Do protective headgear help prevent concussions?

An in-depth study was just conducted at Brown School of Medicine in Rhode Island concerning the efficacy of protective headgear for the prevention of concussions in young people, specifically, nineteen and under.

The conclusion drawn from the study is that, no, none of the head protection that was studied provided any protection from concussions, whatsoever.  Additionally, the researchers found a surprising lack of understanding about the dangers from concussions by coaches and those responsible for our children's health and well being at the high school and middle school levels.

There are at least 250,000 concussive-related injuries in children 19 and under in this country every year, according to the Brown study.  We just don't know how potentially damaging these injuries are in the long-term.  Brett Farve has just said that, after countless years of concussions, he can't remember the events of an entire summer in which his daughter played soccer.   Ironically, soccer is the number one cause of concussive injuries in girls.  In boys, it's football.  Ice hockey is the number two cause.

I enjoy watching football and I'm certain parents of girls who play soccer enjoy watching them play, too.  I think it's time to re-evaluate how both games are played at both the non-professional and professional levels.  I told my husband that I'm beginning to think that watching professional football is almost akin to the Romans watching the Christians being fed to the lions.  There simply has to be more of an outcry among us sports fans for the need to protect the players from an after-football life of memory loss, personality changes, depression and permanent debilitation.  I know I would enjoy football much more if the unnecessary late hits, piling on defenseless players and just plain dirty tack ticks were no longer tolerated.  I just don't know if died-in-the-wool football fans feel the same.

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Everyone on TV appears to be wearing the color pink to remind us all that breast cancer needs more research and lots of money to cure this disease.  There are daily programs about breast cancer, talk show hosts and commentators wearing pink ribbons and every member of every football team can be seen sporting pink socks, shoes and towels.  I, too, believe this to be a very serious disease; I just think that we're going about this problem from the wrong angle.

We all understand and, I think, agree with the concept that the prevention of a disease is so much better than the horrific costs, in terms of money and life, that we incur from trying to cure a disease.  I don't know how many billions of dollars have been spent so far, but, as far as I know, the major amount of money has been spent on breast cancer patient treatment approaches....mostly radiation, radical surgery and chemotherapy.  I have been asked to discuss breast cancer prevention options, so that is going to be my focus for the remainder of the month.

We're going to explore the following major categories: diet, lifestyle, nutritional support and technology and how all of these can impact our health, generally, and cancer, specifically.  I have been told by a member of a younger generation that I need to keep the information simple and easy to access via mobile devices.  As such, I will do my best to keep the information simple and short. 

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Qi gong Benefits Women Receiving Breast Cancer Treatment

A scientific study published in the May issue of, Cancer, indicates that this therapy is beneficial to women receiving radiation for the alleviation of symptoms of depression, fatigue and sleep problems.

Qi gong is based on traditional Chinese medicine and the understanding that our bodies contain a network of energy pathways through which our vital energy, known as qi or chi, circulates.  This therapy can be easily administered through specific instrumentation that emits a frequency that our CNS (central nervous system) recognizes.  The instruments are highly specialized and also need to be used by someone who understands energy balancing.  We use such instruments in our office and they are highly effective.

The researchers wanted to determine if qi gong would affect the quality of life in women receiving radiation treatment for breast cancer.  A randomized trial for 96 women, half of which received qi gong therapy and the other half received sham therapy, was instituted for a 5-6 week period at 5 times a week, all while the women were undergoing radiation therapy.  The researchers used breathing techniques instead of the energy balancing instrument techniques that we use to administer the qi gong. 

The results suggested that women in the qi gong groups reported fewer symptoms of depression over time, compared to those in the control group.  Subjects who had significantly higher amounts of depressive symptoms at the onset of radiation therapy reported that they experienced less fatigue and better overall quality of life.  There was no noted statistically significant differences in sleep quality between the two groups.  However, I can say that the patients that we have treated with qi gong therapy have all reported improved sleep as one of the early benefits of this specific treatment. Perhaps, the breathing techniques associated with qi gong are not as effective as the instrument energy re-balancing techniques.  Also,  I believe that the significant emotional impact that accompanies cancer may have had much to do with the reported sleep disturbances of the women.

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Do You Own a Water-Saving, Front Load Washing Machine?

I thought I might share an experience that we have had with the front-loading, water-saving washer that we've had for 5 years. We have always made certain to dry the rubber seal around the door after each wash.  However, a few months ago, we noticed that our clothes began to emit an unpleasant odor after being washed.  We hadn't changed anything...same soap, softener and water supply, so my husband checked further and found mold had formed around the door gasket.  After doing some research, we have licked the problem using a baking soda/vinegar/water solution, for about 3 weeks' worth of washes, until the odor and mold dissipated.  The solution proportions are:  1/2 cup baking soda to 2 cups of vinegar to 1/2 cup water, mixed together, placing about 4 Tbsp. into the fabric softener dispenser during each wash.  I should warn you that the baking soda will expand, greatly.  Use a very large container in which to mix the solution.  After the initial washes, we regularly use only 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser to help keep the mold/mildew problem at bay.

