The Spinal Column, Summer/Fall 2015
Dear Patients and Friends,
Some of you know what to do when your back hurts: Go to the chiropractor and get an adjustment! But the majority of American adults do not have a chiropractor, and some that do still have back pain.
A number of published studies have concluded that the only treatments that consistently work for both acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) back pain are exercise and chiropractic adjustments, and that the two together work best.
A new review of research on the effectiveness of exercise for treatment and prevention of back pain in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 80 percent of us experience at least one episode of lower back pain in our lives, and that when someone experiences back pain once, the chances are 24 to 80% that they’ll have it again within a year. They found that exercise alone, done appropriately and over time, reduces the risk of back pain recurrence by a very significant 25 to 40%. The exercise studies included various combinations of aerobic exercise with either stretching or strengthening, and they all worked nearly just as well. The typical time and frequency of exercise session was 30 minutes three times weekly. The subjects needed to keep the exercise regimen going, because the benefits gradually disappeared if the exercise was not continued.
A study published in Spine in 2011 looked at the benefits of chiropractic adjustments on patients with chronic lower back pain and found that two groups of patients who both had 12 treatments in one month improved significantly, but that nine months later only the group who continued with twice monthly treatments stayed better, while the group who discontinued treatment gradually regressed.
Over my many years in practice I have found that if you have a problem with back pain and get some chiropractic treatment, you will probably get better, and your chances of staying better are greater if you continue with occasional treatment. If you have a problem with back pain and you do the right exercises, you will likely improve, and your chances of maintaining your improvement are much higher if you keep doing the exercises. If you combine chiropractic treatment with doing the right exercises and keep doing at least one of those long term, your chances of staying good are even better, and if you keep up with the exercise and the chiropractic, your chances are really good.
If you also switch to an anti-inflammation diet (primarily fruit, vegetables and nuts and, optionally, moderate amounts of lean healthy animal protein) and supplements (vitamin D, magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids), your chances of feeling much better and staying that way are the highest of all.
Why not give yourself the very best chance to feel good and stay healthy? And why not share this vital formula with others?
Yours for better health, naturally,
Mha Atma S. Khalsa, D.C.
Another prominent study showing benefits of chiropractic for back pain —A new study published recently in the leading orthopedic medical journal SPINE added to the growing body of research documenting the effectiveness of chiropractic care in treatment of lower back pain. One group of patients received chiropractic adjustments to their lower back twice weekly for four weeks, and another were given “usual medical care”: medications along with advice to stay active and expect their pain to get better. The chiropractic group showed significantly better improvements in disability and pain compared to the group receiving usual medical care.
SPINE 2015 40(4)209-217
(Note from Dr. Mha Atma: If you add to the bare-bones lower back adjustments given in this study all the other things a good chiropractor does, including adjusting the whole spine, soft tissue work, and instruction in exercises and diet, results may increase from significantly better to dramatically better!)
New study indicates that chiropractic treatment of seniors with back pain combined with other health problems works well and saves money–Researchers at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth looked at Medicare statistics for over 72,000 Medicare patients from 2006 to 2012 who were treated for lower back pain AND suffered from various other health conditions. Some were treated only by a chiropractor, some only by MDs, and many by a chiropractor and MDs. They found that those treated only by a chiropractor had very significantly lower overall health care costs, and that those treated by a chiropractor and by medical doctors still had significantly lower overall health care costs than those treated by MDs alone. The researchers concluded that these findings indicate that many older folks with back pain combined with other health problems should be treated with chiropractic care from day one.
DOI: jmptonline.org
Chiropractic “boot camp” for back and leg pain caused by spinal stenosis —A study published last year looked at a group of patients treated at a major hospital in Toronto. Patients in the study averaged 70 years old and had an average duration of 11 years of back pain and 8.6 years of leg pain. Their “boot camp” program included treatment up to three times weekly for six weeks consisting of chiropractic adjustments, exercises, and instruction on problem solving, relaxation and body positioning. The researchers concluded that in these patients “all outcomes demonstrated statistically significant and clinically important improvements.”
