July 2010 issue Health & Wellness

• Improvement in Ataxia, Dizziness, & Visual Disturbance, in a Child Undergoing Chiropractic
• Exercise Regenerates Brain Cells
• Constipation, Gastrointestinal Pain, and Neck Pain Helped with Chiropractic - Case Study
• 10 Minutes of Exercise a Day May Keep the Doctor Away
• Chiropractors Treat Babies
• Chiropractic Care Helps 10-year-old with Bedwetting Problem

Improvement in Ataxia, Dizziness, & Visual Disturbance, in a Child Undergoing Chiropractic

On May 31, 2010, a case study appeared in the scientific periodical, The Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health, documenting the case of an 11- year-old girl who was suffering from dizziness, fuzzy vision, and inability to stand or walk unassisted (ataxia), who was helped by chiropractic.

The young girl had seen a variety of medical specialists and had blood work, x-rays, EEG, brainstem, ophthalmology, and neurology evaluations as well as an MRI, all of which showed only slight variations but were considered normal. In essence, the battery of medical tests did not reveal anything that could help this girls situation.

Upon entering the chiropractor's office a history was taken that revealed she had been suffering from symptoms for about one month. An examination was performed that revealed pain and a substantial reduction of the range of motion in the neck. She also showed neck muscle weakness. Neck x-rays were taken to look at the neck from both the front and side views.

A determination was made that subluxations were present in this girls spine creating nerve system problems. A course of specific chiropractic adjustments were initiated to work toward correction of the subluxations and their resulting nerve system interference.

The report notes that after just one specific adjustment, the young girl was able to go to school with parental accompaniment. As care continued she reported ongoing improvement in both her symptoms and her range of motion. After a few more adjustments she was able to attend full days of school for the entire week. After several weeks of chiropractic care she was able to return to normal activities including horseback riding, and playing on a trampoline. At the writing of the case study, the young girl had not had any additional episodes of her original problems.

Exercise Regenerates Brain Cells

Recent research has shown that exercise, even in the elderly, can increase regeneration of brain cells. Several news stories reported on a study out of Germany by the Max Planck Society, a non-profit research organization designed for the Advancement of Science. The study was released by the Society on May 6th, 2010, under the title of “New nerve cells - even in old age”.

The Max Planck Society report starts out by noting, “After birth the brain looses many nerve cells and this continues throughout life - most neurons are formed before birth, after which many excess neurons degenerate.” They then go on to state that, “However, there are some cells that are still capable of division in old age.”

They do note that this study was done on mice, but the researchers believe that their findings are applicable to human brains as well. The authors’ state that throughout a persons life there are neuronal stem cells present that can create new neurons, (nerve cells). However, they note that as we get older many of these stem cells are in a state of dormancy, and are therefore not producing new nerve cells.

This study, which was also published as part of the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in January of 2010, showed that through exercise the production of new nerve cells can be reactivated. In this study scientists looked at two groups of mice. One group had a running wheel available to them at all times while the second group of mice did not have access to an exercise wheel. The results of the study showed that even with just a few days of using the wheel, the brain was stimulated to grow new nerve cells in a part of the brain involved in memory and recall. Test results for these mice showed that they performed better on memory and learning tests, than did their counterparts that did not have a wheel to exercise on.

Study leader, Dr. Verdon Taylor, reported on the results of his study by saying, “In young mice, the stem cells divide four times more frequently than in older animals. However, the number of cells in older animals is only slightly lower. Therefore, neuronal stem cells do not disappear with age but are kept in reserve." His study noted that exercise helps reactivate these cells, and he therefore concluded that in humans, “Running promotes the formation of new neurons."

Constipation, Gastrointestinal Pain, and Neck Pain Helped with Chiropractic - Case Study

A case study was published on May 10, 2010 in the scientific publication, the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health that reports on the chiropractic care of a six year old girl with subluxations, constipation and neck pain.

In this case study the girl was brought to a chiropractor because she had been suffering with constipation and bowel pain since the age of two. At times her problem was so bad that it would take days for her to have a bowel movement. In addition to her constipation she had mild abdominal pain, and suffered from motion sickness when riding in a car for more than 30 minutes.

About six months before her visit to the chiropractor the girl started to experience neck pain that was worse in the morning. She was on a very good diet that was specifically designed to help her with her problem. Overall she appeared healthy and energetic, with no other health issues noted.

The chiropractic examination showed some restricted range of motion in the neck along with some postural abnormalities. A series of specific chiropractic adjustments were initiated for correction of the determined areas of vertebral subluxation.

The case study documented that after 13 visits a re-evaluation was performed using the same criteria that was used on the first visit. At this update the patient's mother reported her daughter's constipation problems had completely resolved. Additionally, the girl no longer had gastro-intestinal pain. The frequency of her bowel movements had changed from once every 4-5 days to daily, and her neck pain had completely resolved during the second month of care.

In the discussion of this case, the author described the purpose of the chiropractic care by saying, "Patient management in a chiropractic paradigm suggests the cause of disease lies within the body versus the allopathic paradigm which believes illness and disease comes from an external factor. Chiropractic is based on the premise that the body has an innate ability to heal and that this ability is coordinated and controlled by the nervous system. Any interference in the nervous system will impede the body's ability to heal and adapt to its environment. In the chiropractic profession, this interference is referred to as vertebral subluxation."