I have heard of some commercial chemical products that can be used, but since we don't use any of those products and my guess is that most of you don't, either, I thought I'd let you in on our discovery.  I recommend that you still thoroughly dry the door gasket after each washer usage.

One of my patients reminded me that the baking soda/vinegar solution also works as a fantastic drain cleaner...no "drain-o" in her house!

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The Risk of CTE and Tackle Football, Especially in Youngsters

I was watching a PBS special on WGBH, Boston, last night.  I would strongly recommend any parent of young boys who are considering playing football, especially tackle football, to watch this show about the NFL and CTE before allowing their child to join a team.

CTE, for those of you not familiar, stands for, "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy."  This is a newly diagnosed condition caused by concussive events and even found in those with minor repetitive blows to the head.  You'll remember that I talked about the end effects of repeated micro-trauma in my blog, earlier this week.  The neuropathologists are finding that the frontal lobes of the brains of these men who used to play professional football have developed  multiple holes. The brain of one 18 year old young man who died, suddenly, was found to have holes in the frontal lobe and he had had only 4 known concussive events playing high school football. 

What this means is that we should, as a nation who loves football, at least be willing to reconsider the possible ramifications that those playing this sport face.  Is there irrefutable evidence linking concussions and CTE in every case? No, there isn't.  That fact is enough for the commissioner of football to continue to reflect any questions about this condition.  Remember when the tobacco industry tried the same tactics a couple of decades ago?  The reason they didn't get away with their ridiculous argument that tobacco wasn't addictive  was that the law suits by survivors went to court and all the evidence proving the contrary was able to come to light.  Unfortunately, the same situation isn't possible concerning CTE and the NFL because the scores of ex-professional football players who sued the NFL was settled out of court.  All the data that the football league compiled in regards to the connection between concussions and CTE have been buried.  However, we do have a number of neuropathologists, who are studying the donated brains of deceased professional football players, publishing their findings. 

One neuropathologist, who was interviewed in the PBS program, recommends that no boy under the age of 14 play tackle football.  The main problem is that the brains of children are smaller than the brains of adults and, thus, are more susceptible to damage from concussions.  The brain "bounces" around in the head after it has been hit.  This is called a, "contra coup," injury and can be more damaging because of the continued hits the brain takes after the initial contact.

There have been many reports of retired NFL players having personality changes and committing suicide, all as a result of CTE.  Junior Seau's brain after his suicide just a couple of years ago was found to contain multiple holes in the frontal lobe=CTE.  A survey was done by the NFL of retired players as to how many of them showed symptoms and signs of dementia and/or Alzheimer's.  Their own study showed a disproportionate percentage of players to the general population were suffering from these brain diseases.

I truly hope that we will not offer up our young sons as guinea pigs until all the scientists agree about the cause and effect of CTE and multiple concussions.  We need to protect our children because we want the best for them and for them to live long, healthy lives.  We must decide what we are willing to sacrifice for the sake of our favorite sport: the well being of the players or the thrill of the "killer" hits.
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Do we Really Want all Those Antibiotics?

When I read the following, it fit right into the theme of my earlier blog:  Do we, as patients, want our symptoms or the cause of our problems treated?  Since the medical doctors apparently don't seem to understand that their over prescribing of antibiotics is detrimental to our health, maybe the public will want to enlighten them in light of the following article.  I include the following information in its entirety, from MSNBC:

Doctors ignore advice on sore throats, bronchitis

Lindsey Tanner The Associated Press

Oct. 3, 2013 at 2:32 PM ET

"Repeated warnings that antibiotics don't work for most sore throats and bronchitis have failed to stop overuse: Doctors prescribed these drugs for most adults seeking treatment at a rate that remained high over more than a decade, researchers found.
The results are in two analyses of national health surveys from the late 1990s to 2010, representing more than 2 million annual visits to doctors' offices or emergency rooms.
Antibiotics can have bad side effects, including stomach pain and severe diarrhea, and inappropriate prescriptions put patients at needless risk. The practice also can cause drug-resistant germs.
The findings show reducing inappropriate prescribing "is frustratingly, disappointingly slow," said Dr. Jeffrey Linder, a physician-researcher at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital. He did the research with Brigham colleague Dr. Michael Barnett.
Dr. Reid Blackwelder, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said part of the problem is old prescribing habits that didn't change when evidence emerged showing most sore throats and bronchitis are caused by viruses; antibiotics only treat infections caused by bacteria, not colds, flu and other illness from viruses. Illnesses antibiotics can treat include bacterial pneumonia, most urinary infections, some types of eye and ear infections, and some types of food poisoning.
Patients' demands and doctors' time pressures also play a role: It's often easier to prescribe an antibiotic than to take time to explain why they don't work for some illnesses, Blackwelder said.
"We've all done it," he said.
Dr. Ed Septimus, a professor at Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston, said development of more rapid testing to identify germs that cause sore throats or bronchitis could help curb the practice.
The research was being presented Thursday at an infectious diseases meeting in San Francisco.
One analysis found that antibiotics were prescribed at 60 percent of primary-care and emergency room visits for sore throats in 2010, a rate that didn't budge over 10 years but was down from about 70 percent in the 1990s. That study was also published online Thursday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
In an editorial, Dr. Rita Redberg, the journal's editor, noted that only about 10 percent of sore throats are caused by strep bacteria — which antibiotics can treat.
The second analysis found antibiotics were prescribed at 73 percent of all visits for bronchitis in 2010, a rate that didn't change from 1996. Only rare cases of bronchitis are caused by bacteria.
Bronchitis "just needs to take its time to run its course, which can be frustratingly long," sometimes three weeks or more, Linder said.
Some over-the-counter cough medicines can help bronchitis; gargling with salt water can help sore throats, and rest and fluids can help both, he said."
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What Tiger Woods Doesn't Know That My Patient's Do