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2015 38:188-194
For Neck Pain
In a study funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to test the effectiveness of different approaches for treating mechanical neck pain, 272 participants were divided into three groups that received either spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) from a doctor of chiropractic (DC), pain medication (over-the-counter pain relievers, narcotics and muscle relaxants) or exercise recommendations. After 12 weeks, about 57 percent of those who met with DCs and 48 percent who exercised reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, compared to 33 percent of the people in the medication group. After one year, approximately 53 percent of the drug-free groups continued to report at least a 75 percent reduction in pain; compared to just 38 percent pain reduction among those who took medication. – Bronfort et al. (2012), Annals of Internal Medicine
Chiropractic “boot camp” for back and leg pain caused by spinal stenosis —A study published last year looked at a group of patients treated at a major hospital in Toronto. Patients in the study averaged 70 years old and had an average duration of 11 years of back pain and 8.6 years of leg pain. Their “boot camp” program included treatment up to three times weekly for six weeks consisting of chiropractic adjustments, exercises, and instruction on problem solving, relaxation and body positioning. The researchers concluded that in these patients “all outcomes demonstrated statistically significant and clinically important improvements.”
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2015 38:188-194
Chiropractic adjustments increase blood levels of anti-oxidants —Researchers at the Federal University of Riol Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil reported that a course of chiropractic manipulation twice weekly for five weeks increased the blood levels of two antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase or SOD and glutathione peroxidase or GPx) in 23 patients with chronic neck or back pain. The researchers theorized that this may be one mechanism of pain relief, since these enzymes reduce the excitability of nerves when pain is present and may reduce cell damage as well.
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2015 38:119-129
Chiropractic treatment for neck and arm pain with disc herniation —Researchers in Switzerland followed treatment of 50 consecutive patients who had neck and arm pain with MRI-proven disc herniation. Patients were treated with chiropractic adjustments 3 to 5 times weekly for 2 to 4 weeks and 1 to 3 times weekly thereafter until pain was gone. At 2 weeks 55.3% of all patients were significantly improved, at 1 months 68.9% and at 3 months 85.7% were significantly improved with none being worse. Although acute (short-term patients) improved faster, at 3 months 76.2% of sub-acute and chronic patients were significantly improved, which researchers pointed out was highly significant and far above expectations.
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36:461-467
(Note from Dr. Mha Atma: When patients are suffering from neck and arm pain or from back and leg pain and have an MRI which shows a herniated disc, they are usually told by doctors they need drugs, epidurals and/or surgery and are sometime warned against seeing a chiropractor. This study illustrated the effectiveness and safety of chiropractic care in cases of disc herniation, and is worth sharing with others including your doctors!)
One more review on safety of chiropractic in treating herniated discs —Researchers from Australia and the Netherlands performed a comprehensive review of scientific literature examining safety and effectiveness of chiropractic in treatment of lower back disc herniations. They concluded that evidence suggests that chiropractic manipulation is as effective as surgery and that the risk is no more than the risk of treatment with exercise and less than treatment with drug therapy.
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;xx:1-15
One more interesting study: about lowering cholesterol by eating just a few brazil nuts, from Michael Gregor, MD….
Four Nuts Once a Month
One of the craziest studies I read all year involved feeding people a single serving of Brazil nuts to see what it would do to the cholesterol levels of healthy volunteers. They gave ten men and women a single meal containing zero, one, four, or eight Brazil nuts, and found that the ingestion of just that single serving almost immediately improved cholesterol levels. LDL, so-called “bad” cholesterol levels in the blood, was significantly lower starting just nine hours after the ingestion of nuts, and by no insignificant amount, nearly 20 points within a day. Even drugs don’t work that fast. It takes statins around four days to have a significant effect.
But that’s not even the crazy part.
The researchers went back and measured their cholesterol five days later, and then 30 days later. Now keep in mind they weren’t eating Brazil nuts this whole time. They just had that single serving of Brazil nuts a month before and their cholesterol was still down 30 days later. It went down and stayed down, after eating just four nuts… That’s nuts!
And no, the study was not funded by the Brazil nut industry.
Interestingly, four nuts actually seemed to work faster than the eight nuts to lower bad cholesterol and boost good cholesterol. These results suggest that eating just four nuts might be enough to improve the levels of LDL and HDL for up to 30 days, and maybe longer—they didn’t test past 30.
