most cases, when I speak to patients or people I know the overwhelming complaint about doctors is the WAIT. There is nothing more aggravating and one I experienced first hand.

About a year ago my son, Zack, broke his shoulder blade (ouch!) during football practice. When I knew I couldn't help him I called an orthopedic office I trust. When we arrived we had to wait an hour and a half - AND THIS IS A DOCTOR I KNOW AND REFER TO!! I was so outraged that I immediately went back to my office and told my entire staff, "We will never do that to a patient. We are going to create a NO-WAITING, NO-KIDDING policy". And so it has been for over a year to the delight of our patients. Simply stated - if you are an active patient you will never wait more then 5 minutes to be seen. If you wait - we give you a gift.

Now for our NEW GUARANTEE.

Guess what the SECOND most common complaint we hear about doctors offices is? You guessed it - GETTING AN APPOINTMENT. Well, I am announcing our newest guarantee which I would LOVE for you to share with those you care about and refer to our office. It's our "SAME DAY GUARANTEE". Simply stated, if a new patient needs to be seen on our normal days of operation - we guarantee we will see them that day! All they have to do is call us during the morning hours. You will see this very soon in all of our marketing efforts - our billboard, our newspaper ads, our mailings and on TV.

So now you have one more amazing advantage here at O.S.R. to tell your friends and family about.

As always,
Dr. Brad

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Brain Games.
Researchers have found risk/reward scenarios (such as playing games) stimulate nearly all areas of the brain. Since the brain's primary purpose is to maximize our chance of survival and reproduction, it makes sense reward should be important for all cognitive functions, and thus most brain regions.
Neuron, Oct 2010

Health Alert: Antibiotics.
After 70 years, antibiotics are still the primary treatment for bacterial infections. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance is now outpacing the rate of new drug discovery and approval. The economic costs and health threats of antibiotic resistance have become so serious that the World Health Organization dedicated World Health Day to call global attention to the issue. Antibiotics are routinely sprayed on crops and fed to livestock, which helps cause antibiotic resistant bacteria to develop. That antibiotic resistance is then transferred to humans when they eat the food containing the antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is resistant to a broad range of antibiotics, causes infections in people with compromised immune systems, such as HIV and cancer patients. It's also responsible for hospital-related infections such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia and infections from burns. The fatality rate is about 50%. Hospital-acquired urinary tract infections by P. aeruginosa alone cost more than $3.5 billion a year in the US.
WHO, Oct 2011

Diet: A Slice Of Watermelon!
Watermelon reduces atherosclerosis in animals. The study involved mice with diet-induced high cholesterol. By week 8, animals given watermelon juice had lower body weight, due to decreased fat mass. They experienced no decrease in lean mass. Plasma cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower, with modestly reduced intermediate and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.
University of Kentucky, Oct 2011

Exercise: Reduces Productivity?
Exercise may reduce work productivity in employees with high stress jobs. The study's authors recommend employees with more stressful jobs utilize other techniques to manage stress.
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Oct 2011

Chiropractic: Yoga & Low Back Pain.
A 12-week yoga program for adults with chronic or recurrent low back pain improved back function better than back pain education booklets.
Annals Of Internal Medicine, Nov 2011

Wellness/Prevention: Stop Smoking!
Smokers are twice as likely to have strokes, and on average, they have them 10 years earlier than non-smokers.
Heart and Stroke Foundation, Oct 2011

If I Go To A Chiropractor, Do I Have To Keep Going For The Rest Of My Life?

That's a common question you hear over and over, and it keeps a lot of people from experiencing all of the wonderful benefits Chiropractic care has to offer. The answer, of course, is ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

Going to a Chiropractor is a lot like going to the Dentist. You will have less dental problems if you brush and floss your teeth and go for check-ups and cleanings than if you didn't go. If you wait until your tooth hurts, you most likely need more dental work than if you didn't wait so long. Once you get the toothache fixed, you can choose to brush, floss and get routine check-ups...or not.

Most Chiropractic patients start care because they have a symptom...usually pain. Some get a handful of treatments, feel better...and don't come back until they have pain again. Others get out of pain and come for maintenance visits in an effort to keep the pain from coming back.

The bottom line is: It's all up to you. At our practice, you are free to choose whatever type of care you want, without lecturing or questioning from us. You can come for one visit then call us in two years and we will be happy to see you again. It's your body and you are 100% in charge. We will give you what we feel are the best possible recommendations, but we will not get upset if you choose another path. That's why we don't insist anyone committing to long-term care plans. We want you to give us a try and see if you like it, and if you do... take it from there.

