Blog

Kids Using Prescription Drugs More

From the September 19, 2002 issue of the online Intelihealth comes a story with the headline that highlights a serious trend, "Kids Using Prescription Drugs More." The story, originating from the New York Associated Press shows that according to a new study the use of prescription drugs is growing faster among children than it is among senior citizens and baby boomers, the two traditionally high drug usage consumer groups.

According to the survey by Medco Health Solutions, a Franklin, N.J.-based pharmacy benefits manager, spending on prescription drugs for those under 19 grew 28 percent last year. In that same time prescription drug spending for people between the ages of 35 and 49 rose 23 percent. For senior citizens over the age of 65, the study showed that the increase in spending rose 10 percent in that year. The study also found that children are spending 34 percent more time on medication than they were five years ago.Associated Press

The government agency, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, estimates that overall spending on prescription drugs rose 16.4 percent to $142 billion last year. The most prescribed drugs among children were for allergies, asthma and infections. However, prescriptions for Ritalin and other medicines for neurological and psychological disorders were also substantially increased. This area is causing great concern as some experts worry that such drugs may be over-prescribed for children. What really alarmed some doctors was that spending on prescription drugs to treat heartburn and other gastrointestinal disorders surged 660 percent over the last five years. Additionally, the survey also found that spending on antibiotics among children increased 42 percent, in spite of the fact that doctors say antibiotic resistance is a widespread problem.

MDs explain some of the increase as being related to the increase of certain aliments. According to Dr. Michael Blaiss, a pediatrician who specializes in children's ailments, about 7 percent of children have asthma and 25 percent have allergies, approximately double the incidence 25 years ago. However, the article carries no comments questioning why such an increase in certain diseases has occurred. Some experts speculate that medications and vaccinations themselves are to blame for the increase in these conditions.

Dr. Lawrence Diller, author of the book "Should I Medicate My Child?" worries that drugs such as Ritalin are over-prescribed. He also pointed out that there haven't been many studies of the effects of antidepressants on children. "The antidepressants are known to have sexual side effects. I wonder what the long-term effects of that is going to be on adolescents," Diller said.

The vast majority of prescription drugs are developed for adults, and drug makers are not mandated to test them on children. In 1997, Congress passed legislation that gave drug companies an additional six months of patent protection if they tested their drugs on children. That huge financial incentive has gotten the drug companies to conduct more tests, but experts say more studies are needed. This concept also creates moral questions over the ethical concerns of drug testing on children. Regardless of the moral issues of drug testing on children the fact still remains that children are being given an increasing amount of medications that were not researched for children. Dr. John Ring, who sits on the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Drugs, says that most of the prescriptions written for children are still written for drugs that haven't been approved for youngsters.

Study Shows Chiropractic Technique Effective

 In Breech Turning study published in the July/August 2002 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) shows that a chiropractic technique known as the "Webster Technique" for managing the musculoskeletal causes of intrauterine constraint, is effective in cases of pregnancy with women experiencing breech presentation which can lead to a cesarean section birth. According to the published study, "Intrauterine constraint is defined as any force external to the developing fetus that obstructs the normal movement of the fetus." Intrauterine constraint can prevent the developing fetus from moving into the normal head-down position needed for a normal vaginal birth. When this happens this is called a "breech presentation". This situation plays a critical role in how the mother delivers her baby. According to the statistics published in the article, in the United States 86% of all infants with breech presentation are delivered by cesarean section. According to the JMPT article, the Webster Technique is a chiropractic technique designed to relieve the musculoskeletal causes of intrauterine constraint. This technique is also known by names such as as Webster's In-Utero Constraint Technique or Webster's Breech Turning Technique. The Webster Technique was developed by Dr. Larry Webster in 1978. Dr. Webster was often referred to in the Chiropractic profession as "The Grandfather of Chiropractic Pediatrics." Additionally, the technique is presently taught in many chiropractic colleges and postgraduate chiropractic education seminars. The study was done by surveying a large number of doctors of chiropractic who use the technique to see the percentage of results they obtain on real patients. The survey required detailed information to verify the accuracy of the responses. The results showed that 82% of the doctors surveyed reported a high rate of success when using the Webster Technique. The results from the study suggested that it may be beneficial to perform the Webster Technique in the 8th month of pregnancy, if it has been determined that the child is in the breech position. This timing is important because from the 8th month on, a breech presentation is unlikely to spontaneously convert to the normal head down position. The study concludes by saying, "when successful, the Webster Technique avoids the costs and risks of cesarean section or vaginal trial of breech. In view of these findings, the Webster Technique deserves serious consideration in the management of expectant mothers exhibiting adverse fetal presentation."

Baby Boomers Believe Chiropractic Helps Them be Healthy

In the Sept. 19, 2000 /PRNewswire was a report by the American Chiropractic Association on a survey of /"Baby Boomers/" conducted in the fall of 1999. The survey of baby boomers was conducted by Sorelli B, a national research firm. The survey found that more than one third of those surveyed said chiropractic care prevented the need for prescription drugs and physical therapy. Additionally, many respondents believe chiropractic care had helped them avoid back surgery and hospital stays. The survey results strongly showed many participants desire for chiropractic care when it found that, they are willing to pay for the services out-of-pocket, although they would prefer to have the care covered by their insurance plans. The report also stated that nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to sign a petition asking their insurance companies to include chiropractic as a core component of their health plan. One of the more telling quotes from the news story was the following, /"most of the baby boomers surveyed in the recent study said they were influenced more often by their doctor of chiropractic than by their medical doctor or osteopath. And doctors of chiropractic received higher ratings in the area of patient satisfaction than did their medical counterparts./" They concluded that, /"Overall, 60 percent of the regular patients surveyed believe their doctor of chiropractic has improved their quality of life./"

Chiropractic and Migraines, A Case Study

From the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Pediatrics, comes a documented case study of a 28 year old women who suffered with migraine headaches for over a decade before being helped with chiropractic care. In her case there was no history of previous trauma. Her migraines would last for several days and would cause nausea and dizziness.

In addition to her headaches, she also revealed a history of an irregular menstrual cycle, she would normally menstruate no more than twice per year. This problem resulted in infertility. After years of not becoming pregnant, she sought help from a reproductive endocrinologist. She was placed on medication which created additional side effects but did allow her to become pregnant. Unfortunately, after 9 weeks she suffered a miscarriage.

After years of these problems the woman started chiropractic care. She was initially given an examination and it was determined that she did have spinal problems. A series of specific chiropractic adjustments were then initiated. A re-examination was performed one month after care began. The patient reported a reduction in her headaches. After the second month of care another examination was performed and the patient reported that she had no incidence of migraine headache for the entire previous month. Additionally, the patient noticed that she had started a regular menstrual cycle. Within six months of the initiation of chiropractic care, she became pregnant.

Seniors and Chiropractic

The general population is going to chiropractors in record numbers. Seniors, the fastest segment of the population is no exception. According to a recent  article in USA Today, more than 80% of seniors age 65 or greater are aware of what the article termed alternative medicine. This awareness has lead to a fairly fast growing utilization of these services. The breakdown for usage of chiropractic and other non-medical health care is as follows: Chiropractic lead the way with a utilization of 32%, second was massage therapy at 16%, followed by acupuncture 9%, homeopathy at 4%, naturopathy 3% and Chinese medicine 3%. A recent study published in Topics in Clinical Chiropractic of a randomized clinical trial showed data that found chiropractic geriatric patients were "less likely to have been hospitalized, less likely to have used a nursing home, more likely to report a better health status, more likely to exercise vigorously, and more likely to be mobile in the community."