For those of you who don't know who Tiger Woods is, he is a golfer...a very famous and successful golfer.  Unfortunately, golfing at as high a level as he has its hazards, not the least of which is back pain.  This year, he has pushed himself pretty hard and has won 5 tournaments....that's a lot.  He is getting older; he's 37 and his body is breaking down.  The latest problem is his back.  He suffered a back injury (soft tissue, primarily) and received allopathically-mediated ( PT and meds) care and I think he believed he was fine, as the pain had subsided.  Here is what he doesn't know....your body can mask up to 70% dysfunction before you ever feel pain.  Pain is the end result of multiple systems imbalance...in this case, multiple soft tissue function imbalance.  When the pain subsides, without re-balancing the neuromusculoskeletal system (or any system, for that matter), the amount of residual dysfunction is still about 50-55%.  What that means is, Tiger will continue to re-injure his back and it will continue to bother him with greater and greater frequency and take longer and longer for the pain to subside.  After a time, his back problem will become chronic and involve even more areas of dysfunction.  This is simply the way our bodies function.  Ignore the problem=deal with even greater problems, later.  This is a truism I try to convey to all our patients.

I compiled a check list for those who would like to know when it's time to no longer ignore what your body is trying to tell you:
1.  You no longer "move" the way you used to...walking, kneeling or regular activities are difficult.  I once had a patient who hadn't been able to put on his shirt or coat for a few months.  Yet, he waited until his shoulder hurt before he came in for care.  It would have taken much less time to treat him had he come in when the problem first started.
2.  You keep injuring the same area, over and over and it never really heals.
3.  Old injuries are bothering you more and more frequently and take longer and longer to heal and there is less and less time between re-injury.
4.  You are taking pain medication on a regular basis and it isn't really helping.
5.  You have pain.  Most would have put this problem first on the list.  However, we know that pain isn't the causative factor.  Lack of function, changed function or partial function all precede pain. By the time you feel pain, the body has been forced to compensate to the point that the original area of trauma is nearly hidden.  Multiple years of micro-trauma (repetitive movement) is equal in the dysfunction caused by one macro-trauma (significant injury).

Remember:  The longer the dysfunction continues, the greater the pain will be and the longer it will take to resolve the cause. 

I was thinking back to the time I was doing my chiropractic internship.  Our clinic would offer chiropractic care at a considerably lower cost to the public as a way to help us become better doctors and serve others at the same time.  One of my new patients was a little girl of about 8 who had asthma.  When I asked her mother about her decision to have her child receive chiropractic care, she told me that she had been bringing her to the clinic for two years.  The child hadn't had an attack in that time and she wasn't on any medication.  My first thought was how lucky that little girl was to have a mother who looking to address the cause and not just the symptoms associated with asthma.  I often wonder if this child, who is now about 35 years old, continued to choose chiropractic care.  It's a choice we all have to make, sooner or later.

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The Childhood Disabilities Caused by Our New Technology

I was listening to a news piece about the increasing numbers of our young people who are suffering from back and neck pain....from the hours they are spending, hunched over their electronic communication devices, "talking."  We need to remember that the muscle fatigue caused by hours in a static position is only one of the results of this activity.  These children are also being exposed to countless hours of electromagnetic field radiation emissions.  Since it takes a considerable amount of time for the effects of these emissions to be felt, ( I refer you to my blog entitled, "And the Children Shall Lead Us")  I truly am much more concerned about the potential of permanent cellular damage than by back and neck aches.  It is interesting that the back pain gets so much more attention than the cellular affects.  We tend to focus on the immediate and ignore the long term consequences.

Another e-world problem that dentists are seeing is micro-fracturing of teeth caused by grinding.  Apparently, as the youngsters are texting, they are clenching their jaws and grinding their teeth.  The stress of life always shows itself in some form or another.  This is more potentially serious than the report indicates.  We see so many patients with complaints of chronic pain and even disability that are directly related to TMJ dysfunction that is traceable to jaw clenching and hyperflexion/extension injuries (whiplash).  Grinding of the teeth over a long period of time will lead to the same musculoskeletal/neuromuscluar dysfunctions as presented by patients with whiplash injuries.  If left untreated, this dysfunction will significantly impact one's quality of life; we see this all too frequently.

Isn't it amazing how significant the unintended consequences of our technology can be for all of us?

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