Now normally, when a study comes out in the medical literature showing some too-good-to-be-true result like this you want to wait to see the results replicated before you change your clinical practice, before you recommend something to your patients, particularly when the study is done on only ten people, and especially when the findings are literally just too incredible to be believed. But when the intervention is cheap, easy, harmless and healthy—eating four Brazil nuts a month—then, in my opinion, the burden of proof is kind of reversed. I think the reasonable default position is to do it until proven otherwise.
They concluded a single serving was sufficient “without producing liver and kidney toxicity.” What they’re referring to is the high selenium content of Brazil nuts—so high that four eaten every day may actually bump us up against the tolerable daily limit for selenium, but not something we have to worry about if we’re just eating four once a month.
read this online with a few more links
Thanks for Helping Us Help Others!
Nearly all our patients first come to our office through the recommendations of our present and past patients. We appreciate each of you who take the time and energy to help another person experience the benefits of chiropractic. We couldn’t do it without you!
Our thanks to:
Joanna Scott
Roxanne Griffin
Nina Segura
Millie Grijalva
Jessica Hritz
Stacy Abrams
Jesse Wechsler
Oscar Williams
Susan Surran
Brenda Rivera
Linda Yudin
Marigold McFadzen
Amy Van Etten
Donna McCarty
Claire Denis
Sean Weber-Small
Lynn Stephens
Sita Thompson
Anthony Wilson
Nick Weidenfield
Amanda Springer
Felicia Rondeau
Camila Greenbert
Gabriell Horton
Mike Heller
Vanessa Wolf
Anabel Iniguez
Laura & Cesar Roque
Denise Roundfield
Karen Gordon
David Zimmerman
Gail Herendeen
Stefano Della Pietra
Merrinell Phillips
Krishna Khalsa
Andrew Kennedy
Hadiya Kennedy
Scott Baugh
Rahimah Shah
Brooke Senior
Sharmagne Leland-St. John
Walta Smith
Carol Morgan
Margot Hesel
Domonique Generaux
Dave Wolin
Danelle Benari
Sandy Wallace
Maggie and Lexi
Damon
Barbara Gromfin
Daniel Nelson
Rosa Uribe
Khefri Riley
Jenae Marin
Karen Cooke
Claudio DiFiore
Karen Mbanefo
Jerry & Sandi Jolton
Wendy Moore
Diana Kawin
Myrble Fuller
Karen Cooke
Joyce Miraflor
Rita Franciosa
Starletta DuPois
Carlos Muniz
Angella Wong
Jonathan Tao
Geri Vergara
Pamela D’Pella
Mark Roeder
Celia Beuzieron
Jen-you Hwang
Nina Karakesh
Max Goldberg
Justin Long
Renee Brewster
James Draffen
Rick Smith
Tery Lopez
Venkata Pitchai
Noa Cardelli
Elizabeth McNally
Charles Daniel
Art & Leonie Espinosa
My Chiropractic Story
Greg Sheehan
I had bad lower back pain as well as pain and discomfort throughout my entire back. I first injured my lower back in 1998, and the pain continued and grew worse over the years and spread through my entire back. I saw two previous chiropractors—one I did not like and the other was great but I could not afford to continue treatment. I occasionally took ibuprofen but most of the time just lived with pain.
I had been thinking about trying chiropractic again for a while, and then a friend said “Just go!” and referred me to Dr. Mha Atma. I was positive it would help. I found Khalsa Chiropractic to be a very friendly, professional place, with a helpful staff and a very knowledgeable and caring doctor. Dr. Mha Atma recommended twice weekly and then weekly adjustments for a few months, tapering to less often after that, along with exercises and eating right.
It has now been about 10 months since I started treatment. My back feels so much better. The bad pain is gone. I now come in every two weeks for an adjustment to keep myself in good shape. I can move around better, I sleep better, and I just feel better in general.
I absolutely recommend chiropractic care because it helps so much. I have recommended it to a number of people. I love it. If you have back pain or discomfort, just go!
Good health is a journey.
Stay on course with regular chiropractic care.
Plant the seeds of good health:
See your chiropractor regularly!