So please, spread the word to all your family and friends who think that if you go to a Chiropractor once, you have to keep going for the rest of your life. If you know someone who has been locked into a long-term care plan they didn't like, please tell them we are different. Or don't... that's up to you, too.

Call us if you need anything, we are always here to help.

Sincerely,
Dr. Brad Butler

MORE Whiplash Facts

Last month, we discussed 10 facts about whiplash in attempt to dispel the myths about this topic. Due to the amount of information available, we couldn't cover them all. So, here are 10 more interesting facts about whiplash:

1. Much has been published on the association between ongoing whiplash symptoms and litigation. There is now plenty of evidence that ongoing whiplash injury related symptoms occur regardless of the presence or absence of litigation.
2. The concept of a delay in symptoms means minimal injury is dispelled. In fact, it's considered "the norm" that symptoms are delayed.
3. Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) or post-concussive syndrome can occur as a result of whiplash trauma. The good news is that, in most cases, recovery occurs within the first 3 months.
4. In the European Spine Journal, a recent study reported that between 1 and 2 years after a whiplash injury, 22% of patients' conditions worsened. Condition deterioration at the 2 year mark has also been reported in other studies.
5. More detailed studies that followed whiplash patients through time, reported that 45% remain symptomatic at 12 weeks (3 months) and 25% at 6 months. Others reported the recovery time in most "minor cases" is 8 weeks (2 months), time to stabilization (not recovery) in the more severe cases was 17 weeks (4 months), and in the most severe category, 20.5 weeks (5 months). Hence, the concept that whiplash, like all other injuries heal in 6-12 weeks is challenged (note, there is little support for this common myth).
6. Each year, approximately 1.99 million Americans are injured in motor vehicle collisions.
7. Since 1990, a mean of 40% of a pool of whiplash patients from all vectors of collision (that is, rear, front or side impacts) were still symptomatic at a 2 year follow up. 59% of ONLY rear-end collision patients remained symptomatic at a 2 year follow-up.
8. Although these estimates vary, approximately 10% of WAD (whiplash associated disorders) injured subjects become disabled to a point of not being able to continue working.
9. Children who sustain whiplash injuries display sleep disturbances, nightmares, difficulty talking to parents and friends (brain injury), mood changes, poor academic performance and fears of participating in higher impact sports. Moreover, children tend to be overlooked in the evaluation and treatment process since they tend to complain less.
10. If the size of the 2 impacting vehicles is the same, an 8 MPH impact produces 2 times the force of gravity. When the bullet vehicle is larger than the target vehicle, the difference increases dramatically.

We realize you have a choice in where you choose your healthcare services. If you, a friend or family member requires care for whiplash, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

Do Chronic Sinus Problems Cause Headaches?

Many of us have had sinus related headaches, right? You know, these are the headaches that hurt over the sinuses (above the eyes or in the cheek bones next to your nose) and, when you blow your nose, it's not pretty! Sinus infections often lead to sinus headaches - wouldn't you say that's a true statement?

A recent November 2011 study begs to differ. Researchers took 58 patients with a diagnosis of "sinus headache" made by their primary care physician and asked them the following questions:

1. Have you had a previous diagnosis of migraine or tension-type headache?
2. Is their clinical evidence of a sinus infection during the past 6 months?
3. Is there the presence of "mucopurulent secretions" (that's the "not so pretty stuff" when we blow our nose)?

All 58 patients clearly seemed to have chronic sinusitis with an acute flair up and were given complete thorough examinations by a neurologist and an ears, nose, throat specialist (otolaryngologist) on a monthly basis for 6 months during treatment. The surprising results showed that final diagnosis in these 58 cases were 68%, 27% and 5% of the patients really had migraine, tension-type headache and chronic sinusitis with recurrent acute episodes, respectively. Treatment during the 6 months included antibiotic therapy in 73% of the patients with tension-type headache and 66% with migraine. Sinus endoscopy (taking a look up the sinuses with a scope - ouch!) was performed in 26% of the patients, and therapeutic nasal septoplasty (surgery!) was performed in 16% of the migraine patients and 13% of patients with tension-type headache (a pretty BIG mistake, wouldn't you say?). The conclusion was that many patients with self-described or primary car e physician diagnosed "sinus headaches" have no sinonasal abnormalities but instead, met the criteria for migraine or tension-type headache.