10 Minutes of Exercise a Day May Keep the Doctor Away

The above headline is from a June 2, 2010 article in the publication, Medill Reports Chicago, from the Medill School Northwestern University. This article, and several others on the same subject, were based upon a study published in the May 2010 journal “Science Translational Medicine”.

The results of the study basically show that even just 10 minutes of brisk exercise per day trigger metabolic changes that can last up to an hour and can have a positive effect on your health. The study also shows that those who are already fit get more benefit from their exercise than from those who are just starting out.

Dr. Robert Gerszten of Massachusetts General Hospital, and one of the authors of the study showed that metabolic changes began in people after only 10 minutes on the treadmill, and were still measurable 60 minutes after people cooled down.

In this study 70 healthy people were put on a treadmill. The researchers found that more than 20 metabolites changed during exercise and caused naturally produced compounds involved in burning calories and fat as well as improving blood-sugar control.

Dr. Gregory Lewis, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and lead author of the study spoke about how profound this study’s findings were by saying, “It’s basically like the ultimate intervention. Our large-scale objective is to try and unlock some of the mystery behind why exercise has such beneficial effects.” He added, “What other medicine can you think of that would be associated with living longer, better brain function, better cardiovascular function, better blood vessel function, less depression?”

Dr. Charles Burant, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, who was not involved in the research responded to the study by saying, “We know that exercise is good for you; the question is why it is good for you, and this paper is a start of understanding this a little bit more.

Dr. Gerszten summed up the benefits of having this new type of information by saying, “The studies to date are really what we like to think of [as] the first comprehensive chemical snapshot of exercise. We have a chemical snapshot of what the more fit person looks like. Now we have to see if making someone's metabolism look like that snapshot, whether or not that's going to improve their performance.”

Chiropractors Treat Babies

The above is a headline from a feature article in the June 7, 2010 issue of the Omaha World-Herald. This article looked at the specific case of a baby boy named Trent, who at only a few months old was experiencing digestive problems and could hardly keep either breast milk or baby formula down. The article notes that Trent was spitting up several times per hour and was not gaining weight.

The article noted that even though Trent’s mom Jennifer was seeing a chiropractor for injuries from a car crash, she did not consider chiropractic for her son. At the urging of a family member, Jennifer asked her chiropractor if he took care of kids.

After little or no help from medical care, Trent’s mother, Jennifer, finally decided to take her baby to her chiropractor. The article reports that the chiropractor gently adjusted the baby’s spine therefore restoring proper nerve function to the digestive system. Shortly after the initiation of care Trent would only occasionally spit up, and he was gaining weight.

In the article, a spokeswoman for the American Chiropractic Association, Dr. Karen Erickson stated that chiropractic care for kids is safe and effective. Dr. Erickson noted that chiropractors nationally report that they are seeing more children than they did 10 or 15 years ago.

Trent’s chiropractor added that years ago most of the children that he took care of were the children of current patients. He notes that now many children are being brought to his office by parents who are not chiropractic patients, but want their children cared for by a chiropractor.

The Omaha World-Herald article did include interviews from several local medical doctors who expressed their skepticism about chiropractic even in the face of Trent’s recovery. However, it was the boy’s mother who got the final words in the article by saying, “As a mother,” she said, “you are going to do whatever it takes to make sure your baby is taken care of.”

Chiropractic Care Helps 10-year-old with Bedwetting Problem

The above headline comes from a June 3, 2010 article on the ParentalCentral.com website by the Toronto Star. This story follows the plight of a 9-year-old boy, Tyler, who was still having problems with bedwetting.

The story starts by noting that medications had not helped, and an alarm clock did not solve the problem as the young boy slept right through the alarm. In spite of all his parents’ efforts, each morning Tyler awoke soaked.

His mother, Gloria, initially attributed her son’s problem to being genetic in nature as she stated that Tyler came from a family of individuals that suffered from this problem early in life. However, she expected that he would grow out of it. She stated, “I had the feeling he would grow out of it, or that I’d try something new and it would work.” She had thought about chiropractic for her son, but was reluctant to start care.

Eventually, Gloria did bring Tyler to the chiropractor where the story noted that an exam was done and x-rays were performed. “The chiropractor showed me the X-rays,” Gloria stated. “I could see there was a spine misalignment issue.”

The article also interviewed Dr. Annette Bourdon, a chiropractor in Montreal, for an explanation of how chiropractic could help children with bedwetting. Dr. Bourdon commented, “Misalignment of the sacral bones or vertebrae in the lower back can lead to irritation or twisting of the nerves that control the bladder.” She then added some words of advice by saying, “I would say all children who are bedwetters should be evaluated for the possibility of a spinal problem being an underlying cause.”

The article reported that for Tyler results were profound and fast. His mother stated, “By early April (less than one month after starting chiropractic care) he wasn’t wetting the bed anymore,” said Gloria. “I mean, nothing! Not a drop! From the night he stopped wetting, he hasn’t even had a dribble since.” The article also reported that Gloria now hears Tyler waking to the bathroom at night, another first for the 9 year old boy. Gloria proudly expressed her appreciation for how chiropractic helped her son by saying, “Overnight, it became a non-issue.”