So, what does this mean? Well, for one thing, too many antibiotics are prescribed for tension-type or migraine headaches and have no place in the treatment process of these two common headache categories. Side effects of antibiotics include (but are not limited to): stomach and intestinal irritation, nausea, and if one is allergic to the antibiotic, a potentially life-threatening condition call anaphylactic shock. Let's not forget to mention that sinus surgery was performed in 29% of the cases where the sinuses were NOT causing the headaches and we all know the risks of undergoing anesthesia and surgery can include death and infections, among other problems.

Chiropractic was reported to be a wise choice in the treatment of headaches by several publications, one of which provided a large review of the literature on the "Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence report," released in 2010 (http://chiromt.com/content/18/1/3). In this report, both migraine and cervicogenic-type (headaches that start in the neck) headaches were found to have strong research support for manipulation or, chiropractic adjustments. In this day and age, you can be very confident that choosing chiropractic services for headache treatment is a wise, safe, and very cost-effective approach for a very disabling condition.

We realize that you have a choice in where you choose your healthcare services. If you, a friend or family member requires care for neck pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

How Can You Stay Healthier with All of the Holiday Stress?

For years I have heard my patients' concerns about getting sick during the holidays, and I have observed something which will benefit you greatly. Around the holidays, more people get sick then during most other times of the year. Why is that? The answer is simpler then you think....

Our bodies follow certain principles - we all get excited about "new discoveries and treatments", but the truth is that in order to stay healthy our body must function as close to 100% as possible. There are THREE areas of health that need attention - they are the Physical, Chemical and Emotional components to our lives. All three of them, if out of BALANCE, can effect the function of the other two. It's very common for one of these areas to not be working right during the year for different reasons.... maybe you have a lot of stress in a relationship or at work (Emotional) or your job requires you to not move very much or move too much or you've had a trauma (Physical), or your eating habits have gotten way out of control or your on a lot of medication (Chemical). See there are lots of things that affect the function of our bodies.

During the Holidays - WHAT WE SEE IS THAT THERE IS AN ASSAULT ON ALL THREE. Think about it - Stress is everywhere. More demands on your time, more obligations, more financial stress, all the eating out, alcohol and deserts. It overwhelms our bodies.

So how do you beat the Holiday Blues?? The answer may be simpler then you think - GET MORE ADJUSTMENTS!! Adjustments to your spine take pressure off of the nerves and muscles, and allow your nervous system to function at a much higher level. Plus, it's your nervous system that controls the function of your immune system.

Watching your back for the Holidays,
Dr. Brad
201-651-9100

Weekly Health Update

Mental Attitude: Commuting To Work Is Bad For Your Health!
Spending hours each day behind the wheel or crammed in a public train or bus, commuting to and from work is bad for your health. Those who commuted reported more everyday stress, exhaustion, missed work days and generally poorer health. Those with longer commutes reported even worse health.
Duke University, Oct 2011

Health Alert: Under Construction!
Nearly all construction workers will experience one or more work-related injuries or illnesses over a lifetime, plus a greater risk of premature death. Over a 45-year career, a construction worker has a 75% chance of a disabling injury, and a one in 200 chance of being fatally injured on the job. An individual who begins construction work at the age of 20 has a 15% chance of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and an 11% chance of developing dust-related parenchymal chest X-ray changes.
Center for Construction Research and Training, Oct 2011

Diet: Strawberries & Stomach Ulcers.
Scientists discovered strawberry consumption might help reduce and or slow the formation of stomach ulcers caused by alcohol consumption, viral infections and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, like aspirin and ibuprofen.
Plos One, Oct 2011

Exercise: Good Reasons.
Exercise helps speed recovery from chemotherapy treatments, increases the ability to supply blood to the skin for cooling and increases the thickness of the cartilage in your joints.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Oct 2011

Chiropractic: Wound Healing & Mechanical Stress.
Exerting mechanical forces on an injury site immediately after healing begins significantly inhibits vascular growth into the bone defect region. However, after healing is underway, introducing mechanical forces on the injury site can lead to a more robust vascular network.
Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Wellness/Prevention: Cranberry Juice vs. Cranberry Extracts.
Cranberries have been recognized for their health benefits for years, especially in preventing urinary tract infections. However, it was found that drinking actual cranberry juice is much more effective in preventing a Urinary Tract Infection than simply consuming cranberry extracts.
Food Science and Biotechnology, Oct 2011